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One of the hallmarks of a bully, of a cruel human being, is attacking people who don't always have the political power or resources to defend themselves. We saw a good example of this in 2019, when the Trump administration, in a remarkably cold move, attempted to kill federal funding for the Special Olympics. If you've never seen the Special Olympics, which gives athletes with certain intellectual disabilities the opportunity to compete in several different events, it is a remarkable thing to watch. These Olympics don't just represent the best of sports. They represent the best of humanity. The motto...

State of Florida threatened the Special Olympics with a fine of $27 million because of the organization's requirement that all athletes competing in the games in Orlando this weekend be vaccinated for COVID-19. In a letter sent to Special Olympics International, the Florida Department of Health informed the organization that its vaccine requirement conflicted with existing Florida law, which prohibits any business from asking for proof of vaccination. The letter, which was first obtained by ABC News, was sent to the Special Olympics on Thursday night. Shortly after receiving that letter, the Special Olympics posted an update on its website,...

The Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) flag football team was informed it will not be allowed to participate in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games in Florida, scheduled for June in Orlando, due to an insufficient number of players — the result of several participants, including Coby Herroon, not satisfying the parent organization's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Attorney Erik Weber, himself autistic and a longtime Special Olympics athlete and coach, recently wrote Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., the Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, and the Florida Department of Health to advocate for individual medical freedom for athletes, coaches, volunteers, and families at...

the 36-year-old Omaha woman who has tested positive for COVID-19 visited Fremont on Feb. 29 according to a release from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. State and local officials are requesting basketball players, coaches and team staff who participated in the Special Olympics event at the Fremont Family YMCA on February 29, 2020, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. to self-quarantine to limit exposure to others and monitor themselves for development of COVID-19 symptoms as listed below until Saturday, March 14, 2020. “We’re asking for basketball players, coaches, and team staff who participated this event on February...

PASADENA, Calif. — Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will share host duties for the Golden Globes ceremony in 2021. Poehler herself shared the announcement at a TV critics meeting Saturday, just a week after the ceremony aired with Ricky Gervais as host. “There are no two funnier people anywhere,” said Poehler, who introduced herself with the name of an NBC publicist who was to have opened the network’s daylong presentation about its programming. A tongue-in-cheek Poehler said the network was glad the pair found time in their busy schedules to take on the Globes. They have hosted three times before....

Joaquin Phoenix has now won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama thanks to his critically acclaimed performance in Todd Phillips’ revisionist comic book movie “Joker.” Believe it or not, the Golden Globe victory is Phoenix’s first major Best Actor win of the 2019-20 awards season outside of smaller critics’ groups. The majority of precursor Best Actor prizes this season have been awarded to Adam Driver of “Marriage Story” or Adam Sandler of “Uncut Gems.” Phoenix was nominated for the Golden Globe awards opposite Driver in “Marriage Story,” Christian Bale in “Ford v. Ferrari,” Jonathan Pryce...

Mike Pompeo and singer-songwriter Linda Ronstadt clashed over the Secretary of State's boss during the Kennedy Center Honors State Department dinner Saturday evening. Pompeo hosted the dinner the night before the Kennedy Center Honors gala at the State Department, which is where the honorees received their awards. When delivering remarks to the audience at the dinner, Pompeo congratulated Ronstadt, a headliner honoree, and joked about her 1974 hit 'When Will I Be Loved,' asking when he would be loved. In response, the 73-year-old singer told Pompeo, 'Maybe when you stop enabling Donald Trump.'

Comedian Dave Chappelle was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center this past weekend, and Chappelle used the occasion to tout his support for the Second Amendment right alongside the First Amendment. Chappelle informed the audience “I did not write a speech.” During his impromptu remarks, he defended freedom of speech when talking about comedians he knows who are “very racist.” “(I) don’t get mad at ’em, don’t hate on ’em,” he said. “Man, it’s not that serious. The First Amendment is first for a reason. Second Amendment is just in case the First...

Trump was effusive about updates to the budget supporting the Special Olympics, and a return to space “in a BIG WAY.”“Today, I officially updated my budget to include $18 million for our GREAT @SpecialOlympics,” Trump tweeted, “whose athletes inspire us and make our Nation so PROUD!”“Under my Administration, we are restoring @NASA to greatness and we are going back to the Moon, then Mars,” the President also said. “I am updating my budget to include an additional $1.6 billion so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!”And despite an original proposal that cut the Great Lakes Restoration...

Special Olympics has found a way to get kids and young adults with disabilities to feel something enormously important: Able.Three decades ago, as part of a community service requirement, I spent one day each week working with physically and intellectually-challenged adults at Easter Seals in Little Rock, Arkansas, organizing sporting events and speech and drama activities.And I loved it. Most unforgettable were the beaming smiles of pride when they got a chance to show what they could do — the pinnacle of which was their participation in Special Olympics. I’ve always loved sports, but never as much as at those wonderful games. In...

Now that the 2019 Academy Award nominations have been announced, it's time to begin the handwringing over what the Oscars got wrong. Since, for the first time in decades, I haven't watched any of the movies nominated (I tried to watch Black Panther, but found it so boring I fell asleep about twenty minutes in), I am going to direct my outrage at the continued snubs of actors and actresses who are really good at their craft. Ranked below are the best living actors and actresses who have yet to win an Oscar for acting. Frankly, it's astounding that Jared...

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White apologized on Tuesday to Special Olympians over his decision to post a picture of himself dressed up for Halloween as the character Simple Jack from the 2008 movie "Tropic Thunder." Simple Jack was a mentally challenged character played by Ben Stiller The snowboarder, 32, faced social media backlash and posted an apology on Twitter. He called his selection a poor choice.

The mother of an autistic boy claims her son was disqualified from a swimming final because he “swam too fast”. Rory Logan, nine, was competing in the Special Olympics Regional finals in Bangor, north Wales, and won the 50 metres race in 53.15 seconds – a personal best and smashing his heat time of one minute and three seconds. However, when it came to the medal ceremony, Rory, from County Antrim, was simply given a ribbon for participating instead of the gold he was expecting. Now mum Briony claims that officials told her that he didn’t get a medal because...

One out of every 40 people in America lives in New York City. The area's population is 8.4 million, more than in 39 other states. For every vote cast for Donald Trump in the city last Tuesday, more than four were cast for Hillary Clinton; she earned 79 percent of the vote. In the wake of Trump's victory, thousands of protesters crowded the streets of Manhattan (where Trump got fewer votes than he did on Staten Island, where the population is a third smaller) outside Trump Tower. It's hard to know how many were there, but let's assume it was...

On August 28, police in Davenport, Iowa, arrested Tyshon VanBlue, 24, following an investigation which alleges he raped two mentally disabled young men at the Special Olympics games held on the campus of Iowa State University in May. VanBlue was employed as a caretaker at a residential care facility in Davenport, and was assigned to the two victims when the abuse took place. VanBlue reportedly assaulted both men on May 22, in Maple Hall dormitory. Both men are in their 20s, according to court documents. The Des Moines Register reported: “During the interview with St. Luke's Child Protection Center, the...

"Several protesters in zombie makeup injected themselves into a Special Olympics ceremony in Wisconsin this week when they walked in front of Gov. Scott Walker and stood between him and the group of athletes he was paying tribute to in front of the state Capitol," FoxNews.com reports. The MacIver Institute has video of the episode, in which the zombies barge in front of the Special Olympians to block their view of the governor as he speaks. The explanation for the zombie garb is that "in their eyes they are 'dead' to Scott Walker." There are conflicting reports as to who...

Madison - Opponents of Gov. Scott Walker were backing away from a demonstration against him held Wednesday at a Special Olympics event, even as organizers of the ceremony said the protesters did not disrupt it. Also Wednesday, state Capitol Police removed a dozen protesters dressed as zombies from the office of Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) on Wednesday and arrested them. Matt Guidry, a spokesman for the United Council of University of Wisconsin Students, which organized the Vos protest, said his group did not back the demonstration during the noon hour Special Olympics ceremony attended by Walker, though some of the...

Really ugly.

Liberal pundits have been criticizing House Republicans because their budget cuts include an $8.1 million reduction in a program for the Special Olympics. Suzy Khimm at Mother Jones says this “takes a hatchet to programs for disabled kids and Special Olympics athletes.” Matt Yglesias claims that the “GOP Budget Hammers The Special Olympics” and the “good news is that David Koch has plenty of money and is a pretty generous guy, and could easily demonstrate his commitment to liberty

R. Sargent Shriver, the former Peace Corps director and vice-presidential nominee, has died after being admitted in critical condition at a hospital in Maryland, NationalJournal.Com has confirmed.