Monthly Archives: January 2025

BALLADEER’S BLOG: COLLEGE BASKETBALL FROM JANUARY 11th

USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association)

IF YOU WERE A TREE – The SUNY COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & FORESTRY MIGHTY OAKS welcomed the JEFFERSON COLLEGE CANNONEERS. The Mighty Oaks seized control early, leading 47-31 by Halftime and ultimately defeating the Cannoneers by a final score of 96-74. Patrick Emery led SUNY-ESF with his 27 points.

USCAA OVER D2 – The USCAA’s NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL BUILDERS (Shipbuilders) played host to NCAA Division Two’s CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY WOLVES. The Wolves led 41-38 at the midpoint but the Builders outscored them 47-34 from there for an 85-75 victory over the higher division team. Adrion Wall’s 22 points led the Apprentice School.  Continue reading

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MARVEL SUPERHEROINES OF THE 1970s

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog deals with some of Marvel’s superheroines.

THE CAT – Greer Nelson caught on to a conspiracy to take over the world via armies of women clad in superpower-granting costumes. She donned the prototype and called herself the Cat before taking down the entire sinister organization. 

Operating out of Chicago, the Cat also clashed with the Owl, Commander Kraken, Man-Bull and the supervillainess called Man-Killer. Click HERE.

TIGRA THE WERE-WOMAN – After the Cat’s series got canceled from low sales Marvel added Greer Nelson to their 1970s horror characters as Tigra. The Cat was mortally wounded in a battle with Hydra, but Marvel’s race of cat-people saved her life by granting her an amulet that turned her into Tigra the Were-Woman.

Now with far greater powers, she thrived in this new identity and is still in the Marvel universe to this day. Click HERE Continue reading

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TOMMY ROBINSON AND U.K. GROOMING GANGS

There are plenty of news stories that are still unfolding right now but need another few days for the figurative and literal smoke to clear. I will definitely be covering them in the days ahead. For today plenty of readers have been asking about my view of the continuing U.K. grooming gangs scandal.

I covered that story here at Balladeer’s Blog extensively beginning in 2014 and it is tragic and heartbreaking that the atrocities STILL go on. My opinions years ago sadly fit just as well here in 2025.

ROTHERHAM REPORT OPINION (September 2nd, 2014) – “Females as young as ELEVEN were being systematically raped and groomed for further abuse by Pakistani Muslims in the U.K for years. Over FOURTEEN HUNDRED VICTIMS (Note: that was the 2014 estimate) have been referred to in just the Rotherham Report with countless other areas of the U.K. weighing in with similar accounts.”

        “Another common thread uniting the cases is the cowardly way in which LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GOVERNMENTAL OFFICIALS IGNORED AND/OR COVERED UP THE INCIDENTS OUT OF FEAR OF BEING LABELED “ISLAMOPHOBIC”.

“I DIDN’T WANT TO BE ACCUSED OF BEING ISLAMOPHOBIC” IS THE NEW “I WAS ONLY FOLLOWING ORDERS.” (September 22nd, 2014) – “The atrocities were enabled by U.K. bureaucrats, many of whom willfully ignored the complaints of the rape victims because the assailants were Muslim. Some of the bureaucrats have tried to excuse their actions (or rather their inaction) by plaintively whining that they ‘didn’t want to be accused of Islamophobia.’

        “Incredible state the western world is in. It’s easier to turn a blind eye to multiple rapes of girls as young as 11 than it is to speak out on the issue and be dubbed ‘Islamophobic’. Some of the testimony from the few brave souls who DID speak out detailed how punishment came swift and sure”.

        “That being said, ‘I didn’t want to be accused of Islamophobia’ truly has become the 21st Century equivalent of ‘I was only following orders’. Both lines are used to excuse one’s gutless and/or unreasoning compliance with a system in which atrocities become permissible. Even routine. And both lines basically translate as ‘I didn’t want to get in trouble by speaking out against the horrors I saw unfolding.”  Continue reading

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JAMES WOODS: EIGHT MOVIES

As an appreciative shoutout to James Woods, one of the wildfire victims in California, here’s a Balladeer’s Blog look at 8 of his films.

This was originally posted in 2021 so the complimentary reviews of his acting are not just sympathy for this week’s events. 

James Woods is like a force of nature. When he’s on the screen he virtually blows away most of the people with whom he shares that screen. His staggering versatility also marks him as one of the few true actors in the industry. Here are some of the movies which harnessed Hurricane Woods:

VideodromeVIDEODROME (1983)

Role: Max Renn, cable television entrepreneur

Comment: Sorry to start with such an obvious choice but I’m amazed that there are still people out there who haven’t seen this movie. David Cronenberg’s patented body horror and other surreal visuals needed a thespian who wouldn’t fade into the woodwork among them. Woods as the intense, sleazy Max Renn fit the bill perfectly.

James proved you don’t need to be twitchy and leering to portray a character who is virtually amoral in his pursuit of money, kinky thrills, Deborah Harry … and the ultimate underground broadcast called Videodrome. Anticipating the Deep Web, there was this magnificent film about how – before the internet came along – it was cable television that was considered a doorway to the forbidden and the depraved.

A cable titillation peddler tries to locate and strike a broadcast deal with a seeming Snuff Show called Videodrome. The sinister parties behind the pirate broadcast are the ultimate villains for the time period, and Cronenberg’s treatment of them shows that SUBTLETY can be more effective than hammering your audience over the head. LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH!   Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: BABYLON ELECTRIFIED (1888)

Babylon ElectrifiedBABYLON ELECTRIFIED (1888) – Written by Albert Bleunard. In the tradition of his fellow Frenchman, Jules Verne, Bleunard crafted this work of science fiction with an international cast.

British magnate Sir James Badger wants to reestablish old trade routes leading from Europe eastward through Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. He and his associates plan a railroad but lack of coal in sufficient quantities seems to be a project-killer.

Jack Adams, one of Badger’s colleagues, recommends the new invention of a French electrical engineer and inventor named Cornille. This inventor has designed a method of generating electricity from sunlight aka solar power. He agrees to let his technology be used to construct an electric train for the railroad project. 

Things get underway, with hydroelectric dams built in the mountains of Kurdistan and wind plus tidal power-stations set up in the Persian Gulf. Cornille’s solar tech will be used for the overwhelming majority of the territory to be covered. Continue reading

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NELLIE BLY’S NOVELS

Back in November, Balladeer’s Blog covered female journalist Nellie Bly’s journey around the world. I mentioned the lost but rediscovered novels she had written and fellow blogger The Introverted Bookworm inquired if I was going to cover them. So, here we go:

EVA THE ADVENTURESS  – This was the second of the novels that Nellie Bly (Elizabeth J. Cochrane) wrote between 1889 and 1895. They were considered lost until being rediscovered in 2021.

Eva the Adventuress or A Romance of a Blighted Life was inspired by Nellie’s interview with the convicted criminal Eva Hamilton, wife of a descendant of Alexander Hamilton. The novel features the fictional Eva Scarlett rising from poverty to marrying a dynamic man of means.

Before long Eva learns that the marriage is a sham and she is tossed into the streets, marked as a fallen woman. Our title character begins a climb back up the ladder, seeking revenge on anyone who wrongs her.

Continue reading

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JAN EIGHTH ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog presents another current events roundup from an America where Biden Crime Family front man Joe Biden continues to transform the transition process to a new administration into one long act of petty spite and attempted sabotage of his successor. More HERE.

BIDEN REGIME WHITE HOUSE: CHINA’S HACKERS HAVE THE CAPACITY TO CRIPPLE AMERICA’S POWER GRIDS AND PORTS. Convenient how this was covered up until now. I will say again that buying Joe Biden long ago was the best investment that China’s government ever made.

        “Since autumn of 2023 there have been at least nine U.S. telecom companies hacked, according to (Biden Regime) deputy national security adviser for cybersecurity Anne Neuberger. 

        “We will never know regarding the scope and scale of this,” she told the Journal. “They were very careful about their techniques.”

        “The hacks have morphed from mere “keyboard warriors — once seen as the cyber equivalent of noisy, drunken burglars” to now be “soldiers” with “astonishing skill level and stealth,” according to the Journal.” *** YESALL OF THIS INFO IS NOW BEING ADMITTED BY BIDEN’S OWN PEOPLE!   

DEMOCRAT PARTY

DEMOCRATS AT NEW YORK PRESCHOOL EXPOSED BY PARENTS FOR FORCING TRANSGENDER DOGMA ON THREE AND FOUR YEAR OLD CHILDREN. Among the remarks from the justifiably angry parents – “As a mom of a three-year-old I find this disturbing. Leave these babies alone.” and “A 3 or 4 year old is not your ‘target audience’ another parent said of the LGBT activists.” Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

EXECRABLE JOE BIDEN EVEN FREES ELEVEN TERRORISTS AS HIS TIME IN THE WHITE HOUSE DRAWS TO A CLOSE. More HERE. And HERE. Pure spite toward his political prisoners who are STILL in Washington jails.

Weird little man

ALLEGED HUMAN BEING JOE BIDEN AGAIN FLAILS ANGRILY AT REPORTERS WHILE BITTERLY SNAPPING “I KNOW MORE WORLD LEADERS THAN ANY ONE OF YOU HAVE EVER MET IN YOUR WHOLE GODDAMN LIFE.” And it had NOTHING to do with the line of questioning. More HERE. And HERE.

        Biden continues to be unfit and has even been declared too mentally unfit to stand trial, yet his demented status is treated like it doesn’t affect his Oval Office activities. Former RFK Jr. senior advisor Link Lauren was the latest to point out that “This is the real Biden they’ve tried to hide from you for years.” 

LINDY LI, FORMER DEMOCRAT NATIONAL COMMITTEEE FUNDRAISER, REMINDS US ALL WHY SHE – LIKE SO MANY OF US – LEFT THE INTOLERANT DEMOCRAT PARTY BEHIND. Among her remarks she emphasized again “I am done with them” (Democrats) – and stated she is recruiting others to leave The Party, too.

BIDEN REGIME’S MERRICK GARLAND CALLED OUT AGAIN FOR LYING THAT FIVE POLICE OFFICERS WERE KILLED ON JANUARY SIXTH. Is ANY lie too low for garbage like this to spread it?

JOE BIDEN IS TAKING HIS WAR ON THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR DOWN TO HIS FINAL MOMENTS IN THE WHITE HOUSE. Continue reading

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ARREST AND TRIAL (1963-1964) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

ARREST AND TRIAL (1963-1964) – Decades before Law & Order came this forgotten television series which used one half of its 90-minute run-time to depict the police tracking down and arresting a suspect and the other half depicting the trial. Ben Gazzara, Chuck Connors and Don Galloway starred.  

This 30-episode series often kept viewers guessing, as sometimes it turned out the cops arrested the wrong person and they would be found not guilty. The trial portion also alternated between the prosecution winning and the defense winning, so neither side of the law was portrayed as infallible.

Arrest and Trial lasted just one season (yes, some shows did 30-episode and even 39-episode seasons back then). Audiences may have been too used to the comfort food of crime shows where they knew going in who was guilty and who was innocent. Cop shows like Dragnet always showed the police nabbing the guilty and lawyer shows like Perry Mason always showed the defendants being innocent. No such convenience on this show.   

Ben Gazzara played Detective Sergeant Nick Anderson, Chuck Connors portrayed Defense Attorney John Egan and John Larch was District Attorney Jerry Miller. Jo Anne Miya played Janet Okada.  Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: ROLAND BATTLES MOROCCAN CORSAIRS

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

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ROLAND BATTLES MOROCCAN CORSAIRS – The Paladins recently freed by Astolpho from the prison of the sorcerer Atlantes all hastened to rejoin Emperor Charlemagne’s army. The war against the Muslim invaders from colonized Spain and North Africa was still raging. 

Roland, the greatest of those Paladins, was so anxious to link up with the forces of his uncle the Emperor that he tried riding his horse up a mountainside as a shortcut. Part way up, Roland spotted light emerging from the entrance of a cave.

Our hero investigated and found a young woman being held against her will by a toothless hag who threatened and abused her repeatedly. Roland entered the furnished cave and asked the captive about her plight. Continue reading

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REBLOG: LIFELONG FREEDOM FIGHTER ALVAREZ GALLOSO ON JUSTIN TRUDEAU’S DOWNFALL

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