How does it look?

How does it look?

Posted on by jack

How does it look? Both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are trying to convince voters in the Democratic presidential primary of their abilities to represent the people as President.

At least part of the convincing revolves around who will do the best job for the American people – not the few but the many. Each thinks they would do better. And tries to convince people that of that.

How does it look?

But how does it look when Bernie runs off to Rome to see the Pope and spread his message while Hillary goes off to Hollywood to raise money and meet with movie stars.

How does it look?

Think about your votes

Think about your votes

Posted on by jack

Do you have a Presidential candidate in mind? Do you think he or she can do what is talked about during the campaign?

You should vote. But make sure the vote does what you want. Think about your vote.

It seems to me that if you think Smith would be a good president because he or she favors issues you think important, it makes little sense to vote for Jones for Senate or House if he or she opposes those issues. Of course things could be more complicated and there could be a variety of issues to consider but think about your votes.

This year we are electing all members of the House and a third of the Senate. Everyone voting for President can also vote for the member of the House of Representatives for their district. And about a third of us get to pick and senator. Choose wisely. I think your votes in these races should be consistent with your Presidential vote.

Scottish Military Disasters

Scottish Military Disasters

Posted on by jack

Near the end of my  post for yesterday  on the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge  I cited a book called  Scottish Military Disasters by Paul Cowan.  I had read the chapter on the battle and the role of Flora MacDonald.  It did seem rather an unlikely coincidence but it appears to be true.

Anyway I liked what I had read and that evening starting looking around to see if I could find more about the book.  Well, learning about the book  Scottish Military Disasters was my starting point.  I learned a bit that was expected and some that was totally unexpected.
Continue reading “Scottish Military Disasters”

Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge

Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge

Posted on by jack

During a recent vacation we spent a few days at Wilmington, NC. One afternoon, after a pleasant lunch on the riverfront, we drove to Moore’s Creek National Battlefield.

The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge took place about a half hour northwest of Wilmington NC in a very rural area.   It was rural then and it is rural now.

Looking at the map, it is fairly close to an interstate highway so it may not be quite as remote as it seemed to us. We went by another route so it seem quite remote. We didn’t expect anyone else to be there but there were several carloads.
Continue reading “Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge”

The Steel Kiss by Jeffery Deaver

The Steel Kiss by Jeffery Deaver

Posted on by Jack

I like Jeffery Deaver’s books. I know I have read several and enjoyed them immensely, especially the Lincoln Rhyme novels. So when I saw an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) of The Steel Kiss by Jeffery Deaver on Netgalley, I immediately requested it. I was reading another book at the time which I planned on finishing and had several others in line to be read but this one jumped to the front of the “to be read” line.

The Steel Kiss by Jeffery Deaver is the latest Lincoln Rhyme novel. I had high expectations and this did not disappoint. Continue reading “The Steel Kiss by Jeffery Deaver”

Irish Revolutionary and American Hero

Irish Revolutionary and American Hero

Posted on by jack

Those of us with an interest in Irish history often read about many an Irish Revolutionary. The English held onto Ireland for 8 centuries. The Brits treated the Irish so poorly there were many attempts to throw off the English yoke. Finally in 1916 some of those Irish Revolutionaries had partial success.

By the way, the label does depend on your perspective. To those who believed Ireland should rule itself and the Irish should have rights, these men were Irish Revolutionaries. If you were English or believed England should rule the Irish, these men were rebels or traitors. Continue reading “Irish Revolutionary and American Hero”

Ancestry Irish Catholic parish records

Ancestry Irish Catholic parish records

Posted on by jack

A few days ago I wrote about free access to Irish Catholic parish records on Find My Past. These records are also availble on Ancestry,

In my experience to date I prefer the Ancestry Irish Catholic parish records. I have found a few new members of my extended family via the Ancestry Irish Catholic parish records. The records seem more complete, although that may or may not be true in general, it seems to be the case for my family.

I also like that the Ancestry index seems to be more often linked to an image of the actual record. That may be of limited value since the records are written in Latin and often hard to read. But it is nice to se the oriinal record and verify that it was indexed correctly. (I have not found a mistake yet.)

Free genealogy offer better

Free genealogy offer better

Posted on by jack

The free genealogy offer from Find My Past is better than I thought when I wrote my post on free access to this morning. I thought access to these records was free until March 7.

When I went online and started searching I noticed all sorts of Irish Records were being pulled up. Then I re-read the email from Find My Past: Continue reading “Free genealogy offer better”

Irish Catholic parish records

Irish Catholic parish records

Posted on by jack

Good news for those with an interest in Irish genealogy. For some time now, we have known Irish Catholic parish records would be put an the internet with a searchable index.

Find My Past has put a searchable index of Irish Catholic parish records online, and it is free for a limited time. This has long been desirable since the are the state of useful records for Irish genealogy is so poor. In fact, births of Catholics were not included in public records until 1864.

Many of those records that did exist were destroyed during the Irish civil war. So the state of genealogical records in Ireland is pretty bad for everyone and worse for those of us with Catholic ancestors. That is why a searchable index for Irish Catholic parish records is so important. Continue reading “Irish Catholic parish records”

Yellow Dog Republicans

Yellow Dog Republicans

Posted on by jack

Before I retired I lived in Georgia for 30 years. For part of that time Georgia was a solid democratic state. Of course, this was a long time ago. The state seemed to have an abundance of Yellow Dog Democrats. That is, Democrats who would vote for a yellow dog if nominated by the Democrats over any candidate nominated by the Republicans.

So solid was Democratic Georgia that Republicans quite often didn’t even put-up an opposition candidate for many offices. The real decision was reached in the Democratic primary.

Now it seems we have Yellow Dog Republicans as well. Continue reading “Yellow Dog Republicans”

Brick wall broken by DNA

Brick wall broken by DNA

Posted on by jack

Genealogists trace a family and then get to a point where is seems very difficult or maybe even impossible to get beyond. These involuntary stopping points in genealogy are often called “Brick Walls”. I have several and I suppose a good many people doing genealogy have several brick walls. This is the story of a brick wall broken by DNA.

To be more specific it is the brick wall in my McKenzie line. I had been able to go back as far as my great grandfather Malcolm McKenzie and his wife Emma Cash McKenzie. Over a year and a half I wrote a very short post about them, mostly Emma Cash McKenzie.
Continue reading “Brick wall broken by DNA”

Bernie Sanders’ foreign policy

Bernie Sanders’ foreign policy

Posted on by jack

I watched the New Hampshire Democratic debate a few days ago. It was good seeing Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton debate some of the differences between them.

In some cases I think it did get a bit silly in arguing who is a progressive. I think they both take progressive stances but they are also very different.

In asking about foreign policy Continue reading “Bernie Sanders’ foreign policy”

Crazy, Useless, Shafted

Crazy, Useless, Shafted

Posted on by jack

I called this book review Crazy, Useless, Shafted. That seems to cover it in a few words. The full title is The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted but that seemed a bit long for a title.

The book is by Mike Lofgren who spent 28 years has a Republican Congressional staffer. His start was with John Kasich who in the 1980s was on the House Armed Services Committee. Mike switched from national security to the House Budget Committee when Representative Kasich became chairman. He retired from the Senate Budgetary Committee in 2011, frustrated by the ridiculous debt ceiling debate and the lunacy and terrorism of the Republican party.

Why I read this book

Continue reading “Crazy, Useless, Shafted”

Who is this guy? Why should I care?

Who is this guy? Why should I care?

Posted on by jack

I got an email titled “Who is this Guy???” It is apparently a version of an email that has been around since 2010 or earlier.  I suppose the 3 question marks are meant to show that this is an important question.

I wasn’t quite sure of the point but it seems to suggest that I should not vote for Hillary Clinton because her daughter’s father-in-law scammed lots of people out of money and went to jail for it. Continue reading “Who is this guy? Why should I care?”

Clinton misleads on Healthcare

Clinton misleads on Healthcare

Posted on by jack

Hillary Clinton has said the Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for all” plan would leave health care in the hands on Republican governors. Perhaps she has confused Bernie Sanders’ plan with the medicaid expansion under Obamacare. But it does seem more likely that Hillary Clinton misleads, or tries to mislead, us on Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for all” plan.

I have Medicare. I do not have Medicaid. They are 2 distinct programs. If someone believes they should be President, I think they should understand the difference between them, be able to intelligently discuss them, and not use the similarity in names to mislead the public.

There are some real differences between Clinton and Sanders. I would rather see an honest discussion of the policy differences than misleading claims.