Just Dropping In

[Blake Noble]

Although most of you probably were too busy to notice, I've largely been absent since May. Long story short, my laptop died and I've been too broke to buy a new one. That should change in the coming weeks and I'll be slowly stepping back in to the old swing of things and contributing articles again.

For those of you that listened to the recent podcast, you'll know that I've landed a new job as a part-time pharmacy tech and, with any luck, I should be on track to attend college this fall. Until I have a new computer, I'll mainly be contributing to the site through the podcast since my iPhone works very well for Skype, so if you enjoy my annoying banter be sure to listen.

In other news, I'm currently making plans to relocate from Central to Western Kentucky by this time next year. As it turns out, Murray State University is the college to attend in Kentucky for journalism so I'll be trying to transfer there. Not only that, but the cost of living out there is dirt cheap compared to where I'm at now (as it stands, I can't afford to move out of my parent's house on my own without a roommate and I'm just not that trusting) and there's outdoorsy stuff to actually do. For example, Murray State is very close to lakes Kentucky and Barkley ... which means there's a chance I may also buy a cheap runabout boat and shuck the Astra in favor of something like a Wrangler Unlimited. We'll see.

Let's see ... What else? Oh yeah, a plug. In Top Gear UK news, there's a chance that the show may film a new special in America as indicated by a post on Jeremy Clarkson's Facebook fan page, which seems like he may actually maintain personally. Since you can throw comments back at Clarkson on Facebook, I decided to make a suggestion that I think would make for an excellent episode.

In a nutshell, they would come to America, buy $2,500 dollar cars on Craigslist, and drive them from Virginia to California without any road time on the Interstate to compete in the 24 Hours of Lemons. Hilarity would be guaranteed to ensue as whatever cheap cars they bought would certainly deteriorate on the cross country trip and it would be interesting to see how close they would come to meeting the requirement that each car be worth little more than scrap value to enter the race by the time they reach the west coast. If you agree that this would make for -- err -- smashing TV then hop on over to Facebook and like my comment by clicking this link. I'm the last guy to comment (as always).

If you don't like my idea, then that's okay. I'll just have someone come to your house and make you watch reruns of the first season of Top Gear US until you realize my brillance. Also, don't tell me my Facebook profile pic is douchey -- that was the point.

Anyway, until I'm back in a few weeks, take it easy everyone. Thanks for reading this post and playing along.

- Blake

[ocnblu]

Jacket, you're on an adventure. Good luck to ya.

[G. David Felt]

Douchey good luck with school and your adventure of life!

[FAPTurbo]

Douchey good luck with school and your adventure of life!

wat

[A Horse With No Name]

Good luck, dude!

[Drew Dowdell]

well, heck, I wish I knew a week ago... I may have been able to snag a laptop for you and I was even in Louisville. I got one for MudMonster.

[Blake Noble]

Well damn. If I had known you were in my neck of the woods Drew, I would've at least tried to meet up to say hello.

Anyway, I'm working on snagging a Macbook Pro or, at the very least, a decent Ultrabook as soon as I square away a round of new issues with my student loans this week. I just wish I didn't have to deal with dental surgery on top of it.

[ocnblu]

Ah yes, Kentucky.

[G. David Felt]

Ah yes, Kentucky.

Is that the state where every brother marries their cousin or something?

I thought their official tag line was "The State of official Inbred Living!"

Edited July 25, 2012 by dfelt

[ocnblu]

I was just teasing Jacket. He knows I love him.

[SAmadei]

Ah yes, Kentucky.

Is that the state where every brother marries their cousin or something?

I thought their official tag line was "The State of official Inbred Living!"

Actually, Kentucky does not allow 1st cousin marriage... like CA, FL, NY, MA and several others do.

[Drew Dowdell]

It's probably more telling that Kentucky felt the need to specifically outlaw the practice.

[daves87rs]

Good to hear from ya! Keep us posted,...

[G. David Felt]

Ah yes, Kentucky.

Is that the state where every brother marries their cousin or something?

I thought their official tag line was "The State of official Inbred Living!"

Actually, Kentucky does not allow 1st cousin marriage... like CA, FL, NY, MA and several others do.

WOW, CA, FL, NY, MA still allows this??? No wonoder those states are so messed up!

It's probably more telling that Kentucky felt the need to specifically outlaw the practice.

Very true, it must have been running rampant for them to have the need to create this law. I alwys thought it was common sense, but then imbreeding was the downfall of Roman society!

[SAmadei]

WOW, CA, FL, NY, MA still allows this??? No wonoder those states are so messed up!

Not to sound like I'm championing first cousin marriage, cause I'm not, but it turns out that the risks of genetic defects has been grossly overstated.

Furthermore, it is estimated the 80% of all the marriages of all time were between people related as second cousins or closer.

It's probably more telling that Kentucky felt the need to specifically outlaw the practice.

Uh, yeah... PA also felt the same way.

Very true, it must have been running rampant for them to have the need to create this law. I alwys thought it was common sense, but then imbreeding was the downfall of Roman society!

Most of the research in this has been done in the 1880s, and are based, for the most part, on quackery... but 13 states quickly outlawed first cousin marriages... and 13 more by 1920. Only 3 states have outlawed it since... KY (1943), ME (1985) and TX (2005).

As for Rome, the evidence of inbreeding is questionable. In any case, it was outlawed in 381 AD in the west and 565 AD in the east... and then the western empire was overrun by the cousin-marrying Visigoths.

Today, the only places outlawing first cousin marriage is roughly 30 states, China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Phillipines, and a few south eastern European countries. While much of Europe once outlawed the practice, modern research has also found the risk of genetic problems to be minimal, and have apparently let it become legal again.

Famous people who married a first cousin...

Wernher von Braun

Charles Darwin

Albert Einstein

Carl Giles (political cartoonist)

Jerry Lee Lewis

Samuel F. B. Morse

Edgar Allan Poe

Martin Van Buren

H.G. Wells

Rudy Giuliani is married to his second cousin once removed.

Its actually all a very interesting subject I tripped over a few months ago.

[SAmadei]

Consanguinity also seems to relate back to the whole six degrees of separation thing... we are all cousins at some point... and even if you take a group of apparently unrelated people, you can still link them together... like this interesting article...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogical_relationships_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States

...where George W Bush is 11th cousins to Barack Obama AND Princess Diana! And Elvis Presley is 21st cousins with Barack Obama.

[G. David Felt]

Would you really want to kiss let alone reproduce with your cousin?

Some how this is just weird to me though incest is one of the biggest search items for porn on search engine listings.

Seems society loves to love themselves in one way or another.

[Justin Bimmer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin_marriage_law_in_the_United_States_by_state

Almost half of the states allow some form of 1st cousin marriage.

[SAmadei]

Would you really want to kiss let alone reproduce with your cousin?

I dunno... my cousins are all the wrong gender to even consider it.

Keep in mind, that its a social norm that has been forced on us in the last 100 years based on questionable research. Just like the last 100 years of brainwashing by shaving companies to be clean shaven for hygienic reasons... which modern research disagrees with. Or how most Americans would never dream of eating a grub or a rat, but its a food staple in other countries. Mmmm... seared rat on a stick... just like mom used to make.

The simple fact is that at one point in relatively recent history (within the last 100K years), humans were nearly extinct, with small population pockets (less than a few hundred... total worldwide population between 5-10K) surviving for long periods in isolation. A lot of inbreeding would have to have happened in that time frame, and yet we seem to have grown stronger from that point.

Some how this is just weird to me though incest is one of the biggest search items for porn on search engine listings.

Well, its weird to both of us, as we, for the most parts, share the same accepted norms... but its not universal in the world, or over time.

Anyway, even though first cousins might be legally considered incest, I consider it only to be between people who share (or are) a parent... and for the most part, this is likely to have been nearly universally taboo for a long time.

In the meantime, there has been much research in the science of attraction (pheromones and such) and one of proposed purposes is that pheromonal attraction is also a sign of genetic compatibility, so that people who are closely related, who would produce genetically defective offspring would not be attracted to one another in the first place, as the pheromones are working at a subconscious level... e.g., causing that "kissing your sister" kind of reaction.

[G. David Felt]

Would you really want to kiss let alone reproduce with your cousin?

I dunno... my cousins are all the wrong gender to even consider it.

Keep in mind, that its a social norm that has been forced on us in the last 100 years based on questionable research. Just like the last 100 years of brainwashing by shaving companies to be clean shaven for hygienic reasons... which modern research disagrees with. Or how most Americans would never dream of eating a grub or a rat, but its a food staple in other countries. Mmmm... seared rat on a stick... just like mom used to make.

The simple fact is that at one point in relatively recent history (within the last 100K years), humans were nearly extinct, with small population pockets (less than a few hundred... total worldwide population between 5-10K) surviving for long periods in isolation. A lot of inbreeding would have to have happened in that time frame, and yet we seem to have grown stronger from that point.

Some how this is just weird to me though incest is one of the biggest search items for porn on search engine listings.

Well, its weird to both of us, as we, for the most parts, share the same accepted norms... but its not universal in the world, or over time.

Anyway, even though first cousins might be legally considered incest, I consider it only to be between people who share (or are) a parent... and for the most part, this is likely to have been nearly universally taboo for a long time.

In the meantime, there has been much research in the science of attraction (pheromones and such) and one of proposed purposes is that pheromonal attraction is also a sign of genetic compatibility, so that people who are closely related, who would produce genetically defective offspring would not be attracted to one another in the first place, as the pheromones are working at a subconscious level... e.g., causing that "kissing your sister" kind of reaction.

Very interesting info, thank you for posting your response.

In regards to the shaving thing, I think there are some of us that just have more sensitive skin. I have had beards before especially during the winter skiing season and while it can keep your face warmer, it just bugs the heck out of me and I am always scratching it. Yet my dad can wear a beard for ever and never bother him.

Just like the Pheromones, I think some guys are meant to have facial hair and others are not. Then with the increase in swimming competitions, so many people love a smooth body man or woman, so all the body hair goes bye bye.

Go figure, some like it smooth, some like it hairy!

Edited August 1, 2012 by dfelt

[Blake Noble]

I get another chance to swing by and this thread turns into a discussion on inbreeding. Jesus, guys. Who misplaced the Ritalin?

Edited August 4, 2012 by black-knight

[FAPTurbo]

Yeah seriously. Conversation of this high quality is podcast territory.

[Blake Noble]

Okay. I'm back. Hi.

[Drew Dowdell]

get your hard drive fixed?

[Blake Noble]

Nah. Finally got the fundage for a new laptop. It's a Sony Vaio T13 ultrabook with one of those nifty new Ivy Bridge Intel Core i5 processors.

EDIT: Did I say Ivy League earlier? Hah.

Edited August 18, 2012 by black-knight