Related: Ten doctrines which render Rome outside of ChristMay the Virgin Mary help us to take the first step each day in order to build peace in love, justice and truth.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) October 31, 2017
For centuries, skin color has held powerful social meaning — a defining characteristic of race, and a starting point for racism.
“If you ask somebody on the street, ‘What are the main differences between races?’ they’re going to say skin color,” said Sarah Tishkoff, a geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania.
Tishkoff and her colleagues showed this to be a profound error. In the journal Science, the researchers published a large-scale study of the genetics of skin color in Africans.
The researchers pinpointed eight genetic variants in four narrow regions of the human genome that strongly influence pigmentation — some making skin darker, and others making it lighter.
These genes are shared across the globe, it turns out; one of them, for example, lightens skin in both Europeans and hunter-gatherers in Botswana. The gene variants were present in humanity’s distant ancestors, even before our species evolved in Africa 300,000 years ago.
The widespread distribution of these genes and their persistence over millenniums show that the old color lines are essentially meaningless, the scientists said. The research “dispels a biological concept of race,” Tishkoff said.
Humans develop color much as other mammals do. Special cells in the skin contain pouches, called melanosomes, packed with pigment molecules. The more pigment, the darker the skin.
Skin color also varies with the kind of pigments: Melanosomes may contain mixtures of a brown-black called eumelanin and a yellow-red called pheomelanin.Comment: See Ten Postulates on Race and ‘Caucasian’: " a completely ridiculous term":
There was a skirmish between Bob Dylan and John Lennon over this back in the late 70's. Dylan had professed faith in Christ and penned Gotta Serve Somebody. Lennon responded with the profane Serve Yourself
Regina Marie "Reggie," 65, of Naples, FL and Belle Center, OH, passed away Thursday, May 7, 2015. Born and educated in Cincinnati, OH, Reggie went on to a thirty-seven year healthcare career as a surgical technologist at Grandview, Southview and Kettering Medical Centers in Dayton, OH. She was a compassionate volunteer helping people locally and abroad. She traveled many times to third-world countries assisting with free surgical care to indigent patients. Reggie's passions included skiing, scuba-diving, boating, motorcycles, sports cars, carpentry, travel, movies and music. Reggie was predeceased by her dear friend, Dr. Alison Ann Clarey, father Vincent H. Linz, and sister Margaret Linz Meyer (Roger). She is survived by her mother Virginia Linz Zettel, sister Patricia Linz Ladrigan (Terrence F.), brother Vincent A. Linz, niece Marlene E. Meyer (Greg Britton), great-niece Maggie Britton. The family will receive friends from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Thursday, May 14, 2015 at the TOBIAS FUNERAL HOME-FAR HILLS CHAPEL, Dayton, OH. Funeral service 11:00 a.m. Friday, May 15, 2015 at Christ United Methodist Church, Kettering, OH. Interment David's Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Dr., Naples, FL 34112. 239-643-7275. naplesgarden.org. Online condolences may be expressed by going to www.tobiasfuneralhome.comComment: Another #OHHS67 classmate
Jennifer Ann Farfsing, beloved wife, mother and sister passed away on July 2, 2017 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Jennifer was born September 15, 1949 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Donald and Jacqueline Chamberlain. After high school she attended the University of Cincinnati graduating with a B.S. in Education. She immediately began her teaching career working for the Cincinnati School System.
In 1990 she moved with her husband Joe and son Andy to Reno and continued her teaching career with the Washoe County School District, teaching at Silver Lake, Marvin Moss, Hunsburger and retiring in 2015 from Caughlin Ranch. The majority of her career was spent in kindergarten. Here is where she found her niche and dedicated herself to her student's complete education. Jennifer's car was always the first one in the parking lot and the last one to leave. Yet, once at home she continued to work preparing for her students next day's learning. Teaching was never a job to Jennifer but her life work of 40 years. She loved her classroom time.
Jennifer's other passion was traveling, particularly to the beach. She especially loved Florida and cruising the southern Caribbean over the Christmas holidays. While on her trips her students were always on her mind. Jennifer always made sure she brought home souvenirs for each of her students. She was always generous, always thinking of others and never of herself. She had compassion for everyone and everything in her life.
Jennifer is preceded in death by her parents Don and Jacki Chamberlain. She is survived by her husband Joe, son Andy, Sister Karen Hawkins (Ed) and numerous friends.
The family would like to thank and will always be grateful to all her Doctors, Nurses, Caregivers, her friends and relatives who were so helpful and compassionate throughout her struggle with cancer.
Per Jennifer's request she did not want a service, but wants everyone to know, "I will miss you all dearly, but please don't be sad, instead smile and know that I have gone to the beach….until we meet again." Neptune Society handled arrangements.
Published in Reno Gazette-Journal on July 9, 2017
Responding to a comment on my previous post.
The comment: "It's time for Christians to stand up to the Alt-right gun nuts and push for gun control, now!"
As to the Alt-Right part of Anon's comment - I think tarring Biblical Christianity with the Alt-Right tag is a canard. I provided a link to respond briefly to that in a reply to Anon's comment. I was at a Reformation conference yesterday and during a break I bumped into a pastor whom I know and he sad/asked: "You're into guns - Right?!" Clarifying that:
I would like to disabuse the idea that Christians have a position on gun control:
- I haven't shot a gun in probably 10 years
- I used to have 4 handguns. A year ago when I thought I was likely to die soon, I sold 3 of my four guns because the wife didn't want my guns around after my demise.
- I have my grandfather's gun only - an antique from the 30's. It has been rebuilt and shoots but I haven't shot since the rebuild
Do I have a position on gun control?
- No Christian creed mentions guns (or self defense (they creeds predate gun technology))
- No confession of faith (eg the Westminister Shorter Catechism, London Baptist Confession (1689), New Hampshire Baptist Confession (1833) mentions self-defense). The New Hampshire confession was written in the era of semi-modern firearms so the concept of firearms was well-know - eg the Springfield Model 1855. The Second Amendment predates the New Hampshire confession by 44 years so it could have addressed it
- I can think of no American Christian denomination that has taken a pro-gun stand. I've considered the many brands of Baptists, non-denom's, EFCA, and Christian colleges and universities, et cetera.
- I personally have been a member of various churches over nearly 50 years and ditto - crickets on guns.
- I pastored 3 churches over 16 years and never took a position that I would call either pro-gun or anti-gun.
More on Monsters
- I am support the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
- I support the 2nd Amendment
- I support common sense gun control that protects both the rights of individuals to bear arms balanced with the need to protect against the madness of Mandalay Bay-like monsters
- More on this below but - No amount of gun control will protect us from Evil!
As a lawful gun owner, how do I respond to this horror? https://t.co/643dUvcscP— James Peet (@jrpeet) October 4, 2017
See The Culture of DeathFeinstein: No law would have stopped Las Vegas gunman https://t.co/lpT2EBCM5D— James Peet (@jrpeet) October 8, 2017
When Columbine happened in the spring of 1999, it hit me like a wave of sickness. I wrote a piece about the culture of death that produced the teenage shooters: “Think of it this way. Your child is an intelligent little fish. He swims in deep water. Waves of sound and sight, of thought and fact, come invisibly through that water, like radar. . . . The sound from the television is a wave, and the sound from the radio; the headlines on the newsstand, on the magazines, on the ad on the bus as it whizzes by—all are waves. The fish—your child—is bombarded and barely knows it. But the waves contain words like this, which I’ll limit to only one source, the news:
“. . . was found strangled and is believed to have been sexually molested . . . had her breast implants removed . . . took the stand to say the killer was smiling the day the show aired . . . said the procedure is, in fact, legal infanticide . . . is thought to be connected to earlier sexual activity among teens . . . court battle over who owns the frozen sperm . . . contains songs that call for dominating and even imprisoning women . . . died of lethal injection . . . had threatened to kill her children . . . had asked Kevorkian for help in killing himself . . . protested the game, which they said has gone beyond violence to sadism . . . showed no remorse . . . which is about a wager over whether he could sleep with another student . . .
“This is the ocean in which our children swim. This is the sound of our culture. It comes from all parts of our culture and reaches all parts of our culture, and all the people in it, which is everybody.”
We were bringing up our children in an unwell atmosphere.
There are monsters in our land ...
— James Peet (@jrpeet) February 16, 2018
Not unlike ... https://t.co/1LtDstEIl9 pic.twitter.com/qVZZN2gM70
A day prior to Parkland, a grandmother foiled grandson's alleged school shooting plans https://t.co/ow7KbMA8e7 via @nbcnews
— James Peet (@jrpeet) February 16, 2018
5 Terrible Things the Media Communicates to Every Potential School Shooter https://t.co/GTsjledVQM #Trending via @pjmedia_com
— James Peet (@jrpeet) February 16, 2018
Common sense #AR15 #guncontrol https://t.co/OdxxE7oYt9@amyklobuchar @SenTinaSmith @RepErikPaulsen @SenateGOP @HouseGOP pic.twitter.com/hcj9weZybH
— James Peet (@jrpeet) February 18, 2018
