HAS TO BE SAID: MARCH NINETEENTH

Here at Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog it’s time for another installment of “Has to be Said.”

ANTI-DONALD TRUMP LOONS ARE REPEATING ALL THEIR ACTIONS FROM HIS FIRST TERM – Do the people who hate President Trump 24/7 have any kind of long-term memory? Last time around assorted showboating judges tried halting his perfectly constitutional actions but over the following months and years most of what Trump wanted to accomplish was upheld.

Trump-haters obviously lack a sufficient attention span to follow court rulings as they ascend through various levels of appeals. The attention-seeking judges are overreaching and exceeding their powers for purely political reasons, just like last time. And just like the farcical political trials they used against Trump during the years that Biden was installed.

For overseas readers who don’t understand why so many judges have abused their positions, it’s all part of the Democrat motto “By any means necessary.” In the “Everything is political” mindset of such partisan robots it is like a religious commandment – “If your job puts you in a position to screw over The Party’s enemies, then you MUST do so, even if your actions later get overruled.” 

Trump has only been back in office roughly two months. It’s a long road ahead and many of the lower court rulings that Trump-haters are celebrating today will eventually be overturned. As usual.

And by the way, the U.S. president who has most often been overruled in the end by the U.S. Supreme Court by unanimous decisions was BARACK OBAMA. But his political party’s media outlets – as house organs will do – refrained from covering that fact with the same breathless hysteria that they use in covering Trump.

Over and over again since 2015 the mindless, uncomprehending anti-Trumpers have insisted that the Donald – America’s Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa and Gandhi – is through. Remember all of the unfounded attacks on Trump since then? All of which his vile enemies insisted was the end. Every. Single. Time. Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG: USCAA AND NCCAA2 CHAMPS CROWNED

USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association) DIVISION ONE

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The 4th seeded NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL BUILDERS (Shipbuilders) took the court against the 3 seeds – the VILLA MARIA COLLEGE VIKINGS. The Builders embarrassed Villa Maria College on both sides of the ball, leading them 33 to EIGHT (!) at Halftime. From there, the Apprentice School coasted to their 2nd National Championship in a row with a 64-43 victory. Chris Hinmon’s 16 points led the Builders, and teammate Donovon Means had a Double Double of 10 points & 10 rebounds. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: A PROPHETIC ROMANCE; MARS TO EARTH (1896)

A PROPHETIC ROMANCE; MARS TO EARTH (1896) – Written by Boston’s John Mccoy in the form of reports sent from future Earth to Mars.

McCoy narrated this novel as the Lord Commissioner, a humanoid Martian sent from the Red Planet to Earth of the 1990s. Lord Commissioner is the title of official visitors that Mars’ one-planet government sends to all the other populated planets of the solar system when they become sufficiently advanced in science. Our narrator will be filing his reports from Earth to the Chancellor Commander of Mars, his superior. 

The entire novel is presented through those reports. Martians have long been capable of interplanetary travel and the Lord Commissioner journeys by spaceship to Earth with a brief stopover on the moon.

Our narrator observes the ruins of a long-dead civilization on the moon and notes that a lunar atmosphere is forming, which may benefit Earthlings when they become advanced enough to fly to their planet’s satellite.

From there the Lord Chancellor journeys on to Earth, but an Earth unlike the real 1990s ever were. Continue reading

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THE FOOD OF THE GODS (1976) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

Balladeer’s Blog continues celebrating the FORTIETH anniversary year of this neglected cult show which debuted Saturday night February 9th, 1985. As I often mention, before MST3K came The Texas 27 Film Vault. Before Joel and Mike came Randy and Richard. Before Devil Dogs, Pearl and Deep 13 came Cellumites, Laurie Savino and Level 31.

This show was broadcast throughout Texas and Oklahoma on Saturday nights from 10:30PM to 1:00AM.

MOVIE: The Food of the Gods (1976). 

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: Sometime in 1985, possibly February or March. Some info points to this being the first episode in which Randy and Richard used their machine guns and “prop-pack” mini-copters to fight giant rats from deep in the Earth. Given how central the giant rats would be going forward IF that can be verified it would make this a pretty pivotal episode of The Texas 27 Film Vault.

SERIAL: IF the February or March of 1985 date is correct – and that’s still up in the air – then the serial episode would definitely have been from The Lost City (1935). That serial dealt with a mad scientist and his futuristic city hidden in the African jungle.

COMEDY SKETCHES: The Film Vault Corps (“The few, the proud, the sarcastic”), led by Randy, Richard and Ken “Tex” Miller POSSIBLY taking on the first of many packs of giant rats. The effects, models and dolls of the human figures would – for humor’s sake – have been INTENTIONALLY as cheesy as the kind Bert I. Gordon used in The Food of the Gods and so many of his other “gigantic monster” films.

THE FOOD OF THE GODS – This was one of the many, MANY “size change” movies of Bert I Gordon, “Mister B.I.G.” himself. (Amazing Colossal Man, Attack of the Puppet People, Earth vs the Spider, Beginning of the End, War of the Colossal Beast, The Cyclops, Village of the Giants, Empire of the Ants, etc.) 

The Food of the Gods was very loosely based on part of H.G. Wells’ novel of the same name. Gordon’s Village of the Giants, about a gang of giant-sized teenagers, was likewise loosely based on an often-forgotten section of that novel. Continue reading

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MARCH EIGHTEENTH ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

Time for another current events roundup courtesy of Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog, as always coming to you from an America where the Great Reformer Donald Trump continues to take on the most entrenched governmental corruption in history.

NBC POLL: TRUMP AT HIS HIGHEST APPROVAL RATING, PLUS THE PERCENTAGE OF AMERICANS WHO FEEL THE COUNTRY IS HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IS AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN TWENTY YEARS. DEMOCRAT APPROVAL RATING IS DOWN TO JUST TWENTY-SEVEN PERCENT.

RESCUED ASTRONAUTS THANK PRESIDENT TRUMP AND ELON MUSK. The latest joke going around is that some showboating, eventually overruled judge will rule that Trump must return the astronauts to being stranded in space.

TRUMP POLICIES LEAD TO BUILDING BOOM IN FEBRUARY. Single-family homes lead the way.

DEMOCRAT “FUND RAISING” ORGANIZATION ACT BLUE SCANDAL OVER ILLEGAL DONATIONS DEEPENS. Have I mentioned lately what a cesspool of corruption America’s political establishment is?

ICONIC PHOTO OF TRUMP UNDEFEATED WINS PHOTO OF THE YEAR AWARD.

PRESIDENT TRUMP GETS ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS DOWN TO THEIR LOWEST FEBRUARY LEVELS EVER.

PRESIDENT TRUMP ENGINEERS PUTIN AND UKRAINE CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT ON ENERGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE. Immediate talks on permanent peace scheduled. Politicians getting kickbacks from Ukraine and blood-soaked weapons manufacturers hardest hit.

NEW YORK TIMES ADMITS AGAIN THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT COVID COMING FROM A WUHAN LAB. More HERE. But the demented “must disagree with everything Trump says” psychosis ruled the corporate media’s reactions in 2020 as it still does today.

ANOTHER ASSOCIATED PRESS LIE ABOUT TRUMP GETS EXPOSED.

LATEST SHOW-BOATING JUDGE TO SOON BE OVERRULED IS ALSO FACING IMPEACHMENT. More HERE. And HERE.

GRASSLEY: THE SENATE IS WORKING TO SOLVE JUDICIAL OVERREACH. No matter WHO is president or from which political party, this pointless interference from attention-seeking judges needs to stop. Continue reading

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SAINT PATRICK MEETS CUCHULAINN

St. Patrick’s Day continues with this tale from Ireland’s ancient Book of the Dun Cow (Lebor na hUidre) in which the demigod Cuchulainn helps the saint convert Ireland to Christianity. Interesting blend of Christian and pagan elements. For more from the Book of the Dun Cow click HERE.

cuchulainn chariotTHE PHANTOM CHARIOT OF CUCHULAINN (Siaburchapat Con Culaind) – This tale is dated to around the mid-400s A.D. because of the presence of St. Patrick.

The story goes that St. Patrick pays a visit to the stubborn Loegaire mac Neill, a High King of Ireland, again entreating him to convert to Christianity. Loegaire tells Patrick that he will not believe in the God of Christianity unless that God can raise Cuchulainn from the dead and have him pay a visit to and converse with him (the king). 

God immediately sends an angel to tell King Loegaire and St. Patrick that God will raise Cuchulainn and send him to converse with Loegaire near the ramparts of the fortress at Tam.

cuchulainn ridingThe next day, St. Patrick and King Loegaire are both on hand at the appointed place when Cuchulainn appears, riding in his chariot driven by his usual charioteer Laege. The demigod’s two horses – the Dub Sainglend (black horse of Saingliu) and the Liath Macha (gray horse of Macha) – are pulling the chariot.

Cuchulainn stops to interact with the two living men. To help kill King Loegaire’s skepticism, the demigod performs assorted feats that only a being who was more than human could perform. Continue reading

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DENIS BURKE: IRISH PIRATE FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY 2025

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY! From People’s Favorite Magazine in 1916 to Argosy in the 1930s, the saga of Irish pirate and mercenary soldier Denis Burke unfolded from the pen of H. Bedford-Jones. The fictional buccaneer deserves to be remembered in the same breath with his fellow fictional Irish pirate Captain Peter Blood.

H. Bedford Jones created plenty of characters during his 40-year career as a pulp writer extraordinaire. His Captain Burke claimed descent from the real-life Iron Dick Burke and his wife Grace O’Malley, pirate queen of Ireland, who was featured in Balladeer’s Blog’s 2023 Saint Patrick’s Day post.

As for Burke, his tales were collected in The Royal Vagabond and again in Buccaneer BloodAmong the short stories that starred this hard-fighting, hard-drinking Irishman: Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG: NAIA, NCCAA AND USCAA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT ACTION

NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) DIVISION TWO

FIRST QUARTERFINAL – The 4 seeds – the CROWN COLLEGE POLARS – faced the 5th seeded GRACE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY TIGERS. GCU was on top of the Polars 39-33 by Halftime, but Crown College came out of the locker room ready for a comeback. In the end the Polars triumphed 74-69 led by 24 points from Tyrus Buckner.

SECOND QUARTERFINAL – The 3rd seeded MANHATTAN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE THUNDER took the court against the 6 seeds – the CAMPBELLSVILLE UNIVERSITY AT HARRODSBURG PIONEERS. At the Half the score was knotted up 38-38. From there the Thunder squeezed out a little separation from the Pioneers for a 72-69 victory. Xavier Lucas led MCC with 20 points.  Continue reading

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NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS ROUNDUP: MARCH FIFTEENTH

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog does another current events roundup.

PRESIDENT TRUMP HONORS HEROIC CANINES ON K-9 VETERANS DAY

TRUMP CALLS OUT THE BIDEN REGIME’S DOJ ABUSES AS MORE AND MORE IS LEARNED ABOUT THEM WEEKLY.

KEVIN DOWNEY JR.’s LIST OF DEMOCRAT FOLLIES FROM THE PAST WEEK.

CNN POLL: DEMOCRAT APPROVAL RATING DOWN TO TWENTY-NINE PERCENT. Yet they show no signs of recovering their sanity. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PLACES FIFTY MORE UNIVERSITIES UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR THEIR RACIST, SEXIST POLICIES OF DISCRIMINATION, EXCLUSION AND INTOLERANCE. More HERE.

TRUMP’S ONGOING EFFORTS TO ALLEVIATE TAX BURDENS ON THE MIDDLE CLASS.

677 WOULD-BE TYRANTS ON THE BENCH. I will say again this overreach has got to stop, and I know I’m not alone. Continue reading

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SUN GIRL (1948-1950)

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at Sun Girl, a Marvel character from back when the company was called Timely Comics.

SUN GIRL 

Secret Identity: Mary Mitchell, secretary for the Daily Views newspaper

Origin: Never revealed. Her very first story made it apparent that she had already been active for years.

Powers: Sun Girl was much stronger than any adult male. She was extraordinarily skilled at unarmed combat and was more agile than an acrobat.

Sun Girl wielded a Sunbeam Ray Gun (also a Sunbeam Wristlet-Ray) which shot solar light and heat.

Her emergency pouch contained a “super-sensitized tracer” and the cable/ lariat which she used to swing around the city like Spider-Man or Daredevil.

Comment: Marvel still hasn’t clarified if Sun Girl was a human or was an alien using the name Mary Mitchell as an alias. I would have made it that she was a human granted her powers and weapons by the Master of the Sun, who decades later gave Peter Quill his powers and weapons to become Star-Lord.

SUN GIRL Vol 1 #1 (August 1948)

Title: Flying Fists and Glamour

Villains: Gangs of bank robbers

Synopsis: A gang of armed robbers arrive in their getaway car at their hideout with their latest robbery proceeds.

Sun Girl emerges from hiding and reveals that she was surreptitiously clinging to their vehicle.

Our heroine outfights and outshoots the entire gang and hauls them into a police station. Expository dialogue reveals this is the latest in a rash of bank robberies and Sun Girl vows to lure out the secret leader of the gangs.

That leader turns out to be the crooked police chief, and she takes down him and his underlings.    Continue reading

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