Not this time Amazon

I just finished all my on-line holiday shopping without giving a penny to Amazon; it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

Normally, 99% of all the cash I drop on gifts throughout the year goes to Amazon.  With friends and relatives dotted around the world, Amazon makes it easy for me to point-and-shoot presents wherever and whenever I need to send them.

Not this time.

With very little effort I managed to circumvent Amazon completely and still get all my December Pagan Holiday shopping done.  In fact, I enjoyed the diversity of my new Amazon-free lifestyle.

If you too are looking for a way to avoid free-speech stifling Amazon, check out these sites instead:

Support a truly worthy cause at Amnesty International UK


Amazingly cool stuff from the Museum of Modern Art in New York

Speaking of museums, The British Museum also has a good on-line selection

The perennial favorite of nerds everywhere: Think Geek

Great travel gear and of course, a great magazine: National Geographic

If you decide that everyone has too much stuff, throw a few bob to people who actually are saving lives:

St. Mungo's UK homeless services

Unparalleled bravery: Royal National Lifeboat Institution

IMHO one of the most worthy organizations ever created in the history of the human race:  Medecins Sans Frontiers

My point is, fuck Amazon, if they want to cave into government pressure then there is no reason that we need to send them any dosh ever again.

"If Amazon are so uncomfortable with the first amendment they should get out of the business of selling books."  -Julian Assange

Amen to that.