BAD MOVIE: THE BIONIC BOY (1977)

bionic boyTHE BIONIC BOY (1977) – This joint production of the Philippines and Hong Kong starred child martial arts champion Johnson Yap from Singapore. It was also released under alternate titles like Superboy, Trionic Warrior and others.

We viewers first meet 10-year-old Sonny Lee (Johnson Yap) on a televised game show hosted by a man who looks like Liberace. I didn’t say he DRESSES like Liberace, just that his face very closely resembles the Candelabra Man.

superboySonny wins the Jackpot on the game show because he’s as intelligent as he is skilled at martial arts. When Not Liberace brings on Sonny’s parents, some gangsters watching the show see that his father is really a former Interpol agent who brought down several of their colleagues and has been living in a Witness Protection Program ever since. (Pretty stupid to let your face get televised to millions then.)

The gangsters add killing the ex-Interpol man to their To-Do List since they are in the middle of muscling in on all export businesses in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and ultimately Australia. Sonny Lee and his parents get even more publicity when Ramirez, a Manila auto magnate, announces he will give the family a new car fresh off his assembly line.  Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE CONQUEST OF THE MOON (1887)

conquest of the moonTHE CONQUEST OF THE MOON (1887) – Written by French author Paschal Grousset under the alias Andre Laurie. This work ranges from absurd to fascinating, with – for people looking for science fiction – WAY too much time devoted to the fighting in the Sudan during 1884 and 1885.

In Australia, two German conmen – Ignaz Vogel and Costerus Wagner – team up with an American conman named Peter Gryphis. The trio launch a scheme to bilk scientifically ignorant tycoons by getting them to invest in their company which will supposedly conduct mining operations on the moon.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds are raised from the trio’s victims, who are thoroughly bamboozled until a stockholders’ meeting in Melbourne, Australia. Gryphis, Vogel and Wagner are successfully maintaining their ruse until, from the audience, French astronomer Norbert Mauny speaks up, demanding a detailed explanation of how the conmen plan to reach the moon. Continue reading

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AUGUST TWENTIETH ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

Some current events from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog, here in an America where the execrable John Sununu and Lindsey Graham, two politicians who made the Republican Party so despised even by their own voters, still dare to attack populist President Donald Trump. With corrupt garbage like Sununu and Graham attacking him, you know Trump continues to rock the white-collar criminal boat of such trash.

           Sununu and Graham apparently forget that Republicans like their repulsive buddies George W. Bush, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Dick Cheney, Paul Ryan and others were all hated and compared to Hitler LONG before Trump came along. Never-Trumpers need to stop acting like Republican candidates were considered soft, warm and cuddly until recently. Filth like Graham and Sununu are among the reasons why they weren’t.   

CONGRESSIONAL REPORT RELEASED OF JOE BIDEN’S IMPEACHABLE OFFENSES AND HIS CRIME FAMILY’S MULTIPLE RACKETS. Much more HERE. More HERE. Report points out Biden “defrauded the country to enrich himself and his family.” To say the least.

HEAD OF GLOBAL FIRM CALLS OUT KAMALA HARRIS AS AN “ECONOMIC ILLITERATE” AND MORE.

BIDEN’S FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF CALLS KAMALA A FAILURE AS VICE PRESIDENT

VIDEO: TRUMP PLAYS A SUPERCUT OF KAMALA HARRIS’ INANE GIBBERISH.

marie alvarado-gilDEMOCRAT STATE SENATOR MARIE ALVARADO-GIL COURAGEOUSLY LEAVES THE INTOLERANT AND CORRUPT DEMOCRAT PARTY TO BECOME A REPUBLICAN. I’m an Independent Voter myself, but I too left the Democrats in disgust over their increasingly unhinged nature.

           As this California State Senator said “In the past two years that I’ve been working in the Senate, I have not recognized the party that I belong to. The Democratic Party is not the party that I signed up for decades ago.” Many of us former Democrats can relate to that sentiment.

WHITE DEMOCRATS ATTACK BRAVE WOMAN OF COLOR FOR SUPPORTING PRESIDENT TRUMP.

COURAGEOUS VOTERS OF COLOR BLAST PRIVILEGED ONE PERCENTER CELEBRITIES WHO SHILL FOR KAMALA. More HERE.

NBA STAR KWAME BROWN JOINS THEM, SAYING “KAMALA’s SKIN COLOR AIN’T GONNA PAY FOR OUR GROCERIES”. Continue reading

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TONY ORLANDO AND DAWN (1974-1976) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

tony orlando and dawnTONY ORLANDO AND DAWN – This musical variety series filled a real need for CBS after Sonny and Cher’s show went off the air in May of 1974 due to their divorce. The network couldn’t believe their luck when Tony Orlando and Dawn, riding near the top of the charts and possessing a non-threatening charm, were then available.

Songs, comedy and celebrity guests filled the hour-long program just like on Sonny & Cher. Again like Sonny & Cher, Tony Orlando and his backup singers Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent – collectively called Dawn – could exchange comical insults to liven things up. 

tony orlando and dawn tv guideObviously, the trio’s singing act is still fairly well known, but I’m often surprised that many people have forgotten about their 56-episode television show. If you’ve never heard of this act, the name “Dawn” was originally the entire group name as a means for Tony Orlando to do a single outside of his current recording contract.

Orlando used an assumed name at first, with varying numbers of all-male performers credited as the other members of Dawn. In fact, so many names were used that there is probably an early incarnation of Dawn that lists ME as a member.

At any rate, the truth needed told when eventually a tour for Dawn was put together with Tony Orlando finessing the use of his own name and with Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent singing with him. The deceptive phone book sized credits for Dawn became a thing of the past. Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG’S PRESEASON RANKINGS FOR NAIA AND NJCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL

This Thursday August 22nd and Saturday the 24th the NAIA and NJCAA kick off their college football season. Here’s a look at my Preseason Top Twelve in each of those divisions.

NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)

1. NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS    ###    2. KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS (Defending Champions)    ###    3. MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS    ###    4. GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY VIKINGS (should be Zebras)    ###   

5. MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS    ###    6. DORDT UNIVERSITY DEFENDERS    ###    7. DICKINSON STATE UNIVERSITY BLUE HAWKS    ###    8. SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY COUGARS    ###    Continue reading

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AUGUST 2022: LOOKING BACK

FOR PART ONE (2016) OF THIS RETROSPECTIVE FROM INDEPENDENT VOTER SITE BALLADEER’S BLOG CLICK HERE. August of 2022 was the month of the anniversary of the Biden-Harris disaster in Afghanistan and their attempt to distract from it with the obscene raid on President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. 

YALE PROFESSOR BIZARRELY BOASTS ABOUT HELPING CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS THREE YEARS OF AGE BEGIN “TRANSITIONING” THEIR GENDER – More HERE. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

BIDEN-HARRIS REGIME EMPOWERS TEACHERS TO OVERRULE PARENTS REGARDING THEIR CHILDREN TRYING TO CHANGE THEIR SEX. And as we’ve seen since 2022, Kamala Harris is even more fanatical about pushing trans treatments than Biden was. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

OVER FOURTEEN FBI WHISTLEBLOWERS HAVE COME FORWARD TO CONGRESS ABOUT THE FBI’s FASCISTIC RAID ON MAR-A-LAGO. More HERE.

REVEALED: THE SAME FBI UNIT THAT PUSHED THE DISPROVEN RUSSIAN COLLUSION NONSENSE WAS BEHIND THE RAID ON MAR-A-LAGO. Not even the repulsive J. Edgar Hoover ran such a corrupt and politicized FBI.

JOE BIDEN-KAMALA HARRIS ATROCITY ROUNDUP: AUGUST 29th.

FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP: AUGUST 31st.

DE FACTO THIRD PARTY PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP LEADS THE WAY IN DEFEATING CORRUPT CAREER POLITICIAN FAMILIES LIKE THE BUSHES, CHENEYS, CLINTONS AND MCCAINS. He’s the only true reform candidate with a proven track record against America’s white-collar criminals in office.

NEVER FORGET THE BIDEN-HARRIS AFGHANISTAN DEBACLE. Kamala brags that she was “the last one in the room with” Biden as the decisions were made.

BIDEN GETS DESERVEDLY SLAMMED BY SURVIVORS OF THE DEAD IN AFGHANISTAN AND BY OTHERS.

DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR TIM WALZ CALLED OUT FOR HIS FAILURES DURING HIS POLITICAL PARTY’S RIOTS IN 2020. Hey, whatever became of that Tim Walz guy … oh, yeah. Continue reading

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WNBA RESULTS – BALLADEER’S BLOG

HOME STAND – The INDIANA FEVER (12-15) hosted the PHOENIX MERCURY (14-13) in this game.

The Fever were on top of Phoenix 33-16 in the 1st Quarter and 54-37 at Halftime. To end the 3rd Quarter the Mercury pulled to within 73-65, but Indiana held on in the 4th to win the game 98-89. CAITLIN CLARK led the Fever with her Double Double of 29 points and 10 assists.  

SPANKING THE SPARKS – The league-leading NEW YORK LIBERTY (22-4) took it on the road against the LOS ANGELES SPARKS (6-19).

The Liberty parlayed their 29-10 opening Quarter lead over Los Angeles into a 57-28 advantage by the Half. After the break, New York coasted to a Century Club level 103-68 triumph over the Sparks. Breanna Stewart’s 27 points led the Liberty.  Continue reading

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OMAC: ONE MAN ARMY CORPS (1974-1975)

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog looks at Jack Kirby’s creation OMAC during its 1974-1975 run at DC Comics. 

OMAC 1OMAC Vol 1 #1 (October 1974)

Title: Brother Eye and Buddy Blank

Villains: Pseudo-People, Inc.

Synopsis: The setting is Earth of the future – many years from the present but before the Great Disaster that caused the post-apocalypse world of Jack Kirby’s Kamandi series. The Global Peace Agency, secretly run by aliens called the Visionaries, covertly intervene on Earth to try preventing said Great Disaster.

The GPA’s attention has been drawn to a shady corporation called Pseudo-People, Inc. which manufactures and sells lifelike programmable androids to provide human customers with companionship. To launch an investigation of the company, the agency recruits Pseudo People, Inc. employee Buddy Blank to infiltrate the organization.

omac section dBecause of the danger of this assignment, Buddy is first used as a test subject for Operation OMAC (One Man Army Corps). The test is a success and when needed, the everyday Buddy Blank can be infused with superpowers by the GPA’s orbiting satellite called Brother Eye.

As OMAC, Buddy’s body is so altered that he can battle the villainy of PPI without giving away his secret identity. In this original incarnation of OMAC, the Brother Eye satellite was eventually revealed to be the long disused Justice League satellite. (Remember, this is the far future.) Later versions of the OMAC series gave Brother Eye different origins. Continue reading

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NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS ROUNDUP: AUGUST SIXTEENTH

media outlet bias 2More current events from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog, here in an America where the Kamala Harris Regime is forcing American Veterans to repay some disability payouts while letting illegal immigrants stay at posh hotels and get pre-paid debit cards paid for by taxpayers.  

kamala or trained sealATTEMPTS TO STOP DEMOCRATS FROM LETTING NON-CITIZENS VOTE IN THE ELECTION ARE FAILING. One side wants it more. But it IS amazing that even Europe, which Democrats so often point to as politically wonderful, requires Voter I.D. for their elections. 

ANOTHER ONE OF KAMALA’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GANG LEADERS IN UPSTATE NEW YORK ARRESTED OVER TWENTY-THREE MURDERS.

NEW JERSEY SOCCER COACH INDICTED FOR SEXTING AND MOLESTING PLAYERS AS YOUNG AS ELEVEN YEARS OLD. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

bloody hands of joe bidenTHE TALIBAN CELEBRATES THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIDEN-HARRIS REGIME’S DISASTROUS WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN BY PARADING THE MILITARY HARDWARE THAT BIDEN AND HARRIS LEFT FOR THEM. More HERE.

THE TALIBAN HAS MADE LIFE HELL FOR WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN. And gutless, privileged white Democrat poseurs in Handmaid’s Tale costumes are silent about it.

CHICAGO BUSINESSES BOARD UP THEIR WINDOWS OVER FEAR OF WHAT THE DEMOCRAT MOBS WILL DO DURING THEIR CONVENTION NEXT WEEK. Democrats combine the worst of Fascism and organized crime. Let’s hope that “mostly peaceful” fires and murders are kept to a minimum.

ben carsonDR. BEN CARSON: DEMOCRATS OWN THE HOUSING CRISIS CAUSED BY THEIR FLOOD OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

THE DEMOCRATS AT NPR PROVE ONCE AGAIN THAT PEOPLE WHO PRETEND TO BE “FACT CHECKING” ARE REALLY JUST EXPRESSING THEIR OWN OPINIONS ABOUT WHY THEY THINK A STATEMENT IS “UNTRUE”. They pretended to find 162 such statements in one recent opposition leader interview. Uh. Yeah. Right. And the Trump campaign could, I’m sure, find even MORE “untrue” statements in Kamala Harris speeches (she still refuses to DO interviews).

           Apparently, NPR Democrats would consider debates on any given subject “battles of lies vs facts” because they pretend The Party’s talking points are “facts” and any deviation from Democrat talking points must be untrue. Grow up, Democrats. What you do is offer REBUTTALS, not “fact checks.”

           And for Sharyl Attkisson’s article exposing the biases and lies of “fact checkers” (LMAO) click HERE. Also – RELATED. Continue reading

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THE AIR BATTLE: A VISION OF THE FUTURE (1859) ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

the air battleTHE AIR BATTLE: A VISION OF THE FUTURE (1859) – Written by an unknown author using the name Herrmann Lang. (Ignore the misspelling on the cover to the left.) Speculation has it that the author was British despite the German pseudonym and despite the narrator’s claim that he is a black man.

Before you jump to conclusions about how the narrator will be depicted to readers, let me make it clear that this novel has been confounding expectations for well over a century and a half now. The story is set in the year 6900 A.D. White civilization has fallen while three black and mixed-race nations are the dominant powers of the world. 

Much of the storyline deals with a war among those dominant powers to end slavery because black Christians strongly oppose that grotesque institution. In 6900 we are told that only white people are used as slaves and the war is being waged to free them. And yes, The Air Battle: A Vision of the Future really was published in 1859! Continue reading

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