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So a Catholic priest walks onto a tennis court. Seriously. It happens, for Father Paul Arinze, every day at the United States Open. Often, Arinze climbs into the chair, as a certified bronze badge umpire. There, he officiates serves, not church services, matches instead of Mass. Below, players cross themselves and pray for victory or take the Lord’s name in vain. They do not know that while God may not be interested in their tennis match, a clergyman is watching from close range. “Sometimes, I’m tempted to say, ‘You know, you have a Catholic priest sitting here,’ ” Arinze said, reclining...

The scene: Near midnight, January. Wednesday. Times Square, NYC. One of the world's busiest crossways. A fresh blanket of heavy, wet, billowing snow across the most populous city in the U.S., the city's sixth major snowstorm in the still-young winter season. Even though we are muffled and layered, furred and gloved, booted and hatted, the wind whips compact particles of ice and stinging snow into our faces at a curt clip. The temperature is below freezing. Even a few minutes out in the unending white slathers our clothing with an inch-deep packing of rime, like crusty shaving cream, only less...

Exploding the “That Wasn’t A Missile” Myth By Gargantua What appeared to be a missile rose from below the horizon, streaking into the sky off of California leaving a condensation trail identical to the kind that have been filmed being left by a ground-or-sea-to-air launch of a Minuteman missile or ICBM. First, the Government was inexplicably mum on the topic. Next came a series of sometimes contradictory explanations. Now, days after the event, the finally agreed-upon explanation hits every news station all at once. “It’s the con-trail of a jet returning from across the Pacific.” There are two glaring problems...

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments in an appeal of a 9th Circuit decision, Winn v Garriott, a challenge to one of Arizona’s education tax credit programs. It’s been getting more press than I’d expected, in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today. That’s great news, because the case is far more important than just saving a program that improves education and expands educational freedom.

Rip Torn appeared in a Connecticut court on Monday, facing burglary and firearms charges after police allegedly found the actor intoxicated and armed inside a local bank. Police said the 78-year-old actor was arrested on Friday night after authorities allegedly found him inside the Litchfield Bancorp in Salisbury with a loaded revolver. The "Men in Black" actor was held in lieu of $100,000 (£63,000) bond. Last year, Torn was given probation in a drink driving case and granted permission to enter an alcohol education programme. He also has two previous drink driving arrests in New York.

BANTAM - Film and stage actor Rip Torn was arraigned Monday on drunken driving charges in Bantam Superior Court. Elmore “Rip” Torn, 77, a Salisbury resident, pleaded not guilty before Judge Cara Eschuk to charges of illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence and failure to drive in the proper lane. Torn is represented by Torrington attorney A. Thomas Waterfall of the firm Smith, Keefe, Moraghan and Waterfall. Eschuk warned Torn not to drive if his license is suspended. He was scheduled to return to court Jan. 28. Despite two prior drunken driving arrests in New York,...

Many years ago (I won't give the exact number) I was a college student, and for a while worked in the college radio station which at that time concentrated on jazz and instrumental music (it was a religious college and many contemporary song lyrics were problematic). Each weekday morning there was an hour of what is conventionally called "new age" music. One of the new age albums was entitled New Age Songs and was by a duo named the Frugivores ("fruit eaters"). It appeared to be a man and a woman (though the pic on the front of the album...

More than two years after enraging right-wing groups by ordering Terry Schiavo's feeding tube removed, George Greer still peers over his shoulder nervously at times. In fact, the Florida judge told a rapt audience Friday at the American Bar Association's annual meeting, he even used an alias when he registered at his San Francisco hotel on this trip. Two years ago, he said, someone in the Bay Area threatened to kill him over his decision to end life support for the brain-damaged Schiavo. And even though that person was prosecuted and jailed, Greer said, he's taking no chances. "It is...

As we face greater threats than ever before the question "who's with me" comes to mind. Americans are being bombarded on all sides with rhetoric. There are troops who have done several tours of duty in the war on terror. We are by all accounts spread thin. The lunatics in North Korea and Iran are growing bolder. The totalitariarian regime of North Korea is the "blank slate" theory of behavior modification run amok. It is the nightmare scenario magnified exponentially. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.) is truly an Orwellian horror story. The civilians of N. Korea live in...

Milagros Garcia is an alleged Alien and Human inter-species hybrid. The blood DNA from this Puerto Rican woman has yielded analyses so unusual and interesting that the physician involved is now interested in meeting the subject for further study. The DNA is possible in humans but is very rare. Ms. Garcia claims that she is the offspring of an alien encounter. The Doctor is not interested in the UFO/ alien phenomena he wants answers as to why her DNA has such rare qualities. A Case similar to this is being investigated in New Paris Ohio. A woman there has exceptional...

Serious movement in D.C. – and if I hadn't been there, I would not have believed it. For several months Joan Wire and her daughter have been trying to secure an appointment with a highly effective government official we'll simply call Mr. Washington. Joan Wire is the stalwart wife of Mike Wire. Mike is the storied "man on the bridge," the single most critical eyewitness in the saga of TWA Flight 800, the 747 that was inexplicably blown out of the sky on the night of July 17, 1996. The CIA built its notorious zoom-climb animation around Mike's position on...

Aaron Harber of the Aaron Harber show (harbertv.com) has an interview with Justices Breyer and O’Connor tomorrow afternoon, and he has solicited SCOTUSblog readers to help him formulate some questions for the two Honorable interviewees. So, if you have a query or two about the law or the Court that you think would be appropriate for either of the two Justices, post it as a comment on this post or e-mail jharrow [at] akingump.com by 1:00 PM Eastern Time tomorrow, Thursday, July 6. Hopefully, we can send Aaron a few good questions and he will report back to us with...

It is Time to EDUCATE Ourselves About the Courts and Take Back ALL Three of Our VOTES! I know, some of us are saying to ourselves, "3 VOTES? Sounds like a Dem Party Scandal where Fairy Tale Characters and the Dead vote." NOPE! We have 3 VOTES, but the Power hungry Government Thugs and the Judiciary Oligarchy Drummers don't want you to know about it! This post is PACKED with INFO, so you may want to bookmark some of the links. The Citizens Rule Book: JURY HANDBOOKI came across this when I was all in a tither about the...

WASHINGTON Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she and former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor have been the targets of death threats from the "irrational fringe" of society, people apparently spurred by Republican criticism of the high court. Ginsburg revealed in a speech in South Africa last month that she and O'Connor were threatened a year ago by someone who called on the Internet for the immediate "patriotic" killing of the justices. Security concerns among judges have been growing. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter joked earlier this year that Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned. Over the past few months...

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, author of the controversial Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973, died Thursday at a Virginia hospital (...) President Clinton said Thursday he "saw up close Harry Blackmun's intense passion -- his passion for the welfare of the American people, for defending our liberties and our institutions, for moving us forward together." "In 24 years on the Supreme Court he served with compassion, distinction, and honor," Clinton said. "Every decision and every dissent was firmly grounded in the Constitution he revered and his uncanny feel for the human element that lies...

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world. A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in...

Now you can spend your evenings with Mark Levin on 630 WMAL frm 6pm-8pm...Mark has been a frequent guest and substitute host on the Hannity show, and has also been an advisor to Limbaugh, who frequently refers to him on the air with the nickname "F. Lee Levin." He is perhaps more well known for his nickname “The Great One,” coined by his friend Hannity. Mark Levin is one of America's preeminent conservative commentators and constitutional lawyers. He's in great demand as a political and legal commentator, and has appeared on hundreds of television and radio programs. Levin is also...

Bush’s giant Right Wing Noise Machine (RWNM) loves to preach about the Bush economic miracle. In fact, the RWNM’s current thinking is Bush doesn’t spend enough time talking about his economic triumphs. If only he did, then everyone would fall in line and believe in the great Bush economic miracle. There is one problem with this argument: it’s a lie. Any way you look at the Bush economy, it comes up short. Today, I want to compare Bush’s job creation record with other economic recoveries. As usual, Bush comes up way short. The national Bureau of Economic Research has identified...

Why does anybody support George w Bush as President? He is clearly the worst President I have ever seen -- a complete disaster. And before you say anything, I have been a registered Republican for 25 years.

South Africa's highest court ruled today that same-sex marriages enjoy the same legal status as those between men and women, effectively making the nation one of just five worldwide that have removed legal barriers to gay and lesbian unions. But the Constitutional Court, as the high court is known, effectively stayed its ruling for one year to give the Parliament time to amend a 1961 marriage law to reflect its decision. Should the legislature balk, the court said, the law will be automatically changed to make its provisions gender-neutral. Few expect the Parliament to resist, even though African nations are...