Veterans Day is tomorrow, so here’s another World War One post.
BLOOD AND IRON (1917) – Written by Robert Hobart Davis & Perley Poore Sheehan.
Dramatic diesel-punk depiction of advanced technology being used in World War One. In Germany one of the Kaiser’s scientists is experimenting with replacing lost limbs and organs with mechanical replacements.
He has been trying to create cyborgs out of maimed German soldiers from the front lines. Continue reading
Filed under Ancient Science Fiction
Here’s a Monday current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog here in an America where, now that the Senate advanced the measure to “reopen” the government on to the House, we’re closer to the period after every shutdown where both political parties claim they “won” that shutdown.
BBC DIRECTOR GENERAL AND THE HEAD OF THEIR “NEWS” DIVISION FORCED TO RESIGN OVER PROPAGANDISTIC AND DECEPTIVE ANTI-TRUMP BROADCAST. Splicing and recutting footage completely distorted Trump’s words and actions. So, business as usual at anti-Trump media outlets, except this time they were held accountable. Trump reacts HERE.
NEW HAMPSHIRE’S CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRAT STACIE LAUGHTON PLEADS GUILTY TO THE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN. More HERE. Democrats, can you please leave children alone? If you don’t remember Laughton, he was praised by The Party as “the first openly transgender candidate elected to a state legislature.”
Nancy Pelosi, whose policies harm the working class and the poor.
DISGRACED, PRIVILEGED WHITE ONE PERCENTER DEMOCRAT NANCY PELOSI FINALLY REMOVES HERSELF FROM CONGRESS. Her disastrous terms as Speaker of the House caused the Democrats to lose their majority two times, but The Party will praise her as she goes out the door, of course. That’s politics!
NANCY PELOSI’S INSIDER TRADING SCANDALS GO BACK MANY YEARS. Yet anti-Trump hypocrites never called for HER to provide several years’ worth of tax returns. And remember how her husband’s business conveniently got awarded lucrative government contracts over the decades? Nancy embodied the Swamp.
PELOSI’S CORRUPT LEGACY CALLED OUT. She’s now worth two hundred eighty million dollars.
BABYLON BEE’S MASTERFUL SATIRE ABOUT PELOSI’S CORRUPTION AND INSIDER TRADING. Some excerpts: “Having long been in the privileged position of using her status as a Washington power player to pad her impressive stock portfolio, Pelosi now faced the the grim reality of having to trade stocks without insider info just like a regular peasant.” … “It’ll be the total opposite of what I’m used to,” Pelosi reportedly told her aides. “Once I retire from public office, I’ll be forced to trade stocks blindly, just like the rest of the schmucks and peons I’ve governed for the last four decades. It’s beneath me, honestly. How am I supposed to make millions of dollars off of shady stock trades now?” Continue reading
Harry Truman in World War One
Veterans Day is two days from now so Balladeer’s Blog is presenting another look at World War One since November 11th marks the date that war ended.
HARRY S TRUMAN, CAPTAIN OF BATTERY D – This future Senator, future Vice President and future President is credited with one of my favorite quotes: “There’s nothing new in the world except the history you don’t know.”
That Show-Me State Seneca was in charge of Artillery Battery D, a hard-fighting unit that was often deployed well forward, in the heart of the action. During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918 Truman’s Battery D provided fire in support of the young George Patton’s tank brigade. “Captain Harry’s” boys engaged German field guns, eliminating and forcing the abandonment of enemy batteries at a noteworthy rate. Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History
HEADLINES
NUMBER FIVE FALTERS – Down in NCAA Division Three, the UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR CRUSADERS played host to the country’s number 5 HARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY COWBOYS. At the Half the score was knotted up at 7-7 but the 3rd Quarter ended with the Cowboys up 10-7. In the 4th, the Crusaders came from behind for a 21-17 Upset.
UNLUCKY OVER LUCKY – Staying in D3 for a moment, the unlucky number 13 CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY CAPTAINS played the visiting lucky number 7 SALISBURY UNIVERSITY SEA GULLS. The Sea Gulls were up 30-28 at the midpoint of the game. From there, the Captains rallied to win out 45-42.
DOWN GOES NUMBER EIGHT – In the NAIA, the 15th ranked COLLEGE OF IDAHO COYOTES visited the number 8 team in the nation – the CARROLL COLLEGE FIGHTING SAINTS. CC led 7-0 in the 1st Quarter but by Halftime the Coyotes held a 26-7 advantage. After the break, the College of Idaho outscored the Fighting Saints 10-6 for a 36-13 manhandling. Continue reading
Filed under college football
Veterans Day is just a few days away so Balladeer’s Blog looks at some more World War One history.
SERGEANT ALVIN YORK – At age 29 (yes, twenty-nine) Alvin York of Tennessee was drafted into the United States Army in November of 1917. York trained with the 82nd Infantry Division at Camp Gordon, GA. In April 1918 the unit arrived in Liverpool, England and by mid-May was at Sommes, where they began relieving various units in the trenches to acquire their first field experience.
June saw York and the 82nd move to Lagney, where they patrolled and raided enemy lines for several weeks. In September York and his comrades participated in the St Mihiel Offensive and in October they fought in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, during which York earned the Medal of Honor. Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History
This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the 1940s publishers at Rural Home, Croydon and Enwil.
CAPTAIN WIZARD
Secret Identity: Joseph Preston
Origin: Joseph Preston was unjustly suspected of a murder he did not commit. While fleeing the police he took shelter in a haunted wax museum where he encountered a wax figure who was really the magician Theophrastus.
The magician’s powers told him Preston was innocent so he gave the man a mystical cape, costume and mask which granted him superpowers. Calling himself Captain Wizard our hero caught the real murderer and went on to fight the forces of evil on a regular basis.
First Appearance: Red Band Comics #3 (April 1945). His final Golden Age appearance came in 1946.
Powers: Thanks to his enchanted costume Captain Wizard had super-human strength, could fly and was invulnerable. He also never required sleep. In addition he could switch from his street-clothes into his costume and vice-versa simply by saying “Abracadabra.” Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
Balladeer’s Blog examines American Flying Ace Eddie Rickenbacker as we lead up to another November 11th, now called Veterans Day but formerly known as Armistice Day since November 11th, 1918 marked the end of World War One.
EDDIE RICKENBACKER – “Fast Eddie” Rickenbacker was first known as a race-car driver who competed in four Indianapolis 500s before the U.S. entered World War One. Upon America’s entry into the conflict Rickenbacker enlisted in the Army and was in France with his unit by late June 1917.
Fast Eddie’s mechanical abilities – honed working with engines during his racing days – kept him grounded as a mechanic for several months. During that period Rickenbacker learned to fly in nearly every spare moment. Eventually he got his wings and took to the air with America’s legendary Hat in the Ring Squadron (the 94th Aero Squadron).
Eddie made Ace – five confirmed kills – with less than a full month between his first kill and his fifth. Lieutenant – eventually Captain – Rickenbacker scored his sixth verified kill on May 30th, 1918 before getting an ear infection which kept him out of the air for a few months. Many more kills lay ahead of him. Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History
Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog serves up a Friday roundup of current events.
PRESIDENT TRUMP ADDS A FOURTH AND FIFTH PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY TO HIS COALITION TO SUBSTANTIALLY DROP PRICES ON PRESCRIPTION DRUGS. He’s the greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime. More HERE. And HERE.
AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW & JUSTICE STEPS IN TO HELP THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THAT JACK SMITH AND HIS BIDEN REGIME ALLIES ILLEGALLY SPIED ON. Democrat fascism is as ugly as ever.
AND ANOTHER HIGHER COURT SMACKS LOWER COURT WHICH ILLEGALLY RULED AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP. More HERE. Vast implications in where this may go. SEPARATE CASE: SUPREME COURT GIVES TRUMP ANOTHER WIN. Again we see he’s no “dictator” since he pauses until higher courts okay his actions. But Trump-haters are too deranged to realize that.
IN HOUSTON, ICE ARRESTS OVER ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS GUILTY OF ADDITIONAL CRIMES LIKE MURDER, GANG ACTIVITY AND CHILD RAPE. More HERE. Democrats would probably like to vote for every single one of them. MORE THAN THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND AMERICANS APPLY TO JOIN PRESIDENT TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION ENFORCERS.
PRESIDENT TRUMP TELLS DEMOCRAT SCHUMER TO STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH PEOPLE’S LIVES AND REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT. Are ugly shutdowns like this going to be the new norm in the Democrats’ repulsive repertoire? DEMOCRAT SENATOR MURPHY SAYS DEMOCRATS MUST KEEP THE SHUTDOWN GOING FOR THE SAKE OF THE PARTY’S “BRAND.” So incredibly callous.
HEROIC DHS SECRETARY KRISTI NOEM HELPS ENLIST ECUADOR’S ASSISTANCE IN ENDING DRUG TRAFFICKING FROM THE REGION. Someone who gets things done is always better than worthless man-children who gutlessly sit on the sidelines and impotently make fun of people.
DEMOCRATS VOW TO CONTINUE THEIR SHUTDOWN. Still insisting on undoing what the voters wanted. Will clueless Congressional Republicans preserve the filibuster only to see the Democrats get rid of it the next time they control Congress? They still don’t get the new terms of engagement. Continue reading
FOES (1977) – Though I’m reviewing this movie under my Bad and Weird Movies category, let me be clear that Foes is not bad and it is weird in the best way possible. I’ve watched the 91-minute version with Jerry Hardin (Deep Throat from The X-Files) and Macdonald Carey (“Like sands through the hourglass …”) top billed AND the 72-minute version with just the virtual unknowns appearing.
I much preferred the longer version because it helped add important context to the film and actually made it feel like a cross between the old TV series Project Bluebook and the aforementioned X-Files. John Coats, the writer and director of Foes, went on to a long career in visual effects and this movie nicely highlighted what he was capable of, even on a small budget.
A married couple (Alan Blanchard and Jane Wiley) are posted at the lighthouse and marine science station on Pershing Island off the coast of California. Their daily routine turns nightmarish when a vessel from another planet shows up and subjects them to frightening and harmful scrutiny. Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies
Forget the overused college team names like Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats. Here’s another institution whose team name is more creative than that.
MOHAVE COLLEGE Continue reading
Filed under Cool names and cool logos
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