#4
Incidentally, if Neanderthals & Homo sap could produce viable offspring - otherwise modern human populations would not contain Neanderthal genes - than Neanderthals weren't separate species.
#5
Gorm, the "fun-part" of Neanderthal DNA in humans is.. no Neanderthal Y chromosome (male) in human DNA and no Neanderthal mitochondria (female side) in Human DNA..
#7
#5 That means means Homo sap. and Neanderthal could not interbreed (produce viable offspring) - cause there only two sexes 😁. As to "Neanderthal Genes", we share genes with chimps. In fact we share genes with bacteria.
#8
#7 An alternate hypothesis is more complicated. To wit. All the mating was neanderthal males with H. Sap. females. Male offspring of such unions were subject to negative selection.
#10
The most convincing theory I have seen is Neanderthals never really made larger family groups. They stayed in small bands 8-20ish people and rarely traveled outside their territory.
Modern humans on the other hand traveled widely, gathered in large groups (most temporary) and formed a huge trade and information network. It was the social side that pushed success for the humans and as more of them came in, bred and developed the land, the Neanderthals were pushed out. Small groups with no network died out as they couldn't breed with other groups and thus went extinct.
#11
My theory was that h sapiens had a better sense of time. Thus they could plan where to hunt and where to forage.
Back in 2010, the sequencing of Neanderthal DNA was basically completed. Current estimates are that some 1-2% of the DNA of modern humans are Neanderthal DNA in Europe and Asia and the Americas but the percentage is much lower in Africa.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
06/11/2024 16:01 Comments ||
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#12
As far as sharing DNA, any visit to a busy Walmart should remove any notion that humans are 'selective' in who they reproduce with.
#14
If you use NA as a model, a group who lived in the Stone Age until very recently and agewise much closer to us. It is evident the more organized, technologically advanced group prevailed. Not just against Neanderthals, but also Denisovians and however many other branches they will find in the bush. There is no secret in the sauce. When survival is your lifestyle infantesimal variation or technological advance can be groundbreaking or devastating.
Three cheers for President Biden, who clearly is making friends and influencing nations in his inimitable way. 16 minute video.
[IslamiCity] Andrei Jikh explains the significant shift in global economics with the expiration of the long-standing Petro dollar agreement between Saudi Arabia and the US on June 9, 2024.
This system, in place for 75 years, marked the US dollar as the world's reserve currency, granting economic stability and access to rising asset prices. The arrangement between the US and Saudi Arabia helped preserve the US dollar's dominance over global trade.
However, this past Sunday, the Saudi Arabian prince announced that he would not renew the contract, signaling a major change in the global financial landscape. This agreement, initiated after World War II, allowed the US to control the world's energy, and its impact on the standard of living for Americans is substantial. The Petro dollar system replaced gold as the standard of value and enabled the US to maintain dominance over international trade. The reasons behind Saudi Arabia's decision not to renew the contract are part of a larger story, and its implications for us and future generations are yet to be fully understood.
Andrei discusses the trend of countries moving away from using the US dollar in international trade and oil transactions, with Saudi Arabia being the latest reported addition. The speaker argues that this could signal the end of America's global financial dominance and raises the question of what the US is famous for exporting that the world is buying. The answer, according to the speaker, is US dollars. The speaker explains that the US economy benefits greatly from being able to export dollars and issuing debt in the form of treasury bonds, which creates a stable economy, lower interest rates, and financial market liquidity.
He discusses the potential consequences of Saudi Arabia's decision to no longer use the US dollar for oil transactions. He explains that higher interest rates resulting from this decision could lead to more expensive mortgages, rents, auto loans, student loans, and credit cards. It could also put a strain on the banking system, national deficit, and federal budget, potentially leading to higher taxes. Additionally, the value of the dollar itself could be affected, making traveling and buying goods from other countries more expensive.
Andrei also touches on the reasons behind Saudi Arabia's decision, including its commitment to the BRICS alliance and the trend of countries reducing their dependence on the dollar. He argues that the US has limited options to fight this trend, and that the world's holdings of foreign exchange reserves in dollars and the dollar's use in foreign exchange transactions remain high. The speaker concludes by sharing their personal thoughts on the situation and offering investment advice.
Posted by: Anon1 ||
06/11/2024 07:03 ||
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Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Saudi Arabia
#1
Oops sorry TW accidentally fingerslip to submit before selecting non-wot
This a big story, surprisingly little mainstream news on it
75-year reign of US dollar just ended with Saudi decision
Honestly, the Biden administration worked hard to earn this result. We’ll just have to see whether day-to-day choices match the new official position, and what the Saudis decide to do after the next president is sworn in.
#4
I seem to remember reading this event was coming, and the results were many and nasty. Just vaguely.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/11/2024 8:20 Comments ||
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#5
Well, if we took care of our own energy needs domestically and were freed from trying to buy "stability" in the ay-rab world, it would be win-win.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/11/2024 8:21 Comments ||
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#6
What this means is that BRICSIA is increasing the economic pressure on the United States, by further reducing its ability to find buyers for its debt and thereby shift the effects of its debt-generated inflation to the rest of the world. Business Insider describes what it anticipates will result:
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/11/2024 8:27 Comments ||
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#7
Saudis, my dudes, you know that normalization of relations with Israel which you were doing before we took office, don't suppose you could do us a solid and at least pretend to do that again?
[ResponsibleStatecraft] The indictment of four-star Navy Admiral Robert Burke on bribery charges late last month raised eyebrows about the extent of corruption in the Navy and beyond. The scheme was simple. Burke allegedly steered a $355,000 Pentagon contract to a small workforce training firm — described unhelpfully in the Justice Department’s description as “Company A." Less than a year later he took a job at Company A in exchange for a $500,000 annual salary and 100,000 stock options.
The Burke indictment comes on the heels of Washington Post writer Craig Whitlock’s illuminating book on the Fat Leonard Scandal, the biggest, most embarrassing corruption scheme in the history of the U.S. Navy. In the words of his publisher, Simon Schuster, Whitlock’s book reveals “how a charismatic Malaysian defense contractor bribed scores of high-ranking military officers, defrauded the US Navy of tens of millions of dollars, and jeopardized our nation’s security.”
Obviously, the Navy needs to clean up its act, and, if found guilty, Burke should face consequences for his participation in a blatant case of old school corruption.
But this is just part of a pernicious system of corrupt dealings and profiteering in Pentagon procurement practices, and much of it is completely legal. It involves campaign contributions from major weapons contractors to key members of Congress with the most power to determine the size and shape of the Pentagon budget, and job blackmail, in which companies place facilities in as many congressional districts as possible and then stand ready to accuse members of cutting local jobs if they vote against a weapons program, no matter how misguided or dysfunctional it may be.
It also involves the revolving door, in which arms industry executives often do stints in top national security posts, even serving as secretary of defense, or, on the other side of the revolving door, when high ranking Pentagon and military officials go to work for weapons makers when they leave government service.
In fact, this is, by far, the most common path for retired senior military officers. As a Quincy Institute analysis found, over 80% of four-star generals and admirals that have retired in the last five years (26 of 32) went on to work in the arms sector. In short, most retiring four-stars, like Burke, go on to lucrative positions in the arms industry. Unlike Burke, they follow the rules, so this is all perfectly legal corruption.
The revolving door from the Pentagon is also spinning feverishly to foreign governments. A Washington Post investigation found that more than 500 former Pentagon personnel, including many high ranking generals and admirals, have gone on to work for foreign governments known for political repression and human rights abuses, like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Last, but certainly not least, there are the lobbyists. Last year alone, Pentagon contractors spent nearly $138 million on lobbying and had 905 lobbyists working on their behalf, according to OpenSecrets. That’s almost two lobbyists for every member of Congress, and more than 600 of them had gone through the revolving door —previously working at the Pentagon, Congress, or the Executive branch.
All of the above is about money and jobs, not crafting an effective defense strategy or buying weapons systems that are appropriate for carrying out that strategy. A case in point was a hearing last October to review a report on America’s strategic (meaning nuclear) posture from a Congressional commission, almost all the members of which have financial ties to the arms industry.
Posted by: NoMoreBS ||
06/11/2024 00:00 ||
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[11137 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
This has been known for a long time. Nobody cares. We're going to need a lot of weapons, for a long time. We're supplying not only Israel but Ukraine with bombs and as soon as we can join Ukraine to NATO(after Biden's re-election) that's when we can finally to kick off the big shooting war with Russia, which is going to require shit-tons of weapons. And then China needs to be lawnmowed. This is going to take quite a while.
Posted by: Cromonter Spawn of the Faeries8107 ||
06/11/2024 1:00 Comments ||
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#5
...Easy partial fix: 0-7 and above gotta wait five years before taking any position that pays more than fifty percent of their monthly retirement pay.
To put that in perspective, for Mister Burke (I'll be damned if I'm going to call him Admiral) is monthly retirement pay is $9250.00/month. I'd be willing to guess that every last 'Burger could do pretty well on that.
#6
Unless they changed the law since I was in/out, you're not 'retired' per se. You are subject to recall at anytime by the Secretary and are on a retainer. If you want to go to work and especially for any foreign organization, you must get a 'mother may I' approval from DoD. Anyone got an update on that?
#7
/\ That is exactly correct and oh BTW, do NOT change your US citizenship and expect the retirement checks to continue. Refer to #6 for additional details.
#8
When an officer retires, their commission normally remains in force and effect forever. In return for the privilege of being legally entitled to being addressed by their military rank and getting all their retirement benefits, they basically remain an "officer of the United States" until death. They can resign their commission, but few do.
That means that, if there is a recall, the officers can be brought back without an act of Congress or presidential recall.
#9
The biggest problem comes from the "bare-bones" maintenance regime that requires all the Beltway Bandits to run. The whole 'Fat Leonard' thing wouldn't have happened if the Navy had enough shipyard facilities. It's also the reason that about 1/4 of the US sub fleet is non functional: the nuke ships are required to be serviced in a Navy facility, and the capacity just doesn't exist.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/11/2024 14:16 Comments ||
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#10
My grandfather retained his Colonel status until he passed away at 92.
He was a Calvary Captain (with actual horses) at age 19 in WW1. Stayed in the military until late 1940's and promoted to Colonel right before he retired.
The Boloxi Officers Club and PX were among his retirement perks in his later years.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/11/2024 15:16 Comments ||
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[DanielGreenfield]America has never successfully liberated and held territory from Islamic terrorists. After thousands dead in Afghanistan and Iraq: both countries are now controlled by Islamic terrorists.
Many top current and former defense officials who oversaw both disasters, despite a track record of zero wins, have been criticizing Israel for not following in their footsteps.
Everyone from former Gen. David Petraeus to current Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown offer the familiar criticisms that Israel is not following the COIN or counterinsurgency model.
"Not only do you have to actually go in and clear out whatever adversary you are up against, you have to go in, hold the territory and then you’ve got to stabilize it," Chief Brown argued.
The problem with this model is that it failed and left a lot of widows and orphans along the way.
The United States spent over 50 years losing wars, prestige and young men by trying to follow the familiar strategy for defeating guerrilla armies through conventional warfare followed by efforts to hold and stabilize the territories. And what exactly do we have to show for it?
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) discarded this conventional wisdom for another approach.
Rather than trying to hold territory filled with an enemy population among whom the terrorists move, it has used its manpower to attack concentrations of enemy forces, moving quickly and at times unpredictably, while refusing to get bogged down by trying to ’hold’ any particular area.
This strategy has frustrated the entire Hamas war plan which like that of Jihadis in Iraq and Afghanistan depended on using terror attacks to pin military units in place, forcing them to defend and patrol a territory, and then exploiting their weaknesses to launch ambushes.
...When Israel ’re-cleared’ Al-Shifa hospital, it took by surprise and captured much of the leadership of Islamic Jihad and some Hamas leaders as well. Rather than a weakness, re-clearing is a strength because when terrorists return to territory that Israel is now familiar with, it can turn the tables and launch surprise attacks on those old positions.
Israel is not fighting to take land, but to grind down enemy forces wherever they operate.
"The measure of effectiveness will not be enemy killed," Gen McChrystal told the Senate about his Afghanistan strategy in 2009. McChrystal’s strategy killed a lot of Americans instead.
Israel is betting that McChrystal is wrong. It’s measuring effectiveness in just that way.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
06/11/2024 00:00 ||
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[11131 views]
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#1
There won't be any place for the enemy to live after all the apartment blocks have been reduced to rubble. Then make the rubble bounce until the last few Hamas starve to death. They aren't exactly growing crops, you know?
Posted by: Cromonter Spawn of the Faeries8107 ||
06/11/2024 1:03 Comments ||
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#2
Lesson 1 - do NOT allow Muslim Migration
Lesson 2 - refer to lesson 1
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
