Author Archives: balladeer

balladeer's avatar

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.

ITEM BY ROLLING STONE EDITOR MATT TAIBBI EXAMINES WAYS THAT DEMOCRATS ARE NOW AN INTOLERANT FASCIST MOB

Matt TaibbiWE NEED THIRD PARTIES! DEMOCRATS WANT A ONE-PARTY NATION! The Democrats and their media outlets have become an intolerant fascist mob whose war on the rest of us continues unabated. Rolling Stone editor Matt Taibbi is well-known for his hatred of de facto Third Party President Donald Trump but he also speaks out about the intolerance and fascist behavior that have driven so many former Democrats like me to #WALKAWAY from that crazed, frothing at the mouth political party.

In a recent piece Taibbi pointed out how the Democrats have become dangerously irrational, from their Trump “Russian collusion” delusions up through their insane attempt to destroy anyone who expresses anything less than admiration for the destructive riots that Democrats have unleashed by hiding behind George Floyd’s death.

AAAAAAAAAWOMAN WITH SIGN

NO DEMOCRAT WOULD ALLOW THIS SIGN IN A CLASSROOM OR OFFICE

Often grouping them together as “the left,” Matt runs down a list of ways that the Democrats, their media outlets, their social media corporations and the “educational institutions” (LMAO) that they have a virtual monopolistic hold over are acting outside of the ballot box – indeed, outside of the entire political system – to force what amounts to one-party rule on the rest of us. Links are below but first some excerpts:

“It feels liberating to say after years of tiptoeing around the fact, but the American left has lost its mind. It’s become a cowardly mob of upper-class social media addicts, Twitter Robespierres who move from discipline to discipline torching reputations and jobs with breathtaking casualness.”

“The leaders of this new movement are replacing traditional liberal beliefs about tolerance, free inquiry, and even racial harmony with ideas so toxic and unattractive that they eschew debate, moving straight to shaming, threats, and intimidation. They are counting on the guilt-ridden, self-flagellating nature of traditional American progressives, who will not stand up for themselves, and will walk to the Razor voluntarily.”

“They’ve conned organization after organization into empowering panels to search out thoughtcrime, and it’s established now that anything can be an offense, from a UCLA professor placed under investigation for reading Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” out loud to a data scientist fired* from a research firm for — get this — retweeting an academic study suggesting nonviolent protests may be more politically effective than violent ones!”

” … The New York Times, the InterceptVox, the Philadelphia Inquirier, Variety, and others saw challenges to management.”

” … Probably the most disturbing story involved Intercept writer Lee Fang, one of a fast-shrinking number of young reporters actually skilled in investigative journalism. Fang’s work in the area of campaign finance especially has led to concrete impact, including a record fine to a conservative Super PAC: few young reporters have done more to combat corruption.”

“…Yet Fang found himself denounced online as a racist, then hauled before H.R. His crime? During protests, he tweeted this interview with an African-American man named Maximum Fr, who described having two cousins murdered in the East Oakland neighborhood where he grew up.”

“Saying his aunt is still not over those killings, Max asked: I always question, why does a Black life matter only when a white man takes it?… Like, if a white man takes my life tonight, it’s going to be national news, but if a Black man takes my life, it might not even be spoken of… It’s stuff just like that that I just want in the mix.”

“… A significant number of Fang’s co-workers, nearly all white, as well as reporters from other major news organizations like the New York Times and MSNBC and political activists (one former Elizabeth Warren staffer tweeted, “Get him!”), issued likes and messages of support for the notion that Fang was a racist. Though he had support within the organization, no one among his co-workers was willing to say anything in his defense publicly.”

” … To save his career, Fang had to craft a public apology for “insensitivity to the lived experience of others.” According to one friend of his, it’s been communicated to Fang that his continued employment at The Intercept is contingent upon avoiding comments that may upset colleagues.”

” … After the 2016 election, we began to see staff uprisings. In one case, publishers at the Nation faced a revolt – from the Editor-in-Chief on down – after an article by Aaron Mate and Patrick Lawrence questioning the evidentiary basis for Russiagate claims was run. Subsequent events, including the recent declassification of congressional testimony, revealed that Mate especially was right to point out that officials had no evidence for a Trump-Russia collusion case. It’s precisely because such unpopular views often turn out to be valid that we stress publishing and debating them in the press.”

Looters different from protestors” … Kathleen Kingsbury [The NYT’s newest opinion page editor], issued a staff directive essentially telling employees they now had a veto over anything that made them uncomfortable: “Anyone who sees any piece of Opinion journalism, headlines, social posts, photos—you name it—that gives you the slightest pause, please call or text me immediately.”

“… All these episodes sent a signal to everyone in a business already shedding jobs at an extraordinary rate that failure to toe certain editorial lines can and will result in the loss of your job. Perhaps additionally, you could face a public shaming campaign in which you will be denounced as a racist and rendered unemployable.”

“… Looting in some communities has been so bad that people have been left without banks to cash checks, or pharmacies to fill prescriptions; business owners have been wiped out (“My life is gone,” commented one Philly store owner); a car dealership in San Leandro, California saw 74 cars stolen in a single night. It isn’t the whole story, but it’s demonstrably true that violence, arson, and rioting are occurring.”

“However, because it is politically untenable to discuss this in ways that do not suggest support, reporters have been twisting themselves into knots. We are seeing headlines previously imaginable only in The Onion, e.g., “27 police officers injured during largely peaceful anti-racism protests in London.”

 — Matt Vespa, writing about Taibbi’s piece, observed:

” … the inability of the media to counter it due to the lefty mob is probably why issues like “Defund the Police” seem like it’s a popular position. It’s not. Taibbi noted polls “show 65% of Americans oppose [defunding the police], including 62% of Democrats, with just 15% of all people, and only 33% of African-Americans, in support.”

“But if you shame, de-platform, and purge those liberals who haven’t gone totally insane from your ranks, I could see how abolishing the police could seem like a possibility if you’re a lefty loon.” Continue reading

57 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

THE HYPNOTIC EYE (1960) ON THE TEXAS TWENTY-SEVEN FILM VAULT

Hypnotic EyeIn the middle 1980s/ Way down on Level 31 …

Before MST3K there was The Texas 27 Film Vault! Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at another film shown and mocked by Film Vault Technicians First Class Randy Clower and Richard Malmos.

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: Saturday April 12th, 1986 from 10:30pm to 1:00am. 

Radar Men from the MoonSERIAL: Radar Men from the Moon was the current serial being shown. This episode of The Texas 27 Film Vault featured Chapter Nine titled Battle in the Stratosphere. During the 12 week run of this serial one of the behind the scenes crew (no one remembers who at this point) would dress as Commando Cody, the hero of the serial, and occassionally interact with Randy and Richard during the comedy sketches. 

FILM VAULT LORE: This was supposedly the favorite episode of the Film Vault Corp’s effects man Joe Riley, which is why he used the title The Hypnotic Eye for his post-T27FV television show, episodes of which are on Youtube.

Texas 27 Film Vault posterCOMEDY SKETCHES : This episode aired when Randy still “outranked” Richard in the Film Vault Corps and so their relationship often had the “Main Character and Abused Second Banana” vibe like with Zacherle and My Dear, or Dr Morgus and Chopsley or Dr Forester and TV’s Frank. (F-Troop fans might describe it as a “Sgt O’Rourke and Cpl Agarn vibe.”)

The Host Segments therefore featured Richard supposedly being subjected to the type of mutilation the hypnotized female victims in The Hypnotic Eye were inflicting on themselves. Joe Riley’s special effect of Richard’s hair being set on fire was as intentionally laughable as the effect in the movie itself.  

THE MOVIE:   Continue reading

6 Comments

Filed under Bad and weird movies, Forgotten Television, Movie Hosts

CASE OF THE MIRROR OF PORTUGAL (1971) – RIVALS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Rivals of Sherlock Holmes bestFor Balladeer’s Blog’s review of the first episode of this 1971-1973 series about London by Gaslight detectives from both the Victorian and Edwardian Ages you can simply click HERE   

mirror of portugalEpisode: THE CASE OF THE MIRROR OF PORTUGAL (October 25th, 1971)

Detective: Horace Dorrington, created by Arthur Morrison. The first Dorrington story was published in 1897.

Review: This is the second of two Dorrington episodes from Season One of The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes. Peter Vaughan reprises his role as the unscrupulous yet charming private investigator. Kenneth Colley and Petronella Barker are also back as Farrish and Miss Parrot, Dorrington’s lovebird aides who often do the legwork for their demanding boss.

DorringtonThe story begins with Horace in the middle of one of his typical scams. He’s been hired by an insurance company to recover a stolen painting after his Scotland Yard rival Inspector Brent (Lloyd Lamble) failed to do so.

Dorrington tracked down the art thief and recovered the painting but is now auctioning it off on the underground market to the highest bidder since they’ll pay more than the insurance company. Meanwhile he keeps the painting concealed under a mundane drawing of a dog. 

While pursuing that shady undertaking the ruthless detective gets hired by restaurateur Leon Bouvier (Oscar Quitak) to recover a precious item that was just taken from him in an alleyway during an armed robbery. Continue reading

10 Comments

Filed under Forgotten Television

DEMOCRATS CONTINUE THEIR WAR ON THE REST OF US

Antifa is that youWhile the buffoonish Joe Biden said that George Floyd’s death was “bigger than the Martin Luther King assassination” and how he wants to use troops to remove de facto Third Party President Donald Trump from office, the other slobbering psychopaths called Democrats continued their war on the rest of us.

Antifa demDemocrats want the police defunded, want people fired for daring to criticize Democrat mobs and are okay with several city blocks including a police station being seized by the mostly white children of privilege from KLAN-tifa (Antifa). The Democrat mayor even called that seizure “patriotic” and is ignoring the ongoing extortion of protection money from innocent people trapped inside the Klantifa-held area. 

Lee Fang, one of the few actual journalists left in the country, commented on social media regarding what’s going on around the country and also posted remarks made by a young man of color. 

Lee Fang

@lhfang

Social media is not only turning these violent protests into a form of entertainment, it’s also a dangerous incentive for groupthink for reporters terrified of openly questioning the lefty conventional wisdom around riots.

Seeing so many manipulate the MLK quote that riots are the “language of the unheard.” Read the actual speech. It’s a passionate argument against riots and in support of nonviolence at a time when much of the radical left despised MLK and embraced violence. https://www.gphistorical.org/mlk/mlkspeech/index.htm 

Asked everyone I spoke with today if there was anything they wanted to get off their chest about the movement. Max from Oakland, a supporter of BLM, had a measured critique he wanted to share. (click on the 2,741)

Looters different from protestorsMeanwhile, Michael Tracey, whose disgust with the Democrats reminds me so much of my own when I first decided to #WALKAWAY from them and become an Independent Voter, also expressed sentiments on social media.
Here they are below: 
 

Michael Tracey

@mtracey

Media culture is now filled with coddled 20-and-30 somethings who have been inculcated into believing that presenting an alternate view constitutes “violence” against them, and therefore they’re not obligated to make arguments. Their inherent rightness/superiority is just ASSUMED

Understand what’s happening here. The left/liberal media world is demanding that journalists CEASE CRITICAL THINKING and hand over their critical thinking faculties to others, because to not do so would be gravely offensive and possibly even violent. Fucking ridiculous clowns.

Continue reading

14 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

SHUGENDO MYTHOLOGY: A LOOK AT EN NO OZUNU

En No OzunuRegular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that I consider all religions to be mythology, which people are usually fine with unless it’s their own personal religion I’m examining. At any rate En No Ozunu is revered as the founder and most active mythical figure in the belief system called Shugendo, and in some offshoot cults of Shugendo as a virtual patron deity of ninja practices and ancient weather forecasting.

Practitioners of the Shugendo faith are called Yamabushi and their belief system fuses elements of Shinto, Ainu, Buddhism and Taoism along with features of shamanism and the ancient Japanese reverence for mountains, all of which are considered sacred ground in Shugendo. The ninja connection is very big in popular culture but actually the Ainu are more technically the originators of many ninjutsu practices.  

En No Ozunu supposedly began his existence on Earth when he was born to a mortal woman who was Continue reading

12 Comments

Filed under Mythology

PULP HERO NORTHWEST SMITH: STORIES SEVEN AND EIGHT

Northwest Smith coverBalladeer’s Blog continues its examination of another neglected pulp hero – in this case Northwest Smith. Created by the female author C.L. Moore in the 1930′s Northwest Smith was a ruthless outer-space smuggler and mercenary decades before Han Solo. With his Venusian partner Yarol at his side and armed with a trusty blaster Smith roamed the solar system in his deceptively fast spaceship The Maid. For more on Northwest Smith and other neglected pulp heroes click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/ 

7. THE COLD GRAY GOD (1935) – A smuggling jaunt has brought Northwest Smith back to Mars. While hanging out in the cold and snowy Martian city of Righa our hero gets hired by a most unusual client. Her name is Jaida, a beautiful Venusian woman who years previously had been THE singing sensation of the Cabaret circuit at the network of casinos and leisure resorts of Jupiter’s colonized moons. At the height of her fame Jaida turned her back on success and went into seclusion.

It turns out the former singer “found religion” in the form of the esoteric worship of The Un-Nameable One, the god of Mars’ distant past. The god is worshipped now only by super-secretive cults throughout the solar system; cults which claim to know the secrets of the ancient lettering which adorns most Martian households but whose meaning has long been forgotten. Jaida hires Smith to recover a stolen relic of the dark religion from the Righa crook who nabbed it. Continue reading

14 Comments

Filed under Pulp Heroes

JOURNALISTS AGREE THAT THEIR FELLOW DEMOCRATS HAVE DESTROYED THE NEWS MEDIA’S CREDIBILITY

mascot new look donkey and elephant headsEvery former Democrat like me who has chosen to #WALKAWAY always experiences deja vu when they see others finally noticing and objecting to the way Democrats have become so unhinged that they’ve turned every aspect of life into a political battlefield. And they want everyone who disagrees with them destroyed, personally and professionally.

Various hardcore anti-Trump reporters have shown integrity by objecting to the crazed, rabid propaganda that their colleagues have been churning out, especially following the riots over George Floyd’s death. The police behavior involved in that death was so blatantly out of line that for a few brief moments the nation was united in sadness and outrage.

Pelosi and Schumer and Kente clothA nation united is something that Democrats can not stand to see, and even though the Minneapolis officers involved were quickly fired and/or facing charges the Democrats and their media outlets rapidly transformed the situation into hate-filled riots and looting that raged for days.   

The Tom Cotton op-ed at the New York Times and what followed erupted into what some journalists have called “civil wars” in newsrooms across the country between rational reporters and their unhinged colleagues. Links are below, but first some excerpts from journalists whose anti-Trump credentials cannot be questioned.

First up, female journalist Bari Weiss:

Bari Weiss

@bariweiss

The civil war inside The New York Times between the (mostly young) wokes the (mostly 40+) liberals is the same one raging inside other publications and companies across the country. The dynamic is always the same. (Thread.)

The Old Guard lives by a set of principles we can broadly call civil libertarianism. They assumed they shared that worldview with the young people they hired who called themselves liberals and progressives. But it was an incorrect assumption.

The New Guard has a different worldview, one articulated best by @JonHaidt and @glukianoff. They call it “safetyism,” in which the right of people to feel emotionally and psychologically safe trumps what were previously considered core liberal values, like free speech … there are dozens and dozens of examples.

I’ve been mocked by many people over the past few years for writing about the campus culture wars. They told me it was a sideshow. But this was always why it mattered: The people who graduated from those campuses would rise to power inside key institutions and transform them. (NOTE FROM BALLADEER: LINK TO MY PIECES ABOUT THAT SITUATION HERE )

I’m in no way surprised by what has now exploded into public view. In a way, it’s oddly comforting: I feel less alone and less crazy trying to explain the dynamic to people. What I am shocked by is the speed. I thought it would take a few years, not a few weeks.

Next up is Michael Tracey: 

Michael Tracey

@mtracey

The NYT and other media institutions are being held hostage by millennials whose belief system includes such precepts as, “Publishing something I disagree with physically endangers me.” They use bizarre emotional manipulation tactics to assert their dominance. And they’re winning.

Continue reading

18 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

SIX-GUN CAESAR AND HIS GUNSLINGERS OF THE ROUNDTABLE

masc graveyard newFrontierado Season is fast approaching! That holiday celebrating the mythic aspects of the Old West falls on the first Friday of August. To help us all start to get in the mood here are some new Frontierado Sagas in the spirit of Tomahawk Tam, the Blackwater Kid and others. (FOR MORE FRONTIERADO ITEMS CLICK HERE )

MASCOT COWBOY 2SIX-GUN CAESAR (Ethan Van Sciver) – The man who would go on to fame as Six-Gun Caesar was born Ethan Van Sciver to a Mormon family from Philadelphia. By the time he was a teenager Ethan was already a skilled gunman and was serving as a Danite, one of the gunslinging “knights” of the Mormon faith.

              Ethan and his fellow Danites safeguarded Mormon pilgrims on their journey to Deseret (later the state of Utah) after the Mormon Wars in Missouri and Illinois drove the persecuted practitioners of that faith westward. After years of experience protecting Mormon wagon trains from outlaws, hostile Native Americans and hooded anti-Mormon mobs, Van Sciver gained even greater prominence during the May 1857 to July 1858 Utah War. Continue reading

6 Comments

Filed under FRONTIERADO, Pulp Heroes, Superheroes

FOOL KILLER FORTY-FIVE: MARCH 1911

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT, CLICK HERE 

Fool Killer HorsleyPART FORTY-FIVE – Of interest to me in the March of 1911 issue of James Larkin Pearson’s version of the Fool Killer:

*** A derogatory reference to a fool as “whiffledick.” Obviously that would not carry the exact same meaning back in 1911 as it does today, but it caught my eye. The target of the insult and the exact context cannot be determined from the copy of the issue I had access to because of too much fading.

*** The Fool Killer targeted an Illinois farmer named Reedy (no first name given) for authoring a study he performed which – Reedy claimed – proved that cows need music to improve milk production. Reedy had Oscar H. Bollman (We needed HIS full name?) install a Mason & Hamlin piano in the barn where Reedy had a professional piano player perform for the cows during milking time. Reedy claimed his 19 cows were producing more milk than any 30 cows. Celebrity singers were already lining up to sing to Reedy’s cows. I’m not kidding.

*** Bloated rich pigs who bought miles of land that they wouldn’t need. Continue reading

6 Comments

Filed under Mythology, Neglected History

EVEN THIS WELL-KNOWN TRUMP-HATER HAS NOTICED THAT POLICE BRUTALITY IS THE WORST IN DEMOCRAT-RUN CITIES

Democrats KKKEven Shaun King, whose hatred of de facto Third Party President Donald Trump is well-known, has noticed that – like in Minneapolis – it’s always Democrat-run areas which have the worst examples of police misconduct and brutality. WE NEED THIRD PARTIES!

Democrat politicians kept the officer in the George Floyd tragedy instated despite his past behavior. And as always Democrats blame the rest of us and tell us to hang our heads in shame for THEIR atrocities.

Anyway, Shaun King joined the growing chorus of voices pointing out that the Democrats are lying when they claim that voting for them is the key to everything. 

Go all the way, Shaun, and join those of us who chose to #WALKAWAY and become Independent Voters. Anyway, below is what Shaun had to say on social media to the “Just vote Democrat” fascists: 

Shaun King

@shaunking

STOP generically telling us to VOTE in response to all of the police brutality we have right now.

Yes we should vote. But we have to be VERY specific.

Democrats, from top to bottom, are running the cities with the worst police brutality in America right now.

We voted for them.

10 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion