THIS SENTIMENT IS ESPECIALLY APT NOW THAT CORPORATE FASCISTS WHO CONTROL SOCIAL MEDIA GOT IN TOUCH WITH THEIR INNER BOOK-BURNER. YEAH, LET’S TRUST A BUNCH OF WHITE, BLOATED RICH PIGS TO DECIDE WHAT CONSTITUTES ACCEPTABLE LANGUAGE FOR THE REST OF US.
FLASHMAN AND THE KINGS: LOST FLASHMAN PAPERS
For Flashman Down Under and Flashman in the Opium War click HERE Balladeer’s Blog moves on to another Harry Flashman adventure referred to but never completed before George MacDonald Fraser’s death.
Projected Title: FLASHMAN AND THE KINGS
Time Period: The Taranaki War (1860-1861)
NOTE: The title refers to the Maori King Movement, which began during this period and whose descending line of a designated “King of Kings” has survived to this very day with the current Maori King in New Zealand.
From 1860-1861 the Maori Kings aka the Maori King Movement proved to be the most battle-savvy and politically shrewd opponents the British would face until the First Boer War of 1880-1881. If the native inhabitants of other regions around the world had been this proficient and coordinated, the Colonial Powers of the European and Muslim Empires might have been dealt such massive setbacks that the course of history would be fascinatingly different.
The Set-Up: As of the finale of Fraser’s Flashman and the Dragon we readers were left guessing exactly what Harry was being dragged into by blonde, luscious Phoebe Carpenter and her husband.
In Flashman and the Dragon the Carpenters were shown to be smuggling guns to the Taipingi rebels in China, so my speculation would be that they were also involved in smuggling guns to the Maori forces in New Zealand. The Taranaki War had been raging between the Maori and British colonial troops since March of 1860.
The Carpenters had been posing as Christian Missionaries as cover for their smuggling operation in FATD so they might well have been using that same cover for their dealings with the Maori King Movement. Flashman’s standing as a storied, active duty British Colonel could be exploited to their advantage through their extortionate hold on our antihero.
FATD ended in October of 1860. The Taranaki War lasted until March 18th of 1861 so Harry could be on hand for the last several months of the conflict. As usual he might well end up with undeserved military honors from his misadventures, caught up in the martial action while striving to free himself from his entanglement with Phoebe and her husband.
The Story: Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History, Pulp Heroes
MARK “SKIPPY” ZUCKERBERG AND HIS ILK SETTING THEMSELVES UP AS GLOBAL CENSORS
CORPORATE FASCIST MARK “SKIPPY” ZUCKERBERG
Corporate fascist Mark Zuckerberg – who hopes to become “a real boy” some day – has joined forces with his fellow techno-tyrants in assorted social media to impose their own narrow-minded notions of “decent speech” upon the rest of us.
Conveniently for the Democrats, Zuckerberg and his fellow bloated rich pigs agree to ban ANY opinions that Democrats say should count as “hate speech” and as “violations of community standards” and other such vague, meaningless phrases that totalitarians always use to justify censorship. Already an Asian, female Republican political candidate (Elizabeth Heng) has had her campaign ads censored. Just a coincidence, I’m sure.
Facebook, Twitter, Google and others have been shown discriminating against all non-Democrats plenty of times over the years. As I often point out, I visit left-wing AND right-wing sites regularly to make sure I’m getting multiple viewpoints. Plus in real life I am close to people from all over the political spectrum and it has become impossible to ignore the way that social media target, harass and discriminate against ONLY the non-Democrats.
### Facebook and Twitter should be treated like public utilities and stopped from their war on the free exchange of ideas. Ever check out how the overwhelming majority of the one-percenters at those companies donate ONLY to the Democrats? They are also giving IN-KIND contributions to the Democrats and need to provide equal time.
The modern-day versions of the disgusting old Robber Barons might well be the corporate fascists aka techno-fascists in assorted tech industries, not just regarding Silicon Valley but also privacy-violating rich pigs at Facebook and elsewhere.
In fact, you could make the case that people like Mark “Skippy” Zuckerberg and his fellow corporate fascists are even worse since I don’t recall bloated rich pigs like E.H. Harriman or Cornelius Vanderbilt trying to police other people’s every thought, word and deed.
The invasive and ever-expanding tentacular reach of techno-fascists like Google and others makes these totalitarians a very credible threat to political freedom and freedom of expression.
In recent years outfits like Twitter, Facebook and others even made public noises about banning customers based on their conduct UNRELATED TO THOSE UTILITIES! Can you imagine the old, old Ma Bell monopoly cutting off people’s phone service because their operators caught those users discussing voting for political candidates disapproved of by Ma Bell’s upper echelons or expressing opinions frowned upon by Ma Bell?
Even worse, places like Google and others have made it firing offenses to be caught holding opinions at odds with the one percenters and bloated rich pigs who run those tech-related outfits.
Or put another way: Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
THE FLAG: NEGLECTED ACE PERIODICALS SUPERHERO
Superheroes continue to practically own pop culture right now. Balladeer’s Blog’s readers wanted more, so I recently posted a look at the Superhero Pantheon of Ace Periodicals. Here is another of their characters that I just added. FOR THE ORIGINAL ITEM FEATURING NEARLY TWENTY MORE FORGOTTEN HEROES AND HEROINES CLICK HERE
THE FLAG
Secret Identity: Jim Courtney, flag-maker
Origin: An unnamed baby was left on the doorstep of crippled World War One veteran John Courtney in 1920. Courtney, a flag-maker, was intrigued by the American Flag birthmark on the infant’s chest. He named the boy Jim and raised him as his son, teaching him his flag-making trade.
On Jim’s 21st birthday he was visited by the ghosts of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who told him he was a super-powered being and that his powers were ready to be used now that he was an adult. Jim donned a costume and fought the forces of evil as the Flag.
First Appearance: Our Flag Comics #2 (October 1941). His final Golden Age appearance came in 1942.
Powers: Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: D3 PRESEASON RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG
Last week I posted Balladeer’s Blog’s Preseason rankings for the NAIA. Now here’s my early look at NCAA Division 3 for the 2018 season.
1. UNIVERSITY OF MOUNT UNION PURPLE RAIDERS (Defending Champions) ### 2. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT OSHKOSH TITANS ### 3. UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR CRUSADERS ### 4. UNIVERSITY OF SAINT THOMAS (MN) TOMMIES ### 5. LINFIELD COLLEGE WILDCATS ###
6. FROSTBURG STATE BOBCATS ### 7. WARTBURG COLLEGE KNIGHTS ### 8. WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE PRESIDENTS ### 9. SAINT JOHN’S UNIVERSITY JOHNNIES ### 10. DELAWARE VALLEY UNIVERSITY AGGIES ### Continue reading
Filed under college football
#WALKAWAY MOVEMENT CONTINUES: BLACK GAY VET LEAVES THE DEMOCRATS AND TELLS THE WORLD WHY
Many readers have been asking me why I don’t do my own #WalkAway article about how I was driven away from the Democrats by their unhinged fascism. Basically because ever since 2010 many items here at Balladeer’s Blog have ALREADY BEEN my #WalkAway testimonials. I’ve also featured other former Democrats who came to feel just as disgusted long before this whole, beautiful #WalkAway movement began.
Another one of the latest #WalkAway heroes is Rob Smith who is black and gay and is fed up with the way Democrats treat black people and gay people like they own them. The link to the item is below, but first some excerpts:
“Rob Smith represents everything Democrats fear most in the #WalkAway era.
A black, gay, Army veteran, Smith became so sick of false narratives from liberals, and the perpetuation of a victimhood mentality that he decided to switch parties …”
“I think for me, I got so sick of the lies. What they were telling black people,” Smith said.
“Smith, who grew up a Democrat, said the party is all about keeping people in line.
“I think Democrats use identity politics to keep people in line,” Smith explained. “To keep black people in line. To keep Latinos in line. To keep gay people in line. I’m black and gay, and I have seen them use the same tactics for black people as they do for gay people.”
“After being asked if it is harder to come out as a gay person or a Republican, the vet offered a telling response that captures the state of today’s Democratic Party. –
““I didn’t lose friends when I came out as gay. I’ve lost friends since coming out as Republican,” Smith said. “People do not understand it and these are the… left, that’s supposed to be so tolerant and inclusive. These are the people who were the first to shun me … ”
FOR THE WHOLE PIECE CLICK Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
SJW’S: LOSERS OR JUST FOOLS?
By way of this general announcement I will once again remind the ridiculous poseurs who refer to themselves as SJW’s that, if they expect me to allow their comments to show – comments in which they absurdly refer to themselves with that hilariously pretentious and grandiose SJW label – then they have to address me as a “Heroic Defender of Freedom.”
Doing so might just convey to you what silly “only child” jackasses you look like to other people when you use that lame SJW title.
First – Calling YOURSELF an SJW is as meaningless as the way some of you compound this narcissistic idiocy by labeling yourselves a “Public Intellectual” on your social media home pages. Face it, if you’re reduced to designating YOURSELF as an intellectual – public or otherwise – you’re probably not one.
Second – The term “Social Justice” is as ridiculous as the Right-Wing terms “Family Values” and “Patriotic American.” Reasonable adults will not necessarily ever agree on the meaning of such silly generalities. Everyone knows when SJW’s and their ilk refer to Social Justice they REALLY mean only their own definition of it – a definition polluted by their political prejudices and self-centered drama queen tendencies. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, opinion
HEART: NOTHIN’ AT ALL
Balladeer’s Blog’s recurring feature Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead returns! This time the shoutout goes to Heart with their song Nothin’ At All.
Filed under opinion
BOONE MAY: NEGLECTED GUNSLINGER
BOONE MAY – We ring down the curtain on another Frontierado holiday with this look at neglected gunslinger Daniel Boone May, better known as just Boone May.
Daniel Boone May was born in Missouri in 1852 and raised on the family farm in Kansas following a move around 1860. In the early 1870s Boone headed west with his brothers Jim and Bill. By some accounts Boone drifted into bounty hunting as a way of making a living while his brothers were into more sedate and settled livelihoods.
With the Black Hills Gold Rush raging in 1876 the three May Brothers headed to Deadwood, SD to seek their fortunes. Bill tried his hand at prospecting while Boone and Jim invested some of Boone’s bounty money in a series of horse-team changing stations between the gold fields and the railroad in Cheyenne, WY.
Boone earned a solid reputation for being able to use his guns to keep the changing stations safe from bandits AND from bands of Sioux warriors. Before long he had made enough money to buy a home and land near the Platte River outside Deadwood. Continue reading
Filed under FRONTIERADO
BOOT HILL – A MINOR VALHALLA
IT’S THE FIRST FRIDAY OF AUGUST, MEANING IT’S FRONTIERADO! NOW CELEBRATED ON SIX CONTINENTS!
The joyous day is here at last so let’s enjoy our meals of buffalo meat, Tumbleweed Pizzas, Southwest Fried Rice, corn on the cob, Cactus Salad, mashed potatoes and Western Spaghetti ! Later we can wash down some Deuces Wilds (Red or Black) and Cactus Jacks while playing Frontierado Poker or watching Silverado.
BOOT HILL: The name has survived in much western lore as THE name for graveyards filled with gunslingers, outlaws and other stock figures of the Wild West. Today it serves as a blog post in which I focus on the causes of death for many of the men and women who have shown up in my Frontierado items over the years.
TEXAS BEN THOMPSON – Shot to death by multiple gunmen at Jack Harris’ Vaudeville Theater in San Antonio, TX on March 11th, 1884. It was a revenge killing that also claimed Thompson’s friend and fellow gunslinger John “King” Fisher.
DOC HOLLIDAY – Died of natural causes on November 8th, 1887 in Glenwood Springs, CO.
SAM SIXKILLER – Shot to death while unarmed on Christmas Eve of 1886 in Muskogee, OK (still called Indian Territory at the time).
“QUEEN” KITTY LEROY – Shot to death by her own husband in Deadwood, SD’s Lone Star Saloon on December 6th, 1877. Her husband then took his own life. Continue reading
Filed under FRONTIERADO
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