Bad genes and genetic mutations;

In genetics there are mutations that are recessive, whether or not they assist or detract from survival. One of the arguments that obfuscated the Darwinian status of Hitler's Super-Race was the observation that both Blue Eyes AND Blond Hair are recessive genetic traits. In fact, I have heard that statistically, Red Hair may "go under" soon. In that context, I would like to talk about two separate tendencies that have been demonstrated as having genetic components. I'll ask if they might be recessive or dominant, and in either case how they have influenced Evolution. A dominant gene of a dis-advantageous trait should impede proliferation, under the theory of natural selection, while a recessive gene of an advantageous trait might fail by evolutionary accident. The two behaviors I have under consideration are alcoholism and homosexuality. Alcoholism is a genetic trait that is dis-advantageous, and is not thought to have influenced evolution because alcohol itself has only recently become available. The genetic component is such, that IF you have the trait, you develop alcoholism with undue ease in person and undue frequency in populations. Despite the fact that a genetic pre-disposition changes ODDS, lacking the gene is no guarantee of exception to the rule: almost anyone can, "by dint of much effort," adapt his system to require alcohol for metabolism. After that, enforcing choice by intellect on the decision is to overcome a constant chronic injury. Under these conditions, I think it is worthwhile to ask if alcoholism is a dominant or recessive gene. I have left genetic homosexuality to be last, not least, for context. Does the genetic predisposition eventuate the practice? Are all practitioners subject to the gene? Is it a dominant or recessive trait? On the off chance it is BOTH recessive and dis-advantageous (superficially by inhibiting reproduction,) how has it survived Evolutionarily? Is it possible, as Christians seem to demand, that any individual can exercise choice over it, despite genetic predisposition or other acquisition of the trait?

Homosexuality and Marriage;

My personal views on homosexuality are that, just as Calvinist Christianity is characterized as "schizophrenia," homosexuality can be regarded as self destructive behavior." That may be just as rude as calling a sucking habit "oral fixation," but it does not mean that it is untrue. Self destructive behavior is not illegal, but it is perhaps a bad thing to codify in association to marriage. Freud himself had an oral fixation, but was not a homophobe. In fact some might argue he was a "homophiliac" or "heterophobe."

The above went missing from this blog or its parent without explanation. As the military moves to extend the "Don't ask, don't tell," rule to those who are out of the closet, I would suggest that a soldier doesn't voluntarily self-destruct, and no self respecting soldier would brag about self destructing. However, my theory that it is self destructive is not testable.

Banking as more than APR income;

The reserve ratio in the Banking industry is the ratio between the amount of capital that a bank must have on hand and the amount of money it can lend. China has changed the reserve ratio to control the money supply instead of depending solely on changing the Prime rate.

Since the reserve ratio is as low as 10% or lower, consider starting a Bank as a money making proposition. I could start with $100, and promptly loan out $1000. At a 6% return, would make %60 in the first year. This means that my venture would pay back more than half in the first year, and 3 times over after the first 5 years. If I could borrow at Prime rate, and loan at 25%, profits should be excellent.

To prevent a run on the banks, you could argue that they should maintain the reserve ratio in cash at the bank. This would ensure cash circulation and ensure public confidence in Banking as a whole. If a bank's assets fall below the reserve ratio, this indicates a Greed that may not be properly suited to the rational economic system.

Note: Cash is the bane of the DEA's existence. There are people who argue that a cashless system would solve that problem without consequence. I argue that I could not spend a digital token during a power blackout. I need something I can hold in my hand.

How to detect a faulty election;

Recently Texas' Republican Primary featured three potential Republican candidates: Rick Perry, Kay Hutchison and Debrah Medina.

The polls predicted that Medina would play spoiler, with a runoff election later between Rick Perry and Kay Hutchison. To my surprise, Rick Perry won with 51%. I don't know if this was within the margin of error of the Polls. Conspiracy theorists can cry foul: either the winner or an outside influence "fixed" the election.

Iraq had a recent election too. It is more subject to accusations of tampering than Texas. To ratify the election a statistical study with a statistically significant sample size that is truly random, should yield results that agree with the vote - again with a small margin of error. If differences are statistically significant, then the election should be ruled invalid and re-done. This is only theoretical, because of secret ballot provisions. If only volunteers are polled, the sample cannot be random. However, since 30 -120 is a statistically large sample for one variable, statistics ARE worthwhile.

I don't seriously think Texas' election was fixed, but we could profit from more Scantron ballots, and a paper trail for early voting. Iraq could profit from hand held counter clickers for the ballot counters.

If we go to electronic voting, we should do so in context of a discussion of Direct Democracy, and bear in mind that shipping a 12 B_illion count ballot box around the internet with utter electronic security fails to accomplish the goal.

Post Script: Another application of the statistical study of votes is that of the extant batch of ballots. A random study of ballots should agree with the total count. If it does not, the count is faulty.

Deficit spending or highway robbery?

I personally haven't had anything original AND substantive to report since June 09, hence a long silence. Here goes nuthin :-)

The 2010 Obama Federal Budget projects 1.3 T_rillion in pure deficit. The DEBT now exceeds 12 T_rillion. I did the following on my calculator:

1.3 [exp] 12 / 300 [exp] 6 =

It faithfully blinked back 5000, informing me that 536 Washington Politicians are borrowing $5,000, for each and every man, woman and child living in the country, above and beyond that which we payed them in taxes for ONE YEAR to successfully Govern us!

Friends: That's not government, it's TELEVANGELISM!
CAVEAT\Warning: Obama's not crying too much about it, but he inherited a lot of obligations from a lame duck Bush. Anybody care to tell me where to look to see a W. deficit report?

What influences certain movies to "get made?"

Screenwriters pour heart and soul into their product.
The market "demands," offerings with mercurial predictability.

The task of the studio appears to answer:

1. What is the market asking for?
2. What screenplay answers this demand?
3. Does this meet my studio agenda?

No individual controls the system, but these three appear to be the Triumvirate of movie making; variously Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of Hollywood.

Principle of a hash explicated;

To understand the principle of a hash, consider taking a Bible or a Quaran and, from start to finish, collecting only the 3rd letter of every word three letters long or longer.

It should be expected that every time you perform this operation you will get the same characteristic grouping of letters. The same operation on another copy of the same book will give the same value, but you could choose Forbes magazine for your source instead.

Reversing a hash is comparable to taking just the hash file and a dictionary and attempting to recreate the original volume without hints or clues. It is more legitimately illustrated by limiting the input to one page, and including all Forbes magazines of all months ever issued as potential sources.

Good hashes have been devised that yield specific lengths exactly - MD5 yields exactly 128 bits or 16 ASCII characters.

An example of a use for a hash is in ATM pin numbers. When you enter your pin at the Point of Sale device, instead of sending the PIN value, a good banker hashes it before transmitting. If the hash matches the hash in the database, your pin is good.

The reason this is an improvement on encryption is that if the bank's table is compromised, a hash table does not yield a list of valid pins with account numbers.