Pencil Sharpening: Nostalgia Central

"Welcome to the Time Machine....Most families own a box or a scrapbook full of tokens and mementoes of their lives. Every object unlocks an attic in the mind, a storehouse of reminiscence. Nostalgia Central is a scrapbook providing a trip from the Swinging Sixties, via the Mirror-balled Seventies, to the Day-Glo Eighties....The Nineties? Nostalgia Central comes to an end with 1989. This is, of course, an arbitrary cut-off point....There are no checkpoints to mark the frontier between the past and the almost present. But we know somehow when that border has been crossed." -- from the website. <http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/>

History: Online Database Of 3 Million Holocaust Victims' Names

"Six million Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany and its collaborators in the Shoah. Yad Vashem undertook to retrieve the names of the Jewish victims and to preserve their memory.This is the moral duty of the Jewish People; our last respects to the victims. The computerized database prepared by Yad Vashem, with the assistance of other institutions, now includes the names of approximately half of these victims. We make their names accessible here, in reverence and awe, determined to persevere until the last name is retrieved." -- from the website. <http://www.yadvashem.org/>

Safety: AAA Foundation Photolibrary

"These images may be published and distributed in any paper, electronic or other media for the sole purpose of promoting traffic safety and injury prevention issues. Users of these images may digitally manipulate or add other graphic elements to enhance the usability of the images for publishing only as such use relates to promoting traffic safety, injury prevention, and/or public health. Users of these images may not sell them, transfer or assign intellectual property rights to the images, and users must credit the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety as the source." -- from the website. <http://www.aaafoundation.org/>

Pets (sort of): Ferrets Anonymous

"Ferrets Anonymous: Promoting California's Awareness of the Domestic Ferret" offers news and info about ferret care and about the struggle for legalization of ferret ownership in California, with pictures and links. <http://www.ferretsanonymous.com/>

California: Earthquake Maps and Information

"ABAG, the Association of Bay Area Governments, is the regional planning and services agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area....Earthquake Maps and Information...Shaking Maps, Liquafication Maps, Making Your Home Safer...Preparing Your Business...Kid Zone/Puzzles...Transportation Damage, Preparing for Traffic, Housing Loss Modeling, Hazmat and Dam Failure...Other Natural Hazards - Floods - Wildfires - Slides - Tsunamis - Faults, Links , Other quake sites (including info on recent earthquakes)..." -- from the website. <http://www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/eqmaps/>

Media: Great looking news site

"10x10™ ('ten by ten') is an interactive exploration of the words and pictures that define the time. The result is an often moving, sometimes shocking, occasionally frivolous, but always fitting snapshot of our world. Every hour, 10x10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time. Over the course of days, months, and years, 10x10 leaves a trail of these hourly statements which, stitched together side by side, form a continuous patchwork tapestry of human life." -- from the website.
<http://tenbyten.org/index.html>

Environment: Blawg for small businesses

The Environment is a legal weblog about environmental health and safety issues for the business community. <http://www.the-environment.ws/>

Good Eatin': Tailgating

"It's a community social. It's pre-game, halftime, post-game and more." -- Joe Cahn.

The self-proclaimed "Commissioner of Tailgating," Cahn travels the U.S., visiting sports venue parking lots and commenting on tailgating — the practice of picnicking, barbecuing, or fine dining from the back of a car, van, or other vehicle. Joe shares site descriptions, preparation and gear tips, trivia, and a tasty collection of recipes. <http://www.tailgating.com/>

Economics: History

EH.net, which began life as the Econhist discussion list, now provides internet-based services -- abstracts, glossary, newsletters, a live "Ask the Professor," etc. -- to economic historians, economists, social scientists, and JQP. <http://www.eh.net/>

International Law: Fletcher-Ginn Multilaterals Library

"The Multilaterals Project, begun in 1992, is an ongoing project at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts to make available the texts of international multilateral conventions and other instruments. Although the project was initiated to improve public access to environmental agreements, the collection today also includes treaties in the fields of human rights, commerce and trade, laws of war and arms control, and other areas. The vast majority of texts date from the second half of this century, but the collection also includes historical texts, from the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia to the Covenant of the League of Nations." -- from the website. <http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multilaterals.html>

Money: The Fed 101

Provided by the Fed's branch in Kansas City, Fed 101 is an intro to the inner workings of the Federal Reserve Bank system, including background on the history, structure, monetary policy, banking supervision, and financial services of the FRB. See where your checks go when they are cashed. Be a bank examiner for a day. <http://www.kc.frb.org/fed101/indexflash.cfm>

Research: Census Bureau Question & Answer Center

Answers to hundreds of questions about population, demographics, housing, education, employment, and health. <http://ask.census.gov>

Geology: Earthscope

The National Science Foundation's EarthScope is designed "to apply modern observational, analytical and telecommunications technologies to investigate the structure and evolution of the North American continent and the physical processes controlling earthquakes and volcanic eruptions." Projects include drilling into the San Andreas Fault and installing scientific equipment at key sites, such as volcanoes. <http://www.earthscope.org/>

Sports: The Babe Ruth League

"Over fifty years ago, a group of men dedicated to the youth of America met in a suburb of Trenton, New Jersey, and formed what became the very first Babe Ruth League. This group of men eventually agreed to name Marius D. Bonacci as the 'founder' of the program which was initially registered under the name Little Bigger League. The program was renamed in 1954 when Claire Ruth, Babe Ruth's widow, who had learned of the merits of the organization and its tremendous growth, met with the administrators. She subsequently gave the organization permission to change its name to Babe Ruth League. She has been quoted as saying, 'Babe Ruth was a man who loved children and baseball; he could receive no greater tribute than to have a youth baseball program named after him.'" -- from thewebsite. <http://www.baberuthleague.org/>

Pencil Sharpening: Treasure Box

A Monty Python-ish timewaster from Japan: <http://www.nanahiro.com/compe/main.html>

The Lit'ry Life: Jacques Derrida

"...Derrida's deconstructionist works are integrally related to the more general phenomenon of postmodernism. Postmodernist theories and attitudes come in a variety of forms. In the realm of social and political theory, what unites them -- from Foucault to Baudrillard, from Lyotard to Derrida and others -- is a challenge to, and largely a rejection of, both the truth value and pragmatic capacity for achieving justice or peace of the modern system of political and economic institutions, as well as the very ways in which we know and act to explain and understand ourselves. Especially in the latter theoretical and explanatory domain, Derrida's deconstructionism is provocative, if not subversive, in questioning the self-evidence, logic and non-judgmental character of dichotomies we live by, such as legitimate/illegitimate, rational/irrational, fact/fiction, or observation/imagination. " -- from the website. <http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/derrida/>

Public Policy: Prayer in Public Schools and Buildings

"There is no such source and cause of strife, quarrel, fights,
malignant opposition, persecution, and war, and all evil in
the state, as religion. Let it once enter our civil affairs, our
government would soon be destroyed. Let it once enter our
common schools, they would be destroyed." Supreme Court
of Wisconsin, Weiss v. District Board, 1890-MAR-18.

ReligiousTolerance.org offers an overview of the constitutional parameters with respect to prayer in schools and at school events, to student free speech guarantees, to the "under God" language in the Pledge of Allegiance, to teaching about religion and the Bible, and to prayer at municipal government meetings, plus a battery of links. <http://www.religioustolerance.org/ps_pray.htm>

Science: What is music?

"What is music? Is birdsong music? How about the tap-tap-tap of a hammer, or the wail of a creaking door? Is playing a garbage can different than playing a drum?....Explore the science of music with us, through these online exhibits, movies, and questions. Along the way, you can compose, mix, dance, drum, experiment, and above all...listen." -- from the website. <http://www.exploratorium.edu/music/>

Jazz: Fats Waller

"Jazz pianist and organist of extraordinary facile technique and seemingly limitless invention," the writer of "Honeysuckle Rose" and countless other tunes "perfected and expanded the style known as stride." Fats Waller Forever by the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers has biographical and critical essays, a discography, photos, sheet music, and sound files. <http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/ijs/fw>

Health: The Cholesterol Low Down

Pfizer and the American Heart Association offer resources, including cookbooks and fact sheets on what affects cholesterol levels and what individuals can do to reduce high counts. <http://www.s2mw.com/cholesterollowdown/>

The Question of God

This site provides background for a PBS series based on Dr. Armand Nicholi's Harvard course that "illustrates the lives and insights of Sigmund Freud, a life-long critic of religious belief, and C.S. Lewis, a celebrated Oxford don, literary critic, and perhaps this century's most influential and popular proponent of faith based on reason." Moralist Lewis wrote "The Chronicles of Narnia," soon to be a major motion picture. The PBS site has video, a transcript, interviews, background information on Freud and Lewis, a discussion guide, and links. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod>

Environment: Media Service -- Climate Change Facts

This site provides links to "notable scientific institutions and studies that have found that industrial emissions are causing global warming." Also includes information about the status of the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, briefs and resources about selected topics (such as water and wildfires), and links. <http://www.ems.org/climate/facts.html>

IA: The Information Architecture Library

This site from the Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture "is intended to provide access to an international collection of the best articles, books, blogs, guides, reports, and other resources related to the field of information architecture." Includes abstracts and links to material. <http://aifia.org/library>

Health: Herbal Safety (for Dr. Bob)

"The website has two primary purposes: To disseminate information about research findings related to herbal use in [the Tex-Mex] region, as well as to provide information about the safety of herbal product use in both English and Spanish. This feature makes it one of the few bilingual websites specifically developed to disseminate non-commercial information about medicinal plants....Unfortunately, some of the information currently available about medicinal plants is either misleading, or simply lacking. This is especially true of the medicinal plants from China, India or Mexico, for example, which, aside from a few exceptions, have not been studied in depth for their potential therapeutic applications....Medicinal herbs may indeed be a therapeutic option, but only if used properly and under the guidance of a professional. Too often we hear the expression: 'Since herbal products are natural, they are safe.' -- from the website (University of Texas at El Paso and UT Austin Cooperative Pharmacy
Program). <http://www.herbalsafety.utep.edu>

Culture: Judaism 101

An "online encyclopedia of Judaism, covering Jewish beliefs, people, places, things, language, scripture, holidays, practices and customs," including "A Gentile's Guide to the Jewish Holidays," a "general understanding of...your Jewish friends' and colleagues' holidays." <http://www.jewfaq.org/>

Public Policy: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

"The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is one of the nation's premier policy organizations working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals....The Center conducts research and analysis to inform public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered in these debates. We also develop policy options to alleviate poverty, particularly among working families....In addition, the Center examines the short- and long-term impacts that proposed policies would have on the health of the economy and on the soundness of federal and state budgets. Among the issues we explore are whether federal and state governments are fiscally sound and have sufficient revenue to address critical priorities, both for low-income populations and for the nation as a whole....Over the past two decades, the Center has gained a reputation for producing materials that are balanced, authoritative, accessible to non-specialists, and responsive to issues currently before the country. Our materials are used by policymakers and non-profit organizations across the political spectrum, as well as by journalists from a variety of media outlets." -- from the website. <http://www.cbpp.org/>

Environment: UN Report on Freshwater Resources

The United Nations Environment Programme addresses the issue of how the decline in the quantity and quality of the world's freshwater "may prove to be the dominant issue on the environment and development agenda of the coming century." Topics include water scarcity, water and sanitation, water quality, groundwater, floods and droughts, and the like. The site includes links to case studies, conference proceedings, information on institutions and programs dealing with water resource issues, and policy documentation. <http://freshwater.unep.net/>

Blawg: The US Constitution

"News, information and discussion of interest to the [American Constitution Society of New England School of Law], other ACS members, and to anyone with a progressive vision of the Constitution, the law and the courts." -- from the website. <http://neslacs.blogspot.com/>

Research: The Extreme Searcher's Links

The website for The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher by Randolph Hock and Gary Price is a handy one-stop source of links to web resources.<http://www.extremesearcher.com/>

Public Policy: The (Running) Cost of the War in Iraq

"War affects everyone, not just those directly involved in the fighting. This webpage is a simple attempt to demonstrate one of the more quantifiable effects of war: the financial burden it places on our tax dollars." -- from the website. <http://costofwar.com/>

Nonprofits: IRS Political Organization Filing & Disclosure

The IRS launched this site to help political organizations find information about how to file tax forms (search by name, EIN, and type of form). All of the disclosures can also be downloaded as a self-contained database. <http://tinyurl.com/hk4d>

Environment: Gondwana Forest Sanctuary

"To protect, reconnect and restore the life of Gondwana by creating an international sanctuary of Earth's southernmost forests....No major civilization has flourished following the destruction of its primary forests. The forests that originated on Gondwana constitute the oldest and most unique temperate ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere. In this era of economic globalization, the concept of a global commons as reflected in the Antarctica World Park needs to be expanded to protect Gondwana's far-flung surviving forests. With the millennium upon us, now is the time for a new era in international forest protection. The Gondwana Forest Sanctuary provides local, national and international communities with a new model for the way humans relate to the land." -- from the website. <http://nativeforest.org/campaigns/gondwana>

Nature: Iranian Cheetah Society

Background details on efforts to save the endangered Asiatic cheetahs in Iran. Features images of the cheetah, a children's section, video clips of cheetahs and other Iranian wildlife, and news about the activities of the society. Another reason not to attack Iran. <http://www.iraniancheetah.org/>

Pencil Sharpening: Double-Tongued Word Wrester

"Double-Tongued Word Wrester records words as they enter and leave the English language. It focuses upon slang, jargon, and other niche categories which include new, foreign, hybrid, archaic, obsolete, and rare words. Special attention is paid to the lending and borrowing of words between the various Englishes and other languages, even where a word is not a fully naturalized citizen in its new language. ... My first goal here, as always, is to inform and entertain. After that, I hope to cover carefully the lending and borrowing between English and other languages, to include as many words as time allows ... " -- from the website. <http://www.doubletongued.org/>

Resource for Researchers: Free Pint

The current issue of the Free Pint newsletter has a short list of website recommendations by yours truly (<http://www.freepint.com/issues/281004.htm>: look for "My Favorite Tipples"). FreePint is an information network and portal for researchers with a global membership of 70,890. Located in Britain, the site houses a wide range of universally useful resources, including a newsletter archive and "the Bar," where they may not always know your name but you can post your tricky research questions and get free help from seventy thousand Cliff Clavens. Bar Digests are sent twice a week in addition to the information-stuffed newsletter <http://www.freepint.com/subs/>. Other resources include job listings, book reviews, events listings and news of interest to researchers. <http://www.freepint.com/>

Health: Influenza

Almost flu season again, and the press is reporting that because of vaccine shortages the population will be insufficiently protected from a particularly virulent strain. This site from the National Center for Infectious Diseases of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has current information on specific strains of flu virus in the US and elsewhere, and describes the vaccine in question. There are recommendations on who should get a flu shot and when. Weekly surveillance reports are provided annually between October and May (doesn't flu flourish May to October in the southern hemisphere and still need watching?). <http://www.cdc.gov/flu>

Pencil Sharpening: 20 Questions

Play with yourself: <http://www.20q.net/index.html>

Law: California Domestic Partners Registry

Info from the office of the California Secretary of State re: domestic partnerships in California (including detailed information about the provisions of AB 205 -- see "New Legislation" -- that goes into affect on January 1, 2005 and greatly expands domestic partner benefits and responsibilities). Includes legal forms and a FAQ. <http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/sf/sf_dp.htm>

Health: A Citizen's Guide to Radon (us-epa)

"You can't see radon. And you can't smell it or taste it. But it may be a problem in your home. Radon is estimated to cause many thousands of deaths each year. That's because when you breathe air containing radon, you can get lung cancer. In fact, the Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today. Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths. If you smoke and your home has high radon levels, your risk of lung cancer is especially high." -- from the website. <http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html>