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.

NEWS ROUNDUP: JANUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH

Time for a midweek current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.

KARMIC JUSTICE: ANGRY DEMOCRAT MOBS SWARM THE MINNESOTA CAPITOL OVER WHAT THEY CALL WALZ’S CAPITULATION TO PRESIDENT TRUMP. Hilarious!

ADDITIONAL NEWS ABOUT WALZ’S DEMOCRAT MOBS USING ADVERSARY NATION SIGNAL CHAT AND ALSO RECEIVING FOREIGN FUNDING. More HERE. And HERE. And HERE.

ANOTHER UGLY REVELATION ABOUT GUN-WIELDING ALEX PRETTI, WHO DIED WHILE RIOTING IN SUPPORT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RAPISTS AND MURDERERS. Another one HERE. Plus, he scrubbed his social media accounts before taking his gun to face the ICE Agents enforcing the law. Gee, I wonder why someone would do that to their social media history?

POLICE UNION HEAD CALLS OUT MINNESOTA DEMOCRATS FOR PREVENTING THE POLICE FROM ASSISTING ICE

LEFTIST LOON SPRAYS CORRUPT CONGRESSWOMAN ILHAN OMAR WITH APPLE CIDER AND VINEGAR IN POSSIBLY STAGED INCIDENT. The camera crew conveniently knew to have the loon in their shot long before he sprayed her. More HERE.

MORE ABOUT THE FAKE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE BORDER PATROL HOLDING A GUN TO THE HEAD OF KNEELING ANTI-ICER . So repulsive. 2026 Democrats are never honest. 

AND MORE TRUTH ABOUT GUN-WIELDING ALEX PRETTI. Along with this excerpt – “He died for the same reason why Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent on January 7. The Left is so self-righteous that they think their feelings absolve them of the law. That is precisely wrong.”

DEMOCRAT MEDIA OUTLET MS NOW RIDICULED FOR ALTERING PHOTO OF ALEX PRETTI TO MAKE HIM LOOK ATTRACTIVE. Hilarious!

ARTICLE: DEMOCRATS WANT BLOOD AND THEY AREN’T EVER GOING TO STOP.

DEMOCRAT PARTY

If you want a quick Minnesota update, the animals who support illegal immigrant rapists and murderers still support illegal immigrant rapists and murderers. Animals who support distracting from Democrat Governor Tim Walz and Ilhan Omar’s scandals still support that. Animals who support ignoring all the dead and raped victims of illegal immigrant crime and pretending that Darwin Award figures like Renee Good and the gun-wielding Alex Pretti are the only ones who died still support that.

DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE FOR OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL PUBLICLY PROCLAIMS “I AM GOING TO KILL DONALD TRUMP.” The party of fascistic animals.

SINCE CALIFORNIA’S DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM HAS FAILED THE VICTIMS OF THE CALIFORNIA FIRES LAST YEAR, PRESIDENT TRUMP HELPS AND BRINGS RELIEF TO THOSE VICTIMS WITH HIS NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER. A lesser man than Trump wouldn’t care about a state whose elected officials hate him.

DEMOCAT CRAZINESS: HEALTH CARE “PROFESSIONAL” (LMAO) REFUSES TO PROVIDE ANESTHESIA FOR TRUMP SUPPORTERS.

AS I’VE LONG BEEN POINTING OUT, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS KILL SCORES OF AMERICANS FOR EVERY DEMOCRAT WHO GETS THEMSELVES KILLED SUPPORTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT MURDERERS AND RAPISTS. All those deaths get thrown down the Memory Hole whenever Democrats riot. The Federalist finally gets on board with the counterpoint which should be brought up EVERY TIME DEMOCRATS TRY TO CANONIZE ONE OF THEIR DARWIN AWARDS IDIOTS WHO ATTACK LAW ENFORCEMENT. Continue reading

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FORGOTTEN TELEVISION: GREAT GHOST TALES (1961)

GREAT GHOST TALES (1961) – This half-hour series featured dramatizations of horror stories from Algernon Blackwood, Saki, Edgar Allan Poe and others. It was also the very last regularly scheduled fiction program to be broadcast live in the U.S.

Great Ghost Tales only ran for 12 episodes as a Summer Replacement for The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show and was never renewed. Reviews were mixed, but a lot of recognizable faces on their way to stardom showed up in the series, which was hosted by Frank Gallop.

THE EPISODES:

WILLIAM WILSON – Robert Duvall stars as the title character in this adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe story. Wilson is increasingly disturbed by a lookalike man who follows him everywhere and even goes by the same name. Star Trek‘s Joanne Linville also stars. Continue reading

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AS BLACK HISTORY MONTH APPROACHES, JACK BREWER WEIGHS IN ON MINNESOTA

Lifelong role model Jack Brewer, former NFL star turned successful businessman, courageously blasted the state’s Democrats for fomenting an insurrection and insisted that the reason they are mad is because ICE is “deporting their voters.”

Brewer was more steadfast than so many others, who forget that we had an election in 2024 and the candidate who called for enforcing immigration laws won. And conveniently, as soon as the Democrat fraud rings were exposed in Minnesota, suddenly Democrat hate mobs began provoking violence to distract from those scandals.

Over the years, America’s gutless elected Republicans have made it clear that all Democrats have to do is force a few shootings and they can undo the results of entire elections. As always, they don’t care about the countless victims of illegal immigrant rapists and murderers. They surrender because Democrat media outlets still vastly outnumber theirs, so Democrats can be much “louder.”

Democrats are basically saying that ONLY laws they approve of will be enforced, no matter how the voters feel and no matter who wins elections.

Back to Jack Brewer, he also stated “We’re deporting their voters. That’s part of what’s happening and it’s blowing up their whole plan. … Minneapolis is protecting these thugs. It’s unbelievable.”

        “There is something wrong in Minneapolis. We need a city-wide behavioral health assessment. People have completely lost reality,” he said. “I hope President Trump sends in the National Guard. We need curfews. We need real consequences for attacking law enforcement. These men and women should be able to do their jobs and go home to their families safely.” Continue reading

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KENYAN MYTHOLOGY: CREATION MYTH OF THE KIKUYU

Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are familiar with my love of mythology. I’ve covered many gods, goddesses and epics from around the world. This blog post will examine the Kikuyu (also spelled Gikuyu) Creation Myth of the Kikuyu people of what is now Kenya.

kenyaA. Ngai, the creator god, divider of the universe, divider of the land from the sea and owner of the dazzling light, descended to the Earth shortly after making it. Mists covered the entire world because of how freshly made it was.

B. After inspecting the world, Ngai established his Earthly home atop Kirinyaga (Mount Kenya), where the deity may be prayed to but he can never be perceived by human eyes.

C. Ngai developed a swelling in his knee. He cut it open (or in some versions it burst open on its own) and out came three sons, named Kikuyu/ Gikuyu, Masai and Kamba. Those sons were to marry and produce the three tribes/ nations which would be named for the husbands.

           As this portion of the tale continued, Ngai offered his three sons the choice of a spear, a bow or a digging stick. Kikuyu chose the digging stick and established agriculture; Masai selected the spear and learned to tend herds on the plains; and Kamba took the bow and established the practice of hunting for game. Continue reading

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JANUARY TWENTY-SIXTH NEWS ROUNDUP

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog serves up another current events roundup from an America where callous and uncaring Democrats continue rioting in support of illegal immigrant rapists and murderers while ignoring all the pain inflicted on the victims of those rapes and murders.

Every single victim deserves their own personal media profile like the illegal immigrant criminals get. And like the violent Democrats provoking violence and committing suicide by ICE officer. What do Democrat vermin not understand about not attacking law enforcement? Or about enforcing immigration laws?

Will the mostly useless Republican politicians and pundits show the same kind of stamina that Democrat politicians and pundits show? The (D)s are supporting violent criminals and are inflicting violence on law enforcement, yet cowardly Republicans behave like they are the ones pushing criminality.

The only reason Democrats keep getting themselves killed is because they know they are rioting in locations where the politicians, cops and judges will go easy on them if arrested. That’s where the January 6th protesters that Democrats like to pretend “threatened Democracy” went wrong. They protested in an area run by Democrat law enforcement and judges.

And even though one of the January 6th protesters was killed and her killer paid no consequences, the rest of us are not animals like Democrats are, so there were no riots.

TO REPEAT, EVERY SINGLE DEAD OR RAPED OR WOUNDED VICTIM OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS – AND THEIR LOVED ONES – DESERVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF MOURNFUL COVERAGE GIVEN TO THE JUSTIFIABLY SLAIN ANIMALS WHO ATTACK ICE AND BORDER PATROL OFFICERS.

EVERY DEMOCRAT PRETENDING THEY CARE ABOUT THE DARWIN AWARDS IDIOTS KILLED BY ICE SHOULD BE ASKED WHY THEY HAVE NO CONCERN ABOUT THE VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO REPEATEDLY COMMIT ADDITIONAL CRIMES. No such conversation or debate – in the media or in real life – should ever proceed without the pro-criminal participants being asked why they are so callous about the victims.

They are nauseatingly sanctimonious when defending the perpetrators. Some Democrats imbecilically ask “How many people have to die before we end this ICE operation?” but they should be asked “How many innocent people have to die or be raped by illegal immigrants before we enforce our immigration laws.”

AND DON’T FORGET ALL THE DEMOCRAT VIOLENCE IN MINNESOTA IS MEANT TO DISTRACT FROM THE MANY SCANDALS SURROUNDING TIM WALZ AND ILHAN OMAR. Elected Republicans, if you don’t find a backbone during all this, you will have proven once again that President Donald Trump and his allies are the only office holding members of your Party who are worth anything. 

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S APPROVAL RATING AMONG HISPANIC AMERICANS GOES EVEN HIGHER.

UNDER TRUMP’S POLICIES MURDER RATES AND FENTANYL DEATHS PLUMMETED IN 2025. More HERE.

DEMOCRAT ATTORNEY GENERAL OF ARIZONA ENCOURAGES THE KILLING OF ICE OFFICERS

MORE ABOUT TRUMP AT DAVOS.

DEMOCRAT WOMEN WISHING OBSCENE VIOLENCE ON USHA VANCE AND KAROLINE LEAVITT. Where are the Democrats denouncing this? Democrats always tell us “silence is consent.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP REMINDS MINNEAPOLIS THAT HE CAN USE THE INSURRECTION ACT AT WILL BUT HE’S BEEN MORE THAN TOLERANT WITH THEM SO FAR.

DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR OF MAINE DEMANDS AN END TO DEPORTATIONS. Democrats felt the complete opposite when Obama and Clinton deported MORE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS THAN TRUMP YET HAS. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: FUNGUS ISLE (1923)

FUNGUS ISLE (1923) – Written by Philip M Fisher. Fungus Isle has the same proto-Creature Feature feel to it that The True Inheritors (qv) had. In the case of the previously reviewed story, it was a forerunner of various giant spider flicks.

In the case of Fungus Isle it seems like the inspiration for the 1963 Japanese film Attack of the Mushroom People, aka Matango, the Fungus of Terror.  

A handful of friends find themselves shipwrecked on an uncharted island near New Guinea. The island is crawling with various types of fungus and our protagonists eventually encounter some fungi that are nearly humanoid and can walk.

The spores shot out by the fungi cling to human flesh, eventually accumulating to the point where they completely cover the body. Saltwater serves as an effective remedy to clean off the spores but there is no food on the island except mushrooms. Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL RESULTS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG: JAN TWENTY-FOURTH

NCAA DIVISION THREE

DOWN GOES NUMBER ONE – In this game the WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY CARDINALS welcomed the top ranked team in the nation – the TRINITY (CT) BANTAMS. The Cardinals put Trinity on Upset Alert with their 38-31 lead at the Half. After the break the Bantams rallied but fell short as Wesleyan U. triumphed 64-62 led by 22 points from Sam Pohlman. 

KNOCKING OFF NUMBER FOUR – The OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY POLAR BEARS played host to the nation’s number 4 team – the UNIVERSITY OF MT. UNION PURPLE RAIDERS. This was a defensive epic, with the Polar Bears up 26-19 come Halftime before winning the game 64-50 from there. Aiden Harris led Ohio Northern University with 18 points.

CENTURY CLUB – Teams scoring at least 100 points in Regulation: The CAIRN UNIVERSITY HIGHLANDERS won 104-83 at the PSU-ABINGTON LIONS   ###   Meanwhile, the GREENVILLE UNIVERSITY PANTHERS defeated their guests the BLACKBURN UNIVERSITY BEAVERS 124-110   ###   And the TRINITY (TX) TIGERS downed the SEWANEE UNIVERSITY TIGERS 103-84.  Continue reading

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MARVEL PREMIERE (1972-1981)

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at Marvel Premiere. Like Marvel Spotlight and Marvel Preview, this series served to introduce new characters and see if they proved popular enough for their own separate series.

MARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 #1 (Apr 1972)

Title: A Man-God Reborn

Villains: Man-Beast and his Animal Men

Synopsis: The long-time Marvel character the High Evolutionary, a sometime hero and sometime villain, used the almost God-level powers he possessed in his hyper-evolved state to create Counter-Earth. Traveling in time, the High Evolutionary created that twin of planet Earth 5,000 years in the past and guided its history into a near-perfect rerun of Earth’s own.

The main difference was that the High Evolutionary intervened to prevent super-powered beings from ever coming into existence on Counter-Earth. This allowed him to observe how the “real” Earth might have developed without super-powered interference.

The High Evolutionary studied his creation from an orbiting headquarters, kept company by the remaining New-Men of Wundagore Mountain, animals he had evolved into intelligent humanoid form. Those New-Men had clashed with Hulk and Thor up to this point in Marvel Comics prior to his creation of Counter-Earth.

His orbiting lair one day snagged the space-faring cocoon of the super-powered Him, a golden-skinned superbeing created by the Fantastic Four’s old foes the Enclave (aka the Hive). As Him had previously done when he clashed with the F.F. and then Thor, he emerged from his cocoon.

The High Evolutionary renamed Him Adam Warlock and explained that his evil wolf-like New Man called the Man-Beast had rebelled against him. The Man-Beast had recruited his own evil version of the High Evolutionary’s Knights of Wundagore – all of them New Men like himself. Continue reading

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DOG STARS: RIN TIN TIN AND KEYSTONE TEDDY

During the age of silent films, two of the biggest canine stars were the original Rin Tin Tin and Keystone Teddy. 

rin tin tin at typewriterRIN TIN TIN (1918-1932) – Here at Balladeer’s Blog, I’m even fonder of dogs than I am of silent movies, so this post will combine the two topics. Sadly, most silent films have become so little remembered that few people even realize that there actually WAS a real Rin Tin Tin, adopted by American soldiers during World War One.

Amid battles in September of 1918, Corporal Lee Duncan of the 135th Aero Squadron was doing recon work on a bombed-out area near Flirey, France. One of the buildings had been a breeding kennel for German Shepherds trained for Kaiser Wilhelm’s troops. The only animals still alive were a starving mother with five nursing puppies who were so young their eyes had not even opened yet.   

Duncan adopted the six German Shepherds and took them back to his unit. His superiors permitted the mother to be given to an officer, one each of the puppies to three enlisted men and the final two – a boy and a girl – were adopted by Lee Duncan himself and named Rin Tin Tin and Nanette. Continue reading

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NEWS ROUNDUP: JANUARY TWENTY-THIRD

Time for a Friday current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUES GETTING RID OF CRUEL AND INHUMANE ANIMAL TESTING TO SAVE THE POOR ANIMALS. Anthony Fauci and his ilk most affected.  

GROWTH OF AMERICA’S GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT EXCEEDED ESTIMATES AGAIN, GROWING BY FOUR POINT FOUR PERCENT. All sane Americans are delighted.

DEMOCRAT MEDIA OUTLETS’ LATEST LIE ABOUT ICE – AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WAS ARRESTED AND ICE TOOK CARE OF HIS FIVE-YEAR-OLD SON RATHER THAN LEAVE HIM ALONE, BUT DEMOCRATS CLAIM THE CHILD WAS “DETAINED” BY ICE.  Democrats like this are just large clumps of bacteria sculpted into human form.

DEMOCRATS’ INSANE DEMAND TO STOP ENFORCING IMMIGRATION LAWS DRIVES SEVERAL CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS OF THE PARTY TO JOIN WITH REPUBLICANS TO KEEP FUNDING THE DHS. Just leave the Democrats completely at this point, folks. They’re beyond all reason.

HEROIC ICE AGENTS OVERCOME DEMOCRAT MOBS TO CONTINUE SAFEGUARDING THE REST OF US FROM ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DRUG TRAFFICKERS, SEX OFFENDERS AND BURGLARS IN LATEST ACTIONS. Pathetic Democrat drama queens continue to pretend they’re part of a “resistance movement.” LMAO!

FIRST ARRESTS MADE OVER MINNESOTA DEMOCRATS’ FASCIST INVASION OF A CHURCH. Another one HERE. At present, mob leader Don Lemon is still being protected by Minnesota “magistrate” (LOL) whose wife works as an assistant attorney general for Democrat Keith Ellison. 

VIDEO: PRIVILEGED WHITE DEMOCRAT WOMEN CALL A BLACK ICE OFFICER A RACE TRAITOR, AN IDIOT AND CLAIM HE HAS “AN EIGHTH GRADE READING LEVEL” BASED ON NOTHING. Anyone still defending these Minnesota fascists are as bad as they are. 

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP CELEBRATED THEIR TWENTY-FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY YESTERDAY.

TRUMP’S PAST YEAR OF EDUCATIONAL REFORMS PRAISED.

“TEACHER” AND COACH WHO WORKED AT A NEW YORK CITY SCHOOL ARRESTED FOR RAPING FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD FEMALE STUDENT. Democrats, can you please leave minors alone?

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN GEORGIA ARRESTED FOR RAPING AN ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL DURING A HOME INVASION. Luckily, no Democrat mobs were on hand to protect the charged rapist. 

DEMOCRAT “TEACHER” IN MINNESOTA INSULTS AND DEMEANS A STUDENT FOR DISAGREEING WITH HER ABOUT RENEE GOOD. Democrat politicization of the educational system needs to end. They aren’t teachers, they’re Commissars.  Continue reading

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