Daily Kos: Where Do You Do Your Research?

Where Do You Do Your Research?

by DavidNYC

Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:02:34 AM PDT

It's time for another one of these threads - call `em link-sharing posts. Over the past two-and-a-half years that I've been an active commenter at DKos and other blogs, I've come across a number of very useful sites for doing politically-related research. I'd love to know what your favorites are. Here are some of mine:

Dave Leip's Atlas of US Presidential Elections: Utterly invaluable. Has complete data, down to a very fine level, on every presidential race ever. (Just be warned: He swaps the traditional red/blue color scheme.)
Electoral College Calculator: A handy reference tool, also with historical data going back to George Washington.
Polling Report: Tremendous archive of polling data, updated constantly. The only downside is that state polls require a subscription.
Redistricting Resource Center: Tells you how each Congressional district voted in the 2000 election. (Anyone know a site which has 2004 data?)
Acronym Finder: This one has solved a lot of pesky mysteries for me.

So, where do you do your research?

Tags: (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

a cool site (4.00 / 2)

www.ourdocuments.gov : lets you see real images of important historical documents. very interesting.
i.e. here is the original handwritten opinion of McCulloch v. Maryland

I only read the Constitution for the Articles.

by georgia10 on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:04:51 AM PDT
- Add to that (none / 1)
  
  U.S. Gov't Printing Office A-Z Resource List
  Want to look something up in the 9/11 Commission Report? It's there. Looking for GAO reports? Congressional Records? All there. I think it's got everything the government has ever printed. Well, ok, maybe that's an exaggeration.
  
  There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. -- Hamlet Act 1, Scene 5
  
  by LawStudent on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:27:02 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
  - The red/blue map swaps every 4 years (none / 0)
    
    by sooner on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 05:44:14 PM PDT
    
    [ Parent ]
- Left Business Observer (none / 0)
  
  Left Business Observer
  
  Doug Henwood is a wicked genius" - Susie Bright
  "The first step is everybody should subscribe to LBO." - Adolph Reed
  "We steal your stuff all the time" - Jim Hightower
  "invaluable" - Noam Chomsky
  "You're scum...sick and twisted...it's tragic you exist." - former Wall Street Journal executive editor Norman Pearlstine, who has gone on to great things at Time Inc..
  
  Our current healthcare system is simple. Don't get sick.
  
  by tiggers thotful spot on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 03:59:14 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
Good links (4.00 / 2)

A few I'd add:
Wikipedia - all around great source for all sorts of things, political and otherwise.
Everything2 - a little less successful in the wake of Wikipedia, sort of like Wikipedia with stream-of-conciousness Live-Journal twist. Fun stuff to read, and often good interesting insight.
Google News - duh.
Jstor - academic source (I can only access it from my college campus), a fantastic way to get journal articles of all sorts.

If there is hope, it lies in the proles.

by Aaron on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:05:22 AM PDT
- Fixed E2 link (none / 1)
  
  Sorry about that.
  
  If there is hope, it lies in the proles.
  
  by Aaron on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:05:58 AM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
- Technorati, Daypop, Yahoo (4.00 / 2)
  
  For very recent news (less than 24 hours old)
  http://www.technorati.com/
  http://www.technorati.com/live/breakingnews.html
  http://www.daypop.com/
  http://www.daypop.com/news/
  http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/
  
  The Permanent Republican Majority lasted about as long as The Thousand Year Reich
  
  by lawnorder on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:40:10 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
- Google News (4.00 / 2)
  
  Misses a lot of the very recent ones. Good for news 24 hr old or older
  
  The Permanent Republican Majority lasted about as long as The Thousand Year Reich
  
  by lawnorder on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:41:02 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
  - True (none / 0)
    
    And thanks for providing a few quicker sources. But none of the sources I provided were intended for real immediate quick stuff (academic journals aren't exactly known for their timeliness, and while Wikipedia/E2 move faster than a "real" encyclopedia they're still pretty slow), real in-depth research is usually on topics that have been around longer than 24 hours. Granted recent news is important, as always, but research of the past is important as well.
    
    If there is hope, it lies in the proles.
    
    by Aaron on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:44:07 PM PDT
    
    [ Parent ]
    - Sure! (none / 0)
      
      But if you hear Greenspan had a stroke, a chopper fell in Iraq or a riot broke in Spain you will want to see the recent stuff. By the time the news "percolate" to Google news, it's morn ing already and all newspapers have it...
      
      The Permanent Republican Majority lasted about as long as The Thousand Year Reich
      
      by lawnorder on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 01:17:46 PM PDT
      
      [ Parent ]
      - Agreed entirely (none / 0)
        
        And as I said I wasn't intending to post those sorts of sources anyway.
        
        If there is hope, it lies in the proles.
        
        by Aaron on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 01:21:34 PM PDT
        
        [ Parent ]
Wow! Thank you. (none / 1)

I just enrolled in a course on competitive intelligence. Next one will be on extreme web searching. All of this is to help me do investigative journalism research.

by lecsmith on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:05:22 AM PDT
Try (4.00 / 2)

the library

by JohnCLoki on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:06:19 AM PDT
My favorite (none / 1)

is Wikipedia. All around good source for anything and nearly everything.

John McCain.

by DH from MD on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:06:53 AM PDT
- Note (none / 1)
  
  I see that someone else posted Wikipedia. I did not mean to use similar wording to describe it. Completely coincidental.
  
  John McCain.
  
  by DH from MD on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:08:22 AM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
- i use that too (none / 1)
  
  don't forget Lexis Nexis.
  http://kydem.blogspot.com
  
  Hillary Clinton 2008
  http://kydem.blogspot.com
  
  by dsolzman on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:25:46 AM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
layman's law (3.66 / 3)

'Lectric Law Library
FindLaw.com is excellent for quick legal research if you don't have westlaw.

I only read the Constitution for the Articles.

by georgia10 on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:07:06 AM PDT
Union of Concerned Scientists (4.00 / 2)

Union of Concerned Scientists is a great resource for understanding and evaluating science/tech related issues.
So is the National Resource Defense Council. All things environment, and very geared towards policy.

Ask Copernicus about pushing limits.

by Xray the Enforcer on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:09:38 AM PDT
the two I use most often (4.00 / 2)

opensecrets.org
Everything you ever wanted to know about money in politics but didn't know who to ask
alltheweb.com
indexes a good amount of stuff that google's algorithm misses, I've never had a site:www... search fail there, and you can limit your search to a specific date range

by julia on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:12:50 AM PDT
Other sites (4.00 / 2)

For election returns and exit polls, Google will usually lead you to all the CNN/MSNBC data you need. Beyond that, I look for each state's Secretary of State on Google, which delivers.
For all things Supreme Court, Cornell's LII is invaluable, and better-formatted than Findlaw.
The Library of Congress' THOMAS system is invaluable for Congressional research, and
both the House and Senate have excellent roll call history.
Wikipedia is never detailed enough for me, fwiw.

Join Me at Netroots Nation: The Next President and the Law

by Adam B on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:15:28 AM PDT
- I'll second Thomas (4.00 / 2)
  
  And Wikipedia never works for me. The site loads, but when I search it just sits there and never returns anything. Don't know why.
  Also - the SEC's EDGAR database is a great resource on publicly-held corporations. 10K reports give terrific insight into firms' finances, liabilities, business activities, principals' compensation, etc.
  
  by Ernest T Bass on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:55:02 AM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
RSS feeds (none / 1)

and NetNewsFinder for Mac. Invaluble. oh, and Google news.

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho Marx

by DemFromCT on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:16:01 AM PDT
Some More Links (4.00 / 2)

Here are a few others:
http://www.shgresources.com/ - Has useful lists of radio/TV stations and newspapers, among other things.
http://www.thegreenpapers.com/ - More election information
http://www.research.att.com/~njas/sequences/index.html - Useful for tracking down sequences of numbers
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ - The Always-useful CIA World Factbook.
http://assembler.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ - A searchable version of the US Code that looks nicer than the one at the US House.

by Power on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:16:59 AM PDT
- ditto the cia factbook (none / 0)
  
  just browse the facts there. incredible. stuff that never makes the news, like that the US is worst (or close to) among industrialized nations on wealth disparity, infant death...
  just waiting for the bush administration to shut that site down.. too reality based, y'know.
  
  If you love Bush, Vote John McCain '08
  
  by biscobosco on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 10:52:32 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
Federal Spending & Needs Data (4.00 / 2)

Federal Spending & Needs Data:
http://database.nationalpriorities.org/
Provides poverty stats, federal spending numbers, and miscellaneous demographics by state and by county. Perfect for an analysis of how people vote based on their income level OR how a certain policy as actually affected a certain area. The search process they use it pretty unwieldy, and it takes a while to get the info you want, but once you do it's a gold mine that can provide content and data for countless diaries.
And of course, more generally, Wikipedia.com

it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses

by Addison on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:17:09 AM PDT
- Thanks for this (none / 0)
  
  I was looking for year-by-year figures for Median Household Income just the other day.
  However, what I'd really like is an international country-by-country list of Median Household Income. The USA's GDP per head is substantially higher than most of the rest of the world, but I suspect that the MHI is less far ahead of other countries.
  
  by Del C on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 03:02:11 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
  - How about this (none / 0)
    
    www.bls.gov
    The Wessite for the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    
    RED MEAT DEMOCRAT CONVICTION IS WORTHLESS UNLESS IT IS CONVERTED INTO CONDUCT! THOMAS CARLYLE
    
    by rduckham on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 02:50:11 AM PDT
    
    [ Parent ]
    - I'm sorry, I wasn't clear (none / 0)
      
      What I'm looking for is international statistics comparing the USA with other countries around the world. I wasn't able to find such a thing on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics site, and it isn't clear to me that there are any such numbers there. If you have seen them, could you point me to where they are? Thanks.
      
      by Del C on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 03:32:05 AM PDT
      
      [ Parent ]
Vote Smart (4.00 / 2)

VoteSmart: Detailed info on every legislator and congressman. Their voting records, special interest group ratings and many even have position statements on various issues.

by ktoz on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:17:37 AM PDT
A few of my favorites (4.00 / 2)

are:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/global-deployments.htm
For the distribution of American military units.
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm
The text of the Geneva convention of 1950
http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/04statab/intlstat.pdf
International statistics from the census bureau
http://www.ctj.org/
The Center for Tax justice

"If I pay a man enough money to buy my car, he'll buy my car." Henry Ford

by johnmorris on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:20:27 AM PDT
Here's a Few (4.00 / 2)

The swiss army knife of research websites:
http://www.refdesk.com/
Another good meta-research site:
http://www.libraryspot.com/
Another:
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/
Good Collection of standard library reference sources:
http://www.bartleby.com/
Great meta-site for academic research in the humanities:
http://vos.ucsb.edu/index.asp
Great collection of historic political documents:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/major.htm
Great Rhetoric Site:
http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm

Dulce bellum inexpertis [War is sweet only to those who have no experience of it].

by Fatherflot on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:20:28 AM PDT
Request (4.00 / 6)

DavidNYC, when this thread dies down can you compile all the good links posted into a single semi-categorized Dkosopedia page? Hopefully with a permanent front page link (kos would have to do that...) that says "Research tools" or something? That would be extraordinarily helpful, and a lot easier than having to bookmark this diary and rifle through it every time.

it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses

by Addison on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:20:53 AM PDT
- Amen... (none / 1)
  
  And please make sure that it is not buried deep within the Dkosopedia.
  
  by HappyMichBlogger on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:37:00 AM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
- WORD! (none / 0)
  
  would definitely love that.
  
  Ask Copernicus about pushing limits.
  
  by Xray the Enforcer on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:11:26 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
- Pedia (none / 0)
  
  Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have the time any time soon, but if someone else wants to take on the project, that would be a terrific idea.
  
  Swing State Project: Campaign & Election News
  
  by DavidNYC on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 03:02:35 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
  - how to start a whole new entry (none / 0)
    
    i can work on it some. however, while i've registered @ dkosopedia i can't seem to figure out how to start a whole new page. there doesn't seem to be a pre-existing "research assistant" section, though i'll hunt around more. some help there would be appreciated.
    
    it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses
    
    by Addison on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 06:00:13 PM PDT
    
    [ Parent ]
    - Add to the Technology page (none / 0)
      
      http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Technology#Research_Tools
      
      by dotpeople on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 09:58:23 PM PDT
      
      [ Parent ]
More links (4.00 / 2)

Several which I use fairly often:
Good database of research on criminal justice topics: http://www.ncjrs.org/
For quotations: http://en.thinkexist.com/
Starting point for government information & statistics: http://firstgov.gov/
Information on not-for-profit organizations: http://www.charitynavigator.org/
Currency conversions: http://www.xe.com/ucc/full.shtml

I am a warrior for peace. And not a gentle man... Steve Mason, 1940-2005

by Wayward Wind on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:22:17 AM PDT
my list (3.66 / 3)
If you are interested in the politics of Proviso Township in Cook County, Illinois, visit Proviso Probe.

by Carl Nyberg on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:26:41 AM PDT
- Politics1 (none / 0)
  
  My blog is linked on there.
  
  Hillary Clinton 2008
  http://kydem.blogspot.com
  
  by dsolzman on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:06:56 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
- I like (none / 0)
  
  the 10 regions one...I remember seeing that one last summer, makes a lot more sense than most.
  
  If th' meek ever do inherit th' earth some one'll git it away from 'em before they have it an hour
  
  by NorthStarDemocrat on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:19:48 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
Media Reform links (none / 1)

This may not be exactly political research, unless, like me, you define "politics" to be about power. No info, no power.
Media Reform Information Center - a pretty comprehensive list of organizations and campaigns related to media corporatization and the reform movement.
I think some Dkos user has this sig, which pretty much nails it:
News is what the people in power don't want you to know. Everything else is publicity. -- Bill Moyers

In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.
~George Orwell

by outragemeter on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:26:55 AM PDT
google and (none / 1)

lexis-nexis are of course good. I read American Progress, EPI, Buzzflash, Media Matters, The Century Foundation, faireconomy.org and some others. Those are the biggies though.

The ...Bushies... don't make policies to deal with problems. ...It's all about how can we spin what's happening out there to do what we want to do. Krugman

by mikepridmore on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:27:09 AM PDT
Here's a couple more... (4.00 / 2)

Environmental Health News
Reuters AlertNet
Spin of the Day
Wired News

I'm not going anywhere. I'm standing up, which is how one speaks in opposition in a civilized world. - Ainsley Hayes

by jillian on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:32:56 AM PDT
Ditto the request for compiling this (4.00 / 3)
somewhere permanent. The dkosopedia?
I use Lexis/Nexis academic and congressional a lot, since I'm lucky enough to have access to it through my job. I tend to spend a lot of time on health policy and women's health issues, so I'll just list those.
- Health policy: Daily Health Policy Report from kaisernetwork.org
- Reproductive health policy: Alan Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood Federation, American College of OB/Gyns, American Medical Women's Association
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty." - John Adams.

by mcjoan on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:35:03 AM PDT
ACRONYM finder is the best! (none / 1)

Thank you.
AFAIK there was no such thing.

This above all: to thine own self be true...-WS

by Agathena on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:37:32 AM PDT
i use daily kos of course (4.00 / 2)

also, a good economic news aggregator: argmax,
the house and senate and white house web sites (listed prominently on the top of my blogroll), as well as the dept of labor,
a great california news aggregator calif rough & tumble politics,
don't forget the polling report,
a fine fine site for words is dictionary.com,
and, for a recurring headline gag i have on my blog, to find obscure holidays, i use today-in-history.

skippy the bush kangaroo in blogtopia! and yes! we coined that phrase!

by skippy on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:47:20 AM PDT
Neighbors and who donated what (4.00 / 2)

http://www.fundrace.org/neighbors.php
By name or by zipcode

The Permanent Republican Majority lasted about as long as The Thousand Year Reich

by lawnorder on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:50:43 AM PDT
Thats alotta stuff (none / 0)

Ill bookmark these sites and when I need them theyll be available. Thanks DavidNYC.

by ksecus on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:53:56 AM PDT
- and others who posted additional sites (none / 0)
  
  by ksecus on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:55:27 AM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
Traditional red/blue (none / 1)

The real tradition is red for the (relatively) left party and blue for the (relatively, or in this case, increasingly extreme) right party.
Years ago in Colombia I bought a great atlas of historical voting patterns by region:
Blue=Conservative Party
Red=Liberal Party
I did some research on the web last year from the UK:
Blue=Conservative
Red=Labour
Etc., etc.
The standard US media reversal of blue/red is anything but traditional. I personally had never even seen it for the US before 2000, and I always thought it made no sense the way the media were doing it, and have done it since.
Why did they do it this way? Fear by some Democrats of being associated with the color of the left? Or what?

"As every representative is elected to represent one of these two parties, the nation ...appears to consist only of these two parties" -- Henry Droop, 1867

by Moosa Man on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:54:03 AM PDT
- Oh, you bet... (none / 0)
  
  No text.
  
  We're all in this together.
  
  by JTML on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 06:47:19 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
A few more general ones (4.00 / 2)

Google for any specific information, though have a ton of bookmarks on various topical pages.
A couple of governtment sites with a lot of useful info (though others are also useful, and some others have already been mentioned)
The Census Bureau
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Media Transparency is useful to tease out some Rightwing ites of some organization you might not have heard of before.
Open Secrets to see where your officials are getting their money from (some of it anyway).
Newseum's Front pages useful to get an idea of what different regions are making their lead stories and how it compares to what you are reading.

"...what Washington means by bipartisanship is mainly that everyone should come together to give conservatives what they want." --- Paul Krugman

by puppet10 on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:54:46 AM PDT
I (none / 1)

like juan cole for Middle East issues...
I use my library extensivly, the books and journals there but mostly the databases...

I'm not so liberal that I unwaveringly support capitulators.

by hfiend on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:56:30 AM PDT
Great idea thanks! (4.00 / 2)

I've got quite a few Government and other links noted here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/3/14/172815/711
Additionally, Some others I like:
The Federation of American Scientists:
http://www.fas.org/main/home.jsp
Their "Project on Government Secrecy" page:
http://www.fas.org/main/content.jsp?formAction=325&projectId=5
Their "Hot Documents" page
http://www.fas.org/irp/hotdocs.htm
The Center for Public Integrity:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/default.aspx
Newslink.org:
http://newslink.org/statnews.html
The Economic Policy Institute:
http://www.jobwatch.org/
Citizens for Tax Justice:
http://www.ctj.org/
Public Information Research, Inc.:
http://www.namebase.org/nbhome.html
The First Amendment Center:
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/default.aspx
Their page showing "headlines from more than 300 U.S. and international newspaper front pages:"
http://www.newseum.org/

What an excellent day for an Exorcism... SCI/Kenyon

by DianeL on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:56:53 AM PDT
Tradition (none / 1)

"(Just be warned: He swaps the traditional red/blue color scheme.)"
This "tradition" stretches alllll the way back to, let's see... November 2000. Growing up, I always saw electoral maps color Republican states blue and Democratic ones red. (Except for one atlas I have which colored Republican states orange and Democratic ones green.) Leip's atlas does follow the truly traditional color scheme. It's the flip-flop four and a half years ago that broke with tradition.

by adamcadre on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:59:37 AM PDT
- Red-Blue (none / 0)
  
  Sure - but now, the red-blue phraseology is far more heavily ingrained than it ever was. (Examples: redstate.org, Buy Blue, and just the way we refer to blue states in general around here and elsewhere, etc.) So while it was once traditional to label left-wing parties as red, the prevailing "tradition" (such as it is) is to now use blue for the Dems.
  
  Swing State Project: Campaign & Election News
  
  by DavidNYC on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 03:06:35 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
  - I must agree with adamcadre (none / 0)
    
    <hat type=foil action=don> There is nothing traditional about Blue=Dem/Red=Rep prior to Novemeber 2000. I too have been a map geek since grammar school (1970s) and on electoral maps, red was always Dem and blue was always Rep. Election night TV news maps were the same, until November 2000. I never recall any sort of pop cultural self-identification with those colors based on which party you supported, back then. That trend too seems to have sprung forth fully-formed on November 2000. Coincidence?
    I realize how tin-foily that sounds, but it just seems a bit much that the colors would be swapped in the same year that color-coded party identification begins to be drummed into the public consciousness. It seems a little too pre-packaged. Any marketing people want to chime in? Is red a more appealing color than blue? $1000 prize for whoever unearths the Luntz memo on this one.</hat>
    By the way, I love Leip's site. I have used it for years.
    
    I'm already against the next war.
    
    by deoll on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 08:24:49 AM PDT
    
    [ Parent ]
All over the place (4.00 / 2)

Google, of course.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Economic Analysis
The Census Bureau
Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Findlaw
Thomas
...are just a few I've used over the years. But really, it depends upon the issue; there's way too much out there to list it all.

by Jonathan on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:00:14 PM PDT
Invaluable (none / 0)

~~xxx.com~~ define research

by S from Van on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:04:38 PM PDT
There's a small fee (none / 1)

but I broke down and bought an annual subscripton to Questia.
I'm going to bookmark this diary as a research tool, but on a lot of questions, I can find the answer with a single questia search.

Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam

by JollyBuddah on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:13:58 PM PDT
My useful links (none / 1)

I totally agree about Wiki
Wiki rocks. Best tool ever.
Another one I find useful is snopes.com an Urban Legends Debunker.
Next, in the same vein as snopes, is The Skeptic's Dictionary, run by Dr. Robert Carroll, which covers all sorts of pseudoscience, thouroughly debunked and crossreferenced. (Personally, I'm taking his word for it, because I often have no idea what he's talking about...not too good at science.)
Umm...oh yeah: Cecil Adams is The Straight Dope, "Fighting Ignorance since 1973(It's taking longer than we thought".People write in with questions, and he answers them -- he's generally useful, but not always so relevant to research unless it's something really strange, obscure, and/or inane. (For example, "if all billion Chinese jumped at once, would the earth be thrown off it's orbit?")
Also, the Word Spy documents slang and recently coined words, where they were first used, and what they mean. Very nice. For example, "Belligerati" refers to "writers and other members of the intelligentsia who advocate war or imperialism"....hmmmm....
The American Memory site is the online Library of Congress. Very useful, in the mundane at least.
The National Security Archive, is for FOIA requests and such...it's a nonprofit NGO. It's not updated really often though, maybe a few times a month, on average.
The Skelelton Closet, whose motto says it all "ALL the Dirt on ALL the candidates -- because character DOES matter".
The Quackwatch
focuses on healthcare fraud kind of things. Again, name says it all -- it watches Quacks.
The Logical Fallacies Index; when someone makes an incredibly stupid statement that seems to support itself, go here.
Somewhat less useful, but The Political Graveyard has a list of family connections of politicians, convention delegates, and others.
Anyway...that took me a good thirty minutes, so sorry if there are any repeats now...when I started there were only 13 comments...

If th' meek ever do inherit th' earth some one'll git it away from 'em before they have it an hour

by NorthStarDemocrat on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:17:56 PM PDT
elegus.com (none / 1)

You can search any federal or state website as well groups of sites.
Charges a small subscription fee but well worth it for all the sites and groups.
Really cool.
elegus.com

The Dude Abides

by Voting Dem on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:22:40 PM PDT
Free Public Records Access (none / 1)

Poynter Online - Free Public Records Access
More than three years ago, I wrote about SearchSystems.net:
http://www.searchsystems.net/
A good way to find public information online is by using this service from Pacific Information Systems. With links to almost 5,000 public records databases, it's the largest free collection of public records databases on the Web. Note: these are links to databases, not the actual databases themselves. That was in Oct. 2001. Since then, the site has grown from 5,000 databases to more than 24,000 public record databases. It remains one of the most useful sites for journalists.
I also wrote about another way to access public records: through Duff Wilson's Who is John Doe -- and how to get the paper on him
http://www.reporter.org/desktop/tips/johndoe.htm
This time, I am writing about a free site that's new to me: Pretrieve.
http://www.pretrieve.com/
Unlike Web sites known as "database aggregators," this site is basically a public records search engine that allows you to search across different categories, such as criminal, court, financial, professional, miscellaneous (birth and death records, for example). You enter the name of a person and a state, and it shows you the relevant link in each category. I spent some time checking out people I know this way and learned some interesting things. Among the tamest findings: a patent application by one my relatives. You can also search by business, address and phone number.

The Permanent Republican Majority lasted about as long as The Thousand Year Reich

by lawnorder on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:36:01 PM PDT
newsmeat.com (none / 1)

is a good source for interesting political stories and also has a large list of celebrity donations. Or for that matter anyone who has donated $250 or more, to anything in the last 25 years.

by jj32 on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:36:40 PM PDT
Not previously mentioned (none / 0)

http://www.techpolitics.org/
Constituency data by Congressional District.
http://www.voteview.com/
Keith Poole's Optimal Classification of political figures left-right polarity.

The Great Obama might saw the lady in half, but he won't make the elephant disappear. The Confluence

by RonK Seattle on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:46:35 PM PDT
Snopes! (none / 0)

Search it every time you get an "outrage letter", as most of those are urban legends...
It's also invaluable to rebuke legends about Clinton and Kerry, such as the fake Jane Fonda photo
http://www.snopes.com/
Recently included:
Chopsticks (18 March 2005)
# Health warning claims disposable chopsticks are loaded with carcinogens.
Bye Bye Birdie (17 March 2005)
# A match used to splint a budgie's injured leg ignites and causes the bird to explode.
Generations of Valor (13 March 2005)
# Photograph shows a tearful veteran embracing a wounded Marine.
Cache and Carry (12 March 2005)
# A pregnant woman is accused of trying to shoplift a basketball.

The Permanent Republican Majority lasted about as long as The Thousand Year Reich

by lawnorder on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:52:01 PM PDT
Librarians Index to the Internet (none / 0)

"Librarian indexed" websites--a very valuable resource that has pointed me towards things I might otherwise never have found.
LIBRARIANS INDEX TO THE INTERNET

There are three kinds of people: Those who see; those who see when they are shown; those who do not see.

by Shadowthief on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 12:59:38 PM PDT
People Search (none / 0)

http://www.privateeye.com/
For free you can get the persons age and state and how many matches found. For $9.95 you get the full report.
http://www.pretrieve.com/
Free. You can see wheter there are court records against / pro this person, if he/she is a sex offender, marriage, birth, death, divorce, donations she did, mentions in forums...
Family Tree Search.
Even if you don't want to do the person's family tree, those sites search A LOT of databases for you, so you may find stuff you can't find with google
http://www.ancestry.com/search/
It lets you search for free, you pay to access results. They used to have a 2 week free trial.. They search the name you gave on:
     Census
    Birth, Marriage, & Death
    Military
    Immigration
    Newspapers
    Directories
    Trees & Communities
    Family & Local Histories
    Court, Land, Probate
    Reference & Finding Aids
    Current and old phonebooks
http://www.familytreesearcher.com/mysearch/searches.htm
Free. A meta-search that lets you search the person's records and of it's parents / kids on several family tree web sites

The Permanent Republican Majority lasted about as long as The Thousand Year Reich

by lawnorder on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 01:10:00 PM PDT
- Jeff Gannon search on all those sites (none / 0)
  
  http://www.privateeye.com/Search/Background/Default.htm
  for James D Guckert (47 yr) there are 7-8 records on the individual(s)in DE, NJ,& OH and couple other places
  http://www.pretrieve.com/search.jsp?State=DE&searchType=person&page=2&FullName=James+D+G uckert
  Click on Professional tab, then Professional History
  Mr. James D. Guckert
  Member
  Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
  Last mentioned on 2/11/2005
  Additional Current Employment
      Ambassador
  Past Employment History
  Talon News
  Washington     Bureau Chief Reporter
  Education
  West Chester University
  Leadership Institute Broadcast Journalism School
  Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
  No additional information is available about this company.
  Talon News.com Inc
  22570 Markey Court Suite 240
  Dulles, VA 20166
  Phone: 800-475-6620
  http://www.talonnews.com/
  Talon News is a news company ...
  Find more Talon News.com employees...
  Jim Guckert
  Board Member (past)
  McCandless Athletic Association
  Last mentioned on 1/6/2001
  McCandless Athletic Association
  PO Box 12
  Wexford, PA 15090
  http://www.mcaa.net/
  No additional information is available about this company.
  Find more McCandless Athletic Association employees...
  This profile was automatically compiled using 1 source:
  McAA Board Members
  www.mcaa.net/main/board.htm
  Published on: 1/6/2001 Last Visited: 1/6/2001
  Jim Guckert >baseball@mcaa.net
  -- > Head Representative
  Lautenberg Requests All Doc From White House Relating to James D. Guckert, A.K.A. Jeff Gannon
  www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1340582/posts
  Published on: 2/11/2005 Last Visited: 2/11/2005
  
  The Permanent Republican Majority lasted about as long as The Thousand Year Reich
  
  by lawnorder on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 01:54:33 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
some more good sites (none / 1)

http://www.democracynow.org/
Democracy Now! - An independent radio/tv news hour.
http://www.commondreams.org/
Common Dreams News Center
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
The National Security Archive
http://www.thememoryhole.org/
The Memory Hole
http://www.zmag.org/weluser.htm
Znet - Informative progressive news and commentary.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=5
CounterSpin - Weekly radio program of the media watch group FAIR.
http://www.globalissues.org/
Global Issues - Huge resource for information about issues that affect everyone.
http://newstandardnews.net/
A great new professional independent, nonprofit, noncommercial news source.
http://www.prwatch.org/
SourceWatch is a collaborative wiki about the PR firms and think tanks who are trying to influence public opinion.

by dissident on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 01:17:40 PM PDT
Different paths, different folks, different intell (none / 0)

A poster on the Rage Report site posted the following statement in defense of Bush's "intelligence" and I posted the comments following in response.

[quote]Bush graduated from Yale in 1968 and he attended Harvard Business School. Have any of us got anything hanging on your walls that meets or exceeds just those 2 examples?[/quote]

Veritas;

Intelligence is not based on the schools one attends...it is based on the degree of difficlty and abstraction in the courses one studies and how well on does in those studies. Then, from that point on, it is a function of one's life experiences and choices one makes along the way in ones life's path. Truthfully, it is not intelligence one should search for in a leader but wisdom, a much harder commodity to come by then mere "intelligence". In my case, my undergraduate studies included a double major in biolgy and chemistry with a strong minor in math. Then, two years of graduate studies in biopphysics. All of this, after four years of active honorable service to this country in the Coast Guard. Then, in my fourties, two years of studies to gain my RN license. AND, I will not even get into the humanitarian causes I have been actively involved in through the years, never mind my poetry, my art, my singing, etc. All in all, I could have easily excelled at the path Bush was handed as a Bush, but in not way could Bush have matched my path, any step of the way.

Bobby T.

by Bob Tremblay on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 01:31:24 PM PDT
Great Gobs of Google (none / 0)

A [fantastic] variation on a theme:
http://www.google.com/unclesam
Your search will be limited to government documents

by petergm on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 02:26:05 PM PDT
Google duh (none / 0)

How did The Young Liberals ever here about some male prostitute named Jeff Gannon. A Google search can uncover what anyone tries to hide.

The Young Liberals

by chrisbilal on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 02:31:41 PM PDT
Now I have to (none / 0)

tear apart my bookmarks and put them back together again! Here's a few more I didn't notice posted yet:
http://www.genevaconventions.org/
reference guide to the Geneva Conventions by The Society of Professional Journalists
http://lists.gpick.com/
list of lists, regularly updated
http://www.btefnet.net/
for all your Comedy Central needs if you don't have cable
http://www.technorati.com/
what's happening on the web right now (according to technorati, at least)
http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/features.html
learn about the world - very cool!
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/index.html
then become a space cadet!
http://www.terraserver.com/imagery/image_gx.asp?cpx=-123.18885733536072&cpy=49.262601896102204&a mp;res=16&provider_id=350&t=pan
zoom right in to your house! Here's a picture of Vancouver!
http://www.keyhole.com/
same thing, powered by google
http://children.kulichki.net/anim/piesek.swf
the eternal struggle between the dogs and the cats, explained
http://www.cantrip.org/stupidity.html
the only thing you ever need to know to understand the repugs
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/LONG/intro.html
the American character overseas has been commented on for quite some time
http://www.nathannewman.org/nbs/
take your best shot at fixing the US budget!
http://www.theyrule.net/2004/tr2.php
our great leaders
http://www.ballerinagallery.com/
better yet, find out about Russian ballerinas! A+++++ would view again!
http://www.dnsstuff.com/
whois on the internets look-up tool
http://translation2.paralink.com/
prolly the best imo auto-translater for European languages - downloading the free plugin is even handier, or if you don't want to d/l the plugin, use this page: http://translation.paralink.com/translation.asp
http://www.silt3.com/index.php?id=572
full transcript of The Power of Nightmares, the BBC documentary that first aired in Britain last autumn. Scroll down on the right, you can watch them, but in a small window. Highly recommend finding (google) it on bittorrent and d/l the 3 one hour parts. In the US you will never see this on Discovery let alone the MSM.
http://www.h-net.org/lists/
very large discussion network for academics in the humanities and social sciences
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAstoneW.htm
archive of I F Stone Weekly (he is the father of bloggers)
http://www.dslreports.com/
keep track of biz in the internets, rate your isp, and more
http://bbf.ca/
for Canadians - very good tool for searching Canada's computer stores (hey, if your puter breaks you can't ~~look at porn~~ do reasearch can you)
http://www.haypocalc.com/quebec/glossaire/
more for Canukistaniphiles - for the first time ever, learn what Quebecers are really saying: Glossaire Québécois -> Français
http://www.xe.com/ucc/
universal currency converter - the world's favorite currency tool
http://www.kiteretsu.jp/on/grow3/index.html
if anyone ever solves this, let me know plz!
http://www.network54.com/Forum/116312
russian military forum
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm#Second
Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm
http://www.navsource.org/
find out about the US Navy

by S from Van on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 02:44:18 PM PDT
A good source for data (none / 0)

A good source for election results and political news recent and past can be found here at OurCampaigns

"Without equality, there can be no democracy" --Eleanor Roosevelt

by howiekent on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 03:14:03 PM PDT
FEC's website (none / 0)

www.tray.com
The FEC's website. Opensecrets.com is good, but sometimes slow and incomplete. Tray's got it all, and as soon as it happens.

by liberalmedium on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 03:47:32 PM PDT
a link I haven't seen yet (none / 0)

but I've found very valuable is the National Election Studies. http://www.umich.edu/~nes/
a LOT of polling data..not percentages and electoral votes, but things like how people who vote a particular way feel about issue X, Y, Z, etc. It was one of the main sources of information I used in a project to determine an answer to the following dilemma..
it's generally accepted that a) with a rise in education goes a propensity to vote liberal, while b) a rise in income goes a propensity to vote conservative. the problem comes when you introduce the following...it is also proven that the more education one has, the more money they'll make. which of these is correct, and more specifically, given that African Americans are more likely to be Democrats, how does the aforementioned assumptions fit into that community?
the NES was very helpful.

by kineticdissent on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 03:52:54 PM PDT
j-marshall.com (none / 0)

Josh Marshall has a desktop page with links to all the major papers in the US, UK, and internationally as well as links to major blogs, and reference sites. It's a great site to set as your homepage.
j-marshall.com
A tiny sample - it's got about 100 hot links to good sources of info
Nexis | House | Senate | PollingReport | Zogby | Pew | CSpan

John McCain

by joejoejoe on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 04:38:04 PM PDT
two more (none / 0)

http://www.washlaw.edu/
http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm

by truthbetold on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 04:52:31 PM PDT
I'm surprised nobody mentioned... (none / 0)

http://www.bushwatch.com/e-mail.htm
this guy has been following Bush very close since before he was guvner
thanks all for such good links

by macmhagan on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 05:23:32 PM PDT
- I love Bushwatch (none / 0)
  
  Everybody should check this out. If nothing else, the daily news roundup is packed with buttloads of Bush-related news.
  Very thorough. I'd say it is aproximately 4.6 Buttloads (Bld) of Bush news. For those of you unfamiliar with the international standard "Buttload", 4.6 Bld is very large.
  
  by Anaxagoras on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:03:32 PM PDT
  
  [ Parent ]
For Legal Research (none / 0)

For paid legal research and news, I use lexis.
For free legal research, ad free and uncluttered, CrimeLynx is great.

TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime

by TalkLeft on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 05:25:45 PM PDT
I didn't see this listed- (none / 1)

The CIA reading room is always fun- www.foia.cia.gov (Type in Negroponte)

by thoreau247365 on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 06:15:36 PM PDT
For poll data, try Pollkatz (none / 1)

Here's the data from Polling Report but in combined graphical form, along with statistical analysis
Professor Pollkatz's Pool of Polls
Cheers,

Hope, not fear!

by Greg in FL on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 07:49:07 PM PDT
for church-state separation arguments (none / 0)

To highlight how religious fundamentalists selectively pick and choose stuff from the bible, there is NOTHING better than:
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible
EVERY line in the Bible is referenced with html links and grouped into sections about: violence, treatment of women, homosexuality, science and history, contradictions within the Bible, etc.

by internetinfidel7 on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 08:24:37 PM PDT
i go to the source. (none / 0)

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/
an amazingly good site for facts, with the best transcription of anything defense related, including rummy at talk shows or on radio programs.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
for comedy.
http://www.gao.gov/
a great reference for following the money.
http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage
"real" news. also, the best information on the bush-oil connections.
yahoo news
pretty good actually, as they include uncommon, international sources (eg. the sun) as well as the regular news feeds.

Discussion Group for Teachers

by Furious Hal on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 08:51:44 PM PDT
Fave Research Sites (none / 0)

U.S. Census Bureau's American FactFinder
Congressional Research Service Reports (compiled by the Thurgood Marshall Law Library at the U. of Maryland)
Links to all Federal Courts
FedStats
Regulations.gov (fed gov't site where you can check daily releases of proposed regulations and send your comments on them electronically)
State and Local Government on the Net (directory to state and local government websites)
National Conference of State Legislatures
National Center for State Courts Directory of State Court Websites
National Association of State Budget Officers
National Association of Secretaries of State
Directory of Foreign Government Websites
NationMaster.com (worldwide statistical info)
State of the Cities Data Systems (for economic/demographic/legal stats on cities, metro areas, and suburban areas)
Melissa Data (whole bunch of free demographic & economic info by Zip code)

by BossF on Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 08:58:18 PM PDT
Labor Data (none / 0)

How about this:
www.bls.gov.
The website of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

RED MEAT DEMOCRAT CONVICTION IS WORTHLESS UNLESS IT IS CONVERTED INTO CONDUCT! THOMAS CARLYLE

by rduckham on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 02:51:05 AM PDT
More newspapers than you can shake a stick at (none / 0)

www.thepaperboy.com
over 6,000 worldwide newspapers.

RED MEAT DEMOCRAT CONVICTION IS WORTHLESS UNLESS IT IS CONVERTED INTO CONDUCT! THOMAS CARLYLE

by rduckham on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 02:56:14 AM PDT
add two more (none / 0)

Hi!!!
I'll admit my tv is on when I'm online on the dish satellite system. tuned to:
freespeech tv channel 9415
or link tv channel 9410
I also use Yahoo news and browse different country sites.

by eaamon on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 06:04:06 AM PDT
To add to the links (none / 0)

Here's a few that I like. If someone named any of them already and I missed it, apologies.
Center for Cooperative Research -- excellent set of timelines and historical info, very well organized and updated
This Far and No Further -- my own site, dammit! Spans 1897 to the present, started out as a timeline of the Iraq intervention and 9/11 and grew like Topsy
AmeriStat all statistics, all the time
Buzzflash All us libs knows Buzzflash, but you should check out the home page archives for older links
The Commissar Vanishes -- great display of Stalin-era propaganda, probably Karl Rove's favorite site
Earth Station 9 -- great informational portal
Janes Information Group -- best info on military hardware anywhere
National Archives and Records Administration's Electoral College Home Page
NationMaster -- nice reworking of the CIA FactBook site with an eye to making it easier to use
Politics1 -- nice, bloggish directory of political sites
Timelines of History -- lots of good stuff here
Watergate Tapes -- in all their streaming audio glory
Where Were You? -- personal 9/11 stories
"My dad named me after Julius Caesar. I guess he liked Greek mythology." -- J.C. Watts

The History Commons needs your participation.

by Black Max on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 07:54:48 AM PDT
No one (none / 0)

has yet mentioned the anti-globalization resource
http://www.globalresearch.ca
and of course, the ever popular
http://www.copvcia.com

by lucid on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 08:55:27 AM PDT
HANDY NewSites but NEED AltNewSites=..... (none / 0)

....UK,India,Russia,Germany,Japan,NeLands? CAN ANY ONE SHARE ALTERNATIVE NEWS SITES, FOR broader PERSPECTIVE ANd STAYING AHEAD OF THE CURVE TO ...DO MY PART TO AID 'CRITICAL MASS OF ENLIGHTENMENT' ??? Here are some I find useful http://omega.twoday.net some are in german, but there is a way to translate through google http://positiveuniverse.com daily tracking of best essays http://earthrainbownetwork.com fluctuates, sometimes little goofy, and can scroll through quickliy, other times invaluable must read news compilation, it is from rennaisance thinker from Montreal great link pages @.. http://toteota.blogspot.com http://konformist.com http://scoop.co.nz
internet town meeting forum..with easy text editor feature to formulate cool lookin' posts quickly...
http://commongroundcommonsense.org
AND FINALLY ONE OF THE BETTER 'QUOTATION' SITES WHEN YOU NEED THAT EXTRA OOMPH! TO GET YOUR POINT ACROSS WITH A CONCISE 'THOUGHTSPORE' !
= http://liberty-tree.ca /
THANKS,
SpaceBuddy008..at yr. service..keepin' it Real...resiSting the privatization of Truth
The People of The Hand Will perSERVEre Over The people of the Fist cuz,...The Hand Can Share All UseFul Things, while the Fist Must CONceal What It Holds

by spacebuddy008 on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 09:05:54 AM PDT
Statistical Data Analysis (none / 0)

Two sites started this year that analyze data from several of the research sites mentioned above are:
http://www.conservative-truths.com/
http://www.liberal-truths.com/
They only post on Mondays and they only started in January, but if you want a quick analysis on various topics they can be a good place to go.
This week's topic is about how there are more voluntary bankruptcy filings during conservative presidencies.

by derekcbart on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 09:17:16 AM PDT
Trying to Find Voter ID Info (none / 0)

On what percentage of college professors -- across all disciplines -- are registered Democrats/Republicans/Whatever. I've seen this somewhere before, but can't seem to find it again.

Florida Progressive Coalition http://flaprogressives.org

by T Rex on Mon Mar 21, 2005 at 07:46:40 PM PDT
Thanks, anyway.... (none / 0)

I found it myself in a textbook in my office. For all college professors:
51% liberal
28% conservative
17% middle of the road
Sounds like Horowitz doesn't know what he's talking about.

Florida Progressive Coalition http://flaprogressives.org

by T Rex on Tue Mar 22, 2005 at 01:53:49 PM PDT
Google Print - Search inside any book (none / 0)

http://print.google.com/

The Permanent Republican Majority lasted about as long as The Thousand Year Reich

by lawnorder on Wed Mar 23, 2005 at 01:29:00 AM PDT

Permalink | 98 comments

Where Do You Do Your Research?

by DavidNYC

Sun Mar 20, 2005 at 11:02:34 AM PDT

Daily Kos Help

a cool site (4.00 / 2)

Add to that (none / 1)

The red/blue map swaps every 4 years (none / 0)

Left Business Observer (none / 0)

Good links (4.00 / 2)

Fixed E2 link (none / 1)

Technorati, Daypop, Yahoo (4.00 / 2)

Google News (4.00 / 2)

True (none / 0)

Sure! (none / 0)

Agreed entirely (none / 0)

Wow! Thank you. (none / 1)

Try (4.00 / 2)

My favorite (none / 1)

Note (none / 1)

i use that too (none / 1)

layman's law (3.66 / 3)

Union of Concerned Scientists (4.00 / 2)

the two I use most often (4.00 / 2)

Other sites (4.00 / 2)

I'll second Thomas (4.00 / 2)

RSS feeds (none / 1)

Some More Links (4.00 / 2)

ditto the cia factbook (none / 0)

Federal Spending & Needs Data (4.00 / 2)

Thanks for this (none / 0)

How about this (none / 0)

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear (none / 0)

Vote Smart (4.00 / 2)

A few of my favorites (4.00 / 2)

Here's a Few (4.00 / 2)

Request (4.00 / 6)

Amen... (none / 1)

WORD! (none / 0)

Pedia (none / 0)

how to start a whole new entry (none / 0)

Add to the Technology page (none / 0)

More links (4.00 / 2)

my list (3.66 / 3)

Politics1 (none / 0)

I like (none / 0)

Media Reform links (none / 1)

google and (none / 1)

Here's a couple more... (4.00 / 2)

Ditto the request for compiling this (4.00 / 3)

ACRONYM finder is the best! (none / 1)

i use daily kos of course (4.00 / 2)

Neighbors and who donated what (4.00 / 2)

Thats alotta stuff (none / 0)

and others who posted additional sites (none / 0)

Traditional red/blue (none / 1)

Oh, you bet... (none / 0)

A few more general ones (4.00 / 2)

I (none / 1)

Great idea thanks! (4.00 / 2)

Tradition (none / 1)

Red-Blue (none / 0)

I must agree with adamcadre (none / 0)

All over the place (4.00 / 2)

Invaluable (none / 0)

There's a small fee (none / 1)

My useful links (none / 1)

elegus.com (none / 1)

Free Public Records Access (none / 1)

newsmeat.com (none / 1)

Not previously mentioned (none / 0)

Snopes! (none / 0)

Librarians Index to the Internet (none / 0)

People Search (none / 0)

Jeff Gannon search on all those sites (none / 0)

some more good sites (none / 1)

Different paths, different folks, different intell (none / 0)

Great Gobs of Google (none / 0)

Google duh (none / 0)

Now I have to (none / 0)

A good source for data (none / 0)