The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the agency that controls government-owned land that isn’t a forest, has put a two-year moratorium on new solar power plants to study the impact plants have on the local environment. Note, no such moratorium is being made to study the impact of Mountain Top removal mining, a form of strip mining where the tops of mountains are blown off, and the resulting fill is simply dumped into the local rivers. More »

From the NY Times…the resistance of the civil rights generation to Obama’s candidacy signified the failure of their parents to come to terms, at the dusk of their lives, with the success of their own struggle — to embrace the idea that black politics might now be disappearing into American politics…

Does Obama’s candidacy signify the end of “black politics”? A feature in the upcoming Times magazine explores the question. Read the article (click here) and chime in.

**Pictured here: Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first black to serve in the U.S Senate.

Politics and art have a strange marriage that’s as old as government itself. Celebrating their matrimony, MoveOn.org and Obey Giant have joined forces, inviting artist to show their work during the Democratic National Convention at the Manifest Hope Gallery in Denver. Artist can submit any 2D or 3D work that captures the Hope/Change/Unity themes of the Obama campaign. Submissions will be accepted through August 18.

Click here for more info and to submit art.

When John McCain proposed lifting the federal ban on offshore drilling of the Outer Continental Shelf, 3 to 200 miles off the United States coast, President Bush jumped on the bandwagon. Bush said, “roughly the equivalent of two decades of imported oil from Saudi Arabia” are waiting for us under the currently banned areas in Alaska alone. With those, and the untapped reserves in the Gulf of Mexico, Bush and McCain hopes that America can become “energy independent.” Analysts, scientists and environmentalists have rightfully called it bullshit. More »

Maybe Barack Obama is just a picture. Maybe he’s a drawing, a painting, a photograph, graffiti—simply, a conjured image to “make us believe.” A token? More »

In January, when George W. unveiled his scheme to send out Economic Stimulus checks to 116 million American families, I have to admit I was pretty excited. $600 for nothing? Sexy. Of course, I wanted a piece of that! I started putting together grand schemes in my head about throwing a “George W. is Awesome” party or spending a weekend in a fancy hotel. More »

Throughout the campaign, I’ve heard of the political hate spam being used to smear Barack Obama by painting him as a Muslim. It wasn’t until recently that I received one of these emails.

Excerpts from the email: More »

When Barack Obama announced his intentions to run for president, most Americans doubted that the country was ready to elect a black man. Fast-forward to today and many minds have changed. Despite having a funny name and an “angry black woman”as his spouse, Obama has prevailed, moving a step closer to shedding America’s racist image. And though America seems poised to elect a black president, one thing still remains—he better believe in Christ. More »

The writ of habeas corpus, or “bring the body before me,” is the basis from which all modern freedoms derive. Basically, if you are in prison, you have a right to a trial. If you’re found guilty, you go to jail to be punished/rehabilitated for a defined period of time. If you’re not guilty, you go free. The government can’t just make you disappear. More »

When was the last time you sat and watched a basketball game with your chick? When was the last time you’ve went outside and played basketball with your dude? When was the last time you went shopping with your girl and actually participated rather than complain about how tired you are? When was the last time you recall sharing excitement with your other half and exchanging dap? More »