Well, here we go! It's time for the weekend homework, and this week I'm going to provide you with a number of links to Web sites that you can use again and again. I'll try and do this again in the future, but for now, this will give you a great head start. Bookmark these.

Climate Progress -- Run by a scientist who's actually conducted empirical research on global climate change, this is a great resource. He's funny, intelligent and has no problem calling out Democrats or Republicans who are unwilling to accept scientific facts. Global warming is real, it's important, and we have technology available right now to begin combating the problem.

David Sirota -- One of my favorite columnists and author of Hostile Takeover. Sirota takes Republicans and conservative Democrats to task, focusing mainly on corruption related to lobbying issues and how bribery can affect a politician's decisions. In addition, he makes a point of showing the positive side of government and how grassroots organizations are making a real difference. Well worth subscribing to.

Paul Krugman -- A liberal economist, one of the best on this planet. Krugman's analyses on everything from the dangers of unregulated forces to universal health care to classic economics is always well researched and intelligent.

Enjoy these. The most recent posts are excellent.
 

Now that Ralph Nader has officially thrown his hat into the race, Universal Healthcare is going to become a more prevalent issue, primarily because Nader favors a Medicare-based approach while Obama and Clinton have put forth differing plans that do not offer any sort of true Universal Healthcare program. A lot of conservatives are going to start talking about the Canadian Healthcare system to fight against Nader's remarks (which may influence Obama's remarks as well). The reason conservatives attack the Canadian healthcare system is because Canada's universal system is new, and flawed (like any system, arguably), but what's so remarkable about this argument is even with all of its problems, the percentage of Canadians who favor scrapping the system never exceeds single-digit numbers.

In fact, there's a very good chance a lot of what you hear about the Canadian system is systematically false, especially when compared with a privatized system like what we have in the United States. To learn more, I present you an article by Sara Robinson, who has dual citizenship in both the U.S. and Canada. Who better to explain both systems than a person experiences both on a regular basis?

Click here to read her article.