The Best of Behind the Links --

It is five years today, since my blogging began on March 29, 2005.  BTL began over 450 posts ago on 2/6/09.  Thanks again to my regular contributors - Jon, Betmo, Dan'l and Diane - for reading and linking to such valuable and interesting material.  I appreciate their sharing of links so much more than I could ever adequately recognize. 

I mark this anniversary with a set of links that will remain lasting and useful: "The Best of Behind the Links," Because I want a change of direction in order to devote more time to writing longer and more creative posts, I will no longer be as active here at Behind the Links.

Here is where you can find me:  I am on Twitter.  My news and political blog is at South by Southwest. My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for my websites. 

Special bonus links from previous posts:

• "Basic Training: Decorum and Civility in the House#," is from The Committee On Rules - Republicans

• "The Sarah Palin Digest#," is from Think Progress. To quote: "ThinkProgress has put together a document compiling what we know about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) vice presidential running mate.

• "Bracket of Evil#" - from Credo Action. A fun interactive vote. 

• "A New Kind Of Christianity: 10 Questions That Are Transforming The Faith#," Jon notes that "This is from The Huffington Post's new religion site."

• "25 Sites We Can't Live Without#" is from Time Magazine.

• "How Progressive are you?#" Take the poll that the Center for American Progress employed to gauge the political leanings of our nation, (3/11/09).

For reference:

• "The Ten Worst Nightmares Bush Inflicted on America#," is from AlterNet  December 22, 2009. Author Juan Cole of Informed Comment's summary: "Here are my picks for the top ten worst things about the wretched period, which will continue to follow us until citizens stand up to fix them." Jon adds, "Lets not forget the mess lil' bush left. We need to be reminded every so often."

• List of Republican Offenders# -- A list of Republican felons and their indicted brethren (1998 - 2008)

• "Surveillance Self-Defense~," is a web site created by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)to educate the American public about the law and technology of government surveillance in the United States. Diane explains, "Interesting and very enlightening articles on this website."

• "Another beta-tester just joined on: McClatchy's Washington Bureau. Check out their great Gitmo docs: http://bit.ly/8nVQe," is from Document Cloud (10/9/09).

• "U.S. Prison Conditions Far Worse Than Guantanamo's http://bit.ly/xz0WI," is from The Washington Independent (10/5/09).

• " GO TO THE ARCHIVE: Search all back-issues of TIME since 1923#," for TIME's unique perspective on history, people, and the most important events of the day.

• "Single-Payer National Health Insurance~," is from Physicians For a National Health Program.  Diane explains, "Lots of interesting info on this website."  Also, "Click here to download your DCCC Health Care Fact Sheet [PDF]~," is from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Also, see "HealthCare Fact Check.com."

•  "The Red Cross Torture Report: What It Means (4/30/09)" is by Mark Danner, from The New York Review of Books.

• Scandal Watch at ProPublica: 1) Market Crisis, 2) Maddoff's Long Con, 3) Detainee treatment 

Recommended blogs:

• The Patriots#

• The White House - President Barack Obama 

• Common Dreams.org# - An excellent website that picks up the best articles.

• Five Thirty Eight~, according to Diane, "is an extremely helpful and interesting website."

• The Lone Star Iconoclast# is a good blog recommended by Jon.

Updated: 4/1/10: "Exposing the Deep Swamp of Republican Hypocrisy -- How a Party Alienated the Nation#," is from AlterNet (3/31/10).  Author's intro: "I grew up in a profoundly Republican home so I can remember when you wore a very different face than the one we see now."  Jon says, "This is a great read.  I wanted to be sure you read it."  This post contains a complete "chapter and verse" of the most significant and outrageous instances of hypocrisy from the ranks of Republicans within the past few months.  A tremendous amount of work went into writing it.  It would be a great resource to keep for future reference. 

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Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads were Betmo*, Diane~ and Jon#.
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