·http://www.cbc.ca/archives/teachers/lesson-plan

The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Digital Archives website hosts an expansive network of lesson plans for middle and high school teachers in a range of subjects. Based on the holdings in the CBC's archives, which can all be accessed for free online, the lesson plans focus on topics ranging from the "boat people" who fled Vietnam in the late 1970s to the rising health concerns surrounding diabetes to an exploration of computers and Canadian culture. While some of the topics are focused solely on the institutions of Canada, there are plenty of resources here for educators and students from around the world. [CNH]

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·http://theweekincongress.com/

The Week in Congress began as a weekly newspaper column in 1992. Today, it continues as a much-expanded, online weekly summary of the activities of the Senate and House of Representatives. On the site, readers will find a summary, usually published on Thursdays and updated on Fridays, of the bills and amendments that have been proposed and voted on during the week. For instance, at the time of this writing, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had garnered headlines when he allowed a vote on a stand-alone bill to defund Planned Parenthood, while other bills, such as Representative Jeff Miller's reforms to the Veteran's Administration received much less press. What makes The Week in Congress truly useful, however, is that both these bills are included in the weekly write-up, providing readers with a more balanced and comprehensive view of congressional goings on. [CNH]

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·http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/

The first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to German Physiologist Emil Adolf von Behring in 1901 for his development of a vaccine for diphtheria. Since then, over 200 recipients have been awarded the prize for research in fields as diverse as neurobiology, intermediary metabolism, and embryonic stem cells. On the site, educators will find excellent materials related to the prize, including videos, quizzes, and educational games in a range of categories. Over a dozen topics are represented here, including Blood Typing, Malaria, The Cell and its Organelles, and others. While many of the games are targeted at a younger audience, there is plenty of information for high school students as well. [CNH]

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·http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/how_courts_work.html

The American Bar Association (ABA) hosts an excellent web page designed to detail the intricacies of how courts in America actually work. Here readers will find four informative sections, including information about Courts and Legal Procedure, Steps in a Trial, The Human Side of Being a Judge, and Mediation. Within each section, subsections further elucidate the topic. For instance, under the Steps in a Trial section, over two dozen subcategories tell the complex story of how a case moves through the courts, including a Diagram of How a Case Moves Through the Courts, and short narratives concerning Pleadings, Plea Bargaining, Judgment, Sentencing, and much more. For educators teaching law to high school and undergraduate students, or for anyone who would like to better understand the American legal system, this site will provide hours of informative reading. [CNH]

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·http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/contemplative-pedagogy/

Mindfulness in higher education, or "contemplative pedagogy," is "designed to quiet and shift the habitual chatter of the mind to cultivate a capacity for deepened awareness, concentration, and insight." These resources on Vanderbilt University's Center for Teaching website are designed primarily for university faculty. However, they can be utilized by educators who serve diverse age populations, from children to the elderly. Readers may like to begin by reading through the six short sections on the page, including The Pedagogical Role of Mindfulness, Meditation in Higher Education, and Mindful Activities in the Classroom. Readers may also enjoy the ten-minute video, "Fostering Attention," which can be located in The Pedagogical Role of Mindfulness section. Links to resources from around the web abound, including downloadable peer-reviewed papers. The Additional Resources section also includes a number of links to interesting blogs, videos, and articles. [CNH]

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·http://www.poetryclass.poetrysociety.org.uk/

The United Kingdom's Poetry Society was founded over a hundred years ago and has grown into a thriving and dynamic organization with over 4,000 members and an internationally recognized journal, The Poetry Review. This page, crafted for educators, features a number of excellent resources, including lesson plans for students from kindergarten through the end of high school. Readers may peruse descriptions of the various lesson plans, most of which center on a particular poem, and then expand their exploration to include themes such as use of language, ancient mythology, translation, storytelling, and the writing and rewriting of poems. Each lesson is freely downloadable as a PDF. For educators looking for ways to excite and inspire through poetry, this web page will provide welcome resources. [CNH]

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·http://laromkarnvapen.se/en/

Learn about Nuclear Weapons, which is the English version of an educational website assembled by the Swedish Physicians Against Nuclear Weapons, is virtually brimming with resources concerning the history, use, politics, and consequences of nuclear arms. Readers may like to start with the section What Are Nuclear Weapons?, where they will find sections on nuclear testing, delivery mechanisms, materials, and other subjects. Other excellent sections on the site include History, Nuclear Weapons and Politics, Nuclear Weapons in the World, Consequences of Nuclear Weapons, and Perspectives on Nuclear Weapons. While some parts of the site are under construction, there is plenty here for teachers who are looking for compelling information for their students, as well as for the general reader who is looking to learn more about nuclear weapons and their consequences. [CNH]

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·https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) seeks to "restore balance to U.S. drug-control efforts" through "a renewed emphasis on community-based prevention programs" and "early intervention programs in healthcare settings." With the recent press coverage of historically high incarceration rates, especially for non-violent drug offenders, the center seems especially relevant, and its site is loaded with resources for readers interested in the government's role in combatting drug use and addiction. The site is divided into sections on Policy & Research, Treatment & Recovery, Enforcement, and other topics. Readers may want to begin with the Blog, which breaks complex issues into readable pieces. Recent entries have discussed drug policy reform, alternatives to incarceration for drug offenders, and community policing. [CNH]

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·http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/virtualbooks/index.html

Within the British Library's Online Gallery exists a gem called Virtual Books. Here, readers will find a collection of great books that can be viewed online using the library's own award-winning "Turning the Pages" software. A great place to start is by scoping out the six works displayed on the landing page, which include selections from the great Indian epic, The Ramayana, draft scores of Handel's Messiah, a handful of Leonardo da Vinci's sketches, and other masterpieces. From there, readers may like to explore the Most Viewed and Recent Additions sections. To explore items, simply click on a title. The book then takes a moment to load, but the Turning the Pages format lets you read, listen, rotate, zoom, and view the original writing next to modern, easily viewable font transliterations. [CNH]

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·http://www.climate.gov/maps-data

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climate education site provides "timely and authoritative scientific data and information about climate" in order to "promote public understanding of climate science and climate-related events." While NOAA provides a wealth of information on its site, the Maps & Data section is unique for its visual representations of complex patterns. Here readers will find continually updated maps of the United States, including depictions of average monthly temperatures, temperature outlook, severe weather climatology, and a drought monitor. The color-coding makes interpretation relatively easy, while the explanations that accompany each map fill out the story of what is happening around the nation. Readers will also find four data-related sections (Data Snapshots, Dataset Gallery, Climate Data Primer, and Climate Dashboard), each of which explicates the interpretation of climate data from a different perspective. [CNH]

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·http://chem2.sis.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/chemidlite.jsp

ChemIDplus functions as a chemical database, or dictionary, for over 400,000 chemicals. Using names, synonyms, and structures, readers may search ChemIDplus for information about select chemicals of interest. Results often include educational links to National Library of Medicine resources, as well as federal and international agencies. Within the system, readers may search using ChemIDplus Lite, which is designed for simple searches, or ChemIDplus Advanced, which "helps users draw their own structures and perform similarity and substructure searches." For instance, searching Ethylene Glycol (antifreeze) returns a brief description of the chemical, including its molecular formula and weight, toxicity, names and synonyms, links to dozens of resources, and other useful information. [CNH]

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·http://collections.mcny.org/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MNY_11_VForm

Reginald Marsh, who was born in 1898 and died in 1954, is renowned as an American realist painter and printmaker. Few people, however, know of his life studies in photography. On this Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) site, readers will find examples of Marsh's photographs, as well as his sketches, prints, and a few paintings. After starting with the Introduction, readers will want to enter the Exhibition, which is presented in the form of photographs accompanied by the text of three well-written essays from Reginald Marsh scholars. Selecting the first photo within the Exhibition will lead readers to the beginning of the first accompanying essay, with pages and parts of essays well-marked and proceeding with each additional image. In total, the site not only illuminates the virtuosity of Reginald Marsh, but tells the story of an era. [CNH]

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·http://www.oecd.org/tax/

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) attempts to provide "a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems." It measures economic productivity, analyzes vast data sets, and tries to understand what economic, social, and environmental policies can best help the most people. This section of the OECD's website is dedicated to all things taxes. Readers will find informative sections about Aggressive Tax Planning, Global Relations in Taxation, Tax and Crime, and many other topics. Within the Books section, readers will also find a free book, Taxing Energy Use 2015, arguing that governments around the world are "under-utilising taxation as a tool to curb the environmental consequences of energy use." In addition, the What's New section is continually updated to steer readers to the freshest information about international philosophies of taxation. [CNH]

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·http://hrc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/reveal#nav_top

Project REVEAL (Read and View English & American Literature) gathers together manuscript collections from 25 great English and American novelists, essayists, journalists, and short story writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. On the landing page, readers will find links to each of the authors, as well as an overview of the project, which sought to increase access, enhance user experience, and create beneficial workflows. Readers will likely want to peruse the authors most meaningful to them. For instance, selecting Hart Crane navigates to a page with an impressive portrait of the author, a short biography, and six original documents, including letters, envelopes, and a note on an Easter card. The site also features primary resources for such luminaries as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Henry James, Jack London, Washington Irving, Oscar Wilde, and many others. [CNH]

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·https://en.todoist.com/

Todoist is one of the best online productivity apps on the market, and the basic version, which will satisfy most readers, is free. To use Todoist, readers must go through a simple sign up process. From there, they can create their first project, then add tasks and subtasks, set due dates, and manage priorities. The idea is that Todoist helps users track their projects by helping them prioritize their tasks. Once a task is completed, you simply click the small box to the left, and move on to the next task. There is also an inbox where readers can quickly add to-do items without attaching them to any particular project. For readers who would like something more, there are also options to add notes, set up filters, sync calendars, upload files, and share projects, among other possibilities. Todoist provides a simple and effective platform for staying organized and productive. [CNH]

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·https://virusscan.jotti.org/

Jotti's malware scan does one thing and one thing only: it scans files for viruses and then tells you what it finds. The process is fast and easy. Simply upload any file using the site's Submit Files option. From there, Jotti will scan the file with over 20 different online scanners, including such popular services as Avast! and ESET. About a minute later it will return your results in an easy-to-read format. The service is free. Up to five files can be scanned simultaneously, with a 50MB limit. For readers who need to know about the safety of individual files, Jotti is one of the best services around. [CNH]

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Voices: At Burning Man, pretty much anything goes
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/31/voices-scene--burning-man/71453610/

Burning Man's Fashion Is Wild, but There Are Rules
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/style/at-burning-man-a-counterculture-festival-the-fashion-police-walk-the-beat.html

Timeline: Burning Man
http://burningman.org/timeline/

The Huffington Post: Burning Man
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/burning-man/

My first Burning Man: confessions of a conservative from Washington
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/02/my-first-burning-man-grover-norquist

Commercializing the Counterculture: How the Summer Music Festival Went Mainstream
http://www.psmag.com/books-and-culture/commercializing-counterculture-summer-music-festival-went-mainstream-86334

It all started on a beach in San Francisco in 1986. A couple of friends built a man out of scrap lumber, soaked it in gasoline, and lit the effigy on fire. A few dozen people came running over to watch the spectacle. Someone brought out a guitar and started singing. And Burning Man was born. These days the festival draws over 60,000 people to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Ten principles, which include such tenets as radical inclusion and radical self-reliance, hold the ad hoc community together as hipsters from around the country battle the elements, don extravagant costumes, and, above all else, express a host of unbridled art forms. It all culminates in the burning of a 40-foot replica of that first man a few friends burned on the beach almost thirty years ago. [CNH]

The first two articles, from the USA Today and the New York Times, respectively, report on this year's Burning Man, which began on Sunday August 30th and ends on Labor Day. The third link navigates to the Timeline on the Burning Man website, where readers may click on years to read about the developing history of the Burning Man festival. Next, readers may link to the Huffington Post's Burning Man section, which includes dozens of articles that have referenced the festival over the past five years. The fifth link navigates to conservative commentator Grover Norquist's first experience at Burning Man, in which he found much to admire. Finally, journalist Cody C. Delistraty examines how summer music festivals became giant corporate events - a trend that, some may argue, Burning Man both subverts and encourages.