Having been a lifelong baseball fan and having umpired from 1970 to 1984 (including the minors), I have concluded that Organized Baseball needs a bit of a facelift and updating. First, we need to expand by two franchises to cover up and coming metropolitan areas. One is the Winston-Salem North Carolina area and the other is Portland, Oregon, both of which now have minor league teams so we know there is interest there in the game. That would bring the…

This election is known as a “watershed election,” also known as a “political realignment. Having been raised by a liberal Democrat mother in a progressive Angl0-Catholic parish, one would expect that I would reflexively support Barack Obama and the rest of the Democrat tick and would vote NO on Proposition 8. That is indeed how I will vote. But even if I did not have those background cultural advantages, I would still arrive at the same conclusion. This is not…

My favorite job in Church is that of thurifer. While I usually shy away from literally interpreting scripture, I do believe there is one verse every Christian church should take seriously: “And in every place, incense SHALL be offered unto My name, thus says the LORD.” (Malachai 1:11). Thus, I am known for stoking the thurible for maximum smoke output and making it do tricks in processions, such as 360’s, double and triple 360’s, figure 8’s, corner swings. Some may…