Finding Correlations between the Really Poor and Ethnicity

Again, interpreting correlations is tricky. Use with caution.

Families With Income $12,500 to $14,999 is correlated with the log of (Ethnicity per capita):


Jews ............ -0.78
Russians ........ -0.77
Lithuanians ..... -0.77
Greeks .......... -0.74
Romanian ........ -0.68
Ukrainian ....... -0.67
Polish .......... -0.65
Italian ......... -0.64
Austrian ........ -0.64
Portuguese ...... -0.62
West Indians .... -0.58
Hungarian ....... -0.57
Canadian ........ -0.54
Arab ............ -0.53
Slovak .......... -0.42
Yugoslavian ..... -0.35
Finnish ......... -0.34
Belgian ......... -0.27
Swedish ......... -0.23
French .......... -0.14
Scottish ........ -0.12
Swiss ........... -0.12
Danish .......... -0.10
Irish ........... -0.07
Welsh ............ 0.07
Czech ............ 0.12
English .......... 0.16
Norwegian ........ 0.16
German ........... 0.29
Dutch ............ 0.44
Scotch Irish ..... 0.56


Source

Finding Correlations between the Really Rich and Ethnicity

Interpreting correlations is tricky. Use with caution.

Families With Income $125,000 to $149,999 is correlated with the log of (Ethnicity per capita):


Jews ............. 0.85
Russians ......... 0.82
West Indians ..... 0.76
Lithuanians ...... 0.75
Greeks ........... 0.69
Romanian ......... 0.68
Italian .......... 0.66
Ukrainian ........ 0.66
Portuguese ....... 0.62
Arab ............. 0.61
Austrian ......... 0.60
Hungarian ........ 0.57
Polish ........... 0.57
Canadian ......... 0.46
Slovak ........... 0.37
Yugoslavian ...... 0.26
Finnish .......... 0.16
Irish ............ 0.14
Belgian .......... 0.10
French .......... -0.04
Scottish ........ -0.05
Swedish ......... -0.14
Welsh ........... -0.20
Swiss ........... -0.22
Czech ........... -0.23
English ......... -0.25
Norwegian ....... -0.28
Danish .......... -0.29
German .......... -0.37
Scotch Irish .... -0.46
Dutch ........... -0.47


Source

Dental Morphology Study Supports Early Intrusion Model for India

B. E. Hemphill (Mass Migrations or mere movements of phonemes? A dental morphology investigation of post-Neolithic South Asian population history, AAPA Abstracts, 2003) reports that there is no support for the Aryan Invasion Theory, or the Out of India model. The dental morphology evidence of 1,451 individuals from living and prehistoric populations instead suppor the Early Intrusion Model with a substantial break occurring between 6000 and 4500BC

Link to PDF (requires access)

Prediction of Social Race Category Using Characteristics of Dental Morphology

H.J.H. Edgar (Prediction of social race category using characteristics of dental morphology, AAPA Abstracts, 2003) reports that dental morphology can be used to predict social race with upwards of 90% probability

Link to PDF (requires access)

Frontal Bone Morphology in Late Pleistocene Europe, Western Asia, and Africa

This very interesting abstract hints at the important role played by the Middle Eastern branch of archaic Homo Sapiens.

American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Volume 120, Issue S1, 2003.

Abstracts of AAPA poster and podium presentations

Link (requires access)

Does Facial Reconstruction Really Work?

To appear, in American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Facial approximation: An evaluation of mouth-width determination
Carl N. Stephan *
Department of Anatomical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia

This study adds to the growing body of evidence (e.g., Farkas et al., [1987]; Stephan, [2002]) that previously untested, yet commonly used, methods of facial approximation are considerably inaccurate. Large inaccuracies of the technique may not be surprising, given that the task of rebuilding a person's face from their skull so that it can be specifically and purposefully recognized correctly is huge and probably overzealous, given the current knowledge and evidence of hard- to soft-tissue relationships. It may be that the cumulative error created by the potential use of many inaccurate facial approximation guidelines makes it impossible for the method to achieve its goal (specific and purposeful facial recognition). Even if this is the case, facial approximation may remain a valuable forensic technique because it promotes public interest, which may generate identifications through chance (Stephan and Henneberg, [2001]) or other information (Haglund and Reay, [1991]). However, employing somebody to approximate the face using time-consuming and sometimes expensive processes would seem to be of little use if the method does not achieve its aim and if any other sex-, age-, and population-specific face achieves similar results. It seems that the usefulness of facial approximation to act as a vehicle for identification by generating public interest would decrease if the public became aware that facial approximation techniques are little more than guesses, and the bewilderment (e.g., the Wow, can you really do that! effect) of the method is lost. It therefore seems important that efforts are made to dramatically increase the accuracy of the technique so that the public remains interested, and continues to regard the method as something extraordinary (which the method is if it actually works, i.e., achieves specific and purposeful facial recognition of the target.

Y-chromosome Haplotypes in Egypt

to appear in American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Brief communication: Y-chromosome haplotypes in Egypt
G. Lucotte *, G. Mercier
International Institute of Anthropology, Paris, France

ABSTRACT

We analyzed Y-chromosome haplotypes in the Nile River Valley in Egypt in 274 unrelated males, using the p49a,f TaqI polymorphism. These individuals were born in three regions along the river: in Alexandria (the Delta and Lower Egypt), in Upper Egypt, and in Lower Nubia. Fifteen different p49a,f TaqI haplotypes are present in Egypt, the three most common being haplotype V (39.4%), haplotype XI (18.9%), and haplotype IV (13.9%). Haplotype V is a characteristic Arab haplotype, with a northern geographic distribution in Egypt in the Nile River Valley. Haplotype IV, characteristic of sub-Saharan populations, shows a southern geographic distribution in Egypt. Am J Phys Anthropol 121:000-000, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

..

As for mtDNA (Krings et al., [1999]), the present study on the Y-chromosome haplotype shows that there are northern and southern Y-haplotypes in Egypt. The main Y-haplotype V is a northern haplotype, with a significantly different frequency in the north compared to the south of the country: frequencies of haplotype V are 51.9% in the Delta (location A), 24.2% in Upper Egypt (location B), and 17.4% in Lower Nubia (location C). On the other hand, haplotype IV is a typical southern haplotype, being almost absent in A (1.2%), and preponderant in B (27.3%) and C (39.1%). Haplotype XI also shows a preponderance in the south (in C, 30.4%; B, 28.8%) compared to the north (11.7% in A) of the country. In mtDNA, sequences of the first hypervariable HpaI site at position 3592 allowed Krings et al. ([1999]) to designate each mtDNA as being of northern or southern affiliation, and proportions of northern and southern mtDNA differed significantly between Egypt, Nubia, and the Southern Sudan.

It is interesting to relate this peculiar north/south differentiation, a pattern of genetic variation deriving from the two uniparentally inherited genetic systems (mtDNA and Y chromosome), to specific historic events. Since the beginning of Egyptian history (3200-3100 B.C.), the legendary king Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt. Migration from north to south may coincide with the Pharaonic colonization of Nubia, which occurred initially during the Middle Kingdom (12th Dynasty, 1991-1785 B.C.), and more permanently during the New Kingdom, from the reign of Thotmosis III (1490-1437 B.C.). The main migration from south to north may coincide with the 25th Dynasty (730-655 B.C.), when kings from Napata (in Nubia) conquered Egypt.

..

Concerning less frequent Y-haplotypes in Egypt, haplotype VIII is characteristic of Semitic populations, originating in the Near East (Lucotte et al., [1993]). For example (Lucotte et al., [1996]), the frequency of haplotype VIII is 26.2% among North African Jews (where it represents the majority haplotype) and 77.5% among Jews from the island of Djerba (Tunisia), reaching 85.1% among Oriental (from Iraq, Iran, and Syria) Jews. Similarly, haplotype VII had a general geographical distribution fairly identical to that of haplotype VIII (which it often accompanies as a secondary haplotype); haplotype VII distinguishes itself by increased preponderance north of the Mediterranean and in Eastern Europe (Lucotte et al., [1996]). Haplotype XV is the most widespread Y-haplotype in Western Europe (Lucotte and Hazout, [1996]), where its frequency decreases from west to east (Semino et al., [1996]; Lucotte and Loirat, [1999]). Haplotypes VIII, VII, and XV are less common haplotypes in Egypt (7.3%, 6.6%, and 5.5%, respectively), and tend to be located in the north of the country, near the Mediterranean coast. Possibly haplotypes VIII, VII, and XV represent, respectively, Near East, Greek, and Roman influences.

Link to full article (requires access)

How the French Navy helped win America's Independence

The naval force that played the most important role in achieving American independence was not American at all--it was French.
..

As the British established themselves at Yorktown, Washington and his army of 9,000 camped around New York City. Seeking an opportunity to cut off Cornwallis's contact with the Royal Navy, Washington urgently requested the support of the French fleet then operating in the Caribbean. Washington's plan called for a combined naval and land offensive against Cornwallis. Rear Admiral J. P. Compte de Grasse responded to Washington's call by sailing his French battle fleet of twenty-eight ships north toward Virginia. Simultaneously, on August 21, 1781, Washington began moving his army south.

Leaving 2,500 troops with Major General Heath in New York to screen the withdrawal of the remainder of the American army, Washington began the long trek south through New Jersey and Philadelphia to the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay.

Marquis de Lafayette

Francophobic Americans should take note of this great Frenchman who fought for American independence.

Marquis de Lafayette (1757 - 1834). A national war hero, Lafayette never set foot in Michigan. The presence of his picture in the Senate Chamber is due to the respect with which the Revolutionary War and its heroes were regarded by Michigan's early leaders.

Born Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, he fought in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and became a close associate of President George Washington. He was voted a major general at the age of 20 by the Continental Congress and commanded a light division in the Battle of Yorktown. After his return to France, he became a powerful force in the French Revolution. In 1824, as the United States approached its 50th anniversary, President Monroe invited General Lafayette to return to America. He enjoyed a hero's welcome and toured the country's 24 states in triumph. He had a great love for the United States and was a living symbol of victory over tyranny. Interment: France, in American soil he took there for this purpose.

European Climate Differences

The climate of Europe is dominated by a westerly flow of cyclonic depressions which are sometimes blocked by stationary areas of high pressure. Although southern areas enjoy long periods of cloudless skies during summer, European weather can vary rapidly, with significant differences from year to year. In the following, the climate of Europe is described essentially in terms of the cloudiness which affects solar radiation.
The purest oceanic climate is found in Britain and Ireland. The winters can be as mild as on the Mediterranean coast, although the summers are much cooler. In Britain, skies as a whole are cloudy, and the proportion of sky covered by low cloud (2000 m) increases from southeast to northwest. Among the mountains, it increases still more markedly. On the whole, skies are clearest in late spring and early summer, and cloud amounts tend to reach a maximum in November and December. In Spring and early summer low Stratus cloud is common on the northeast coast of Britain. Radiation fog is most frequent inland, in the late autumn and early winter when given quiet weather, fog formed overnight may last through the succeeding day, especially in broad damp river basins. Advection fogs are most common on the coast, in the late spring and early summer, when warm air from the land may cross water that is considerably cooler. Low Stratus cloud over high ground most commonly occurs in autumn and winter when maritime tropical air or returning maritime polar air with a long fetch over the Atlantic approaches from the warm seas to the southwest and moves on to the cooler land so the cloud base is lowered.

Scandinavia contains some of the cloudiest regions in the world with considerable cloudiness throughout the year. The greatest cloudiness occurs in the high mountain regions of Norway and Sweden, and along the western, northwestern and north coasts of Norway. Autumn and winter are the seasons of the greatest cloudiness with monthly averages of 65-80%. The highest number of cloudy days with about 200 days annually, is experienced on the western and northwestern slopes of the Scandinavian mountain chain. In a belt along the Scandinavian western, northwestern and northern coasts, the number of clear days is small, averaging 25-35 days/year, the high mountain regions of the Scandinavian peninsula experience an average of 35-45 clear days/year. The foggiest areas are the high mountain regions of the Scandinavian peninsula and the west coast of Gotland. Within these areas, the annual fog frequency averages 20-25% or even more. In general, autumn and winter are the seasons of most frequent fog, but because of the temperature extremes of the ocean surface being delayed 2-3 months in time in relation to those of the earth's surface, some coastal waters and coastal districts are more exposed to fog in spring and summer. This is the case along the southern coast of Norway. The same also applies to the coast of Sweden along the Baltic sea and its gulfs. Summer is also the foggiest season along the coast in northern Norway. Because of frequent föhn winds , southeast and southern Sweden are favored by a very small frequency of cloudy days, averaging 120-150 annually. The coastal waters of southern Sweden experience advection fog in spring and early summer. The highest frequency of clear days occurs in eastern Sweden near the gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic sea where it averages 75-100 days. A secondary area of rather high frequency of clear days is experienced in a belt along the south eastern and southern coast of Norway with a mean annual frequency of about 55 days.

In Denmark and on the Baltic coast, the frequency of clear days lies to about 35-45 per year. Advection fog is common throughout the year and accounts for the high frequency of fog along the western coast of Denmark and its German border (the Schleswig-Holstein region).

The coastal type of oceanic climate in northern France, Flanders and the lowlands of Belgium, the entire territory of the Netherlands and the lowlands of the northern Germany, shows greater contrasts of temperature than in Britain. Winters become colder with a lowering of the mean temperature, the decrease becoming more marked towards the north and the east. The winters are also humid, and grayness of the skies adds to the lengthening of the nights. Summer temperatures are similar to those in Britain but the weather appears duller because it is rainy, often more in summer than in autumn. As in Britain, the weather is sometimes very changeable. Further east and south, in the uplands of eastern Belgium, Luxembourg and central Germany, the distance from the sea and the sporadic occurrence of continental influences or modifications due to the relief in the neighborhood of mountain slopes, cause more pronounced annual ranges of temperature, mainly on account of the progressive lowering of winter temperatures. Winters are dry and relatively severe, and the absence of snowfall is unusual. The shortness of the intermediate seasons, autumn and spring, causes the transition to be more abrupt, and the contrasts of temperature more noticeable. Cloudiness varies from frontal to convective type of cloud corresponding with variation of maritime to continental climate. Cloudiness averages annually between 60 and 70% in the entire region. Differences occur between summer and winter months: in summer the uplands and chains show the maximum values of 70% or more, the minimum values of 60% occur on the lee side of the chains and in the coastal areas. In winter cloudiness decreases from west to east in the range approximately 80 to 70%. Differences in the seasonal variation of temperature and moisture between land and sea affect the occurrence of fog: the maximum probability for fog over the continent is to be expected in autumn due to radiation cooling at night, whereas the coastal area has a maximum fog frequency in December.

The lower regions of the French Normandy have a pure oceanic climate like Britain's, whilst the other northern provinces of France have a coastal type of oceanic climate with greater contrasts of temperature. The western central part of France, between the Garonne and the Loire, enjoys a special climate. More favored than Britain on account of its southerly latitude, it is on the other hand, sufficiently far from the Pyrenees to escape the effects of this barrier. Thus it has the advantage over regions situated to the south of Garonne, to have less precipitation and more sunshine. This advantage decreases to the east and southeast towards the Massif Central, around which a sub oceanic type of climate prevails. This climate has more pronounced annual ranges of temperatures and an increasing number of days with frost. There are frequent dry springs, thundery showers in the summer and a maximum of precipitation in the late autumn due to depression.

Continental influences are felt mainly in the eastern part of France, in Luxembourg, in the Ardennes and further east in the uplands of Central Germany. More continental influences are noticeable in France, in the plateaus of lower Burgundy and in some regions bordering the valley of the Saone. They are also seen in certain depressions in the Massif Central and in the Alps, in enclosed plains sheltered from the westerly winds where a decrease in rainfall results in an extreme type of climate. The summers are hot with an increase of phenomena due to convection and the winters are dry and relatively severe. During summer, the number of clear days is least in the surrounding of the Vosges, Jura and the Massif Central, the maximum values of clear days occur in the high mountain ranges of the Pyrenees and southern Alps. In winter, the greatest numbers of cloudy days occur in the area of lower Burgundy and the Paris basin and further east in the uplands, the minimum number in cloudy days occurs in the high mountain ranges.

The continental influence increases eastwards in the northern alpine fore land from the Swiss part eastwards to the Austrian part. The climate of the northern Alpine fore land is in all parts mainly governed by the influence of the Alps. This is especially the case during northerly flow due to the upwind effects which are not so much a function of the relative difference in height but rather a function of the distance, wind wards of the base of the Alps. East of the Jura mountains begin the Swiss part of the northern Alpine fore land. The lowest parts of the plains are located at the southern foot of the Jura so that the cold air flowing down the Alpine valleys at night is trapped here. Thus ground fog or low Stratus with tops between 600 and 700 m builds up in the valleys in late autumn and winter mainly before the surface is covered with snow. There are significant differences in cloudiness between the northern and southern Alpine fore lands, the mean annual cloud cover is as low as about 50% over the south slope of the Alps, but it amounts to 65% over the north slope.

The inner alpine regions are dry and have sunny valleys, and the scanty precipitation is rather uniformly distributed over the year. Valleys which are oriented from west to east receive considerably less precipitation, whereas the north south valleys may receive abundant rainfall due to hill effects with north westerly flow.

In the Po valley and the northern Adriatic, in summer, fair weather prevails due to the Azores high, interrupted by frequent instability manifestations, favored by the weak thermal depressions that form over the area during daytime. In autumn, winter and spring, lee and Mediterranean depressions occur, alternating with periods of no perturbation due to the influence of the central European anticyclone. In wintertime, the whole Po valley is occupied by a cold air layer near the ground which has a thickness of about 1000 m and causes heavy and very frequent fogs.

The climates of the Iberian peninsula, the Italy and the Balkans are similar: in mountainous regions over 2000 m, a Mountainous climate prevails; in lower regions, the climate is Mediterranean. The outstanding features of the Mediterranean climate are windy, wet, mild winters and relatively calm hot dry summers. The transitional season of spring is unsettled but autumn is relatively short with a fairly decisive change to the winter regime. The quiet sunny weather characteristic of the Mediterranean summer is established when the Azores anticyclone intensifies and develops an extension towards the Alps. This development also takes place intermittently during the spring but seldom becomes firmly established much before mid-june. The Eurasian winter anticyclone collapses quite quickly in April and ceases to represent a potential source of cold air for the Mediterranean. Partly for this reason warm weather is earlier established in the eastern basin than in the western and central Mediterranean which are still liable to disturbances producing windiness and disturbed weather in May.

The Atlantic depressions which move eastwards across northern Europe bring frequent waves of cold air from the northwest which penetrate into the Mediterranean and encounter warm moist air. The resulting vertical instability leads to the development of vigorous depressions which bring considerable rainfall and frequent gales to the Mediterranean. From time to time, the eastward march of traveling depressions in the temperature zone is interrupted by cold air outbreaks from the Arctic via the Norwegian sea or over Russia. At any time between October and May such a cold northerly air stream may break right through to tropical latitudes. The great thermal contrast leads to very active depressions which commonly form in the tropical Atlantic or the desert of north Africa and move into the Mediterranean.

Around the Mediterranean, the frequency of cloudy skies is relatively low. There are clear skies about 20-25 days/month in the hot season. In Winter, between 5 and 9 cloudy days/month occur on average and between 5 and 10 clear days/month. The cloudy days appear most frequent and the clear days less frequent in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Over the great part of the Mediterranean, the frequency of fog or low clouds is less than 2% at any time of the day throughout the year. Outside north Africa, the reduction in visibility caused by dust is most frequently in the form of haze carried northwards by Sirocco winds. The dust is eventually washed out of the air, commonly in drizzle and rain where the air stream is lifted over a mountain barrier, when this does not occur or is not complete, Saharan dust may reach as far as England.

During the cool season mist and fog mainly affects the northern parts of the Mediterranean. The northern Adriatic especially the shores of the gulf of Venezia, is the area where fogs are particularly frequent. The mountainous regions of the Dinaric Alps also have a great numbers of foggy days (over 150 days/year in the Ljubljana basin) especially in the cold season, there is also strong cloudiness in the hot months of the year in these areas.

Source

Second Generation Australians

Almost all second generation youth are proficient in English even if they do not speak it as the only language at home. The second generation's enrolment rate in secondary or tertiary education is also significantly higher than that of youth who are at least third generation. Consequently, their proportion with post-school qualifications is also higher than that for their peers who are at least third generation. Second generation youth with parents born in Malaysia, China, Greece, Italy, Poland, Hungary or Lebanon are particularly likely to stay in school longer, proceed to tertiary study and obtain post-school qualifications. The second generation of UK or Western European origins is similar in these respects to Australians who are at least third generation.

..

Socioeconomic outcomes are clearer for this age group [25-44 years] since they have completed their education and are in their prime working ages. The 1996 Census data confirm the findings of earlier studies that the second generation who are of most Southern or Eastern European origins have better educational and occupational outcomes than those of UK or Western European origins. Although small in number, the second generation of parents born in Malaysia or China has the highest proportion with university qualifications and in professional occupations. The second generation of Eastern European or Asian origins who are in managerial or professional occupations also have higher incomes.

..

Maintenance of the parents' language at home continues to be strong among the second generation of Greek origin, followed by those of Lebanese, Italian and Chinese origins even as they reach middle age.

..

The second generation of some Southern European, Eastern European and Asian origins are more likely to achieve better educational and occupation outcomes than those of other origins. The second generation of English-speaking or Western European origins are more similar to at least third generation Australians in their socioeconomic characteristics.

Source: Second Generation Australians

Crime Statistics of Different Countries

MURDER RATE

United States 8.40
Canada 5.45
Denmark 5.17
France 4.60
Portugal 4.50
Australia 4.48
Germany 4.20
Belgium 2.80
Spain 2.28
Switzerland 2.25
Italy 2.18
Norway 1.99
United Kingdom 1.97
Austria 1.80
Greece 1.76
Sweden 1.73
Japan 1.20
Ireland 0.96
Finland 0.70

Rape (per 100,000 people)

United States 37.20
Sweden 15.70
Denmark 11.23
Germany 8.60
Norway 7.87
United Kingdom 7.26
Finland 7.20
France 6.77
Switzerland 6.15
Luxembourg 5.00
Spain 4.43
Austria 4.40
Belgium 4.00
Greece 2.40
Ireland 1.72
Japan 1.40
Portugal 1.20

Armed robbery (per 100,000 people)

Spain 265
United States 221
Canada 94
France 90
Belgium 66
United Kingdom 63
Italy 50
Sweden 49
Germany 47
Ireland 46
Denmark 44
Finland 38
Switzerland 23
Norway 22
Greece 7
Japan 1

Auto Theft (per 100,000 people)

Sweden 714
Denmark 700
Norway 665
United Kingdom 624
United States 583
France 420
Italy 364
Spain 356
Canada 344
Finland 247
Belgium 201
Germany 114
Greece 58
Ireland 30
Japan 28

Breaking and entering (per 100,000 people)

Denmark 2,412
Australia 1,962
Germany 1,918
United Kingdom 1,627
Sweden 1,555
Canada 1,386
United States 1,309
Spain 1,232
Finland 1,008
Luxembourg 984
Switzerland 976
Austria 910
Ireland 855
France 674
Belgium 623
Greece 257
Japan 211
Norway 93

Source: http://thomasash.hypermart.net/politicsandsociety/kangas-toughoncrime.html

A Compendium on Francophobia

Francophobia
Francophobia Examined
France and America
Francophobie Francophobia (English translation)
Vague de francophobie aux Etats-Unis
TF1: Francophopie
Francophobie raciste anti-Français

Americans, annoyed that the French are not exhibiting British-level tail-wagging at their recent Iraq policy, like to remind the French of the sacrifices that they made for France in WWII. But, who talks about Marquis de Lafayette, or how America owes its independence partly to the French Navy ?

DNA molecule provides a computing machine with both data and fuel

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0535624100

Yaakov Benenson, Rivka Adar, Tamar Paz-Elizur, Zvi Livneh, and Ehud Shapiro

The unique properties of DNA make it a fundamental building block in the fields of supramolecular chemistry, nanotechnology, nano-circuits, molecular switches, molecular devices, and molecular computing. In our recently introduced autonomous molecular automaton, DNA molecules serve as input, output, and software, and the hardware consists of DNA restriction and ligation enzymes using ATP as fuel. In addition to information, DNA stores energy, available on hybridization of complementary strands or hydrolysis of its phosphodiester backbone. Here we show that a single DNA molecule can provide both the input data and all of the necessary fuel for a molecular automaton. Each computational step of the automaton consists of a reversible software molecule/input molecule hybridization followed by an irreversible software-directed cleavage of the input molecule, which drives the computation forward by increasing entropy and releasing heat. The cleavage uses a hitherto unknown capability of the restriction enzyme FokI, which serves as the hardware, to operate on a noncovalent software/input hybrid. In the previous automaton, software/input ligation consumed one software molecule and two ATP molecules per step. As ligation is not performed in this automaton, a fixed amount of software and hardware molecules can, in principle, process any input molecule of any length without external energy supply. Our experiments demonstrate 3 x 1012 automata per µl performing 6.6 x 1010 transitions per second per µl with transition fidelity of 99.9%, dissipating about 5 x 10-9 W/µl as heat at ambient temperature.

Source: PNAS

Doing Business in Different Cultures

Stereotypical descriptions of business attitudes in different countries. Probably not all of it is accurate, but a wealth of information nonetheless. Use wisely.

Doing Business in Different Cultures

Plato Prehistorian: 10,000 to 5000 B.C. Myth, Religion, Archaeology

Atlantis books are a dime a dozen, and most of them fail miserably to convince the reader that they have solved the riddle of the tale which Plato has preserved (or created?) for posterity in his dialogs.

Not so, with the scholarly entry in the Atlantis genre, by Mary Settegast, titled Plato Prehistorian: 10,000 to 5000 B.C. Myth, Religion, Archaeology. Settegast's book can be viewed as a broad overview of Mediterranean, Near Eastern and European archaeology of the Epipalaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic.

Her theory, which is admirably presented as a theory, not as the solution to the Atlantis riddle, is that the Platonic narrative can indeed be factual including its chronology, thus speaking about the contacts between the Magdalenian culture of Prehistoric Europe and the lost culture of Prehistoric Greece, most of whose remains are now lost to us because of the Deluges which Plato refers to, and which correspond to the rising of the sea level in the Aegean and Mediterranean.

The study is impeccably presented and illustrated, being accessible to the general reader without lacking in scholarly vigor. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Amazon.com Link

Minoan Olive Oil

It seems like the Minoans were able to produce olive oil that was comparable in quality to modern virgin olive oil. Crete, cradle of the Minoan civilization is famous for its healthy diet, known as the Mediterranean diet.

Olive oil production on bronze age Crete: nutritional properties, processing methods and storage life of Minoan olive oil

Oxford Journal of Archaeology, February 2002, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 63-75(13)

Riley F.R. [1]

[1] Department of Classics, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract:

Archaeological studies on olive oil produced in Crete in the Bronze Age focus primarily on aspects such as the period when olive cultivation became widespread, the number of olive trees cultivated, or the quantity of oil stored in the Minoan palaces. Olive oil is however an organic substance, a perishable product, the nutritional and storage properties of which are determined by environmental, agronomic, processing and storage conditions. In this paper archaeological, environmental and biochemical evidence is combined to present a comprehensive picture of the potential quality, nutritional and storage properties of Minoan olive oil. The comparative evidence presented suggests that Minoan olive oil was equal in quality to the cold-pressed virgin olive oils produced today, and as such, the oil was nutritionally important in the Bronze Age and a valuable trade commodity.

Educational Achievement of Canadian Ethnic Groups

The proportion of Canadians aged 25-34 with university degrees by ethnicity
(Jews, Chinese lead), this is from the 1991 census.

Jewish 53%
Chinese 33%
Filipino 25%
South Asian (est.) 25%
Greek 22%
Polish 19%
Italian 19%
Ukrainian 17%
All groups 16%
British 14%
German 13%
French 13%
Black 11%
Portuguese 5%
Aboriginal 2%

Source: Lee Consulting

Mean Income of Selected Ethnic Groups

Mean Income of Selected Groups

Greek $48,318
Scottish $47,356
Swiss $46,734
Italian $44,865
English $44,315
Belgian $43,408
Danish $42,864
Swedish $42,532
Scotch-Irish $41,663
German $40,636
Norwegian $40,497
Irish $40,358
French Canadian $39,674
Dutch $38,770
French $38,224
Finnish $38,628
All Persons $38,453

Source: census.gov

Black Athena, Afrocentrism, and the History of Science

These are the conclusions from Robert Palter's Black Athena, Afrocentrism, and the History of Science, in Black Athena Revisited (eds. Mary R. Lefkowitz and Guy MacLean Rogers), pp. 255-256:

1. The Egyptians never invented a mathematical astronomy in the sense that the Babylonians and Greeks did.
   
2. Egyptian mathematics never approached the depth of understanding revealed in the most advanced Babylonian mathematics, which was in turn far surpassed by the Greeks, so that it is difficult to see how the peak Egyptian achievements - even generously extrapolated to hypothetical results lost to us - could ever have led to Greek mathematics with its clear conception of rigorous demonstration and its characteristic methods of formulating and solving problems.
   
3. Although there seems little doubt that the Greek doctors enlarged their pharmacopoeia with Egyptian drugs, other types of influence of Egyptian medicine on Greek medicine are more difficult to document; and certain radical differences between the two medical traditions are very striking.
   

In other words, the Afrocentric notions of what might have been does not find any suppor in what actually was.

Body Mass Index in Europe

Source: European Commission, 1999

Obesity Statistics in the United States

Richard Poe and the Etymology of Europe

Richard Poe proposes an imaginative etymology of the word "Europe" in his book Black Spark, White Fire. Rather than accepting the common rendering of the word as wide-faced, or wide-eyed, he believes that it is a Phoenician word from imaginary Phoenician colonists of Greece.

In fact "Europe" is a perfectly good female Greek name (cf. Antiope, Merope, Kalliope, etc.) Richard Poe can't believe that the Greeks would call an entire continent after a woman. But then again, place-names are not always chosen as rationally as he thinks they should be chosen. For example, America is named after an Italian who had little to do with discovering it. Africa is named after the Afri a North African tribe. The Greeks gave some pretty imaginative names to their colonies, e.g., Pythikoussai in Italy has "monkey" (pithekos) in its name, while Mycenae has "mushroom" (mykes).

Poe's second argument is that Hesychius, a 5th c. AD lexicographer gives Europe as the "land of the West". Using common sense, it would be easy to see why he would do so. Europe is indeed the land of the West (from a Greek, or Eastern Mediterranean perspective) and that is how it would be defined in a dictionary.

Poe also gives as a fact, not only that Europe is from a Semitic root via Phoenician, but that the Greek word erebos (=darkness) is also Semitic from the same root. But in reality, erebos is derived from the PIE noun *h₁reg^w-os meaning "darkness". Such simple facts are not to be found in Poe's work though, for they would ruin the overall suspension of disbelief on which the entire work is based.

Critique of "IQ, and the Wealth of Nations"

Thomas Volken from the University of Zurich has written The Impact of National IQ on Income and Growth, a critique of Lynn and Vanhanen's IQ, and the Wealth of Nations

Greek Anthropology and Racial Identity

I have moved the Greek Anthropology and Racial Identity index to this page. The content is at present still in geocities, while I work on other projects that will appear on dienekes.com

The Mediterranean Face

Here is how German anthropologist Egon von Eickstedt defined the Mediterranean racial type:

The Mediterraneans represent, in their constitution, the most delicate and elegant, and also the most strongly pigmented of the European races. The features are more regular and harmonious than they are in the Nordics; the body, of low stature, is slender and well-proportioned, not stocky as in the Alpine race; the big and brilliant black eyes give to the face a vivacious expression.

The head is long and narrow, more than it is currently in the Nordics, but the cephalic index does not reach very low values because of the rounded form of the occiput. The face is also narrow, finely chiseled, of a regular oval shape, often attenuated towards the bottom. The nose is high-rooted and thin, but not taking the extreme forms in this sense which it assumes in the Nordics and Dinarics. The zygomatics are small and receding; the eyelashes are fuller than in other European races, the chin is solid and strong. The secondary sexual characters are very accentuated and develop precociously.

Here is a quite good example of the racial type in question (French-Moroccan Canadian actress):

And a nice Indian actress of Mediterranean morphological type:

Richard Poe and the Mediterranean Pond

One of the many errors found in Richard Poe's popularized Afrocentrism magnum opus, "Black Spark, White Fire". Page 4:

Dependent on its fish and trade routes for their way of life, the cultured peoples whom the Mediterranean nurtured never wandered far from its shores. "We live around the sea," said Sokrates, "like frogs around a pond."

But, of course, Socrates is speaking about the Greeks, whose colonies laced the Mediterranean coasts (including Egypt, cf. Naukratis), not about random circum-Mediterranean peoples. Poe does not allow details like this to obscure his story arc, which involves the unprecedented notion of Egypt as a naval power (!)

The Classical Model of Race

In ancient times, the current models of racial classification were not used. One reason for this was that the Greeks and Romans were not familiar with East Asians, Australians, or Americans - these were not included in their racial thinking. Another reason was that the distinction between whites and blacks, which came into prominence because of European colonization was not the only one of importance to them.

The Classical Model of racial classification divided humankind into a number of geographical zones: the North, with its fair-haired, light-eyed, tall people (Celts, Germans, Scythians); Italy and Hellas, with its dark-haired, mixed or dark-eyed people of intermediate stature; the Middle East and North Africa, with black-haired, dark-skinned and curlier haired people (Syrians, Arabs, Egyptians); the Far South with its black-skinned, black-haired people, divided into a woolly-haired African branch (Ethiopians), and a straight-haired Asian branch (Indians).

The ancient writers understood the influence of both climate and heredity in shaping racial variation. Ethiopians were black because they were "burned by the sun". Hellenes were deemed to exhibit their physical and mental attributes on account of the excellence of the Hellenic climate. But also, ancient writers understood that these differences were not transient effects based on the circumstances of one's birth. They were heritable qualities, and hence Herodotus seeks to establish a relationship between Colchians and Egyptians based on appearance, and between Gelonians and Hellenes for the same reason. Tacitus understood heredity's role as well, when he hypothesized that the British Silures were of Iberian origin because of their curly hair and dark skin tone.

Race: the Scary and the Scared

There are two kinds of people in the world who think about race. The first kind are the ones I call, the Scary. They are the neo-Nazis, KKK, Black Panthers, etc. who espouse racial hatred and prejudice. At the opposite corner, there are the Scared ones, who -in opposition to the former- are too scared to even bring up the topic of race, unless they couple it with endless platitudes about the brotherhood of mankind and the "Human Race".

I won't say that the two are equally bad. Of course, the Scared ones are not as bad, or as dangerous as the Scary ones. But they both trivialize the subject of biological differences between human populations, by making these out to be either too important (Scary), or completely unimportant (Scared).

It's about time there was a Third Way, for the scientific study of racial diversity. But of course, "racial science" has not been popular for half a century now, and it shows no signs of coming into vogue any time soon.

In the end, it all boils up to accepting that racial differences have nothing to do with the socio-cultural and constitutional notions of equality. Only when we accept this basic truth, will we be able to study racial variation without worrying about what such research might lead to.

What this Blog is about

The main topic of this blog will be the study of mankind from a biological and cultural evolutionary perspective. That is, my interest is in learning how biology and culture inter-act during the lifetime of individuals, and aggregates of individuals (populations, races, nations, etc.) to create the story of mankind.

Many times, we hear that "genes determine X", or "X is entirely dependent on culture". Others, realize how this is an oversimplifying distortion of reality, and amend it by proposing that "X is c% genetic and (100-c)% cultural". But, all this misses the point really. What we do, both as individuals and as groups, is the result of the inter-play of biology on culture and vice versa during the lifetime of the individual.

Here is an example: it is often claimed that IQ is e.g., 60% genetic, and 40% cultural. But, if that were so, then an individual born in the jungle would still be quite smart, by the IQ measure (if he has good genes). But in reality, such a person, isolated from society would probably be completely devoid of intelligence. Conversely, the best culture and education cannot make any difference in the intellectual development of someone whose biological hardware, so to speak, has an inherent deficiency.

Thus, the situation of IQ, and other observable measures of human behavior cannot be analyzed into fractions of factors that easily. It is only in ontogenesis that we will see how individuals and groups are what they are. It is only in praxis that we will see how they do what they do.

This blog will hopefully be a collection of useful information on the subject outlined above. It aims to find the middle ground between extremes: the notion that differences between human beings and human groups are entirely accidental, or cultural, or genetic, or the simple superposition of factors. By understanding the human process, and the group process, as it is will we be able to overcome the epistemological quagmire that different sets of a priori beliefs have led anthropology into.