There's a lot you can do to stop pollution, sprawl, save forests, defend organic foods, improve government, control corporations, and make a better world. Throw your weight around!

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How Bellingcat's Online Sleuths Solve Global Crimes Using Open Source Info - NPR - - An NPR interview of Eliot Higgins, the founder of Bellingcat,

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A Car Free Day in 300 words - - Tired of being tied to your car? You're not alone. Lots of people are ready for alternatives to traffic, pollution and auto dependency. Help them find each other: Organize a car free day in your community. Get the basics here, then visit the World Carfree Network for free resources.

Adbusters Culture Jammers Headquarters - - Adbusters will blast that media-induced fog right out of your brain- and give you dangerous ideas.

Ashoka - - When it comes to stimulating positive change, Ashoka probably delivers more bang for the buck than any other organization. You can be a part of it.

Congressional Contact Page - - Want to contact someone in state or national government? Use this page compiled by Contacting the Congress. to find their name, phone, email and mailing address.

Consensus - - by Mark Shepard. A short, but practical guide to making decisions by consensus.

Council for a Livable World - - founded in 1962 by physicist Leo Szilard to combat the menace of nuclear war, its programs now target other weapons of mass destruction, both chemical and biological. The Council works to limit arms sales to other governments and to build support for U.N. peacekeeping operations. Check out their Senate & House voting records to see how your representatives are voting on peace-related issues... then write your representatives.

Critical Mass - - In Berlin and Barcelona, in London, New York, and San Francisco, cyclists are building a movement to make the streets safe for cycling.

EPA Beachgoer's Guide - - Find out about local beach water quality, what you need to know about beach water pollution, the health risks associated with swimming in polluted water, and who to contact if you think the water at the beach is contaminated. Also, find out how to get involved in beach protection and clean up programs.

Fresh Water - - NOTE: An archive, but still useful. - Millenium Institute's detailed guide to action, from how to find out about your local water supply, to how to save water when you brush your teeth, to practical suggestions for influencing what schools teach about water, to thoughts about global issues.

Global Response - - Letters can be powerful. GR letter-writing campaigns have stopped toxic dumps, lumber clearcuts, and toxic manufacturing, created wildlife preserves, and instigated pollution clean-up. Each month, they focus on an issue, providing background, letter-writing suggestions, and pertinant addresses, all available at this link, or by email.

Green Scissors - - describes dozens of US Federal Government programs that harm the environment and waste taxpayers' money. Cutting these programs would save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. Read this report and use it to write a letter to your elected representatives, telling them exactly how you'd like them to vote on these programs.

H2O +What Else - - NOTE: OFFLINE 12:49 PM 12/13/00 - This article from the NRDC's Amicus tells how to find out if your water supply is safe, and if it's not, what you can do about it. (8k)

HR 10--A DANGEROUS CONCENTRATION OF ECONOMIC POWER - - Note: This article is testimony by Ralph Nader about a bill that was under consideration by Congress in 1999. I don't know whether the bill passed, but it is a good example of the kinds of ant-public legislation that has passed since then and which now makes the lives of ordinary Americans much worse than they should be. AND NEW LIABILITIES FOR TAXPAYERS - "Chairman Alfonse D'Amato's Senate Banking Committee is attempting to rush a massive rewrite of the nation's financial laws through the Senate before adjournment of the 105th Congress". This legislation--HR 10-- would create huge conglomerates--some with a trillion or more dollars in assets--and would merge banks, insurance companies, securities firms and, in many cases, industrial and other non-financial firms under common ownership. These conglomerates would dominate the financial industry, creating serious regulatory problems, putting new strains on the federal safety net and the taxpayer-supported deposit insurance funds. The end result would be far reaching concentration of the nation's economic resources, further limiting competition in the financial industry to the detriment of consumers and communities".

Health Care Without Harm - - is a collaborative campaign for environmentally responsible health care. This link takes you to their collection of practical resources (documents) for people working to make health care less polluting.

How Are You Doing? - - Great tips for creating an effective non-commercial website, an incredible amount of good stuff packed into [12k].

How Bellingcat's Online Sleuths Solve Global Crimes Using Open Source Info - NPR - - An NPR interview of Eliot Higgins, the founder of Bellingcat,

How To Take Back A Stolen Election - - A good article about how to mobilize against rigged elections.

How To Take Back America - - This article describes a strategy that's as good now, as it was back in 2003 when this was written. And progressives are using some of it. Nonetheless, it bears re-reading, both for an understanding of how the extreme right-wing took over the Republican party and for the several lessons that progressives could learn from that.

Keeping America Safe From Democracy - - Moved to Vision.

LUFNET: Land Use Forum Network - - Are developers threatening to bulldoze your favorite sanctuary? LUFNET offers free help to people concerned about specific proposed land development projects, residential, commercial, retail or industrial. They've developed a set of tools that help everyone concerned move beyond conflict to cooperation. This is a process that can succeed even in a strongly polarized situation. The site contains a wealth of nuts and bolts information.

Mark Dowie and the Haida Gwaii Lesson - - The Journalist who exposed the designed-in dangers of the Ford Pinto back in the '70's, became publisher and editor of Mother Jones magazine, won numerous journalism awards and then exposed the unholy alliance between environmental organizations and corporations that has made refugees of 20 million people over the last 100 years, has a new project: It's a case study of the Haida, a native people living on an archipelago of islands south of Alaska, who recently won sovereignty and autonomy from Canada. He's writing it to be used as a "playbook" for any indigenous tribe that has been enveloped by a colonial or an imperial power and that is still fighting against that power. The book is now available free to read or download here.

Nanotechnology Risks - - An overview of the types of risks likely to be associated with nanotechnology.

National Organic Standards - - Would you like to see national (U.S.) standards for certification of organic foods? The U.S. gov't has proposed a set of standards and asks for your input.

No Nukes in Space - - Just when you thought we had begun to appreciate the dangers of playing with Plutonium... NASA puts over 70 pounds of Plutonium on a rocket (a Titan IV, like the Challenger, that blew up shortly after launching) and sends it into space. In order to get to Saturn, it will have to execute a dangerous maneuver that will bring it so close to earth that a slight miscalculation will cause it to hit the earth. How dangerous is 70 pounds of Plutonium? If it were dispersed evenly, it would be enough to kill (via induced lung cancer) every man, woman and child on earth 70 times over. Even if no one is hurt by this irresponsible venture, it will cost taxpayers $1.5 billion. Can you think of a better use for this money? If so, please write or call your representatives and express your opinion.

Participatory Culture Foundation - - Free, Open Source Internet TV

Progressives and Democrats- Assert Your Brand! - - Another smart idea from Thom Hartmann.

Project Vote Smart - - Type in your zip code and find out who represents you (or wants to) and how they are or aren't living up to their promises. If it's a new candidate, find out how they responded to Vote Smart's very pointed and thorough questionaire- or if they refused to respond. This is an incredibly useful site. They also have a toll-free hotline for questions not answered on the website.

Corpwatch - - A goldmine of information about corporate bad behavior, worldwide. You can access their findings via issues, like Bribery, Fraud & Tax Evasion, Environment, Gender & Health, Global Trade, Greenwash & Public Relations, Human Rights, and many more, or by more than 20 industries.

Rights of Money versus Rights of Living Persons - - An historical perspective on this current topic.

Road Hog Info Trough - - NOTE: 12:31 PM 12/13/00 OFFLINE - What could you do with an extra 70 billion gallons of gas? That's how much has been wasted by SUV's since 1990. Thanks to auto lobbyists, SUV's are allowed to waste 30 percent more fuel than passenger cars. Thay also pollute more and they're extremely dangerous to other cars in an accident. Find out what you can do.

Rob's Place - Spam and Spammers- - - 10:58 PM 2/5/2004 NOTE: This page is gone. Try this one, instead. Sick of spam? You'll find a nice collection of anti-spam resources and tools here.

Stock Options: How to use Your Shares to Change Company Environmental Behavior - - In many ways, "Corporations 'R' Us"- The CEO and Board of Directors may live in worlds of their own, but much of the stock is owned by regular folks- many of whom care about the environment and are beginning to realize that ownership of voting stock puts them in a unique position of influence. Read how to use stock ownership as a lever to influence corporate behavior.

Sue da Feds? - - NOTE: OFFLINE 1:02 PM 12/13/00 - It's one thing to pass legislation but quite another to get it enforced. Politics can interfere with what the clearest of mandates. For example, it seems that polluters have been squirming out of lawsuits by saying, in effect, "But the EPA hasn't stopped us, so what we're doing must be "OK!". Here's how citizens are using lawsuits to enable agencies like the EPA to carry out their mandates free from political interference.

Taking E-Mail Vacations Can Reduce Stress, Study Says - NYTimes.com - - United States Army researchers found that you can lower your stress and improve your focus by looking at email less often.

Timeline: The Best Government Money Can Buy - - This page by Mother Jones gives "A short, shady history of how American elections are bought and paid for."

The Public Cost of Private Corporations - - It's estimated at approximately $2,622 billion per year (1994 dollars). That's over 2 and a half trillion dollars, or of most of the entire National Debt every year! Read the sordid details here, get riled up and do something!

The Right to Read - - While you still have it, take advantage of it and read this chilling tale of the not-so-distant future...

The Sun Magazine Keep Off The Grasslands - - Mark Gowie explains how it happened that we came to see booting native peoples off their lands as necessary to preserve healthy eco-systems and why that's a problem.

Shoppers Guide to Avoiding GE Food - - Here's Greenpeace's response to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) failure to require labeling for genetically engineered (GE) food, The list covers dozens of foods in each of 20 categories, including baby food, cereal, frozen foods, snacks and soups. Each category is divided into Red (has GE ingredients), Green (no GE), and Yellow (transitional).

There Is a Plague Loose Upon the Land - Common Dreams - - We have laws against price gouging. This article makes the case that the typical corporate aggressive, take-it-or-leave-it approach to contract negotiations is really equivalent.

There's a Dangerous Flaw - - The real meaning of globalization, by David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World.

What We Could Do With a Postal Savings Bank Infrastructure That Doesnt Cost Taxpayers a Dime - - Learn how we could utilize the Post Office to (1) fund the rebuilding of our crumbling national infrastructure; (2) serve the massive market of the "unbanked" and "underbanked" who lack access to basic banking services; and (3) provide a safe place to save our money, in the face of Wall Street's new bail policies for confiscating depositor funds.

Who will own your next good idea? - - At the Atlantic Monthly. Lots of useful background on the congressional battle over copyright. Check out the related Roundtable discussion.

Your Economic Vote: Your Influence On Politics And The Economy - - An excellent, multi-faceted site. The author describes personal choices and strategies, along with well-referenced discussions of corporate misbehavior.

Youth Venture - - Do you have an idea for making things better? Youth Venture is a support network for young people who want to launch their own organizations, or ventures, to change their schools or communities

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