Spirits Walk Among Us, or We're All Cousins When You Really Think About It

Carolyn MacCullough, Once a Witch- "I was born on the night of Samhain, when the barrier between the worlds is whisper-thin and when magic, old magic, sings its heady and sweet song to anyone who cares to hear it."

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If you live at 139, 141, 145 or 147 E. Chestnut St., I have some bad Halloween news for you- research suggests you live on top of an Indian Burial Ground! And not just any burial ground... the burial ground of the last of the Conestoga, which were the last of the Susquehannock. 

I've been studying my genealogy for three years now and just last night I might have found the most interesting thing. The final chief of the Conestoga, Chief Old Sheehays, murdered by the Paxton Boys in December 1763, could POSSIBLY be my direct ancestor. 

I was researching the Smith family line, my paternal grandmother's last name. The chain goes from Grant to Albert to George to James to John Smith born in 1782, then to another John Smith born in 1755. I couldn't find anybody prior easily so I looked at all Lancaster County burials prior to 1800 with the last name Smith. That was not a common name here back then. 

There's Reverend Sampson Smith and his wife Agness. They were Presbyterians but all of my ancestors are Mennonites. 

There's William and Joanna Smith who were from Wales, but all of my other ancestors were Swiss-German immigrants, and she would have had him at 45 years old. 

Then there's Saquiehattah "John" Smith and Cheenawah "Peggy" Smith, who were each killed by the Paxton Boys as well, along with their 3 year old son. If they possibly had an 8 year old son too, and named him after his father, that son might have been my 6x great-grandfather, the John Smith born in 1755. 

That John Smith was a member of the Cayuga Nation and his wife was the daughter of Chief Sheehays of the Conestoga, who would then be my 8x great-grandfather. 

Those were the three key Smith possibilities listed on Find-a-Grave, but of course not everyone is listed there. 

Their burial ground was connected to what was called Nissley Graveyard, now built over as you see, which was on a farm owned by a German Mennonite immigrants Jacob and Mary Nissley. They are my ancestors too along my paternal grandfather's side. 

Now here's the really strange thing. Find-a-Grave only lists 23 people buried at Nissley Graveyard, and seven of them are Jacob and Mary Nissley, their daughter Anna, married to Valentine Metzler, and "John" and "Peggy" Smith, along with their 3 year old son. 

That's at least a strange coincidence, worthy of more research. Although I'd almost rather float with a fascinating possibility vs a potentially boring truth! 

Fun fact- I walked there this morning to take pictures and saw a bunch of kids playing out back. Little do they know!

October 31, 2021

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Emma's mind was blown by the quality candy these two hauled in.

October 31, 2021

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"I guess every once in a while both suns shine on a womprat's tail."

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I said this ages ago, Democrats needed to use more humor in their ads. I have two billion-dollar-ideas and that's one of them.

https://fb.watch/gvtDMeN841/

October 31, 2020

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If the aggregate of the current state polling would hold for the election, Biden would win 357-181. That won't happen, but if the polls are off as much as they were in 2016, Biden would still win 335-203. Take no solace in this though! It doesn't account for the Dirty Trick Factor.

October 31, 2020

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Bill Maher- "No matter who wins on Tuesday, let's skip the Civil War and go right to Reconciliation."

https://fb.watch/gvtHfXovpg/

October 31, 2020

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The best part of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is when Linus says "if the Great Pumpkin comes," then catches himself...because his "if" implied doubt and gave away the fact that he wasn't a true believer.

Blind faith vs actual knowledge, leading to textbook cognitive dissonance- you see it a lot! People believe what they want to believe, and don't want to change even in the face of overwhelming evidence. We all have this inclination. It's hard to resist but only possible when we recognize the concept.

Linus again- "If you really are a fake, don't tell me. I don't want to know."

October 31, 2020

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Voter fraud is next to nonexistent, but you hear a lot about mail-in ballots "raising the possibility of fraud." I can only assume that these same people are against banks, because they raised the possibility of bank robberies. Come to think of it, having a free and fair election in itself raises the possibility of voter fraud. Should we scrap the election, or subvert results, to ensure perfection?

October 31, 2020

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My kids have something they want to say for trick or treating...

"Trick or treat, smell my feet. Give me something good to eat. If you don't, I don't care. Apple down your underwear."

I nearly corrected them and said, "no, it's I'll pull down your underwear." But then I realized that their way is marginally more appropriate. And seasonal.

October 31, 2019

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Remember that every year people kill hundreds of thousands of us, while witches, ghosts, monsters, demons, werewolves, mummies, Frankensteins, skeletons, and zombies combine to kill zero. And we're surrounded by people! There are probably some in your house right now. Pleasant Halloween nightmares!

October 31, 2019

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Couple of goodies... Owlette and a bumblebee.

October 31, 2018

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These poor kids of ours... they have no idea that they're just collecting candy for Emma and I. How on Earth will they notice if there's 10% gone each morning from when they went to bed?

October 31, 2018

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Dan Rather joined us on this day in 1931. 

"When you're being blamed and your only defense is 'everybody's to blame,' odds are you're to blame."

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Halloween's become so commercial. Remember when it used to be about the paganism?

October 31, 2018

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Happy Halloween from Emma and I, and a dog and a skunk.

October 31, 2017

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Hope this little dragon isn't too scary for you!

October 31, 2016

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Gervais- "If you are home alone tonight, remember there's no such thing as witches, ghosts or zombies. Just real people who want to rob & murder you."

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Errol Morris- "Compared to the living, the dead are relatively innocuous."

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Would you believe me if I told you that some guy named Yuri Gagarin was an international celebrity for being the first person in outer space?

October 31, 2016

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Gretel's not too stoked on her Freddy costume.

October 31, 2014

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Do you think Lancaster County's refusal to hold trick or treat night on Halloween stems from the old (or in some cases not-so-old) belief that spirits and demons and witches are actually out and about on Halloween?

Oct 31, 2009, 9:30 AM

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On this day in 1692, the Catholic church officially accepted the fact that the earth goes around the Sun, 76 years after banning Galileo from teaching it.

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The Lincoln Highway was dedicated on this day in 1913. It was the first automobile highway across United States. I lived on it, in Mountville, from 2001 until 2008.

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The Great Dictator was released on this day in 1940. See the addendum for text of the final speech.

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John Keats was born on this day in 1795.

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

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Leader of The Wanderers, Ken Wahl, was born on this day in 1954, the year before the birth of rock and roll. The shot at the end of The Wanderers with him watching Bob Dylan is one of my favorite scenes of any film.

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Harry Houdini left us on this day in 1926, a sucker punch did him in.

"What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes."

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Federico Fellini and River Phoenix each left us on this day in 1993.

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Studs Terkel left us on this day in 2008.

"Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying."

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Other notable birthdays- Andrew Sarris (1928), John Candy (1950), Ad-Rock (1966)

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Another notable deathday- Willie McCovey (2018)

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Halloween Safety Tips from The Onion, 1998

Halloween, though lots of frightful fun, can also be full of potential dangers. Here are some tips to make your kids' All Saints' Eve an All "Safe" Eve:

Pack your child's rectum with razor blades to make him/her less desirable to would-be molesters.

Always trick-or-treat in groups of 400,000.

Many troublemakers and dangerous people come out on Halloween night. To be safe, trick-or-treat in early March.

Safety and self-defense go hand in hand. Be sure your child's handgun has at least a 10-round magazine and is at least .38 caliber to ensure stopping power.

For optimum safety while trick-or-treating, be sure your child does not encounter fright-master screenwriter Kevin Williamson.

Equip your child with special cyanide-filled false tooth for use in case of capture.

Be sure child closes eyes before you drill eyeholes in mask.

Beat would-be child murderers at their own game by poisoning your kids ahead of time.

Dress your child in all-black costume to make him/her virtually invisible to potentially dangerous motorists.

Tell your kids that if they see anything suspicious or scary-looking–for example, ghosts, goblins or witches–they should run to the nearest neighbor's house and call the police.

Pack child's costume with safety flares.

Before sending children off, give their anuses a good dollop of lube. This will help prevent their tissue from tearing when they are sodomized by maniacs.

Do not ring doorbells under any circumstances.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/halloween-safety-tips,8086/

Be safe out there!

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After the flight they found each other checking into the same hotel, and ran into each other again at the same bar, haha, neat.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/man-seated-next-to-twin-lookalike-on-plane_563379a7e4b00aa54a4dc129

October 31, 2015

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Great dialogue between an atheist and a Muslim about curbing the rise of Islamism... the wish of some to impose Islam on the rest of the world. First step to eradicate Islamism (not Islam) is to first admit it exists.

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/a-war-of-ideas

October 31, 2015

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Perennial classic- Adam Sandler's Costume Ideas

https://youtu.be/HiRcNhDw9NY

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I supported Sanders, and I have to admit that if I was considering not voting for Biden, this argument would have an effect on me.

Chomsky- “Another four years of Trump may literally lead us to the stage where the survival of organized human society is deeply imperiled. The most important issue that humans have faced in their history is the impending catastrophic climate disaster. Trump is the worst person in the world on this issue. We have to get rid of Trump, keep pressure on Biden, just as Sanders and associates have been doing. And the crucial part of this decision is to get RID of the major barrier to survival which happens to be in the White House.”

Trying to keep pressure on Trump is guaranteed to have zero effect. Read the article for other arguments.

Fun fact- Sanders is the only politician Chomsky ever donated to.

https://peoplesworld.org/article/prominent-left-veterans-say-vote-biden-harris-then-keep-organizing/

October 31, 2020

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Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House- “No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

“All houses wherein men have lived and died

Are haunted houses. Through the open doors

The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,

With feet that make no sound upon the floors.”

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Haruki Murakami- "But if you knew you might not be able to see it again tomorrow, everything would suddenly become special and precious, wouldn’t it?"

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From the James Webb Space Telescope page:

"Every second 20,000 stars venture out of our reach for ever due to the expansion of spacetime."

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Campbell:

We have not even to risk the adventure alone

for the heroes of all time have gone before us.
The labyrinth is thoroughly known ...
we have only to follow the thread of the hero path.
And where we had thought to find an abomination
we shall find a God.

And where we had thought to slay another
we shall slay ourselves.
Where we had thought to travel outwards
we shall come to the center of our own existence.
And where we had thought to be alone
we shall be with all the world.

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Lebowitz- "All God's children are not beautiful. Most of God's children are, in fact, barely presentable."

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Locke- "What worries you, masters you."

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Ayer- "If 'god' is a metaphysical term, then it cannot be even probable that a god exists. For to say that 'God exists' is to make a metaphysical utterance which cannot be either true or false. And by the same criterion, no sentence which purports to describe the nature of a transcendent god can possess any literal significance."

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Oscar Wilde- "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."

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Edgar Allan Poe, The Premature Burial- "The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?"

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Norm Macdonald wrote a joke for Kevin Nealon. "If we're going to fight a war on terror, we ought to start with the nation's haunted houses."

Addendum:

Great Dictator, final speech

I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor

That's not my business

I don't want to rule or conquer anyone

I should like to help everyone if possible

Jew, Gentile, Black Man, White

We all want to help one another, human beings are like that

We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery

We don't want to hate and despise one another

And this world has room for everyone, and the good Earth is rich and can provide for everyone

The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way

Greed has posioned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed

We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in

Machinery that gives us abundance has left us in want

Our knowledge has made us cynincal

Our cleverness, hard and unkind

We think too much, and feel too little

More than machinery, we need humanity

More that cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness

Without these qualities life will be violent, and all will be lost

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together

The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all

Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress

The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people

And so long as men die, liberty will never perish

Soldiers!

Don't give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel!

Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder

Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!

You are not machines!

You are not cattle!

You are men!

You have the love of humanity in your hearts!

You don't hate!

Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural!

Soldiers!

Don't fight for slavery!

Fight for liberty!

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: "the Kingdom of God is within man" - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men!

In you!

You, the people have the power - the power to create machines

The power to create happiness!

You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure

Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite

Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security

By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power

But they lie!

They do not fulfil that promise

They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!

Now let us fight to fulfil that promise!

Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance

Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness

Soldiers!

In the name of democracy, let us all unite