Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings 
Tax the Rich 

Website Wednesday 

Yesterday, I heard about the death of a very poor, illiterate, young asthmatic who lived in a trailer in the US where the postal address was the number on the telephone pole and who died because of a snafu in the medical delivery system.

Being poor, being illiterate, dying, is so very sad whatever your country but I guess the whole cosmic joke under which we're all existing as the human species hits me harder when these sorrowful stories are learned as our media delights in regaling us with tid-bits of such purported importance as the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling or US recognition for the Syrian rebels.

None of us, unless we are involved in the running of a government, live at the level being thus reported. Some of us, if we are lucky or greedy, or both, can amuse ourselves with these rip and read media headlines, but most of us are living under the angst of economic reversals and are too busy plodding along to care much about what brings a twinkle to the main stream media's eye except during an exchange of work, water cooler gossip.

But then there is that layer of poverty that so few of us, including me, even hear about or care about without effort. These people live in the sub-strata of the US economy which is best hidden behind Oz's green curtain and never troubled about except as charity donations nor railed against except by a few exceptionally caring and perceptive people whose existence makes me think the human species might have a future.

http://artofmanliness.com/

Just one pick this Wednesday because: I've lost time since I was kicked unceremoniously off the internet an hour ago as Windows added yet another one of its sneaky updates, this one the update which will give you more free time to do other things by slowly the internet down; I have a DDS appointment in an hour; and, the dog ate my homework.

I realized on Monday that I seem to praise male actors more often than female (something I'll remedy next week) and I also seem to choose non-male orientated website picks. That is, I hope my picks are interesting to both sexes but I seldom (if ever) choose an all male site.

I've fixed that today. The Art of Manliness says of itself: The Art of Manliness is authored by husband and wife team, Brett and Kate McKay. It features articles on helping men be better husbands, better fathers, and better men. In our search to uncover the lost art of manliness, we’ll look to the past to find examples of manliness in action. We’ll analyze the lives of great men who knew what it meant to “man up” and hopefully learn from them. And we’ll talk about the skills, manners, and principles that every man should know. 

OK, a woman is involved in producing this site but I still think it's manly enough for you guys. Today, you'll get a guide to buying an overcoat and it looks very thorough and a real eye-opener to me since I didn't think guys wore them anymore except in old movies. There's also an excerpt from the book, Mastery, by Robert Greene which shows the steps to mastering a skill and when you should move on from just being an apprentice. (I would think this advice very valuable to creative young people especially.) On the practical side, you'll learn how to make a wallet that will last a lifetime and 15 practical gifts to make for men. (Note: It's got to be an all-guy site since the making and giving of a sling shot would never,ever occur to me. And, it shouldn't. Those things are dangerous!)

I know I say this often, but be sure to bookmark this site. There's a lot of good writing and ideas here that you'll enjoy reading.

That's it. Gotta run. See you next week.