Author Archives: balladeer

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About balladeer

I am passionately interested in college sports, ancient Greek comedies, bad/weird movies, mythology, the American Revolution, Puck Magazine, World War I, U.S. Presidential history, silent movies, the English Civil War, epic, lyric and comic poetry, U.S. Supreme Court history, the Revolutions of 1848, the Philippine War and old pulp heroes like The Moon Man, Pilot G8, Silver John and The Rio Kid.
October 24, 2025 · 6:20 am

OCTOBER TWENTY-FOURTH NEWS ROUNDUP

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog does another current events roundup from an America where Democrats are so low they are now pretending renovations to the White House are “destruction” when President Trump does them. A historical timeline of White House renovations HERE.

EVEN TRUMP-HATER MARK CUBAN HAS SEEN THE LIGHT AND WANTS TO JOIN PRESIDENT TRUMP’S PRESCRIPTION PRICE HELP FOR AMERICANS. Have I mentioned lately that Trump is the greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime?

INDIA AND CHINA CURB RUSSIAN OIL PURCHASES AFTER PRESIDENT TRUMP SANCTIONS ROSNEFT AND LUKOIL. More pressure on deranged war criminal Putin.

DEMOCRATS, WHO CALL EVERYONE ELSE NAZIS, ARE DEFENDING THEIR CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER’S NAZI SS TATTOO. More HERE. And HERE. 2025 Democrats are such hypocritical garbage.

CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS LAUNCHING HUGE DOXING ATTACKS ON ICE AGENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES. As we’ve seen, the Democrats’ violent hate mobs will take it from there.

UNHINGED DEMOCRAT HAKIM JEFFRIES THREATENS DONORS FOR THE WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM. 

TRUMP EFFECT: WALMART THANKSGIVING MEAL BASKET AT LOWEST PRICE IN YEARS. Have I mentioned lately that Trump is the greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime?

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHILD RAPIST IS THE LATEST ILLEGAL EXPOSED FOR RECEIVING MEDICAID BENEFITS. Hey, he epitomizes the people the Democrats shut down the government for. Continue reading →

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October 23, 2025 · 12:58 pm

THE OMEGA FACTOR (1979) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

THE OMEGA FACTOR (1979) – This eerie BBC series combined the best elements of Doomwatch with Department S and injected supernatural scares that anticipated the much later series Twin Peaks and The X Files.

James Hazeldine, remembered as the snarky butler from The Musgrave Ritual episode of Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes, starred as Tom Crane. Tom was a reporter whose untapped psychic abilities bring him into conflict with an Aleister Crowleyesque villain named Edward Drexel (Cyril Luckham) and an organization called Omega.

Crane’s wife is killed through Drexel’s machinations, motivating him to give up journalism and join Department 7, a secret British government agency which researches the supernatural and the paranormal.

Louise Jameson, famous from Tenko and as Leela on Doctor Who, is Dr. Anne Reynolds, a physicist colleague of Tom Crane’s. She was a friend of Tom’s late wife and through her he discovers that he has been under Department 7 surveillance since he was a boy because of his nascent psychic powers. Continue reading →

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October 22, 2025 · 8:13 pm

FIVE AMBROSE BIERCE HALLOWEEN STORIES

ambrose-bierce

Ambrose Bierce

Halloween Month continues with Balladeer’s Blog’s look at some seasonal stories by the one and only Ambrose Bierce. I think we’re all sick of Owl Creek Bridge so here are a few lesser-known tales from “Bitter Bierce.”

THE SPOOK HOUSE (1889) – In pre-Civil War Kentucky a pair of traveling politicians take shelter in a notoriously haunted house which was once the site of a bloody massacre. The eerie abandoned house features a room from which an unearthly green glow emanates … a room in which lie all the corpses of the missing massacre victims and of all those foolish enough to stay in the house ever since.  Continue reading →

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October 22, 2025 · 11:37 am

NEWS ROUNDUP: OCTOBER TWENTY-SECOND

Time for a mid-week current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.

SECURITY CAMERA FOOTAGE HELPS IN ARREST OF ANTI-TRUMP FASCIST FOR FIRING HIS GUN AT A HOME OVER A TRUMP FLAG ON THEIR VEHICLE. Intolerant animal.

BULLETS INSTEAD OF BALLOTS: THE TARGETING OF VICE PRESIDENT VANCE’S HALF-BROTHER CORY BOWMAN’S CHURCH IN CINCINNATI. “We will not be intimidated or deterred by any obstacles,” Bowman concluded. “Our life’s work is to positively impact the people of Cincinnati, and that commitment remains unwavering.” More HERE.

EVEN DEMOCRAT SHOESHINE BOY JONATHAN STEWART POINTS OUT THAT DEMOCRATS’ OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES JUST MAKE INSURANCE COMPANIES RICH. Jason Smith does, also HERE. The rest of us pointed this out years ago – Obamacare was a unilateral favor to insurance companies that donated large amounts to Democrats.

BIDEN-HARRIS REGIME FEMA EXPOSED FOR TARGETING AND IGNORING NON-DEMOCRATS DURING DISASTER RELIEF. Even more evidence has surfaced. More HERE.

CENSUS BUREAU UNDER BIDEN ADMITTED TO OVERCOUNTING SEVERAL DEMOCRAT STATES AND UNDERCOUNTING SEVERAL REPUBLICAN STATES, RESULTING IN DEMOCRATS CURRENTLY HAVING SIX MORE CONGRESSIONAL SEATS THAN THEY SHOULD REALLY HAVE. President Trump is up against an entire bureaucracy of corrupt and biased administrators.

DEMOCRAT PARTY

DEMOCRAT DISTRICT ATTORNEY IN PHILADELPHIA LET ANOTHER REPEAT OFFENDER LOOSE AND NOW THAT OFFENDER HAS KILLED AN INNOCENT WOMAN. The Democrat war against the rest of us continues.

CHICAGO “TEACHERS” AND SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS CALL FOR SHOOTING ICE AGENTS AND MORE. 

HEART-WARMING: MEMPHIS CHILD THANKS PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR RESTORING SAFETY TO THE CITY SO HE CAN PLAY OUTSIDE AGAIN.

TRUMP TRIUMPH: GAS PRICES DROP TO LOWEST IN OVER FOUR YEARS. Continue reading →

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October 21, 2025 · 8:12 pm

WAXWORK (1988) HALLOWEEN MOVIE

WAXWORK (1988) – I’m often surprised at how comparatively overlooked Waxwork is when it comes to 1980s horror films. It’s played straight, packs in a variety of menaces, fun Easter Eggs and sufficient scares and gore for that decade of Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Pinhead. A sequel followed in 1992.

The cast includes Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, David Warner, Michelle Johnson, Clare Carey, Eric Brown, Dana Ashbrook, John Rhys-Davies, Patrick Macnee and Miles O’Keefe. As the title indicates, this movie involves a wax museum with deadly exhibits, but far more elaborate ones than similar films feature.

Virtually overnight, a nearly completed Wax Museum appears in a midwestern town. It’s still being prepared and won’t officially open for a few weeks, but David Lincoln, the smooth-talking owner played by the great David Warner, offers several curious teens special free passes to a preview the next night. Continue reading →

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October 21, 2025 · 8:52 am

COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM: CARTERET COLLEGE

Here’s the latest educational institution to launch sports teams with a nickname much more creative than the overused Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats.

CARTERET COLLEGE Continue reading →

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October 20, 2025 · 6:08 pm

BAD MOVIE: DEAFULA (1975) FOR HALLOWEEN SEASON

Deafula BalladeerFrom 2011, this is one of my most popular Bad Movie reviews, so here it is again, 14 years later. Deafula is yet another of those bad movies that has such a bizarre premise that many used to believe the film to be an urban legend, like the turkey-monster flick Blood Freak. Get ready for a deaf vampire, a very odd witch and the most joyously goofy hunchback in cinematic history.  

Deafula 2DEAFULA (1975) – Category: A neglected bad movie classic that deserves a Plan 9-sized cult following

Good intentions go horribly wrong in this film. Much like with Blood Freak, there were people who insisted this film was just an urban legend and that it didn’t really exist. Those people were wrong. This horror film is in black and white and, as the title suggests, the vampire as well as everyone else in this movie’s world are deaf and communicate through sign language, billed as “Signscope” in the movie posters and in the opening credits, as if this was a pioneering technical gimmick on a par with Sensurround. (Although considering how lame Sensurround was there may be something to that)

Never fear, though, there is also voice-over narration provided by different people for each actor so that people who don’t know sign language can follow the story. Obviously this is all very noble, and in fact Peter Wechsburg, who produced this film and stars as Deafula, was responsible for an all-sign language newscast for the hearing impaired. That newscast originated in Portland, OR which is also where Deafula was filmed. Continue reading →

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October 20, 2025 · 10:03 am

OCTOBER TWENTIETH NEWS ROUNDUP

Here’s a Monday current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.

MINNESOTA IS THE LATEST STATE EXPOSED FOR ALLOWING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO VOTE. Democrat Governor Tim Walz first okayed driver’s licenses for illegals, then let driver’s licenses be enough to vote. As we’ve all seen, Democrats rely on illegals voting which is why they are so upset about enforcing immigration laws.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK IN DALLAS SAYS PRESIDENT TRUMP’S POLICIES ARE LEADING TO HIGHER WAGES FOR WORKERS AND MORE JOB OPPORTUNITIES. I believe I’ve mentioned before that Donald Trump is the greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime.

DEMOCRAT ILLINOIS GOVERNOR J.B. PRITZKER CLAIMS HE WON ONE POINT FOUR MILLION DOLLARS PLAYING BLACKJACK IN LAS VEGAS. That’s how he’s explaining this windfall. Uh. Yeah. And I’m sure Jabba Pritzker would believe that from President Trump, right?

DEMOCRAT “SANCTUARY STATE” ILLINOIS SPENT MORE TAX MONEY ON FREE HEALTHCARE FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS THAN IT SPENT ON THE ELDERLY, FOSTER CHILDREN, ROADS AND THE ARTS COMBINED. It’s still “Illegal immigrants uber alles” with Democrats.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN ILLINOIS CAUGHT EMPLOYED BY CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT AS A COP. 

KAROLINE LEAVITT OUTMANEUVERS DEMOCRAT HAKIM JEFFRIES AND HIS CALLS FOR VIOLENCE.

DHS ARRESTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WHO OFFERED TO PAY $10,000 FOR ANYONE KILLING AN ICE AGENT.

VIDEO: WHITE DEMOCRAT SHOUTS RACIST SLURS AT BLACK FEMALE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR WINSOME SEARS AT JMU FOOTBALL GAME. Repulsive hypocrites.  Continue reading →

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October 19, 2025 · 9:27 pm

FLASHBACK: “RESISTANCE, INC.” BECOMES THE EQUALLY MORONIC “NO KINGS, INC.”

Electoral map showing Trump’s 2024 victory.

The fascistic imbeciles of the idiotic “No Kings, Inc.” playacting this weekend apparently mean “No elections!” because President Donald Trump was REELECTED for a second term last November. Democrats and other anti-Trumpers are pretending once again to do something rebellious while actually making a threatening show because they hate other people for voting differently than they did.

Elderly, decrepit 1960s generation Democrats and equally shallow youngsters like to engage in performative “resistance” at one of their endless, ENDLESS protest parties where they pretend to be edgy but are in absolutely no danger. If President Trump was the “king” they pretend he is then these protests would not be permitted, and he would not pause when courts rule against him while he appeals to higher courts.

No Kings, Inc. can be described the same way I described Resistance, Inc. back in 2017 during Trump’s first term in an old blog post. – “A collection of bloated rich pigs, brainless celebrities, privileged children of the left, international corporate interests and establishment politicians who’ve been in office for DECADES in many cases.” 

“REAL Resistance movements throughout history have been composed of the poor, the working class and courageous nonconformists of all stripes. Those REAL Resistance movements are composed of people who are taking actual RISKS because of the stands they take, unlike the Anti-Trump fascists.” 

“HELPFUL HINTS: Continue reading →

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October 19, 2025 · 1:43 pm

BALLADEER’S BLOG’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS: OCTOBER NINETEENTH

HEADLINES

NAIA BEATS NCAA DIVISION TWO – Once again an NAIA team – in this case the KENTUCKY CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS – has defeated a team from the higher Division Two of the NCAA – in this case the CENTRAL STATE MARAUDERS. The Knights parlayed their 7-0 1st Quarter lead into a 28-14 advantage at Halftime. From there, they consummated the Upset 35-27.

NUMBER FOUR TAKES A FALL – Staying in the NAIA for the moment, this game pitted the NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS against the visiting number 4 team in the nation – the MORNINGSIDE UNIVERSITY MUSTANGS. A 7-7 1st Quarter tie was unchanged at the Half. After the break, the Red Raiders toppled Morningside 14-13.

AND ANOTHER NUMBER FOUR FALLS – Down in NCAA Division Three, the 13th ranked UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT PLATTEVILLE PIONEERS welcomed the number 4 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT LACROSSE EAGLES. A 21-14 Pioneers edge to end the 1st Half became a 28-14 lead in the 3rd Quarter. In the 4th, UW-Platteville put away the Eagles 38-21. Continue reading →

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