Tag Archives: Neglected history

NEWS ROUNDUP: JULY 20th

biden titanic

Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at some recent news stories.

IN JULY OF 2021 JOE BIDEN CLAIMED “NO SERIOUS ECONOMIST IS PREDICTING HIGH INFLATION.” The working class and the poor are paying the price for Biden’s inflation thanks to his and his “experts'” monumentally bad judgment.

DEMOCRAT MEDIA OUTLETS HELP DEMOCRATS ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ AND ILHAN OMAR FAKE THEIR PROPAGANDA PRETENDING THEY WERE HANDCUFFED AT DEMONSTRATION IN WHICH SEVENTEEN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WERE ARRESTED. More HERE. And the media wonder why people are so aware of their pro-Democrat or pro-Republican biases.

biden off bike“BRANDON FALLS.” COURAGEOUS POLITICAL DISSIDENTS MOCK THE FASCIST BIDEN REGIME BY MAKING A TOURIST DESTINATION OF THE PLACE WHERE THE UNFIT MAN FELL WHILE ON HIS BIKE. Hilarious! Ugly political trash like Joe Biden can’t stand being ridiculed.

MORE COURTS RULING THAT CERTAIN STATES VIOLATED THEIR OWN ELECTION LAWS IN THE FOREVER TAINTED 2020 ELECTION. Scrutiny of that most corrupt election since 1876 and 2000 must continue, to try preventing repeated abuses.

biden frowningCAREER CRIMINAL JOE BIDEN GREETED IN MA WITH CHANTS OF “LET’S GO BRANDON.” Heroic American dissidents strike again. 

THE DEMOCRATS OF SOCIAL MEDIA CONTINUE THEIR PLANS TO SILENCE CRITICISM OF THEIR POLITICAL PARTY CLOSE TO ELECTION DAY. It will be like the way they buried the proven TRUE reports about the Hunter Biden/ Joe Biden scandals in 2020.  Continue reading

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JOE BIDEN ATROCITIES: JULY 13th

Here at Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog it’s been several days since I last looked at the disastrous regime of the selected but not elected (just like the repulsive George W. Bush) Joe Biden.

joe biden slovenly messBIDEN CRIME FAMILY BLASTED FOR SELLING U.S. OIL RESERVES TO A CHINESE COMPANY LINKED TO JOE’S UNDERBOSS HUNTER BIDEN. More HERE. Hunter’s influence-peddling still going on?

DEMOCRATS’ OWNERS IN BIG PHARMA (IN THIS CASE PFIZER) SPONSOR A “LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE” FOR THEIR POCKET POLITICIANS. Life in the Biden Regime’s corporate fascist kleptocracy continues. 

BIDEN REGIME’S COMMERCE SECRETARY ADMITS THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT CHINA WILL RECIPROCATE IF JOE BIDEN LIFTS TARIFFS ON THAT NATION. Buying Joe Biden was the best investment that the Chinese government ever made.

biden confused and fearfulA LOOK AT JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF CROOKED JOE BIDEN BEING CAUGHT IN HIS FAMILY’S CORRUPTION

JOE BIDEN’S APPROVAL RATINGS STILL DOWN IN THE 20 PERCENTILE RANGE. They’ve been at 28 or 29 percent depending on which poll you go by. De facto Third Party President Donald Trump beat Biden’s approval rating by DOUBLE-DIGITS at the same point in his first term. 

REPEAT CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT OFFENDERS CONTINUE TO JUST WALK BACK ACROSS THE BIDEN REGIME’S UNSECURED SOUTHERN BORDER EVEN AFTER BEING DEPORTED. And there are still no plans by Biden to even TRY securing said border. In fact the Regime continues to persecute Border Patrol Agents, apparently to send a message that enforcement of immigration laws will result in punishment swift and sure.

biden bloodIN DEMOCRAT-RUN PHILADELPHIA, CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 10 AND 14 FILM THEMSELVES LAUGHING AS THEY BEAT A 73-YEAR-OLD MAN TO DEATH. Will Democrats insist that statues be built for the participants in the video?

JOE BIDEN’S INFLATION RISES EVEN HIGHER THAN EXPECTED. The Regime’s war on the working class and the poor continues. Continue reading

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NEWS ROUNDUP: JULY 7th

democrat republican or awakeIndependent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at some of the latest news. 

BIDEN REGIME CALLED OUT FOR INTERFERING WITH INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY.

WHILE THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR SUFFER AT THE PUMP, BIDEN RELEASES U.S. RESERVE PETROLEUM TO HIS OWNERS IN CHINA. Buying Joe Biden was the best investment the Chinese government ever made.

BIDEN CAMPAIGN SURROGATE SENTENCED TO TWELVE YEARS FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

HARVARD-HARRIS POLL: DE FACTO THIRD PARTY PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IS AMERICA’S MOST POPULAR POLITICAL FIGURE. More HERE, and HERE 

IN THE WAKE OF THE EXPOSE TITLED “RIGGED,” TWENTY-FIVE STATES PASS LAWS BANNING PRIVATE MONEY FROM TAINTING ELECTIONS LIKE IN THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.  This is why it is so crucial to keep investigating 2020’s corrupt election, so that steps can be taken to prevent a recurrence in future elections.

biden ordered through the mailNEW YORK SUED FOR FAILING TO REMOVE INELIGIBLE VOTERS FROM THE ROLLS. As I mentioned above, there is a long way to go in fighting entrenched Democrat vote fraud. 

TRUMP-ENDORSED SENATE CANDIDATES GO UNDEFEATED SO FAR IN THE 2022 PRIMARIES. 

BIDEN REGIME’S POLICIES SEND THE STOCK MARKET TO A FIFTY YEAR LOW. Joe Biden is a complete disaster. Continue reading

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CASIMIR PULASKI: REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERO

pulaski picCASIMIR PULASKI (1747-1779) -Obviously from my last name I’m Polish-American and therefore grew up immersed in the role played by Casimir Pulaski and Tadeusz Kosciuszko in America’s War of Independence. I’m often surprised by how comparatively unknown they are to the public at large, so in keeping with Balladeer’s Blog’s theme here’s a look at Pulaski. I’ll cover Kosciuszko separately.

Casimir Pulaski began fighting against tyranny when he was 21 years old. In 1768 he served in the Bar Uprising against Russian domination of Poland. The uprising was facing overwhelming odds and was deemed hopeless, but it became a minor cause celebre around the western world as the fierce insurgents kept the war going through four long years.

statue of pulaskiThe war never became as romanticized as the later Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Turks, but the conflict drew attention to Russian totalitarianism and to the abilities of Polish officers like Casimir Pulaski. In fact, it took an invasion by Russian-allied Austria and Prussia to help Russia put down the rebellion in 1772.

Pulaski and other Polish soldiers from the Bar Uprising flirted with an alliance with Turkey against the Russians but when the Ottomans made peace with Russia in 1774 that possibility was eliminated. By December of 1776 Casimir was living in Paris where, the following spring, he was introduced to Benjamin Franklin, one of the American Commissioners in France.

pulaski statueFranklin was impressed with what he could learn about Pulaski and sent him on to America with a letter of introduction to George Washington. Franklin described the Pole as “an officer famous throughout Europe for his bravery and conduct in defence of the liberties of his country against the three great invading powers of Russia, Austria and Prussia … may be highly useful to our service.”

Casimir told Washington “I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it.” During the summer of 1777 the 30-year-old Pole was made Chief of Cavalry by Congress. Continue reading

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LUKE RYAN: PRIVATEER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

Luke RyanThe 4th of July is fast approaching, so Balladeer’s Blog will be squeezing in a few more holiday-themed posts up til then. In the past I’ve examined Revolutionary War privateers like John Haraden and Silas Talbot. This time around I’ll take a look at the controversial Luke Ryan.

Ryan was born in 1750 in Rush, Ireland and by the late 1770s he was an established smuggler. Captaining his ship the Friendship, Luke got commissioned in February of 1778 as a privateer for the British but would later switch to the American side.

The Friendship, with its 14 cannon and 60-man crew, sailed as a privateer vessel for King George III until April of 1779. Captain Ryan couldn’t resist pulling a side hustle against his ostensible employer England by smuggling some goods from Dunkirk, France to Rush, Ireland.

ryan's shipSome of Ryan’s crew didn’t like the way the spoils were divided from this extracurricular activity and informed the authorities about Luke’s smuggling offense. The Friendship was seized and hauled to Poolbeg and all crew members on board were arrested, then thrown into Black Dog Gaol. This happened on the night of April 11th into 12th. 

Luke was not among those men on board at the time, so he organized a raid to bust his men free from Black Dog. The raid succeeded, following which the freed men and their liberators went to Poolbeg where they stole aboard the impounded Friendship and overpowered the guards.

The recovered vessel sailed to Rush before daybreak and with 18 additional men signing on, it was on to Dunkirk. Captain Ryan and his crew had committed a hanging offense by taking back the Friendship, so they decided to switch sides and become privateers for England’s enemies. Continue reading

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POLITICAL CARTOON ROUNDUP: JUNE 27th

Biden sick and tiredIndependent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes another look at recent political cartoons, many of them about career criminal Joe Biden and the Biden Crime Family. 

Stop Democrat ViolenceUp first below is yet another reminder about how illegitimate the Democrats’ absurd January 6th Committee is, with Democrat violence once again sweeping the nation and with Democrats calling for the violent deaths of government figures. 

democrat swamp creatures

Next is a clever look at the way that the installed career criminal Joe Biden’s Regime has destroyed the country.

biden like Scar Continue reading

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REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLES BEFORE JULY 4th 1776

Balladeer’s Blog as usual will be marking the USA’s upcoming birthday with a series of holiday-themed posts. Since we get overexposed to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 and the actual signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 I will instead stay true to my blog’s theme and focus on the action in between April 19th, 1775 and early July 1776.

May 10th, 1775 – The British Fort Ticonderoga in New York is seized in what would today be called a Special Forces raid by Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, who beat other American forces to the valuable military prize. Allen and his men had the advantage of being an organized body under arms for quite a long time because they were originally formed to fight for the independence of what is now the state of Vermont (“Green Mountain”).

They had been an active guerilla force fighting for Vermont’s right to be an independent entity rather than part of the Hampshire Grants being fought over by New York and New Hampshire. Their secret headquarters was the Catamount Tavern which is why the University of Vermont’s sports teams are called the Catamounts. 

May 12th, 1775 – Crown Point, NY is taken by American forces in another early but forgotten action. 

May 16th – Benedict Arnold’s ultimately ill-fated invasion of Canada sees its first action as his forces besiege St John. Among Arnold’s troops are Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys and Daniel Morgan’s Kentucky Rifles, a unit that will see impressive action throughout the entire war, from Canada to the Deep South.   Continue reading

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PONY EXPRESS RIDERS: THE CLIFF BROTHERS

pony express stationIt’s less than two months until the major holiday Frontierado, so here’s a third blog post about Pony Express Riders – April 3rd, 1860 to October 26th, 1861. A few weeks ago came Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the first Pony Express riders.

As always, Frontierado celebrations are about the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality.

THE CLIFF BROTHERS

charlie cliffCHARLIE CLIFF – The younger of the two Cliff brothers to ride for the Pony Express was born in 1844 in St. Louis County, MO. Sometime in 1852 the family moved to St. Joseph, MO and by May of 1860 Charlie and his older brother Gus were Expressmen, the official title of Pony Express Riders.

Charlie’s rout passed through Kickapoo Indian territory but the tribe was peaceful and the young man never experienced difficulties with them. However, in 1861 he encountered a small company of nine covered wagons headed west and shared their plight of being besieged by over one hundred Sioux warriors. The siege lasted three days with periodic gunplay before a larger wagon train approached and the Sioux, realizing they were outnumbered, rode off. Continue reading

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TWENTY COLD WAR ERA ATTACKS ON AIRCRAFT

Mascot new look With Memorial Day coming up tomorrow Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at some servicemembers who died in assorted neglected Cold War clashes.

APRIL 8th, 1950 – A U.S. Navy Privateer Electronic Intelligence aircraft was shot down by Soviet Union fighter planes over the Baltic Sea. All 10 crew members were either killed or captured by the Soviets with no further information ever becoming available.

NOVEMBER 6th, 1951 – A U.S. Navy Neptune patrol aircraft was fired upon by Soviet fighters off the coast of Siberia. The plane disappeared along with all 10 crew members.

JUNE 13th, 1952 – A U.S. Air Force Superfortress on a reconnaissance mission was reportedly attacked by Soviet fighters over the Sea of Japan and disappeared without a trace along with all 12 crew members.

SuperfortressOCTOBER 7th, 1952 – Another U.S. Air Force Superfortress encountered Soviet fighters off the coast of Japan and was presumed to have been shot down with 8 crewmen losing their lives.

NOVEMBER 29th, 1952 – A U.S. cargo plane was shot down over northeast China. Two crewmen died in the crash and were buried near the craft. The surviving pair – John Downey and Richard Fectau – were captured and imprisoned. Fectau was not returned to the U.S. until 1971 and Downey in 1973.

JANUARY 18th, 1953 – A U.S. Navy Neptune plane was shot down by Chinese anti-aircraft guns over the Formosa Strait off Swatow, China. It ditched, with 2 crew members presumed captured by the Chinese and 5 presumed dead. A U.S. Coast Guard “flying boat” crashed during the search for the downed crew, leaving 4 more men dead.    Continue reading

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FIRST PONY EXPRESS RIDERS

pony expressBalladeer’s Blog always marks the holiday called Frontierado, which is observed every year on the firstrichardson, fry, cliff brothers charlie and gus Friday in August. This year that will be August 5th. Frontierado is about the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality.

A topic I haven’t covered in the past is the legendary Pony Express, which operated from April 3rd, 1860 to October 26th, 1861. Prior to the spread of telegraph wires all the way across the continent, the Pony Express was the fastest way of getting messages – and mail – from Missouri to California and vice versa.

Their riders, officially titled Expressmen, faced perils from nature, bandits and hostile Native Americans depending on circumstances at any given moment. Everything boiled down to speed, so to save on weight on the horses Expressmen were only permitted to carry one pistol after a few riders were caught carrying two pistols and a rifle or more.

richardson and fryI will cover many of the other riders as we get closer to the actual date of Frontierado, but for today here is a brief look at the first Pony Express riders to depart from Saint Joseph, MO headed west and from Sacramento, CA headed east. There is still some dispute about which men officially count as the first riders, with two men put forth for both routes.

WEST FROM ST. JOSEPH – The first potential riders from St. Joseph, MO were, alphabetically, Johnny Fry and “Sailor Billy” Richardson. After ceremonial speeches by politicians and businessmen, a cannon shot inaugurated the first ride westward around 7:15PM on April 3rd, 1860. 

johnny fryJOHNNY FRY was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky in 1840 (exact date unknown) and in 1857 his family moved to Missouri. After the firing of the cannon, whoever the first rider was, Fry or Richardson, they galloped to the ferry Denver waiting at the landing on Jules Street. The Denver carried the rider across the Missouri River to Elwood, KS where that first ride resumed. Continue reading

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