June 26, 2026 · 7:26 am

JUNE TWENTY-SIXTH NEWS ROUNDUP

 Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog is here with a Friday current events roundup.

NATO CHIEF MARK RUTTE PRAISES PRESIDENT TRUMP’S HANDLING OF IRAN SITUATION.

SENATORS RAND PAUL AND BILL CASSIDY CHANGE THEIR VOTES AND GIVE PRESIDENT TRUMP A WIN ON THE RESTRAINTS THAT ANTI-TRUMPERS THOUGHT THEY HAD PUT ON HIM REGARDING IRAN.

CURRENT IRANIAN REGIME IRATE ABOUT GAY PRIDE SYMBOLS AT SEATTLE WORLD CUP GAME. They want FIFA to ban such symbols at any more games. Democrat hypocrites silent because they support that regime simply because it is hostile to Trump. Cowards.

MAJORITY MUSLIM COUNCIL IN MICHIGAN TOWN BANS THE GAY FLAG FROM PUBLIC PROPERTY. As usual, Democrats were wrong when they claimed that the delicate little darlings would NEVER commit intolerant acts like this and that it was “Islamophobic” to even suggest it. I guess the Muslim majority is making gay people feel “unsafe”, right Democrats?

VIDEO: DEMOCRAT CONGRESSMAN SETH MOULTON PHYSICALLY ATTACKS REPORTER OVER DEMOCRAT GRAHAM “NAZI TATTOO” PLATNER. This would dominate an entire news cycle if the other political party did it. Will Republicans EVER try to catch up with Democrats in the Media Outlet Arms Race?

DEMOCRAT ANDREW CUOMO COURAGEOUSLY BLASTS HIS PARTY FOR SUPPORTING GRAHAM “NAZI TATTOO” PLATNER. 

DEMOCRAT LETITIA JAMES ACCUSES FANATIC DEMOCRAT MAYOR MAMDANI OF “BLOWING UP THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.” Well, Democrats drove away all of us rational Democrats over the years, leaving the Party at the mercy of Mamdani and his ilk. More HERE. Related HERE. 

FATHER OF VICTIM MURDERED BY KARMELO ANTHONY CALLS OUT PROPAGANDIST SUNNY HOSTIN FOR TRYING TO MONETIZE HIS SON AUSTIN’S DEATH. Sunny, Whoopi (LOL) and the rest of The View‘s staff are lying hatemongers. Remember when Whoopi (LOL) claimed Trump was going to nullify interracial marriages? Whoopi (LOL) is pathetic and deranged.

PRESIDENT TRUMP HOSTS DINNER FOR AMERICAN FARMERS IN THE WHITE HOUSE ROSE GARDEN.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS FOR THEIR PART IN AN EIGHTY-NINE-MILLION-DOLLAR PAYROLL SCAM. Privileged white male one percenter Bruce Springsteen’s kind of guy!

BOB IGER REVEALS THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH DEMOCRAT PROPAGANDIST JIMMY KIMMEL’S SUSPENSION. Yet Kimmel and filth like him were lying about it for months, calling Trump “a dictator.”

GAY TEACHER ADMITS ON CAMERA TO GROOMING CHILDREN. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?. Continue reading →

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June 25, 2026 · 7:48 pm

JOHN PAUL JONES (1959) MOVIE REVIEW

With the 4th of July fast approaching, here’s another item for America’s 250th birthday – a biopic of our nation’s early naval hero.

JOHN PAUL JONES (1959) – Robert Stack stars as the title character, Charles Coburn plays Benjamin Franklin, Bette Davis is Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, Macdonald Carey is Patrick Henry and Thomas Gomez portrays Commodore Esek Hopkins. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate John Paul Jones a 6. I wish it could be higher.

This movie looks good enough, but Stack’s performance is a bit too dry and the story rambles on for too long after the logical end point when the Revolutionary War is over. Some brief closing text could have covered John Paul Jones’s career in the Russian Navy from 1787 onward. Just a quick note acknowledging the damage he wrought to the Turkish Navy on Russia’s behalf and bring on the closing credits. 

The film also subjects us to far too much of Jones’s younger years as a sailor and Robert Stack’s Forever 31 face at the time is comically distracting. (I Was a Teenage Thirtysomething) I wish more biopics used the terrific approach of Patton (1970) – focus on the most eventful years of the main character’s life with dialogue filling viewers in on their early life.  Continue reading →

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June 25, 2026 · 9:16 am

COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM: KENNEBEC VALLEY COLLEGE

Balladeer’s Blog is back with another college sports team that goes outside the overused names like Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats.

KENNEBEC VALLEY COLLEGE Continue reading →

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June 24, 2026 · 3:37 pm

B-MOVIE HOSTESS: ANGIE LABANSHEE (1985-1993)

NOTE: Special thanks to Mike Pieper – part of the creative team on this program and the man who played the first Elmer the Mummy for three years – for correcting, clarifying and providing a wealth of additional information about this Movie Host series. He was a friendly and helpful man! 

ANGIE LABANSHEE (Joan Kelley-Cordt) hosted the B-Movie show Spooks Hotel Friday nights at 10:30 in Marshalltown, Iowa. The program was initially aired on the local college’s Iowa Valley TV station – Channel 22. Then Spooks Hotel was on KDAO TV, Channel 39, then back to Iowa Valley TV after that.  

As for Angie, this sultry banshee with the Transylvanian accent was the manager of the Spooks Hotel, whose owner Mrs. Spooks was traveling the world off the money the hotel made for her.

Joan Kelley (Cordt after her February 1986 marriage) and her brother Kevin were inspired to create, direct and produce Spooks Hotel by their fondness for the 1960s and 1970s Movie Host show Gravesend Manor, broadcast out of Ames, IA.

Among the supporting characters they came up with to appear alongside Angie LaBanshee were Elmer the Mummy, who was the Bellboy; multi-ethnic Master Chef Pierre O’Brien, expert pizza maker from Germany; French Maid Fifi; and Kevin himself as the voice of the cheap, ugly puppet Old Man Dan, Elmer’s father. Somehow.

After the success of the pilot episode, Spooks Hotel aired as a series, with Joan producing, Kevin directing and the entire creative team writing the show, including Mike Pieper. Angie hosted Psychotronic movies accompanied by Host Segments from October 1985 to October 1993. Episodes were taped Wednesdays for their Friday broadcast.

The program’s success let Joan simultaneously host the station’s Monday through Friday show Marshalltown Today during 1987 and 1988. In 1991 Joan Kelley-Cordt began playing a new character Mrs. Spooks, who at last returned from her world travels with her hubby, mad scientist Dr. Spooks (Steve Scheiding).

She, Mike Piepers and some of her Spooks Hotel backup characters did a Spooks Hotel special titled The First Annual Elmer Awards, complete with various categories of Bad Movies that featured several nominees and ultimately a winner read from an envelope. Two more Elmer Awards shows followed in time.

Among the milestones on Spooks Hotel during its original run was a 1992 Double Feature consisting of 1) Planet of Blood aka Queen of Blood (1966) Dennis Hopper, John Saxon, Forry Ackerman and others star in this movie about a spaceship rescue mission which pits its crew against a bizarre space-vampress and her offspring. And 2) The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962) Jason Evers in the infamous film about a mad doctor keeping his fiancee’s decapitated head alive after an accident while he looks for a woman to kill so he can use her body for his fiancee. 

Some of the episodes of Spooks Hotel:  Continue reading →

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June 24, 2026 · 6:29 am

NEWS ROUNDUP FOR JUNE TWENTY-FOURTH

Here’s a mid-week current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.

A LOOK AT HOW PRESIDENT TRUMP BROUGHT DOWN RENT PRICES. More HERE.

It’s been said over and over that Trump is the greatest president for the working class and the poor. I know, right? 

U.K. – MORE GROOMING GANG INQUIRIES.

VIDEO: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MEMBERS ANNOUNCE HUNDREDS OF ARRESTS AND CRACKDOWNS OVER SIX AND A HALF BILLION DOLLARS OF FRAUD IN PROGRAMS. Another reason why America’s cesspool of a political establishment has been trying to destroy the outsider Trump for over a decade. More HERE. And HERE.

FORTY-SEVEN MILLION, TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS IN UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD – INCLUDING TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS – HAPPENED UNDER NORTH CAROLINA’S DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR ROY COOPER.

DEMOCRAT TERRORIST GROUP ANTIFA MEMBERS GET COLLECTIVE FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY YEAR SENTENCE FOR THEIR NORTH TEXAS ATTACK. More HERE. Remember back during Trump’s first term when his haters – including Republican filth like Paul Ryan – were trying to pretend Antifa didn’t exist and that Trump was lying?

ITEM ABOUT THE CRIMES THAT DIDN’T HAVE TO HAPPEN BUT DO BECAUSE DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO SECURE THE BORDER AND ENFORCE OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS. In fact, Democrats do all they can to obstruct the arrests of illegal immigrants who have committed additional crimes.

NEW YORK SCHOOL DISTRICT VICE PRESIDENT ARRESTED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. Democrats, can you please leave children alone? 

ONE LONE DISTRICT JUDGE BLOCKS PRESIDENTIAL ACTION AT FOUR HUNDRED THIRTY-THREE NATIONAL PARKS. Judicial overreach continues.

ANOTHER DISTRICT JUDGE BLOCKS MEASURES TO FIGHT VOTE FRAUD. Naturally, she was appointed by Biden.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WHO WAS “A TEACHER” ARRESTED IN TREN DE ARAGUA MASS SHOOTING.

TWO TRUMP-HATING CANDIDATES – DAN GOLDMAN AND GEORGE CONWAY – CRUSHED IN PRIMARY ELECTION. Continue reading →

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June 23, 2026 · 6:03 pm

ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: TO THE MOON AND BACK IN NINETY DAYS (1917)

to-the-moon-and-back-in-ninety-daysTO THE MOON & BACK IN NINETY DAYS (1917) – By John Y. Brown. Balladeer’s Blog presents more Ancient Science Fiction (or Vintage Science Fiction if you prefer). This story was first penned in 1917 and later published by the Lunar Publishing Company in 1922.

Brown himself pretended to narrate the adventure, which hewed so closely to what was known about the moon back then that it must have both educated and entertained readers. The story says that in 1914 our narrator met Captain Horace Ewald, a brilliant nautical engineer and scientist in Alton, IL.

Captain Ewald invited Brown along on his planned expedition to the moon in what he dubbed his “Ethereal Vessel” but which we would call a spaceship. The craft was 235 feet tall with the shape of a dome fused to prisms. Ewald and his team constructed the Ethereal Vessel out of aluminum plating and used electric batteries to power the anti-gravity pods.   Continue reading →

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June 23, 2026 · 8:10 am

SOME REVOLUTIONARY WAR ACTIONS DURING 1779

A sampling of some of the Revolutionary War fighting during 1779.

JANUARY 6th – Marching from northern Florida, a combined force of over 2,000 British Regulars, Colonial Loyalists to Britain and Native American allies of the British surrounded U.S. Forts Sunbury and Morris in Georgia.

JANUARY 9th – After 3 days of siege operations including bombardment, American Major Joseph Lane surrenders Forts Sunbury and Morris along with his 200-250 soldiers and at least 24 cannon to the British forces under General Augustine Prevost. Prevost renames Fort Morris to Fort George in honor of insane King George III and uses Fort Sunbury to hold American POWs.

JAUARY 10th – In France, American naval hero John Paul Jones is given a ship that he repairs and names the Bonhomme Richard after Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac. Continue reading →

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June 22, 2026 · 4:20 pm

FOOL KILLER PART SIXTY-NINE: MARCH 1914

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN THE 1850s, CLICK HERE. 

PART 69 – Some of the Fool Killer’s targets on both sides of the aisle in the March 1914 edition of James Larkin Pearson’s version of the folk figure:

*** Mining companies that paid their employees in the infamous Company Scrip which wasn’t real money but could only be spent at the Company Store just to let the mine owners get back much of what they paid their miners as those employees had to buy groceries, clothing, etc. at Company Stores since no one else would accept the scrip as payment.

*** Democrat President Woodrow Wilson’s administration for supposedly making the economy so bad that more and more working-class people would be killing themselves with the new coffin-shaped mercury bichloride pills.

        NOTE: As I’ve mentioned in earlier Fool Killer installments, I find it fascinating how in the 19-teens and twenties socialists (and Pearson openly called himself one) hated Woodrow Wilson and denounced him as an ally of capitalist tycoons. Today, of course, socialists tend to like Wilson and it’s Republicans who hate him, blaming his policies for supposedly setting the U.S. on what they see as the disastrous route that we are still on today in their eyes. 

        As another reminder of how one cannot do one-to-one comparisons with political affiliations then and now, bear in mind that Wilson opposed voting rights for women, but Pearson and his Fool Killer supported them.   

*** Get-rich-quick authors who were selling books and courses about how to write photoplays (called screenplays today) so that the buyer could make money writing for the ever-growing movie industry. So basically, the Syd Fields of 1914.

*** The Charlotte Observer newspaper, where Pearson used to work, for supposedly having many employees who smoked tobacco and used drugs despite their editorial pages always condemning the “evils” of smoking and drug use. NOTE: Pearson counted alcohol and Coca-Cola as “drugs.”    Continue reading →

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June 22, 2026 · 9:12 am

JUNE TWENTY-SECOND NEWS ROUNDUP

 Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog starts the week with a current events roundup as the racist failure Keir Starmer resigns in the U.K.

MACKY SALL, FORMER PRESIDENT OF SENEGAL AND A LEADING CONTENDER TO BE THE NEXT U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL SAYS HE BACKS “PEACE BUILDER TRUMP’S” PUSH FOR REFORMS. He’s got a point – President Trump has ended more conflicts around the world than the U.N. has in years. (And nobody can consistently deal with the deceptive, mad dog Iranian regime due to their irrational behavior. But he tries.)

COLOMBIA IS THE LATEST NATION TO ELECT A TRUMP-ENDORSED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE – ESPRIELLA. Losing candidate blamed Israel for his loss. (?)

IRAN’S REGIME BLAMES ISRAEL FOR ITS LATEST FANATICAL ATTEMPT TO CLOSE THE STRAITS OF HORMUZ.

IRAN’S REGIME SENTENCES FEMALE SINGER TO SEVENTY-FOUR LASHES OF A WHIP FOR PERFORMING WITHOUT WEARING A HIJAB. Privileged white Democrat women who pathetically cosplay in Handmaid’s Tale outfits gutlessly fail to comment.

MINNESOTA’S DEMOCRAT A.G. FACES QUESTIONS OVER THE STATE’S MANY, MANY FRAUD SCANDALS.

DEMOCRAT SENATOR RUBEN GALLEGO IN NEW SCANDAL, THIS TIME FOR MISALLOCATING CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR PRIVATE LUXURY TRIPS FOR HIS FAMILY.

ANGEL DADS HONORED FOR FATHER’S DAY.

DEMOCRAT ILLINOIS GOVERNOR J.B. PRITZKER SUED FOR CHOOSING DEATH FOR DISABLED PATIENTS JUST TO SAVE MONEY ON CARING FOR THEM.

ANTI-TRUMP VANDALS ARRESTED FOR DAMAGING THE REFLECTING POOL. Trump Derangement Syndrome continues. Continue reading →

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June 21, 2026 · 5:31 pm

BALLADEER’S BLOG IS NOW SIXTEEN YEARS OLD

BALLADEER’S BLOG

THANK YOU once again to all of you readers for making Balladeer’s Blog so enjoyable to write. As I always say, the unusual and controversial items I sometimes churn out here mean that readers have to be open-minded and very secure in their own beliefs not to just take offense and leave. You folks are the greatest!  

Here are some of my most popular blog posts from the past 12 months.

ROBERT REDFORD R.I.P. – After his death I reviewed his obscure films like War Hunt, This Property is Condemned, The Chase, Downhill Racer and others HERE.

RYAN O’NEAL: FORGOTTEN FILMS – A posthumous look at his films like Green Ice, Nickelodeon, Wild Rovers, The Thief Who Came to Dinner and more HERE. 

THREE BAD TOM SELLECK MOVIES – The Chinese Typewriter HERE, The Gypsy Warriors HERE, and The Washington Affair HERE.  

ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION – A Trip to the Moon by Mr. Murtagh McDermot (1728) An Irishman travels to the moon and meets the inhabitants HERE. Mars to the Earth (1895) – The first Martian visit to Earth HERE. Story of the Second Traveler (1879) An island of sci-fi wonders HERE, Wonderworlds (1911) A spaceship expediton to explore other planets HERE.

BAD MOVIES – JACINTO MOLINA, SPAIN’S KING OF HORROR – I reviewed his movies like Exorcismo, Fury of the Wolfman, Assignment: Terror, Werewolf vs the Yeti, House of Psychotic Women and many more HERE. THE BOD SQUAD (1974) Women abducted by pirates learn kung fu and fight back HERE. AGAINST THE DARK (2009) Steven Seagal fights zombies HERE. FOES (1977) A very weird assault by aliens HERE. KARATE GIRL (1973) Turkish kung fu movie HERE. 

FORGOTTEN TELEVISION – PARTNERS IN CRIME (1984) – Loni Anderson and Lynda Carter as widows of a P.I. who take over his agency and solve his murder as their first case HERE. THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. (1966-1967) Stefanie Powers as U.N.C.L.E. agent April Dancer HERE. MRS. COLUMBO (1979-1980) Kate Mulgrew as Columbo’s wife solving murders HERE.

THE NEGLECTED RAILROAD WAR (1878-1880) – A neglected conflict that involved Robber Barons and various big-name gunslingers like Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Texas Ben Thompson, John Joshua Webb and more HERE. Continue reading →

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