Category Archives: opinion

MOTOR PIRATES (1906) SILENT SCI-FI/ CRIME SHORT

MOTOR PIRATES (1906) American release title The Modern Pirates – This British action short was directed by England’s monumentally underrated silent film director Arthur Melbourne Cooper. Motor Pirates clocks in at under 9 minutes but crams quite a bit into that runtime. 

A pair of brilliant criminals have designed an armored vehicle in which to carry out crimes. And remember, this was before tanks were being used in combat. The armored car also sports a few diesel-punk gadgets. 

The Motor Pirates drive their vehicle on to a country estate where they employ its front-end “suction feature” to vacuum up several chickens. Four men of the estate come out with guns blazing to stop the crooks, but they shoot down their victims, leaving three dead and one barely clinging to life as they drive off.

Personally, I wouldn’t want murder charges hanging over my head for a crime as petty as chicken-poaching, but what can you do? A child comes along and the victim who is clinging to life has the little girl go and fetch a police officer. Continue reading

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FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIRST ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

Here’s another current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S LATEST BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION AT THE WHITE HOUSE.

DEMOCRAT MAYOR KAREN BASS PRAISES PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR BEING FAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE IN REMOVING TOXIC WASTE FROM LOS ANGELES. She pointed out that a process that was expected to take months has been handled by Trump in mere weeks.

TIGER WOODS AT WHITE HOUSE FOR TRUMP’S EVENT, TOO. Kodak Black HERE

MILLER REMINDS THE CORPORATE MEDIA ABOUT THEIR COMPLICITY IN COVERING UP FOR JOE BIDEN’S UNFITNESS AND MORE.

DELTA AIRLINES CEO SHUTS DOWN GHOULISH DEMOCRAT ATTEMPTS TO BLAME TRUMP FOR THE TORONTO PLANE ACCIDENT. More HERE.

TRUMP NOMINEE KASH PATEL CONFIRMED AS NEW HEAD OF FBI

PRESIDENT TRUMP BRINGS THE RECEIPTS ABOUT THE CORRUPTION THAT D.O.G.E. HAS UNCOVERED. More on D.O.G.E. HERE. But Democrats STILL pretend there is “no evidence” no matter how much evidence has been presented.

D.O.G.E. REVEALS TWO BILLION DOLLARS THAT WAS FUNNELED TO DEMOCRAT STACY ABRAMS’ GROUP.

SMACKING DOWN NIALL FERGUSON’S ABSURD TAKE ON UKRAINE.

CORRUPT REPUBLICAN SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL RETIRING. Light does tend to scare away cockroaches.

NEW YORK DEMOCRATS REDUCING CHARGES AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED FOR ADDITIONAL CRIMES AND LETTING THEM WALK BOND-FREE. More HERE. Even now the Democrat motto is “Illegal immigrants uber alles.” Continue reading

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Filed under Anti-Donald Trump hysteria, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOON ROUNDUP: FEB NINETEENTH

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog presents another current events roundup.

PRESIDENT TRUMP VS AMERICA’S CESSPOOL OF CORRUPTION – CLEANING OUT THE BIDEN REGIME’S POLITICAL OPERATIVES IN U.S. ATTORNEY POSITIONS. The Democrats did a stealth-revert to their Spoils System through their politicized hiring practices.

D.O.G.E. SAVINGS TRACKER PROVIDES UPDATED TOTALS OF THE WASTE THEY HAVE ELIMINATED FROM THE WASHINGTON DC SWAMP. And more HERE.

REVEALED: JOE BIDEN WAS USING THE IRS TO TARGET HIS POLITICAL ENEMIES EVEN ON HIS WAY OUT THE DOOR. And I will mention again that anti-Trump fascists who insisted on seeing years’ worth of his tax returns (which proved he did nothing wrong, by the way) don’t want such tax return transparency applied to the rest of America’s elected figures. And I think we all know why.

PRIME MINISTER ORBAN POINTS OUT HOW THE DEMOCRATS WERE ABUSING USAID TO IMPOSE THEIR POLITICAL PREJUDICES ON THE REST OF THE WORLD VIA TAXPAYER MONEY.

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION DUFFY EXPOSES THE MESS OF UNFILLED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER POSITIONS THAT THE BIDEN REGIME LEFT UNFIXED FOR FOUR YEARS. As we all witnessed, if Biden couldn’t make money off a situation he ignored it.

LEAVITT HAS TO CORRECT THE GHOULISH, DEATH-EXPLOITING DEMOCRAT CHUCK SCHUMER ABOUT THE PLANE CRASH IN CANADA.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BATTLES DEMOCRAT BIGOTRY IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Continue reading

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Filed under Anti-Donald Trump hysteria, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

BESS THE DETECTRESS: SILENT FILM HEROINE

BESS THE DETECTRESS – Bess Meredyth was a silent film starlet, writer and director. This particular blog post will focus on her Bess the Detectress character at Universal Studios but in the future Balladeer’s Blog will cover other aspects of her life and career.

Bess was married to Casablanca director Michael Curtiz and was the mother of writer-director John Meredyth Lucas, famous for his work on Star Trek and other programs. 

BESS THE DETECTRESS IN THE OLD MILL AT MIDNIGHT (Jun 1914) – The first short in the Bess the Detectress series. When the stage show she was performing in closes as a flop, Bess is left scrambling for her next meal. She spots a Wanted poster offering a reward of $200.00 (equal to $6,300 in 2025) for the capture of the male outlaw Honey Hall.

Bess determines to get that reward money and turns sleuth, wielding a toy gun which she uses to bluff criminals. She follows a few wrong leads but ultimately gets the bandit and the reward money. Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG RANKS THE PRESIDENTS: 2025

FIRST, I AM DOING WHAT ANY SUCH LIST COMPILER SHOULD DO IF THEY ARE TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE: I am omitting the most recent presidents because of the way emotion (and hysteria in some cases) can color perceptions of them. Presidential rankings lists which go all the way up to the present year are used simply as partisan political propaganda, not as true assessments.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT

GEORGE WASHINGTON 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT Continue reading

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FEB SEVENTEENTH ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

Another current events roundup courtesy of Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog, coming to you from an America where the Democrat/ Republican divide has temporarily been replaced by a “pro-corruption/ anti-corruption” divide.

TRUMP-MODI MEETING RESULTS IN INDIA BUYING MORE FUEL AND JETS FROM THE UNITED STATES.

BUSTING THE USAID-INTERNEWS MEDIA CARTEL.

CORRUPT WASHINGTON DC POLITICIANS AND FUNCTIONARIES SCRAMBLING TO DESTROY EVIDENCE, LAUNDER THEIR ILL-GOTTEN MONEY OUT OF THE COUNTRY AND LAWYER UP.

MORE REVELATIONS ABOUT THE BIDEN REGIME MONEY LAUNDERING OPERATION.

ANOTHER ONE POINT NINE BILLION DOLLARS REVEALED TO HAVE BEEN LOOTED FROM HUD BY THE BIDEN REGIME. More about HUD HERE.

BIDEN REGIME’S ARMY WAS DIVERTING SOLDIERS’ FOOD MONEY FOR OTHER USES

WASHINGTON STATE DEMOCRATS ADJUST LEGISLATION IN FAVOR OF WITHOLDING INFORMATION FROM PARENTS IF THEIR CHILD SUFFERS SEXUAL ASSAULTS AT THE HANDS OF FACULTY OR STAFF. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

JUDGE’S STEALTH MODIFICATION TO THEIR ANTI-INTEGRITY RULING GIVES THE GAME AWAY.

FURTHER LOOKS AT HOW DEMOCRATS DISTORTED THE DOE, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES INTO CHURCHES OF IRRATIONAL THOUGHT AND POLITICAL INTOLERANCE. I need to revive my Faculty Lounge Fascist Roundup series.

DEMOCRAT SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY RIDICULED FOR MISTAKING A FAKE LARA TRUMP PAGE FOR THE REAL THING. Once again, we see that anti-Trump buffoons will foolishly believe anything. Murphy was called a moron, but hey, anti-Trumpers will be quoting the fake page as if it was real for years. Continue reading

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THREE FORMER PRESIDENTS WHO RETURNED TO FEDERAL SERVICE

As Presidents Day Weekend continues here’s another seasonal post from Balladeer’s Blog. This item looks at the three former presidents who occupied other United States federal government positions after their years in the White House.

William Howard TaftWILLIAM HOWARD TAFT

Gang Affiliation: Republican

Post-Presidency Office: Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

Comment: In July of 1921, President Warren G. Harding took time out from letting his criminal cronies run the country to appoint former President Taft as the new Chief Justice.

Among the Associate Justices serving on the Supreme Court when Taft took the position were three of the legends of the Court – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, Louis Brandeis and Willis Van Devanter. (I like to think that when the other Justices dissented from a Willis Van Devanter opinion those dissents would start with the words “Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” But I’m kind of weird.) Continue reading

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VICE PRESIDENTS: A PRESIDENTS DAY WEEKEND LOOK AT HISTORY’S SECOND BANANAS

John Adams

John Adams

Since it’s Presidents Day Weekend here’s a seasonal post.

John Adams called the Vice Presidency “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived.” A very old joke went “Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea and the other became Vice President. Neither was ever heard from again.”

In George S Kaufman’s and Morrie Ryskind’s classic stage work Of Thee I Sing one of the characters turns down an offer to be Vice President because he’s ashamed to have his mother know. He’s persuaded to accept the office when it’s pointed out that if he doesn’t tell her about it she’ll never find out.

The office has featured eminently forgettable figures as well as comic relief buffoons like Dan “The Global Village Idiot” Quayle and Al “Koo Koo for Cocoa Puffs” Gore. In the light-hearted style of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at U.S. Presidents here’s a look at the folks who got to hang around and see if the country’s Chief Executive wound up six feet under. I’m omitting VP’s who went on to actually become President, so no John Adams or Thomas Jefferson, etc. 

aaron-burrAARON BURR

Served Under: Jefferson 

Noted for: Shooting dead more Treasury Secretaries and hatching more plots to start his own country than any other Vice President. (So far, anyway.)

Best Burr Quote: “I’m still searching for the real killers of Alexander Hamilton.” 

GEORGE CLINTON

Served Under: Jefferson and Madison

Noted for: P-Funk and Funkadelic Leading American Rebel forces against the British troops of his loyalist cousin Sir Henry Clinton during the Revolutionary War.

Best Clinton Quote: “Do fries go with that shake?” Continue reading

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NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS ROUNDUP: FEB FOURTEENTH

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog posts another current events roundup from an America where our political establishment’s monumental corruption is being rooted out and dealt with by the outsider Donald Trump.

        EVEN THE DEMOCRAT MEDIA OUTLET THE NEW YORK TIMES REVEALED THAT THERE IS PLENTY OF EVIDENCE BEHIND D.O.G.E.’s FINDINGS. And all that despite frantic Democrat lies to the contrary. Hilarious! 

JUDGE MCCONNELL, ACCUSED OF BUYING HIS JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT VIA HUGE DONATIONS TO DEMOCRAT CANDIDATES, IS ALSO ON THE BOARD OF ONE OF THE ORGANIZATIONS HIS RULING INSISTED HAVE ITS FUNDING RESTORED. A clear conflict of interest, but Democrat judges refuse to recuse themselves in such cases. It’s like how the judges persecuting President Trump during the campaign were huge Democrat donors and one even had a family member in the Biden campaign.

THE IRRATIONAL RAMBLINGS OF THAT SAME “JUDGE” SHOW HIS DEEP-SEATED HATRED OF TRUMP. FURTHER PROOF THE JUDGE SHOULD HAVE RECUSED HIMSELF. So, the honorable act of recusal is another victim of Democrat divisiveness and open political corruption. The Democrat view is obviously “Don’t recuse yourself when you’re handling a case against our political opponents.”

CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERT SPEAKS OUT ON DEMOCRAT JUDGES PRETENDING THAT ACTIONS WHICH ARE WITHIN A PRESIDENT’S POWERS ARE SUDDENLY FORBIDDEN JUST BECAUSE THEY SAY SO. Alan Dershowitz joins him HERE. The only “constitutional crisis” going on right now is being caused by judicial overreach. A great item on all of it HERE. Schlichter weighs in HERE

TWENTY BILLION MORE DOLLARS REVEALED TO HAVE BEEN LAUNDERED BY THE BIDEN REGIME. More HERE. Yet anti-Trump loons continue defending such actions. They’re pro-corruption apparently.

Democrat Party

ILLINOIS DEMOCRAT MICHAEL MADIGAN FOUND GUILTY IN CORRUPTION TRIAL.

EX-USAID HEAD SAMANTHA POWER EXPOSED FOR “SOMEHOW” COMPILING THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS DURING A FEW YEARS MAKING JUST ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR. Remember the uproar from Democrats to see Trump’s tax returns? Well, we saw them and there was nothing wrong. Notice how America’s corrupt political establishment did not go on to insist on tax return transparency for their fellow white-collar criminals?  Continue reading

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CASABLANCA (1942) – VALENTINE’S DAY MOVIE REVIEW

CasablancaCASABLANCA (1942) – Happy Valentine’s Day! A few readers of Balladeer’s Blog have asked me for my opinion on this classic movie so I figured Valentine’s Day was the perfect opportunity.

People are often surprised when I like movies that so many other people rate highly. I like plenty of the old, old classics, it’s just that I prefer to blog about much more offbeat and obscure items. My favorite film of all time is Citizen Kane. Really. But I’ve never reviewed it here because I wasn’t in the mood to write the 100 millionth glowing review of that particular movie.

masc chair and bottleGetting back to Casablanca, it’s possibly the greatest “bittersweet ending” romantic flick ever made. I find that it appeals to almost everyone. If you’re young and naïve it can make you ache at the thought of persevering despite your broken heart. If you’re older and cynical it makes you nostalgic for a time when you actually thought a broken heart was the worst thing that could happen to you. Continue reading

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