• The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) These folks are on the front line to keep Bush and his potentially two new supreme court appointees from destroying a woman's INDIVIDUAL, PERSONAL, and most importantly, LEGAL RIGHT to have an abortion. NARAL workers and volunteers bravely take it on the chin every single day in the face of death threats to themselves and their families. They can always use our help.
  • Democratic National Committee They can certainly use the attention after the mid-term elections.
  • Republican National Committee Aways wise to keep a close eye on what they are up to.
  • Green Party of the United States Come on, we live in a country in which we have ten different kinds of toilet paper to choose from, yet we are content to have only two choices in political elections?
  • US Senate listing and info, including voting records. Give them your thoughts!
  • US House of Representatives listing and info, including voting records. Have you ever seen these guys in action on CSPAN? They need to hear from you!
  • Michael Moore is not afraid to ask politicians and business leaders the hard questions our mainstream media won't go near with a bucket of bleach and a kevlar vest. Though his confrontational style can be hard to watch, he has my undying appreciation and gratitude for having the balls to stick it to the Man.
  • www.biodieselnow.com: Biodiesel is a vegetable oil-based, sustainable, and non-toxic fuel that runs in diesel engines like those found in cars, trucks, boats, and generators. It's made from soy or canola oil, and can also be made from recycled fryer oil (yes, even that from your local McDonalds restaurant). Use of biodiesel not only encourages a renewable energy source but also supports american farmers who struggle to stay afloat amidst the ever increasing dominance of large agribusiness. Recently. more auto manufacturers are exporting diesel cars into the United States (most notably VW and Mercedes) from Europe, where they have been in large scale production for decades. Ford and Chevy both have diesel cars in the works.
  • Earth Action is one of the most comprehensive and involved organizations working in the environment and humanitarian field I have yet come across. They are an active group dedicated to connecting concerned individuals and groups via the internet. "EarthAction's goal is to mobilize growing numbers of people around the world to press their governments (or sometimes corporations) for stronger action to solve global problems. EarthAction's strategy is to create a global action alert network-a kind of Amnesty International for the planet-made up of individuals, groups and legislators who are prepared to act together on global problems."
  • Local Harvest I am a HUGE fan of knowing where my food comes from. "Think Globally, Act Locally" is a perfect way to approach sustainable agriculture and Local Harvest is a fantastic resource on the web for finding local farms in your area. If we don't support our local growers, we will all end up dependant on big agro-business, which would be a frightening world, indeed (see Fast Food Nation below) .
  • Solar Electric Light Fund These guys bring electricity to people who really need it...remote villages that with solar power can finally store vaccines, keep food, allow people to read and study at night..it's a really great program that needs support and makes a BIG difference in the standard of living of communities.
  • EcologyFund is owned and operated by The Hunger Site Network as a way to get new funds for critical habitat and wilderness preservation using the power of the internet. When you "click to give" their sponsors pay the project you selected to preserve the number of square feet shown by each project. A point and click donation site. How cool is that?!?
  • Grist Magazine Gloom and Doom with a sense of humor (their quote, not mine!)
  • Organic Consumers Association Campaigning for food safety, organic agriculture, fair trade, and sustainability. Concerned about GMO/frankenfoods? This is a great place resource.
  • The Campaign Leading a national grassroots campaign to convince Congress to label genetically engineered foods.
  • Greenpeace One of THE BEST non-government environmental protection groups.
  • World Wildlife Fund One of the oldest animal rights and environmental protection groups.
  • Heifer Project They bring chickens, rabbits, bees, cattle, etc. to poor people in every country, for free, and the recipient only must share the animals' first offspring with another family in need, and so on. It improves food security and nutrition in needy communities, helps people afford to send their kids to school by selling excess milk or honey, etc. They have the best Xmas gifts! Give a gift of a hive of bees in your friend's name, a water buffalo, etc.
  • Clear the world of landmines... A point and click donation site. "The roads and paths, forests and pastures of an estimated 70 countries around the world have been made treacherous by landmines. Landmines affect some of the most impoverished people in the world. Each year, 26,000 people are killed or mutilated by landmines of which 8,000 are children."-clearlandmines.com
  • Amnesty International The world's foremost leader in unflinching monitoring of world wide human rights.
  • The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research Based in Sweden, they don't pull punches in discussing the ballsy nature of US foreign policy. "TFF's mission is peace: learning to handle conflicts with ever less violence against other human beings, other cultures and Nature."
  • Hague Appeal for Peace "The Hague Appeal for Peace is an international network of peace and justice organizations dedicated to sowing the seeds for the abolition of war through the implementation of the Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century (UN Ref A/54/98), a set of 50 recommendations developed at the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference in 1999, the largest international peace conference in history."
  • Nuclear Age Peace Foundation Based in the US, they offer great action items and are particularly active on confronting the nightmare of nuclear annihalation. Subscribe to receive their e-zine, The Sunflower, to keep abreast of all nuclear peace/war developments.
  • United States Institute of Peace This is a US government organization, appraise accordingly. "The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan federal institution created and funded by Congress to strengthen the nation's capacity to promote the peaceful resolution of international conflict."
  • The Boulder Weekly Boulder Valley's independent voice and an invaluable resource when it comes to local politcal reporting. The opinions are strong, the articles thoroughly well researched, and the arts writing is great.
  • The Nation This from The Nation's founding prospectus in 1865: The Nation will not be the organ of any party, sect, or body. It will, on the contrary, make an earnest effort to bring to the discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration, and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred. In my opinion, The Nation boldly reports the side of current events that is often left out of mainstream reporting due to cowardly publishing standards. In other words, The Nation does not pander to its advertisers and so has the freedom to report with integrity and independence.
  • The Onion Need I say more?

Blogs

  • Bitch Ph.D. This is one of my very favorite spots on the web. Bitch Ph.D. is a goup of women who talk about feminist issues and how they relate to life, academia, work, and family. The contributers are articulate, funny, fearless, and incredibly relatable.
  • Deus Ex Malcontent Chez Pazienza has a fine, raw take on the world at large, both politcal and cultural. Once a CNN morning segment producer, Chez is now one of the finest bloggers out there and my day would not be completel without visiting his site.
  • Pajiba There is nothing to be ashamed about loving entertainment. I think these folks write some damn funny reviews of movies. Plus, they feature the ever insightful tv whore.
  • Go Fug Yourself "Fugly is the New Pretty" Isn't nice to know that, on occasion, the people who get paid to look good can figure it out no better than we can? Jessica and Heather write with a sharp tongue and a ruthless eye. They make me feel better about the fact that I once wore black leggings and shoulder pads.
  • Michael Chabon From Wonder Boys to The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay to Summerland, I think this man can do no wrong.
  • Richard Price Every single page of Mr. Price's writing, without fail, contains what I think of as a perfect sentence. He writes hearbreaking observations of interconnected, brink dweling lives.
  • Eric Schlosser Fast Food Nation-I can not say enough about this book. Frightening, enlightening, grisly, and a must read.
  • Neal Stephenson (all of his books)
  • Arundhati Roy: The God Of All Small Things
  • Seamus Deane: Reading in the Dark
  • Charles Frazier:Cold Mountain
Many thanks to Erik Hoffner for helping make this list as odd and diverse as it is!