Free Republic

When Desi Arnaz first set eyes on Lucille Ball in the commissary of RKO Pictures in Hollywood in early 1940, it was not an auspicious beginning to their relationship. The Cuban bandleader-turned-fledgling actor made a derogatory remark about the then-B-movie actress’ appearance. “He wasn’t impressed at all, calling her a ’10-cent whore,’ a ‘p–a’ — the Spanish word for prostitute,” author Darwin Porter told The Post, noting that the 28-year-old Ball, five years older than Arnaz, was dressed for a role as a cheap burlesque dancer in the film “Dance, Girl, Dance” with Maureen O’Hara.

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A local business owner told authorities he shot a former employee in self defense after the man attacked him with a nail-spiked baseball bat, according to Sheriff's Office records. Deputies arrested Matthew Thomas Shaler, 38, of the 5600 block of 38th Place, around 8 a.m. Dec. 25 and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felony armed trespassing. According to an arrest affidavit, the incident occurred seven days before Shaler's Christmas arrest. The owner of the local flooring business said on Dec. 18 around 11 a.m. he was inside his 39th Street office...

Can the descent of American political culture into ugly tribalism be halted? Alabama voters will give their answer when they decide whether to send Roy Moore to the U.S. Senate. Moore, 70, has built a long, disgraceful career out of smarmy religiosity spiked with tribal grievance. Having posed for years as the most pious of Christians, he now stands accused by nine women of un-Christian behavior: They claim convincingly that Moore, when he was in his 30s, aggressively pursued romantic or sexual relationships, including with teens barely half his age. Successful demagogues can use tribal enmities to blind their followers...

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) on Tuesday demanded “immediate emergency hearings” over President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey. “Congress needs to have immediate emergency hearings to obtain testimony directly from Attorney General [Jeff] Sessions, the deputy attorney general and FBI Director Comey,” Cummings said in a statement. “The White House was already covering up for [former national security adviser] Michael Flynn by refusing to provide a single document to Congress, and now the President fired the one independent person who was doing the most to investigate President Trump and his [2016] campaign over allegations of coordination with Russia.” Cummings...

Many of you have likely seen this, but I hadn't until Friday, when my wife showed it to me after school. If you haven't seen it, enjoy. If you have, sorry to repeat! Either way, these guys deserve as much attention as possible. Brilliant stuff!

Blues great B.B. King says he had never set foot in the Mississippi Capitol until Tuesday. Once he arrived, he got a grand welcome. The state House and Senate declared Tuesday to be B.B. King Day. During a standing-room-only ceremony in the Senate chamber, lawmakers and Gov. Haley Barbour honored the 79-year-old Delta native whose hits include "The Thrill is Gone.'' King pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped away tears. "I never learned to talk very well without Lucille,'' King said, speaking of his black Gibson guitar. "But today, I'm trying to say only God knows how...