Years ago Balladeer’s Blog ran a post examining which Nobel “Peace” Prize winner killed more people: Republican Henry Kissinger or Democrat Barack Obama. It used to be too close to call but Obama’s recent fathering of the Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program has since given him the theoretical edge.
President Donald Trump hasn’t killed enough people yet to be in the running for a “Peace” Prize but bloodthirsty figures in America’s Military Business Machine keep trying to pressure him into a higher body count.
Anyway, with blood-soaked figures like Barack, Henry and even Yasser Arafat polluting the list of Nobel Peace Prize winners you can see how that prize has become a meaningless, dark-humored joke.
Add the fact that Obama got his Peace Prize in 2009, when he was so new to the presidency that he had done nothing to deserve it. He didn’t deserve the presidency, either, for that matter. But the media liked the way his shallowness mirrored their own, so there you go.
In virtually UNPRECEDENTED fashion a former rep of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee – Geir Lundestad – admitted in his book that the Committee gave the new president the Peace Prize just to try to boost him politically. No true criteria were used. Who knew they awarded Nobel Prizes “on spec” as it were?
As reported: Continue reading
6. THE ROAD TO GANDOLFO (1975) 
VILLAIN: General MacKenzie Hawkins, living legend and a cross between George Patton and Peter Falk’s manipulative CIA agent in the original version of The In-Laws. 
Exiled to a diplomatic post over his tendency to make waves the General’s hard-drinking Bad Boy behavior caused an international incident between the U.S. and China. 
DOWN GOES NUMBER THREE – The 14th ranked BLINN COLLEGE BUCCANEERS welcomed the number 3 team in the nation – the TRINITY VALLEY COLLEGE CARDINALS – on Saturday. The Buccaneers and Cardinals were tied 14-14 in the 1st Quarter but Blinn College grabbed a 24-17 lead by Halftime. A 24-24 tie to end the 3rd Quarter ultimately became a 31-27 triumph for the Buccaneers, who are still unbeaten for 2017. 
AND NUMBER FOUR COMES TUMBLING AFTER – The BUTLER (KS) GRIZZLIES battled the 4th ranked IOWA WESTERN COLLEGE REIVERS. A 14-0 1st Quarter lead for the Grizzlies was cut to a mere 14-13 edge by the break. Butler College made it a 21-13 game in the 3rd Quarter, with the Reivers scoring a Touchdown in the 4th but missing the 2-point conversion attempt. The Grizzlies won it 21-19. 
HUTCH EDGES THE DEFENDING CHAMPS – The storied HUTCHINSON COLLEGE BLUE DRAGONS took it on the road against the Defending National Champions – the number 11 GARDEN CITY COLLEGE BRONCBUSTERS. The opening Quarter ended in a 7-7 tie with the Blue Dragons on top 14-7 at Halftime. Hutchinson College led the Broncbusters 28-21 to start the 4th Quarter and from there held on for a 31-28 road upset. 
It’s been just over two weeks since the finale of the 18 episode run of new Twin Peaks chapters on cable. Like many other fans I’m still digesting some of those new episodes in light of the gloriously dark and nightmarish conclusion, so this particular blog post applies ONLY to the original Twin Peaks television series, the 1992 film Fire Walk With Me and its deleted scenes from The Missing Pieces. 
On Meet The Press on Sunday, Senator Bernie Sanders – the candidate from whom Hillary “No Billionaire Left Behind” Clinton stole the Democrat presidential nomination last year – once again stated the obvious: The current model of the Democratic Party obviously is not working.” 
(NOTE FROM BALLADEER: That’s because Democrats have become such irrational and hate-filled fascists. They literally try to destroy people simply for expressing disagreement with them. Nobody likes the Republicans, those political seats are unearned and are about people despising Democrats, not liking Republican garbage like Paul Ryan . The Democrats need to get rid of the clueless Left-Wing Archie Bunkers who have driven so many of us away from the party.) 
MECHANICS MAKE IT TWO IN A ROW – In the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association) the WILLIAMSON COLLEGE OF THE TRADES MECHANICS followed up last week’s tight victory with a blowout win this week. Yesterday the Mechanics battled the GATTACA COLLEGE NEW JERSEYANS and parlayed a 39-0 Halftime lead into a 45-20 triumph. 
SIXTY-ONE – The NAIA’s (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) LYON COLLEGE SCOTS were on the road against the TRINITY BIBLE COLLEGE LIONS from the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association). The Scots achieved defensive perfection while piling on the points for a SIXTY-ONE to NOTHING massacre of the Lions. 
TRIPLE OVERTIME – The game between the OTTAWA UNIVERSITY BRAVES and their hosts the FRIENDS UNIVERSITY FALCONS was the Marathon Game of the Day on Saturday. Regulation ended in a 21-21 tie, sending the game into Overtime. Things were still deadlocked after 1 OT session and again after the 2nd OT. It took Triple Overtime before the Braves at last emerged with a 34-28 victory. 
Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the espionage novels of the late Robert Ludlum. I know it’s odd for me to write about a figure as popular as Ludlum but I’m addressing ONLY his novels in terms of my rankings. Even the novels he wrote under other names.
7. THE GEMINI CONTENDERS (1976) 
Vittorio was the sole survivor of the family. Sobered up into a more serious worldview over the massacre of his loved ones, Vittorio became a deep cover intelligence agent sabotaging Mussolini’s war effort. His twin sons are the major characters of the 1970s portion. 
Balladeer's Blog 