Creekside Chatter

“F” is for focus. You need to get focused on what is important and stay focused.

“E” is for energy. Bring all the energy you can muster to every situation.

“I” is for integrity. This is your most important possession. Don’t ever compromise it.

“S” is for solve the problem. Don’t argue. Don’t make excuses. Just solve the problem and get on with it.

“T” is for take the blame when no one else will. Accept responsibility and be accountable.

“Y” is for “Yes, I do windows.” Don’t ever say, “That’s not my job.” Do whatever the boss asks you to do and do it with enthusiasm.

Our story needs to be told accurately, because as residents we have an opportunity to enlighten the world with our version of the truth with reference to our American history, i.e., Spanish influence during the Age of Discovery of the New World. Ironically, African-African and Spanish History mirror each others in the New World, but some where we went astray. And, an edict of 1600, issued by King Charles I of Spain, granted freedom to any Africans who made their way to Spanish Florida.

Issued under the fear that Spain was losing the battle for the contested land, this edict began to erode the labor force of British American colonies. King Charles II followed up with an edict in 1693, which officially stated “that any slave on an English plantation who could escape and make it to Spanish Florida would be granted freedom provided that person become Catholic and join the militia.” Thus began a mass exodus of the Gullah-Geechee from the Carolinas and Georgia to form the original Underground Railroad, which led south, prior to heading north.

Introducing the original Underground Railroad - which lead south, not north.

This formation is the edge of vast deposits of black shale that stretch under tens of millions of acres below western New York, much of western and northern Pennsylvania, and parts of Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, and Kentucky. The oldest and deepest layer is called the Marcellus shale, and if geologists like Lash are correct, it holds enough natural gas to help change the way the United States uses energy for decades to come.

Experts now believe that the country has far more natural gas at its disposal than anyone thought three or four years ago. The revised estimates are largely due to advanced drilling techniques that make it economically feasible to extract the fuel from shale.

Moving to natural gas for transportation would reduce emissions as much as 50%, cost 20-30% less and significantly reduce our dependence on OPEC.

The Jewish Women’s Archive joins The Commons on Flickr as our 29th partner!

Based in Brookline, Massachusetts, the Archive is a virtual, not a physical, repository. We’re excited to help them extend their mission of “uncovering, chronicling, and transmitting to a broad public the rich history of American Jewish women.”

They enter The Commons with photographs chronicling the lives of American Jewish women during World War II. Many of the images come from the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, which has recently published Remembering the Old Neighborhood: Stories from Hartford’s North End, a compilation of essays and oral histories. The Jewish Women’s Archive has a number of online exhibits and collections, including one on the Jewish community during Hurricane Katrina.

CHICAGO-The Society of American Archivists (SAA) has issued Orphan Works: Statement of Best Practices, a 16-page report that provides what professional archivists consider the best methods to use when attempting to identify and locate copyright holders. The statement, which primarily focuses on unpublished materials because they are usually found in archives, is available on the association's website as a PDF at http://www.archivists.org/standards/.

"Orphan works" is a term used to describe the situation in which the owner of a copyrighted work cannot be identified and located by someone who wishes to make use of the work in a manner that requires permission of the copyright owner. Eight archivists and a recognized legal expert in intellectual property and copyright law developed the statement, based upon their experiences researching copyright status.

"We created this statement to provide archivists with a framework to discover what materials they hold are truly orphaned works, and in the hopes of empowering them to provide wider access and use of those materials as a result," said Heather Briston, chair of SAA's Intellectual Property Working Group.

Jill's blog is a great source for info on digitizing your family collection.

We, the undersigned leaders of state think tanks, believe that expanding the role of government in the health care market is not the change that America needs. Congress should focus on a patient-centered approach to health care reform that respects the patient-doctor relationship and empowers the patient and the doctor to make effective and economical health policy choices.

This is one of several good proposals I've seen in the last few months. Why is Congress ignoring them?

Another fabulous article from Michael Yon - this time describing the reunion of U.S. veterans and the Dutch people they liberated. The Netherlands was my most favorite place while we were stationed in Europe.

The Army troops restored order to the school and the city, block by block. A girl watched a team of infantrymen under attack on the Oxford town square and, according to a reporter at the scene, wondered aloud, "When are they going to shoot back?" Except for a few warning shots, they never did.

Yet when the soldiers left the city a few weeks later, they marched into oblivion. Most were under orders not to talk to the press. The Cuban missile crisis unfolded just weeks later, wiping Oxford from the front pages.

What the troops did in Oxford was so courageous that their commanders nominated them for scores of medals. But an internal Army memo from May 1963 states: "The focus of additional attention on this incident would not be in the best interest of the US Army or the nation. . . . decorations should not be awarded for actions involving conflict between US Army units and other Americans." Memories of what the troops did then faded away.

On Tuesday, there will be an epilogue to this dramatic battle. Oxford's mayor, Richard Howorth, and the city council of Oxford have tracked down as many of the troops of 1962 as they could and invited them to the city to be honored as heroes. They will march back through Oxford's Courthouse Square to receive the official thanks of the community they saved from destruction two generations ago.

A fascinating story that hits close to home. My sister attended Ole Miss for one semester - Fall 1961.

Voting is now open for the Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs (“Family Tree 40” for short).

Go to FamilyTreeMagazine.com to vote. Voting takes place from Oct. 5 to Nov. 5, and you can vote more than once. We grouped the nominated blogs into categories, and you'll be asked to vote for a specified number of blogs in each category. (We aimed to have you vote for a quarter of the total number of blogs in each category, but rounded the number in some cases because, well, you can't vote for half a blog.)

I still say, how can you limit the choices to just 40. Every nominee is awesome! Thanks to those who nominated Family Matters. I'm thrilled to be included in this impressive list.

Diigo V4 represents Diigo’s continuous effort and commitment to make Diigo the premium online research tool.  As many of you know, Diigo is not merely just another social bookmarking service or a web markup tool. We are developing Diigo to address our personal pain and to help users to better manage the process of discovering, processing, managing, and sharing online information more productively and effectively, so all the features are carefully thought out and seamlessly integrated with personal and team collaboration productivity in mind. We are passionate about making Diigo the best knowledge gathering and sharing platform for individuals, work groups, and companies, organizations, and educators alike.  And we are continuing our relentless pursuit of being a leading innovator in the space and making Diigo the best it can be!

WooHoo! Lots of great new features and a beautiful interface. Make sure to check it out.