Now what are you going to do? Having been exposed to real news can be a eye opener. This is for those ready to act or just thinking about it. Below you will find a few ways you can make a difference. Spread the word about the real news, don't be alone. Talk to your friends and family about us. - send our link, add our link to your email signature line. How????? Support us & spread the word at the same time. We use 100% of donations to promote this site and keep it going  - purchase a bumper sticker, mug, or T-shirt! Vote with your dollars This may be the most effective way to make a difference. Every purchase you make is a "vote" for something.  Would you like to keep your local community strong? Buy from small independent local stores, food co-ops and farmers markets. Do you want to keep air and water clean? Seek out earth friendly products/foods and consider walking & a bike. (to reduce automobile pollution) How about fair wages and decent living conditions for workers? Look beyond the "big box" stores.  Check out www.coopamerica.org for listings of "green businesses" and more. Want to keep your money in your community Bank and invest your savings through institutions that work to strengthen local communities. Learn how at www.communityinvesting.org More books - Less TV Studies have shown the more TV you watch, the less you know. In your search for information, include types of written material that you have not previously explored, such as published sermons, speeches, and essays. Read material featuring viewpoints that differ from yours politically, spiritually, or emotionally. This will help you see all sides of an issue. Limit your television viewing if you must use it. Before tuning in, carefully consider which programs will be most valuable to you in your personal search for information. Please keep in mind that TV is not a good source for what is really going on in this country or the world. See our links page. Contact your government officials How else are they going to know what you think and expect from them? You just need your zip code to get local and national contact info. Be sure to mention your support for a locally owned diverse media, with limits on corporate ownership. Attend a rally Exersice your right to free speech with others - for events see  www.protest.net.  Be sure to connect with local events that may not be listed. They are out there. Vote at election time! Register to vote at www.workingforchange.com/vote/. Need copy of the National Voter Registration form, which is good in most states (see the site for details). You may request an absentee ballot by contacting your local county or city election official to vote by mail. Write a letter to the editor Make the letter interesting and engaging. Try this by having a subject "cook" for a while. Make notes for a few days as you think of things to say. Make statements as if you were talking to a friend. Write short, clear sentences that cover only one point. Follow the rules of the newspaper, especially about length. Make several revisions, to make sentences simpler and ideas clearer. Wait a day or so and then give it a final touchup before sending it out. Use the Internet to double-check any pertinent facts or statistics from multiple sources. Try this formula that works for us: an introductory topic sentence that defines your subject and engages the reader up to five specific points on the topic, each in a separate paragraph, that support your introductory sentence a conclusion, including a possible call to action. Here is contact info for local and national TV, radio and newspapers Support clean elections Get more information on clean elections at the Common Cause web site, and at Public Campaign's website Learn about starting an initiative or referendum; if your state provides this avenue for change, at www.iandrinstitute.org Attend a Meetup Try attending a Meetup gathering. Meetup is a free service that enables people to organize local gatherings. The meetings are casual get-togethers where peers talk. Attendees vote on where Meetups will happen, so you may end up at a bar a local cafe, or a bowling alley.  Sometimes simultaneous Meetups take place in cities all over the world. Many candidates have been using this service to support their campaigns. If you host a Meetup, arrive early, bring a sign so that others can find you, and try to introduce everyone to one another. Volunteer in your community Enlist your family, friends, coworkers, or organization in the activity Volunteering together strengthens ties, and it's great for children. Use VolunteerMatch, a nonprofit, online service that helps people get involved with community service organizations throughout the United States. Use your zip code on the VolunteerMatch website to find local opportunities. Apply to AmeriCorps, a network of national service programs in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. If you're 25 or younger, try SERVEnet, which matches young volunteers with organizations. Mail a letter to the White House: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington DC 20500 Call or fax the White House Comments: 202-456-1711 Switchboard: 202-455-1414  Fax: 202-456-246i. TTY/TDD Comments: 202-45b-6213 E-mail the White House For the President: president@whitehouse.gov For Vice President: vice.president@whitehouse.gov For links to all US federal agencies www.firstgov.gov/Contact.shtml For more ideas, check out books such as "50 ways to Love your Country" at your local bookstore or online