- Peter Dreier for the Conversation: “five unsung labor movies, all based on real-life events, that, in my view, deserve more attention.”
- ChatGPT makes up stuff about John Kelly.
Perhaps the computer program trawled through the multiverse and found a timeline in which John Kelly had nabbed a Pulitzer for his “thoughtful musings on Twiggy, the water-skiing squirrel, and how weird it is that Sugar Pops are now called Corn Pops.”
- At Shorpy, a fine photo of a D.C. Transit streetcar (not a PCC this time).
- ICYMI: The U.S. Geological Survey is collecting dead lepidopterans found by community scientists in AL, GA, KS, NE, OK, and TX.
- An exploration of the oeuvre of Neil Breen (of Double Down and several others).
Category: Public Policy and Politics
Some links: 91
- Mr. and Mrs. Pickles have three baby tortoises! Cuter than cute.
- They were gone before I knew what to call them: David W. Dunlap of The New York Times remembers reader ads.
- “I can’t define it, but I’m against it.” Also from the Times, Nate Cohn attempts a definition of woke and what it portends.
… much of what woke is grasping toward: a word to describe a new brand of righteous, identity-conscious, new left activists eager to tackle oppression, including in everyday life and even at the expense of some liberal values.
* * *
In the most extreme case for Democrats, the backlash against the new left could end in a repeat of how New Left politics in the 1960s facilitated the marriage of neoconservatives and the religious right in the 1970s. Back then, opposition to the counterculture helped unify Republicans against a new class of highly educated liberals, allowing Southern opponents of civil rights to join old-school liberal intellectuals who opposed Communism and grew skeptical of the Great Society. The parallels are imperfect, but striking.
- Isobel Novick stans webbing clothes moths (Tineola bisselliella).
These moths, unfortunately for those with infestations, have other behaviors that contribute to their indestructibility. They can metabolize their own water as a byproduct of keratin digestion, so access to water is not a dealbreaker for survival. What kind of organism can create its own water? This moth has evolved to be an efficient, dynamic, super-survival machine. They are incredibly temperature tolerant, with the ability to survive as eggs or larvae for several days at broiling temperatures as high as 95 degrees F and as far below freezing as 5 degrees F. They are attracted to the smell of woolens, and once established, send pheromonal signals to nearby moths to invite them to party. To add to their tank-like nature, webbing clothes moths can digest toxic metals like arsenic, mercury, and lead. They have no problem metabolizing synthetic materials or chewing through soft plastics. They have even been found on mummified human remains and have been around long enough to be mentioned in the Bible.
- 17th-18th century tomfoolery: dummy boards.
Understatement of the week
Some Trump advisers worried that the enterprise would come across as a tacky marketing gimmick.
Selling Trump Isn’t What It Used to Be, by Ken Bensinger (print headline: Digital Trading Card Venture Shows Selling Trump Isn’t What It Used to Be).
Or is it just redundant?
My year in contributions, 2022
Looking for somewhere to spend that Hanukkah gelt (yes, I know, but just imagine)?
What organizations are worthy of support? Please give some consideration to this list.
These are the groups and projects to which I gave coin (generally tax-deductible), property, and/or effort in 2022.
- American Association of Community Theatre
- American Bird Conservancy
- American Birding Association
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Film Institute
- American Friends Service Committee (sustaining)
- American Indian College Fund
- American Visionary Art Museum
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy
- Art21
- Bang on a Can (increase)
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Bread for the City
- CARE (sustaining)
- The Carter Center (sustaining)
- Casey Trees
- Friends of the Clifton Institute (and volunteer) (increase)
- Community of Hope
- Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
- Cultural Tourism DC (this organization is no more, alas)
- DC Vote
- Earthwatch Institute
- English Empowerment Center
- Fairfax Library Foundation
- Film Noir Foundation
- FINCA International
- U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Migratory Bird Hunting & Conservation Stamp and its friends organization (volunteer)
- First Book
- Flora of Virginia
- Friends of National Arboretum
- Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia
- Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
- Huntley Meadows Park (volunteer) as a Fairfax Master Naturalist
- IISD Experimental Lakes Area
- iNaturalist (and volunteer)
- Internet Archive
- Japan Society
- jazz89 KUVO (sustaining)
- The Land Institute
- Longacre Lea
- Maine Coast Heritage Trust
- Maryland Native Plant Society
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- The Metropolitan Opera Guild
- Mount St. Joseph University
- National Association for Urban Debate Leagues
- Nature Forward (sustaining)
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- The Nature Conservancy (sustaining)
- Northwestern University
- Peregrine Fund
- PolitiFact
- Potomac Conservancy
- ProLiteracy
- ProPublica
- Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice
- Rebuilding Together DC Alexandria
- Reporters without Borders
- Shenandoah National Park Trust
- The Smithsonian Associates
- Silver Spring Stage
- SOME: So Others Might Eat (sustaining)
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- The Sun magazine
- Trout Unlimited
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Virginia Native Plant Society (and chapter board member)
- Friends of the W&OD Trail
- WAMU 88.5 FM (sustaining)
- Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (board member)
- Water.org
- Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikipedia (volunteer)
- Wilson Ornithological Society
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
- WPFW (sustaining)
- Xerces Society
My year in contributions, 2021
There are a few hours left in the giving year.
(Who will win the dubious prize of last begging e-mail of the year? Judges are monitoring my inbox hourly.)
What organizations are worthy of support? Consider this list as some recommendations from me.
These are the groups and projects to which I gave coin (generally tax-deductible), property, and/or effort in 2021. Limited travel and in-person work this year, so my out-of-pocket expenses continue to be down.
- Against Malaria Foundation via GiveWell (special)
- American Association of Community Theatre
- American Bird Conservancy
- American Birding Association
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Film Institute
- American Friends Service Committee (sustaining)
- American Indian College Fund
- American Visionary Art Museum
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy
- Art21 (new)
- Audubon Naturalist Society (sustaining)
- Bang on a Can (increase)
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Bread for the City
- CARE (sustaining)
- The Carter Center (sustaining)
- Casey Trees
- Friends of the Clifton Institute (and volunteer) (new)
- Community of Hope
- Contemporary American Theater Festival
- Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
- Cultural Tourism DC
- DC Vote
- Earthwatch Institute (return)
- Exceptional Minds (new) (suggested by Apt. 11d)
- Fairfax Library Foundation
- Film Noir Foundation
- FINCA International
- U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Migratory Bird Hunting & Conservation Stamp and its friends organization (volunteer)
- First Book
- Flora of Virginia
- Friends of National Arboretum
- Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia
- Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
- Huntley Meadows Park (volunteer) as a Fairfax Master Naturalist
- IISD Experimental Lakes Area
- iNaturalist (and volunteer)
- Internet Archive
- Japan Society (new)
- jazz89 KUVO (sustaining)
- The Land Institute
- Literacy Council of Northern Virginia
- Longacre Lea
- Maine Coast Heritage Trust
- Maryland Native Plant Society
- The Metropolitan Opera Guild
- Mount St. Joseph University
- National Association for Urban Debate Leagues (new) (recommended by Jay Caspian Kang)
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- The Nature Conservancy
- Northern Virginia Bird Club (3-year renewal)
- Northwestern University
- Peregrine Fund
- Petra Mayer Memorial Fund for Internships (special)
- Politifact (new)
- Potomac Conservancy
- ProLiteracy
- ProPublica
- Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice
- Rebuilding Together DC Alexandria
- Reporters without Borders (new)
- Shenandoah National Park Trust
- The Smithsonian Associates
- Silver Spring Stage
- SOME: So Others Might Eat (sustaining)
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- The Sun magazine
- Trout Unlimited
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Virginia Native Plant Society (and chapter board member)
- Friends of the W&OD Trail
- WAMU 88.5 FM (sustaining) (plus vehicle donation)
- Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (board member)
- Water.org
- Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikipedia (volunteer)
- Wilson Ornithological Society
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
- WPFW (sustaining)
- Xerces Society
Buchanan subbasement
OK, one parting shot at 45: Sarah Lyall polls several historians, looking for a prediction of how history will judge the recently departed resident.
“He’s in a whole other category in terms of the damage he’s done to the Republic,” said [Sean] Wilentz [professor of American history at Princeton University], citing the radicalization of the Republican Party, the inept response to the pandemic and what he called “the brazen, almost psychedelic mendacity of the man.”
My year in contributions, 2020
There not much time before the window closes on tax-deductible contributions for the year. What organizations are worthy of support? Consider this list as some recommendations from me.
These are the groups and projects to which I gave coin (generally tax-deductible), property, and/or effort in 2020. Limited travel and in-person work this year, so my out-of-pocket expenses were down. But, thanks to a mini-windfall, I was able to surge my dollar contributions and generally bump up contribution levels.
- American Association of Community Theatre
- American Bird Conservancy
- American Birding Association
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Film Institute
- American Friends Service Committee (sustaining)
- American Indian College Fund
- American Visionary Art Museum
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy
- Audubon Naturalist Society (sustaining) (special additional support this year)
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Bread for the City (new)
- CARE (sustaining)
- The Carter Center (sustaining)
- Casey Trees
- Community of Hope (new)
- Contemporary American Theater Festival
- Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
- Cultural Tourism DC
- DC Vote
- Fairfax Library Foundation
- Film Noir Foundation
- FINCA International
- U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Migratory Bird Hunting & Conservation Stamp and its friends organization (and board member)
- First Book
- Flora of Virginia
- Friends of National Arboretum
- Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia
- Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
- Huntley Meadows Park and Riverbend Park (volunteer) as a Fairfax Master Naturalist
- IISD Experimental Lakes Area
- Internet Archive
- jazz89 KUVO (sustaining)
- The Land Institute
- Literacy Council of Northern Virginia
- Longacre Lea
- Maine Coast Heritage Trust
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- The Metropolitan Opera Guild (new)
- Mount St. Joseph University
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- The Nature Conservancy
- Northwestern University
- Peregrine Fund
- Potomac Conservancy
- ProLiteracy
- ProPublica
- Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice
- Rebuilding Together DC Alexandria
- Shenandoah National Park Trust
- The Smithsonian Associates
- Silver Spring Stage
- SOME: So Others Might Eat (sustaining)
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- The Sun magazine
- Trout Unlimited
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Virginia Native Plant Society (and chapter board member)
- Friends of the W&OD Trail
- WAMU 88.5 FM (sustaining)
- Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (board member)
- Water.org
- Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikipedia (volunteer)
- Wilson Ornithological Society
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
- WPFW (sustaining)
- Xerces Society
Teddy Loser-velt
It is my sincere wish that this be my last post about 45: “Why it has to be Biden.”
In 2016 American voters did not know whom they were getting. Now they do. They would be voting for division and lying. They would be endorsing the trampling of norms and the shrinking of national institutions into personal fiefs. They would be ushering in climate change that threatens not only distant lands but Florida, California and America’s heartlands. They would be signalling that the champion of freedom and democracy for all should be just another big country throwing its weight around. Re-election would put a democratic seal on all the harm Mr Trump has done.
h/t: Barry Blitt
Dump the Trump
You can’t say it any plainer: The Case Against Donald Trump.
Under his leadership, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has stopped trying to protect consumers and the Environmental Protection Agency has stopped trying to protect the environment.
In June, his administration tear-gassed and cleared peaceful protesters from a street in front of the White House so Mr. Trump could pose with a book he does not read in front of a church he does not attend.
EPIC
[Clem] Whitaker and [Leone] Baxter won nearly every [political] campaign they waged…. Every campaign needs a theme. Keep it simple. Rhyming’s good (“For Jimmy and me, vote ‘yes’ on 3.”) Never explain anything. “The more you have to explain,” Whitaker said, “the more difficult it is to win support.” Say the same thing over and over again. “We assume we have to get a voter’s attention seven times to make a sale,” Whitaker said. Subtlety is your enemy, “Words that lean on the mind are no good,” according to Baxter. “They must dent it.” Simplify, simplify, simplify. “A wall goes up,” Whitaker warned, “when you try to make Mr. and Mrs. Average American citizen work or think.”
—Jill Lepore, These Truths: A History of the United States (2018), p. 451
One of the first efforts by Whitaker and Baxter’s Campaigns, Inc. was to defeat Sinclair Lewis’s bid to be elected governor of California in 1934.
Not a thread
My, there certainly have been some people with things to say about holding a meaningful conversation. I’ve read the open letter to Harper’s, and I’ve read at least some of the criticism, most saliently the response posted to The Objective. Frankly, I see little to object to in the words of the Harper’s letter. The nut sentence for me:
The way to defeat bad ideas is by exposure, argument, and persuasion, not by trying to silence or wish them away.
I am not particularly persuaded by the The Objective‘s response. Much space is given to quibbles about some of the examples cited. The responders write,
Under the guise of free speech and free exchange of ideas, the letter appears to be asking for unrestricted freedom to espouse their points of view free from consequence or criticism.
I don’t read a request for “unrestricted freedom to espouse” at all.
However, context is crucial. The Harper’s signatories, at least the names that I recognize, do make up a list of prestigious and powerful (insofar as any intellectual can be called powerful, these days) persons. And there are some people on the list with whom I rarely agree, others whose writing is rather superficial, and still others who have uttered some awful things.
A more nuanced, persuasive response comes from Gabrielle Bellot in Literary Hub: “Freedom Means Can Rather Than Should: What the Harper’s Open Letter Gets Wrong.” She writes:
The problem, then, is that the letter… fails to consider the experiences of others, the experience of what it is like to see your very identity coldly dissected and suspected in the name of free speech.
* * *
I want to believe in a world where, if someone doesn’t understand what it means to be an identity different from their own, they can at least open up a conversation with someone who has this different identity, and, if that person feels inclined to share their experience, they can help show that uncertain person a bit of what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes.
But it’s difficult to hold these dispassionate discussions in a world where I feel scared when I see a police officer, and, when I say why, I am asked to “prove” that systemic racism exists, or where I am asked to “prove” that I have a right to use the women’s restroom.
Her nut graf:
…I became accustomed to such thinkpieces, which never seemed to truly grapple with what it must feel like to be transgender—pieces that failed, like simplistic novels, to put oneself in the shoes of someone wholly different. Ironically, I loved debates, but calmly discussing my very right to exist felt icy and isolating. The philosopher Thomas Nagel famously asked in a 1974 essay entitled “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” that very question, trying to put himself into an ontological, experiential position deeply dissimilar to his own. I found myself wishing that some of these anti-trans screeds, which were often defended as simply people “asking questions,” would take the time to truly imagine what it might be like to be someone so different from themselves, rather than treating people like me as clinical subjects to be unempathetically, dehumanizingly dissected in the name of free speech.
When I first read the Harper’s letter, I had recently seen Conor Friedersdorf’s “The Perils of ‘With Us or Against Us’,” which has attracted relatively little attention even though it hits the mark more cleanly.
… in the stifling, anti-intellectual cultural climate of 2020, where solidarity is preferred to dissent, I hear echoes of a familiar Manichaean logic: Choose a side. You are either an anti-racist or an ally of white supremacy. Are you with us or against us? (emphasis in the original)
In my younger days, this idea was often expressed as some version of “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” And when I was young, I subscribed to that idea, but I’ve let my subscription lapse. There are just too many problems to go around: climate change looming like a melting iceberg, the crushing loss of habitat and species diversity, the nuclear doomsday clock (it’s at 23:58:20), shameful human rights violations by our allies and our rivals, excruciating tropical diseases—all of this on top of galloping economic inequality and the string of issues connected to it, not least among them the disenfranchisement of 700,000 Americans. It’s too much. I can’t expect you to drop everything to work on everything that I know is important; how can you expect me to do so for you?
You have to pick your battles. Today, I worked in the park: I rebuilt a protective cage around an oak sapling, and I sowed seeds. Tomorrow will be another project.
I’ll close with Friedersdorf’s closing:
Absolutely, Black lives matter, which is part of why everyone should encourage constructive dissent, even when it seems frustratingly out of touch with the trauma and emotion of the moment. Identifying changes that will achieve equality is hard. Avoiding unintended consequences is harder. Without a healthy deliberative process, avoidable catastrophes are more likely.
My year in contributions, 2019
‘Tis the season when we are beset by requests for contributions. What organizations are worthy of support? Consider this list as some recommendations from me.
These are the groups and projects to which I gave coin (generally tax-deductible), property, and/or effort in 2019.
- American Association of Community Theatre
- American Bird Conservancy
- American Birding Association
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Film Institute
- American Friends Service Committee (sustaining)
- American Indian College Fund
- American Visionary Art Museum
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy
- Audubon Naturalist Society (sustaining) (special additional support this year)
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- CARE (sustaining)
- The Carter Center
- Casey Trees
- Contemporary American Theater Festival
- Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
- Cultural Tourism DC (and volunteer)
- DC Vote
- Earthwatch Institute
- Fairfax Library Foundation
- Film Noir Foundation
- FINCA International
- U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Migratory Bird Hunting & Conservation Stamp and its friends organization (and board member)
- First Book
- Flora of Virginia
- Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia
- Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
- Huntley Meadows Park and Riverbend Park (volunteer) as a Fairfax Master Naturalist
- IISD Experimental Lakes Area
- Internet Archive
- jazz89 KUVO (sustaining)
- The Land Institute
- Literacy Council of Northern Virginia
- Longacre Lea
- Maine Coast Heritage Trust
- MassGeneral Hospital for Children
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Mount St. Joseph University
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- The Nature Conservancy (increased support this year)
- Northwestern University
- Peregrine Fund
- Potomac Conservancy
- ProLiteracy
- ProPublica
- Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice
- Rebuilding Together DC Alexandria
- Shenandoah National Park Trust
- The Smithsonian Associates
- Silver Spring Stage
- SOME: So Others Might Eat (sustaining)
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- The Sun magazine
- Trout Unlimited
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Virginia Native Plant Society (and chapter board member)
- Virginia Natural History Society
- Friends of the W&OD Trail
- WAMU 88.5 FM (sustaining)
- Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (board member)
- Water.org
- Wikimedia Foundation (increased support this year)
- Wikipedia (volunteer)
- Wilson Ornithological Society
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
- WPFW (sustaining)
- Xerces Society
My year in contributions, 2018
Did you have a good year this year? Great! Please consider sharing some of that good fortune with one of these organizations. (If you had a bad year, I’m sorry.)
These are the groups and projects to which I gave coin (generally tax-deductible), property, and/or effort in 2018.
- American Association of Community Theatre
- American Bird Conservancy
- American Birding Association
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Film Institute
- American Friends Service Committee (sustaining)
- American Indian College Fund
- American Visionary Art Museum (new support this year)
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy
- Audubon Naturalist Society (sustaining)
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- CARE
- The Carter Center
- Casey Trees
- Cobscook Community Learning Center (special support this year)
- Contemporary American Theater Festival
- Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
- Cultural Tourism DC (and volunteer)
- DC Vote (increased support this year)
- Earthwatch Institute
- Fairfax Library Foundation
- Film Noir Foundation
- FINCA International
- U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Migratory Bird Hunting & Conservation Stamp and its friends organization (and board member)
- First Book
- Flora of Virginia
- Greater Greater Washington (new support this year)
- Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia (increased support this year)
- Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
- Huntley Meadows Park (volunteer)
- IISD Experimental Lakes Area
- Internet Archive
- jazz89 KUVO
- The Land Institute
- Learning Ally (volunteer)
- Literacy Council of Northern Virginia
- Longacre Lea
- Maine Coast Heritage Trust (new support this year)
- MassGeneral Hospital for Children
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Mount St. Joseph University
- National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- The Nature Conservancy
- Northwestern University
- Peregrine Fund
- Poetry Daily
- Potomac Conservancy
- ProLiteracy
- ProPublica (increased support this year)
- Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice
- Rebuilding Together DC Alexandria
- Shenandoah National Park Trust
- The Smithsonian Associates
- Silver Spring Stage (special additional support this year)
- SOME: So Others Might Eat (sustaining)
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- The Sun magazine
- Trout Unlimited
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Virginia Native Plant Society (and chapter board member)
- Virginia Natural History Society
- Friends of the W&OD Trail
- WAMU 88.5 FM (sustaining)
- Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (board member)
- Water.org
- Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikipedia (volunteer)
- Wilson Ornithological Society
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
- WPFW (sustaining)
- Xerces Society
Riding the Rarely and Never
I’ve been trying to keep up with the extensive reporting by the Times on the shabby state of New York’s subway system, and how it got that way. Here’s a nugget from Brian M. Rosenthal et al.’s kickoff (it’s from November—did I say that I was trying to keep up?):
A bill passed by the Legislature in 1989 included a provision that lets state officials impose a fee on bonds issued by public authorities. The fee was largely intended to compensate the state for helping understaffed authorities navigate the borrowing process. It was to be a small charge, no more than 0.2 percent of the value of bond issuances….
The charge has quietly grown into a revenue stream for the state. And a lot of the money has been sapped from one authority in particular: the M.T.A.
The authority — a sophisticated operation that contracts with multiple bond experts — has had to pay $328 million in bond issuance fees over the past 15 years.
In some years, it has been charged fees totaling nearly 1 percent of its bond issuances, far more than foreseen under the original law….
But records show that other agencies have had tens of millions of dollars in bond issuance fees waived, including the Dormitory Authority, which is often used as a vehicle for pork projects pushed by the governor or lawmakers. The M.T.A. has not benefited as often from waivers.
The Dormitory Authority? What’s that? DASNY likes to style itself as New York State’s real estate developer. Its Wikipedia article needs some work.
My year in contributions, 2017
If you’re looking for a last-minute contribution to make—maybe to round up your tax-deductible total for the year—I have… some suggestions.
These are the groups and projects to which I gave coin (generally tax-deductible), property, and/or effort in 2017.
- American Association of Community Theatre
- American Bird Conservancy
- American Birding Association
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Film Institute
- American Friends Service Committee (sustaining)
- American Indian College Fund
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy
- Audubon Naturalist Society (sustaining)
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Bread for the City (special support this year)
- CARE
- The Carter Center (increased support this year)
- Casey Trees
- Contemporary American Theater Festival
- Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
- Cultural Tourism DC (and volunteer)
- DC Vote
- Earthwatch Institute
- Fairfax Library Foundation
- Film Noir Foundation
- FINCA International
- U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Migratory Bird Hunting & Conservation Stamp and its friends organization (and board member)
- First Book
- Flora of Virginia
- Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia
- Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
- Home of the Brave
- Huntley Meadows Park (volunteer)
- IISD Experimental Lakes Area
- Internet Archive
- jazz89 KUVO
- The Land Institute
- Learning Ally (volunteer)
- Literacy Council of Northern Virginia
- Longacre Lea (new support after a hiatus)
- MassGeneral Hospital for Children
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Mount St. Joseph University (new this year)
- National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- The Nature Conservancy
- North American Bird Phenology Program (volunteer)
- Northwestern University (increased support this year)
- Peregrine Fund
- Poetry Daily
- Potomac Conservancy
- ProLiteracy
- ProPublica
- Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice
- Rebuilding Together
- Shenandoah National Park Trust (increased support this year)
- The Smithsonian Associates
- SOME: So Others Might Eat (sustaining)
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- The Sun magazine
- Trout Unlimited (special support this year)
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Virginia Native Plant Society (and chapter board member)
- Friends of the W&OD Trail
- W3C Validators
- WAMU 88.5 FM (sustaining)
- Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (board member)
- Water.org
- Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikipedia (volunteer)
- Wilson Ornithological Society
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
- WPFW (sustaining)
- Xerces Society