Up From Facebook

A manuscript under review in a refereed journal and a new book together provided new evidence that at least two children of Thomas Jefferson’s slave Sally Hemmings were fathered by Jefferson. “After a covert and exhaustive 15-year effort led by the Smithsonian Institution, a team of geneticists, genealogists, historians, and anthropologists believe it has found proof that Jefferson fathered at least two of Hemings’s six children. On Tuesday, Richard Kurin, a Smithsonian cultural anthropologist, who led the multidisciplinary research effort, will publish a   book   detailing the team’s findings. A scientific paper is currently under review for publication in   Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences   ( PNAS ). The researchers, who agreed to speak with me about their results before publication, relied on the latest genetic techniques to reassemble Jefferson’s genome from the Founder’s hair. They then matched that sequence with DNA from descendants of two of He...

No, it’s not the Internet’s fault. It’s not the YAF’s fault. It’s not even entirely the Republican party’s fault. It’s the fault of modern American political conservatism, which encouraged vandalism and savagery and now finds itself a road company of   Lord of the Flies.   My sympathy is really quite limited. ~Charles P. Pierce

Blogger Duncan Black coined the “Freidman Unit” to refer to NYT columnist Tom   Friedman's frequent predictions during the Iraq War that "the next six months" would be the decisive turning point, a phrase he used repeatedly over several years without the decisive moment ever arriving.  Now, Sen. Kennedy reaches into the prophecy vault to revive the F.U. “ U.S. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told a crowd of Iowa conservatives Saturday he believes current high inflation is being caused by the U.S.-Iran war — but said he sees an end to the conflict within six months.”   https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/09/19/us-sen-john-kennedy-in-iowa-predicts-end-of-iran-war-in-6-months/

From a pediatrician and fellow emeritus professor: “You want to know about vaccines? Okay. Here you go. “In 42 years, in about 150,000 patient encounters, I have only seen one child who had a bad reaction: localized severe angioedema of the arm, I.e., severe redness and swelling, where he got a DTaP. Even so, he responded well to oral antihistamines and did not need to be hospitalized.   “That’s it: one kid who did well with outpatient treatment. In 42 years. In about 150,000 patient encounters.   “Now, how many kids did the jabs I prescribed save from illness, hospitalization, even death? I’ll never know, but I know it’s tens of thousands.   “Vaccines are a miracle. Yet they are so much more. They are a pinnacle of human intellect, achievement, and compassion. They are essential to human life on this planet, and I will continue to urge everyone I know - and thousands I don’t - to get themselves and their children every vaccine that’s appropriate for them.   “Because...

It wasn’t Hitler or Himmler who deported me, beat me, and shot my family. It was the shoemaker, the milkman, the neighbor, who were given a uniform and then believed they were the master race. ~Karl Strojka, Auschwitz

“T he Pentagon has rolled out formal guidance for mandatory testosterone testing for male service members 30 and older, a policy that leaves out women for now and faces questions from medical experts about the need and efficacy of such a program.   “ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in July   that a new program to screen troops for “testosterone deficiency” was necessary to allow them to operate at their “absolute best.” The new clinical guidance, released late Thursday, outlines how the program would work.   “The Pentagon’s efforts to test for low testosterone coincide with growing interest in the hormone that has been driven by men’s health influencers and podcasters, many of whom recommend the drug as a way to boost energy, muscle and feel younger.” There is *zero* evidence that circulating testosterone levels in American troops have *anything* to do with national security. So why is Whisky Pete spending your tax money on this project?   Two obvious reason...