MARCH THIRD NEWS ROUNDUP

Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog presents another look at current events.

biden is a train wreckSENATE HEARINGS ARE EXPOSING EVEN MORE OF THE POLITICAL BIAS OF THE BIDEN REGIME’S DOJ. They target only dissent and aid only the regime’s cronies.

CALLOUS AND UNCARING BIDEN LAUGHS AT A MOTHER WHO LOST HER SONS TO FENTANYL FROM BIDEN’S STILL OPEN SOUTHERN BORDER. More HERE. When his predecessor did far less it caused apocalyptic headlines for weeks.

AND YET ANOTHER DEMOCRAT OFFICE HOLDER – THIS TIME A MAYOR – ARRESTED ON CHILD PORN CHARGES, INCLUDING DISTRIBUTING. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

CONGRESS CALLS OUT BIDEN’S DISASTROUS POLICIES AND THE INFLATION THEY CAUSE. Joe Biden’s war on the working class and the poor continues.

democrat hypocrisy continuesDEMOCRAT MOB STORMS THE CAPITOL AND INTERFERES WITH CONGRESSIONAL FUNCTION. When non-Democrats do such things, Democrats call it an “insurrection” (LMAO).

CLUELESS, OUTDATED AND UTTERLY USELESS REPUBLICAN PARTY STILL PREFERS WHINING TO KEEPING UP WITH THEIR OPPONENTS IN THE MEDIA ARMS RACE.

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1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS AND ESCAPE FROM THE BRONX

1990 bronx warriors1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS (1982) – Spaghetti-pocalypse movies were to the 1980s what Spaghetti Westerns were to the 60s and 70s. Italian-made ripoffs of post-apocalypse and/or dystopian flicks like The Road Warrior and Escape From New York were everywhere back then.

Today, Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at two such movies that starred cult icon Mark Gregory, real name Marco De Gregorio. Years ago, I covered Mark as Adam in Adam and Eve vs the Cannibals. Last week I reviewed his Thunder Warrior trilogy of Rambo imitations, this week it’s the pair of films in which Mark played a dystopian man of action called … Trash.

Talk about making your hero’s name a joke right off the bat! He SHOULD have been called something like Vandal, which has much more panache and was more befitting of a character following in the footsteps of Mad Max and Snake Plissken.

1990 bronx warriors in italianThe story is set eight years in the future from its 1982 release and presented a crime-ridden New York City run by plutocratic corporations who have every politician in their pocket. So, just think of New York as it is right now.

Crime in the Bronx has become so out of control that the borough has been declared a No Man’s Land in which gangs and other criminals rule the streets and any law-abiding citizens are on their own. Most of the gangs have silly theme costumes like the gangs in The Warriors, so there’s some of that movie’s flavor in this, too. Continue reading

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COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM: FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE AT JACKSONVILLE

florida state collge at jacksonvilleCollege: FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE AT JACKSONVILLE

Team Name: BLUE WAVE

Location: Jacksonville, FL Continue reading

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RAFAEL SABATINI NOVELS

Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950) was an incredibly prolific writer of novels, short stories and nonfiction works. Even people who think they’ve never heard of him may well be familiar with the movie versions of some of his writings: Captain Blood, Scaramouche, The Sea Hawk and The Black Swan.

sea hawkTHE SEA HAWK (1915) – In the late 16th Century, English gentleman Sir Oliver Tressilian is betrayed into galley slavery by his jealous half-brother Lionel. After a time, the galley on which Oliver has been condemned to serve as an oarsman is raided by Barbary Corsairs in the Mediterranean Sea.

Our main character and other survivors of the pirate attack are given the usual “convert or die” ultimatum by their Muslim captors, and the embittered Sir Oliver is content to embrace Islam and serve as a corsair himself. His leadership abilities and seafaring savvy let him rise to command of his own pirate ship and he becomes infamous as Sakr-el-Bahr, the Hawk of the Sea. Continue reading

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NEWS ROUNDUP: FEBRUARY 27th

It’s time for another news roundup from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog.

trump helping the peopleSENILE YET CORRUPT JOE BIDEN SAYS HE “CAN’T REMEMBER” IF HE HAS SPOKEN TO THE MAYOR OF EAST PALESTINE. MEANWHILE TRUMP VISITS THE TOWN AND PAYS FOR BOTTLED WATER AND OTHER SUPPLIES. When was the last time you saw wealthy politicians like the Pelosis, Bushes, Bidens or Romneys pay for items for the suffering people? They just lecture others about what they feel should be done. 

trump helping east palestineFBI WHISTLE-BLOWER EXPOSES MORE ABOUT THE BIDEN REGIME’S POLITICIZATION OF THE BUREAU.

trump to ohioAMERICANS ON SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEDULED FOR A CUT IN BENEFITS, WHILE AMERICAN TAXPAYER MONEY IS FUNDING INCREASES FOR UKRAINIAN RETIREES. Yes, Putin is a war criminal, but there needs to be some accountability regarding the money being sent to Ukraine. How does this help their war effort?

BIDEN’S TREASURY SECRETARY YELLEN SAYS U.S. WILL SEND TEN BILLION MORE DOLLARS TO UKRAINE SOON. See above. And how much is the notoriously corrupt Zelensky pocketing? He’s the thieving Chiang Kai-shek of our era.

EVEN THE DEMOCRATS AT THE WASHINGTON POST ADMIT TRUMP CANNOT POSSIBLY BE BLAMED FOR THE EAST PALESTINE TRAIN DISASTER. More HERE. Yes, anti-Trump loons were actually trying to blame him for it. He lives rent-free in their heads. Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYOFF RESULTS: FEBRUARY 26th

NAIA

ottawa spiritGOLDEN STATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The OTTAWA UNIVERSITY (AZ) SPIRIT took on the HOPE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY ROYALS for the GSAC title. By Halftime the Spirit held a 37-33 edge over the Royals, and a hard-fought 2nd Half ended with OUAZ winning the game by a final score of 71-69. Keshawn Bruner led the Spirit with 20 points as they moved on to the NAIA National Tournament. * THE SPIRIT ARE GSAC CHAMPIONS *

Jamestown JimmiesGREAT PLAINS ATHLETIC CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS – First up, the top seeded UNIVERSITY OF JAMESTOWN JIMMIES downed the 5 seeds – the CONCORDIA (NE) BULLDOGS – 95-77    ###    In the 2nd Semifinal, the 3 seeds – the DORDT UNIVERSITY DEFENDERS – edged the MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS in an 83-82 thriller. Continue reading

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ADAM WARLOCK VS THE MAGUS (1975-1976)

adam warlock poseThis weekend’s escapist, lighthearted superhero blog post from Balladeer’s Blog will present the 1970s clash between Marvel’s Adam Warlock, who is coming up in the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and the Magus, evil head of a thousand-planet empire. 

At any rate, The Magus, as we’ll call this multi-part story, transformed Adam Warlock into the cosmic savior he became best known as. It also introduced Gamora, now famous from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Magus 1PART ONE

STRANGE TALES #178 (February 1975)  

Title: WHO IS ADAM WARLOCK? / ENTER: THE MAGUS

Synopsis: This issue features a prologue titled Who Is Adam Warlock? The purpose of that prologue was to recap the fictional history of Adam Warlock up to this point, since this was Warlock’s first appearance in an attempted relaunch of his solo series. The recap is presented by Sphinxor, who is later revealed to be working for the Beyonders.

Sphinxor released recaps of the following stories:

Fant 4 67FANTASTIC FOUR #66-67 (Sept & Oct 1967) – Featuring Warlock’s first appearance, albeit under the name “Him.” The Fantastic 4’s mad scientist foes in the Beehive, later called the Enclave, created Him, an immensely powerful life-form, to serve them in their mad schemes. Him, emerging from his cocoon for the first of what will be many times, refuses to be their pawn. The FF survive the encounter with Him, who slaughters some of  the scientists and disappears.    

Thor 165THOR #165-166 (June & July 1969) – Him had been floating in space in his cocoon since leaving the Earth. The cocoon was found by an Earth space probe which brought the cocoon back to a research center on Earth. Him emerged from the cocoon, met and fell in “love” with Thor’s romantic partner Sif and abducted her. Thor furiously fought Him to rescue Sif and defeated Him, who again retreated into his cocoon and floated off into space. 

Marvel Premier 1MARVEL PREMIERE #1-2 (Apr & May 1972), WARLOCK #1-8 (Aug 1972 – October 1973), HULK #176-178 (Jun 1974 – Aug 1974) – This time Him’s cocoon was discovered floating in space by the godlike being called the High Evolutionary. This sometimes hero and sometimes villain added to our hero’s already massive powers by endowing him with a Soul Gem, later ret-conned as one of the Infinity Stones. This was its very FIRST appearance. Continue reading

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POLITICAL CARTOON AND MEME ROUNDUP: FEBRUARY 24th

Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at some of the latest political cartoons and memes, many about Joe Biden, the man who keeps decreasing your 401k.

Up first is this reminder that for years before Joe Biden gave war criminal Vlad Putin the okay for “a minor incursion” into Ukraine, the Bidens were being investigated for their family’s corruption in Ukraine.

biden in kyiv Continue reading

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THUNDER WARRIOR: ALL THREE MOVIES

thunder warriorTHUNDER WARRIOR aka Thunder (1983) – Here at Balladeer’s Blog I’ve reviewed plenty of Spaghetti Westerns and Spaghetti-pocalypse movies, but in this item I examine what could be called Spaghetti Rambo flicks. Mark Gregory, famous as the post-apocalypse action hero Trash from 1990: The Bronx Warriors and Escape from the Bronx, stars as an Apache named Thunder.

This Italian schlock film takes Stallone’s First Blood and combines it with elements of the Billy Jack series of movies in which the title hero was a Native American fighting on behalf of his people against 1970s racists, corrupt politicians and plutocratic businessmen. However, Thunder Warrior ramps up the action to nearly superhuman levels and piles up a Spaghetti Western sized body count.

thunder warrior b and wThe story features Mark Gregory’s character Thunder as a modern-day (1980s) Apache who lives on a reservation in Arizona. Assorted corrupt cops and bigoted construction workers are verbally and physically abusing the men and women of Thunder’s tribe.

The cops are led by Bo Svenson as Sheriff Bill Cook and the hate-filled construction workers are led by Antonio Sabato as the Hispanic-American Tomas, no last name given. Your standard amoral businessmen are planning to construct roadways and assorted businesses on the Apaches’ land, so their wealth and influence provides cover for Svenson’s and Sabato’s men.
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THE KE WHONKUS PEOPLE (1890) – ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

ke whonkus peopleTHE KE WHONKUS PEOPLE aka A Tale of the North Pole Country (1890) – The author John O. Greene was American, but the main character in this story is a Canadian named Sampson De Lilly. Sampson survives a shipwreck and is picked up by a steamship headed for the North Pole. 

When the steamer hits too much ice and mist to proceed any further, De Lilly and other crew members continue heading north on dogsleds. Ultimately, they reach Ke Whonkus, a previously unknown island just south of the Pole, but possessed of a warm climate.

The island is inhabited by 4 and a half million people, all of them white and some of them survivors of the doomed expedition of John Franklin in the 1840s. Those survivors speak English and serve as translators for Sampson and his colleagues.

Most technology on Ke Whonkus is more advanced than in the rest of the world. The inhabitants have electric lighting through all the populated areas, plus electric cars and trains. Continue reading

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