There's just too much epic news to not do a roundup today

The Super Windy Day Roundup
There is just too much epic news to not do a roundup today. So here we go.....

A jailed Afghan rape victim has been released from prison...to marry her attacker (I know, WTF). The altruistic one, Afghan president Hamid Karzai, released a women named Gulnaz. Gulnaz gave birth to her attackers child while locked up. Her lawyer says that if she had a choice in the matter, she would not marry her attacker. Epic humanity fail. So freekin' bad.

University of Columbia psychologists have completed a study confirming what we already know...believers do not trust atheists. After scanning the article and actual survey it seems to me like the girlfriend/boyfriend test. Apparently believers will automatically trust you if they know you have faith. Likewise, if someone is in a relationship, then they must be pretty awesome sauce. And I'll just say it, if you are not in a relationship...then there must be something wrong with you (1). Sorry.

Nothing says Gawds love like "We do not want you here and you can't join our exclusive group because you are....black (gasp!). A small Kentucky church has voted (9-6) that interracial couples cannot participate in church activities or become members. Funerals are the exception.

They say it is just a co-winki-dinki, but the newest Apple iPhone will not direct you to an abortion clinic. I don't have a phone, but I guess there is an application that directs you to anything you want: looking for a place to buy dinner, an umbrella, directions. One critic said the classic and one of my favorites blasts, "There is something rotten in the state of Denmark." Smells like dominionism to me (but ya can't trust me, I'm on Team Atheist.).

Team Skeptic already knows this, but the world will not end in 2012. I believe it was last week that archaeologists found/produced a second stone tablet that went all prophecy-y on the end of the world. Sven Gronemeyer (if that is your real name) said that it is about a new era, not the end of the world and time as we know it. Pretty interesting article and while reading it I couldn't help but think...this shit is as batshit crazy as Scientology. Really, read it, so bizarro good.

Indian Muslim population shows genetic affinity with non-Muslim Indian Geographic Neighbours

A 2009 study by India's National DNA Analysis Centre shows Indian Muslims display a genetic affinity with their neighbouring Non-Muslim populations along with low levels of Arabian, Central Asian and Iranian admixture. The study sampled 431 Indian Muslims from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The results showed distinctions between the Muslim communities based on geographic origins and a greater affinity to their neighbouring non-muslims than to each other. However, the study also does note a contribution to the genetic structure of Indian Muslims coming from Iranian and Arabian populaitons. The study does show some distinctive Y-DNA haplogroup frequencies especially in Haplogroup J:



Most noteworthy were the J2, J2a and JxJ2 frequencies of the Indian Shia population which were substantially higher than those of Indian Non-Muslims.

    The spread of Islam in India was predominantly cultural conversion association with minor but still detectable levels of gene flow from outside, primarily from Iran and Central Asia, rather than directly from the Arabian Peninsula.

The coming of the Greeks to Provence and Corsica

The coming of the Greeks to Provence and Corsica


A new paper released by King, Underhill, Chiaroni et al tries to unravel the Y chromosome contribution of ancient greek settlements to the Southern French regions of Provence and Corsica. Their conclusions in analyzing the data is that upwards of 17% of the paternal lineages in Provence could be of Ancient Greek origin. The study itself focuses on E1b1b V-13 as the signature greek marker. Their conclusions also suggest that southern France had little contribution from the Neolithic period. However, how they arrived at these conclusions, while they may be valid, could be, in part, erroneous. Southern France, especially around the testing areas along the Rhone was not simply a Roman territory, it was part of "Rome" itself, with senatorial representation. The study tries to negate the contribution of E-V13 from Roman sources by comparing Provence to other Roman conquered areas such as Spain and England. This comparison is apples and oranges as southern France was far more tightly integrated into the Roman Empire than most other areas outside present day Italy. Therefore, some of the E-V13 found in southern france may be indicative of Roman settlement and not just of Greek origin.


The paper also suggests that Haplogroup subclades G2a3a-M406 and J2a4h-M530 are indicative of Neolithic migrations. And therefore the absence of these subclades suggests little or no Neolithic contribution to the present day genetic makeup in Provence. This assumption can lead to false conclusions as G2a3a and J2a4h are likely indicative of multiple origins from the Middle East and based on certain dating methods could be indicative of post-neolithic migrations. So, the authors conceivably could be looking at the right haplogroups but the wrong subclades to estimate Neolithic contributions to the present day genetic makeup of Southern France.


Criticisms aside, the authors provide solid evidence that Greek settlement in southern France is evidenced in today's genetic makeup of men from the region. There are some clear correlations of haplotypes and their study involves a much deeper analysis both of subclades and haplotype STR's allowing for more accurate comparisons. Combined with archaelogical evidence, viticulture and historical knowledge, this region of southern France carries with it, traces of ancient Greek origins in their genes as well.

Article Neolithic Patrilineal Signals on the Armenian Plateau

Article Neolithic Patrilineal Signals on the Armenian Plateau

A recently released study on the Y-Chromosomes of Armenians from four distinct regions, the Ararat Valley, Gardman, Lake Van and Sasun shows a predominence of the J2-M172 haplogroup, combined with R1b, G2 and E1b1c1. The paper indicates settlement and population expansion dating back to the neolithic. This study , undertaken by Herrera, Underhill, Regueiro and others, recorded frequencies, calculated variance and compared these figures with neighbouring populations in an attempt to understand the migrations of the most frequent haplogroups observed within a neolithic context.


Frequencies of J2-M172 were very high, at 30% in the Gardman Region of present day Azerbaijan and 29% in the Lake Van region of eastern Turkey. J2a-M410(xM67) was the most frequent haplogroup subclade observed. A single P279 haplotype (J2a3), an extremely rare sublcade of J2 was also observed. Haplotype diversity, often used to determine the age of a particular haplogroup, was highest in neighbouring Palestine, followed by Crete, Syria, Greece and Lebanon. These figures, the authors suggest, could be indicative of an arrival of J2 chromosomes to the Armenian Plateau from the Levant possibly coinciding with the expansion of Agriculture.

The data observed in the Armenian Plateau, while carrying frequencies of Haplogroup J2 common in other areas of the Middle East, showed a much higher level of R1b, a correlation not observed in neighbouring populations like Iran, Iraq and the Levant. The authors suggest both R1b and J2, combined with other haplogroups E1b1b1-M35 and G2a are all indicative of Neolithic expansions and migrations. Yet R1b stands out from this group as it shows a very different frequency and spread from J, E and G haplogroups, which are much more frequent in the Fertile Crescent.