The Bush administration hates the Special Olympics, says the former Surgeon General. From the NY Times article: And administration officials even discouraged him (the Surgeon General) from attending the Special Olympics because, he said, of that charitable organization’s longtime ties to a “prominent family” that he refused to name.
“I was specifically told by a senior person, ‘Why would you want to help those people?’ ” Dr. Carmona said.
The Special Olympics is one of the nation’s premier charitable organizations to benefit disabled people, and the Kennedys have long been deeply involved in it.

I hate the Special Olympics too, but that’s because the “Everyone’s a winner” theme is too reminiscent of a communist force we worked so hard to overthrow. And you know how I hate communists.

–Trivia Art tells us how to celebrate the French tearing the heads off rich people in the 1790s in his weekly Metro column.

-Philadelphia Weekly blogger, quizzo regular, and all around swell guy D-Mac posts a column about Barbaro that is somewhat amusing, but not nearly amusing as the comments that follow from outraged Barbaro fans. “The echoes of the benefits for all horses brought about by this horse will reverberate for decades.” is a good one, which was quickly answered by, “just what are the benefits of this horse that will go on for decades? Glue only lasts a few years before its all used up.” Which was followed by, “I feel sorry for you that you can’t comprehend the power of love.” This is one of the awesomest comment threads I’ve ever read.

-Over/under on pics of my niece on this website before the end of the year: 734.

–Somehow I missed this like two weeks ago. (Fair is fair, I came across this in a roundabout way via Philebrity.)

As you may or may not know, my 2nd favorite Founding Father other than Thomas Jefferson is the vice president that he despised, Aaron Burr. And every year, the celebration of Burr’s victory over Alex Hamilton gets me all giddy, b/c Hamilton was a cocky jackass, although I think modern America is much closer to his vision than Jefferson’s. Anyways, Burr has been relegated to one hit wonder status, which is unfair and unfortunate. It’s like Buckner. He got almost 3,000 hits and all people remember is that stupid ball between the legs. He was a hero of the Revolutionary War (Burr, not Buckner), though he totally got screwed by Washington (Buckner got screwed by manager John McNamara, who should have replaced him with Dave Stapleton). Burr was a politician’s politician, who, after agreeing to run as a vice-presidential candidate with Jefferson, decided to wait around and see if the House elected him President when a snag in the system gave them an electoral tie. After shooting Hamilton, he moved out west, where Jefferson claimed he was starting an insurrection. It has never been fully determined what he was doing out west, but despite being hated by nearly everyone in the US for shooting Hamilton, his shrewd lawyer skills got him acquitted of treason. He then bandied about Europe as essentially a gypsy, crashing on the couches of friends until they got sick of him, then moving ot the next country and next friend. I think many of us can relate (to the crashing friends couches, not the shooting someone and being charged with treason.) Finally, he returned to the US, where he became an extremely succesful lawyer. But let’s face it, the highlight of his career was the duel. Here’s some good duel stuff to get you through the day:
*The 411 on the 187.
*ESPN’s coverage of the duel. Pretty funny.
*Letters exchanged between Hamilton and Burr before becoming college roomates.
*Read what the seconds and the attending physician said about the event.

I became an uncle for the first time at 2:00 p.m. today, as my sister had an 8 lb. baby girl named Lucia Marie Sullivan. Here are some photos of the babies first hours!

-This from Dan Gross’s column: Actor/singer Frank Stallone, younger brother of some guy named Sylvester, signs autographs at 2 p.m. Thursday at Fresco Pizza Grill (228 South Newtown) at the Shops at Springton Pointe, in Newtown Square. That’s right, gang! This is your chance to get an autograph from the man who played Grady Purella in Outlaw Force!

-Happy Millard Fillmore Day! It was on this date in 1850 that Fillmore killed Zachary Taylor with cherries and cabbage and then took over as president. Millard “The Nourishment is Palatable” Fillmore went on to be our GREATEST PRESIDENT EVER (at least until G.W. Bush took office.)

-The Phillies receive their first standing ovation of the season…when they help secure a tarp. Sadly, Rod Barajas did not get trapped under the tarpaulin.

-Baby expected this afternoon. I’ll have photos ASAP.

Well gang, the Sinking Ship known as the Philadelphia Phillies are going for 10,000 losses in the midst of a major slump (their 3,468th major slump all-time, also a league record). The question is, will my sisters baby get to witness this monumental piece of history? My sister is going to have a C-section tomorrow (the baby is now 2 weeks late, though the baby and my sister and the baby are both doing well). I will be staying until Tuesday, but will make it back for quizzo Tuesday night. Moving from babies to losers: The Phils are a mess, and the only drama surrounding this team other than 10,000 losses right now is this: will they keep Chris Coste when Jayson Werth returns? If they drop Coste again, I will refuse to follow this team anymore, because I will be convinced that the GM is sabotaging this team. It is obvious that Charlie and the pitching staff want him to stay. Check out this quote from Cole Hamels: “He’s got a great catching IQ. He’s so aware of what the pitcher has, what [the pitcher] is thinking and what the hitter might be thinking. On top of that, he puts up a great target. The way he catches it, he makes it look pretty.”

Hamels and Charlie aren’t the only ones who want him to stay. You can throw in pretty much any person who has watched Rod Barajas catch for more than an inning or bat more than zero times. And count in Mike Radano at the Camden Courier Post (who, incidentally, I used to hang out with every day when I was an intern with the Camden Riversharks and he was their beat writer.) And finally, when the Phils do lose 10,000, I hope the pitcher of record is Jose Mesa. That would be the storybook ending.

*Looks like things are gonna get real interesting at Reading Terminal Market. Rick’s Prince of Steaks is getting kicked out and Tony Luke’s is coming in. And Rick isn’t exactly pleased, saying that he’s getting the boot in retaliation for always sticking up for his fellow vendors. His lawyer says that Rick will refuse to move out at the end of the month. This is gonna be fun to watch.

*Have you checked out the Foobooz “Philly Mag Best Of…” Map? Trivia Art really shows what a computer he nerd he is by putting this thing together, but it is pretty damn cool.

*The dude from Philafoodie goes to a giant foie gras farm (Ok, so it’s technically a duck farm) and discovers that it’s really not that bad. In fact, not nearly as bad as the protesters who are going over the line to protest it. Very interesting and informative article. Of course, someone used the comment section to leave a fairly well written rebuttal. The debate continues. Having worked with animals in the past in a controversial environment, I will say this: If you are going to do story on a controversial animal treatment, you can’t just take the company at its word. In the captive dolphin environment, there was a massive propaganda campaign that was used on the public and the press, much of it true and some of it not true. To do a comprehensive story on it, you do have to dig a little deeper than what that camp would want you to know.

My sister’s due date was June 27, but most people were betting that she wouldn’t make it that long. But here we are on July 5, and still no baby. I’ll keep ya updated.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what the holiday is all about. (Not only safe for work, but your boss will be so impressed by your rampant patriotism that he will probably give you a raise, so play it often and play it loud.)

Alright, I am kicking it from Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Went out to the beach yesterday with my extremely pregnant sister (with her husband and her dog, below). I am here b/c she is expecting a baby in the next couple of days. I’ll keep you updated. Anyways, quizzo as usual this week, except for the Rendezvous. Jam Master Sean will be hosting on Tuesday and Thursday, and MIke Minion will be hosting his own special quizzo at the Black Sheep on Wednesday. In other words, yes, we will be having 4th of July Quizzo at the Black Sheep, but 4th of July quizzo is cancelled at the Rendezvous.