Leftovers: West Phila. Speed Racers

• Get this: a bunch of kids from West Philadelphia High School are currently in first in some sort of alternative fuel vehicles competition and race. I don’t know if this is a big thing. Still: Go, Speed Racer, Go. [Inquirer]

• Hey, apparently this “Google” company makes popular products. Hm. Google? I don’t think that’ll be successful. [Business 2.0]

• William DeWeese, the democratic leader in the state house, spent $6,140 on ceramic desk coasters. Let Ceramic Desk Coastergate begin! [Bucks County Courier Times]

• The ‘Lead of the Day’ award goes to the Daily News. Reporter Christine Olley (we don’t know who this is, either): “Usually kids get tucked into bed at night with stuffed animals and blankets.¶ Yesterday, however, at about 7 a.m., a 13-year-old was found asleep on the floor of his home in the city’s Frankford section with a .45-caliber pistol as police busted open his front door.” [DN]

• Arlen Specter wants the phone companies explain why they wispered our calling secrets behind our backs. Come on, dudes. Real true friends don’t gossip about each other. But, uh, what am I going to do, give up my Verizon phone? No way. [Inquirer]

• Your uncle Peter Gammons says the Phillies are really coming together (subscription req., sorry). Also: Aug 14-17, CBP. Phillies-Mets; it’s the last time they play all year. Which is kind of weird. [ESPN Insider]

Blogicized: Every Breath You Take

• It’s okay that the NSA is surveying every call in the world. As one blogger notes, “Bush isn’t spying on normal everyday Americans. Normal everyday Americans don’t need to make calls to Afganistan and Iraq, savy? What could you possibly need there? What could you possibly justify a $30.00 phone call to the middle of the Mideastern desert? Unless you own a camel or a sarape, I can’t imagine either!” Geeze, people. Don’t you know you can only call the people the President has already okayed? [The American Checkup]

• Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania ACLU is — surprise! — against the domestic surveillance. Dude, do you own any camels? Then don’t worry. [Speaking Freely]

• MyDD’s Chris Bowers decides to run for Democratic State Committee just a scant few days before the May 16 election. Fortunately for him, there’s only one other person running for the six seats. [MyDD]

• Second photo, guy in the bottom left hand corner. Ha. [Johnny Goodtimes]

Quickies: Keep Your Clothes On In NoLibs

• The Scores in Northern Liberties has been voted down by the zoning board, who said they were okay with a strip club, just not at that location. In other news, Delilah’s Den received the okay for an extension, so, y’know, next year’s Entertainer of the Year™ contest should be even bigger! Whoo! [Daily News]

• Okay, so Pennsylvania and Utah are the only states that make you buy alcohol in state stores (Nevermind; I had bad info. Whoops!); New Jersey and Oregon are the only ones that won’t let you pump your own gas. Well, the only state where you couldn’t get a tattoo was Oklahoma, until the government legalized it yesterday. AP story sez: “Previous attempts to lift the ban over the past decade were fought on health as well as moral grounds.” Expect the GOP to come up with a “federal tattoo amendment” in time for the November elections. [AP/Yahoo!]

• The search has intensified for the man alleged to have killed police officer Gary Skerski. Daily News letter writers, of course, are concerned about the Tuesday Daily News coverage, alleging some sort of “trivializing.” Erhm. [DN]

• Absentee ballots from a Neshaminy nursing home accidentally ended up at Patrick Murphy’s office. Murphy is the ex-military man who’s running as a Democrat for Congress. And they’re looking to see if this is against the law! “If they’re looking to prosecute somebody because their ride came late, I’d say that’s trying to hit a fly with a sledgehammer,” says the deputy chairman of the Democrats in Buxco. Please, Mr. Chairman, sledgehammers are a good way of getting rid of flies. [Bucks County Courier Times]

• Did USA Today just break a story on how the NSA has a huge database of all calls made seemingly everywhere by everyone in America? Impressive. Also, uhm, sigh. [USA Today]