|
Post by missouriboy on Nov 19, 2015 16:43:17 GMT
"To forgive the terrorists is up to God, but to send them to him is up to me."
Quote being attributed to Vladimir Putin ... whether true or not. Perhaps he does have a sense of humor?
|
|
|
Post by icefisher on Nov 19, 2015 20:19:22 GMT
I too am an older fart than I care to admit. In my genealogical interests I've been lucky. First, the family name is rather rare, no more than about 50,000 of us in the US today ... and all the Caucasian ones traced back to a single man in Virginia by persistent researchers that were pounding this beat when it required visits to the court house. Thanks I have saved your post with the references. I haven't been working on this for a couple of years because of a business project I have been working on. But I may get back to it. I did a few weeks of research on both lines of the family when by chance I learned my wife's father served in the same division, different wars, than my grandfather's brother. The search of military records turned up some interesting stuff. The WWI battle my great uncle was wounded in gave the division its nickname, "The Rock of the Marne". Where an element of the division stood firm on the Marne as the French were retreating. I found the exact location where he was wounded from a description of the decoration he received in the national archives for his part in the battle and viewed it on Google maps. It was one of the last German advances of the war. So I was off into other directions ultimately taking me back to the civil war. Yes it is addictive. Then I went down the other branch of the family but didn't do as well. Though in a long lost search by my other grandfather he was able to get back to a man who was in Ohio who was born while George Washington was in office. That research is long lost as my grandfather did it in the 1950's to prove a claim to a deed that belonged to that Ohio man. Ended up he barely covered his costs of doing the research as he found so many other descendents that he split the sale of property proceeds with. So something else to think about is preserving the work you do for the enjoyment of others in the future.
|
|
|
Post by sigurdur on Nov 22, 2015 21:30:39 GMT
|
|
|
Post by missouriboy on Nov 23, 2015 17:38:04 GMT
people have a “right” to be who they think they are and — this is not quite the same thing — have a right to be who they feel they are. Ok ... and this seems to be evolving into a requirement that others treat / accept them for what they 'think' or 'feel' they are. Has this perhaps happened in climate science? If I think/feel I am a climate scientist, then I is a climate scientist. It stands to be a problem in the job interview process. Maybe I'm being unfair, but that cannot be because I believe that I am a fair person. In the current climate of Yankee-Puritan dogma, we are required to accept a person's statement as fact regardless of any accompanying odor of slightly decomposing fecal material, because to do otherwise would be a violation of that person's safe space of self esteem. Boy ... this gets complicated. George Orwell would have been amazed. So, with pardons to Germaine Greer, if my doctor does give me long ears, liver spots AND a brown coat, then maybe I really am a f___ing cocker spaniel. I'm starting to itch already. But don't you dare mention extermination ... my fleas believe they are Rhodes Scholars and they've raised the black flag of the religion of peace. Je suis confus!
|
|
|
Post by missouriboy on Nov 23, 2015 17:50:30 GMT
I'm from the government and I'm here to help myself. The enemy that one can see is not always the most dangerous. Could Edward Snowden be right???
|
|
|
Post by sigurdur on Nov 23, 2015 20:54:03 GMT
Mr. Snowden was correct, and should have a ticker tape parade!
|
|
|
Post by nonentropic on Nov 23, 2015 21:10:06 GMT
Its a bit more grey than that me thinks.
|
|
|
Post by walnut on Nov 23, 2015 22:13:31 GMT
Snowden should be executed, and then celebrated.
|
|
|
Post by missouriboy on Nov 23, 2015 22:30:03 GMT
I'm from the government and I'm here to help myself. The enemy that one can see is not always the most dangerous. Could Edward Snowden be right??? Mr. Snowden was correct, and should have a ticker tape parade! That was my impression as well. Particularly, when powerful members of the 'hidden' establishment start calling for an old-fashioned lynching ... makes one wonder whose horse was stolen. For things that cannot be done in the light of day. If our freedoms are only protected by slight-of-hand and deceit, we have already lost. A good old-fashioned carpet bombing with pyrotechnic cleansing and criminal expulsion would be preferable ... and safer, assuming we are interested in our liberties.
|
|
|
Post by sigurdur on Nov 23, 2015 23:08:40 GMT
Snowden should be executed, and then celebrated. I disagree. He took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Saw corruption and reported it to the public. The folks behind the corruption want him silenced for actually acting on his oath.
|
|
|
Post by glennkoks on Nov 24, 2015 3:17:03 GMT
Snowden should be executed, and then celebrated. I disagree. He took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Saw corruption and reported it to the public. The folks behind the corruption want him silenced for actually acting on his oath. History will be very kind to Mr. Snowden. "As Time Goes By" and more and more abuses of power and privacy are exposed he will be viewed as a patriot. There is a dangerous amount of information being mined. Everything from which web sites you visit, to certain "key words" that can get you placed on a list. How would you defend yourself if they kicked in your door and accused you of having kiddy porn on your computer? Your going down, just about every jury in the world is going to convict you and I don't know how you could defend yourself. I don't lose sleep over ISIS or the Russians or the Chinese. I fear someone grabbing power from within and holding it. "A Night Of The Long Knifes" nowadays could lead to dictatorship easier than ever.
|
|
|
Post by walnut on Nov 24, 2015 3:38:36 GMT
It is a problem when we are having to trust extremely sensitive national security judgements to idealistic 20 somethings who decide themselves when to post government secrets on twitter, but I guess we will all go up in a mushroom cloud together so I am game if you guys are, I suppose it will be painless.
But it does all come down to the quality of the leaders we choose, and the quality of we the people, if we are not up to snuff then we will be on the trash pile of history pretty soon.
|
|
|
Post by missouriboy on Nov 24, 2015 4:35:01 GMT
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The exceptions lie in the individual (I give you Mr. Snowden & others). Secrecy needs the light of day ... and no small group of people in powerful positions or organizations are to be trusted absolutely. The terrorist may kill 100s or 1000s, or, with the right weapons, even 1000s or millions. But they cannot destroy the nation. But a small group that's already in power ..... ? What trust has never been abused? ?
|
|
|
Post by sigurdur on Nov 24, 2015 4:41:29 GMT
It is a problem when we are having to trust extremely sensitive national security judgements to idealistic 20 somethings who decide themselves when to post government secrets on twitter, but I guess we will all go up in a mushroom cloud together so I am game if you guys are, I suppose it will be painless. But it does all come down to the quality of the leaders we choose, and the quality of we the people, if we are not up to snuff then we will be on the trash pile of history pretty soon. Walnut: I respect you. A long time ago I was exposed to an ugly underbelly of Govt. Only reason I was exposed was because the govt thought a young man with a 4.0 gpa and a clean record was a prime candidate for extremely sensitive information. Higher than a normal top secret. Mr. Snowden was, and is, willing to sacrifice himself to expose wrong doing by our Govt. I compliment him on having the balls to do it. The wording of the Patriot Act gave him no choice in how he did it. Today, if someone in govt deems you a security threat, you can be whisked away with no rights. Sec 1021 and Sec 1022 of the NDAA of 2013 further cement this rendition power. He is a patriot.
|
|
|
Post by glennkoks on Nov 24, 2015 5:18:46 GMT
It is a problem when we are having to trust extremely sensitive national security judgements to idealistic 20 somethings who decide themselves when to post government secrets on twitter, but I guess we will all go up in a mushroom cloud together so I am game if you guys are, I suppose it will be painless. But it does all come down to the quality of the leaders we choose, and the quality of we the people, if we are not up to snuff then we will be on the trash pile of history pretty soon. Walnut: I respect you. A long time ago I was exposed to an ugly underbelly of Govt. Only reason I was exposed was because the govt thought a young man with a 4.0 gpa and a clean record was a prime candidate for extremely sensitive information. Higher than a normal top secret. Mr. Snowden was, and is, willing to sacrifice himself to expose wrong doing by our Govt. I compliment him on having the balls to do it. The wording of the Patriot Act gave him no choice in how he did it. Today, if someone in govt deems you a security threat, you can be whisked away with no rights. Sec 1021 and Sec 1022 of the NDAA of 2013 further cement this rendition power. He is a patriot. I did not even have the balls to report illegal dumping on a ranch by a wildcat oil company in fear of loosing my job. I can only imagine what it took for Mr. Snowden to basically give up his life to expose the government for spying on it's citizens. It takes a rare breed to give up their security and way of life. Our country was founded by just such men. Many people don't realize that signing the Declaration of Independence was not just signing your death warrant it was signing your families death warrant. It takes a special breed. I would like to think I would stand up to oppression but the reality of it is when they come knocking on your door few have the courage to do so.
|
|