27 February 2011

CELEBRITY COUSIN FUN

RUMORED BISEXUAL MADONNA and LESBIAN ELLEN DEGENERES?

"TWILIGHT" TELEVISION VAMPIRE ROBERT PATTINSON and THE REAL COUNT DRACULA?

News stories about the genealogies of the famous can be intriguing - or simply silly. Recently a number of stories broke about these famous "cousins."

GENERALLY, you are likely related to one person in 64 that you pass by when walking down the street! More so if you and your ancestors have lived (and procreated) in the same vicinity for generations.

26 February 2011

NEW DESIGN OF ANCESTRY WORSHIP GENEALOGY FOR LEAP YEAR

It's been a slow process but Ancestry Worship genealogy is now very close to the look we wanted. Over the next few weeks we'll also be replacing expired videos and other maintenance to the site. We appreciate any ideas you may have!

22 February 2011

50th ANNIVERSARY OF JFK and CAMELOT and A HOME VIDEO SURFACES

Today I was browsing the net looking to see if there was a genealogy of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's genealogy and of course there was! But maybe more exciting was the breaking news that a home video was donated to a museum in Dallas.

16 February 2011

POSTING FROM THE SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER LIBRARY

I seized the afternoon and went to the Simon Wiesenthal Center Library where I had a chance to do research on specific towns in Poland and look at a book of Jewish given names and the origins of each name which can be helpful if you find that someone's name is unusual and wonder from which ancestor this name is taken. From the library's Internet I rechecked information I had obtained through JewishGen and The New York Public Library. I was treated in a warm and professional manner.

One of the important programs of the Simon Wiesenthal Center is the ASK A SURVIVOR program. You see, as the years go by and we get the distance of over 50 years from World War II and the Holocaust (of course we know that other people on this earth have been and are being Holocaust besides the Jewish people and that about a third of the victims of the Holocaust were not Jewish), there are those who say "it never happened!" We know databases are imperfect for so very many reasons but hearing the stories from those who experienced the nightmare puts an end to that denial.

This program is one of several I've heard of that documents the experiences of those who lived through. It is important to not deny that humans can be horrifically cruel to other humans.

For those who have lost family to this World War II or another Holocaust, documenting and bringing the person's life back into discussion is a matter of family honor. It doesn't just honor the person(s) but the family itself, which has been fractured from the outside.

LINKING TO THE CENTER RESEARCH AREA
C Ancestry Worship Genealogy All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights

10 February 2011

EXCELLENT RESEARCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN POSTING PLEAS FOR INFORMATION OR FAMILY STORIES!

I've been researching genealogy and family history, society and culture, in one way or another for many years, well before the Internet or on line databases or research clubs, which are often organized by a locality, ethnicity, or surname.

In the first couple years in which I also implimented the Internet for my research I posted pleas for information, hoping to meet and cooperate with other researchers. It felt exciting to do so at the time.

Today I regret the postings, which did not result in any matches and are still showing on the net with, sadly, bits of misinformation because I posted based on what family was telling me hoping mutual stories would prove to be familial links.

I regret also because I've spent many useless hours reading other people's pleas to no avail AND HAVE FOUND THAT MOST POSTERS HAVE DONE LITTLE TO NO RESEARCH and ARE HOPING MEETING RELATIONS ON THE NET WILL RESULT IN HAVING SOMEONE ELSE'S HARD WON RESEARCH GIVEN TO THEM.

Today I see these chat room pleas as time wasters for another reason: because when it comes to research, you cannot depend on or accept somebody else's, especially when you will never have in person interaction with this person to know if they bring character and values into their research, or at least professional standards even if there is no financial transaction or basis. I've found errors even in the LDS submissions that members have provided the church as documentation in order to begin the process of Holy Ordinances.

You are almost always better off researching, documenting, and keeping to professional standards consistently (with always an open mind that you might be operating on assumptions based in family stories and may find error in your thinking or research at some point) then reaching out to or depending on strangers. '

Sometimes family stories are proven right, sometimes wrong. At best they are inspirational.