Sometimes truth hurts. But it’s still truth. What I’ve always been able to do is express my opinion, even when it got me in trouble, and that’s what I do here as I explore the family history of, well, me.
Me outside my grandparents Long Beach, California home
If you want to know more about me, click here, but I have always been a voracious reader, a student of history, interested in how the world works, and wanting to know our place as humans in it. What is the meaning of life? Is there a meaning to life? Is there a point to the progression of human events, or, as has been said, is history just one damn thing after another? It is these “big picture” concepts that fascinate me, but also draw me to the specifics of my own evolution as a human being that compels me to investigate it.
At the same time, lately, I am also inspired to write about it by all those who feel the need to loudly proclaim their version of “facts” but demonize those who might think otherwise. You know who you are. Well, actually, you probably don’t, but just know that you will always be welcome here. Challenge me, take me on, prove that I am just another one of those radical, left-wing California whacko snowflakes beholden to the mainstream media, the Clintons, the Obamas, George Soros, or any combination thereof. Show the world that I am “woke”!
And so, The Truth … According to Greg is a blend of history, current events, politics, religion, education, and, well, you name it. And trains. There’ll probably be a lot about trains. It’s my take on the world around us, and it may not always be pretty.
What you won’t see here is the genealogy part of The World According to Greg. For that, I direct you to The Story of Us on this site and to my other site, finescalehistory.com. In that regard, there are several parts to this project. First, there is the raw data — who is related to who, laid out in a tree or some other form, the emergence of DNA as a common tool, and the methods used in researching those connections. That can be exciting as one discovers connections or relationships never seen before.
Second, there is the what happened when. Even more exciting — or touching, or gripping, or sad, perhaps — are the stories and things that bring us together as a family, that try to explain the meaning of our lives, or, are just plain funny. Or touching. Or gripping. Or sad. The stories there are in no particular order, and as you will see, reading these stories and looking through photos, documents, and family trees, the story to date is expansive. It encompasses Hiles and Penroses, Bousmans and Korhonens. Add in my wife’s family, and you have Baughs and Bensons, Huffines and Dudymotts, not to mention all the other branches extending out on both sides. Our family tree includes three American presidents, another major-party presidential candidate, a U.S. senator, some prominent scientists and doctors, business tycoons, and a family that extends back to the colonial era well before the American Revolution. It also includes our share of scoundrels, philanderers, neer-do-wells, a domestic terrorist, and possibly even a murderer or two.
And if you want it all together, check out The Gallery and The Archives, which, thrown all together, is perhaps the way it should be organized anyway.
I am about as white as they come here in America. My family tree roots all come from Northern Europe and the UK, and my DNA testing has conclusively proven that I am not as Korean as I once thought I was, after all.
My first post-9/11 sermon, delivered at Cottage Way Christian Church in Sacramento, California on Sunday, September 16, 2001. Has it stood the test of time?
ln the span of less than twenty-four hours, I found myself going from embarking on a spiritual virtual journey across the Iberian peninsula to being unable to legally physically drive to the supermarket.
The response to Sidney Powell’s admission that no reasonable person would believe her claims of electoral fraud proves the existence of what I now call AINOs — Americans in Name Only. It’s sad to see people you love reduced to this spectacle of their own doing.
It was easy to laugh at Trump and his followers because we knew it couldn’t last. But now it’s no longer funny as the blood of Americans is in their hands.
Does CAHOOTS work everywhere? Probably not — every community will have their own particulars to work out — but it’s a much better starting point for meaningful discussion and reform than two smirking yahoos. What do you think?
Sometimes, genealogy can be used not only to prove family relationships, but also to disprove it. Case in point: if you follow California wing nuts you have no doubt heard that our governor Gavin Newsom is Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s nephew. Uh, no. He’s not.
President Obama stirred up a bit of controversy on the campaign trail in 2012 when he said people succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.
Is this the new church? Probably. And just as probable, like pretty much everything in the church, change will not come quickly or easily, but, yeah, this is the new church.
Whether it is incredulous politicians or innocent and well-meaning genealogists and family historians, as we navigate the sometimes difficult pathway between truth and assumption, we must always consider the source.
People keep asking me who I’m voting for. The overriding question for me has also always been the ability to beat Trump, hold the House, and take back the Senate, and for awhile it seemed like Biden might go down for the count. South Carolina changed all that, and so I’m sticking with Joe.
It was six years ago to this very day that someone joined our little train group but didn’t last long. Keep in mind we’re a pretty chill group of mostly older men who still play with trains.
Aside from the fact that their Bible calls those who demand a return to prayer in schools hypocrites for demanding such public prayer (Matthew 6:5-6), it’s also just not true that prayer is banned from high school football. At least not in God-fearing California.
Christmas has not been always been that joyous of an occasion for me over the years. Still, Christmas has its moments, family traditions that only the family would understand and appreciate and covet, children discovering and rediscovering Santa Claus, or whatever is special for you.
Located near Mt. Lassen National Park in Northern California, the Allen Telescope Array (funded by the late Paul Allen) searches for extra-terrestrial signals from outer space. Makes you wonder what in the world those from beyond Earth must be thinking as they listen in on us.
My first — and last — post here was in 2014 almost five years ago. Okay, so it wasn’t all that short of a break, but I had a reason. Several of them, actually.
A blend of genealogy, history, current events, politics, religion, education, and, well, you name it. And trains. Here are the stories and things that bring us together as a family, that try to explain the meaning of our lives, or, are just plain funny. Or touching. Or gripping. Or sad.
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