Culturite

The McCain campaign has gone to great lengths to present the selection of Sarah Palin as one made after a careful, meticulous vetting process. But evidence continues to suggest that the Arizona Republican made his VP choice with surprising haste.

On Saturday, a Democrat tasked with opposition research contacted the Huffington Post with this piece of information: as of this weekend, the McCain campaign had not gone through old newspaper articles from the Valley Frontiersman, Palin’s hometown newspaper.

How does he know? The paper’s (massive) archives are not online. And when he went to research past content, he was told he was the first to inquire.

“No one else had requested access before,” said the source. “It’s unbelievable. We were the only people to do that, which means the McCain camp didn’t.”

The Frontiersman did not immediately confirm the revelation. And there is no indication from the Democratic source that anything nefarious or problematic will be found in the archives. But officials with the paper did not recall inquiries by the McCain campaign.

“I cannot confirm that information at this time,” said publisher Kari Sleight. “I am not aware of the McCain campaign researching our archives, but archive requests do not usually go through me.”

If true, the failure of the Arizona Republican to access the newspaper clippings becomes another in a growing list of revelations that calls into question just how and why he made his decision to choose Palin. A rudimentary clip search, such as this, is presidential politics 101 as campaigns not only look for the majority of background information on any high-level appointee, but also try to prepare themselves from future attacks.

The trouble with Roots Manuva isn’t that his jokes sound serious – it’s that his serious comments sound like jokes. Earlier this month the English MC told us that he wanted to work with soporific balladeer James Blunt. “I wouldn’t mind doing something with … what’s his name again?” he said in our podcast. Oh, how we chortled at the ridiculous thought, even after Manuva claimed to be sincere. Manuva and Blunt hardly seem like kindred spirits.

And yet perhaps they are kindred after all. When asked again this week if he was joking about working with Blunt, Manuva told BBC 6Music, “No, no, we’re sorting that out, he knows.”

Alhough the new Roots Manuva album, Slime and Reason, is released on September 1, the hip-hop star is keen to record with the mope who sang You’re Beautiful. “We’ll just get in the studio, have a few wines, eat some cake and go for it,” Manuva said, giving us yet another bizarre image – James Blunt and Roots Manuva in a recording booth, devouring birthday cake.

Though Blunt’s not exactly part of the standard British hip-hop Rolodex, Roots Manuva had a cunning way to reach him. “I’m a personal friend of [James Blunt's] guitarist and he put the message in,” he explained. “He’s up for it.”

“It could be pretty soon. I’ve got some time off coming up so I’m gonna pursue it. I’m definitely gonna try and get something in the bag.”

[Amy Goodman's] arrest comes amid accusations of police brutality in St. Paul. I-Witness founder Eileen Clancy was arrested and detained last Saturday by the police in an apparent preemptive arrest. Clancy states she and her team were surrounded in the house they were staying at in St. Paul before they had the chance to video tape any protests.

The Republican Party has gaveled its 2008 presidential nominating convention to order, ready to have Sen. John McCain carry the party’s banner this fall against Democrat Barack Obama.

Police are now wearing gas masks as they prepare to meet protesters. Reporters for The UpTake have live streaming cameras watching today’s demonstration outside the Xcel Center.

The RNC protests legal team is posting updates as @coldsnaplegal & @patiomancer is at the protests #rnc08 @theuptake will b uploading video

Two more legal observers arrested at Spring & Shepard. So much going on we can’t type fast enough to report it.

Cops loading mass amounts of people into vans (down by the river no less) and other vehicles and taking them away. #RNC08

“The Dark Knight” on Sunday became the second movie in Hollywood history to top $500 million at the domestic box office, raising its total to $502.4 million, according to estimates from distributor Warner Bros.

The film hit that mark in just over six weeks, half the time it took “Titanic,” which reached $500 million in a little more than three months. “Titanic,” the biggest modern blockbuster, remains No. 1 on the domestic charts with $600.8 million.

Despite its brisk pace, “The Dark Knight” is not expected to approach the total for “Titanic,” which put up smaller numbers week after week but lingered at the top of the box office for months.

Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros., said he expects “The Dark Knight” to finish at about $530 million, though it could reach $550 million if business persists as strongly as it has.

“I keep raising the number because it just keeps holding better than expected,” Fellman said.

Tropical Storm Gustav became Hurricane Gustav on August 26, 2008. Gustav, the third hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, started as a category one storm, making landfall around on August 26 close to the capital Port-au-Prince. 23 people died from the storm in Haiti. On August 27, the storm was downgraded to a tropical storm, but is expected to regain strength to at least a category two hurricane. It reached Jamaica on August 28 and had killed at least 70 people in the Caribbean as of August 29. Gustav is heading towards the Gulf Coast, predicted to reach it on September 1, 2008.