19 October 2007

Humor: What would you do for information?

Chris Dunham offers a very tongue-in-cheek entry discussing methods used by researchers to extract family information from unwilling or forgetful relatives.

Tracing the Tribe does not recommend these methods, but does recommend Chris's blog, The Genealogue for a look at the lighter side of genealogy.

A memo leaked to The Washington Post last week revealed that AGA guidelines permit "enhanced interrogation techniques" when questioning relatives. Allegations of inappropriate interviewing methods have since come to light. An elderly man in Miami was placed in a "stress position" by an AGA member and deprived of sleep for two days because the name of his father's first wife had slipped his mind. A Connecticut woman who refused to give her date of birth was forced to listen to Britney Spears' latest single for seventeen hours straight.

"We do not torture," repeats Hanscom. When asked for his definition of "torture," he replies, "Whatever it is that we don't do."

Read the complete post here.

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