At the Root, Kai Wright discusses the hit black homeowners are taking in the mortgage foreclosure crisis, a topic he addressed earlier in this excellent article at The Nation. Kai has previously contributed to Beacon Broadside on gay teens and James Baldwin.

David Moore deconstructs some sloppy NYTimes poll analysis on Obama and the racial divide at the Huffington Post.

Mark Winne continues his blogging at Slow Food Nation, discussing a program in Bellingham, WA, where volunteers harvest surplus produce to help stock the local food banks. The Nashville City Paper had this review of Winne's Closing the Food Gap last week.

At the Boston Globe, Howard Zinn reminds John McCain and Barack Obama that "no one wins in a war." Also at the Globe, a new religion blog from Michael Paulson. (Thanks, Michael, for the link to our post from Forrest Church.)

University of Wisconsin math prof Jordan Ellenberg, at his blog, Quomodocumque, challenges John Tierney's dismissal of the gender gap in the sciences. Maybe Tierney, who seems to think that "women on average just aren't as interested as men are in these disciplines," should read about Maria Mitchell.

We missed this when it originally posted, but just after Independence Day the LA Times had this article on the Jefferson Bible:

The big question now, said Lori Anne Ferrell, a professor of early modern history and literature at Claremont Graduate University, is this:
"Can you imagine the reaction if word got out that a president of the United States cut out Bible passages with scissors, glued them onto paper and said, 'I only believe these parts?' "

And in the department of "Wow, I feel old," the naked baby on the cover of Nirvana's Nevermind is now 17. They grow up so fast!