Information and Action Center

The Latest in the News

1. Al Jazeera (Arab World)
2. Associated Press (AP – International)
3. BBC News (British Broadcasting Company – UK)
4. China Daily News (US Edition)
5. CNN (Cable News Network – US)
6. Der Spiegel (German language News Magazine)
7. Deutsche Welle (German language News Magazine)
8. El Mundo (Spanish language News Magazine)
9. Fox News (US)
10. International Newspapers Online
11. Jerusalem Post (Israel)
12. People’s Daily News (China Communist Party)
13. Reporters without Borders (Media freedom advocates)
14. Reuters News Agency (International)
15. Times of India
16. Wall Street Journal
17. World Magazine

The Latest in Commentary and Opinion

1. Political Commentary by Peter Roff, Contributing Editor for US News & World Report
2. Economic Updates from Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist of the National Association of Manufacturers.
3. Defense Reports by John Venable, Senior Research Fellow for Defense Policy at the Heritage Foundation
4. Market Insights from one of the best financial companies, USAA.

General Information

1. Data USA – Publicly available US data
2. Elevation Map – elevation and directions all over the world
3. Google Translate – Online translator
4. ITranslate – App translator
5. Mapcarta – World Maps
6. National Geographic Maps
7. Omniglot – World languages and phrases
8. Operation World – A Daily Prayer Guide to Every Nation
9. Time and Date – date calculator, time zone converters, perpetual calendar, international dialing codes and meeting planners
10. US Data and Statistics – US Government
11. US traffic and road closure information – traffic alerts, cameras, and other information from the Federal Highway Administration
12. Weather Channel
13. World Clock – time anywhere in the world
14. US Central Intelligence Agency World Fact Book – Maps and statistics on every country
15. World Mapper – maps highlighting different aspects of the world

Virtual Information Center

George Santayana (1863-1952), the Spanish philosopher, opined that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” As such everyone should keep a sense of history, no matter what they are doing. People should also be well informed about the world around them.

Analysis and Policy Organizations

1. American Enterprise Institute (AEI) – Critical Threats
2. Brookings Institute
3. Cato Institute
4. Center for Immigration Studies
5. Center for Strategic and International Studies
6. CNA – DIME analysis
7. East-West Center
8. Economist – News and analysis
9. Global Firepower Index – comparison of the world’s militaries
10. Global Security
11. Heritage Foundation
12. Hudson Institute
13. IHS Jane’s 360 – Military and Industrial analysis
14. National Academies (science, engineering, research)
15. Pew Research Center – numbers, facts and trends shaping the world
16. RAND Corporation
17. STRATFOR Global Intelligence – DIME analysis
18. Virtual Biosecurity Center
19. Woodrow Wilson International Center 

Archaeology

1. Archeological Institute of America
2. Biblical Archeological Society 
3. Nautical Archeology Society 
4. Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archeology

Business and Finance Center

President Calvin Coolidge once said that “The chief business of the American people is business.” As true today as in 1925, the Business and Finance Center provides information to help readers succeed.

1. Bloomberg – News
2. CNBC – News
3. CNN Money – News
4. FAQs – Internet Frequently Asked Questions archive
5. Fitch – Ratings
6. Fox Business – News
7. Grant’s Interest Rate Observer
8. Investopedia – Basic Information about Investing
9. McKinsey – Management
10. Moody’s – Business Research
11. National Association for Business Economics
12. National Association of Manufacturers
13. National Association of Realtors
14. PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) – Business Analysis
15. Standard and Poor – Ratings, Indices and Data

Environmental Protection Center

Mankind has only one world on which to live, and have not done a very good job thus far of preserving and protecting it. We can, and must, do better.

1. Endangered species list (Worldwide)
2. Environmental Protection Agency
3. US National Park Service

History

1. American Historical Association
2. Best of history websites
3. Dates in History
4. History internet sourcebook
5. Hungarian history – Corvinus Library
6. Military history online
7. US National Security Archive – George Washington University

International Organizations

1. European Commission
2. United Nations

Law

1. American Arbitration Association
2. Resolve – resolve customer disputes with businesses

Philanthropy

1. American Institute of Philanthropy 
2. Chronicle of Philanthropy 

Religion

1. American Academy of Religion
2. Blue Letter Bible
3. Christian Concern – Proclaiming Jesus in public life, including the media, government, and politics
4. Christianity Today – Christian and church news worldwide
5. Christians in the Visual Arts
6. Emel – Muslim magazine
7. Evangelical Missiological Society
8. Evangelical Theological Society
9. Fellowship for the Performing Arts
10. Hinduism Today – Hindu magazine
11. Joshua Project – Bringing definition to the unfinished task of reaching the world for Christ
12. Journal of World Christianity 
13. Kripke Center – Religious Studies, Christian-Jewish-Muslim relations
14. Moment – Jewish magazine
15. National Congregrations Study – Periodic study of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and other congregations
16. Open Doors – Serving Persecuted Christians Worldwide
17. Religion News Service 
18. Tricycle – Buddhist magazine
19. World Parliament of Religions 

US Department of Defense Unified Combatant Commands

1. AFRICOM – Africa
2. CENTCOM – Middle East and Central Asia
3. EUCOM – Europe and the Former Soviet Union
4. NORTHCOM – North America
5. PACOM – The Pacific Basin
6. SOCOM – Special Operations Forces
7. SOUTHCOM – South America and the Caribbean

US Governmental Intelligence Organizations – Intelligence Member Agencies

Watchdog and Other Cultural Reports

1. Amnesty International – Promoting Human Rights
2. Anti-Defamation League – Opposing anti-Semitism worldwide
3. Committee to Protect Journalists – US Based
4. Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – International watchdog on money laundering and terrorism financing
5. Freedom House – Reporting on freedom worldwide
6. Persecution – Evaluating persecution of Christians worldwide
7. Transparency International – Evaluates global corruption
8. US State Department Report – Religious Freedom, Human Rights, Trafficking-in-Persons, US Treaty, Universal Periodic Review, Advancing Freedom and Democracy
9. Walk Free Foundation – Tracks global slavery
10. World Values Survey – Religious, cultural, and economic information throughout the world

Virtual Medical, Science, and Research Center

It seems to be getting harder and harder to get good, affordable medical in the United States, and throughout the world. As costs go up and access goes down, and as experiments in government-directed medical care fall short across the globe, health care is returning to what it has been for thousands of years. The family, the church, and the community have always been, and continue to be, the primary providers of health care in every society, including the most developed Western ones. Today more health care is done at home than in the hallowed halls of hospitals, even in America.

This development is as it should be. Whenever possible, care at home is better for the patient, for the family, and for society. Home care is more personal, more effective, and less costly for all but the sickest patients. Increasingly procedures that required days filling a hospital bed are done as an outpatient, with the majority of postoperative care and rehabilitation being provided at home. Uncomplicated childbirth is ideal for home care, just as women have been delivering babies at home for millennia. In many cases, especially in the developing world, reliable health care is hard to find.

Medicine is complex and can be intimidating for even the most seasoned family. Even medical professionals admit their limitations when it comes to medicine. To help individuals, families, churches and communities be better able to take care of their own, we have instituted the Virtual Medical Center. This is intended to be a one-stop shop for readers to get reliable information how to take care of themselves and their loved ones. It is also intended to help medical professionals, administrators and public health professionals find the information that they need to better care for the precious patients and families entrusted to them.

General Patient resources

1. Cleveland Clinic – One of America’s leading health care systems
2. Family Doctor – Top quality patient education from the American Academy of Family Physicians
3. Geisinger – One of America’s leading health care systems
4. Hospital Compare – A US Government site featuring hospital comparisons
5. Mayo clinic – One of America’s leading health care systems
6. Micheli Center – Sports Injury Prevention

Direct care staff resources

1. Audio Digest Foundation – medical education audio programs
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – USA
3. CDC Travelers Health – Health resources for travelers
4. Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)
5. Cochrane – Evidence-based reviews
6. Essential Evidence Plus – point of care clinical decision recommendations
7. MyAthens – medical study databases including Ovid, PubMed and Lexi-Comp
8. National Medical Practice Guidelines
9. Pubmed – Articles from the National Library of Medicine
10. Radiopedia – Radiology information for physicians
11. Stat!Ref – Medical information and calculators
12. Up to Date – Evidence-based, peer-reviewed clinical decision support tool
13. VA DOD Clinical Practice Guidelines – Evidence based guidelines to improve patient care, and save money.

Administrator resources  

1. Commonwealth Fund – Health Care data
2. Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care – Population based data about health care
3. Institute of Medicine
4. Joint Commission – Healthcare organization accreditation
5. Military Health System
6. National Quality Forum – Quality
7. Trust for America’s Health  

Medical Groups (Clinical)

1. American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine – Beauty and fitness
2. American Academy of Family Physicians
3. American College of Sports Medicine
4. American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
5. AMSUS – Society of Federal Health Care Professionals
6. International Society for Infectious Disease (ProMed)
7. International Society of Toxinology – Information on Toxins and Antitoxins
8. National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
9. Performing Arts Medicine Association
10. Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society – Dive
11. Wilderness Medical Society

Public Health

1. Aerospace Medical Association
2. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry – CDC
3. American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM)
4. American College of Preventive Medicine
5. American Journal of Preventive Medicine
6. Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center
7. Bread for the World – International Faith-Based Institute opposing hunger
8. CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases
9. CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
10. Human Performance Resource Center
11. Immunization Health Care Branch – Defense Health Agency
12. National Association of Community Health Centers
13. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
14. OSHA Training – Outreach Training Program (online) and Training Institute (classroom)
15. OSHA Introduction
16. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – Building health worldwide
17. Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health
18. US Army Public Health Center
19. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS)
20. World Health Organization
21. World Organization for Animal Health

Personal and Team Preparation for Medical and Humanitarian Response

It is not enough to know about emergencies and other needs throughout the world; we must act to help others and our world. In many cases, we must go. Following are some web sites to help responders prepare:

1. Better Braces – Musculoskeletal injury treatment and prevention
2. Blessings International – To purchase low cost medicines for medical humanitarian efforts.
3. Brother’s Brother Foundation – Medical and Humanitarian supplies
4. Vision Screening – Eyedocinabox – I-Test Vision Screener
5. Gallagher Charitable Insurance – Insurance for overseas missions, including malpractice
6. MAP International – Purchase medications and other supplies

For more information on what you can do to intervene in events and issues throughout your community and the world, please read How Ordinary People Can Contribute to Extraordinary Change. When you plan to go yourself, review Medical Preparation for Humanitarian Missions to help you prepare well.

While nothing here can substitute for a visit with a trained medical professional, the resources herein can help patients, providers, leaders, and the preventive medicine professionals take better care of themselves and those around them.

Virtual Science, Research, and Writing Center

Data Gathering and Analysis Tools

1. Atlas Ti – Qualitative data analysis
2. Survey monkey
3. Client Heartbeat – analysis intensive survey creation
4. SPSS – Quantitative data analysis
5. Stata – Quantitative data analysis

General Keyword Search Engines

1. Carrot2 – Clustering search engine
2. Cite Seer X – Academic search engine
3. Google Scholar
4. Microsoft Academic Search

Metadata Search Engines – EBSCO Information Services

Medical and Public Health Research        

1. National Library of Medicine (PUBMED)
2. National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
3. National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (NCCSIR)
4. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS)
5. National (Hospital) Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS/NHAMCS)

 General Research Sites

1. Correlates of War – Military history and armed conflict databases
2. Digital Public Library of America
3. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
4. Directory of Open Access Repositories (DOAR)
5. International Government Information Site
6. Open Library – Books
7. Open Library of Humanities
8. Project Gutenberg – free electronic books
9. Public Library of Science (PLOS)
10. Statistics Portal
11. Uppsala Conflict Data Program – conflict and war databases
12. US Census Bureau Factfinder
13. US Consumer Product Safety Commission

 School Evaluations and Online Courses

1. Coursera – University Level On-Line Courses
2. Greatschools
3. Schooldigger

 Science Sites

1. Federation of American Scientists
2. NASA Eclipse Website  
3. National Science Foundation

 Writing Help Sites

1. Accelerated Reader Bookfinder – find books at the right reading level
2. Amazon Author Central – Author page, Kindle Direct Publishing
3. Bowker – bibliographic information for publishers, authors, and booksellers
4. Dictionary – get the right definition
5. eTurabian – helps you get your notes and bibliography in the Turabian style.
6. Readability Score – what grade level is your writing? How easy is it to read?
7. Thesaurus – find the right word
8. Write Express – Rhyming dictionary
9. Writer’s Diet Test – place some writing in this website and it will analyze it.

Virtual Sports and Entertainment Center

People can’t be dealing with serious stuff all of the time; we all need a healthy helping of recreation and rest every day. Sports and other entertainment are great ways to get it.

American Football

1. International Federation of American Football
2. National Football League
3. The Super Bowl

Badminton – Badminton World Federation

Baseball

1. International Baseball Federation
2. Major League Baseball

Basketball

1. International Basketball Federation
2. National Basketball Association

Cycling

1. International Cycling Union
2. Tour de France
3. USA Cycling

Cricket – International Cricket Council

Field Hockey – International Field Hockey Federation

Football/Soccer

1. International Football Federation
2. Major League Soccer

General

1. ESPN
2. European Sports – Eurosport
3. International Military Sports Council (CISM)
4. International Olympic Movement
5. National Collegiate Athletic Association
6. Sports Illustrated
7. US Olympics
8. World Air Sports Federation
9. World Police and Fire Games

Golf

1. PGA Championship
2. The Masters – US
3. The Open Championship (The British Open) – Scotland
4. US Open

Horse Racing

1. Belmont
2. Kentucky Derby
3. Preakness Stakes
4. The Grand National, England

Ice Hockey

1. International Ice Hockey Federation
2. National Hockey League

Martial Arts

1. Black Belt Magazine
2. Black Belt Wikipedia
3. International Fencing Association
4. International Field Archery Association
5. International Shooting Sport Federation
6. World Archery Federation
7. World Taekwondo Federation

Motor Sports 

1. International Automobile Federation
2. Le Mans
3. NASCAR

Polo – International Polo

Table Tennis – International Table Tennis Federation

Rugby – World Rugby Board

Running

1. Boston Marathon
2. Ironman Triathlon
3. US Army Ten Miler
4. US Marine Corps Marathon

Sailing – America’s Cup

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving

1. National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI)
2. Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI)

Tennis

1. Australian Open
2. French Open
3. US Open
4. Wimbledon, England

Volleyball – International Volleyball Federation

General

Antennaweb.org to discover what channels you can get with an antenna in your area and which type of antenna is needed to receive them.

Movies

1. Paramount Pictures
2. Sony Pictures – Columbia
3. Twentieth Century Fox
4. Universal Studios
5. Walt Disney Studios
6. Warner Brothers

Music

KMDH Classic Music – 500 years of the Western World’s Greatest Music

Performing Arts

1. Fellowship for the Performing Arts
2. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Television

1. Watch TV Shows and Movies – Hulu, Crackle, etc.
2. American Broadcasting Company
3. CBS – Formerly Columbia Broadcasting System
4. Fox Broadcasting Company
5. National Broadcasting Company

Spanish Language Television

1. Telemundo
2. Univision

Video

Youtube – Individual, group and other videos