Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings 

Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

Last night, I saw the third installment of Oliver Stone's The Untold History of the United States and while I don't know if his conclusion the Henry Wallace, as FDR's successor, would have changed history as positively as he thinks, I do agree that Truman was a disaster to have as the US president leading this country and the world nations into the new age which the conclusion of WWII brought.

 

Not even going into the immorality of drop the atomic bomb, his Truman Doctrine (we will fight communism wherever we find it in the world) and his push to establish the state of Israel without regard to a parallel Arab state (which was the plan first proposed during WWI) set the world on a course to disaster and pain which has still not ended.

 

Harsh words some might say since Truman's popularity, which was in the sewer as he left office, has risen to meteoric heights (one of the near greats) in the popular culture since then.

 

Truman was a shoot-from-the hip, street smart, not very bright (to which he would probably concur) man who started in politics as a "son" of the Kansas party bosses and whom history put in the right place at the wrong time so that the national Democratic  party bosses were able to steal the VP nomination from Wallace in FDR's fourth and final run for the presidency and give it to Truman. Truman, not Wallace, had the date with history on that fateful day, April 12, 1945.

 

In another time in US history, in a calmer more isolationist time, his ascent to the presidency at FDR's death would have been a blip in history. His American straight-talking, nuance-lacking persona so carefully depicted and satirized by greats like Mark Twain and Henry James would have rubber-stamped laws as he was told and earned his way into the history books as no more than another prez's name US school kids had to memorize.

 

But it didn't happen that way. An inadequate player got to play at one of the most dangerous chess games world leaders have ever played. He was so far out of his league but unfortunately, he was self-delusionally confident through it all; an attitude a vast segment of the US population loves without ever understanding the consequences of such an attitude. To this day, and I'm sure well into the future, we are all still be paying for his vast mistakes.

 

 OK, if what I just wrote has you slamming your head into the wall in desperation, hold onto your hats:

http://www.thegodlessheathen.com/

 

 The Godless Heathen. Any doubt where this website will lead you? I don't usually pick atheist web sites but this one is as good as it gets as a smörgåsbord of non-faith based ideas.

For the most part you get some pretty pithy posters zinging the anti-atheist, pro-faith bias in the world. But you also get videos from Penn of Penn & Teller, the last Christopher Hitchens and scientist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson among others. It looks up to date and it's a fast, satisfying "read."

You don't have to "marry" the site but if you're a non-believer you'll see some interesting stuff to boost your beliefs while living in a desert of faith and, if you're a believer, take a look at the other side: we're not scary monsters.

 

http://www.bookcountry.com/ 

 

I'm going to let Book Country talk about itself first:  Book Country is a place where readers and writers of genre fiction come together to read original fiction, post work or comments, and make a name for themselves. Our free community is a creative and supportive space where fiction writers and readers can give and receive constructive criticism, discover new and entertaining books, discuss and share tips and experiences, and learn about the publishing industry. Book Country aims to be useful, egalitarian, and merit-based while fostering an atmosphere of encouragement and creativity.

 

While BC is "a subsidiary of Penguin Group" (you know, the book company with the penguin logo), it's a separate entity and "Book Country is industry-wide in scope – books from all publishing houses will be mentioned on the site." 

What do I like about this site? First, it seems to be stocked with helpful members. Click on Discussions. I love the discussion topics such as Can a bad sex scene ruin a novel?; How effective is 1st person POV?, and the Dr. Who thread. Non-members get to read all the constructive answers; members get to rate these answers as helpful or not. People actually answer the OP (original poster) thoughtfully, no snark involved. (Even Ravelry has trouble with snark.) I could spend all my time in the Discussion section but there is more.

If you click on the books listed, you'll get to read drafts of new novels. If you join Book Country, you get to write a review.

But don't stop there. Go to the Genre Map with all categories of fiction: historical, mystery, romance, historical romance, mystery historical romance...... you get the idea. My only quibble is that the titles are not hyper linked and, for example, to learn more about Get Shorty in the noir genre, you have to cut and paste the name for a search. (Oh, the horror of that extra step.)

 

I could blather on but you all know the drill.  Click, explore, enjoy. Me, I'm going back to the Discussion section and find out all about bad sex scenes. See you next week.