MLJ COMICS SUPERHERO PANTHEON

With the flood of superhero movies every summer in recent years Balladeer’s Blog will feature periodic examinations of the more obscure comic book companies. This time out it’s MLJ.

FoxTHE FOX

Secret Identity: Paul Patton, newspaper reporter and news photographer.

Origin: When his co-worker Ruth Ransom got kidnapped, Paul Patton felt he could fight crime AND enhance his journalism career by first donning a costume and thwarting criminals as the Fox and then getting a “scoop” on those adventures, complete with photos. And this was decades before Peter Parker made a living with news photos of his exploits as Spider-Man.

First Appearance: Blue Ribbon Comics #4 (June 1940). His final Golden Age appearance came in 1942. 

Powers: The Fox was at the peak of human condition. He had acrobatic skills greater than Olympic athletes and was a master of all forms of unarmed combat. His stealth skills were the equal of any burglar or ninja. The white eye-lenses on his mask permitted him to see in the dark.   Continue reading →

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ANGELINA JOLIE CRIES OUT FOR ISLAMIC STATE TO BE STOPPED

Angelina JolieAngelina Jolie, actress and Special U.N. Envoy, has joined other celebrities in calling out for more effective action to stop the “rapey” Islamic State that was spawned by Barack Obama’s premature withdrawal from Iraq. I will invoke my Celebrity Test for this situation: 

I’m not sure where she and all the people agreeing with her on social media were when we were actually STILL THERE – oh, wait, I know! They were insisting we were only there for the oil and that we were racists and imperialists and should withdraw. People who pointed out that if Obama withdrew prematurely it would only strengthen the worst elements of Islamic terrorism in the region were labeled “warmongers.”

Well, okay Angelina, let’s think about this:  

* Say we go in, even with the U.N.’s backing like we did in 2003, how long before the exact same hypocrites around the world who want us to go in and “do something about” ISIS lose interest in the conflict and start bashing us for doing so?

* The conflict alone would take YEARS, followed by a military commitment of DECADES or else groups similar to ISIS would simply take over AGAIN.

* As we saw LAST TIME AROUND, once the novelty of the war wears off with people like Angelina Jolie and other entertainers they will start claiming we are just there “for the oil”. They’ll do their usual round of songs, movies, etc demanding an immediate withdrawal. We’ll be told once again that people around the world consider the U.S. “the greatest threat to peace” and critics will say it’s the 83rd time the U.S. has taken such action since World War Two. (They love to ignore the fact that the international community often whiningly ASKS us to go into these countries.)

* AND once ISIS is “wiped out” and we’re working with other groups in the region to establish a stable post-ISIS government those same pious hypocrites will be excoriating us as “invaders” and “occupiers”. Iraqis who work with us to establish that stable government will be labeled a “puppet regime” and will get slaughtered when the inevitable, make-believe “anti-war” groups get their way and force ANOTHER premature withdrawal.  

SO MAKE UP YOUR MINDS, SHALLOW PEOPLE OF THE WORLD. IF YOU WANT US TO GO IN DO YOU HAVE THE MATURITY AND COMMITMENT TO STICK WITH IT WHEN:

* Your favorite singer or actor or whatever is out in public denouncing the war as “blood for oil” or “a war of aggression” or “an imperial, racist war” or “cowboy diplomacy” Continue reading →

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BAYBAYAN: PHILIPPINE EPIC MYTH – THE CONCLUSION

Balladeer’s Blog concludes its examination of this epic myth of the Bukidnon people of the Philippines.

PART EIGHT

Bukidnon mapAlisngaran, the favorite disciple of Baybayan, stood beside the woman he loved and continued wielding his kampilan sword against the trio of attacking giants. Whenever his kampilan – so heavy no other mortal man could lift it – sliced off the head or one of the limbs of the giants the other two would intensify their attack until the head or limb of the third could grow back. 

Meanwhile, on board the flying ship the Salimbal the demigod Baybayan, whose divine senses could see what was transpiring back on the Earth, again caused a mental image of himself to appear to Alisngaran and his beloved. (The names of many of the women in Philippine myths are unknown because their “holy men” considered the names too sacred to share with outsiders.) 

Baybayan pleaded with his favorite follower to abandon his battle with the giants and join the rest of his hundreds of surviving disciples on the trip to Skyland, the home of the gods. Alisngaran complied, grabbing his woman with one arm as Baybayan tried levitating the couple upward toward the faraway Salimbal. The weight of Alisngaran’s mighty kampilan prevented the pair from rising very far, however. Continue reading →

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NAIA COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

Marian Knights helmet newNAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) – 1. MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS     ###      2. MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS     ###      3. SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY RAIDERS (Defending Champions)     ###      4. FAULKNER UNIVERSITY EAGLES     ###      5. LINDSEY WILSON COLLEGE BLUE RAIDERS     ###       Continue reading →

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MUSLIM SUPERSTITIONS ARE NOT THE LAW

Muslims peace and loveMuslim Violence Awareness Month continues with this look at the way Islam commits violence against religious freedom everywhere it spreads. I’m a non-believer in any of the world’s religions. Nearly all of the other religions have made some accomodation with the modern world where they do not expect people outside their religion to be bound by their own belief system. The one exception, of course, is Islam.

Muslims want their own ridiculous superstitions protected to a degree that none of us would accept from Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism, etc. So if, in casual conversation I happen to express the fact that Muhammad died long ago a Muslim can “take offense” since Islam teaches that Muhammad did not die but rose into the sky.

That Muslim, with the full cooperation of the gutless hypocrites of the American Left, can try to bring some form of punishment upon me for my perfectly rational remark that Muhammad died long ago. Of course, if I say “Jesus died long ago. That whole ‘rising from the dead’ nonsense is ridiculous,” the cowards of American Liberalism are fine with that, no matter how many Christians might be offended.

There are plenty of us non-believers and we are not going to obey any governmental entity that tells us we have to humor the idiocy of Islam by pretending that the blood-soaked child rapist who founded that religion did not die centuries ago but instead “rose into the sky.” Leftists around the world THINK they are doing Muslims a favor by carving out all these exceptions for the superstitious little darlings but they are instead making them targets of more and more resentment.      Continue reading →

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THE SECRET OF DORIAN GRAY (1970) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

Secret of Dorian GrayBefore MST3K there was … The Texas 27 Film Vault!

In the middle 1980s, way down on Level 31 Randy Clower and Richard Malmos, machine-gun toting Film Vault Technicians First Class hosted this neglected cult show.

Balladeer’s Blog continues its celebration of the program’s THIRTIETH  anniversary year.

Randy Clower and Richard Malmos of The Texas 27 Film Vault (both lower right) featured in a Movie Host article with Stella from Saturday Night Dead and Elvira.

Randy Clower and Richard Malmos of The Texas 27 Film Vault (both lower right) featured in a Movie Host article with Stella from Saturday Night Dead and Elvira.

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: Saturday January 24th, 1987 from 10:30pm to 1:00am.

SERIAL: None this week. The movie, commercials and Film Vault Corps comedy sketches took up the entire running time.

HOST SEGMENTS/ COMEDY SKETCHES: There is some disagreement among Texas 27 Film Vault Fans. One faction argues that this was the episode in which Randy Clower – interested in preserving his youth like the main character in the night’s movie – took the nonexistent chemical Multiquixiphiline (see my exclusive interview with Randy Clower). Continue reading →

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OBAMA NAILED FOR DISTORTING INTELLIGENCE INFO ON THE ISLAMIC STATE

Obama work here is doneAlready thoroughly humiliated by the way his premature withdrawal from Iraq spawned the Islamic State and its daily atrocities Barack Obama has now been exposed by over 50 intelligence officials coming forward about his administration’s distortion of information.

Borrowing from Lyndon Johnson’s distortions and lies about the Vietnam War, Little Barry has been applying pressure through his political hacks to slant and distort intelligence on the battle with ISIS to make it look like the conflict is going well AND to make it look like the Islamic State poses much less of a threat than it really does.

For a person who seems to think “history” means only the Vietnam War and Western abuses Obama ignores the lessons even his own very limited and simple-minded knowledge of the past should convey to him.   Continue reading →

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM SEPTEMBER 12th

* HEADLINES *

St Francis IL Fighting Saints helmet NEWTHE FIGHTING SAINTS TRIUMPHANT – Nearly every week of college football season brings at least one NAIA team upsetting a team from NCAA Division Two or even Division ONE. Yesterday the UNIVERSITY OF ST FRANCIS (IL) FIGHTING SAINTS were on the road against NCAA Division TWO’s LINCOLN (MO) UNIVERSITY BLUE TIGERS and stunned them in a 13-10 game for the ages.     ###      And the NAIA’s (1) MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS toppled Division TWO’s visiting UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS GREYHOUNDS in a 28-22 Instant Classic.

Maryville helmetTHE SCOTS GO BUCCANEER HUNTING – NCAA Division Three’s MARYVILLE COLLEGE SCOTS traveled to take on NCAA Division ONE’s East Tennessee State Buccaneers, who are in their very first year of intercollegiate football. A 21-21 Halftime tie was followed by a scoreless 3rd Quarter but in the 4th the Scots prevailed by a final tally of 28-21.  Continue reading →

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FOUR DEAD IN BENGHAZI: THREE YEARS SINCE OBAMA LEFT THEM TO DIE

The piece of dogshit stubbornly clinging to the bottom of history's shoes

Little Barry has been called the piece of dogshit stubbornly clinging to the bottom of history’s shoes. And not without reason.

It’s been three years and two days since the weak, inept and crooked little man named Barack Obama killed the Americans at our compound in Benghazi just to spare himself some embarrassment and inconvenience during his reelection campaign. The repulsive demagogue had been claiming that Al Quaeda was on the run and the fact that the terrorist group coordinated the Benghazi attack would have further harmed Obama’s credibility at a crucial time. It might even have been his version of what the Tet Offensive did to Lyndon Johnson’s credibility. It also would have put the lie to Continue reading →

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BAYBAYAN: PHILIPPINE EPIC MYTH PART SEVEN

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this epic myth of the Bukidnon people of the Philippines.

PART SEVEN

Philippines Map 3With the menace of the giants and the dragons now behind them, Baybayan and his hundreds of surviving followers continued their journey toward Skyland, the home of the gods. The ship transporting them was the Salimbal, the divine craft sent down by the supreme deity Magbabaya.

The demigod Baybayan was looking back at the faraway Earth by way of his godly senses. He noticed the granary that his industrious disciples had filled with rice and did not want the precious food to go to waste.

Selecting a pair of the saliyao bells that lined the Salimbal, Baybayan threw them back to the Earth, transforming them into the very first male and female Maya bird. These birds and their young would feed on the rice in the granary. Since that day Maya birds have fed on rice from Philippine rice fields. (Until 1995 Maya birds were even the National Bird of the Philippines.) Suddenly danger reared its head.   Continue reading →

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