The year 2020 will be a year featuring plenty of Top Twenty lists here at Balladeer’s Blog. To start things rolling on this second day of the new year is this list of great items for the working class and the poor of all colors:
Low-income wage earners have seen the biggest earnings increase – Click HERE
From CBS News – Funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Opportunity Zones for black communities, First Step and more – Click HERE Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
Balladeer’s Blog’s end of year retrospective concludes with this look at November’s best:
A NEW LIST OF HILARIOUSLY WRONG PREDICTIONS FROM PSYCHICS – Cannibalism in Pennsylvania? A Civil War in the 1980s?
All that and more. CLICK HERE
ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: The People of the Moon (1895) HERE , The Dominion in 1983 (1883) HERE , A Fantastical Excursion Into The Planets (1839) HERE
THE RUSTIC – My look at this ancient Greek Comedy by Epicharmus. CLICK HERE
ALLEGRO NON TROPPO – A review of the 1977 Italian film. CLICK HERE
IRON SIGHTS: TWO PSYCHOS – Comic book giant Richard C Meyer’s latest graphic novel featuring all-out action against the Mexican drug cartels. CLICK HERE
CONGRESSWOMAN TULSI GABBARD CALLS OUT HER PARTY – The heroic role model once again displays her courage. CLICK HERE
THE BLACK TULIP: SWASHBUCKLER – An action-filled adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel from 1850. CLICK HERE Continue reading
Democrats are in SERIOUS need of introspection and soul-searching, yet refuse to venture out of the pompous haze of self-infatuation that they wrap themselves in 24 hours a day. THEY are the 21st Century’s “Ugly Americans” who prance along oblivious to all of their faults while fancying themselves to be THE moral models for the rest of us. (For the Republicans see below)
We are long past the time when America’s pompous, pretentious asses called Democrats need to be called out on their ridiculous airs. Let’s dare to blaspheme against the Democrats’ most sacred deities – Themselves:
*** GROW UP, ALREADY! YOUR PERCEPTIONS HAVE BECOME NOTHING MORE THAN WISH FULFILLMENT OR DELUSIONS TO STROKE YOUR OWN EGOS AND TELL YOURSELVES HOW WONDERFUL YOU CONSIDER YOURSELVES TO BE. (Over and over again, too, until you become unbearable. Then when you drive people away you despairingly moan how you think everyone you know is becoming right-wing.)
*** YOU HAVE A SIMPLE-MINDED, COMIC BOOK-LEVEL WORLDVIEW IN WHICH LIFE IS A CHILDISH FANTASY ABOUT GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS WITH YOURSELVES CONSTANTLY PAINTED AS THE GOOD GUYS AND EVERYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH YOU AS THE BAD GUYS.
*** YOU INSIST ON CASTING ALL OTHER ADULTS AS SUPPORTING PLAYERS IN YOUR INCREASINGLY JUVENILE DRAMAS, WITH YOU AS THE CORRECT-THINKER SETTING STRAIGHT THE VILLAINS OF THE PIECE.
*** AND IT ISN’T JUST THAT YOU PERPETUAL CHILDREN CAST EVERYONE ELSE AS SUPPORTING PLAYERS IN THOSE DRAMAS, IT’S THAT YOUR LIMITED IMAGINATIONS CAN ONLY CONJURE UP SUCH FOURTH-RATE DRAMAS. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
Balladeer’s Blog’s end of year retrospective continues with this look at September’s best:
POLEIS (CITIES) 422-419 B.C. – A look at the ancient Greek political comedy written by Eupolis. CLICK HERE
TRANSGRESS WITH ME: SEPTEMBER 23rd – Are you brave enough to share some more transgressive thoughts? CLICK HERE
ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION – Messages From Mars (1892) HERE , The Queen of Appalachia (1901) HERE , Babylon Electrified (1888) HERE , Looking Forward (1899) HERE , The Automatic Maid (1893) HERE
HEROIC WOMEN FIGHTING OPPRESSION IN THE MUSLIM WORLD – The title says it all. CLICK HERE
WOI EPIC – A Liberian epic myth about gods and demons. CLICK HERE
ISAIAH WASHINGTON – And yet another Martin Luther King Person of Courage to profile – CLICK HERE Continue reading
Balladeer’s Blog’s end-of-year retrospective continues with this look at August’s best. Enjoy your Christmas leftovers of 11 + Sauce and read:
DELL SUPERHERO PANTHEON – From World War Two to the Cold War, a look at the Dell Comics pantheon of superheroes. CLICK HERE
DAVID J HARRIS, JR – Looking at yet Another Martin Luther King Person of Courage. CLICK HERE
HAMMETT (1982) – A review of the movie depicting Dashiell Hammett mixed-up in a murder investigation. CLICK HERE
TOP MYTHOLOGICAL PANTHEONS COVERED HERE AT BALLADEER’S BLOG – My look at the gods of the Vietnamese, Ainu, Navajo, Hawaiian, Inuit and more. CLICK HERE
FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP – The August 24th edition HERE
ETHAN VAN SCIVER: THE FUTURE KING OF ALL MEDIA? – A look at the mad genius Ethan Van Sciver and his YT shows about pop culture. This man is a MUST watch. CLICK HERE
ANCIENT GREEK COMEDY: COTHURNUS (circa 405 B.C.) – An examination of the comedy by Philonides. CLICK HERE Continue reading
Balladeer’s Blog’s year-end retrospective continues with July’s best:
GANG OF ROSES (2003) – A very detailed review of the action western about a gang of four African-American women and one Asian woman shooting things up in the Ollllld West. CLICK HERE
FAQ’s ABOUT SJW’s – The title speaks for itself on this one. CLICK HERE
MOCK HEADLINES: JULY 12th – The popular comedy bit returned for this July 12th installment. CLICK HERE
NEGLECTED GUNSLINGERS: RUSSIAN BILL AND FARMER PEEL – For gambler/ gunslinger “Farmer” Peel click HERE and for expatriate Russian nobleman and gunslinger Russian Bill click HERE
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY 2019 – A light-hearted look at other July 4ths in U.S. history. CLICK HERE
APOLLO 11 AND AMERICA’S OTHER MOON LANDINGS – For the 50th anniversary of America’s first moon landing here’s a look at all the Apollo moon trips. CLICK HERE
TRANSGRESS WITH ME: JULY 19th – Another exploration of transgressive thinking. CLICK HERE
BREAKHEART PASS (1975) – A review of this classic Charles Bronson western for what was Frontierado Season back in July. CLICK HERE Continue reading
It’s no secret that Sharyl Attkisson is one of the few actual journalists left in the United States.
Her lawsuit over illegal action against her by the DOJ is ongoing but she continues to bravely follow the truth no matter where it leads her.
Attkisson has been compiling a list of the most egregious errors (some might call them intentional misrepresentations) committed by “reporters” in the last few years. Again, she just covers the inaccuracies from alleged “news” sites, not the ramblings of shallow, uninformed and emotionally unstable entertainers. Her list would be much longer otherwise.
To quote Attkisson, who is considerate enough to lump herself in with her colleagues, who have lapsed into much lower standards than she herself maintains: Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
Balladeer’s Blog’s year-end retrospective continues with this look at June’s best:
DARK SHADOWS: A review of the Phoenix storyline from Dark Shadows HERE plus the Leviathan Cult and more HERE
THE CHOICE OF THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR – The title says it all. CLICK HERE
FLASHMAN’S GUIANA – Harry Flashman on the hunt for gold in the part of British Guiana being fought over by Great Britain and Venezuela. CLICK HERE
KILLRAVEN: WAR OF THE WORLDS – The first part of my ongoing look at the 1973-1976 Marvel Comics science fiction series about heroic rebels fighting Earth’s alien conquerors. CLICK HERE
FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP: JUNE 6th – Another look at the Theater of the Absurd called the American “educational” system. CLICK HERE
GLADIATOR: AN OPERA VERSION OF THE 1930 PHILIP WYLIE NOVEL – An opera about a man granted paranormal abilities by science. CLICK HERE
FIRST BATTLE OF MACHIAS – A forgotten Revolutionary War action. CLICK HERE
HARRISON FLOYD: A MARTIN LUTHER KING PERSON OF COURAGE – A courageous iconoclast. CLICK HERE Continue reading
Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog remains the only site on the web that criticizes BOTH Democrats AND Republicans. Just as I still believe Bill Clinton did not deserve to be impeached I still believe Donald Trump does not deserve to be impeached.
Poll results (link below) show 56% of the VOTERS opposing impeachment, with Independent Voters (voters who grew up and abandoned the now-useless Democrat vs Republican paradigm) opposing it by double-digits. Many other polls reflect majority opposition to impeachment by varying percentage points.
This may be why the Democrats are now threatening to refuse to send the impeachment articles they voted on over to the Senate. This refusal takes the already disgusting kangaroo court they’ve been running and making it an absolute atrocity. Democrats are reducing impeachment to a partisan threat to hold over a sitting president’s head.
If you want to talk BI-PARTISANSHIP, there were a few Democrats who courageously voted NO on the impeachment articles plus Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard merely voted “present,” refusing to dignify the Democrats’ sham that’s been hopelessly tainted by what Gabbard calls its “partisan” nature. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
From somewhere the late fascist FBI Director J Edgar Hoover must have been very pleased with the biased Horowitz Report from the Inspector General. Once again an IG report detailed a long list of seemingly intentional abuses by the FBI and the FISA Court process but in an O Henry twist that is no longer the least bit surprising found “no political bias.”
After the sadly predictable media rush to misconstrue and misrepresent this investigation BY corrupt bureaucrats OF corrupt bureaucrats, even a few of the most anti-Trump figures in the “news” business finally realized something: Donald Trump won’t be president forever, and even if he gets reelected, he’ll be gone after four more years but the rot uncovered at the FBI will still be festering.
Back when I was a Democrat, before I left the party to become an Independent voter, I liked the party’s skepticism and criticism of the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc. Unfortunately the party sold its soul and decided that when those organizations’ corrupt behavior benefits Democrats they’re just fine with it.
ROLLING STONE REPORTER MATT TAIBBI, who is very anti-Trump, has once again risen above his own feelings – like reporters are SUPPOSED TO DO – and pointed out that the IG report actually verified the claims made by Congressman Devin Nunes and President Trump himself about the FBI’s political assault on Trump. Taibbi’s Rolling Stone piece shows how damning the IG report was for the FBI, Schiff and the Democrats’ media outlets. “Democrats are not going to want to hear this” are the most appropriate words in his article.
In a previous article, Taibbi (like Sharyl Attkisson one of the few actual “journalists” left in the country) pointed out that the “Russian Collusion” nonsense was “WMD’s times a million” (CLICK HERE ).
Now, in his latest article, Matt points out how the anti-Trump forces need to stop deluding themselves that there isn’t something deeply wrong at the FBI and with the entire FISA process. The link is below, but first some excerpts:
“Horowitz describes at great length an FBI whose “serious” procedural problems and omissions of “significant information” in pursuit of surveillance authority all fell in the direction of expanding the unprecedented investigation of a presidential candidate (later, a president)” (NOTE FROM BALLADEER: The fact that the Democrats are willing to ignore this Gestapo-style approach by the FBI just because they hate the man being investigated shows how low that party has sunk.)
“…Officials on the “Crossfire Hurricane” Trump-Russia investigation went to extraordinary, almost comical lengths to seek surveillance authority of figures like Trump aide Carter Page”
“…Likewise, the use of reports by ex-spy/campaign researcher Christopher Steele in pursuit of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authority had far-reaching ramifications. Not only did obtaining a FISA warrant allow authorities a window into other Trump figures with whom Page communicated, they led to a slew of leaked “bombshell” news stories that advanced many public misconceptions, including that a court had ruled there was “probable cause” that a Trump figure was an “agent of a foreign power.” There are too many to list in one column, but the Horowitz report shows years of breathless headlines were wrong.” (NOTE FROM BALLADEER: Yes, those headlines were VERY wrong.)
“Press figures have derided the idea that Steele was crucial to the FISA application, with some insisting it was only a “small part” of the application. Horowitz is clear: ‘We determined that the Crossfire Hurricane team’s receipt of Steele’s election reporting on September 19, 2016 played a central and essential role in the FBI’s and Department’s decision to seek the FISA order.”
“… The Steele report reads like a pile of rumors surrounded by public information pulled off the Internet, and the Horowitz report does nothing to dispel this notion. At the time the FBI submitted its first FISA application, Horowitz writes, it had “corroborated limited information in Steele’s election reporting, and most of that was publicly available information.”
“Horowitz says of Steele’s reports: “The CIA viewed it as ‘internet rumor.’” Worse (and this part of the story should be tattooed on the heads of Russia truthers), the FBI’s interviews of Steele’s sources revealed Steele embellished the most explosive parts of his report.” (NOTE FROM BALLADEER: And this is exactly like the way J Edgar Hoover’s FBI would allow even the most salacious and unconfirmed rumors about his political targets to be included in FBI files, knowing that to laymen the fact that something comes from “an FBI file” lends it undeserved credibility.) Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
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