Ancestry.com change

Munster still leads the pack

How interesting. Ancestry.com  wrote: “Our new update deepens your story in Africa to include your new Igboland region. Now with 50 regions and 93 ethnic groups represented, you can look more closely at how your DNA reveals the people and cultures that shaped your story.”

Previously, African designations tended to follow the nomenclature used by European countries during colonization.

Munster is still the top of the list, undoubtedly from my mom’s dad’s mom, and not at all from my father’s side.  “Our Munster region stretches across much of Ireland’s southern and southwestern coasts and is home to cities like Cork, Limerick, and Waterford. Munster is famed for its many castles and early monasteries, including Blarney Castle and the Rock of Cashel, and for its strong traditions in Irish folk music.”

“Stretching across the thick tropical forests and winding rivers of southeastern Nigeria, the Igboland region features a lush, green landscape. Within this territory, independent communities, including the Igbo, built highly organized societies, pioneering advanced metalworking seen in the famous Igbo-Ukwu bronzes over a thousand years ago.” I knew this was likely Nigeria: my mom 10%, my dad 18%.

“Across the rivers, lagoons, and coastal plains of southern Benin, the Benin—Western Gbe Peoples region features a dynamic landscape. Within this territory, peoples including the Weme, Fon, and Gun have built sophisticated societies for centuries. While the powerful Kingdom of Dahomey developed centralized rule and elite women warrior regiments called the Agojie, its expansion sparked widespread slave-raiding.” My father slightly more than my mother.

Ye olde

I like how the English roots have also been parsed. “Southeastern England stretches from the Thames Valley to the coasts of Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, and Essex, with rolling hills, fertile farmland, and chalk cliffs facing the English Channel and North Sea.” This is all my mother.

I’m very Nigerian. “Stretching across the coastal lagoons and thick tropical forests of southwest Nigeria, the Yorubaland region features a rich, green landscape. Within this territory, independent communities, including the Yoruba, built massive kingdoms. The ancient city of Ile-Ife is celebrated as their spiritual home, famous for beautiful metal sculptures created with incredible skill over eight hundred years ago.” This is 80% my father’s side.

Several Cameroonians are in my church and, more broadly, in the Capital District. “Along the coastal rainforests and river valleys of southwestern Cameroon, tropical forests and waterways have shaped life for centuries. Groups such as the Bayangi developed strong trading and fishing traditions by using the region’s rivers and coast. They grew crops like cassava, produced palm oil, and traded goods from the forest. To help govern their communities, they created the Ngbe, or Leopard Society, an organization that promoted leadership, justice, and cooperation. This system was also shared with neighboring peoples, creating strong regional connections.” This is mostly my father.

On the European side, the last time I checked the results, in 2022, I didn’t show any heritage from the Netherlands, but now I show 4%, mostly on my mother’s side. 

When I get these updates, along with possible familial matches, I want to dig deeper into my genealogy, though other things keep getting in the way. The problem with looking up ancestors is that it can be a major time sink.

Lord of the flies

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly

It was weird. In late June/early July, there were suddenly a number of flies in our house, more than we had seen in the past ten years collectively. Many of them stayed close to the back door or back window, but a few ventured onto the kitchen sink or counter.

I wondered if the extreme heat and humidity were a factor. Meanwhile, I pulled out the flyswatter, which I hadn’t used in years. I was extremely successful in assassinating the insects. Normally, I might kill one in every 10 or 12 attempts. But these buggers were sluggish, and I was successful about 40% of the time, usually when they first landed.

Then I noticed that the back-door windows and screens were misaligned, probably to let Stormy, the indoor cat, see outside. As soon as I adjusted them, the insurrection ended.

I am the Lord of the flies. (Yes, I know the specifics of the 1954 William Golding book. But think about it: in a presumably civilized society, how often does one get to kill indiscriminately? I’m a pacifist when it comes to people. But insects? An invading horde of bugs? I show no mercy!)

Camping

This reminded me of my family going camping when I was growing up. My father, who was a Boy Scout, loved it. The rest of us ranged from tolerating it to hating it. I was in the latter category. It didn’t matter that I had helped put up the tent the previous year; it was still a struggle.

The place had a concrete bathroom with many flies. Yuck. I took my newspaper, or maybe a magazine, and I had done it! I had killed SEVEN WITH ONE BLOW! Of course, I had read The Brave Little Tailor. Unfortunately, my insecticide was the highlight of the trip.

One other recollection. My father, when he would come to the elementary classes of my sister Leslie and me for about three years, would often sing The Old Lady and the Fly.  But, if I’m recalling correctly, he got a more demanding job. So I went down to my baby sister’s kindergarten class, and I sang for them, perhaps only once.  

We are a fly people.

 

Music for Armistice Day

now Veterans Day

Armistice DayHere’s music for Armistice Day, specifically 9 Composers Touched By The Great War. As it notes, “It was supposed to be the ‘war to end all wars,’ but of course, it wasn’t. An estimated 9 million service members and another 7 million civilians died in the bloodbath of World War I. Included in the ranks were many leading artists of the day — poets, musicians, and composers.”

For instance, “War steals the greatest treasures of the living. It did when English composer George Butterworth died at the age of 31 in 1916 from sniper fire during the Battle of the Somme.”

The article actually lists ten pieces of music, including a second one by Maurice Ravel. “Here’s one more that grew from Ravel’s experiences in World War I. Saddened by death and brutality he witnessed, and his mother’s passing at the end of the war, Ravel composed this tribute to one of France’s greatest composers, Francois Couperin (1668-1733). Ravel named each of the six movements after artist friends who died in the war.

“There is nothing somber about the sound of the piece, which became a point of criticism for Ravel, who responded: “The dead are sad enough, in their eternal silence.” — Karla Walker”

Le trombeau de Couperin-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Jaime Martín

And, just because, Armistice Day – Paul Simon

Best & Worst Veterans Charity Ratings

From Charity Watch, November 8, 2026:

As Veterans Day approaches, many Americans will honor those who have served our country by donating to nonprofits that promise to help veterans and their families. But not all veterans charities are equally deserving of your support.

While some organizations use donations efficiently to provide meaningful assistance to veterans, others spend far too much on fundraising and overhead, leaving comparatively little for the programs donors intend to support.

If you receive a direct mail letter with sad photos of injured vets, encounter a pushy telemarketer who won’t take no for an answer, or come across an emotionally evocative video on social media, it’s important to separate the marketing from the reality of how your donations will actually be used.

Top-Rated organizations generally spend at least 75% of their cash budgets on programs and no more than $25 to raise each $100 in public support. Unlike rating systems that rely primarily on charities’ self-reported financial information, CharityWatch conducts in-depth analyses of audited financial statements, IRS tax filings, and other documents, making adjustments when necessary to provide donors with a more accurate picture of how efficiently their contributions are raised and spent.

Stephen Miller as Roy Cohn

believer in The Great Replacement Theory

I was talking with someone about the recent elections, as one does, but I was bemoaning Stephen Miller’s selection as chief of staff.  Someone asked me why. Memo to self: not everyone keeps up with this political stuff the way I do. So, if you don’t know who he is, here are some pieces on Stephen Miller.

Nine years ago, The Daily Show shared Profiles in Tremendousness about the White House senior advisor. More recently, the show presented Sucking Out the Blood of American Democracy, explaining how his views on the world have been around for decades.

Katie Couric quotes djt from his recent 60 Minutes interview. “He thought his deportation policy was ‘too tough,’ noting immigrants who’d been in the country ten-plus years without committing any crimes or were paying ‘good taxes.’ ‘A lot of people would say that it’s great. But a lot of people think it’s too tough,’ he said. It’s an oddly timed revelation, given he has just made Stephen Miller, the architect of those draconian policies, his chief of staff.“

BBC: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sources told CBS that in recent weeks officials have been instructed to aim for about 2,700 arrests of illegal immigrants per day, an increase from an earlier 2,000 daily arrest target.

Ruthless loyalty

This week, the New York Times article There’s A New Roy Cohn in Town. Compare and contrast: “‘Where’s my Roy Cohn?’ [djt] cried out early in his first term in the White House. Mr. Cohn, the lawyer and fixer who mentored [him] during his ascent through New York real estate — and who taught him never to back down, never to apologize, and always to threaten opponents with multi-million-dollar lawsuits — was then dead for 31 years. [He] clearly longed for his ruthless loyalty and his abrasive, no-holds-barred defiance of the American establishment.”

RELATED: Blogger buddy Nik describes the new book, American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey From Joe McCarthy To Donald Trump by Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark.

NYT: “In the wake of the Republican Party’s midterm calamity, most politicians would tack toward conciliation. [FOTUS] instead did what he was taught: He doubled down, replacing Ms. Wiles with Stephen Miller, the dedicated consigliere and attack dog who was the architect of some of his most divisive policies. Forty years after his mentor’s death, he found his Roy Cohn.”

The Atlantic: One person familiar with [FOTUS’s] decision to elevate Miller told us that he wants somebody who “will crack skulls,” adding that [FOTUS] “doesn’t want to be reined in.”

Call it what it is

If you didn’t know how horrific Stephen Miller is, it may be because “major media outlets sanitize [his] white nationalist ideas. Judd Legum’s Substack:

“The Washington Post described Miller as someone who ‘has long railed against political correctness’ and ‘a prominent voice on issues such as race, gender and immigration.’ The Wall Street Journal said Miller has ‘zealous views.’ The New York Times noted that Miller is ‘a perennial target of critics of Mr. Trump, who have highlighted his right-wing views.’ The AP cast Miller as ‘an immigration hardliner and a bombastic critic of Democrats.’ Reuters called Miller ‘caustic and uncompromising.’

“These are all euphemisms for Miller’s actual beliefs, which nearly every major media outlet neglected to state in plain terms. The record is clear: Miller has repeatedly promoted white nationalist ideas.

“A Popular Information review of 105 articles about Miller’s appointment in 36 mainstream publications — including CNN, NBC News, CBS News, ABC News, CNBC, NPR, Newsweek, Axios, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Time, and Semafor — found only two (USA Today and Politico) used the term ‘white nationalist.’ Even those two articles attributed the description to an outside group or ‘critics,’ rather than stating it as a fact.”

Tell it like it is

Per the Weekly Sift, which also contains a great cartoon of Stephen Miller appropriate to the discussion: “Here’s the headline in Le Monde, a leading French publication: ‘Stephen Miller, reactionary ideologue and white supremacist, promoted head of Trump administration‘. Contrast that direct truth-telling with this fascist-friendly characterization in the NYT:

“Mr. Miller has been the driver of the president’s most muscular actions, including the use of increasingly hostile tactics to capture immigrants across the country and the bombing of small boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean that he and Mr. Trump declared constituted a foreign invasion.”

Legum: “In an October 10 post on X, Miller promoted ‘remigration,’ the mass removal of non-European immigrants and their descendants. It is a ‘white supremacist policy concept,’ according to the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.” 

In New York Magazine, Ed Kilgore called Miller’s promotion “a chilling sign… And that may be the scariest thing of all about his new base of power: He has two more years to act on his deep belief in the Great Replacement Theory. This is the idea that traitorous liberals are deliberately destroying the country through a conspiracy to drown native white Americans in a sea of shiftless immigrants who trade illegal votes for welfare benefits and the opportunity to commit crimes. [FOTUS] talks about this nightmare scenario all the time as part of his demagogic pitch to the MAGA base. But for Miller, it’s an article of faith.”

A book

The Borowitz Report is touting the book Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda. “In her new book, Hatemonger, journalist Jean Guerrero provides a full portrait of this Nosferatu of the West Wing…. Jean Guerrero has the emails.” –The Bulwark. One could order it here, with none of the proceeds going to Bezos. 

 

Could it be The Abecedarian Book?

Ugly Gerry

I received an email from Sue in response to my 2012(!) post  for ABC Wednesday titled G is for Gerrymander:

Hello, Roger! I came upon you and your blog while searching for a book that my partner recalls from his childhood. The book was a gift from his aunt who visited NYC around 1960. It was an alphabet book, and the letter “G” was for Gerrymander.

He proceeded to tell me the history of the word gerrymander(ing) in very much the same way that you have. In any event, I am wondering if you know the book I mentioned. If we knew the title, I could search, maybe on Abe’s List or one of those sites.

Sue – First of all, I am oddly pleased someone else out there is as passionate, or possibly geeky, about political science as I am.

I’ve been fascinated by gerrymandering since I discovered that the pronunciation of Edmund Gerry’s last name is DIFFERENT from the word:  “Gary” vs. “Jerry.”
I don’t know the book. But I did come across this: Ferguson, Charles W. (Charles Wright). 1964. The abecedarian book, Boston: Little Brown, which does have G is for Gerrymander: https://library.si.edu/image-gallery/109345. It sounds cool; I never owned it. 
The cover above is from The Abecedarian Book: “an alphabet book of big words for adults with the curiosity of children with the capacity of adults.” The illustrator was John Alcorn. I see the book is available at Abe’s Books for $15-$45. Ferguson also wrote Naked to Mine Enemies: The Life of Cardinal Wolsey, also available from Abe’s. 
In a similar vein, check out “Expressing Your Anger at Gerrymandering?” Ugly Gerry is a font series created from graphics of real Congressional districts.