FEBRUARY SEVENTH ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

It’s time for another current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.

THE SCANDAL OVER THE WAY DEMOCRATS USED USAID TO COVERTLY FINANCE DEMOCRAT MEDIA OUTLETS, TARGET DEMOCRAT ENEMIES AND PUSH GROTESQUE SIDE PROJECTS CONTINUES TO GROW. More HERE. And HERE. This will join the Teapot Dome Scandal, the Credit Mobilier Scandal and other monumental scandals in American history. Even more HERE. And HERE.

PRESIDENT TRUMP AND SENATOR TUBERVILLE PURSUING LEGISLATION TO END THE TAXING OF SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS. Another campaign promise is addressed.

TRUMP ONCE AGAIN IMPROVING THINGS FOR THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR, LIKE HE DID IN HIS FIRST TERM, TOO. He has been and still is the best president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime.

FEMALE ATHLETES PRAISE PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR KEEPING MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS. Videos HERE. And HERE. And HERE.

DEMOCRAT OBSESSION WITH MUTILATING THE GENITALS OF CHILDREN CONTINUES. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

TRUMP CLEANUP OF THE SEWER AT THE CIA IS IN THE SPIRIT OF JFK’s LONG-AGO PLAN TO CURB THAT AGENCY’S COUNTLESS ABUSES. Let’s hope President Trump keeps himself safe.

TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBERS STILL BEING ARRESTED IN AURORA, CO. Remember when Democrats tried pretending that the gang wasn’t even in Colorado and that Trump was making it up?. Continue reading

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Filed under Anti-Donald Trump hysteria, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

THE BELLE STARR STORY (1968) SPAGHETTI WESTERN

THE BELLE STARR STORY (1968) – (Original title Il Mio Corpo per un Poker) This movie was directed by Lina Wertmuller, making it the only Spaghetti Western directed by a woman. It has nothing to do with the real Belle Starr, but for name recognition you can’t beat that title!

In any event, our heroine Belle (Elsa Martinelli) faces the ugly issues a lot of women faced in the old west regarding predatory men but rises above it all to become a sharp-shooting, butt kicking, hard drinking ball of fire. She blazes a trail across the west, becoming one of the greatest outlaws of her time.

Early in the film, Belle is in a high stakes poker game at a saloon. The other players fall one by one until it’s just her and the handsome, devil-may-care bandit Larry Blackie (Larry Blackie?). Continue reading

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Filed under FRONTIERADO, Spaghetti Westerns

REMINDER ABOUT KRIS STRAUB’S LOCAL 58: THE NEW EPISODES

Where does the time go? It was 2020 when Balladeer’s Blog first covered the ongoing masterpiece and trailblazer of Analog Horror – Local 58TV. My post yesterday about the very real Lucky 7 pirate channel from 1978 prompted me to check up on any new episodes of Kris Straub’s fictional Local 58TV.

There are FOUR new installments since 2020 – one from three years ago, one from two years ago and two from Halloween of 2024! As always, the months and sometimes years between episodes are the biggest weakness of this Straub storyline. It’s been purely on faith in his talent that so many of us are still interested after all this time. 

If you’re new to the whole Local 58TV Analog Horror series the YT Channel is HERE. You’ll get to enjoy all twelve episodes up to now without the long wait the rest of us had to endure.

My take on the four new installments:  Continue reading

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Filed under Halloween Season, opinion

LUCKY SEVEN: SYRACUSE’S PIRATE TELEVISION STATION (1978)

LUCKY SEVEN (1978) – Years before the hacker calling himself Captain Midnight hijacked HBO airtime to protest their high prices and years before the weird Max Headroom parody hack in Chicago came this forgotten incident in the annals of pirate broadcasting.

As many people know, pirate radio stations were often able to operate for months or even years before getting shut down, but pirate television broadcasting was limited to random hacks of a few minutes tops. The exception was Lucky 7, a rogue outfit that operated on the (then) unused frequency for what would have been Channel Seven in Syracuse, New York.

The host for Lucky 7 was a memorable man wearing a gas mask on his face like he was some kind of late-night Horror Host. This figure would introduce the programs and movies being shown on the channel and would also editorialize about the way corporations and the government held a monopoly on the airwaves. 

Not content to merely hack into other television broadcasts for a few minutes the rebels at Lucky 7, who called themselves the Renegade Broadcasting Company, were seen on thousands of tv screens in Upstate New York for roughly eight hours per night. 8 or 10 PM to 4 or 6 AM are often claimed. Continue reading

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Filed under Forgotten Television, Neglected History

NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS ROUNDUP: FEB FIFTH

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

FURTHER CONFIRMATION THAT FORMER CIA HEAD JOHN BRENNAN AND HIS ILK LIED ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP BEING RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION JUST TO PROVIDE JOE BIDEN WITH A “GOTCHA” MOMENT IN THAT 2020 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE WITH TRUMP. Outright election interference to cover up the Biden Crime Family Scandals in the 2020 election. The thugs of the “intelligence community” are as disgusting as ever and need cleaning up. 

REMEMBER HOW DEMOCRAT SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER GLOATED IN JANUARY OF 2017 ABOUT HOW THE THREE-LETTER AGENCIES WOULD GET BACK AT TRUMP “SIX WAYS FROM SUNDAY” FOR DARING TO CALL OUT THEIR FAILURES LIKE JOHN F. KENNEDY DID. Back then I was one of the people pointing out how repulsive it was to have a senator grovelingly and complacently admit to imminent illegal revenge tactics from the scum of the CIA and others.

VIDEO: PRESIDENT TRUMP PRESENTS THE MOTHERS OF VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT VIOLENCE RESPONDING TO SELENA GOMEZ. More HERE.

TRUMP MAKES DISASTROUS COMMITMENT TO CONTROLLING GAZA. In my opinion his proposal cannot work and should not even be attempted. It’s the kind of mistake he avoided in his first term.

BIDEN CRIME FAMILY: EVEN ZELENSKY ADMITS THAT NEARLY ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS IN UKRAINE AID IS MISSING. More HERE. As rational people could tell all along the funds seemed to be diverted for use as a slush fund for corrupt politicians in the U.S. and Ukraine (including Zelensky). Joe Biden’s Regime embodied everything wrong with America’s political establishment.

BIDEN REGIME EXPOSED FOR OBSTRUCTING INVESTIGATIONS INTO TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS LAST YEAR. At one time such information would dominate the headlines but in 2025 it gets lost in the flood of other Biden Regime Scandals.

TRUMP INSPIRES MEXICO TO FINALLY ARREST REGIONAL LEADER OF DRUG CARTEL. Remember, obviously such action could have been taken before now, but the political will was lacking. Continue reading

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Filed under Anti-Donald Trump hysteria, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

ARKANSAS STATE AT NEWPORT: COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM

If like me you’re often tired of so many college sports teams being called Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats here’s another example of something comparatively unique.

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY AT NEWPORT Continue reading

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Filed under Cool names and cool logos

WHEN CALIFORNIA WAS AN ISLAND (1510) ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION(ISH)

LAS SERGAS DE ESPLANDIAN AKA The Adventures of Esplandian (1510) – There were many subsequent editions of this Spanish novel by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo but 1510 is the year of the oldest known version. Part fantasy, part proto-science fiction and part chivalric romance saga, The Adventures of Esplandian is best remembered today for its supposed role in naming California. 

To begin with, Montalvo wrote this book as his own personal addition to the legends surrounding Amadis of Gaul. Esplandian, the son of Amadis, was also known as the Black Knight because of the color of his armor. After a series of adventures Esplandian and his forces conquered Constantinople, taking it from the Muslim armies. 

As the various Islamic city-states gather to besiege Constantinople many battles are fought, with Esplandian and his Christian forces managing to hold the city. The conflict widens, with Christians and Muslims alike sending word all around the world for allies to help defend or seize Constantinople.

Many chapters go by devoted to tales of the cosmopolitan rulers and warriors who journey to join their faith’s side in the ongoing war. Chapter FIFTY finally deals with a Muslim explorer named Radiaro who reaches California, but it’s a California that’s far from what you would expect. Continue reading

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Filed under Ancient Science Fiction

FEBRUARY THIRD ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

Time for another current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.

PILOTS HAD BEEN COMPLAINING TO THE BIDEN REGIME FOR YEARS ABOUT HOW DANGEROUS THE AIRSPACE OVER WASHINGTON D.C. HAD GOTTEN.

LAWSUIT EXPOSES HOW THE FAA – WHICH COMPLAINS NOW ABOUT UNDERSTAFFING – HAD TURNED AWAY OVER ONE THOUSAND QUALIFIED APPLICANTS BECAUSE OF DEI POLICIES. DEI is bigoted against white and Asian applicants. Democrat hatemongers even call Asians “white-adjacent.”

      And let’s be clear – DEI isn’t designed to help all people of color, only those people of color who show sufficient fealty to Democrat attitudes via their “studies” or “activism” as reflected on their job applications. Democrats weren’t hiring Thomas Sowells or Joy Villas or Clarence Thomases. It was similar to the way any applicant refraining from filling in their preferred pronouns would have been a red flag for Democrat Human Resources workers. 

TRUMP GETS AMERICANS FREED FROM VENEZUELA

CIA ADMITS PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT A LAB LEAK BEING THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE OF THE COVID PANDEMIC. But Democrats hysterically insisted that notion was wrong just because Trump said it, remember?

MS13 GANG LEADER – WHO SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN IN THE COUNTRY IN THE FIRST PLACE – SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON OVER SIX MURDERS THAT JOE BIDEN PERMITTED HIM TO COMMIT.

FENTANYL-DEALING TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBERS IN THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY ARRESTED IN SOUTH CAROLINA. Obviously, the Biden-Harris Regime could have been making these arrests all along, but callously chose not to.

WASHINGTON POST: QUINNIPIAC POLL SHOWS DEMOCRATS HAVE FIFTY-SEVEN PERCENT NEGATIVE RATING FROM THE PUBLIC AND ONLY A THIRTY-ONE PERCENT FAVORABLE RATING.  

PANAMA CAVES TO TRUMP BY AGREEING TO EXIT THEIR DEAL WITH CHINA. Yet, anti-Trumpers STILL fail to comprehend that in negotiations a hard opening position can get wheeled and dealed down from there. Instead, they keep pretending Trump’s trying to dictate to other countries with his opening offers. Continue reading

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Filed under Anti-Donald Trump hysteria, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMES JOYCE (2025 EDITION)

jamesjoyceHAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JAMES JOYCE! His works got me hooked in my teens when I really related to his character Stephen Dedalus as he rejected his religion and indulged what I call his “young and pretentious side” in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916). I wore out my copy of Joyce’s novel Ulysses (1922) and continue to mark Bloom’s Day to this very day.

Over the years Finnegans Wake (1939) replaced Ulysses as my favorite Joyce novel and I’m fonder than many people are of his play Exiles (1918). Continue reading

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Filed under Neglected History

BALLADEER’S BLOG: COLLEGE BASKETBALL – FEB SECOND

NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association)

WILD WEST – The EASTERN ARIZONA COLLEGE GILA MONSTERS welcomed the COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN NEVADA COYOTES. At Halftime the Gila Monsters were clinging to a 39-34 advantage but after the break EAC got some separation from the Coyotes for a 96-83 win. Armari Carraway put up THIRTY points to lead the Gila Monsters.   

CENTURY CLUB – Teams scoring 100 or more in Regulation: The MONTGOMERY COLLEGE RAPTORS won a 106-74 beatdown at the COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND HAWKS   ###   Meanwhile, the ST. PETERSBURG COLLEGE TITANS eviscerated the visiting FLORIDA COLLEGE FALCONS 109-57   ###   And the INDEPENDENCE COLLEGE PIRATES won 104-85 at the HUTCHINSON COLLEGE BLUE DRAGONS. Continue reading

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Filed under College Basketball