My fellow SCs and ASCs (CCd to INGenWeb list), First, I would like to be the first to welcome Tom Agan, my replacement as SC of INGenWeb. He has been the CC for Orange County INGenWeb (one of the best sites in the entire USGenWeb project!) for longer than I can remember. To my knowledge, he is not on the SC list yet, but should be soon. This will be my last post to the SC list (please hold your applause til the end). I have no reason to make more, Tom will taking over this coming week. I wish that I could say this has been a fun ride. It was anything but. When I became SC of INGenWeb 2 years ago, my wife was pregnant, and we were stationed in different states. I was not happy, but I had lots of free time. I took on far to much while I had that free time. Then came major moves in 6 months, halfway across the country with the first and the rest of the way with the second. Last year after we were stationed together again it began to dawn on me that I really had too much to do and not near enough time. Trying to explain to my toddlers why Mommy wasn't here right after September 11 because "she had to help clean up the mess that the mean people left" really sealed that deal. I was working evenings and only seeing my children 3 days a week. That was not satisfactory either, so I changed shifts about 2.5 months ago. However, this eliminated 75% of the time I have to spend online. Something had to give. So as you can see, contrary to an post by somebody on the SC list last week, this retirement is not to spend more time on any project that I am a member of. It is to spend more time with my family. Pardon me, but they are far more important than any project. This is not to say that I am going away. I will be keeping a most of my county sites (hopefully not spread out so far). I may be back on this list some day when my children are older and I have fewer better things to do. I will obviously be doing some work with Migrations. Since it is largely automated, and there are couple of people helping out, hopefully it will not be such a drain that I have to get rid of it. Migrations is nothing more than a tool to track people as they move. If there was any competion, there would not be links on EVERY SINGLE page to USGenWeb. Migrations is completely non-political, that's why there is no mail list for it. I will not tolerate the diverse people that we are pulling together to fight with one another over any portion of the project. I have seen what such dissonance has done to USGenWeb, and it is a shame. It is because of the constant bickering and fighting that there are so many groups that have splintered off of USGenWeb. That being said, I hope that in the future, we County Coordinators can get rid of the useless fighting in USGenWeb. There is no point to it. It is a counterproductive waste of energy. There was an statement made last week in a post on the SC list that my volunteerism in the military is not necessary for the maintenance of our rights as Americans, because we have a Constitution. Just for fun, read the following: Chapter III Fundamental Rights and Duties Article 19 [Equality] (a) Citizens are equal before the law, without discrimination because of sex, blood, language, social origin, or religion. (b) Equal opportunities are guaranteed to all citizens, according to the law. Article 20 [Criminal Trial] (a) An accused is presumed to be innocent, until proved guilty at a legal trial. (b) The right of defense is sacred, in all stages of proceedings and prosecution. (c) Courts sessions are public, unless it becomes secret by a court's decision. ... Article 22 [Dignity, Personal Integrity, Arrest, Home] (a) The dignity of man is safeguarded. It is inadmissible to cause any physical or psychological harm. (b) It is inadmissible to arrest a person, to stop him, to imprison him or to search him, except in accordance with the rules of the law. (c) Homes have their sanctity. It is inadmissible to enter or search them, except in accordance with the rules of the law. ... Article 25 [Religion] Freedom of religion, faith, and the exercise of religious rites, is guaranteed, in accordance with the rules of constitution and laws and in compliance with morals and public order. Article 26 [Expression, Association] The Constitution guarantees freedom of opinion, publication, meeting, demonstrations and formation of political parties, syndicates, and societies in accordance with the objectives of the Constitution and within the limits of the law. The State ensures the considerations necessary to exercise these liberties, which comply with the revolutionary, national, and progressive trend. Sounds good, huh? Think you may want to live under that? Well, this extract is from the Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany website on International Constitutional Law at http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/iz00000_.html. It is extracted from the text of the Iraqi "Interim Constitution" dated 1990. Doesn't sound so good anymore now does it? Still want to live there? They have a Constitution to defend your right to speech there. The implication that the volunteerism of any individual to defend our rights as American Citizens is unnecessary just because we have a Constitution is ludicrous, offensive and downright ignorant. Almost everybody has a Constitution. It is the people that back it up that matter. Those of us in the military, and many who are not volunteer to give our lives on a daily basis, no matter where we are stationed, so American people, many of whom actually appreciate it, can enjoy their lives in a manner that they have become accustomed to. Many of us, myself included, are awake all night so you can sleep. Don't look now, but America and her allies are outnumbered. Pick a language, Arabic, Hindi/Urdu, Baluchi, Chinese, Dari... If those of us who volunteer were gone, do you think your dreams would be as sweet? I wish you all a peaceful and thoughtful coexistance. TTFN. Holly, please unsub me, and sub Tom to the SC list. Patrick Hays outgoing SC http://www.ingenweb.net CC http://home.ix.netcom.com/~gsdownr/usgw/hancock1.html CC http://home.ix.netcom.com/~gsdownr/usgw/daviess1.html CC http://home.ix.netcom.com/~gsdownr/usgw/jefferson1.html CC http://home.ix.netcom.com/~gsdownr/usgw/custer1.html Co-CC http://users.rootsweb.com/~inblackf/ Co-CC http://www.rootsweb.com/~mimecost/ Founder http://www.migrations.org

At 05:27 AM 8/11/02 -0400, you wrote: >My fellow SCs and ASCs (CCd to INGenWeb list), <snip> There was an statement made last week in a post on the SC list that my >volunteerism in the military is not necessary for the maintenance of our >rights as Americans, because we have a Constitution. Just for fun, read the >following: > >Chapter III Fundamental Rights and Duties > Article 19 [Equality] >(a) Citizens are equal before the law, without discrimination because of >sex, blood, language, social origin, or religion. >(b) Equal opportunities are guaranteed to all citizens, according to the >law. <snip> Sounds good, huh? Think you may want to live under that? Well, this >extract is from the Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, >Germany website on International Constitutional Law at >http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/iz00000_.html. It is extracted from the >text of the Iraqi "Interim Constitution" dated 1990. Doesn't sound so good >anymore now does it? Still want to live there? They have a Constitution to >defend your right to speech there. The implication that the volunteerism of >any individual to defend our rights as American Citizens is unnecessary just >because we have a Constitution is ludicrous, offensive and downright >ignorant. Um, no. I said: "I don't need your volunteerism to defend my right of speech. I have the Constitution for that." Perhaps I should have said I don't need YOUR - as in YOU, volunteering to join the service to defend my right of free speech. I have the United States Constitution for that. I did not infer just any old country's constitution. The United States Constitution has withstood the test of time. Why? Because in the past and now more or less now we have benefit of the protection of the Almighty. >Almost everybody has a Constitution. It is the people that back >it up that matter. Um, no, it is the rule of law that backs up the Constitution. It is respect for that rule of law that holds our society together, not the military. In other countries, such as your beloved Iraq, the military does run the country but not here, not yet at least. >Those of us in the military, and many who are not >volunteer to give our lives on a daily basis, no matter where we are >stationed, so American people, many of whom actually appreciate it, can >enjoy their lives in a manner that they have become accustomed to. If you want to be in the military, fine. But please don't suppose that we would fall apart if the volunteer army fell flat on it's face. For if we get in a pickle we can restart the draft in short order. >Many of us, myself included, are awake all night so you can sleep. Don't look >now, but America and her allies are outnumbered. Pick a language, Arabic, >Hindi/Urdu, Baluchi, Chinese, Dari... Being outnumbered doesn't mean diddly. As long as we are not out gunned or as long as we have our American spirit, drive and determination - we will never be conquered. So all fear mongers can go elsewhere. >If those of us who volunteer were gone, do you think your dreams would be as sweet? Yes, I'd sleep just fine. Why? Because I have a greater power than the United States government, the US military, the local constables watching over me. For those of you on this list who think I'm dissing Mr. Hays - I am not putting down the US military or the US government. What I am trying to say is that the military is not the be all end all of our way of life. I am also saying that he can come off his high horse about how what he thinks he does for me - and that I disagree with his presumption of what it is he thinks he does for me. Tim