For all the talk about how fluffy and lacking in details (and discipline) the Vice-Presidential debate last week was, there was some interesting information that came forth. For example, Joe Biden spoke about how he approves of realistic intervention and would like to create a no-fly zone over Darfur. Sarah Palin then joined in and agreed with him, noting that she had supported Alaska's divestment from Sudan as a form of protest. "When I and others in the legislature found out that we had some millions of dollars in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars," Palin said at the debate. Unfortunately, this tidbit did not hold up to fact-checking. According to ABC News:

A search of news clips and transcripts from the first three months of this year did not turn up an instance in which Palin mentioned the Sudanese crisis or concerns about Alaska's investments tied to the ruling regime. Moreover, Palin's administration openly opposed the bill, and stated its opposition in a public hearing on the measure.

Last May, LeBron James was asked by his Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Ira Newble to sign an open letter urging China to change it's relationship with Sudan prior to the Olympics. James declined, saying that he needed to educate himself about what was going on in Darfur before he signed something. At the time, people thought it was a line he was using to avoid criticizing China, where James has a lot of business entanglements.

But he was probably telling the truth — he just didn't know what the hell was going on in Darfur. When he found out, he decided to lead the charge on Team USA in formulating some sort of protest in Beijing — that is until the players were strongly advised to keep politics and sports separate. The NBA players might still put their money where their mouths are, but they probably won't be thrusting any fists in the air during medal ceremonies.

Do you think Olympic athletes have a responsibility to speak out about China's relationship with Sudan and its human rights records? Or should the athletes "leave that stuff to the politicians," as the Olympic leaders are praying they will?

Thanks, SM!

With all of the hub bub over China's hosting of the Olympics — protests have been plaguing the Olympic torch relay and several celebrities have pledged not to participate in any Olympic activities because of oppression in Tibet and the country's involvement with the Sudanese government, and, by extension, the crisis in Darfur — will you be supporting and/or actively watching the Olympics this year? Why or why not?

Don Cheadle and George Clooney have been chosen to receive the Peace Summit Award, which is an honor doled out at the annual world summit of Nobel Peace Prize laureates. The co-stars in the infamous Ocean's films are being honored for their work to bring peace to Darfur.

Over the past two years Clooney and Cheadle have both traveled to the African nation to bring attention to the plight of war refugees there, spoken to government leaders about the ongoing ethnic and tribal conflict in the region and appeared in the 2007 documentary Darfur Now.

Which is better, an Oscar or a Peace Summit Award? [People]

I have never shied away from making it known that I find Angelina Jolie to be a smug, holier-than-thou, obnoxious, and self-important person. I acknowledge that she does many good things — in Africa, no less! She highlights causes that certain people would otherwise ignore, but there are many other high profile celebrities who do similar good things without becoming insufferable. I also acknowledge that she is beautiful (because everyone always tries to tell me I'm just hating when I talk about how much Angie sucks). But please. She's an actress. And I really don't care to read her thoughts in the Economist's "World in 2008" special issue.

Jolie's piece on accountability for the atrocities in Darfur sits alongside contributions from several presidents, an exiled god-king, the head of the United Nations and other political heavyweights…

The field of high-profile contributors includes French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Mexican president Felipe Calderón, the Dalai Lama, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and Korean-born UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.

I know! Let's play "One of These Economist Contributers Is Not Like The Other." Hint: just pick out the one who starred in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Or the new film adaptation of Beowulf, in theaters Friday!

• Don Cheadle continues his tireless Darfur activism. [MTV]

• Is Andre Leon Talley a member of Donnie McClurkin's backup choir? [C&D]

• Speaking of McClurkin… [CC]

• My words are unnecessary here:

The mayor of San Francisco, California, has changed his mind about honoring rapper Snoop Dogg after local officials imposed tighter rules regarding proclamations. The star - real name Calvin Broadus - was due to be presented with a proclamation by a representative from Mayor Gavin Newsom's Office of Criminal Justice during the rapper's performance at the Exotic Erotic Ball on Friday.

[SP]

Outrage! Shock! Oh, nevermind. It's just Rush Limbaugh.

Democrats, he said, "want to get us out of Iraq but they can't wait to get us into Darfur."

What he said next, however, was brazenly out of context. "There are two reasons. What color is the skin of the people in Darfur? It's black. And who do the Democrats really need to keep voting for them? If they lose a significant percentage of this voting block, they're in trouble."

"The black population," said a caller, to which Limbaugh replied, "Right."

Perhaps he conveniently forgot the glaring differences between Iraq and Darfur or that not many Democratic politicians are in favor of sending a lot of troops there or that a lot of black voters are far more interested in how candidates are going to handle problems here than in how they're going to handle the ones in the Sudan. Or perhaps he's just grumpy because he was overdue for his Oxycontin fix. Either way, I see no reason to pay him any mind, except for the fact that millions of people do just that every day.

[DP]

Bono, the entertainment business's resident bleeding heart, took over as guest editor for July's Vanity Fair issue and focused on his favorite continent, Africa. To commemorate this historic event, famed photographer Annie Liebovitz shot 20 different covers.

As for the covers themselves, I was wondering why it looked like Madonna was about to kiss Maya Angelou's ear and why Bush was violating Desmond Tutu's space like that until Jossip informed me that the whole thing was supposed to look like a game of telephone. I'm not sure that is readily apparent, but the covers — featuring Alicia Keys, Brad Pitt, Condoleeza Rice, Don Cheadle, and Barack Obama, to name a few — are impressive nonetheless.

[VF]

Don Cheadle, in France to debut Oceans 13 along with the rest of his all-star castmates, took a break from the nonstop party to attend the amFAR Cinema Against AIDS benefit along with the lovely ladies below. Earlier in the day yesterday, Cheadle and his Oceans 13 co-stars also raised $9.2 million for Darfur at a separate event. Cannes isn't just about the movies.