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Quote of the Month

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.

~Socrates

News of the Month

The first Earth Day was a unified response to an environment in crisis - oil spills, smog, rivers so polluted they literally caught fire. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans - 10% of the US population at the time - took to the streets, college campuses and hundreds of cities to protest environmental ignorance and demand a new way forward for our planet. The first Earth Day is credited with launching the modern environmental movement and is now recognized as the planet’s largest civic event. That first Earth Day launched a wave of action, including the passage of landmark environmental laws in the United States. The Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts were created in response to the first Earth Day in 1970, as well as the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Many countries soon adopted similar laws. Today, the Earth Day network is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 150,000 partners in over 192 countries to drive positive action for the planet. Earth Day is marked by more than a billion people each year.

The theme for Earth Day 2024 is Planet vs Plastics. Planet vs Plastics unites students, parents, businesses, governments, churches, unions, individuals and NGOs in an unwavering commitment to call for the end of plastics for the sake of human and planetary health, demanding a 60% reduction in the production of plastics by 2040 and an ultimate goal of building a plastic-free future for generations to come. To achieve a 60% reduction by 2040, earthday.org’s goals are: (1) promoting widespread public awareness of the damage done by plastic to human, animal and all biodiversity health and demanding more research be conducted on its health implications, including the release of any and all information regarding its effects to the public; (2) rapidly phasing out all single use plastics by 2030 and achieving this phase out commitment in the UN’s Treaty on Plastic Pollution in 2024, including implementation using the precautionary principle and the polluter pays doctrine; (3) demanding policies ending the scourge of fast fashion and the vast amount of plastic it produces and uses; and (4) investing in innovative technologies and materials to build a plastic-free world.

The Planet vs. Plastics campaign is a call to arms. The word environment means what surrounds you. In the case of plastics we have become the product itself - it flows through our blood stream, adheres to our internal organs and carries with it heavy metals known to cause cancer and disease. Now this once-thought amazing and useful product has become something else, and our health and that of all other living creatures hangs in the balance. Plastics extend beyond an imminent environmental issue. They present a grave threat to human health as alarming as climate change. As plastics break down into microplastics, they release toxic chemicals into our food and water sources and circulate through the air we breathe. Plastic production now has grown to more than 380 million tons per year. More plastic has been produced in the last ten years than in the entire 20th century, and the industry plans to grow explosively for the indefinite future.

More than 500 billion plastic bags - one million bags per minute - were produced worldwide last year. Many plastic bags have a working life of a few minutes, followed by an afterlife of centuries. Even after plastics disintegrate, they remain as microplastics, minute particles permeating every niche of life on the planet. 100 billion plastic beverage containers were sold last year in the US alone. That’s more than 300 bottles per inhabitant. A few of them will be converted into park benches. None of them will be made into new plastic bottles. And 95% of all plastics in the US won’t be recycled at all. Even the 5% of plastics being recycled are downcycling to inferior products or shipped to poorer countries for “recycling,” leaving the demand for virgin plastic undiminished. People seldom think of water when they think of plastics. But making a plastic water bottle requires six times as much water as the bottle itself contains.

The fast fashion industry annually produces over 100 billion garments. Overproduction and overconsumption have transformed the industry, leading to the disposability of fashion. People now buy 60% more clothing than 15 years ago, but each item is kept for only half as long. Approximately 85% of garments end up in landfills or incinerators, with only 1% being recycled. Nearly 70% of clothing is made from crude oil, resulting in the release of dangerous microfibers when washed and continued contribution to long-term pollution in landfills. Social injustice and fashion are directly intertwined, with exploitative working conditions, low wages and widespread child labor. For far too long, the industry has relied on a fractured supply chain and an almost total lack of governmental regulation. 

When it comes to climate change, money talks. Through regulations, incentives and public/private partnerships, governments hold the keys to transform and build the green economy. Similar to the industrial and information revolutions, governments must incentivize their citizens, businesses and institutions to build a resilient future. Ultimately, governments will empower green business practices as not only the ethical option but also the lucrative one. For example, in the US, clean energy jobs provide earnings over 25% above the national median wage, and outpace fossil fuel extraction/generation jobs by three-to-one, employing more Americans than middle or elementary school teachers, bankers, farmers or real estate agents. And yet, we still incentivize technology that is damaging our future growth.

Plastics are produced in polluting facilities that somehow seem to always be located in the poorest neighborhoods. Some plastics are lethal when combusted. Other plastics transmit hormone-disrupting chemicals. And all plastics can starve birds and suffocate sea life. At every stage of their life cycle, from the oil well to the town dump, plastics are a dangerous blight. As individuals, we have the simple yet effective power to make our voices heard through our choices, our civic actions and our personal interactions. What each of us does, and how we do it, has a huge ripple effect on our ecosystems, and on the pace of corporate and government action. Gen Z is providing inspiration, with 45% having stopped purchasing certain brands because of ethical or sustainability concerns. We have the power to lobby for and support businesses that take active steps to protect our environment through their practices and climate-friendly investments, and fight against those that don’t. Don’t underestimate your power. When your voice and your actions are united with millions of others around the world, you create a movement that is inclusive, impactful and impossible to ignore.

Then and Now

April is National Poetry Month.

April is National Card and Letter Writing Month.

April is Cancer Control Month.

April is Confederate History Month.

April is ASPCA month.

   04/01/1933 - Nazi Germany began persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.

   04/01/1945 - The US military launched its campaign, Operation Iceberg, on the island of Okinawa. This was a strategic location for the US as the war continued and the Allies approached Japan. The 82-day battle for Okinawa was the largest Pacific battle of WWII and the largest amphibious assault in history.

   04/01/1960 - The first weather satellite, TIROS I, was launched from Cape Canaveral.

   04/01/1970 - President Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television.

   04/01/2024 - April Fools’ Day

   04/02/1513 - Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon landed in Florida.

   04/02/1792 - Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the US Mint.

   04/02/1805 - Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark.

   04/02/1846 - President James Polk appointed Nathaniel Hawthorne surveyor of the Custom House, a position that provided the fodder for his irreverent preface to The Scarlet Letter.

   04/02/1917 - President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany, saying, "The world must be made safe for democracy."

   04/02/1982 - Several thousand troops in Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands, located in the south Atlantic, from Britain.

   04/02/2005 - Pope John Paul II died.

   04/02/2024 - International Children's Book Day

   04/03/1860 - The Pony Express began service between St. Joseph MO and Sacramento CA.

   04/03/1882 - Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph MO.

   04/03/1948 - President Truman signed The Marshall Plan, which allocated more than $5 billion in aid for 16 European countries.

   04/03/1968 - The day before he was assassinated, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "mountain" speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers.

   04/03/1996 - Unabomber Ted Kaczynski was arrested.

   04/04/1818 - Congress decided the flag of the US would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star added for every new state of the Union.

   04/04/1850 - The city of Los Angeles was incorporated.

   04/04/1949 - The North Atlantic Treaty - creating NATO, an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries - was signed.

   04/04/1968 - Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in Memphis. There had already been two attempts on King's life and, just the day before he had said, "Like anybody, I would like to live a long life, but I'm not concerned about that now."

   04/04/1969 - The original Star Trek was cancelled. It lives for eternity, however, in reruns.

   04/04/1975 - Microsoft was founded.

   04/05/1614 - Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia.

   04/05/1621 - The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth MA on a return trip to England.

   04/05/1792 - President Washington cast the first presidential veto.

   04/05/1856 - Born into slavery, Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to US presidents. He challenged the status quo for African Americans in his youth, and emerged to become a leading voice of his generation.

   04/05/1887 - British historian Lord Acton wrote, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

   04/05/1974 - Stephen King’s debut novel, Carrie, was published.

   04/06/1830 - Joseph Smith organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette NY.

   04/06/1896 - The first modern Olympic Games formally opened in Athens.

   04/06/1909 - Robert Peary and Matthew Henson became the first men to reach the North Pole.

   04/06/1917 - Under President Woodrow Wilson, the US maintained neutrality when WWI erupted in 1914. During this time Britain was a great trading partner with the US. With Germany's attempt to isolate Britain, tensions between Germany and the US began to rise when US ships crossing that path were destroyed or damaged by German military. As the war progressed, ships from other countries were in the line of fire. In February 1917, Congress passed an appropriations bill preparing the US to enter the war. In April, President Wilson called for a declaration of war against Germany. After securing the votes in the US Senate and House of Representatives, the US entered WWI on April 6, 1917.

   04/06/2024 - Laylat al Qadr begins at sunset – Muslim

   04/07/1862 - The Battle of Shiloh ended.

   04/07/1948 - The World Health Organization was founded.

   04/07/1966 - The US recovered a hydrogen bomb it had lost off the coast of Spain.

   04/07/1969 - The Supreme Court unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material.

   04/07/2024 - World Health Day

   04/08/1513 - Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.

   04/08/1946 - The League of Nations assembled in Geneva for the last time.

   04/08/2024 - A total eclipse of the sun, viewable in its totality in the northern hemisphere, will occur.

   04/08/2024 - Hanamatsuri (Flower Festival) – Buddhist

   04/08/2024 - Annunciation – Christian

   04/09/1682 - French explorer Robert La Salle reached the Mississippi River.

   04/09/1865 - Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses S Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

   04/09/1963 - British statesman Winston Churchill became an honorary US citizen.

   04/09/1996 - President Clinton signed a line-item veto bill into law.

   04/09/2024 - Vikram Nav Varsh Samvat (Hindi New Year) – Hindu

   04/09/2024 - Eid-al Fitr begins at sunset (Ramadan ends) – Muslim

   04/10/1866 - The American SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was incorporated.

   04/10/1912 - The RMS Titanic Set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.

   04/10/1925 - F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was first published.

   04/10/1974 - Golda Meir announced her resignation as prime minister of Israel.

   04/10/2024 - Salvation Army Founders Day

   04/11/1846 - Smith County was founded as a county in Texas.

   04/11/1921 - Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax.

   04/11/1945 - During WWII, American soldiers liberated the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany.

   04/11/1968 - President Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1968, one week after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

   04/11/2015 - Barack Obama and Raúl Castro met in Panama, the first time in over 50 years that the presidents of the United States and Cuba had met.

   04/11/2024 - National Pet Day

   04/12/1606 - England adopted as its flag the original version of the Union Jack.

   04/12/1861 - The American Civil War began as Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

   04/12/1961 - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space, orbiting the earth once before making a safe landing.

   04/12/1992 - Euro Disneyland opened in France.

   04/13/1598 - King Henry IV of France endorsed the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to the Protestant Huguenots. The edict was abrogated in 1685 by King Louis XIV who declared France entirely Catholic again.

   04/13/1742 - Handel's Messiah was first performed publicly in Dublin.

   04/13/1943 - President Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial.

   04/13/1964 - Sidney Poitier became the first black performer in a leading role to win an Academy Award for Lilies of the Field.

   04/13/2017 - American forces in Afghanistan dropped one of the largest non-nuclear weapons ever used by the US military. The “Mother of All Bombs” hit an ISIS tunnel complex with power equal to 11 tons of explosives.

   04/13/2024 - Thomas Jefferson Day

   04/13/2024 - Vaisakhi (New Year) – Sikh

   04/13/2024 - Boun Pi Mai through 04/15 – Buddhist

   04/14/1828 - The first edition of Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language was published.

   04/14/1865 - John Wilkes Booth shot and mortally wounded President Lincoln while attending a play at Ford's Theater.

   04/14/1939 - John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath was first published.

   04/15/1865 - President Lincoln died several hours after he was shot by John Wilkes Booth.

   04/15/1912 - The Titanic sank in the North Atlantic less than three hours after striking an iceberg. About 1500 people died.

   04/15/2024 - Rubber Eraser Day

   04/15/2024 - National Theft Day (Income taxes are due.)

   04/16/1862 - A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law.

   04/16/2001 - Israel launched an air strike against a strategic Syrian radar station in Lebanon.

   04/16/2007 - A mass school shooting took place at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg VA. Over 30 students and faculty were killed during the incident. Since this tragedy, debate over issues addressing law enforcement investigations, mental health, and gun legislation have greatly increased.

   04/16/2024 - US Tax Freedom Day … the day on which Americans have earned enough money to pay this year's tax obligations at the federal, state and local levels, meaning the average American will work 107 of 365 days this year to pay their various taxes.

   04/17/1492 - Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella gave Columbus a commission to seek a westward passage to Asia.

   04/17/1521 - Martin Luther went before the Diet of Worms to face charges stemming from his religious writings.

   04/17/1961 - About 1500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro.

   04/17/1975 - Phnom Penh fell to communist insurgents, ending Cambodia's five-year war.

   04/17/2024 - Ram Navami – Hindu

   04/18/1775 - Paul Revere began his famous ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Massachusetts, warning American colonists that the British were coming.

   04/18/1946 - The League of Nations went out of business.

   04/18/1978 - The US Senate voted 68 to 32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on December 31, 1999.

   04/18/2024 - Paul Revere Day

   04/19/1775 - The American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.

   04/19/1933 - The US went off the Gold Standard.

   04/19/1993 - The 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco TX ended as a fire destroyed the structure after federal agents began smashing their way in.

   04/19/1995 - A truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

   04/20/1971 - The Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.

   04/20/1999 - The Columbine High School massacre took place in Littleton CO.

   04/20/2010 - The Gulf of Mexico experienced the largest oil spill in history as a result of an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig. Eleven lives were lost and wildlife and habitats were greatly impacted. People and industries felt the effects throughout the area. Investigations and response efforts began immediately, and the event led to changes in the industry.

   04/21/1836 - An army of Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas independence.

   04/21/1910 - At the age of 75, Mark Twain died in Redding, Connecticut, on the reappearance of Haley's Comet ... which had last appeared in the year he was born.

   04/21/2024 - San Jacinto Day

   04/21/2024 - The Annual Aggie Muster: The Aggie Muster at Texas A&M University began on June 26, 1883. By 1902, it had evolved into a celebration of Texas’ Independence on San Jacinto Day and the two became officially linked in 1922.

   04/21/2024 - Feast of Ridvan (through May 2nd) – Baha’i

   04/22/1590 - Henry VIII took over the throne of England after the death of his father, Henry VII.

   04/22/1864 - Congress authorized the use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on US coins.

   04/22/1952 - An atomic test conducted in Nevada became the first nuclear explosion shown on live network TV.

   04/22/2024 - Earth Day

   04/22/2024 - Pesach / Passover begins at sunset and ends the evening of 04/30 – Judaism

   04/23/1564 - The supposed birthday and, 52 years later, the date of death for William Shakespeare.

   04/23/1985 - Coca-Cola announced it was changing the secret formula for Coke.

   04/23/1992 - McDonald's opened its first fast food restaurant in Beijing.

   04/23/2024 - St. George's Day (England's patron saint)

   04/23/2024 - Hanuman Jayanti – Hindu

   04/24/1800 - Congress approved a bill establishing the Library of Congress.

   04/24/1877 - Federal troops left New Orleans, ending the North's post-Civil War rule in the South.

   04/24/1898 - Spain declared war on the US after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.

   04/24/1970 - China launched its first satellite, which kept transmitting a song, The East is Red.

   04/24/1980 - The US launched an abortive attempt to free the American hostages in Iran, a mission that resulted in the deaths of 8 US servicemen.

   04/24/2024 - Administrative Professionals Day

   04/24/2024 - Theravada New Year begins and ends on 04/26 – Buddhist

   04/25/1859 - Ground was broken for the Suez Canal.

   04/25/1945 - Delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.

   04/25/1990 - The space shuttle Discovery deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.

   04/25/2024 - World Penguin Day

   04/26/1607 - An expedition of English colonists, including Captain John Smith, went ashore at Cape Henry, Virginia, to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

   04/26/1964 - The African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania.

   04/26/1986 - The world's worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union.

   04/26/2024 - Arbor Day

   04/27/1773 - As the British Empire emerged as victors of the Seven Years' War in 1763, they found themselves deeply in debt. Therefore, they looked to the colonies of North America to help relieve their burden. The British hoped to generate revenue though imposing taxes on the colonies. This was met with rebellion among colonists. Britain continued to pursue methods to compensate elected officials and generate income. On April 27, Parliament accepted resolutions which ultimately culminated in the passing of the Tea Act on May 10th. This act granted the British East India Company a monopoly on the sale of teas in the American colonies. The colonists rejected this act and rebelled in a variety of ways. Rising tensions eventually led to the Boston Tea Party.

   04/27/1805 - A force led by US Marines captured the North African city of Derna on the shores of Tripoli.

   04/27/1937 - The nation's first Social Security checks were distributed. And, we've been increasingly more dependent since then!

   04/27/2024 - Dan Wè Zo, alias St Louis Cleimeille – Vodún

   04/28/1789 - There was a mutiny on the HMS Bounty as the crew of the British ship set Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific.

   04/28/1926 - Harper Lee was born in Monroeville AL. She would soon befriend Truman Capote, her model for Dill in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.

   04/28/1945 - Italian partisans executed Dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, as they attempted to flee the country.

   04/28/1952 - War with Japan officially ended as a treaty signed by the US and 47 other nations took effect.

   04/29/1429 - Joan of Arc entered the city of Orleans to lead a victory over the English.

   04/29/1862 - New Orleans fell to Union forces during the Civil War.

   04/29/1945 - Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun.

   04/29/2024 - Cassé Canari ou Wèt mô nan d'lo – Vodún

   04/30/1789 - George Washington took office in NY as the first president of the US.

   04/30/1803 - The US purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for about $15 million.

   04/30/1975 - The South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces.

   04/30/2024 - Mangé les Morts – Vodún

Online Resource Links

   How Wobbly Is Our Democracy? | The American Abyss | US is polarizing faster than other democracies. | The Ballad of Downward Mobility | A Crisis Coming … The Twin Threats To American Democracy: (1) A Growing Movement to Refuse to Accept Defeat in an Election and (2) Policy and Election Results that Are Increasingly Less Connected to What the Public Wants | America’s Surprising Partisan Divide on Life Expectancy | ‘Freedom’ Means Something Different to Liberals and Conservatives. Here’s How the Definition Split - and Why That Still Matters.| Politics is personal. | For elites, politics is driven by ideology. For voters, it’s not. | Trust and Distrust in America | One America is thriving; the other is stagnating. How long can this go on? | America Is Growing Apart, Possibly for Good - The great “convergence” of the mid-20th century may have been an anomaly. | Are we really facing a second Civil War? | How ‘Stop the Steal’ Captured the American Right | Conspiracy theorists want to run America’s elections. These are the candidates standing in their way. | Two Americas Index: Democracy deniers | Where will this political violence lead? Look to the 1850s. | American Democracy Was Never Designed to Be Democratic | Yes, the economy is important, but we found that election subversion attempts appear to matter more to voters than polling suggests. | Donald Trump’s 2024 Campaign, in His Own Menacing Words | A Warning | We Are in a Five-Alarm Fire for Democracy | According to Freedom House, the US, whose aggregate score for political rights and civil liberties fell 11 points between 2010 and 2020, now falls near the middle of the free spectrum, behind Slovenia, Croatia and Mongolia. | The Looming Contest Between Two Presidents and Two Americas

   Visualizing the State of Global Debt, by Country: The debt-to-GDP ratio is a simple metric that compares a country’s public debt to its economic output. By comparing how much a country owes and how much it produces in a year, economists can measure a country’s theoretical ability to pay off its debt. The World Bank published a study showing that countries that maintained a debt-to-GDP ratio of over 77% for prolonged periods of time experienced economic slowdowns.

   What ISIS Really Wants: The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy and for how to stop it  |  ISIS Claims Responsibility, Calling Paris Attacks First of the Storm  |  Syria Iraq: The Islamic State Militant Group  |  Isis: The Inside Story  |  Frontline: The Rise of ISIS  |  Council on Foreign Relations: A Primer on ISIS  |  Cracks in ISIS Are Becoming More Clear  |  How ISIS’ Attacks Harm the Middle East |  Timeline: the Rise, Spread and Fall of the Islamic State

   Keeping the Shi'ites Straight Based on the opinion that no story has been more confusing for the Western news media to cover in postwar Iraq than the politics of the country's Shi'ite majority, this article provides a basic outline of Shi'ite religious history. Discusses the Sadr family (Muhammad Baqir as-Sadr, Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, and Muqtada as-Sadr), Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim and other figures.

   What it’s like to live on $2 a day in the United States (PDF)

   Check out Today's Front Pages. Each day, you can see the front pages of more than 800 newspapers from around the world in their original, unedited form.

   PBS's 30 Second Candidate allows you to view more political ads than you ever knew existed. Choose the Historical Timeline link to see how political ads have changed over the years. Start with the infamous Daisy Ad that Lyndon Johnson used against Barry Goldwater. Click on Watch Johnson ads. Then click on either the QuickTime link or the Real Video link next to Daisy.

   Check out the Political Compass. The site does a good job of explaining political ideologies (although with definitions different from those I use) and gives you a chance to discover your own political philosophy.

   Law Library of Congress: North Korea: Collection of links to websites on North Korean government, politics and law. Includes legal guides, country studies and links to constitutions and branches of government (where available). Council on Foreign Relations: North Korea: Background, articles and opinion pieces about North Korea government and politics. Many of the articles focus on North Korea's nuclear program. From the Council on Foreign Relations, "an independent membership organization and a nonpartisan think tank and publisher."

   State of the Union (SOTU): The site uses an interactive timeline to provide a visual representation of prominent words in presidential State of the Union addresses by displaying significant words as "determined by comparing how frequently the word occurs in the document to how frequently it appears throughout the entire body of SOTU addresses." The Appendices section describes the statistical methods used. Also includes the full text of addresses.

   Small Town Papers: This site provides access to scanned images of recent issues of dozens of small town newspapers from throughout the United States. Newspapers are updated periodically, 2-3 weeks after publication. The site also includes a searchable archive (of articles, photos and advertisements), which covers different periods for each paper, some as far back as the 1890s. Access to the archives requires free registration.

   This website serves as a centralized location to learn about the Congressional Research Service and search for CRS reports that have been released to the public by members of Congress. (CRS Reports do not become public until a member of Congress releases the report.) Features a searchable database with more than 8,000 reports, a list of recently released reports, other collections of CRS reports and a FAQ about CRS.

   Stem Cell Research: See the official NIH resource for Stem Cell Research. In 2005, NOVA aired an overview of The Stem Cell Issue.

  Instances of the Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798 - 2020: This report lists hundreds of instances in which the United States has used its armed forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict or for other than normal peacetime purposes. It was compiled in part from various older lists and is intended primarily to provide a rough survey of past US military ventures abroad, without reference to the magnitude of the given instance noted. | Here's How Bad a Nuclear War Would Actually Be | This is What It’s Like to Witness a Nuclear Explosion

   Government Product Recalls

   Homeland Security Knowledge Base

  If you're worried about retirement, try some of these sites: IRS Tax Information for Retirement Plans | Social Security Retirement Planner | Retirement Planning Resources from Smart Money

   This commercial site presents brief information about dozens of Black Inventors from the United States. Some entries include portraits and images. Also includes a searchable timeline covering 1721-1988. Does not include bibliographic information.

  Annenberg Political Fact Check: This site describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, consumer advocate for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in US politics. The site provides original articles, with summaries and sources, analyzing factual accuracy in TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Searchable. From the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

   The State of State and Local Finances: New studies afford a state-by-state or city-by-city analysis of fiscal well being. The Year of Living Dangerously: While leaders in a growing number of states appear to believe they're serving the public good by squeezing government dry, there's little question that minimizing management carries a host of dangers that directly affect the lives of citizens.

   First Amendment Library: Provides info on Supreme Court First Amendment jurisprudence,  including rulings, arguments, briefs, historical material, commentary and press coverage.

Community Service

If you need a presentation or workshop for your group,

use this Community link or the link at the top of the page.
The link will take you to a list of the topics I currently have available.
To schedule a date or for more information, feel free to contact me at dramyglenn@gmail.com