Website Wednesday

I awakened to a CNN TV image of that woman in red yelling about "I demand to see Obama's original birth certificate." and then I had to eliminate my original website choice for today because as I dug deeper I felt it had an agenda with which I was uncomfortable. So, I'm going to take a little detour before I get to Website Wednesday.

I’ve been thinking about all the yahoos out there in the U.S. who are getting air time to stand up and shout that the U.S. president, Barack Obama, is not a U.S. citizen. This ranting probably makes them happy. Fame is great in the U.S. and the loonier your belief, the more media exposure you seem to get. Plus, with this issue, people can escape the label of racist; after all, it’s only a birth certificate they are demanding. They are saying nothing about the fact that the U.S. president is a B-L-A-C-K man. It’s a win-win situation for them.

Of course, for the image and ethos of this country, it just sinks us further into the primordial muck.

The U.S. has always had its population of "I’m a true American and you’re not" since soon after our founding. When the first large wave of immigrants came to the United States (that is after the county was formed), many who were here before (true Americans) were angry. Irish, Germans, Roman Catholics, etc. were targeted for violence. Starting in the early 1830s, mobs burned immigrant buildings and in 1843 the American Republican Party called for a platform demanding “the disfranchisement of Catholics and the foreign-born." (Dumas Malone, Empire of Liberty, p. 604, 1960 - yes, I have a lot of history books.) Later, this group became the Native American Party (known as the Know Nothing Party, not because they were stupid but because they professed to “Know nothing” about their Party if asked) and ran a national ticket lead by Millard Fillmore. The interesting thing here is that while Fillmore only carried Maryland, he “polled a large popular vote.” (Malone, p. 657)

So, don’t dismiss bigoted or racist rantings. They have had a vocal popular following throughout the U.S. history and now they have the ubiquitous pulpit of television.

OK, you say: Enough diversion, where is Website Wednesday?

Well, it’s right here:

http://www.budget101.com/

I think you’ll like Budget101.com. OK, it has a web mistress but there are neat tips for men. Like how to buy mulch economically. Don’t men like mulch?

And there an excellent printable Income/Expenditure Worksheet. In fact, there is a lot of very good budget info. Plus there’s a lot of pet health advice. (Note: As usual, with any health matters tread carefully unless you get professional advice.)

Budget101 says on About Us: (Our Mission is) To provide cost-effective, time-saving budgeting techniques, that may be utilized by anyone working in or out of the home. At Budget101.com, we strive to help people utilize the tools and resources they have available to dig themselves out of debt. Not a shabby goal.

But I was first attracted to this site through its recipes. I’m a sucker for recipes. I like to read them; not cook with them. This site shows you how to make your mixes like cake and sauce (the barbecue mix looks so simple.) And there are actual recipes to make.

I haven’t checked all the links from this site but I’ll make this one easy for you:

http://www.mickeyforster.com/recipes.htm

This is a fantastic dinner planning, interactive site.

So go check out Budget 101.com. It’s such a comfortable and informative site.

OK, I know, I owe the guys their own Website Wednesday. I’ll check with some men and get back to you. I’m thinking about a manly-man one like: How To Carve a Giant Wooden Bear, Starting With Felling Your Own Tree.