I was wondering when you'd enter the confab!

Undoubtedly there are consistent genetic differences between various historical and current population groups, but only some of these have been categorised as "race", especially since the admixture of genes caused by interbreeding is as old as the species.

Scientists can and will investigate these genetic differences, and some, like blood types, have been a useful tool for anthropologists to trace the migration of peoples across the globe. That (and lingusitic analysis) shows how we know that Polynesians are descended from people that migrated seaward from what is now known as Taiwan starting a few thousand years ago.

So are Polynesians in fact Taiwanese? You could answer yes or no to this question, and probably mount a reasonably argument for either proposition. An argument for the presence of races will always be mounted as long as there are any phenotypic or genotypic differences between people, which hopefully, will be always.

One problem with race is actually finding an objective definition that will hold as consistently as the definition of species and its superordinate hierarchy, and then finding a terminology for this definition that is apolitical. But as it stands, zoology won't allow these distinctions as the existence of a modern human subspecies is excluded in current taxonomy...races are a subordinate distinction to subspecies so the notion of making racial distinctions, biologically or zoologically, is nonsense.

There are of course practical reasons for studying group genotypes, but the de-politicisation of this process will always be problematic.

Here are some thoughts from a geneticist:

<How is genetic diversity distributed within and between populations? Human populations can be defined along geographic, political, linguistic, religious, or ethnic boundaries. Using a common definition that groups populations into major continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America), many studies have shown that approximately 90% of genetic variation can be found within these populations, and only about 10% of genetic variation separates the populations. Thus, the great majority of genetic differences can be found between individuals from any one of the major continents, and, on average, only a small proportion of additional differences will be found between individuals from two different continents. Furthermore, because human history is a history of population movement, and because humans are extraordinarily adept at sharing their DNA, the genetic boundaries between populations are typically indistinct. For any given DNA sequence or gene, two individuals from different populations are sometimes more similar to one another than are two individuals from the same population. The fact that humans are relatively homogeneous at the DNA level, combined with the fact that between-population variation is modest, has significant social implications.

Importantly, these patterns imply that the DNA differences between individuals, and between populations, are relatively scant and do not provide a biological basis for any form of discrimination.>

http://www.ashg.org/education/pdf/g...

Just below these paragraphs is a Figure using a branching line diagram that shows the divergence of some identified "population groups" and that <"Nearly all genetic studies indicate greater diversity in African populations">.

Innumeracy, plain and simple. A typical average temperature is 37 degrees Celsius. Someone converted that to Fahrenheit using the formula T_F = (9/5)*T_C + 32 (which isn't even exact; it should be 32.2) and got 98.6 >

It's an interesting theory that shows your usual critical thinking. In this case, it might even be right. I now try the patience of those who think dragging reputable sources into a Rogoff discussion unnecessary.

One data set [ http://www.stat.yale.edu/Courses/19... ] puts me at about -2 standard deviations, <OCF> at about -3. The scholarly article at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/... indicates the "norm" is 98.2, not 98.6. Note that body temperatures vary, not only with "when" but "where" (ear, mouth, armpit, etc.).

The scholarly article concludes, "Thirty-seven degrees centigrade (98.6 degrees F) should be abandoned as a concept relevant to clinical thermometry; 37.2 degrees C (98.9 degrees F) in the early morning and 37.7 degrees C (99.9 degrees F) overall should be regarded as the upper limit of the normal oral temperature range in healthy adults aged 40 years or younger..."

<twinlark:>

Taxonomy is in constant flux as it should be. It changes with every new tool and concept.

McCulloch's classification uses mostly mitochondrial DNA, but it closely resembles classificatiosn based on the evolution of languages.

The concepts of race, subspecies, and species are largely folk concepts designed to explain differences and similarities Lions and tigers can interbreed, etc.

Paper money and coins are a nuisance. >

Cash is still the most convenient for many purchases.

Help is on the way, this being an election year-

<WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is asking Congress for help in policing oil markets to be on the lookout for price manipulation by speculators. Obama says the country can't have some speculators reap millions while consumers suffer from high gas prices.

The president wants six times more staff at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to supervise the market. He also wants to raise penalties for market manipulation and give regulators the ability to require more money to back up speculative trades.

Obama's attention to oil speculation is his latest effort to focus on gasoline prices in the face of determined criticism of his energy policies by Republicans.

<Marmot PFL:>

Cash does increase privacy and allow you to avoid taxes.

As such it will be used less and less. Debit cards and cell phone money transfers will increase in usuage.

<The concepts of race, subspecies, and species are largely folk concepts designed to explain differences and similarities Lions and tigers can interbreed, etc. >

<twinlark:>

The concept of "subspecies" is only about 60 years old. As a subset of "species", it refers to clusters of distimct mophological traits usualy with a distinct geographical range

"Subspecies" has more meaning and a clearer definition than "variety" or "race"

It is quite possible to have barriers to breeding based on geography or behavior. For example the male breeding display of some birds species is only one half the speed of related species. Ocaisionly hybrids occur presumably because a female thought "Well he is a little slow, but I sure am horny"

<twinlark: Not sure that zoologists and botanists would agree that species and subspecies are folk concepts>

A great many Latin binomials are simply translatiom into Latin from a common name. In many cases the common name is more stable than the Latin binomial.

Binomials are common in language. The botanist and philosopher Herbert Baker used to tell a story about his transporting an evergreen conifer above the artic circle tree line. Before he could plant it there had to be an Innuit naming ceremony. The innuit shaman named it "Green Radio Tower With Arms." It later was reduced to the binomial "Green Tower"

<twinlark:>

Eqyally mysterious is why my software did not short American Air Lines.

It dumped my shares but did not short. It also dropped by forty percent.

No way of telling, but it sure does not qualify as insider trading.