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New Orleans Orders Mandatory Evac, Gustav Upgraded to Cat 4

UPDATED: With mandatory evacuation notice

Gustav is upgraded to an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane and an estimated 1 million people fled the Gulf Coast before the mandatory evacuation order for New Orleans residents. The storm threatens to strike the Gulf Coast harder than Hurricane Katrina did three years ago this weekend.

The evacuation of New Orleans becomes mandatory at 8 a.m. Sunday along the vulnerable west bank of the Mississippi River and noon on the east bank. Mayor Ray C. Nagin calls Gustav the "mother of all storms" and told residents to "get out of town. This is not the one to play with."

With winds exceeding 145 mph, Gustav became a Category 4 storm on Saturday as it menaced western Cuba. Forecasters predict the storm will reach Category 5—the strongest level—and winds at better than 155 mph before hitting the Gulf Coast states as early as September 1. Gustav has already killed more than 80 people in the Caribbean, and, if current forecasts hold, it will make landfall Monday afternoon "somewhere between East Texas and western Mississippi."

Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005 as a Category 3 hurricane with winds near 130 mph. New Orleans suffered a catastrophic flood as the city's levee system collapsed. It killed 1,800 people and caused more than $80 billion in damage. This was the most destruction of any U.S. storm.

New Orleans Orders Mandatory Evacuation [AP]
Gustav Upgraded to Cat 4 [Bloomberg]
Officials Urge New Orleans Residents to Evacuate [WaPo]

Olympic Fashion in "Men's Fitness"

Just in case you're looking for another dose of Olympic hotness. The August issue of Men's Fitness features a two-page editorial of Olympic-themed fashion. The model seen here captures the Team USA spirit and the Olympic aesthetic, no?

Went on the Google and found the five ring Olympic ring t-shirt by Altru, which also produces a line of vintage Olympic tees. Model not included.

Right-Wing, Anti-Gay Palin Also Denies Global Warming is Manmade

More colorful details emerge on the extreme politics of Sarah Palin, the anti-gay, social conservative former small town Alaska mayor turned first term governor tapped for the number two spot on the Republican ticket. In an brand new interview released by Newsmax, the conservative news source, Palin was asked for her "take on global warming and how is it affecting our country."

"A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location," Palin says and adds, "I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."

NASA, the National Academy of Sciences and the United Nations disagree. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is more than 90 percent certain that human activity was "very likely" the cause of global warming.

Jarid Manos, the environmental advocate and author of Ghetto Plainsman, adds that Palin is "no moderate environmentalist" and actually wrote an op-ed in The New York Times arguing that it was the "wrong move" to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. When the Bush Administration announced its listing of the polar bear as a threatened species, Palin sided with corrupt, indicted and anti-gay Sen. Ted Stevens and filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse the decision.

Why waste time debating Palin's experience. Do we even want someone this extreme one heartbeat away from John McCain's 72-year-old heart?

Palin Speaks About McCain, Abortion, Climate Change [Nx]

More GLOBAL WARMING

Some Background .... "
Stevens: Pipeline More Important Than Polar Bears [R20]
News: Polar Bears, John Edwards [R20]
News: Polar Bears, Florida Primary [R20]
"International Polar Year" Begins [R20]
Only 13 Percent of GOP Believe Warming [R20]
Cheney on Global Warming [R20]
Environment: Pharrell Concert, Exxon [R20]
Warming "Very Likely" Caused By Humans [R20]
White House Pressures Scientists [R20]
GOP Names Climate Skeptic to Committee [R20]

Some Thoughts on Sarah Palin

John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin was a bold move.

Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty may have made more sense from a strategic point of view. Palin was such an unexpected and historic choice that it totally big foots the media train around Obama's nomination train. No one is talking about Obama's speech and nomination. It's as if last night didn't happen.

Palin has strong social conservative credentials, is the darling of the evangelical and pro-life movement, and, is a woman. That is much more than enough to re-energize the right-wing, bring out the Republican faithful, and, wedge more than a few votes. Palin is also being re-packaged as a moderate environmentalist and "smart" on oil and energy. Nothing that laugh at when the price of gas is going up and the country is facing choices on drilling.

Palin's resume is paper-thin but she doesn't undermine McCain's experience argument. She neutralizes it. Bay Buchanan and Amy Holmes are already on CNN promoting Palin as "a new Republican" for independent women.

Palin should be handled with respect. If Democrats mock the experience of the Republican's first female vice presidential nominee—the day after McCain placed an ad to congratulate Obama?—it becomes "fairytale" part deux. Many women will probably become just as uncomfortable seeing Palin's qualifications debated as many blacks were uncomfortable when Obama's experience was knocked. Republicans and conservative puindits are already accusing the Democrats of sexism and connecting this to the horrible, sexist treatment of Hillary Clinton. It's a smart move because Clinton attracted many Republican women in the primaries.

Sarah Palin has just as much "experience" as Virginia's gay-baiting first term Gov. Tim Kaine or the clueless Republican lite first term Sen. Claire McCaskill. Both were promoted as serious vice presidential options by the Obama campaign and the media. Oh, and championed by numerous "progressives" and readers of this blog. (Check comments.) If you want to criticize the Republican vice presidential nominee, go after her wingnut positions or her this-close relationship with the evangelicals and social conservatives. Criticizing Sarah Palin's perceived lack of experience will not be a winning argument.

Gay Republicans Praise McCain's Anti-Gay VP Choice as "Inclusive"

While gay progressives and Democrats are generally underwhelmed with the Hail Mary pass thrown by John McCain's choice of the obscure, one-term anti-gay Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential choice, the capital gains tax cut lovin' gay Republicans are quite pleased.

"Alaska Governor Sarah Palin can help Sen. McCain win this election by appealing to independent and young voters, Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon tells 365Gay. "Gov. Palin is an inclusive Republican who will help Sen. McCain appeal to gay and lesbian voters."

Right-wing homocon Bruce Carroll at Gay Patriot is also rejoicing. "Woooooo hooooo! Just as I couldn’t imagine me disliking the Obama ticket more after he picked Biden, I’m shocked to now find myself EXCITED about McCain’s pick and Vice President Sarah Palin. I almost can’t believe that he has done it."

Stephen Miller at the Independent Gay Forum glosses over Palin's extensive anti-gay record with this quaint revisionism. "She's apparently an evangelical Christian who is pro-life but no 'phobe. She vetoed an anti-gay bill passed by the legislature that would have barred the state from granting benefits to the partners of gay state employees, and has met with gay groups and spoken publicly about gay friends and relatives."

Ah, yes, the old "some of my best friends are gay argument, sometimes used by John McCain. More about Palin's veto of the bill that would have prohibited providing domestic partnership benefits to state workers: This bill was in defiance of the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling and the Attorney General's (Republican) advice that the legislation was unconstitutional. Palin went ahead to say that, as a matter of policy, she was in favor of the bill, and "honoring the family structure is that important." So yes, Palin vetoed the anti-gay bill ... because she was forced to veto the anti-gay bill.

McCain Picks Palin [365]
Well, John McCain Got His Headline [Gay Patriot]

McCain Picks Alaska's Anti-Gay, Former Beauty Queen Gov. as VP

The morning after the Democratic Party nominates its first black presidential candidate, John McCain and the Republicans shake up the election. McCain has chosen as his running mate Sarah Palin, former beauty queen and the obscure governor of Alaska, as the party's first female vice presidential nominee. Although only holding state-wide office for less than two years, Palin "has already shown that she is a fierce opponent" of gay and lesbian rights.

Prior to being elected governor, Palin supported the 1998 amendment to Alaska's constitution banning same-sex marriage. The new governor also supported a ballot question that sought to deny benefits to the domestic partners of public employees, which was ordered by the Alaska Supreme Court. Palin's first legislative act as Governor of Alaska was to "put the issue on the April 2007 ballot for a non-binding advisory vote. This was the only issue on the ballot and that election cost the state taxpayers $1.2 million."

Palin is a favorite of social conservative, anti-gay "pro-family groups" such as Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council. Palin is strongly pro-life and gave birth to a child with Down's Syndrome, making her somewhat of a hero to the anti-choice crowd. When asked about the right-wing’s reaction to the choice of Palin, The New York Times quoted Ralph Reed, the anti-gay former head of the Christian Coalition as saying, "They’re beyond ecstatic."

Obama: Gays and Lesbians Deserve "Lives Free of Discrimination"

Did you hear it? Near the end of Barack Obama's acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination, our new nominee included gays and lesbians in his vision for "The American Future."

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America’s promise – the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

Obama has consistently mentioned gays and lesbians to mainstream audiences and framed gay rights as basic civil rights. In a November 2007 interview with Christian Broadcasting Network, the would-be nominee said basic hospital visitation for gay couples was not a "special privilege." On the campaign trail in Texas before a predominately black audience, Obama addressed homophobic remarks by saying it was "not very Christian" to criticize gays.

The speech may not be everything you want. But gays and lesbians are in there and included in Obama's vision—in a presidential nomination speech given 45 years to the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered "I Have a Dream." Can't ask for much more than that.

Prepared Text of Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech

Here is the full text of Barack Obama's acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. The title of tonight's speech at Invesco Field in Denver is "The American Promise."

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land – enough! This moment – this election – is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: “Eight is enough.”

Cullen Jones Begins New Swimming Program for Inner City Youth

Rod 2.0 fave Cullen Jones returns to the news. While some Olympic gold medalist are cashing in for quick endorsement deals, Cullen Jones takes some time off from training to establish a diversity swimming program for inner city youth.

The Bronx-born swimming phenom was the lone black on the swimming team in Beijing. Cullen swam into history as the United States' second black gold medalist in swimming for the 4x1000 meter freestyle relay with Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale and Jason Lezak. Jones trained at Newark's John F. Kennedy pool and now that he has some time off from training, plans to use the prestige and celebrity of his gold medalist status to implement a diversity swimming program for inner city youth.

Statistics show 58 percent of black children can't swim, compared to 31 percent of whites, according to the Star Ledger, "already has $10,000 from Bank of America, one of his sponsors, toward a program to change that. Jones says, "I hope a kid can see this and say, 'Wow, a black swimmer and he's got a gold medal.'"

Only last year, Jones was ranked first in the world in the 50 meter freestyle but did not qualify for the Olympic trials. Cullen Jones hopes to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London to win an individual gold medal in the event. And we'll be watching.

Cullen Jones Plans to Put Fame to Promote Diversity [NJ]
Obama Stands Alone on National Podium [Newsday]

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Eric Benet on "Love & Life"

You may have noticed that Eric Benet and Friday/Reprise/Warner Bros. Records have joined team Rod 2.0 as Premium Sponsors. The Grammy-nominated R&B artist will release his new CD, Love & Life, on September 9th.

Earlier this week Eric was in Oakland and spoke with Joe Hawkins, the popular black gay club promoter and activist. The CD was titled Love & Life "because I'm at this place right now where I'm enjoying love and life to the fullest," the artist explains. "This is definitely the best CD of my career. With this particular CD, it was the first time in my career they gave me real creative control. They just gave me the budget to make a record and said, 'Go ahead, make it however you want to make it.' "

The new single "You're the Only One" is now Number 20 on the Billboard 100. Watch the video here and download the track Video interview with Joe Hawkins is here.

It's good to see Eric Benet returning with new music. The new single is terrific, very old skool, and Eric looks very good in the video interview. Oh, and it goes without saying we appreciate his team supporting Rod 2.0..