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Name: Chris
Country: United States
State: Florida
Metro: Pensacola
Birthday: 1/26/1983
Gender: Male
Interests: Umm, too much to list.....
Expertise: Anthropology, Archaeology, Evolution, History, Science, some Theology and Religion,and other interesting and important stuff. Most importantly, however, enjoying LIFE!
Occupation: Other
Industry: Other
Message: message me
Member Since:
7/31/2003
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| Genetic RevelationAs some of you may recall, in 2007 I participated in the Genographic Project and received rather surprising results from my Y chromosome test. It told me that my male line is from West Africa and that I share the line with most African-Americans too. This was not the answer I expected but it was confirmed by my Dad, who also had the chromosome test run. At the time we weren't completely sure what was going on, seeing how there is a tiny, tiny minority in of men in England who share the same chromosome grouping but the most probable explanation has, I'm fairly certain, turned out to be the correct one. I was reading a bit in a book Dad has about the Melungeons and their origins. It's hard to define who is a Melungeon but, in short, they/we are a tri-racial isolate group from (mostly) eastern TN, western VA and NW NC. Kind of a big circle these days but our ancestors are generally supposed to have lived in the Appalachians around Newman's Ridge for the better part of 200 years, which, according to Dad's geneology, is fairly accurate for us, well at least until the early 20th century when our branch of the Goins family migrated out of the mtns into Buffalo, SC. Anywho, getting back to my original point, this book brought up the fact that the first (or one of the first) Goins men in America was also one of the first African slaves brought to America. Now at the time slavery was just getting started and indentured servitude was much more common here, and that is what happened to this man (wish I could remember his first name). This man, progenitor of the Goins family, most likely was held as an indentured servant and therefore was freed after a set period of time, after which he started a family whose descendants include my family today. Now we all have many ancestors, especially as we go back in time, but our chromosomal DNA (for sex chromosomes at least) don't lie! So friends that is how you know the wonderful me...descendant of one of the first captive Africans brought to America, as well as of many, many different people from different lands. Neat huh? | | |
| Independence DayWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. --- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, ---That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. ~ from the Declaration of Independence
Happy 4th of July everyone! Don't forget...this is where it all began...
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| Fareed Zakaria has a point...There's a need for greater self-regulation not simply on Wall Street but also on Pennsylvania Avenue. We get exercised about the immorality of politicians when they're caught in sex scandals. Meanwhile they triple the national debt, enrich their lobbyist friends and write tax loopholes for specific corporations—all perfectly legal—and we regard this as normal. The revolving door between Washington government offices and lobbying firms is so lucrative and so established that anyone pointing out that it is—at base—institutionalized corruption is seen as baying at the moon. Not everything is written down, and not everything that is legally permissible is ethical. Who was the last ex-president to refuse to take a vast donation for his library from a foreign government that he had helped when in office?We are in the midst of a vast crisis, and there is enough blame to go around and many fixes to make, from the international system to national governments to private firms. But at heart, there needs to be a deeper fix within all of us, a simple gut check. If it doesn't feel right, we shouldn't be doing it. That's not going to restore growth or mend globalization or save capitalism, but it might be a small start to sanity. Man's got a point, what do you all think? I recommend you read the full article, a very good point. http://www.newsweek.com/id/201935/page/1 | | |
| SETI@homeIn a fit of absolute nerdiness I became a participant in the seti@home project. Basically my computer will be used to analyze signal data from the SETI project, from their radio telescopes. Needless to say my first assignment did not yield confirmation of ET. Oh well, it's still fun to think about and help with. I can also participate in other programs through BOINC, the software program used to do this little bit of science. Cool beans I must say.
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| A Change... 
Well....what do you think?
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