Ben Affleck was gung-ho when the PBS wanted to do a genealogy search he had thought all along that his American ancestors were on the side of 'Right' until they discovered he had a Sheriff ancestor that owned slaves.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/b...rustrated-ben-affleck-and-a-loss-of-face.html
What an idiot, I should be used to now of 'Mega Star' childish petulance..
Max.

 

Well half my ancestors came from Germany and to be honest given a number of their personalities I can totally see them pushing people into gas chambers or furnaces and pulling the big red levers of doom with big grins of superiority on their faces.

Then there is the Russian quarter that well lets just say that when Russia did such things years ago I can also see them being in the thick of it with a big grin on their faces as well.

Also there's the Norwegian roughly quarter that once agains I could see them as raiding Norse warriors pretty much doing what raiding Norsk warriors got their reputations for as well.

Lastly there is likely a bit of Irish in the overall mix too but fortunately if that part played out to their historical stereotypes they represent the falling down drunks with a temper aspects of my heritage.

As far as my ancestors owning slaves well yea that wouldn't surprize me either.

 

What an idiot

Maybe he was concerned that people would rush to judgement.

 

Maybe he was concerned that people would rush to judgement.

There is no rush to judgement, he is an idiot.

 

There is no rush to judgement

You're right, more like a sprint.

 

One of the old sayings I invented: "This world is not in danger of being overrun with geniuses."

On a side note,
My Kentucky relatives repeatedly warned my generation not to seek their genealogy.
I eventually found out I'm 1/16th Cree Indian.
Aha! So that's why I can't grow a beard!

 

One of the old sayings I invented: "This world is not in danger of being overrun with geniuses."

On a side note,
My Kentucky relatives repeatedly warned my generation not to seek their genealogy.
I eventually found out I'm 1/16th Cree Indian.
Aha! So that's why I can't grow a beard!

Welcome to the tribe bro. Consider that a blessing, I can't grow a full beard either, tried once in the Navy but they made me shave the stubble because it looked like crap and itched like hell.

 

Consider that a blessing.

I do consider it a blessing. I don't even have enough beard to itch.
Just look at those tender cheeks on the left side of this post.
That's me at 25 years old with 4 days of, "beard".

 

Hmm. German/Russian/Norsk/Irish blood here. I can grow a beard like grizzly Adams in a week and look like I'm with ZZ top in a month.

(And so can my female cousins.)

 

My beard has never been speedy to grow but the bigger problem is my mongrel blood. My beard would look like a calico cat if I grew it out; black, red, brown, and now grey mixed in.

My dad's ancestors were all in this country well before the Revolution and my mother's German ancestors came after the Civil War. Not sure why/how I have such "hybrid vigor".

Ironically, the old folks used to tease my dad as a kid that he had indian blood in him, but my mother's extensive geneaolgy research has ruled it out. Sort of. Not everyone is right about who their father is. Maybe the old folks knew something that wasn't on paper.

 

Maybe the old folks knew something that wasn't on paper.

Count on it.

 

I've never understood this whole genealogy craze. What difference does it where someone you never met came from or when they came here? I can understand wanting to know things about your history that affect your health such as predispositions to certain diseases, but even those are driven primarily by immediate ancestors and not umpteen generations ago.

 

I've never understood this whole genealogy craze.

Personally, I'm with you. I have to watch for cholesterol and osteoarthritis. Members of the British Royal Family, not so much.
But think of all the people that wouldn't have an excuse for their lives if they couldn't blame somebody that has been dead for 150 years.

 

I don't expect any of my ancestors had the wealth required to own slaves, but if they had, so what? I bear no responsibility for they may have done, good or bad. Thinking otherwise is divisive and shallow. And the same goes for what I call "yesterday thinking;" it's over, and much less important than today.

 

I've never understood this whole genealogy craze.

It's larger than genealogy. Humans seem to have a deep need to ask "who am I?". I think the interest in one's ancestry is just one angle from which to address that bigger question.

The facts that everyone collects - dates, marriages, deaths, etc. - aren't terribly interesting. They're like the grade-school approach to history; useless facts. My mother viewed those as just the necessary information to sort out who was who. That can be a challenge when you have 3 generations using the same name. That sort of minimal ID information is not sufficient to gain any insight. The good stuff is the occasional story or notes in the margins, the stuff that shows who those people really were.

It's rarely preferable to be ignorant of history, even one's own.

 

On an allied note, anyone ever used one of the mail in DNA test sites?
Max.

 

I live in Utah the Mormons are really into it; Ancestry.com is a good one.

kv

 

I live in Utah the Mormons are really into it; Ancestry.com is a good one.

My sister told me about that! Something about retroactively saving your relatives souls by inducting them into the Mormon church. Seems odd to me, but my sister probably got me a Heavenly insurance policy there.

 

Count on it.

I'm not sure if you said it or not; your Danish right? So, am I but if I do a DNA test it most likely will result this way.

http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/...-dna-results-may-have-unexpected-ethnicities/

kv

 

My sister told me about that! Something about retroactively saving your relatives souls by inducting them into the Mormon church. Seems odd to me, but my sister probably got me a Heavenly insurance policy there.

Heh, heh yup. When I die I'm struck from their records. But they have no history on you lol

kv