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Sobering and stark, this letter reminds me of two very important things: first, ideas have consequences, and BAD ideas, especially lies, can grip an entire a nation in the clenched fist of death and the darkness of war. Second, I am reminded that citizen journalism — A man with a camera, or a woman who can tell a story — can break the grip of lies, shatter the darkness and change the course of a nation. Never stop telling your story, Heather. And may the rest of us join our voices to yours.

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A few years ago I produced a documentary titled "Fracking Western Maryland?" and I realized the power the person has with a camera, who knows how to use it. I had only ever done historical docs where you know the outcome before you start, or political or corporate work as a "gun for hire". What a revelation. It started out as "journalism" to be fair and give both sides equal opportunity. By the end I was an activist and my work was being shown by the Sierra Club and others to just lay out the case...and let the voters decide where the truth was.

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Thank you for your service, Mike. I found this about your work but don't see how one can view the documentary. Do you have a link?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neptuneplays/fracking-western-maryland

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Thank you Lynell. We never posted the entire doc, because the non-profits that started using it wanted people to come to their events to view it, and/or buy a DVD. We posted a number of bits from it and other videos as I transitioned from "journalist" to "activist" when we got close to the voting.We won...best piece of work I ever did as far as results. Here's the YT playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLof63b3XbBuV7yzAOKz4c3d0kDUkLh8-w

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Just listened to the first piece, Mike. It's fantastic. Well worth pursuing, I'd say. Glad you switched "careers"!

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Thank you Lynell. So far that fracking doc has been a one time thing as a "feature" piece. I ended up self funding a lot of it...and just can't continue to do that. The gas & oil industry has unlimited resources and sadly the forces fighting Climate Change and returning to a green sustainable planet are non-profits and community groups with very limited resources. If I had the resources, this kind of work would be my focus. It's also very mentally draining to be fighting the "good" fight against mega players...and you know that many of them in their hearts know the truth. I ended up screaming at a woman who was a lawyer for the Industry out in the hallway after a hearing because she said when questioned by a State Senator that she would live next to a fracking site with her young children. They are not under oath in these hearings, no one is. They can say anything and there is no penalty. That statement along with a lot of other half truths and lies that she put out pushed me over the edge that night. She was obviously on the legal team to be the professional mom...with a heart. I'm sure her paycheck takes care of her children very well...and she'll never live anywhere near a frack site. Even folks like Josh Fox who produced "Gasland" have a hard time being funded enough. Anyway the good news is Western Maryland is not being fracked.

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I hear you, Mike. Good news for Western Maryland (where I live close by in Virginia). The best I can do is vote for lawmakers who care about a cleaner environment, and sign my name to petitions.

Many thanks for what you have done!

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WOW!! So glad you became an activist with your documentary talents!!

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(Re-posted "All I Want is Water")

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MaryPat here's the "Fracking Western Maryland?" link https://youtu.be/q2YPVxyD9k4

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Mary Pat thank you. Please see my answer to Lynell above in the thread.. I have great respect for Heather. She has found a way to fund her writing...thank God. This is an incredible forum and now that I know it's here, I may work to try to find a way to leverage it, to help do more good work. I believe Climate Change is our number one planetary issue...followed closely by folks trying to cling to 1950 or 1860 with their politics. Slavery is over, racism should be dead, the industrial revolution hurt us as much as helped us and we should not be fighting to just have the truth heard and acted on.

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Oh, thanks, Mike. I will be offline for several hours today, but will get back when I can!

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Thanks so much for posting the YouTube link! Very interesting watching.

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Judith here's the "Fracking Western Maryland?" doc link https://youtu.be/q2YPVxyD9k4

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Lynell I posted the "Fracking Western Maryland?" doc. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/q2YPVxyD9k4

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That sounds interesting. I had a career in TV/video production before I moved into science and academia because of my environmental concerns ;) - lol!

Hydraulic fracturing can be a much more environmentally sound means of hydrocarbon extraction. In fact, it was developed to increase efficiency of oil well production via secondary and tertiary extraction, which is a good thing.

It also allows us to use cleaner energy sources for electricity production (in fact, the corporate switch from coal to gas turbines - a consequence of cheap fracked gas - has resulted in less air pollution).

The main issues with fracking are 1) the volumes of waste water; 2) the chemicals used in the fracking fluids; 3) the environmental justice issues of the affected communities as well as 4) the fact that natural gas still keeps us hooked on hydrocarbons.

Fracking itself is benign and useful in many applications; it just needs to be highly regulated (at the federal level) and the processes monitored and modified as new data emerges.

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5) the earthquakes afterwards....

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Yes, that is mostly caused by the deep-well injection of the liquid wastes #1, not the actual process of fracturing the rocks or extraction gas.

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/does-fracking-cause-earthquakes?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products

Disposal of the fracking fluids is a huge issue but one that could be addressed if stringent regulations were in place.

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Where are all the fracking fluids going? Maybe someday all wells will pull up contaminated water.

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Yes, I vehemently think deep well injection is the worst possible disposal method.

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William, you defend fracking based on some ideal of how it "could"theoretically be done, but that isn't the reality. The reality is a huge increase in earthquakes, and so much intrusion of hydrocarbons into the groundwater that people with wells who live near or above fracking operations can light their tap water on fire. The other huge reason to stop fracking is that there has been a huge increase in greenhouse gases since NASA scientist James Hansen testified to Congressin 1987, warning of climate change. All the changes that climate modelers have predicted--extreme heat waves, extended droughts, extensive wildfires, bigger more frequent more severe storms, more frequent widespread floiding from sudden heavy rains, melting of the polar ice caps--are all happening sooner and more severely than the modelers predicted. Our climate is close to a tipping point where we will no longer be able to bend the warming curve downward. It is urgent that we rapidly ramp up our use of solar and wind power, and rapidly reduce our use of coal, oil, and natural gas as close to zero as we can get. These strategies are essential to stabilize our climate somewhere close to the already warmer world we have created, to prevent worst-case climate change. We should not be fracking to extract ever more natural gas, just as we should not be burning coal or processing tar sands or drilling the pristine Arctic for oil. To save a livable planet, we need to leave all those hydrocarbons in the ground.

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Elizabeth, you are absolutely correct. We should not be doing new fracking and the well sites near or in population centers should be systematically retired. We can't just pull the plug and do this at one time, it's not realistic, but as sustainable energy comes on line we can roll back fracking wells to the places that have the least impact on us, until it's all retired.

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William here's the link to our "Fracking Western Maryland?" doc. It's very focused on our set of issues, but there's also a lot of "universal" lessons to be learned. I feel the G&O Industry does themselves a disservice by their half-truths and secrets...but they are trying to survive in an increasingly educated and hostile environment. https://youtu.be/q2YPVxyD9k4

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William you are correct in your 4 bullet points and in Western Maryland where they wanted to frack it would have been a complete travesty. The area has an economy based on 4 season outdoor recreation that provides over 60% of their annual income. The fracking construction process would have destroyed their narrow roads. The area has a large lake and underground aquifers that go everywhere. Deer Park water has come from there for 150 years. The Fracking process may be relatively "benign" in flatland areas that don't have much water or human/livestock population, but in a place like Garrett County MD the geology is not suited at all. The blasting and high pressure needed cause cracks in the already upheaved strata. Here's 2 of my favorite chapters from our film. State Senator & Committee Chair Conway was my democratic state senator from Baltimore. She was an "under the table" fracking supporter. Mike Herdering is a retired USMC Colonel with a geology background. He is a resident of Garrett County. The videos speak for themselves.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvwzZzm-z8M&t=152s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nwajYrs2mw We unseated 5 term Sen. Conway in her next election and she was endorsed by the State Dem machine. The environmental groups in Baltimore & MD banded together with our local support and we defeated her with an openly anti-fracking candidate in a city where there will never be fracking, because there is no gas within miles. People took note. Joan does not speak to me.

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Wonderful, Mike! What a journey! I would live to see your documentary.

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Carole, it has been a wonderful journey. I made a lot of good friends and a few enemies along the way. I posted the doc last night and watched it for the first time in a long time...some of the key interviews with Eric, Smokey, Matia, Mike & Linda I recorded a few days after first meeting them at a meeting they were having to organize what became "Engage Mountain Maryland". Here's the link: https://youtu.be/q2YPVxyD9k4

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I'll get it posted soon, I need to find the master file, it's been 5 years...and will come back with the URL. At this point it's actually a good lesson on how to fight the G&O industry in your area and win.

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Thank you, Mike

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Sep 18, 2021
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Actually we are in the early process of something like that using Antietam as the core lesson. I have a group of artists, scholars, historians, re-enactors, musicians & authors who have been documenting and reflecting on the annual Antietam Illumination for 10 years. I just floated this new concept to my key collaborator yesterday...and this forum this morning has convinced me to move forward.

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Mike, the thing that breaks my heart about Antietam is that McClellan let Lee cross back into Virginia, and the war continued for almost three more years. As did Meade at Gettysburg. Not until Grant did Lee meet someone who would not slack up, and who fought to win (except at The Crater, which was a racially motivated disgrace). Grant also fought and defeated the first iteration of the KKK. Where is a Grant for today? 😔

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Don't forget that the South lost its Grant equivalent--Stonewall Jackson--at Chancellorsville, May 1863. Jackson was a much more highly skilled general than Lee.

"Us boys in the field knew no one could have stopped Stonewall," Rufus Harnden wrote to his parents after that battle. "And he had sure outsmarted us at the battle, marching all his boys through the wilderness night and day and coming at us sneaky like he done. Throwing us off by giving the appearance of withdrawal..."

All that notwithstanding, Harnden and apparently many of his fellow Northern soldiers admired their opponent. "He was truly the most honorable and best general they had, certainly even that we had," Harnden wrote to his parents. Harnden appears to have mourned his death, despite his belief in the Northern cause.

On the evening of the second day of the battle, an odd incident resulted in the killing of Stonewall Jackson. Harnden recounted that amidst the rout, "just as we broke through the bushes alongside the road, I saw and heard a group of horsemen... coming our way... I judged for sure they were rebel cavalry..."

"...the tension and terrors of the night burst inside me and must have addled my wits. Barely knowing myself why I done it, I raised my rifle to my shoulder, took aim at the horsemen in the road, and let off a shot. I knew all the while it was strictly against General Knipe's orders."

More than a year later, Harnden was now a pill boy in a union hospital in Vicksburg, which had been retaken by the Union. One evening, he was eavesdropping on a table of southern doctors. "I clearly heard one of them exclaim bitterly that Robert E. Lee had said plain as day that he would have beat the Army of the Potomac [at Gettysburg] if he still had Stonewall by his side..."

Then the conversation turned to Stonewall's death. "...Then," continues on the speaker, "they say some fool yank boys come poppin' up out of a thicket. Just stumbles out the bushes alongside the road, lost behind our lines. One of them damn fools up and fires a shot at the general's party."

"His words froze the very air inside my chest into shards of ice," Harnden wrote. "My heart felt like it stopped it's beating in a terrible cramp... For I knew in an instant the identity of the damn fool he was talking about! I was that very same man. It had to have been me." It's not an exaggeration to say that Harnden was mortified by his belief that he had killed the general.

After the war, Harnden met an aide who had been alongside Jackson when he was shot, who told him that he'd killed him. But it's not clear from the book whether this is accurate or not. What seems clear, however, is that if Harnden's shot didn't hit the general, it catalyzed the friendly fire that killed Jackson.

From: Rufus: A Boy's Extraordinary Experiences in the Civil War, by Phoebe Sheldon. Sheldon is Harnden's great great granddaughter, and wrote the book from Harnden's letters home.

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As to Jackson being the "Grant" of the south. Jackson was a VERY talented and audacious Division and then Corps commander. Lee knew how to best use his talents and the biggest "what if" among CW history buffs is Jackson at G-burg. There's no doubt he would have been more aggressive than Early or Dick Ewell. But he was not an Army commander and never would have been the ANV commander as long as Lee survived...even then, Longstreet would have been next in command. Corps level command was perfect for Jackson...like Patton. It takes a different set of talents to be Lee, Grant or Ike.

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Proof of a God? :)

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Well done - I’d never heard the possibility that a Union soldier had killed Jackson. Thanks for the lesson!

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Interesting story, but it's an absolute historical fact that Jackson was killed by friendly fire. I've never read an account of a Federal unit near that location. When they made the feature film "Gods & Generals" we were documenting the behind the scenes filming and recorded the wounding of Jackson scene, also shooting interviews with Stephen Lang who played Jackson, several other actors in the scene, the stunt co-ordinator and the director. There was NO mention of any yankees in the area. Just FYI, the VMI museum has Jackson's slicker he was wearing that night with the bullet holes.

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Thanks, just ordered it.

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Good question...Grant was incredible and Mark Twain knew it. I don't believe Little Mac wanted to crush Lee...that's a long story and I need to get on the road. we will chat later

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I agree about McClellan; he had "other priorities" beyond crushing Lee. Two leading historians of the Maryland, campaign, Stephen Sears and Richard Slotkin, each have harsh critiques of McClellan's minimal commitment to decisive victory.

As for today's Repugs, I cannot accept that they have anyone remotely equal in stature or ability to the North's great Civil War leaders. They do approximate the Confederacy's most heinous slavers and traitors.

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Yeah, McClellan was an extreme narcissist and useless as a leader. His letters to his wife are eye-popping in their self praise and denigration of everyone else, especially Lincoln.

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So true. I think he referred to Lincoln as “the original gorilla.” I always think of him as “Never-Ready” McClellan.

He did build the army that Grant eventually used to win the war. He just never wanted to send them into action. I do love this quote, “But as 1861 became 1862 with no sign of action, the President’s patience wore thin: ‘If General McClellan is not going to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time,’ he acidly remarked.” https://the-past.com/feature/firing-the-generals-lincoln-v-mcclellan/

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Unfortunately, Republicans have their "Lincoln" (the Federalist Society), their "Grant" (Trump), and their "Sherman" (McConnell). Democrats only have equivalents of Meade and McClellan.

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I think Biden is far superior to Meade and McClellan. If both the infrastructure and the voting rights act get passed he'll be lumped with FDR.

There are a few immensely capable Dems. Jamie Raskin, Congressman from Bethesda (or maybe it's Montgomery County) did an incredible job as Impeachment Manager for the second impeachment--just weeks after his son committed suicide. Biden greatly impresses me, but I think Raskin is even more capable.

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I see Trump more as Custer or Napoleon. He wishes he was a Lincoln or Grant but not even close to either as an effective leader in a crisis. Custer was full of audacity like Trump and was fortunate and a rising self made star, until he ran into Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull. Trump will meet his fate, the story just hasn't played all the way out yet

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Not we have HCR.

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This documentary concept is fantastic! Our nation is disgorging fodder for your documentary in a steady stream these days. Do you have a website or Instagram we can follow for progress? I would love to see your documentary on fracking as well.

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Thank you Sally. This is very fresh. You heard it here first. I'll let you know. I'm going to post the Fracking doc and will come back here to inform you all. My current website is www.theWickleinGroup.com and there are FB, YT & Flickr links on the home page

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Sally I posted the "Fracking Western Maryland ?" documentary on my Electric Moose TV you tube page. It has some good lessons about how citizen groups can fight well funded organizations and win. It takes research and a lot of commitment. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/q2YPVxyD9k4

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Onward. Great project. Keep us posted as it develops.

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Sophia I posted the full length "Fracking Western Maryland ?" documentary on my Electric Moose TV you tube channel. I believe there are lessons to be learned in it about citizen groups working together to fight and beat well funded and powerful entities. It's at https://youtu.be/q2YPVxyD9k4

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And yet we are witnessing a phenomenon where video of rebels trying to take the capitol and smash what/ whomever stands in their way is interpreted as a patriotic effort. Pictures must stand up to accurate interpretation. So many people refuse to see what they are being shown. We perceive with our mind, not our eyes.

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Joan, many of these people really believe they are "patriots" and true to the Constitution...just as RE Lee who was a career US Army officer felt it was his "duty" to turn down command of the US Army when offered by President Lincoln...but then accepted a commission from Jefferson Davis a short time latter to become an officer in the fledgling Confederate Army. Most of the other career US Army officers from slave states followed suit and resigned, only to take up command of Southern units a short time later. Most of these men were West Point educated, they swore an oath to the US...and they resigned. The Confederate flags seem at J6 were historically accurate of the thought process. Michael Flynn believes in his heart that he is right. These people have been programed by Fox to believe the left is immoral and wrong and dangerous. In 1860-61 southern leadership sold their preservation of slavery as the 2nd revolution and true to George Washington...does any of that sound familiar?

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Michael Flynn doesn't have a heart. He has a billfold at another part of his anatomy that Putin keeps filled.

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Why Flynn has not been recalled and court-martialed is beyond me.

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Those who did take up arms against the US were traitors, rebels and insurrectionists. I grew up a mile from Brandy Station and imbibed the Lost Cause with my mother’s milk. Now in my 60s I’m working hard to overcome those beliefs. It does my heart good to know that there were others besides George Thomas, a Virginian, who remained loyal to their oath and defended the Constitution.

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Some other Southern officers who ably served the Union: David Farragut (TN), Robert Anderson and John Buford (both KY).

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I wonder how the course of the Civil War would have changed if Robert E. Lee and other Southerners, including cadets at West Point, had been arrested and jailed for seeking to desert the American army to go fight against the United States. Couldn’t their desired action be deemed treasonable?

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I agree - they were traitors. This book helps to understand a great deal about Lee:

“Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters” by Elizabeth Brown Pryor.

“Pryor’s biography helps part with a lot of stupid out there about Lee – chiefly, that he was, somehow, ‘anti-slavery.’” – Ta-Nehisi Coates, theatlantic.com

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Love how Ta-Nehisi Coates writes! If you just read his "forewards" about these books alone, you'll be less stupid! https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2017/11/five-books-to-make-you-less-stupid-about-the-civil-war/544628/

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Thank you for the link - I’ve filed it with the article about Southerners who did not take up arms against their country.

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It was treason...but who was going to arrest them ? The southern states had already seceded...they were heroes at home

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Free speech and all that. There isn't any crime to resign a commission

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The split in the Army officer corps predated secession in 1860. In 1855 (I believe) Southern cadets at West Point refused to serve in mixed units, demanding to be placed in Southern-only units -- an ominous precedent.

It was a crime to join and fight for the Confederacy. Union officials could have done more to prevent the quitter officers from reaching seceded states, but in 1860-61 many people thought that secession would be temporary.

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That isn’t the treason part, William.

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I know That is the problem During the Inquisition they burned Jews at the stake ...To save their immortal souls

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Wait. The south still celebrates their fight for the right of enslaving humans?

"On April 1, seven states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia – will begin their celebration of Confederate Heritage Month."

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Yes, yes they do. To their shame. At one point, the Commonwealth of Virginia, my beloved home, celebrated Lee-Jackson-King Day. How many people can you offend at one time? Thankfully it was changed in 2020 to Election Day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_History_Month

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Virginia once had a state holiday for Jefferson Davis. My father joked to my mother shortly before I was born that I would be born on a state holiday if my mother held on a few days longer. Unfortunately (for me), it was no longer a school holiday by the time I began first grade (1950).

My mother told me that when she visited her maternal uncle (3rd generation Richmond) in Virginia from her home in Massachusetts in the early 1940s, Dixie was played in movie theaters before the film started; everyone in the audience was expected to stand! I suspect that, also, ended soon after the end of WW II when, as in San Diego, many who came to Norfolk from many parts of the U.S. for war work decided to stay.

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Thank you very much Mary for the Link.

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Thanks for link. Several nominees for new statues to replace those recently removed in their respective states. Heros to replace traitors me thinks.

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This is an excellent, uplifting article, Suzanne. Thanks.

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Thank you for this.

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Thanks, Lynell - I always enjoy your comments on Dr. Richardson’s Letters.

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Glad you enjoy my comments! But this article by angry staff officer was so illuminating for me. I had assumed all southerners left the Union to join the CSA. I'm now better informed thanks to you!

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How about Pompeo? He’s a West Point grad.

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Although those same videos and photos have been studied by groups like Sedition Hunters to identify the insurrectionists. The FBI has mentioned Sedition Hunters as sources in some charging documents. Another type of citizen journalism

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Is there a place where one can read the filings and status of the J6 defendants? Thanks.

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Marcy Wheeler has been providing very detailed info on her blog https://www.emptywheel.net/

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TY

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In politics today, perception is reality.

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perception SUBSTITUTES for reality. This is why I love magicians

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we UNDERSTAND with not only our thinking brain, but our culture and identity. Our brains are designed to "make meaning" when there is dissonance, so we rely on what we already "know" and the cultural biases of which we are (mostly) unaware.

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So true.

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Sep 18, 2021
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They are closed to one side of the issue, but very open to another side. During the Civil War preachers on both sides of the Mason Dixon were using the same bibles, to preach VERY different sermons concerning the value of slavery. One mans terrorist is another mans patriot. In 1859 John Brown was hung for treason and was arrested by US Army officer RE Lee. Who is the hero now ?

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John Brown over Robert E Lee any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

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I've been working on a couple of projects involving John Brown and his hide away near Harpers Ferry. Watch for more...but check out the book "From John Brown to James Brown" by Ed Maliskis.

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Mike, so sad but so true.

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Sep 18, 2021
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really Sophia, it's thick...both sides, believe they are right...or have been persuaded...folks need the ability to step back to actually see and hear the propaganda or agenda. Pro fracking people did not want to do interviews with me when I was making that documentary...so I found ways to get them on the record. I was working a conservative event a few days ago as a hired camera op. They espoused Liberty & Freedom...ok, I'm good with that...but they distrust Liberals...and believe that free business people will do "the right thing", the "best thing". They like to talk about the Constitution, but slavery is not on the talking points.

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No doubt you could make several documentaries about the failure of free business to do the right thing or the best thing.

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Sep 18, 2021
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Exactly ...

And one other important biblical warning:

WHERE THERE IS NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PERISH

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