Author Archives: balladeer
COLLEGE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS FOR 2019
Balladeer’s Blog offers one last round of congratulations to the 2019 college basketball champions in the divisions covered here.
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) DIVISION ONE
National Champions – GEORGETOWN (KY) COLLEGE TIGERS
Runners-Up – Carroll College (MT) Fighting Saints
2018 Champions – Graceland University Yellowjackets
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) DIVISION TWO
National Champions – SPRING ARBOR UNIVERSITY COUGARS
Runners-Up – Oregon Tech Hustlin’ Owls
2018 Champions – Indiana Wesleyan University Wildcats
NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) DIVISION ONE
National Champions – CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY YELLOW JACKETS
Runners-Up – Roberts Wesleyan College Redhawks
2018 Champions – Emmanuel College Lions Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
ADAM WARLOCK: THE MAGUS, PART FOUR
Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of another old, old, OLD Marvel Comics hit continues.
FOR PART ONE PLUS A RECAP OF ADAM WARLOCK’S FICTIONAL HISTORY CLICK HERE
PART FOUR
Strange Tales #181 (August 1975)
Title: 1,000 CLOWNS
NOTE: The writer dedicated this issue to the brilliant Steve Ditko, “Who gave us all a different reality” and it’s drawn largely in the style of Ditko’s early Doctor Strange stories.
Get ready for “Adam Warlock Meets The Prisoner.” The title 1,000 Clowns is obviously a reference to the Herb Gardner play (and later movie) A Thousand Clowns. Gardner’s play dealt with a happy non-conformist forced to try to fit in with “normal”, conventional society for family reasons.
The title and the theme of nonconformity may come from Gardner’s play but this installment of The Magus almost seems as if it’s an episode of the 1967 Patrick McGoohan series The Prisoner (previously examined here at Balladeer’s Blog). Adam’s resistance to conditioning by the Universal Church of Truth puts one in mind of the Prisoner’s resistance to the Villagekeepers. The surreal, off-kilter presentation is also reminiscent of that program.
Synopsis: Adam Warlock has come to after his lapse into unconsciousness caused by the trauma of his Soul Gem’s theft of Kray-Tor’s soul at the end of last issue. He has awakened into a bizarre alternate reality with walkways and small islands of matter floating in an endless sky. Bizarre symbols and designs ornament the skyscape like imagery from an acid trip. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
ACHA3 COLLEGE HOCKEY CHAMPS CROWNED
ACHA DIVISION THREE
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – In just their very first year of play in the ACHA (American Collegiate Hockey Association) Canada’s SAULT COLLEGE COUGARS made it to the title game. Their opponents were the GRAND VALLEY STATE LAKERS.
The Lakers got on the board first off an unassisted Goal by Reidar Burgeson, following which Ryan Vendramin of the Cougars notched a HAT TRICK to give his team a 3-1 lead. Sault College added 2 more Goals to end the 1st Period with a 5-1 advantage. Continue reading
Filed under college hockey, college sports
OBAMA DONORS FROM ECUADOR BUSTED BY I.C.E.
GARBAGE. ABSOLUTE GARBAGE AND THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER.
Another of the many, many scandals of the Obama administration came closer to resolution with the arrest by I.C.E. of fugitive millionaire Obama donors Roberto and William Isaias from Ecuador. The men whose “donation” to Barack Obama is viewed by many as a subtle quid pro quo, since Obama had his administration refuse to extradite the pair to Ecuador after the “donation” was made. (Collusion with fugitive Ecuadorian millionaires you could call it.)
Roberto and William Isaias have also been caught up in scandals involving other Democrats, including scandal-soaked Democrat Senator Robert Menendez from New Jersey.
And yet another Isaias family scandal tied to the Democrats involves another of their relatives, Estefania Isaias, who received favorable treatment from Obama’s State Department after the family donated $100,000.00 to the Democrats. Estefania was accused of Visa fraud and suspected of smuggling maids into the U.S. for Roberto and William.
Even the Democrat media outlet CNN has been found to have questionable ties with the Isaias family. Back in January when Democrat Senator Menendez was under fresh scrutiny over the Isaias Connection CNN cut ties with the family in a joint programming venture.
FOR FULL DETAILS AND THE LINK Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
FROZEN FOUR ACTION IN ACHA3 COLLEGE HOCKEY
ACHA DIVISION THREE
FIRST SEMIFINAL – The GRAND VALLEY STATE LAKERS squared off against the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN WOLVERINES. The Wolverines got off to a 2-0 advantage in the 1st Period before the Lakers got on the scoreboard to make it a 2-1 game by Period’s end. In the 2nd Period Grand Valley State knotted things up at 2 Goals apiece, then polished off Michigan 4-2 in the 3rd. Lakers Goalie Andrew Rozenbaum stopped 47 of 49 Shots on Goal. Continue reading
Filed under college hockey
FOOL KILLER: PART FOUR – MAY 29th, 1870
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT, CLICK HERE
PART FOUR: The fourth surviving Fool Killer Letter. (See Part One for an explanation.)
This letter is the first surviving letter after the fictional Fool Killer had emerged from his self-imposed hibernation in a cave since 1861, driven there by his disgust at the fools who had brought on the Civil War. Jesse Holmes (the name the Fool Killer claimed was his real identity) had emerged like a butterfly from a cocoon and was dressed in up to date men’s fashions. Wielding his usual club/walking stick/ cudgel and the set of Bowie knives that he adopted shortly before hibernating, the Fool Killer resumed his deadly attacks on corrupt politicians and societal nuisances.
These letters were really written as dark-humored commentary by Charles Napoleon Bonaparte Evans, Editor of the Milton Chronicle newspaper.
May 29th, 1870 – From “Hillsboro Township, NC.” –
This Fool Killer Letter saw its first revived publication in November of 1978, making it the last of the surviving letters to come to light but the fourth chronologically.
The homicidal vigilante turned his attention to the corrupt Democrat political practices in Reconstruction-Era North Carolina. As always the Fool Killer preyed upon the favorite targets of the Milton Chronicle and its courageous Editor Charles Evans – the Ku Klux Klan AND the northern Carpetbaggers.
It’s very easy for us Independent voters of today to relate to the position taken by Evans and his fictional Fool Killer. We often feel caught between two irrational and destructive breeds of fanatics just as Evans and “Jesse Holmes” were caught between the Democrats of the Ku Klux Klan and the Republicans running the Carpetbagger forces. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology, Neglected History
ACHA3 COLLEGE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT DAY THREE
ACHA DIVISION THREE
DAY THREE, GAME ONE – The OAKLAND (MI) UNIVERSITY GOLDEN GRIZZLIES skated against the UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA SPARTANS. In the 1st Period the Spartans got off to a 1-0 lead only to see the Golden Grizzlies go on top 3-1. The 2nd Period brought 2 University of Tampa Goals interrupted by another Goal for Oakland U. New score: 4-3, Golden Grizzlies. In the 3rd Period Oakland University dominated for a 7-4 victory. Austin McArdle was the winning Goalie with 36 stops on 40 Shots on Goal.
DAY THREE, GAME TWO – In this game the FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY STAGS clashed with the KANSAS UNIVERSITY JAYHAWKS. Neither team scored in the opening Period, and the 2nd Period ended with the Jayhawks up on Fairfield 2-0. Three Goals from the Stags in the 3rd Period gave them a 3-2 comeback win. Fairfield University Goalie Nick Lanni stopped 42 of 44 Shots on Goal.
DAY THREE, GAME THREE – Up next the FARMINGDALE STATE RAMS took on the AIR FORCE ACADEMY FALCONS. The Rams held a 1-0 lead to end the 1st Period but the Falcons tied things up at 1-1 in the 2nd. The Air Force Academy went on top 2-1 in the 3rd Period before Farmingdale State whacked in 3 Goals for a 4-2 triumph. The winning Goalie was Stephen Montgomery of the Rams with 35 stops on 37 Shots on Goal. Continue reading
Filed under college hockey, college sports
TRANSGRESS WITH KURT … AGAIN!
WE NEED THIRD PARTIES. Here at Balladeer’s Blog I am still soaking in the ongoing revolution in the thought processes of my fellow voters, more and more of them expressing their disgust with the two rival gangs of white-collar criminals called Democrats and Republicans.
My fellow former Democrats have even formed #WALKAWAY, an entire movement devoted to leaving that party which has betrayed the working class and the poor to pander to their big-money donors.
Part of the fascinating change in the political discourse in real life is the way former or estranged Republicans openly discuss their anger with the way their party still proceeds as if profits mean more than anything else. With the way the party hierarchy pretends that cronyism, inside dealing and nepotism represent a “free market” when it represents nothing of the kind.
Even pundits long associated with the political right now openly bash political “chamber of commerce” types and greedy Republican donors who refuse to enforce immigration laws so that illegals will depress wages and thereby increase the profits for the one-percenters.
Sentiments like that would have been rejected by nearly every Republican voter as “communist” ideas long ago but in recent years more and more of them push back against the bloated rich pigs at the top and point out that economic advantages for the blue bloods are not worth sacrificing everything and everyone else in the country.
Former Republicans have begun to realize why so many of us former Democrats openly despised the CIA, NSA and FBI going way back. Seeing the way that our counterproductive and/or criminal intelligence agencies are nothing but enforcers for the extremely wealthy and the politically connected has opened their eyes.
Similarly, seeing the way that the 21st Century Robber Barons in Silicon Valley abuse their wealth and influence to support only left-wing politicians has made those former conservatives realize why so many working class and poor people despised Robber Barons of the past for abusing their wealth and influence to support only right-wing politicians.
All of which is my roundabout way of getting back to KURT SCHLICHTER. That lawyer and former military man has been among the most outspoken when it comes to pointing out how the Republican establishment regularly sells out their own constituents. Here are excerpts from one of his latest columns followed by a link to the full item.
As you read, remember this is the type of man who years ago likely would have rejected the sentiments he is now expressing as the notions of fanatics who simply “resent the wealthy” (as Republicans used to dismiss any and all arguments pointing out the abuses by the elite).
You’re A Sucker For Not Believing That The System Is Rigged (That’s just the title! Not so long ago I’m betting Mr Schlichter HIMSELF would have assumed it was the title of a piece at Mother Jones or someplace similar!)
“Let’s stop pretending. Let’s stop accepting the ruling class’s lies. And let’s stop lying to ourselves. America has changed. There used to be one standard, one set of laws, one set of rules. Now, there are two.”
“The one set of rules for normal people is designed to jam us up, to keep us down, to ensure that the power of the powerful never gets challenged. And the one set of rules for the elite can be summed up like this: There are no rules.”
” … the “rule of law” they aspire to is merely their rule over you. To them, the rule of law is not some transcendent principle. Its purpose is not to ensure equality and fairness in our society. It’s a weapon designed to make sure nothing disrupts their scam.”
“We owe them nothing – not respect, not gratitude and certainly not obedience.”
“This injustice is poison to our country. This injustice is what makes republics fall apart, when the worthless ruling class pushes its contempt in the people’s collective face so hard and for so long that the population finally screams “The hell with this!””
Does Kurt go on to tell us we have nothing to lose but our chains? No, of course not, but for the full piece click HERE
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME TALLY: MARCH 22nd – 28th
“ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: RIGHT OR WRONG” IS STILL THE DEMOCRAT SLOGAN.
WHITE, PRIVILEGED ONE-PERCENTER DEMOCRAT NANCY PELOSI AND EVERY OTHER MEMBER OF CONGRESS WHO HINDERS BORDER SECURITY IS AN ACCOMPLICE TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THESE CRIMES.
Journalist and strong female role model Kelli Ballard courageously continues to compile as comprehensive as possible a breakdown of the additional crimes committed by people in the country illegally.
The victims of illegal immigrant crimes and the loved ones of those victims deserve at least as much care and compassion as the corporate media and the Democrats heap upon every criminal alien who commits murders and rapes.
FOR KELLI’S MARCH 22nd-28th ROUNDUP OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ ADDITIONAL CRIMES CLICK HERE
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
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