Keith Burgess-Jackson

Sammy Sosa of my adopted Texas Rangers hit his 600th Major League home run this evening in Arlington. See here for the story. Only four other players—Hank Aaron (755), Barry Bonds (748 and counting), Babe Ruth (714), and Willie Mays (660)—have reached that milestone. The only player to get to 600 in fewer games is Babe Ruth. Congratulations, Sammy!

Addendum: I neglected to mention that Sammy hit the home run against his former team, the Chicago Cubs. Sammy played for the Cubs for 13 years (from 1992 to 2004, inclusive). I wonder whether my friend Hawk went to the game tonight. If he didn’t, he’ll say he did.

Addendum 2: Here are the vote totals for the American League All-Stars. Here are the totals for the National League. Voting ends a week from tomorrow.

Here is a scene from today’s stage of the Tour of Switzerland, won by Australian Robbie McEwen.

Luis Gonzalez. (For an explanation of this feature, see here.)

You won’t believe this. Yesterday, when I received my new notebook computer, I was unable to get an Internet connection. I called Charter (my ISP) for help. The technician had me try various things, but we were unable to get a connection. I asked her to send someone to my house. This afternoon, a man came out. I had the notebook computer on and ready. He pulled the Ethernet cable out of my desktop’s tower, hooked it to the notebook via the USB adapter I purchased at Radio Shack, and pulled the power cord out of the modem. A few seconds later, he plugged the cord back in. The computer was connected to the Internet. He turned the computer toward me so I could see the Google page. I was flabbergasted. Part of me didn’t believe that I was online, so I typed “Frankenstein” into the Google box (don’t ask how that word came to me) and got the Wikipedia entry on Frankenstein on the screen. How embarrassing! I have no idea why the telephone technician didn’t tell me to pull the power cord out of the modem. It would have saved the man a trip, and me some money. Anyway, I now have two ways to get on the Internet, which gives me peace of mind. If the video card on my desktop stops working (the screen is still faint and faded), I won’t miss a beat, at least as far as the Internet is concerned. I plan to call the Geek Squad for assistance with the video card. If replacement of the card doesn’t take too long, I’ll have the technician set up a router for my computers. Then I won’t have to swap cables.

Addendum: I found this site during a Google search. It explains how to set up a wired network. It looks easy, but there is no doubt that I’d mess it up.

To the Editor:

Re “Adult-Only Froot Loops” (editorial, June 16):

Does parental control over what children eat matter? Regardless of advertising, children rarely go to the market to buy sugared snacks. If parents exercised more control over what their children eat, by instruction and involvement in their diet, that would reduce childhood obesity significantly.

Companies advertise to increase sales. To blame them for the lax discipline that children have because of inattentive parents is to place the blame on the wrong party.

Whatever happened to parental involvement when it comes to teaching children how to eat sensibly?

Jack E. Rubin, M.D.
Encino, Calif., June 16, 2007

Note from KBJ: How can parents teach their children to eat sensibly when they themselves are filling their faces with Twinkies? Children eat the way their parents eat. They don’t listen to what their parents say.

Here. (Still no mention of immigration.)

Here.