We’ve still got a long, long way to go. From Gateway Pundit:

African American-themed cable network TV One will be showing the DNC Convention because Barack Obama is the candidate this year.
However, they won’t be showing the Republican convention.
Live Feed and Drudge reported:

 

Given Barack Obama’s historic run for the Oval Office, African American-themed cable network TV One plans to break from its usual entertainment programming to provide extensive coverage of the Democratic National Convention in August. 

“This is a huge deal for TV One as it is for the African American community,” said Johnathan Rodgers, president and CEO of TV One, a channel in about 40 million homes. “African Americans have fallen in love with Barack Obama’s family, his candidacy … we will be covering the democratic convention all the time.”

But John McCain shouldn’t expect the same treatment. The network doesn’t plan any coverage of the Republican convention. 

“We are not a news organization,” said Rodgers, speaking at the opening session of the semi-annual Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills. “We are a television network designed to celebrate African American achievement.”

“My audience is 93% black,” Rogers added. “I serve my audience.”

At least they don’t even pretend to be a news network. I bet they’re still perceived as one, though…

Video from The Astute Bloggers. I think it’s funny how Obama supporters defend his flip flops as him just being a politician. Imagine the fury that would descend upon the GOP if McCain practiced such hypocrisy…

Remember jazz singer Rene Marie, who shocked Denver residents a week or so ago when she sang the lyrics of the Black National Anthem instead of the Star-Spangled Banner? She’s explained her rationale for this decision on her website [Gateway Pundit]:

WHY DID YOU AGREE TO SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM AND THEN NOT SING IT? WASN’T THIS DISHONEST?

I can see how it may be perceived that way. But I looked at it a different way: I am an artist. As such, if I wait until I am asked to express myself artistically, or if I must ask permission to do it, it would never get done. I wanted to tell them what I was going to do, but I couldn’t because I knew the answer would be ‘no’. I knew that, even if I asked to do my version of the national anthem, the answer would be ‘no’. There are times, artistically speaking, when an event chooses us, a door is opened to heal ourselves and others through our artistic expression, so to speak. When that happens we can trust our instincts and walk through it or we can shrink back in fear. It is my firm belief that artists have the responsibility and privilege to walk through that door every single time it opens to them.

WHY DIDN’T YOU SIMPLY TURN DOWN THE REQUEST TO SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM?

I viewed the invitation to be a door opened to me to sing this version of the Star Spangled Banner; that others needed to hear it as much as I needed to sing it. Also, I had sung the song successfully right in the city of Denver only two months earlier and received much positive response. The organizers of that event did not know I was going to sing that song, either.

“I will sing whatever the hell I want to sing.”
-Rene Marie-

I see what she’s saying, but if my editor asks me for 500 words on, say, bumblebees and I submit 500 words from Milton’s Paradise Lost, I’m not getting paid. This wasn’t a solo gig at a smoky club, it was a government function at which she was invited solely to sing the national anthem of the United States of America.

Image from JazzPolice.com

Because to me, nothing says ‘everlasting love’ like a wedding conducted by drive-through. 

“Gordon Brown and his fellow world leaders have sparked outrage after it was disclosed they enjoyed a six-course lunch followed by an eight-course dinner at the G8 summit where the global food crisis tops the agenda. . . . On the flight to the summit, Mr Brown urged Britons to cut food waste as part of a global drive to help avert the food crisis.”

Sounds like Al Gore to me. Or Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Barbra Streisand, John Travolta… Actually, any Hollywood celebrity or upper-tax bracket resident of Los Angeles from west of La Brea to the Pacific Ocean.

…just not the one that will make you all mad at me. I’m getting tired of this pompous politician.

Get Paid to Pee - EcoSan Toilets in Musiri (GALLERY)

(TREND HUNTER) If you want fast cash in India, all you have to do is visit a public restroom.

While countries like Germany charge you to use public restrooms, a new campaign in a rural town in Southern India is actually… [More]

Gesture Controlled Phones - Samsung M3510

(TREND HUNTER) Samsung’s upcoming M3510 music-player mobile phone follows in the footsteps of Apple, Nokia and Sony Ericsson. The M3510 utilizes a built-in accelerometer that allows you to tilt and shake the phone in… [More]

It’s July of 2008, and you’ve just now acknowledged that the surge is working. Welcome to the present day.

[The CR Voice]

News flash, Brits: Kids’ palates are unrefined. They don’t like anything that’s not what they usually eat, especially not at three, when they’re busy mastering other important life skills like talking and reading and playing well with others. 

Everyone’s food got made fun of at my elementary school, unless it was peanut butter and jelly. I took leftovers to school, dishes that were comfort foods for my family–chicken or pork adobo, sweet-and-sour spareribs, spaghetti and meatballs, potato salad with hot dogs. Other kids took even more unfamiliar items like sushi, kumquats, pomegranates and rice cakes. Our teachers used the opportunity to teach us all that it’s okay to be different from each other, and that different foods are eaten around the world. We didn’t have to like everyone’s food, and it wasn’t considered racist to not like someone else’s lunch. We sure didn’t get punished for not liking someone else’s food.

Outright racism’s one thing. Pull the parent aside when they pick up their child, tell them what’s going on, and let the parent deal with it on their own at home. If the behavior continues, and repeat warnings to the parent go unheeded, suspend the child. Period. Anything more constitutes a personal intrusion and harassment. 

More, please.

[Hot Air]

This is bananas. What’s with these countries telling people how to parent their kids?

[Moonbattery]

I’m pretty sure you can snag someone younger and hotter than Madonna. Say it ain’t so.

Coke Zero drinkers, listen up: Coca-Cola is giving away a free bottle of Coke Zero to celebrate its win in the Coke Zero 400. From TrendHunter:

Coca Cola is treating any U.S. resident above the age of 13 years to a free 20-ounce bottle of Coke Zero. The “Taste of Victory” promotion is a celebration of the Coke Zero 400 win by one its 13 sponsored drivers. And we have Kyle Petty to thank for this free soda.

In order to claim your Coke Zero, you need to visit their portal through July 13 and follow the instructions to receive a coupon for the free 20-ounce bottle.

In addition to the free drinks, Coke Zero will donate $1 to the Victory Junction Gang Camp charity on behalf of the first 10,000 people who request a free coupon.

“We were really rooting for one of our drivers to get to Victory Lane and deliver a taste of victory to people across the U.S.,” said Bill Kelly, senior vice president, Coca-Cola Brands, Coca-Cola North America. “In the end, it was a great race and that’s reason enough to follow through with our offer to give away free Coke Zero and to continue our support of Kyle Petty’s Victory Junction Gang Camp.”

The Coca-Cola Racing Family drivers that participated in the “Taste of Victory” promotion included Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Elliott Sadler, Jamie McMurray, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Clint Bowyer and David Ragan.

The 2008 Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola is the 18th race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, marking the official halfway point of the season. it was held at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

First tomatoes, now jalapenos. Rather than point fingers at each other or at the government, let’s point them at the people we import food from. Why don’t we just quit buying the majority of our produce from abroad, eat our own produce, and import only what we have to? 

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In what is being described as the largest re-enlistment ceremony in the history of the American military, 1,215 servicemen and women signed up for a combined 5,500 years of additional service earlier today in Baghdad:

General David Petraeus oversaw the ceremony:

Petraeus, reiterating earlier remarks made by Command Sergeant Major Hill, said that the unprecedented ceremony sends a “message to friend and foe alike.” He told those assembled that it is “impossible to calculate the value of what you are giving to our country . . . For no bonus, no matter the size, can adequately compensate you for the contribution each of you makes as a custodian of our nation’s defenses.”Fittingly, the re-enlistment took place in one of Saddam’s former palaces.