Free Republic

TOKYO, A Japanese swordsman dubbed a modern-day samurai sliced a 100 mph fastball in half 30 feet away from where it was launched by a pitching machine. Isao Machii, who previously made headlines when he dueled a sword-wielding robot and sliced a shrimp traveling 80 mph through the air, drew his sword after the ball was fired from the pitching machine and sliced it in half in midair. Video of the stunt, posted to YouTube by Oricon News, shows the ball was clocked at 100 mph in the air and was fired from a machine 30 feet away from where...

A samurai sword wielding vigilante has come to the rescue of two Police officers when they were attacked by an armed gang in South Shields, England. A group of men had forced their way into a house and were ransacking the place when passing plain-clothes officers were alerted by a woman inside screaming. The criminals outnumbered them and were armed with a hammer, knives and chains and attacked the Police officers. As one of them stabbed at a Policeman with his knife, a mysterious do-gooder appeared from nowhere and attacked him with a samurai sword. One of the burglars began...

IOWA CITY, Iowa — A man who chased his neighbors with a 2-foot sword while naked last winter pleaded guilty to a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. Curtis Rarick, 45, of North Liberty, could face up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine at sentencing on Sept. 16. As part of a plea bargain, a charge of public intoxication was dismissed. Police say they responded to a reported altercation on Feb. 27. Rarick's neighbors told police he was standing naked in his front yard. He got upset when they told him to put clothes on, dashed...

KUWAIT (Reuters) - A drunken man wielding a ceremonial sword stormed up to the gates of the U.S. embassy in Kuwait and shouted abuse before being restrained by guards and arrested, an embassy spokesman said on Wednesday. The spokesman said the unidentified man drove up to the embassy on Tuesday morning and began waving the sword before flinging it on the ground, at which point it broke. "He was very drunk, that much was clear," the spokesman said. "He drove up and got out waving a ceremonial sword. He was yelling stuff at the guards, but they couldn't really hear...