Evolution Can Occur in 10 Years

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – How fast can evolution take place? In just a few years, according to a new study on guppies led by UC Riverside's Swanne Gordon, a graduate student in biology.

Gordon and her colleagues studied guppies — small fresh-water fish biologists have studied for long — from the Yarra River, Trinidad. They introduced the guppies into the nearby Damier River, in a section above a barrier waterfall that excluded all predators. The guppies and their descendents also colonized the lower portion of the stream, below the barrier waterfall, that contained natural predators.

Eight years later (less than 30 guppy generations), the researchers found that the guppies in the low-predation environment above the barrier waterfall had adapted to their new environment by producing larger and fewer offspring with each reproductive cycle. No such adaptation was seen in the guppies that colonized the high-predation environment below the barrier waterfall.

"High-predation females invest more resources into current reproduction because a high rate of mortality, driven by predators, means these females may not get another chance to reproduce," explained Gordon, who works in the lab of David Reznick, a professor of biology. "Low-predation females, on the other hand, produce larger embryos because the larger babies are more competitive in the resource-limited environments typical of low-predation sites. Moreover, low-predation females produce fewer embryos not only because they have larger embryos but also because they invest fewer resources in current reproduction."

Study results appear in the July issue of The American Naturalist.

Natural guppy populations can be divided into two basic types. High-predation populations are usually found in the downstream reaches of rivers, where they coexist with predatory fishes that have strong effects on guppy demographics. Low-predation populations are typically found in upstream tributaries above barrier waterfalls, where strong predatory fishes are absent. Researchers have found that this broad contrast in predation regime has driven the evolution of many adaptive differences between the two guppy types in color, morphology, behavior, and life history.

Gordon's research team performed a second experiment to measure how well adapted to survival the new population of guppies were. To this end, they introduced two new sets of guppies, one from a portion of the Yarra River that contained predators and one from a predator-free tributary to the Yarra River into the high-and low-predation environments in the Damier River.

They found that the resident, locally adapted guppies were significantly more likely to survive a four-week time period than the guppies from the two sites on the Yarra River. This was especially true for juveniles. The adapted population of juveniles showed a 54-59 percent increase in survival rate compared to their counterparts from the newly introduced group.

"This shows that adaptive change can improve survival rates after fewer than ten years in a new environment," Gordon said. "It shows, too, that evolution might sometimes influence population dynamics in the face of environmental change." Read more!

FAN-atical FANS

How does a person come to the decision to follow and root for one team over another? What aspects of a team draw the attention of a person's psyche? Is it dependent on the makeup of the team, or the makeup of the fan's mind?

There are three reasons fans root for 'their' team: the team is local, the team was followed by a strong influential adult during the fan's childhood, or the fan is a 'homer'. With each I hold different respect for their team of choice. Local is the most natural reason. An influential adult, who was looked up to by a child, followed a team and the child wanted to emulate that idea as a way of bonding. And the 'homer'... jumping on a team who just won a Championship or liking a team just because they win all the time... just to make themselves feel better... to make themselves feel part of a winner... to compensate for their negative self-image.

Local sports fans are the most natural fans. Before ESPN and the national TV contracts, fans had to read the local paper or go to the games to get their sports intake. It was a way to bond with your neighbors. Entering the local bar, you can jump into almost every conversation since most are dressed in the same team colors, discussing the newest acquisition. Plus you are constantly deluged with the local team propaganda. It is hard to not be a fan of the local team.

Another equally good reason a person likes a certain team is because they knew someone who they admired who rooted for that same team. Most times, this involves a close family member: usually a father or older sibling. Being a fan of the same team was a way to find a common bond, a common passion. Something to bring up into conversation. Something to share. Most people are a fan of something only because they had a parent or a sibling who liked the same thing. It's only natural to want to have that connection.

Then there are the 'homers'. Usually the team is nowhere near the local team. You know them. Didn't care about the team, didn't know anything about the team. Then they win the World Series or Stanley Cup and BAM... they have the jersey and root the loudest so everyone around them knows that they are a fan of that team. Just because your team had a number of years of being successful doesn't mean the real reason you liked them to begin with was because you are a 'homer' and started being a fan of them after a successful season. Usually the 'homer' became a fan of that team during high school or grade school... when the team probably won a Championship.

You can be a fan of one team by one reason and a fan of another team by another reason. In fact, you can be a fan of multiple teams in the same sport based on different reasons. I was a Miami Dolphins fan because my brother was a Miami Dolphins fan. But I was also a Pittsburgh Steelers fan because, growing up, they were a local team. I was never really a fan of other teams, but I liked ones more than others. I had a varying range of preferences, but Miami and Pittsburgh were the two NFL teams I tried to follow.

Over the years, my attention to one or the other shifted. The Mark Malone era of Pittsburgh wasn't the best. The post-Marino era was horrible, with poor decision after poor decision being made by the Dolphin front office. But I didn't know you had to choose one team and one team only in each sport to be a 'fan'. And once you chose that team, you had to be a 'fan' of that team for life. That last sentence sounds like something a 'homer' would say, after the Championship win.

'Homer's are everywhere. They pop up after a team either wins the Championship, or they make a catapult-like jump into the Championship contender stratosphere, either by almost making the finals or losing the finals. Examples can be seen even today.

Before the 2001 NFL season, did you ever notice anyone wearing a New England Patriots jersey? Or even clapping if New England did well? Unless you lived in the Massachusetts area, that answer was no. Now, go to a bar on a NFL Sunday and the Patriots are playing. You will find them. In 15 years, when Brady is gone, if the Patriots are still with winning seasons almost every year, making it far into the playoffs regularly, and winning a few Championships, those same Patriots 'homers' will still be screaming the loudest, claiming "I've been following them forever." But they are in reality just a 'homer' whose team had a lot of success for a lot of years, but you still are a 'homer'.

Before them, the St. Louis Rams. When Kurt Warner was bagging groceries, you didn't see Rams fans. But after the Super Bowl win, Rams fans were everywhere. I'm sure I will see a lot of Cardinals fans this coming NFL season. Again with the Kurt Warner jerseys popping up everywhere.

Chicago Bulls. Jordan. No Bulls fans before Jordan. During Jordan, Bulls fans everywhere. I give the Bulls fans a little break, though. Jordan was the greatest ever. He did things that made your jaw drop. He was a media darling. He was like what Tiger Woods is today: he transcended the sport.

LeBron James has not hit that level, yet. But did you know anyone who was a Cleveland Cavalier fan besides Clevelanders? They were the Washington Generals to the Bulls' Globetrotters.

It's too bad so many 'homer's are so delusional they do not know they are a 'homer'. But if you started liking a team when you were young, after they won the Championship game/series, then you are a 'homer'. So just shut your mouth and root like a regular sports fan. Your not a winner because the team won. You just look more like a loser. Read more!

But It Works!

Read more!

So What!

Carrie Prejean made waves about the media over her answer to the question on Miss USA about gay marriage.

SO WHAT!

What the fuck does that have to do with anything? She gave her opinion, and as far as I can tell, we live in a Democratic society where people can say something that others may not like. She answered (paraphrasing), "I am glad I live in a country where people of the same sex can get together, or people of the opposite. But where I come from, and, in turn, what I was brought up to believe, and I still believe, the word 'marriage' should only be equated between a man and a woman."

As a matter of fact, her answer was about what people like Barack Obama say about the gay marriage topic. He doesn't want gay marriage, but civil unions. Carrie seems to have a problem with the 'marriage' term. So, she doesn't speak as well as when she's asked about "what is your one wish", but, come on... she was put on the spot. It's a fucking beauty pageant! Not the Vice-Presidential Debates!

Speaking of potential Vice-Presidents... Sarah Palin has a book deal. She will get good scratch for her book.

So What!

What does that have to do with anything? It will be a propaganda piece, funded by the right (Rupert Murdoch), with the goal of stirring up support for another high office run in 2012. So What? Barack Obama came to national attention through his books, so why shouldn't Sarah Palin? The people who voted for that crazy bitch will buy her book, along with Rush's new book, Bill O's new book, and Skeletor's (Ann Coulter) new book. I won't read the damn thing. If I want slanted information to make the other side look completely non-credible while boasting your side's view I'd watch MSNBC. NBC's east coast studios are located in Rockefeller Center, New York City.

And speaking of New York City... The Obama Administration came under hot water for flying an un-Presidential-fied Air Force One LOW around NEW YORK being followed by a fighter jet for a photograph. What a bonehead move. I thought Dick Cheney's 'Shadow Government' took over and was using fear to gain the hearts and minds of the American people. I saw some cell phone video as the menacing, low flying 747 circled around Manhattan. It was likened to a panicked crowd fleeing a collapsing building or a tidal wave. Then the price tag of that photo-op came out: $300,000.

So What!

Yes, Manhattan was freaked out a little bit. You know what freaks me out more? We are still in Iraq. We are still in Afghanistan. We are still spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. Lets do the math: $10,000,000,000 divided by 30 (days in month) divided by 24 (hours in a day) divided by 60 (minutes in an hour) equals $231,481.48

I repeat that: We spend $231,481.48 every fucking minute in Iraq. So, who the fuck cares about a $300,000 photo-op? If that photo-op is all we have to worry about with our government's excess spending, I would be really happy. That that photo-op is a drop in the bucket compared to the billions of dollars our government gives away to corporations.

And speaking of corporations... with the Miss California, Sarah Palin book, and Air Force One photo-op occupying the fake news stories at all hours of the day on cable news networks, the shit I really want discussed go slipping through the cracks.

Instead, we hear about the shit I discussed above. Add on a missing 5 year-old girl, a husband killing his wife, and some other exploited person's life, and important news never makes it's way to the masses.

Since NOBODY discusses what I want to discuss, I'll be brief. I'm sure y'all want to get back to your polarizing topics.

Topic 1: Back in 2003, corporations began lobbying Congress to get low tax rates on overseas earnings. Did you know that for every $1 they spent on lobbying for the tax break, corporations reaped a $220 benefit on their US income taxes, according to three University of Kansas professors. Some 840 firms,including several of today’s bailout babies, including Citigroup, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch, gained more than $312 billion in tax breaks.

And what about companies that spent more than $1 million on tax lobbying? They did even better... a 24,300% return, the researchers found. In its disclosure statements, Eli Lilly & Co. acknowledged spending $8.52 million in 2003 and 2004 to lobby for the tax break. It reaped more than $2 billion in return.

That is why you will never see the off-shore, Cayman Island tax havens disappear. Too much money is being made and too much money is being spent on Congress for it to be bad for 'business'. When banks, and the likes, have that much control over Congress, the only people who lose out are the average American taxpayer.

And speaking of the average American taxpayer getting screwed...

Issue 2: Today, the U.S. Senate easily turned back an effort to cap interest rates on credit cards at 15%. Introduced by an Independent candidate (which means not a slave to the machine thirsting for corporate money), the Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders only garnered 33 votes, with 60 voting against the bill which will help millions of struggling Americans.

“When banks are charging 30 percent interest rates, they are not making credit available,” said Mr. Sanders, who noted credit unions are limited to 15 percent. “They are engaged in loan-sharking.”

So, when over 1/3 of credit card holders are paying 20% to 40% interest rates, the government was not there for them. A lot of Congressmen got a lot of money today. The loan-sharking continues. With both Democrats and Republicans working in unison to defeat the provision, you can really see which side of good/evil your party of choice is really on. Read more!

Blow It Out Your Twit

Supposedly everybody tweets now. For those who are like me and didn't know what Twitter was until recently...

Twitter is a web site for people who want to send a text message to the whole planet. In case somebody didn't see your status on Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, Instant Messenger, or Google Latitude, you can update people you will never meet face-to-face of the most inane musings of a boring daily life.

I guess every cable news channel is on the Twit Kingdom. I always wanted to know what Wolf Blitzer had for lunch. How about put the cell phone down, and report on real news, instead of repeating the same shit over and over again... peppered with reminders of the newscaster's Twitter address. I mean, one week I am watching news, the next week every person on cable news has a twitter address.

And if you want to know what a politician's geeky aid wants you to think the current thoughts are of a Senator, you can get Twitter updates from all the lawmakers. I prefer to look into the eyes of people who lie to me on a daily basis.

How about real Twitter updates from the politicians:

Just met with lobbyists for Exxon... lawsuits should be limited to how much punitive damages should be

Just left $5000/plate luncheon with the banking industry... the food, without even talking about the money, makes me want to bail them out

Corporations need tax loopholes so I can get re-elected

Family is most important when I am back in my hometown... Just fucked my $2000/hr hooker again on the taxpayer dime

How about some 'Tweets' from the past...

Adolph Hitler: Just chillin' in my bunker with my bitch... get back to you shortly

Abraham Lincoln: This play is boring... wife wants to leave, but I think things will get better

Charles Darwin: It's taking me forever to identify all these finches... why do they all look and act different?

George W Bush: I like me some french fried potaters... mmm humm

Karen Carpenter: Can't wait to get home and eat... reminds me I have to get to the pharmacy

Stevie Wonder: nd dlijdf kksk ldifjd.... ldifhg sldkjfi

Amelia Earhart: Where am I? Hope to come across a gas station so I can ask for directions.

Christopher Latham Scholes (pre-1870):

Jesus Christ: Judas is a dick! I'm telling my father! Just wait until he comes back! You'll all pay!


Read more!