Ivan's Place
In honor of the greatest moralist who never lived
Copyright © 2004 by Bill Becker

Some of my favorite sites
Alphabetical by category (Suggestions welcome)

Environment/Ecology

Animal Rights and Preservation:

Bat Conservation International   Based in Austin Texas, founded by biologist Merlin Tuttle to educate people around the world about the importance of bats in the global ecology, and to urge their preservation and protection. You'll fall in love with bats after visiting this site.

Feline Conservation Center        Rosamond, California. Zoo and breeding compound dedicated to preserving gene pool of endangered cats around the world. A really cool place to visit if you’re in the Southern California desert area. (Might as well take a trip to Boron while you’re at it, and see the world’s largest borax mine. Check for hours first.)

Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge       East Texas outfit. I know one of the interns there who is dedicated to saving tigers.

Energy Conservation:

Solar Cookers International        Sacramento, California.  Provides low-cost, low-tech solar cookers to third world people.  Also has links to sites providing information on how to build solar cookers. Cooking With The Sun, by Beth and Dan Halacy, can be purchased through Morning Sun Press

Build It Solar                            Great site by Gary Reysa. Lots and lots of creative ideas for using the sun to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and lots of technical information. See for yourself; you won't be disappointed.
(Added July 1, 2005)

Good Fish/Bad Fish:

Monterey Bay Aquarium          The Monterey Bay Aquarium researches the state of the world’s ocean and freshwater fisheries, and provides a table of good, marginal, and bad fish choices. Great place to visit when you're in the area. More information at:
Environmental Defense
Seafood Choices Alliance
Blue Ocean Institute
Marine Conservation Society (UK)
Australian Marine Conservation Society

Scientific Resources:
Fish Base
Center for Food Safety & Nutrition (FDA)
Seafood InfoCenter

Info on cooperating restaurants:
Seafood Choices Alliance
Chefs Collaborative
Open Table

Foreign Affairs/Geopolitics

Arianna Huffington       Informative, incisive, witty, super-smart. Arianna would make a great President.

TomDispatch.com      Super resource; "A Regular Antidote to the Mainstream Media," as the website puts it. "Researched, written and edited by Tom Engelhardt, a fellow at the Nation Institute, for anyone in despair over post-September 11th US mainstream media coverage of our world and ourselves. The service is intended to introduce you to voices from elsewhere (even when the elsewhere is here) who might offer a clearer sense of how this imperial globe of ours actually works."

The Official Noam Chomsky Website     Overall, Chomsky has for many years provided the most incisive commentary on U.S. foreign policy goals to be found anywhere. Not for the timid.

American Empire Project     Division of Henry Holt, publishers.   Holt is now publishing books severely critical of U.S. foreign policy, under the Metropolitan imprint. Including Hegemony Or Survival — America's Quest for Global Dominance, by Noam Chomsky; and Sorrows of Empire — Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic, by Chalmers Johnson. Site has links to interviews with the authors.

Eurolegal Services    Awesome site. A treasure trove of resources for the geopolitical junkie. Terrific section on U.S. neocons, currently the most dangerous people in the world.

Whiskey Bar    Free Thinking in a Dirty Glass. Very impressive political blog, from Davos, Switzerland.  By "a former journalist turned corporate marketing drone, who's turned to blogging so that I can say all the things my former bosses wouldn't let me say."

Middle East

Gush Shalom    Gush Shalom, Israeli peace group. Deeply opposed to Ariel Sharon’s policies. Gush Shalom provides virtually real-time e-mail news about events in Israel. Photos. Gives the lie to much Israeli government (and by extension, U.S.) propaganda, and fills in the omissions of the U.S. press. Very potent content, with links to other organizations seriously promoting peace in the Middle East. (See Tikkun site below)

The Other Israel    Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. Founded in 1983 by Israelis opposed to Israeli government policy. Publishes a quarterly newsletter. Very informative.

TA'AYUSH    Arabic for "life in common", a grassroots movement of Israeli Arabs and Jews working to break down the walls of racism and segregation by constructing a true Arab-Jewish partnership. Lots of information, with a history of protest against the Israeli government policies in the occupied territories from 2001. Lots of pictures.

Miscellaneous

Idle Hands   Site in progress; devoted to whimsy, relaxation, and science. Links to scientific sites and the UCLA Biomed library.

Strange Doctrines   Fair and biased reflections on politics, philosophy, religion, science, law, whatever.

Peace & Justice, Human Rights, Liberal/Progressive Politics ...

Arianna Huffington       Informative, incisive, witty, super-smart. Arianna would make a great President.

TomDispatch.com      Super resource; "A Regular Antidote to the Mainstream Media," as the website puts it. "Researched, written and edited by Tom Engelhardt, a fellow at the Nation Institute, for anyone in despair over post-September 11th US mainstream media coverage of our world and ourselves. The service is intended to introduce you to voices from elsewhere (even when the elsewhere is here) who might offer a clearer sense of how this imperial globe of ours actually works."

David Chandler    Collection of writings by a peace and justice activist and former seminarian. David also hosts other liberal and progressive websites, including a link to south San Joaquin Valley writers..

German Propaganda Archive     The works of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, translated into English. Extensive, informative, chilling.

Land Of Hypocrisy     Website and book: Land of Hypocrisy, by Kennie Anderson. Many useful links and articles.

Synopsis from the site's book order page:

Section 1 - "Military and Media 101" serves as an introduction to military activity and the formulation of public opinions. In addition to clarifying how information is distributed, this section explains basic techniques of the US military and the US strategies in foreign policy.

Section 2 - "Victims Galore" summarizes the major American foreign interventions since World War II (divided into 43 areas), examining in each case the reasons for US intervention, the actions taken, and the results.

Section 3 - "State of the Union" focuses on issues in America. Focal points include crime, the justice system, racism, healthcare, corporate corruption, and the environment.

Section 4 - "What Now?" provides a look at the potential conflicts that may soon arise out of the effects of self-serving corporate and military ventures. Included in this section is a summary of September 11th related information and proposals for a better tomorrow.

Michael Moore      Official website of Michael Moore, the author of Stupid White Men, and Dude, Where’s My Country. Creator of film Bowling for Columbine. Need I say more?

No More Victims     Working for Peace - One Child at a Time No More Victims (NMV) is a grassroots organization that connects American communities with war-injured children and their families. Community participants band together to learn how the child was injured, assess the child's current situation, and work to meet the most pressing needs of the child and family.

No More Victims has evacuated children injured by US forces to cities all across America. The children received urgently needed medical treatment and some small measure of restorative justice. They brought the human face of what the Pentagon call "collateral damage" home to American communities, and helped awaken millions of Americans to the true nature of war.