I have a lot of new readers, so this blog post will be clarifying some of my long-held opinions for newcomers who aren’t yet used to the fact that I’m an Independent Voter and therefore neither a Democrat nor a Republican.
*** FIRST, A COMMENT REGARDING THE WAY DEMOCRAT CONVENTIONS AND DEMOCRAT CONFERENCES OF ALL KINDS SO OFTEN START BY STATING THEIR EVENT IS BEING HELD ON “STOLEN” LAND. Hey, that also means that all of the Democrats’ mansions and multiple homes are ALSO on “stolen” land. I call for Democrats to take the initiative and give up all of those extra homes to set an example for the rest of us. As a minimum, before ANY MORE finger-wagging lectures from privileged one-percenter entertainers or athletes I want an admission from them that their many properties stand on stolen land.
And since Democrats hate national borders and call them artificial, arbitrary lines, let’s call for treating their property lines as artificial, arbitrary lines and settle many of their beloved illegal immigrants on their properties.
*** NEXT, A RELEVANT ANECDOTE REGARDING AN EXCHANGE BETWEEN CHARLIE CHAPLIN AND BUSTER KEATON, BOTH OF WHOM I’M A FAN OF. Chaplin was proclaiming “What I want is that every child should have enough to eat, shoes on his feet and a roof over his head.” Keaton’s reply was “But Charlie, do you know anyone who doesn’t want that?”
That possibly apocryphal exchange embodies the current state of political discourse, with Chaplin’s virtue signaling statement perfectly reflecting the perpetual children who call themselves Democrats. Keaton’s reply perfectly reflects all of us NON-Democrats, who grew up at some point and accepted the fact that people who disagree with us are not automatically immoral and selfish.
Democrats in 2024 really seem to have deluded themselves into thinking that if adults disagree with them regarding how to approach the world’s problems it means those adults DON’T want good things for children or anyone else. They’re such tiresome drama queens.
*** I USED TO BE A DEMOCRAT YEARS AGO. That was when the Democrats believed in freedom of expression and other long-held Civil Liberty principles that they have completely abandoned after becoming the Political Correctness Police in the 1990s and evolving into the intolerant Woke Fascists that they are today.
I frequently mention that I used to be a Democrat because here in the U.S. it has come to be a quick way to clarify your stands. There are now so many of us former Democrats who went Independent that it lets people know a lot about you in the least amount of words. At least here in the U.S. it does. Overseas readers have expressed confusion about why I mention it so much, so this is to clarify things for those readers. Continue reading
SAMSON AND DELILAH (1902) – This 6-minute short was directed by Ferdinand Zecca, Walter Pathe’s right-hand man. This film has survived and is an interesting historical piece. It’s the earliest surviving silent movie about Samson, the iconic Zecca’s first Samson film, plus Samson and Delilah is one of the silent era shorts that were tinted by hand – frame by frame. 
This 1902 effort opens with Samson’s “labor” of tearing off the gate of Gaza, then just dumping it rather than carrying it away. We get other standard bits from the tale of this Biblical Judge including, of course, the seductive Philistine woman Delilah learning that the secret of Samson’s strength lies in his uncut hair. 
FOURTH QUARTER FURY – The DALLAS WINGS (7-22) welcomed the LOS ANGELES SPARKS (6-24). 
INSTANT CLASSIC – The LAS VEGAS ACES (18-11) took it on the road against the CHICAGO SKY (11-18) in this game.
SUNSHINE STATE SHUTOUT – The WEBBER INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY WARRIORS hosted the UNIVERSITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE EAGLES (should be Flamingos). The Warriors achieved defensive perfection against UFL while leading them 7-0, 21-0 and 37-0 in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Quarters respectively. The 4th ended in a 40-0 shutout victory for Webber International University. 
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #28 (April 20th, 1977) 
A very eccentric old professor, Robert Willard Scott, has retired from the university and lives alone with his hawks. When those birds die, Brian Braddock uses his scientific genius to construct a large hawk-shaped remote-controlled android to keep Professor Scott company. 
THE COLLEGE OF DUPAGE CHAPARRALS VS THE ELLSWORTH COLLEGE PANTHERS – This NJCAA matchup last night kicked off the 2024 college football season in the divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog. On Saturday the NAIA joins the action as additional NJCAA games also kick off. 
1. HARDING UNIVERSITY BISON (Defending Champions) ### 2. PITTSBURG (KS) STATE GORILLAS ### 3. UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL MISSOURI MULES ### 4. FERRIS STATE BULLDOGS ### 
5. COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES OREDIGGERS ### 6. VALDOSTA STATE BLAZERS ### 7. GRAND VALLEY STATE LAKERS ### 8. KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY GOLDEN BEARS ### 
THE BIONIC BOY (1977) – This joint production of the Philippines and Hong Kong starred child martial arts champion Johnson Yap from Singapore. It was also released under alternate titles like Superboy, Trionic Warrior and others. 
Sonny wins the Jackpot on the game show because he’s as intelligent as he is skilled at martial arts. When Not Liberace brings on Sonny’s parents, some gangsters watching the show see that his father is really a former Interpol agent who brought down several of their colleagues and has been living in a Witness Protection Program ever since. (Pretty stupid to let your face get televised to millions then.)
