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.

DEMOCRAT ATROCITIES: RUSSIAGASM EDITION

Russians are comingAnd Democrats wonder why the #WalkAway movement is so popular. Well, actually, it should come as no surprise that HuffPo, the site for HUFFy, POST-menopausal white Democrats, blamed #WalkAway on RUSSIANS! I’m serious.

Just get some psychiatric help, Democrats, and maybe some day all of us will come back to you.

I WILL HAPPILY COMPILE A LONG LIST OF OBAMA’S SUBSERVIENT DEMONSTRATIONS TO HOSTILE WORLD LEADERS AND YOU DERANGED TRUMP-HATERS NEVER SAW FIT TO COMPLAIN, LET ALONE THROW THE FROTHING AT THE MOUTH FITS YOU’VE BEEN THROWING OVER WHATEVER YOUR DISORDERED MINDS ARE MAKING YOU THINK YOU SAW IN THE TRUMP-PUTIN FOOTAGE.

Remember how Little Barry wanted Putin to know that he’d “Have more flexibility after the election.” That smacks more of collusion with the eeeevilll Putin than anything President Trump did or said. I’ve got a whole list of things like that from Obama’s disastrous years if you psychopaths are prepared to explain to me why we didn’t hear a peep out of you nauseating hypocrites about any of them.

And the Democrats’ oft-spoken distrust and distaste for America’s rightfully despised “Intelligence Community” (LMAO) of the CIA, FBI, NSA, etc was one of the reasons I used to be a Democrat. These days Democrats are thrilled at the thought of intelligence agency thugs abusing their powers.

Bush CIAAnd let’s talk about CIA scumbag JOHN BRENNAN! This barely human piece of filth – WHO HAD TO RESIGN OVER CIA SCANDALS ABOUT COVERT OPS AGAINST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WAY BACK WHEN – has no room to criticize President Trump – or anyone else – about anything. There are drug dealers and child pornographers who can look down their noses at the John Brennans of the world and say “Eeewww.”

John Brennan is Exhibit A regarding why abortion should always be legal. If only his mother had known she had that option the world would have been spared her vile offspring’s lifetime of polluting our planet … But I kid conscienceless trash from the CIA. A CIA which has a history of INTERFERING IN ELECTIONS OF SOVEREIGN NATIONS. 

And most importantly, ANY ALLEGED RUSSIAN HACKING OF THE WAY THE DEMOCRATIC (sic) NATIONAL COMMITTEE SCREWED BERNIE SANDERS OUT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION AND ALL THE OTHER REAL-LIFE SCANDALS THAT WERE EXPOSED WERE POSITIVES IF THEY HELPED KEEP HILLARY OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE. AND THEY WERE ALL PROVEN TRUE, UNLIKE THE RIDICULOUS TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION NONSENSE.   

Exposure of Hillary Clinton’s and the DNC’s corrupt activities was as deserving of public exposure as the Pentagon Papers. Democrats were often accused of being “traitors” and “conspirators” for publishing THOSE documents, which were classified. PSST! DEMOCRATS! You guys were RIGHT about the need to publish the Pentagon Papers and you’re WRONG to get this upset over Hillary’s misdeeds coming to light.  

Hillary reset buttonAnd speaking of Hillary, remember her ridiculous presentation of a “RESET” button to the Russians when she was Secretary of State (LMAO)? If you’re upset over Trump – quite correctly – implying our intelligence services are just as crooked and self-serving as the Russians’ intelligence services then why weren’t you upset at Hillary and Obama basically saying “Now that the scum from the previous administration is gone we cosmopolitan sophisticates can reset our relationship.”

And yes, I consider George W Bush to be vermin, too, I’m just pointing out how similar it was when Hillary and Obama pointed out Bush being pond-scum and Trump pointing out that America’s “Intelligence Community” (LMAO) are pond-scum. It’s too bad Trump went with the “misspoke” explanation because he had it right the first time. Trust me, it’s no secret to ANYBODY in the world that the CIA and its ilk are garbage.

But Democrats apparently feel that when the CIA and others are doing things that help Democrat Party members then it’s okay.    Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

FLASHMAN IN THE OPIUM WAR: LOST FLASHMAN PAPERS

Flashman cutFor Flashman Down Under click HERE  Balladeer’s Blog moves on to another Harry Flashman adventure referred to but never completed before George MacDonald Fraser’s death.

Projected Title: FLASHMAN IN THE OPIUM WAR

Time Period: Late in the Second Opium War in China (1859- 1860)

The Setup: In Flashman and the Dragon (1985) readers learned that our antihero Colonel Harry Paget Flashman had been serving in Hong Kong and mainland China long enough to become fluent in the language. Flashman in the Opium War would detail Harry’s adventures in the closing period of the Second Opium War up until the start of the Anglo-French military expedition to Peking.

The Second Opium War is still an incredibly controversial conflict from Queen Victoria’s reign. Even at the time passions ran very much against the war AND against the fact that HMG was seen as accommodating the opium trade in Chinese ports.

Hong KongTo the most critical eyes – then and now – the Empire seemed to be facilitating the market in opium so that certain British businessmen could get rich and if the drug’s use had a very negative, epidemic downside for the Far Eastern customers, that was callously perceived to be a fringe benefit.

As I say, that is the most critical view. More sympathetic figures point out that in the 1800s the world did not have the same derogatory view of the drug trade as now and the drug trade was LEGAL in the Far East. If it hadn’t been British merchants making money off the opium trade then any gaps would have been filled by the Chinese merchants who had been dealing in drugs for centuries.

The Story: Continue reading

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Filed under Neglected History, Pulp Heroes

ILLEGAL ALIEN KILLS TWO – GETS $280 FINE

Stolen Lives QuiltILLEGAL ALIENS: KILLING LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL THAT AMERICANS WON’T KILL – A mere TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY DOLLAR FINE was all that an Illegal Alien – Roberto Garza Palacios – had to suffer for killing an FBI Agent and a Fire Investigator with his vehicle … AND DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TO APPEAR IN COURT OR DO JAIL TIME.

You see, Maryland keeps making noises about wanting to be a Sanctuary State, and if they had made poor, poor Roberto appear in court then they would have been expected to turn him over to immigration authorities. To callous fans of illegal immigration the loved ones of the two dead men don’t even deserve to get that much justice in their own country’s courts. After all, they’re here LEGALLY, and Sanctuary clowns hate people who are actual citizens. Just ask the mourners of Kate Steinle.   

The Democrats at The Washington Post BURIED Roberto’s illegal status deep in the article, just like his two dead victims are buried in the ground. Immigration authorities had been searching for Roberto for years. If he hadn’t still been in the U.S. his two victims would be alive. Click HERE 

But to Democrats, President Trump is the bad guy for wanting to enforce immigration laws.

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

GOD COMICS: A DIVINE SUPERHERO

With superheroes taking over movies, television and even Halloween cosplay this seemed like a good time for a shoutout to one of my all-time favorite parody comic books. And remember, I take shots at ALL religions, including Islam, so I’m not one of those cringing cowards who only shows irreverence to Christianity. 

God Comics

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Filed under humor, Superheroes

THE PRISONER: CHECKMATE

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the 1967 science fiction/ existential drama The Prisoner. For Part One, in which I examined the themes and concepts at play in the series click HERE 

CheckmateEpisode Title: CHECKMATE … In the ongoing debate about the exact numbering of the 17 episodes of The Prisoner I place this as the 4th in the series.

Peter Wyngarde portrays this episode’s Number Two, the rotating series of executive figures running the futuristic prison city called the Village. Balladeer’s Blog’s readers may remember him from my reviews of his shows Department S and Jason King. X-Men fans will recognize him as the obvious model used by Chris Claremont and John Byrne for Mastermind’s “Jason Wyngarde” persona in The Dark Phoenix Saga

Peter Wyngarde without moustacheThe episode begins with the Prisoner witnessing yet another sudden unleashing of “Rover” the bioelectrical synthetic creation which the Villagekeepers use to subdue outbreaks of disobedient behavior among the Villagers. As usual everyone freezes in their tracks, knowing Rover will attack anyone perceived as resisting.

For once, one of the residents shows no fear of Rover. An elderly man with a walking stick (George Coulouris from Citizen Kane) continues strolling along, ignoring Rover, who shows unprecedented deference to the man before moving on to subdue whichever Villager has raised the ire of the Villagekeepers.

Our protagonist is intrigued by this and follows the Man With A Walking Stick. The two share a casual conversation in which each man is wary of the other, given that nobody can ever be sure if a fellow Villager is secretly working for the conspirators behind the Village.

gettyimages-73691209Walking Stick Man invites McGoohan’s character to a game of chess he is heading to. The Prisoner goes along and finds that the game is played with human chess pieces in one of the least subtle of the program’s metaphors.

Walking Stick Man is one of the two “players” who sit above the game shouting their moves through bullhorns. The Villagers serving as chess pieces move accordingly. Continue reading

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Filed under Forgotten Television, Prisoner (tv series)

BON JOVI: BLAZE OF GLORY

With the Frontierado Holiday coming up on Friday, August 3rd here’s another song and video appropriate to the season. It’s Bon Jovi’s Blaze of Glory from Young Guns II. 

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NO, AMERICA DOES NOT RUN CONCENTRATION CAMPS

Victims of Illegal ImmigrantsIt’s rather pathetic that this even needs to be said, but then the fascist lying trash who hate President Trump are pathetic, too. Below is a video from a Holocaust Survivor reminding Trump-haters what REAL Concentration Camps are. And remember, the so-called “family separations” at our southern border were going on under Obama and George W Bush, too, and the pictures being floated around the internet are virtually all from the pre-Trump years.

On top of which President Trump signed an Executive Order to change the situation that Obama and Bush allowed to continue. But even AFTER that, the “hey, let’s go protest something” fools still held that ridiculous weekend of protests over an issue that had already been addressed.

Trump helping victims of illegal immigrantsTwo comments I will say again: 1. We have long passed the point where, even if I didn’t support President Trump I would be pretending I did just to tick off the pieces of garbage who spew hatred of the man all day long,  and 2. The biggest regret of my life is having ever been part of the Democrat Party.

We need Third Parties desperately. If you’re someone who just can’t bear the thought of us having more than two viable political parties and are terrified of coalition governments, take comfort from the thought that a fracturing of the Democrats and Republicans may be a necessary upheaval and may be the only peaceful way out of our current situation. 

Besides, after a mere decade or even less we’d probably be left with just two dominant parties still standing, anyway. But at least they would NOT be the worthless Democrat and Republican Parties as currently constituted. Anyway, here’s the video as promised:

 

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

FRIDAY THE 13th: THE ORPHAN (1977)

Friday the 13th The Orphan biggerFRIDAY THE 13th: THE ORPHAN (1977) – H.H. Munro must have turned over in his grave at this adaptation of one of his short stories. This quasi-horror film was re-released in 1979 as just The Orphan and despite the original title it has no connection to the Friday the 13th series of slasher flicks. At least, no REAL connection. I’m surprised some unscrupulous distributor never tried sneaking this into theaters in the 1980s as a “prequel” to the slasher movies by presenting the insane young boy in the movie as the grandfather of Jason Voorhees.

Even so the title makes it hard not to think of our wealthy young protagonist “David” (Mark Owens) as an ancestor of the hockey- masked slice and dice man from Crystal Lake. In the 1920s David’s mother accidentally shoots his African Big Game Hunter father Kevin to death during an argument about his frequent overseas trips. David not only witnesses this but sees his mother put the gun in her mouth and kill herself immediately afterward.

Next David gets VERY disturbed when a presumed family member (an uncredited Christopher Lloyd in a “blink-and-you’ll- miss- him” appearance) forces him to kiss his dead father as he lies in his coffin.

The young man’s Aunt Martha arrives to take care of him (and yes, obscure movie buffs, she sometimes does dreadful things). Turns out Martha was dating David’s father before he callously dumped her to marry her sister. Martha takes her resentment of the father out on David and even chews him out about a cough he inherited from dear dead Dad. I’m sure you can tell where all this is headed. Continue reading

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Filed under Bad and weird movies, Halloween Season

FLASHMAN: THE LOST ADVENTURES

Alan Bates -better Flashman than MalcolmBalladeer’s Blog’s reviews of my picks for The Top Five Harry Flashman Novels are still getting more than their share of attention. (Click HERE ) For Flashman of Arabia click HERE.

Before I move on to review the other Flashman novels I decided to instead speculate – in total fanboy mode – on what we readers missed out on with those Harry Flashman adventures referred to but not completed before author George MacDonald Fraser passed away in 2008.

Australian gold fieldsProjected Title: FLASHMAN DOWN UNDER

Time Period: The early period of the Australian Gold Rush (1851-1852)

The Set-Up: The “Forty-Niner” section of Flashman and the Redskins ended in the Spring of 1850 with Harry and Kit Carson riding off into the sunset. Our antihero planned on at last completing his journey toward the California gold fields after all his misadventures along the way.

The Potential Story: Some members of the Australian outlaw gangs who would achieve large-scale fame during the Aussie Gold Rush got their start as failed prospectors turned criminals during the California Gold Rush. Once word got around about the Victoria finds many of the Australians abandoned California and sailed home hoping to strike it rich there.

After the thrilling Jornada del Muerto Desert finale to Flashman and the Redskins Harry was already in New Mexico so presumably he would have made it to California with at least half of 1850 still to go. Our protagonist’s usual boozing, gambling and whoring could easily have gotten him entangled in some way with a few of the shadier Aussies in the Golden State at the time.

Australian gold fields 2Once word reached California about Australia’s very own Gold Rush, Harry could have boarded a ship for Down Under either along with some of the Cali Aussies OR trying to slip away from them for his usual reasons – having slept with some of their women, conning them out of money, etc.    

Arriving in Australia, it’s safe to assume Flashman would still disdain the thought of actually working to strike it rich and would have settled in at first trying to con money from successful prospectors or winning it from them at the card-table. (In Flash for Freedom Harry mentioned playing cards in Australia with bags of gold dust as the stakes.)  Continue reading

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Filed under Neglected History, Pulp Heroes

THE #WALKAWAY MOVEMENT ROLLS ALONG AS THE DEMOCRATS DRIVE AWAY EVEN MORE OF US

mascot new look donkey and elephant headsAs the hysteria, fascism and intolerance of the Democrats continues to drive away more and more of us former party members, their Brain Trust has decided that the most recent reaction to their derangement – the #Walkaway Movement – is really being caused by RUSSIANS! Yes, really! Apparently there’s NOTHING those rascally Russians can’t do! 

Anyway, here are some more samples and excerpts from my fellow Russian Agents former Democrats about why they decided to Walk Away. (Just do a search for them if you want to read and watch your own examples.)

One person, a Memphis woman, introduced her young nephew, a St. Jude Hospital cancer survivor. She had tweeted a thank-you to Eric Trump for the Trumps’ $16 million contribution to the charity, and she’s furious at the orgy of Twitter attacks from crazed Trump-haters that she’s endured just for for thanking the Trumps.   (Let’s face it: Twitter and Facebook are nothing but “The Confirmation Bias Community”) 

Another is a gay man who says that when he “came out” as a Trump supporter he was “called a Nazi, a self-hating fag …the gays and liberals have been ruthless towards me. I was never treated this way coming out of the closet as gay … I am so happy to see so many people bravely standing up now…. now I don’t feel so alone either.” 

#WalkAwayA woman who describes herself as liberal and is married to a man who became a Trump voter: She says, “I was horrified that our friends now say I married a racist, homophobic, misogynist, horrible man. My Facebook page is just cancer, people hating on each other. I won’t be voting for a party that accuses everybody of being racist.”   (Facebook Fascists are the most narrow-minded people alive.)

African-American Brandon Tatum has a great video (CLICK HERE ) called Democrats Hate Black People in which he relates how shocked he was when he learned that the Democrats started the KKK, not the Republicans.

Among his other remarks about how the Democrats thrive on spreading hatred and division:

“They’re picking illegals over black people because they want the next voting bloc, and that’s illegals. They don’t care about you and your families. They want a population of ignorant people they can control. What did Barack Obama do for black people? Nothing…I really wish people would wake up. I got my MAGA hat on and I wear it because I’m a person with a brain and I’ve decided to walk away and be independent as a thinker.”  Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion