Sunday, December 26, 2010

Berman Post

Berman Post

Distinct Group of "Archaic" Humans Discovered

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 03:18 PM PST


Human genealogy appears to be more complex then previously thought.

http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/007768.html (via)

"Razib Khan has been dropping hints that some big story about human evolution was about to break. Finally the official announcements are here and it is quite a story. "Archaic" humans separate from Neanderthals bred with some human populations and some humans alive today carry some of their genes. Is that cool or what?



Researchers have discovered evidence of a distinct group of "archaic" humans existing outside of Africa more than 30,000 years ago at a time when Neanderthals are thought to have dominated Europe and Asia. But genetic testing shows that members of this new group were not Neanderthals, and they interbred with the ancestors of some modern humans who are alive today.



Well, if two such groups are possible is there a third group waiting to be identified? In theory we should be able to detect the presence of other lost groups that inbred with humans by sequencing the genomes of every human population. Look for sequences that seem out of place. Super cheap DNA sequencing will make that possible. What secrets lurk in the genes of Andaman Islanders, the Ainu of Hokkaido Japan, the Eskimos, or the Australian Aborigines?



Fossils of these Denisovans were found in a cave in Siberia.



The journal Nature reported the finding this week. The National Science Foundation's Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences Division partially funded the research.

An international team of scientists led by Svante Pääbo at the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, used a combination of genetic data and dental analysis to identify a previously unknown population of early humans, whom the researchers call "Denisovans." The name was taken from Denisova Cave in southern Siberia where archaeologists from the Russian Academy of Sciences recovered a bone in 2008.



The finger bone of a girl provided the needed DNA sample."

Obama Administration Readies First Execution

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 01:06 PM PST


The big question; will he step in and stop it?

http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/1210/Obama_administration_readies_first_execution.html

"The Justice Department is making preparations for what could be the first federal execution under President Barack Obama, according to a new court filing.

The Bureau of Prisons gave notice to a federal judge Wednesday that it intends to set an execution date for Jeffery Paul, 34. Paul was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to death for the robbery-murder of an 82-year-old National Park Service employee, Sherman Williams, on federal land in Hot Springs, Ark., in 1995.

Plans for the execution were disclosed by Justice Department lawyers in a lawsuit pending in Washington over federal lethal injection procedures. Several federal death row prisoners are covered by a stay entered in that suit, but Paul is not among them, since U.S. District Court Judge Richard Roberts denied Paul permission to join the case earlier this year, saying he had waited too long."

MyTSAHorrorStory.com

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 11:23 AM PST


MyTSAHorrorStory.com, as you likely deduced from the URL, is a website devoted to reporting on people's horror stories or truly awful experiences with the TSA.

Sniper Scoped Pool Cue

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 09:10 AM PST


One shot, one ball in the pocket

Picture embedded below.

TSA Laziness-Induced Security Lapse

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 08:00 AM PST


While flying out of a NYC airport I observed something that is hard to consider anything other than a TSA laziness-induced security lapse.

I passed through security without setting off the metal detector. A female who I was traveling with was not so lucky. I saw her set off the alarm as I was putting my shoes back on. Her husband, who had also passed through the detector without incident, was collecting scanned bags oblivious his wife was about to receive the 'enhanced pat down'. I got his attention and told him to go tell his wife to request the agent put on a new pair of gloves. She was in that special glass-walled-off section where the pat downs are administered. He walks over, gets her attention, and tells her to make the request. Multiple TSA personnel heard the man, including the agent, it appeared to me would eventually give the pat down to his wife. Instead of giving what I understand is a mandatory pat down if someone sets of the metal detector, the agent took her to the conveyor belt to pick out her shoes. The agent took the shoes to do a secondary bomb screening. The women was not subjected to any further examination; not wanded, not sent to go through the detector again, not Naked Body scanned, and not given a pat down of any kind. She was allowed to continue on as if the metal detector had not gone off in the first place.

Now this lady was not a security threat; I know that, but TSA did not. This lady was unarmed (no knives, guns, metallic bats...); I know that, but TSA did not. All they knew was that a person set off the metal detector, and they let her pass without any further inquiry. If this was the result of an oversight or some mistake it would be bad enough. Instead it appears to be an intentional lapse because someone did not want to be bothered with the task of tracking down a new pair of gloves.

I have clearly distinguished the events/facts from my opinion. She set the detector off, was pulled aside for additional screening, and was let go without that follow up screening right after the TSA agent knew she wanted a fresh set of gloves. What other conclusions could be drawn?

Who Will Be The Next Host of Trifecta?

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 07:13 AM PST


Video embedded below.

Internet Culture: What Does it Mean?

Posted: 26 Dec 2010 05:11 AM PST

Gitmo Not Closing Any Time Soon

Posted: 25 Dec 2010 05:17 PM PST


The problem is the same it has been since long before Obama took office; where to put the terrorists if Gitmo closes. That problem did not seem to be a concern to Obama before, but apparently what ever solution he thought he had is now acknowledged as insufficient.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46743.html

"Nestled among a string of improbable victories President Barack Obama racked up in the lame-duck congressional session is legislation containing the most debilitating setback to date to his plan to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and send many of its detainees to trials in civilian courts in the U.S.

Language contained in the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the House and Senate on Wednesday bars the use of Pentagon funds to transfer any Guantanamo prisoner to the U.S. for any reason, including a trial. Some supporters of plan Obama announced on his first full day in office to close the prison said the passage of the legislation signals nearly complete capitulation by the president."
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