Mother Jones magazine review

Mother Jones has a long tradition as a provocative magazine. Its World Wide Web incarnation continues that tradition. The importance here is on interactivity and participation; visitors to this site have many opportunities to join in debates, contribute their $0.02, or gather information on a variety of topical issues.
You can read the latest issue of the magazine, of course, and can access archived issues from 1993. But don't stop there. Several options are available on the home page, and all are worth exploring. Among the most attractive: Moro Wire, which Mother Jones calls partnership between you, the reader, and us, to create a work for the ordinary good". There you will find a really neat feature: The Best Congress Money Can Buy. Don't let the title put you off, it isn't just a chance to bash the Republicans. Pursue the link and you will find the Coin Operated Congress, which allows you to search data gathered from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) in an easy to use graphical format (i.e. forms). Type in a politician's name, and a few seconds later a chart comes back showing the PAC money a applicant received.
In another area, Live Wire allows you to join in conversations online with other readers. It's a lot like Usenet, but posts are arranged in trees that make it easier to figure out which discussions you want to read or join. even if Mother Jones has a definite liberal bent, their subject matter is intriguing and thought-provoking. For content and interest, this online magazine lines with Time in terms of excellence.
The home page contains a series of fairly large graphics. Some users may find it wise to turn off automatic loading of images. The Coin-Operated Congress page is forms-based, which will pose problems for text browsers. Some sound files are in Real Audio format, which requires the Real Audio player.