Civil War Archives - The Silicon Underground

Department 56 vs Lemax

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 11:00:49 +0000

Department 56 vs Lemax is a battle between the two biggest names in holiday villages. There are a lot of similarities between the two brands, but the differences may matter to you. Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering

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Remembering Private McAdow

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 27 May 2013 11:00:31 +0000

I had numerous ancestors who fought in the U.S. Civil War. On my mom’s side, one of my direct ancestors was a Union spy during the war. He was captured three times. We joke sometimes that he was better at

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How the Republican Party is losing me

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:24:15 +0000

I tend to lean to the right. For as long as I understood what it meant to be conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, I called myself a conservative Republican. In college, I wrote a newspaper column for 3 1/2 years brashly titled "No Left Turns."

In last year's primary, I voted for Ron Paul for a couple of reasons. One, a lot of things he said made sense. Two, at least he sincerely believed in the things he said that didn't make sense. And three, he's a doctor. When Ron Paul predictably didn't get the nomination, I voted against John McCain and for a Democrat, Barack Obama. The main reason was health care.

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R.I.P.? The American Dream

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:03:17 +0000

Nearly 20 years ago, as I sat in a high school English class, the teacher told us all about the American Dream. And then she said there was one generation that wasn't going to experience that dream, and she pointed at us.

As grim as things look right now, I can look around myself and see people proving Mrs. Susan Collins wrong, and that makes me happy.

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Don\’t blame the demon

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 11:56:03 +0000

Dennis Rader, the confessed BTK serial killer, blamed the killings today on a demon inside him.

I don't know if he was speaking literally or figuratively.

I believe in demons. I also believe in cop-outs.

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Getting started in Genealogy

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 20 Nov 2003 17:05:48 +0000

I'll admit it. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm a johnny-come-lately to the genealogy game. My computer can tell you how I'm related to more than 1,200 different people. And I just started last week.

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Pretentious Pontifications: The word of the day

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 14 Feb 2003 01:32:37 +0000

The word if the day is "gat." I understand that David's boss did not know what that means. I take that as a sign of aristocracy, for among gentlemen, only those with a love of linguistics tend to know the meaning of words utilized by rabble like my black-sheep brother David.

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More Wikipedia adventures

Dave Farquhar — Sat, 08 Feb 2003 22:56:50 +0000

I've been writing for the Wikipedia a fair bit lately. I was adapting some out-of-copyright articles about Civil War generals when the Columbia disaster happened, and I was shocked to see the Wikipedia's information was as up to date as anyone else's.

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Now.. Generations.

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 09 Aug 2001 06:12:36 +0000

Generations. Today I relate better to 40-year-olds than I do to 19-year-olds. I have friends in their 30s who relate really well to me, and to everyone else I know who's close to my age, but I can't step down the same number of years that they can.

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Where did we come from?

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 04 Jul 2001 17:51:02 +0000

Today's the Fourth of July
Another June has gone by
And when they light up our town
I just think
What a waste of gunpowder and sky...
--Aimee Mann

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