Syzdekistan

The New York Times has this interesting article on the genetic relatedness of the peoples of Europe.
The genetic map of Europe bears a clear structural similarity to the geographic map. The major genetic differences are between populations of the north and south (the vertical axis of the map shows north-south differences, the horizontal axis those [...]

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Check out this great review about a documentary of one of Las Vegas’ most influential and fascinating citizens.
Let’s see … Israeli independence, McCarthy, civil rights, the mafia, Howard Hughes, Watergate … have I missed anything? Probably — he was a crusader against the IRS, he tried to help broker a Middle East peace pact, he [...]

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Today, I received word that Mojave Max, the desert spokestortoise for the Clark County Desert Conservation Plan died. I had the pleasure of feeding and taking care of this tortoise at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center in the early 1990s. He was a very friendly tortoise with a great personality and he lived in the [...]

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Back in December 2003, Hot Pregnant Wife was very pregnant. So pregnant, in fact, I was already on paternity leave. The Princess was a few days late and Hot Wife was ready to be done with being pregnant. We did the usual things to induce labor. She walked the neighborhood putting door hangers on doors [...]

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I’m sorry to say that in yesterday’s post, I erred on the location of Black Jack Ketchum’s hanging. Thankfully, Ketchum’s great grand nephew notified me of my mistake. Berry Spradley has a fascinating web page on the his genealogy and family history:
Your memory is not exactly correct. Black Jack Ketchum was hung in Clayton, [...]

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Hearing the news reports of the judicial hanging of Saddam Hussein’s half-brother, Barzan Hussein reminded me of the accidental decapitation of Black Jack Ketchum. I first heard of Ketchum at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. The hanging of Ketchum in the nearby town of Cimmaron in 1901 resulted in a gruesome decapitation of [...]

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