The Drama & Traumas of Chain Letters

I got a chain letter today in my email box. I hate them. Some people think if they don't answer them something terrible will happen. This one was very long with a lot of spaces. The idea was to scroll down, and as you did, make a wish. By the time you got to the bottom the phone was supposed to ring, and you were to get your wish, IF you did exactly what the chain letter said. I posted the short version here without the spaces. You will understand after you read it what my dilemma was with all of this.



********************************

> >>this truly is freaky,
> >>my cell literally rang as soon as I read
> >>the last word of this email!!!!!
> >>
> >>
> >>I am taking the bait -
> >>what do I have to lose right?
> >>
> >>
> >>Hope it works!
> >>
> >>
> >>Supposedly The Phone Will Ring
> >>Right After You Do This.
> >>
> >>
> >>Just read the little stories and
> >>think of a wish as you scroll all
> >>the way to the bottom. There is
> >>a message there - then make your
> >>wish.
> >>
> >>
> >>No attachment on this one.
> >>
> >>
> >>Stories
> >>
> >>
> >>Im Kevin im 13 and am in 7th grade. lots of girls like
> >>me but i cant choose which one i really like. i love
> >>doing things with my friends and girls say i really
> >>hot.
> >>
> >>
> >>I'm 13 years old, and I wished
> >>that my dad would come home from
> >>the army, because he'd been having
> >>problems with his heart and right
> >>leg. It was 2:53 p.m when I made
> >>my wish. At 3:07 p.m. (14 minutes
> >>later), the doorbell rang, and
> >>there my Dad was, luggage and all!!
> >>
> >>
> >>I'm Katie and I'm 20 and I've been
> >>having trouble in my job and on the
> >>verge of quitting. I made a simple
> >>wish that my boss would get a new
> >>job. That was at 1:35 and at 2:55
> >>there was an announcement that he
> >>was promoted and was leaving for
> >>another city. Believe me...this
> >>really works!!!
> >>
> >>
> >>My name is Ann and I am 45 years
> >>of age. I had always been single
> >>and had been hoping to get into a
> >>nice, loving relationship for many
> >>years. While kind of daydreaming
> >>(and right after receiving this email)
> >>I wished that a quality person would
> >>finally come into my life. That was at
> >>9:10 AM on a Tuesday. At 9:55 AM
> >>a FedEx delivery man came into my
> >>office.He was cute, polite and
> >>could not stop smiling at me. He
> >>started coming back almost everyday
> >>(even without packages) and asked me
> >>out a week later. We married 6
> >>months later and now have been
> >>happily married for 2 years.
> >>
> >>
> >>What a great email it was!!
> >>
> >>
> >>Just scroll down to the end, but
> >>while you do, think of a wish.
> >>Make your wish when you have completed
> >>scrolling. Whatever age you are, is the
> >>number of minutes it will take for your
> >>wish to come true. ex.you are 25 years
> >>old, it will take 25 minutes for your wish
> >>to come true).
> >>
> >>
> >>However, if you don't send this to
> >>people in 5 minutes, you will have bad
> >>luck for years!!
> >>
> >>
> >>Go for it!!!
> >>
> >>
> >>SCROLL DOWN!!!!
> >>
> >>
> >>*
> >>
> >>
> >>**
> >>
> >>
> >>***
> >>
> >>
> >>****
> >>
> >>
> >>***
> >>
> >>
> >>**
> >>
> >>
> >>*
> >>
> >>
> >>STOP!!!
> >>
> >>
> >>Congratulations!!! Your wish will
> >>now come true in your age minutes.
> >>
> >>
> >>Now follow this carefully....it
> >>can be very rewarding!!!!
> >>
> >>
> >>If you send this to 10 more
> >>people, other than the 5 that you
> >>already have to send to, something
> >>major that you've been wanting
> >>will happen.
> >>
> >>
> >>Message: This is scary!
> >>
> >>
> >>The phone will ring right after
> >>you do this

*****************************

Drat! My computer crashed and it took me longer than 5 minutes to even read it! So now what does that mean? I will have bad luck for years? But it doesn't say how many years! That's not fair! It wasn't MY fault my computer crashed! It took me too long to figure out who else to send it to when I realized I only knew 14 people!

Is there an exception clause in this somewhere? Like, "HOWEVER, if it takes you longer than 5 minutes to read this you will not have bad luck for years if you still send it to 15 people. The only bad luck you will have is the 15 people will be annoyed at you for the rest of your life for sending them a chain letter. If however you do not know the required amount of people we will double your bad luck per year for every person you do not have."

Is there a warranty with this? Can they guarantee I will get good luck? If I don't can I sue for false advertising? Would I sue the Make a Wish Foundation? What if one of the people I send it to doesn't do it, and they are so distraught about not sending the letter and dwell on having bad luck for years, and jump off the Empire State Building!! Am I responsible because I sent it to them in the first place? Is there Chain Letter Insurance to cover this?

What to do... what to do... send it or not send it? Gosh I just HATE these major life altering decisions! OK, I’ve decided. I am going to.......

rinnnnnggggggg.... Ringgggggggg.....

"Hello?"

"I'm sorry, but your time limit is up. This is a recording."

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Can the United States pass BIA standards?

After I voted the other day, and after not being able to get into Canada this summer because I didn’t have a passport, I thought, how do I prove what nation I come from? I’ve never had much time for the genealogy of my own family, after all, I already know what I am, I don’t need anyone to tell me I’m American. But what if I had to prove it? As the custom agent pointed out, my NYS driver’s license only meant that I could drive in New York State. Although I had to show all kinds of proof of me-ness to get that license, none of it said I was an American. Since a passport only gives me the right to travel from one country to another, there must be some kind of color-coded card I am missing out on right?

So I decided, well, since the BIA has deemed itself the ultimate authority and judge as to what a Native American tribe is, surly they would know? Since a tribe is an “Indian Nation” with it’s own separate government, the same criteria should work for me as an American from my nation with it’s own separate government. So, I went to the BIA website and saw they had a handy list of seven things you need to prove. Well that sure seemed easy enough. After all, I’m here, I’m a person, I have ties to my community in which I vote, my parents were born here, and their parents were born here so I must be part of my nation the tribe of the United States of America! This shouldn’t be too hard to do. I’m sure my family had something to show that they “demonstrate that they have a membership and know they are on the membership list” like the BIA wanted from the Abenaki. So all I needed for one step was to find my family’s membership in the tribe of the United States of America.

I went to my file cabinet and pulled out my family genealogy files. I pulled out my birth certificate, my mother’s, my dad's, my grandparent's, and nothing, not even a color-coded membership card in my file! Although the certificates said what town they were physically born in, nothing said they were members or citizens of my nation. I next went to the census records to see if I could prove my family’s lineage back to 1900 in my tribe of the United States of America. I started with my father’s side. On his side I found mostly British. Eek! That can’t be good. They had been the enemy! I then tried the other branch of his family and hit a dead end.

Things were not looking good so far. I then tried my mother’s side. Well let me tell you my shock to find that my early ancestors on one side of my mother’s family didn’t have any boxes checked or dates in the citizenship and naturalization column. In fact it said they were born in Ireland or Scotland! So that branch of her family didn’t work. I then tried the other side and lost all hope. Not only were they from Austria, they did not even get here until 1920! So I could not prove a continuous link to my nation back to 1900.

According to Channel 3 News in Burlington, Vermont the Attorney General there said, “a scientific study funded by the state proved the Swanton-based Abenakis have no historical or genealogical history as a tribe -- and the federal authorities have agreed.” Nor could they show, “blood relationship between the group seeking recognition and an historic Indian tribe.” I’ve never heard of genealogy being scientific. Obviously my genealogy wasn’t proving a thing for me either, so maybe I did need to try something scientific. There was only one hope left to prove continuous existence. I went down to my doctor’s office and requested a DNA test.

“Are you pregnant?” the doctor asked.

“Pregnant? At my age? Of course not,” I replied. “Don’t be silly.”

Looking a little confused now she questioned, “Then what do you need a DNA test for if not for paternity?"

I matter-of-factually replied, “To prove I’m American of course."

“What?"

“You know, I’m trying to prove I’m an American. I’m hoping I have at least a quarter American blood in me.”

Well, I’m sorry,” she said, looking at me like I was nuts as she wrote me up some state controlled prescription, “No DNA test is going to prove you’re an American. If you’re born in America, then you’re an American.”

Hummm.... easy for you to say, I thought as I took my little cup of water and pill from her. You try and prove sometime you got a membership in the nation of the United States of America, especially without any American blood!

As I calmly floated out of the doctor’s office, to now walk home since I couldn't drive with whatever she gave me for my "condition", I thought I would at least look at the other things on the BIA list of criteria to see if I could qualify. I knew certainly that I did not belong to any other nation, so that at least was one down on their list, nor had I applied for citizenship in any other nation. Plus I was pretty sure no one in my family had any thought of opening a casino so that shouldn’t sway any votes unfairly against me, not that it should have anything to do with it. I guess the next thing to look at was my nation’s existence itself per BIA specs.

In looking at the list I couldn’t give my nation’s “present governing document” because I’m not sure what it is any more. I thought it was the Constitution of the United States of America but they don’t seem to follow that much anymore. Then I looked at “maintained political influence or authority over its members”. Yes, OK, that applies. Political influence has definitely played into who has authority over us. Except for when they argue among themselves, then the media usually tells us who must be right and who should be in charge. Then there was “has existed as a community from historical times to the present” being the time immemorial thing. Well if you don’t count when the British, French, Spanish, and Dutch were in charge in different parts of my nation I suppose so. Oh, but wait, there was the Civil War wasn’t there, when we didn’t know who was going to end up in charge because the nation was split. So I guess I can’t include that criteria either can I?

I guess what I have learned from all of this was my "nation" of the United States of America could not pass the ridiculous criteria of the BIA test. It shouldn't be for them to decide. It is absurd after all this time that any Indian Nation has to prove to my infant nation that they still exist.

HISTORY-SLEUTH © 2005 C. Amrhein

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If you didn’t vote ... I’m blaming everything on you

Yep, you heard me correctly. I am directing this at the non-voters, and blaming you for what happens until the next election, in hopes you will redeem yourselves and vote next time. No more excuses will be accepted as to why you didn’t vote. Let’s just admit you will stand in a long line to get your lotto ticket, but will not get off the coach to stand in a line at the polls. If you try and use the, “My vote doesn’t count anyway.” line, I will not accept that either. If there are enough of you non-voters in an area it will make a difference in the outcome.

Now the “my vote doesn’t matter” idea has been in practice for some time now. I think it is obvious that the theory has proven itself wrong. All one needs to do is look at what’s going on in our government. The apathy of the American public when it comes to voting has left us with people in office that bicker more then my children. Yes, these are our elected leaders. You cannot complain about them however, because you didn’t vote. You did not vote to make sure it didn’t happen. Instead, you turned your back and left it to the rest of us to fend for ourselves, and fend for you, and fight off those in the big business of campaign funding. You can bet all their “buddies” made sure they got to the polls, but you? Nope, you didn't bother. You left the rest of us to float in a boat without a paddle. We didn’t have your support to help us get the best people in office to represent us, regardless of how much money they had available to use to get elected. It is now whoever has the most $$$$$ to pay for ads and campaigning that wins, and not the best man or woman for the job.

Because you did not take the time to look close at ALL the candidates who were running, and drag yourself to the polls to cast your vote for the best and brightest our country has to offer, you opted out, and left us all with the richest and the most spoiled. I used to watch the various debates on CPAN, but I just can’t do it any more. It is like watching a bunch of kids in a playground who can’t get along, calling each other names, and arguing for the sake of arguing. I was waiting, I thought for sure, at any moment, I would see a spitball fly across the room and hit the guy who was speaking right in the eye. We have a bunch of spoiled brats running our government, who got into office because their backers had the bucks to fund their campaigns. I expect you, the non-voter, to quit griping and whining and get up off the coach the next time around, and help us average folks do something about it. If you’re not registered, register. If you are registered and still didn’t vote you darn well better the next time. We can no longer carry your weight. The money machine us average citizen voters already have on our back has become too heavy to carry, to continue to carry you too.

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Welcome to my World

Welcome to my world. First let me say you do not need to agree with me to post a comment to my blog. Just keep it clean and intelligent. Sometimes it may seem that even I do not agree with myself. I may post an opinion on a subject, then in the next entry post a totally different viewpoint on the same subject. Do not take this as my being wishy-washy, or that I change my mind with the wind. I am a historian so I tend to look at more than one side of an issue.

Unlike journalism, which usually shows one side or the other, history should be presented with many views, and in a perfect world, based on facts. This way, fifty years from now, someone can look back, see all sides of an event, and come to their own conclusion as to why something happened the way it did. Nothing about journalism has changed. Newspapers have had the same format for the last 150 years. Many were a dead giveaway on their political viewpoint by using the words “Democrat” or “Republican” in the newspaper’s name. This is something to keep in mind when you do your own research via newspapers. You need to look at several publications to find out which group of people were thinking what, and why.

In the very complex world of today, it is especially important to read many viewpoints of a topic, even if it pains you to read the writings of “the other side”. This way, you can come to a better understanding of events as a whole, come to a more informed conclusion, and maybe find some new ways to solve old dilemmas. Know thy enemy as they say. It is easier to find a solution to a problem if you can understand the other side’s point of view. You don’t need to agree with it, but at least look at it. You may change your mind or you may discover solid reasons as to why you disagree, rather than disagreeing just to disagree, or because your friends say so. In other words, truly form your own opinion.

I will do no name calling or slamming of politicians, whether I personally like them or not. I may, on occasion, be unable to resist poking fun at politics in general though. Who can resist that? You will find a variety of subjects here, not just history, not just politics. Like any blog, the subject is subject to my whim.

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