THE CAVERN OF FIRE (1888) – Written by Francis W Doughty. This novel was originally serialized in The Boys of New York from September 15th to November 3rd of 1888. The main character is Professor Hardcastle, head of Merton College in Illinois. Hardcastle’s pet theory over the years has been that America’s mound builders were really from ancient Greece.
At long last he gets some proof of his belief when a tornado not only slams Merton College but also tears open one of the aged mounds in question. Hardcastle, his student Jack Merton and their Chinese aide John Foo discover an iron chest in the opened mound. The chest contains leather pages which, when translated by the professor, are revealed to feature the account of an ancient Greek adventurer named Polyxaphanes.
Polyxaphanes explored far northern caverns leading deep into the Earth, past the realm of the Hyperboreans and ultimately surfacing amid the Toltecs of what is now Mexico. From there the resourceful Greek eventually found his way to America. Hardcastle, Merton and Foo set off in a lighter than air balloon to search for the Mexican end of the vast subterranean cavern system described by Polyxaphanes. Continue reading
Here at Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog I can certainly understand hostile feelings toward given presidents. Regular readers know how much I despise George W Bush and Barack Obama, but I also pointed out when I thought negative stories about them were absurdly over the top. With de facto Third Party President Donald Trump it’s like the media did nothing BUT absurdly over the top stories about him that fell apart under the most casual scrutiny. This most recent example involves the lie about Russia and bounties (links below) which turned out to be as untrue as all of the “Russian collusion” nonsense. 
Non-partisan journalist Sharyl Attkisson, the Ida Tarbell of the 21st Century, has catalogued 
Now come revelations about the utter falsehood of last year’s media hit pieces claiming that Putin was offering bounties to Taliban troops in Afghanistan, and that Trump was aware of it and did nothing. Now the media – and America’s forever-vile “intelligence community” – have walked back those ridiculous claims. THE BOUNTY OFFERS NEVER HAPPENED, so there was nothing for Trump to know, but hey, they got to damage Trump close to the election by implying he answered to Putin and was letting him offer bounties on U.S. troops. 
Back to the Russian Bounty lies – here’s an excerpt from a terrific article (link below) about that miscarriage of intelligence work and “journalism.” FAKE NEWS is an accurate description of what America’s corporate media inflicts on the public. 
“At the time the Russia Bounty story was an obvious and blatant lie, an unconfirmed report, a manufactured narrative to undermine one of Trump’s many presidential strengths — in this case, his affection for the U.S. military and his string of foreign policy success at making the world a safer and more peaceful place.
ROUND ONE: GAME ONE – The BAKER UNIVERSITY WILDCATS hosted the OLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY TIGERS (should be the Purple Tigers). By Halftime in this shootout the score was knotted up at 24-24. The 3rd Quarter ended with the Tigers on top 41-38 but the Wildcats came from behind to win the game in the 4th. The final score was Baker U 59 Olivet Nazarene 54. 
ROUND ONE: GAME TWO – This game pitted the NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS against the visiting DICKINSON STATE BLUE HAWKS. The Red Raiders parlayed a 7-0 1st Quarter lead into a 17-7 advantage by the Half. After the break Northwestern College shut out the Blue Hawks while adding 14 more points of their own for an authoritative 31-7 triumph. 
PART FIFTY-FIVE – Here is a look at some of the Fool Killer’s targets in the April of 1912 edition of James Larkin Pearson’s version of the character: 
*** Judges and other high officials who betrayed their public trusts. He favored the recall process for judges as well as others. 
Before Batman, before Captain America and even before Superman himself, came the Clock, written and drawn by George E Brenner. The Clock was the first masked crimefighter in comic books, debuting in 1936, while the much more popular Batman didn’t come along until 1939. I’m not pointing that out to diss Batman, but to point out what a shame it is that the Clock seems to have been forgotten by most of the world. The figure is pretty much the middle character between Pulp heroes like the Shadow and the Moon Man and comic book superheroes. The Clock’s influence on Will Eisner’s iconic character the Spirit is obvious.
THE CLOCK 
Powers: The Clock was the prototype for the countless non-powered costumed crimefighters to come. He was in peak physical condition and was a master of unarmed combat. He possessed the agility of an Olympic gymnast and was a marksman with the handgun he carried into action with him. In addition he was a master detective and investigator whose knowledge of the law helped him compile evidence against his foes. 
1. FUNNY PAGES Vol 1 #6 (November 1936) – #9 (March 1937) 
Back to athletics, Corporate Sports don’t just publicize the issues the Democrats want publicized they even advocate for or condemn particular political candidates AND SPECIFIC PIECES OF LEGISLATION now. Democrats who get elected with the aid of such support are not likely to pass legislation hurting their corporate fascist allies in the major sports franchises. And the Corporate Sports Leagues know that political favors will keep coming as long as they mouth Democrat talking points. The clueless buffoons who run the Republican Party are irrelevant because of their mindless reverence for “the Free Market” (LMAO). 
THE RATINGS GAME (1984) – Danny DeVito directed and starred in this telefilm – now being re-released under the vague-to-the-point-of-meaningless title The Mogul, which was produced by Showtime back when they and HBO Films were emerging as a genuine creative force in original content. 
The Ratings Game – written by Jim Mulholland and Michael Barrie – was a perfectly respectable satire on the network television ratings system but it has become unjustly forgotten. The change of title for its latest release seems like a desperate attempt to change the telefilm’s fortunes. 
LINDSEY WILSON COLLEGE BLUE RAIDERS 
NORTHWEST (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS 
KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS 
ARE THE PLANETS INHABITED? (1913) – Written by Edward Walter Maunder, this book began with ridicule of the outdated belief that the sun and moon might be inhabited, but it doesn’t exactly embody scientific accuracy itself. Therefore I’m classifying it as science fiction even though in 1913 it was considered to be a series of observations adhering to rigid scientific principles. 
Yes, the misleadingly named Antifa (really KLANtifa) continues to riot. Saturday night roughly one hundred members of the fascist hate group set fire to a federal building in Portland with employees still inside. (link below) In March, Antifa set fire AGAIN to the Federal Courthouse in Portland. 
Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats continue to pretend “Antifa is just an idea” – which is typical of their non-response to problems they are unable or unwilling to come to grips with. So America is now even more like a Third World country, complete with masked groups of violent predators striking at their targets on a regular basis. 
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