Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits. Hannah More May I respectfully say that DNA research is as vital an issue...no it's MORE vital than historical records. It's as much a part of research as a pedigree chart these days. I have no male Hall relatives but you never know when you will find a connection to a different branch that DOES have a male line. It would greatly hamper the progress of ALL of us to remove it from allowed subject matter. Charlotte, it sounds as tho you are feeling really under fire from several directions. I don't know of any attacks against you personally but I'm sorry if you feel some of the "stuff" going on lately is directed at you. Please, sit back... take a deep breath and rethink this one. .....Dianne Larson Ward

Dianne, I couldn't agree more. It is my opinion that those admins who place a blanket prohibition against *any* discussion of *any* aspect of DNA genealogy are doing their lists (meaning, their subscribers) and themselves a huge disservice. In so doing, they make their lists seem antiquated, fuddy-duddy, so very 20TH CENTURY. It makes no more sense to ban discussion of information obtained via DNA than it would have made ten years ago to ban discussion of information gotten from an online database; or, fifty years ago, to insist that only data obtained from original town records can be used, no information gathered from published compilations can even be evaluated. In my opinion the rules need to make "common sense". If the AUP bans commercial advertising on the lists (and it does), then if people are talking about DNA kit prices or representatives of DNA testing firms are touting their wares, then there is a problem. But the problem isn't DNA, it is advertising. If people tend to discuss the technical details of why DNA testing works the way it does, more than necessary to understand the results (and some of the DNA geeks do that, certainly) then the admin needs to step in. But we would do that if a discussion on technicalities of any kind were to overwhelm one of our lists (e.g. why census indexes programmed in a database are better than indexes presented in HTML tables). One more time, DNA isn't the problem. I admin the Hall Message Board and have also requested another alternative or duplicate Hall mail list to gateway. I predict that sooner or later, those lists that reject all mention of DNA/genetic genealogy will see their traffic go to an alternative or duplicate surname list as they are not limited to mere discussion of DNA projects and results, but rather are all inclusive of all genealogical avenues. People are more sophisticated in their knowledge of genetic genealogy now and the discussion of cheek swabs, etc. is barely existent any more. More and more, there are great results and connections being posted that mention DNA was the avenue for the discovery and further research. Time will tell. Mike -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dianne L. Ward Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2007 10:09 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [HALL] DNA on surname list Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits. Hannah More May I respectfully say that DNA research is as vital an issue...no it's MORE vital than historical records. It's as much a part of research as a pedigree chart these days. I have no male Hall relatives but you never know when you will find a connection to a different branch that DOES have a male line. It would greatly hamper the progress of ALL of us to remove it from allowed subject matter. Charlotte, it sounds as tho you are feeling really under fire from several directions. I don't know of any attacks against you personally but I'm sorry if you feel some of the "stuff" going on lately is directed at you. Please, sit back... take a deep breath and rethink this one. .....Dianne Larson Ward ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

At 11:08 PM 7/19/2007, you wrote: >Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... >Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, > the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits. > >Hannah More > >May I respectfully say that DNA research is as vital an issue...no it's >MORE vital than historical records. It's as much a part of research as >a pedigree chart these days. I have no male Hall relatives but you never >know when you will find a connection to a different branch that DOES >have a male line. It would greatly hamper the progress of ALL of us to >remove it from allowed subject matter. > >Charlotte, it sounds as tho you are feeling really under fire from >several directions. I don't know of any attacks against you personally >but I'm sorry if you feel some of the "stuff" going on lately is >directed at you. Please, sit back... take a deep breath and rethink >this one. > >.....Dianne Larson Ward I have to agree wholeheartedly. Had it not been for DNA testing, I would not have found the area and direction that I needed to focus on. Decades of research had not produced that one thing that needed to be found....an area to focus on. To take away DNA results and discussion is like sending us back to the dark ages. It has become a part of modern day genealogy research, in the same sense that the internet opened doors so that one could sit at the computer and view marriage or birth and death records from an area that they could not physically go to for one reason or another; to read a history book on-line that had once only been offered by going to the library or getting it through interlibrary loan; it has helped those who are hard against the brick wall by opening up yet another avenue for that brick wall to come down; and for those of us who have a paper trial but wish to verify it. It has led to people being able to find others searching in the same line and share their information. There are many ways that DNA is useful to our genealogy, and the genealogy of others. It is unconceivable that any genealogy discussions on any list can be fruitful and productive without DNA discussion at some point and time. Yes, there are some people who are not interested today....but what about tomorrow? If I remember correctly, the hearty activity on the list regarding DNA testing brought some other people into other discussions just because they had enjoyed the activity on the list and decided that it was time to jump in and talk about their ancestors. Or just to say that they had enjoyed the lively discussions! With restrictions on what genealogy subjects we can discuss we are going to lose, if we have not already, long-time researchers with a whole lot of knowledge. This is a sad day. So much is being lost by this decision; and just like that it is gone. Cheryl Hall