Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Motown is Joe-Town!

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

There is one struggling party in US right now, and it’s not the Democrats.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

A consequence of cucumbers

Usually wrong but never in doubt

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

We won’t go back.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Friday Family Photo Open Thread

Friday Family Photo Open Thread

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Robert De Niro looks a lot like his dad:

Have any of y’all used 23andMe or a similar ancestry analysis product? I haven’t, but we got our kiddo a kit for Christmas. The only unexpected result was a finding of about one half of one percent Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Now we’re curious which side that comes from, so we may have to break down and get our own kits!

The fire hose of news craziness is on full blast today. Trump tweeted absurd nonsense earlier about tariffs and Alec Baldwin. There may be a school shooting in progress on a college campus in Michigan, but details are sketchy. Those of you in the Northeastern US are getting pummeled by a terrible storm, so stay safe.

Feel free to discuss any of that or anything else — open thread!

Reader Interactions

182Comments

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    This story made me furious!!

    Maddow is the one following this in the MSM

    ACLU fights anti-abortion zealot holding undocumented minors

    Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, talks with Rachel Maddow about the legal fight against Trump appointee Scott Lloyd, director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, who is obstructing pregnant undocumented minors being held at a refugee center from obtaining abortions

  4. 4.

    MJS

    Both DeNiro and his dad look like they’re contemplating whacking someone in that first picture.

  5. 5.

    rikyrah

    Trump’s new suggestion to address the opioid crisis: executions
    03/02/18 08:40 AM
    By Steve Benen
    Last weekend, Axios had a report that Donald Trump has privately expressed admiration for how Singapore deals with drug-trafficking offenses: the government executes those found guilty. The American president, the report said, has been “telling friends for months” that Singapore’s model is effective.

    …………………………………….

    President Trump suggested that executing drug dealers could help solve the opioid crisis during a White House summit Thursday, an event the administration billed as a way to measure its progress in combating the nation’s drug problem.

    “Some countries have a very tough penalty, the ultimate penalty, and they have much less of a drug problem than we do,” Trump said.

  6. 6.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    There may be a school shooting in progress on a college campus in Michigan, but details are sketchy.

    Two dead at Central Michigan University. MSNBC leading with steel tariffs, so the shooter must be a white guy.

    While we talk about how it’s terrible how routine these shootings have become.

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    As ACA support climbs, Hatch calls law’s supporters ‘dumbass people’
    03/02/18 10:01 AM
    By Steve Benen
    The Kaiser Family Foundation has been conducting extensive public-opinion research on the Affordable Care Act since “Obamacare” became law, and the latest results are striking. KFF’s report this week found 54% of Americans now have a favorable opinion of the health care law – the strongest support to date.

    It’s against this backdrop that Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) delivered remarks yesterday, suggesting those who support the ACA – which is to say, a majority of the country – are idiots.

    “We also finally did away with the individual mandate tax that was established under that wonderful bill called ‘Obamacare,’ Hatch, who is retiring after this term, said while discussing the Republican tax overhaul.

    “Now, if you didn’t catch on, I was being very sarcastic. That was the stupidest, dumbass bill that I’ve ever seen. Now, some of you may have loved it. If you do, you are one of the stupidest, dumbass people I’ve ever met.”

  8. 8.

    AliceBlue

    I did the Ancestry kit last year and was expecting some combination of English/Scottish/Irish result. It was there, but the big surprises were 32% Scandinavian, 11% Iberian peninsula and 1% West Asia-Caucasus.

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    The two most dangerous words in Trump’s vocabulary: ‘It’s easy’
    03/02/18 10:55 AM
    By Steve Benen
    It’s not often that American presidents publicly praise international trade wars, which is probably why this overnight tweet from Donald Trump was seen as important across the globe.

    “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!”

    It’s important to understand that Donald Trump lacks any kind of meaningful understanding of what trade deficits are and what they mean. Trade wars are not, in fact, “good,” and this president’s economic illiteracy remains a serious national threat.

    But for me, the two most important words in the presidential missive were actually the last two: “It’s easy!”

    As a candidate for the nation’s highest office, despite lacking any experience in government or public service, Donald Trump repeatedly assured voters that every challenge has a simple solution, and the only reason policymakers hadn’t yet implemented these easy solutions is that the nation is run by idiots. Elect Trump, he said, and he’d “make possible every dream you’ve ever dreamed.”

  11. 11.

    LAO

    I have read a fair number of decisions describing truly awful judges and judicial behavior, but this is the worst:

    This judge belongs in prison. But instead of prosecuting him, Texas prosecutors defended his actions. Thanks, @tdcaa!https://t.co/dfXynRRkE2— ❔ (@NoLongerBennett) March 2, 2018

    A fucking shock belt. What is wrong with Texas!

  12. 12.

    Olivia

    I got Ancestry DNA and 23 and me kits as gifts and the results were exactly as I expected. I was so hoping for an ethnic surprise that would horrify my redneck relatives but it turns out that we are just boring white European.

  13. 13.

    Steeplejack

    Very windy in my little corner of NoVA this morning—35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph when I checked earlier. Currently 44° and partly cloudy; no rain so far. Not a bad start to March.

    I’m trying to ration my news exposure somewhat, so I’m listening to the jazz channel on cable. Looks like broccoli cheese soup coming up for early lunch.

  14. 14.

    rikyrah

    When Republicans don’t like election results they refuse to hold elections. Scott Walker sued today in Wisconsin for blocking special elections for vacant legislative seats https://t.co/ZZBQGeDbha

    — Ari Berman (@AriBerman) February 26, 2018

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    At the intersection of #BlackHistoryMonth & #WomensHistoryMonth, we see Past, Present and Future: A guard looks on as a little girl gazes at the official painting of Former First Lady @MichelleObama at the National Portrait Gallery @NPG
    (h/t @EvanHandler) pic.twitter.com/Ccz3v3Rmue

    — Dudette (@Dudette9t9) March 2, 2018

  16. 16.

    Nicole

    We did the Ancestry one- DNA tests are a LOT of fun, but take them with a grain of salt. They work, if I remember my reading properly, by comparing your DNA with other DNA of populations known to be from various areas. And DNA is not always passed along- we women get the short end of the stick in that our paternal lines can’t be analyzed since we don’t have a Y chromosome. For instance, my initial result showed no Irish ancestry, even though I know for a fact I have Irish ancestors, but they’re on my Dad’s Dad’s side. Were my brother to take the test, he might show some. I’m fairly confident my husband has Cherokee ancestors, but as it didn’t pass directly down, gender-wise (meaning it comes via mother to son to daughter, etc), it doesn’t show in the results. I ended up with 4% or so Asian, and after some googling, learned it likely comes via my German ancestors, because Attila got around- a lot of folk with German ancestry have Asian DNA, courtesy of the Huns.

    The cool thing with the Ancestry ones is that, if you also have an Ancestry account, you can make it available and end up discovering distant relatives- 4th or 6th cousins. It’s been fun. So far, none of them have asked for money.

    So I say, do it; it’s a blast, but don’t take it as incontrovertible proof. It’s another tool in exploring where you come from.

    I did one for my dog, too, because she was a shelter dog and I am a crazy lady.

  18. 18.

    Steeplejack

    @rikyrah:

    Yeah, that spiked my blood pressure, too. Might have to see if I can shake some change out of the couch cushions to send to the ACLU.

  19. 19.

    Waynski

    My brother had it done and apparently we’re a small percentage of Neanderthal. Probably no surprise to many.

  20. 20.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    I did the 23andMe thing a few years ago, before it was temporarily taken off the market. Confirmed that I’m insanely northern European, with some Askhenazi Jew as well. (I don’t recall the specifics — it was something about their marketing, I think maybe the government was asking that they decide if they’re in the ancestry business or the medical business, or something like that.)

    Also, it said I’ve got two copies of the CCR5 Delta 32 mutation which evidently makes me practically immune to HIV, but there’s nothing I can do with this weird blood of mine that would help anyone else. Instant survivor’s guilt.

  22. 22.

    rikyrah

    KABOOM: The New York Times is reporting that President Donald Trump has asked White House Chief of Staff John Kelly to oust his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.

    Dear @IvankaTrump & @jaredkushner Looks like this experiment is OVER!

    — Brian Krassenstein? (@krassenstein) March 2, 2018

  24. 24.

    LAO

    @Nicole:

    did one for my dog, too, because she was a shelter dog and I am a crazy lady.

    What did it say? I am also a crazy dog lady.

  25. 25.

    Steeplejack

    @Olivia:

    Did the two kits agree, for the most part? That would lend some credence to their accuracy, I would think.

  27. 27.

    MJS

    @Immanentize: OT, but I hope you are doing well. You and I have had a similar, very difficult experience, and I think good thoughts for you anytime I see one of your comments.

  29. 29.

    Miss Bianca

    @rikyrah: Does this mean that Trump supports executions for prescribing physicians and CEOs of big drug companies? Wow! //

  30. 30.

    Jeffro

    Trees are coming down in my neighborhood here in NoVA…it’s a little unsettling to see two big ones down already and the winds seem like they’re picking up(!)

  31. 31.

    mad citizen

    The no tie but dress shirt/suit jacket seems very fashion forward by the Dad–that’s what we’re doing today. You don’t see that much in old pictures.

  32. 32.

    No Drought No More

    Is it too late for Trump to pull a Vincent Giganti, and begin wandering around in public wearing only his pajamas? That could very well be what he’s thinking, or leastwise I’m sure it’s crossed his weasel-like mind. That is, plead diminished capacity as the cause of all his ills. “The Russians? You mean Mr. and Mrs. Therussians, those friends of Jared’s that he’s always talking so highly about”? It might not even be that hard a sell, as he’s no doubt calculated.

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: What? Seriously? Be still my beating heart. On the other hand, I would like to see Kelly OUT, and RIGHT NOW, so I’m not sure if it’s a good thing that he won the battle between the General and the Kids.

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    Seems like a general topic thread, so something which made me scratch my head in puzzlement.

    The other day added a documentary channel on the Roku menu. Went in to scroll through their bill of fare (am a sucker for a good documentary). Included among the titles offered is Third Rock From the Sun – yes, the sitcom. Also the ancient TV sitcom The Real McCoys.

    Go figure.

  35. 35.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah:

    When Republicans don’t like election results they refuse to hold elections.

    – or refuse to seat SCOTUS judges
    – or refuse to back off of crazy-ass gerrymandering, to include trying to remove judges who undo their crazy-ass gerrymandering
    – or redistrict on an as-needed basis, instead of just once per (post) Census
    – or commit treason by accepting the logistical/hacking/financing help of a hostile foreign power
    – or, or, or

  38. 38.

    stardus614

    Betty Cracker, Welcome to the Ashkenazi family. I’m 97% Ashkenazi, but it turns out we’re 3% Irish, so I’m planning to legitimately cut loose on St. Patrick’s Day! I always do something greenish anyway, but this year I won’t feel like a fraud. Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream is definitely in the plan and I also bought some green nail polish, so that ought to do me.

    Your Ashkenazi ancestry entitles you to potato latkes with applesauce and brisket. Enjoiy.

  39. 39.

    Captain C

    @rikyrah: I wonder if it has to do with the fact that Jar Jar apparently went to Qatar to beg for financing for 666 5th Ave, and 2 weeks or so after he was turned down he supported the Saudi blockade, as per The Daily Beast

    ETA: or a Month after, as per the article.

    Jared Kushner’s father made a direct pitch to the Qatari government in an attempt to secure an investment in a Kushner Companies asset in April 2017—just weeks before his son is said to have backed a Saudi blockade of Qatar, according to a report in The Intercept. Kushner’s father, Charles, who heads up the real-estate company, is reported to have met Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif in New York last year to discuss financing the company’s troubled 666 Fifth Ave. office tower. A month after the failed negotiations, Jared Kushner reportedly advised President Trump to back a blockade against Qatar, with Trump later tweeting in June that the country funded “radical ideology.”

  40. 40.

    Miss Bianca

    @rikyrah: are we sure that’s real, and not FAKE NEWS!!11!!? Seriously, I can imagine Trump trying to oust *Kelly* before ousting Princess Daughter/Wife and the Prince Consort.

  41. 41.

    randy khan

    @NotMax:

    The other day added a documentary channel on the Roku menu. Went in to scroll through their bill of fare (am a sucker for a good documentary). Included among the titles offered is Third Rock From the Sun – yes, the sitcom.

    That’s what they wanted you to think. It actually was a documentary all along.

  42. 42.

    Gin & Tonic

    For the tinfoil-hat crowd (and you know who you are), keep in mind that with both 23 and Ancestry, you have no ownership or privacy rights with respect to your genetic data. But I’m sure you’ve all read the usage agreements in detail, and have asked for a copy of their latest data security audit, right?

  44. 44.

    Steeplejack

    @Jeffro:

    I’m fairly well protected here (near Eden Center and Seven Corners). Cul-de-sac street running north-south with three-story buildings on all sides. Fair number of trees, and I thought about moving the car earlier, but I think it’s okay on the street. Wind now gusting up to 57 mph, according to my Weather.com page. I just hope the power doesn’t go out.

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    @Captain C: @rikyrah: I think it’s because Jared is looking worse and worse and Trump was probably too chicken to dump Jared and not Ivanka.

    Am I the only one who thinks this is the begging of the Great Throwing of the Kids Under the Bus?

  46. 46.

    Immanentize

    @MJS:
    Thank you. I am OK, but grief is such a determined distraction. I’m still not clear-headed or operating at capacity. But every day I get up, do the needful, and generally don’t despair. Better than many folks I know (like my poor FiL) I think. I hope you too are getting by?

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    @Gin & Tonic: I was going to write that (thought with less helpful detail). That’s why I will never do any of those ancestry tests. What if the these companies decide to share your DNA with insurance companies?

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    @Immanentize: I have a good friend who likes to say that grief is like a river, you just have to go where it takes you, when it takes you, or you will never get through it. I think he’s right.

  50. 50.

    Lizzy L

    23andMe informed me that I am 94% Ashkenazi Jew, something which I pretty much knew, and 5% is assorted European, family history suggests Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and French. I am also 1% Turkish.

    I saw that NYT report which said Trump asked Kelly to push Jared and Ivanka out of the WH. I wonder who talked to the Times, and why.

  51. 51.

    Patricia Kayden

    @MJS: LOL!! No, they don’t. They look contemplative and relaxed. His father was quite the looker.

  52. 52.

    Gin & Tonic

    I am not always a bitter and vengeful person, but I sincerely hope that as time goes by, everyone in Trump’s family and their close orbit comes to view his election to the Presidency as the worst possible outcome in their miserable lives. A remake of The Producers in which Max and Leo go bankrupt and end up in prison.

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    Friend who worked in the army’s JAG offices during the Viet Nam era shared a townhouse right in that area in a then newly built development. Flimsiest, cheapest construction have ever seen. A stern look would have been enough to put a hole in the wall.

  56. 56.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Nicole: Exactly. It’s not “you’re X% Y,” it’s “your DNA matched X% with our sample from Y”.

    (My sister and my daughter took those tests too; my sister got a few percent match with Askhenazi Jewish, otherwise very North European and not very surprising. My daughter got a few percent match with “Middle Eastern” and otherwise very North European and not very surprising… except that she came out with a somewhat stronger match to “Irish” than I’d expected.)

  57. 57.

    Miss Bianca

    @Gin & Tonic:

    A remake of The Producers in which Max and Leo go bankrupt and end up in prison.

    Yeah, but with way less of the zany singing and dancing in said prison. Because I *am* a bitter and vengeful person. ; )

    ETA: Wait – there’s a version where Max and Leo *don’t* go to prison? No “Prisoners of Love”?! The hell?!?

  58. 58.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Mike J: I still don’t understand why the musical changed the ending–the original was so perfect. “Prisoner of love, blue skies above, can’t put my heart in jail…”

  61. 61.

    Leto

    In the Philly area it’s now a wet, wet snowstorm. Yesterday was pretty nice, today crap. Crazy weather.

  62. 62.

    Jeffro

    @Steeplejack: it’s good that you’re safe. Here in Fairfax, it’s nothing but 50 foot tall mature trees in most everyone’s backyard (!)

  64. 64.

    Brendan in NC

    My parents did the Ancestry DNA test – they got me one for Christmas. I figured I’d wait until the rush died down, but I see Ancestry’s hawking them for cheap.

    I’m going to go ahead and get it over with. Just need to spit in a tube, after all.

  65. 65.

    Major Major Major Major

    My parents (Czech, Irish, and French by family understanding) did 23andMe, but I haven’t. It turns out that before Ireland, France, and Moravia, they’re both from Basque Country. And some smattering of Neanderthal of course.

    My husband did it and got 99% Vietnamese, margin of error 1%, lol. But their results for Asians are less precise.

  66. 66.

    Nicole

    @LAO: @Betty Cracker: My dog’s did seem plausible, although I fully admit it may be a scam. It’s another test where they are comparing the dog’s DNA to DNA from populations of known dog breeds. Ours came out as almost entirely Staffordshire terrier- in one of the little charts it showed the DNA of purebred examples of the breed and where her DNA matched up and she was smack dab in the middle (being without papers, she’s can’t be purebred). It speculated a grandparent might have been something else, but gave a bunch of random breeds that didn’t seem to fit (she’s skinny and leggy for a pit bull, with big prick ears they would have cropped if she’d been a purebred so I’m skeptical that “dachshund” is in the mix). Friends have speculated there’s some basenji because of her huge upright ears and her tendency to warble rather than bark, but I think the ears are just a conformation flaw. And she’s perfectly capable of barking; she just doesn’t like to. And there definitely wasn’t any suggestion of any African or Asian breeds in the results.

    But the fun of waiting for the report and then the fun of reading it was definitely worth the time and money to me.

  68. 68.

    Mnemosyne

    @WaterGirl:

    What if the these companies decide to share your DNA with insurance companies?

    FWIW, it’s illegal for them to do that in the state of California. Check your state laws and see if you are similarly protected.

    I also got about 1% Ashkenazi, but with a caveat that it could well be an error or contamination. It was pretty much exactly what I suspected: Northern European, mostly German, English, and Irish. I wonder if my brother would get slightly different results because of the Y chromosome thing. ?

  70. 70.

    Hungry Joe

    A friend of mine and his wife discussed having their dog’s DNA tested, and each sent away for a kit without knowing the other had. When they found themselves with two kits, my friend swabbed the dog’s saliva and sent it off. Then he swabbed his wife’s saliva, and sent it off.

    The dog’s results: Shepherd mix.

    The wife’s results: Shepherd mix.

  71. 71.

    Betty Cracker

    @Nicole: My sister’s dog looks like a greyhound-lab cross — on the petite side for either breed — but the DNA kit said she’s mostly Great Pyrenees! We laughed our asses off when we read that, so in that way, it was worth it! :)

    @Hungry Joe: LOL!

  73. 73.

    geg6

    I am very leery of doing these commercial DNA tests. Ancestry is owned by the Mormons, so I don’t trust them with my DNA at all. And I’m pretty sure 23 and Me doesn’t have any obligation to keep your DNA private like a doctor would. You won’t be seeing me take their tests ever. Besides, I know what I am. My dad’s parents were both immigrants from England, my mom’s mother’s parents were both from Ireland and my grandfather’s parents were both from Germany. I’m about as white bread as it gets.

    It’s quite the windy day here in Pittsburgh. We just got a dusting of snow, but we’ve had winds gusting to 40-50 mph since early last evening. A good day to go home from work, pick up some delicious fish sandwiches from the local fire department fish fry (very convenient as the fire department is right next door to our house) and hunker down with the pups. Who, incidentally, are in a total tizzy over the wind.

  74. 74.

    BruceFromOhio

    On Tuesday there were cardinals and blue jays piping at each other in sunshine in the backyard.

    Today there is ten inches of heavy, wet snow covering everything. And the plow clipped the mailbox and tore it off its post for the second time this winter season. And the two-bit ratfuck soulless criminals are still running the country into the ground. And stopping there because, hey look, it’s lunch time.

  75. 75.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    One of my sisters did the Ancestry thing, I forget which company. As I recall, the biggest surprise was that there was some Korean, but even that was not a huge surprise as there is a mystery grandfather in the family tree who we had concluded was Japanese. If he was Korean instead, that actually cleared up some mysteries.

    The rest of the story is a real mongrel mix, which I already knew. It’s why I sometimes find it easier to think of myself as “non-black” rather than try to identify a particular ethnicity, because Africa is about the only continent I’m pretty sure none of my recent ancestors, say the last 200 years, came from. Of course, go back far enough and we all (much to the RWNJ’s chagrin) come from Africa.

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I was a little sad that I didn’t even get Neanderthal, but we’re pretty far north. IIRC Neanderthal shows up more when you have Iberian or French ancestry.

    Oh, and I’m around 14 percent Italian despite my 100 percent Italian name.

  78. 78.

    Mike in NC

    “This is not so much as an administration as a weird fusion of the court of Louis XIV and the Mafia, all built around a cult of personality that lacks any self-restraint or awareness.” — Jennifer Rubin, WaPo

  79. 79.

    Miss Bianca

    @geg6: we get really, really high winds frequently – listening to high winds wuthering round the house right now – and Luna the Wonder Husky has the same response every time: after clamoring to go out at her usual hour, she comes back to the door much sooner than she does on non-windy days, and then stands and “rooos” at me indignantly.

    I know what she’s saying: “FIX IT!!”

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    @geg6:

    You still might be suprised, depending on how recently your family immigrated from England. It’s fairly common for people currently living there to discover they have some South Asian (usually Indian) ancestry because of intermarriage in the days when England ruled India.

  82. 82.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    One thing I heard specifically about ancestry.com is that you sign away the rights to your DNA (I guess meaning your specific gene sequence?) to them. I don’t know what the implications of that are or how they can even put that in the contract, but I don’t like the sound of it.

    One of the more fun things I’ve heard about DNA testing was a group who went around to seafood restaurants to identify the species they were being served. According to their study, some huge percentage of fish being served is actually a different, and presumably cheaper, species than what you’re being told it is. I think “Chilean Sea Bass” might have been one of the worst offenders.

    I’m shocked, shocked, etc.

  83. 83.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @NotMax:

    My little neighborhood condo (about three short streets) is pretty solid. Built around 1960, I think, all “classic six” brick buildings: three floors, two units on each floor. Construction seems sound. Very sound-proof, which is important to me.

  84. 84.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I think what you sign away is that they own the rights in perpetuity to use your DNA in the same way Facebook “owns the rights” to your photos. They can use them for marketing (in Ancestry’s case, to tell other people they’re related to you) and internal telemetry and such.

  85. 85.

    MCA1

    @rikyrah: Fabulous. St. Laurent of Arabia, out you go.

    Simplest explanation here seems to be Dotard calculating that Jared’s probably about to get indicted, so Plan A (reduce his portfolio to West Wing barista but pretend like he’s still an important part of the team) is out the window. He can’t have that guy frog marched out of the White House, because it reflects even worse on Drumpf than just canning him and controlling the story.

    The best people. He promised us the best people. Jayzus. I mean, who’s even left at this point? I’ll bet the VP’s office has more staff than the f’ing West Wing. Mind boggling, he top to bottom incompetence. Not surprising, but astounding.

  88. 88.

    Amir Khalid

    @Waynski:
    If I recall correctly, unless you’re an African with no ancestors who ever left the continent, you’re bound to have some Neanderthal DNA.

  90. 90.

    Brachiator

    @Olivia:

    I got Ancestry DNA and 23 and me kits as gifts and the results were exactly as I expected. I was so hoping for an ethnic surprise that would horrify my redneck relatives but it turns out that we are just boring white European.

    Of course, you don’t have to go back very far to discover that Europeans were not all “white.”

    Some of the first modern settlers of Britain from 10,000 years ago had dark skin and curly hair, according to new analysis of a historic skeleton.

    The “Cheddar Man” fossil was discovered in 1903 in a cave in the village of Cheddar in Somerset, southwest England. He is the oldest complete skeleton to have been discovered in Britain, and would have been part of the last wave of immigrants to populate the region after the ice age.

    Today’s white Britons can trace their roots back to descendants of these people, and it was initially believed that “Cheddar man” had fair hair and skin.

    Now, after cutting-edge DNA analysis and facial reconstruction by a team of scientists from the Natural History Museum and University College London, it is believed he had blue eyes, “dark brown to black skin” and “dark curly hair.”

    It is understandable, but incorrect, to think that modern people looked exactly like ancient people.

    @Betty Cracker:

    Have any of y’all used 23andMe or a similar ancestry analysis product?

    Supposedly 23andme is “new and improved.”

    If you’ve ever taken an ancestry DNA test, you probably already know that the results aren’t exactly precise. Sometimes you wind up with completely different results than you expected. And different brands of DNA tests can beget entirely different results.

    On Wednesday, though, 23andMe announced an update to its service that should give customers more specific insight into where they are from. Rather than telling a customer that they are, say, “Scandinavian,” that customer might find that they are specifically part Norwegian. All told, the company has added 120 new geographic regions to the results of its test. That’s a big upgrade from the 31 population labels 23andMe employed before.

    My nephew used the services of one of the competing companies. He is trying to convince his sister and parents to take the test as well in order to compare the results. This kiinda makes sense since X and Y chromosomes (and more) can fall out differently in family members.

  91. 91.

    Gretchen

    I did 23 and me. No real surprises, since I knew where all my great-grandparents came from. I have less Slavic that the expected 25% – I got 6%. A little Neanderthal. I spent extra to get the health part. You have option of not finding out if you have the genes for early-onset Alzheimer’s. I didn’t want to know. I have an increased chance of getting macular degeneration, so I’d better eat my veggies. The biggest surprise was that I don’t have the two most common genes for celiac disease. Two of my daughters have it, and I was sure it came from my side of the family. So either they got it from their dad’s side, or there are more celiac genes that they haven’t characterized yet.

  92. 92.

    Capri

    As a veterinarian I’ve heard the results of quite a few doggie DNA analysis – most are crazy. For some reason, Bernese Mountain Dog is a favorite. I’m guessing that’s a marker for random European origins. Dog owners love to hear what breeds made up their mutt, even if they make no logical sense. What are the odds that a purebred borzoi got out and happened across a purebred bull mastiff in heat and your puppy is the result of that union? Then the shame of the misbreeding leads the mastiff’s owner to dump them in a shelter. Right about zero. But I can’t tell you how many people tell me their dog is a borzoi (long legs and snout) X mastiff (very big, tan) cross.

    A not so fun 23 and me story: My daughter and son-in -law did 23 and me when they were thinking of having kids. My son-in-law came back as a carrier for cystic fibrosis, my daughter did not so they didn’t give it a second thought. Later she was tested by a more rigorous test for genetic diseases associated with her 25% Ashkenazi genotype and that came back positive for a very rare cystic fibrosis allele. By they time they found out, she was pregnant. A amniocentesis revealed that their baby had the condition. So my grand daughter is a wonderful blessing and has been relatively healthy so far. But without the false sense of security give to them by the 23 and me testing, they my daughter and son-in-law might have done things very differently.

  95. 95.

    eclare

    @Gin & Tonic: I don’t consider myself a tinfoil hat wearer, but yeah, no way am I turning my genetic information over to a corporation who can do whatever with it.

  97. 97.

    mad citizen

    In New Orleans every other restaurant’s fish special is “redfish”. I’ve asked servers just to hear their answer, and I’ve googled. My take is that a redfish is a generic name for “whatever white fish we found in the Gulf”. Unfortunately I’m usually in a group/work setting so don’t get to pick the restaurant.

  98. 98.

    bemused

    We have just been talking about doing 23&me. Both of us had nordic immigrant grandparents but for one grandparent that is unknown. One parent was raised by maternal grandparents and his mother didn’t reveal any info on his birth father but his birth certificate father’s name is not Scandinavian, sounds Irish or similar. There are some old family rumors but nothing definite. So we are very curious to see what we may learn from a test.

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    I was a little sad that I didn’t even get Neanderthal, but we’re pretty far north. IIRC Neanderthal shows up more when you have Iberian or French ancestry.

    @Amir Khalid:

    If I recall correctly, unless you’re an African with no ancestors who ever left the continent, you’re bound to have some Neanderthal DNA

    The range of Neanderthals extends from Spain through the Middle East and parts of Central Asia, at least. But it is possible that modern humans outside this range may have mated with Neanderthals. And then there is Denisovan and homo erectus…

  100. 100.

    Mnemosyne

    @bemused:

    Given the stories I’ve been hearing, there’s a good chance he was non-white. Usually when people have a surprise result of a race they didn’t expect, it’s because they had a mystery ancestor nobody would tell them about.

    WTA: An Irish last name could be indicative that he was African-American.

    This was in the pre-DNA testing days, but one of G’s Mexican-American co-workers was startled to discover that her great-grandfather was Chinese. It wasn’t hugely shameful, but the family just didn’t talk about it, and she didn’t know until she did the research and found a photo of him.

  102. 102.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Both Trump and Pence taking time out from their busy schedules to attend Billy Graham’s funeral service in North Carolina. Ugh. Back to cable jazz channel.

  104. 104.

    Shell

    Here in Baltimore area we’re getting pummeled by winds. Power went out earlier and for a while thought my computer was fried. We got it back, obviously…

  105. 105.

    bystander

    De Niro’s father was reportedly a difficult guy. Closeted gay and meeting no real success until later in life, he was a constellation of problems IIRC.

  106. 106.

    bemused

    @Mnemosyne:

    Odds slim in this case considering the birth mother lived and never ventured far from area that was 99.9% white and her son was born in 1919 plus the stronger family story is his dad was white.

    I do get amused at the stories of racists who discover that they aren’t snow white. There was the nasty white supremacist who tried to take over a tiny ND or SD town who agreed to DNA test and it was revealed to him on a tv show that he had AA heritage.

    My husband learned the other day of someone we know that did the test and had no idea that the father who raised was not his birth father. He then was able to connect with a half brother he never knew he had that lives in the same state.

  107. 107.

    mad citizen

    @Steeplejack (phone): “Both Trump and Pence taking time out from their busy schedules to attend Billy Graham’s funeral service in North Carolina. Ugh. Back to cable jazz channel.” Dang, I was going to say, hope they aren’t on the same plane, wouldn’t want nothin to happen… but just remembered Trump on his way to Florida–he can finally golf this weekend since this week’s gun violence was back to just insane.

  108. 108.

    ET

    I did ancestry to get some information because my adoption papers circa 1968 were a little limited in terms of ancestry particularly with regards to bio father.

    I had one close relative that was likely an uncle or nephew. He contacted me and I responded that I didn’t know how we were related but about 8 weeks later my bio mother popped up on my match list. She hasn’t contacted me but because she used her full name name I used my librarian skills and found out about her family – turns out the guy who contacted me was an uncle. I found a picture of her and her daughter and I now know who I look like. A few of the results are clearly my bio father but he hasn’t popped up.

  110. 110.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    It’s a little lower in probability for me, because Scandinavia/Ireland/Northern England isn’t included in their known territory. I’d be curious to see if my brother’s DNA would turn up with some Neanderthal, because they did range in Italy, which is on my dad’s side.

  112. 112.

    Mnemosyne

    @bemused:

    Well, I don’t want to get your hopes up that it would be something more interesting than a white dude. ? It could also be something like the guy was married and that was why there had to be so much secrecy.

  113. 113.

    FlyingToaster

    Since this is an open thread, my normal route to pick up WarriorGirl in the afternoon looks like this:
    going east
    going west

    I’m pretty sure I’m heading over via Belmont, because my morning route down Mt. Auburn will be the official detour. GRRRRRR.

    And the French Toast Alert is on SEVERE.

  114. 114.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Major Major Major Major: If you learned on Java, learning pointers is a difficult few weeks for a lot of college students.

    I always liked them (the same perversity that saw me enjoying malloc/free calls), but I’ll still admit I fucked them up on occasion leading to some spectacular bugs. That said, it ALSO really helped my debugging skills. :P

  115. 115.

    Sloane Ranger

    @rikyrah: Yeah, I don’t understand this. Isn’t this helping the teens get anchor babies? Presumably his hatred of abortion thumps his hatred of immigrants.

  116. 116.

    Origuy

    My sister and I did 23 and Me, so we got both sides. 47.0% British and Irish, 15.3% French and German (probably from Netherlands), 9.4% Scandinavian, 25.9% Broadly Northwestern European, 0.9% Broadly Southern European, 0.8% general European, and 0.1% Italian. That adds up to 99.4% European. The 0.7% is 0.4% West African, 0.1% Broadly Sub-Saharan African, 0.1% East Asian, <0.1% Broadly East Asian & Native American. They also tell you when the various components enter the family tree. The Italian and African come in after 1780. My family has been in North America since before the Revolution.

  117. 117.

    Nicole

    @Betty Cracker: Yeah, the doggie DNA tests are only as good as the number of samples the company has to compare it to.

    That said… many dog breeds get their distinctive appearance from recessive traits, so when a breed with a more dominant trait gets mixed in, those traits may win out, no matter how small a part of the DNA they are. The average dog, it’s speculated, if we stopped selective breeding, would eventually be 25-40 pounds, with a shortish to medium coat, and a tail that probably curls up slightly.

    In other words, it’d probably look something like a cross between a greyhound and Labrador but smaller. ;)

  119. 119.

    Kay

    I’m bitterly disappointed there isn’t an indictment today. I had a “gut feeling” :)

    We need one every Friday!

  120. 120.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    Very sound-proof, which is important to me.

    If you worked a little more on your grip strength those prostitutes wouldn’t make so much noise when you strangle them.

  122. 122.

    Bobby Thomson

    23andme uses their data for pharmaceutical research. Ancestry links you to much better developed family trees, but understand those trees are used to baptize ancestors into the Mormon church. I don’t care what people do with their imaginary friends but some do.

    The country-specific results are sliced too thin to be anywhere near reliable. Even the regional ones have limitations. Siblings can get completely different results because that’s how DNA works. It’s much better for identifying and confirming distant cousin relationships in conjunction with existing, developed family trees.

  123. 123.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I don’t hate pointers. I hate C. Pointers just reminded me of it. Back in the Stone Age of MS-DOS, C was a way—the way—to get around a lot of hardware and OS limitations. But it led to some very, very ugly coding.

  124. 124.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Major Major Major Major: I learned Python when it first came out. I’ll just say that I really, REALLY hated scoping by indentation and leave it at that.

    Sadly, I’ve had to use a JS variant for my recent career. It’s kind of soul draining. Thank God I’m more into management than coding. >_<

  126. 126.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Corner Stone:

    The torture dungeon in the basement is completely soundproof. (Don’t ask me how I know.) My bigger concern is that I don’t want to hear the rumble of some numbnuts’s Xbox as he’s blasting away endlessly in Call of Duty: High School Shooter.

  127. 127.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Major Major Major Major: Let’s say that my first project with it (using it to setup/run/teardown testing VMs) ran into a couple of spectacular bugs because my scoping messed up a few times.

    It certainly makes smaller scripts more readable, though.

  128. 128.

    bemused

    @Mnemosyne:

    Lol. Family lore is that the birth parents were both young, guy not married and he left the area. In more recent years, a more distant family member did some amateur family tree research and said the guy settled in west coast state and was married there. I and husband did know the birth mother and so did her birth son even though he was raised by his grandparents. She stayed in the area and eventually married, had two kids legitimately. She was quite the busy young lady because he learned of a half-brother she gave birth too when he was in his late teens/early 20’s who was adopted and lived in the same county. More sketchy rumor is that she also had an illegitimate daughter who was adopted and lived on east coast.

  130. 130.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Major Major Major Major: Like Steeplejack said, it probably comes from C and the fact that you’re almost guaranteed to create system crashes by passing stuff with the wrong level of indirection, or an uninitialized pointer. And then you get into the stuff with pointers to pointers, and pointers to arrays of pointers, and pointers to functions that return pointers to arrays of pointers…

    Memory leaks, also, too.

    I was programming a lot in C# the last few years, and Microsoft basically tells you “don’t worry your pretty little head about memory management, we got all that clean up handled automatically.” I always worried that I was introducing memory leaks but was never quite sure about proper clean up.

    Apologies to BJ posters who have no idea what I just wrote. You likely don’t care, except that some languages seem to be prone to introducing crashes. Like the kind where your screen locks up and the mouse doesn’t move, and it doesn’t respond to the keyboard.

  131. 131.

    No Drought No More

    NYT: “Christopher Ruddy, the chief executive of Newsmax Media and an old friend of the president’s… said Mr. Trump relied on a small circle of colleagues and a management style that amounted to “trial and error — the strongest survived, the weak died.”

    Which means all those small contractors that Trump has stiffed over the decades were weak. Got it.

  133. 133.

    Corner Stone

    @Gin & Tonic: “I am not always a bitter and vengeful person, but when I am I prefer my revenge to be ice cold. Stay frosty, my friends.”

  135. 135.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    It’s a little lower in probability for me, because Scandinavia/Ireland/Northern England isn’t included in their known territory.

    There is some evidence of Neanderthals in England and Southern areas of Scandinavia. And a 2016 study notes that new evidence is constantly upending old theories.

    The timing and extent of Neanderthal migration throughout Europe is under constant revision and revaluation. Late last winter a study argued that Neanderthals had reached Italy 100,000 years earlier than previously thought.

    But if you took one of these DNA tests and it didn’t show any Neanderthal ancestry, that’s what you would have to go by (for now).

  136. 136.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: This is fun! Between this (and a discussion on Reddit about Delta Patchers) I’m getting way more shop talk than I’m used to. Makes for a very nice Friday morning. :)

  139. 139.

    frosty fred

    @Bobby Thomson:

    Siblings can get completely different results because that’s how DNA works. It’s much better for identifying and confirming distant cousin relationships in conjunction with existing, developed family trees.

    This. The discussion has also put too much weight on X and Y chromosomes (not getting the results a person expected on the paternal side is because a) the expectation was in error–family lore often is–or b) because the DNA just fell that way). Siblings don’t look exactly alike, why would their DNA for non-visible traits behave any differently?

    I also have traces of Ashkenazi, Caucasian and other bits and pieces. I really wanted to tell some of my cousins we were 2% Caucasian, but resisted the temptation.

  140. 140.

    Gretchen

    We did the dog ancestry to make sure he wasn’t part pit bull. It came back mostly lab, and a couple of rare breeds that I think they probably don’t have a large enough database to back up. But mostly lab is likely.

  141. 141.

    Mnemosyne

    @Origuy:

    The Italian and African come in after 1780. My family has been in North America since before the Revolution.

    My maternal family has been here that long. My paternal family came through Ellis Island in 1904 (IIRC). Still, no interesting crosses showed on my DNA. ?

  142. 142.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    And then you get into the stuff with pointers to pointers [. . .].

    Stop it! You’re triggering my PTSD (instantiating a pointer to the location of my PSD).

  143. 143.

    FlyingToaster

    @Gin & Tonic: Egads! There’s a circulation out there that NECN is warning boaters to stay away from.

    We knew we were doomed when Cantore tweeted that he was in Scituate.

  145. 145.

    jonas

    Sort of a nerdy observation, but Robert De Niro Sr. bears a striking resemblance to Ludwig Wittgenstein.

  147. 147.

    Chet Murthy

    @Gin & Tonic: ISTR reading an interesting article in some newspaper (FTFNYT? don’t remember) about health insurance companies *salivating* at the prospect of getting at all this genetic data. And the upshot (oh, couldn’t have been the FTFNYT — they would never have had this slant to it!) was that people getting their genome sequenced by these companies like 23andMe, Ancestry might want to be careful, since “we can do anything with this data” most assuredly includes “sell it to your health insurer who will use it to screw you with a rusty catalytic converter.

    ETA: There is *no* *way* I’ll get my genome sequenced until I have 100% guarantee that the data cannot be shared with anybody or anything, absent my express and detailed case-by-case written consent. And yeah, that’s gonna happen (snort).

  148. 148.

    No Drought No More

    If I don’t understand what prevents congressional democrats from righteously accusing their republican counterparts of running interference for Trump as he commits his ongoing treason, neither will posterity. That is, the posterity that seeks out the historical records to read.

    R.O.T. means Russia Owns Trump. And there it is. If the first thing Trump did in the morning was take direct orders from Putin about how best and quickly to demolish the government of the United States- and face it, he may as well- he could hardly be more successful. Goddamn the shot calling, 100% American scum of congressional republicans that are selling this country out. Those people are filth.

  149. 149.

    geg6

    @Mnemosyne:

    Possible, but doubtful. We have a family tree for both sides of my dad’s family going back to the 1400s. No one serving in the military in South Asia and no diplomats or British East India employees. Generally, small merchants and yeoman farmers from Salisbury and Cambridge.

    I think if there are any surprises at all in my DNA, it’s probably from the German (Schnell) side. Wouldn’t be surprised if there was some Jewish mixed in there. And seeing where they were from in Germany, they probably wouldn’t have advertised that.

  150. 150.

    LAO

    @Gretchen: As the human of a part-pit bull (most likely a staffy), what would you have done if the test revealed your dog was part pit bull?

  151. 151.

    FlyingToaster

    @Chet Murthy:

    There is *no* *way* I’ll get my genome sequenced until I have 100% guarantee that the data cannot be shared with anybody or anything

    Ditto.

    Though you can get it sequenced through your PCP if it’s likely you have a genetic condition, and that is covered by HIPAA. A friend, her sister and her mom all came down with breast cancer within 6 months of each other, so their respective PCPs (in 3 different states) ordered sequences to see if they had the suspect genes. Which they do.

  152. 152.

    Barbara

    @Major Major Major Major:

    they’re both from Basque Country

    Basque Country, historically, crosses over the border between France and Spain. There are Basques who live in France, but the continuation of Basque culture with the distinctive language is mostly in Spain. So Basque heritage does not preclude a family history of being from France.

  153. 153.

    Mnemosyne

    @Chet Murthy:

    Again, check your state laws. Some states forbid these companies to sell your gene information as part of their state patient protection laws.

  155. 155.

    Barbara

    @Major Major Major Major: My only point was that before anybody thought about DNA, they considered their heritage in terms of where they were originally from, and a lot of people don’t seem to realize that before modern national borders, there were a lot of distinctive populations that ultimately did not end up with their “own” country. There was and still is a significant Basque population in France, though certainly less so than in Spain, where it is much more distinctive and semi-autonomous. Here is the Wikipedia entry for the pays basque francais: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Basque_Country

    You could also have Basque and French heritage via Canada: Port-aux-Basques Newfoundland gets its name from the expeditions made by Basque fishermen as early as the late 16th century.

  156. 156.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @AliceBlue: Not surprising you had Scandinavian if your ancestors came from the British Isles…the Scandinavians repeatedly invaded and ruled parts of England and Ireland in the dark ages. Also, later, the Normans came from France but were of Scandinavian descent.

  157. 157.

    Barbara

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Vikings not only raided Northern England, some also settled there. People with the family name of Payne are sometimes surprised to find out that it denotes Viking heritage, because it was originally meant to signify someone who was pagan (although seems to have taken on broader application).

  160. 160.

    WaterGirl

    @Major Major Major Major: It would be interesting to know whether Ancestry’s rights are specifically spelled out, and the person who sent in for their DNA testing has all the other rights, or whether Ancestry gets all rights that aren’t restricted by whatever it is you sign.

    Not asking you to check or anything, just saying those would be two very different situations.

  161. 161.

    Corner Stone

    @WaterGirl: She’s a nutbag neocon Israeli-firster. Her temporary dipping of the toe into what appears to be sanity should be reflection on just how bad Trump is. Not any change on her part. She would be completely unreadable if HRC was president.

  162. 162.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Barbara: Was not aware that Payne was associated with Viking ancestry, but I knew about the settlements in England and Ireland. I think up until the reign of Alfred the Great there was a strong possibility that Scandinavians rather than Anglo Saxons would rule England. I’ve read a couple of Bernard Cornwell’s historical fiction page turners about that era, but not any of the actual history.

  163. 163.

    FlyingToaster

    @Immanentize: Lucky. It looks like Me’fa’ has only 3 customers out; we’re still above 500 in Watertown (all along-Arsenal-between-Irving-n-School).

    Our Principal just e-mailed everyone to add extra time for coming to pickup because of debris in the streets. I sent him a link to the Watertown PD tweet in reply.

  164. 164.

    MoxieM

    @Betty Cracker: That’s hilarious! Murph the Smurph also got Gt Pyrenees, but in her case…it makes sense. She has the personality characteristics (bark, bark…bark bark,bark…) she has the shepherd’s crook in her tail, she has the right coat, albeit the wrong color. She is a fierce guardian.

    I knew she was no way a Newf cross after about 10 minutes, so I did the test (fun to freak your dog out by poking a weird brush into their mouth first thing AM–bonus). I had figured she was Border Collie x some kind of sled dog. But no, and the more she comes out of her rescue shell, the more the Pyr call makes sense. Or maybe a stopped clock…

    And it almost goes without saying I am a crazy dog lady.

  165. 165.

    MoxieM

    @WaterGirl: Given their ownership (Mormon Church more or less), I would guess your data all belong to them. No slam on Mormons as people, but the church has some freaking weird ideas about rights to dead people’s religion, old town record books, and lots of other stuff.

  166. 166.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    One half of one percent of an ethnicity on any of these ancestry tests is noise.

    There’s one set of ethnicity reference populations that said I am some substantial percentage Orcadian.

  167. 167.

    IdahoFlaneuse

    I did an Ancestry DNA test a year of so ago. I expected half German, half Scot. Was surprised by the lopsided division between Great Britain and Europe West, but the big surprise was the 7% from Italy. Turned out that my paternal grandmother always claimed Italian blood in her family, but for some reason that was believed to not be true.

  168. 168.

    Ohio Mom

    Like some others here, I am pretty leery of letting my DNA out. Maybe I’d feel differently if I knew for sure that all my health conditions, real and potential, would always be covered.

    I’m sticking with what I’ve always said, my ancestors go back all the way to Ur.

    (Please note that is a joke about being Jewish, I don’t mean it literally.)

  169. 169.

    NotMax

    @Ohio Mom

    Same reason I use a phony name and information when signing up for supermarket customer cards. Who knows where that trove of data might end up?

    “Hm. Look here, he seems to buy a lot of red meat. And booze.”

  170. 170.

    Steve in the STL

    Seems that DNA testing is like Facebook in that your info gets out there even if you don’t use it. If one or both of my parents do the test, then most of my info can be extrapolated. Like if your spouse or kid or a friend or acquaintance joins FB and uploads her or her contacts that include me, then FB has my data.

  171. 171.

    The Moar You Know

    Probably dead thread, but we did the doggie DNA test and it confirmed what we already knew and explained the one thing we couldn’t.

    We knew our girl was mostly lab and some German Shepherd. But we couldn’t explain her weird crest on the top of her head. So the test came back:

    50% lab
    25% shepherd
    25% afghan

    Very specific, which is pretty unusual for these places. No “might be this”.

    The Afghan explained her muzzle, her crest, her weird coat, and her catlike hunting ability and drive.

    She died a few months later of old age. God, how I still miss her.

    Our new dog is 100% golden retriever, not AKC, but from the breeding program for Guide Dogs. They’ve got records on his ancestry going back to the 1940s.

  172. 172.

    FlyingToaster

    @Ohio Mom: My normal reply about my ancestry is that I’m related to everyone west of the Urals and north of the Sahara. But my last name is from Pomerania, not Hungary or Turkey.

  173. 173.

    The Moar You Know

    We did the dog ancestry to make sure he wasn’t part pit bull. It came back mostly lab, and a couple of rare breeds that I think they probably don’t have a large enough database to back up. But mostly lab is likely.

    @Gretchen: Some of the more English type labs are very hard to distinguish from Pits. We’ve had a couple in the program that looked like pits down to the jaws…but they’re not.

  174. 174.

    Gelfling 545

    @Lizzy L: Perhaps Trump himself. When you don’t know how to start one of those awkward family conversations, you can always get the NYT to give you a starting point.

  177. 177.

    FlyingToaster

    @Just one more canuck: No, I’m a toaster. D’oh.

    But yes, the human version, at something like 1/128. It comes directly down the paternal lineage, my ancestor was in Pomerania when Sweden owned it at the end of the 30 Years War. By the mid 1700s they were colonists in the Hudson Valley; in 1755 they had English first names. Thence to Ohio where my grandad was born, and onward to Missouri where my dad, and then I, were born.

  178. 178.

    No Drought No More

    Months ago, Alex Baldwin was quoted as saying something along the lines of pitying Trump, because the office would expose him for what he was. That is a liberal paraphrase, of course. But it was also what I heard Baldwin say. It was a thoughtful remark, as well, and not at all mean spirited (of course, the man is a professional actor). So I tend to think that as the noose tightens around his neck, when he sees Baldwin all these months later, he remembers that above all, and hates the actor for his insight.

    R.O.T. means Russia Owns Trump..

  180. 180.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Kay: Eastern District of Virginia courthouse closed due to the wind, DC closed as well so no indictments today

  182. 182.

    Wendy

    @Brendan in NC: If your parents both took Ancestry DNA tests, then there is no point in you taking one. You won’t find out anything different or new. Go to a senior center and have someone there take it, then build a family tree for them. That would be much more worth it.

    When it comes to European ancestry, it is very hard to get a 100% correct ethnicity estimate. Think about how small Europe is, comparatively.

    Another crazy thing about DNA is that you do not necessarily have DNA from all of your ancestors. DNA is a closed container. Every time you add new DNA, some of the old DNA has to be left out.

    On the flip side, if you’re Ashkenazi Jewish, it will tell you that you have 2000+ 4th cousins or closer. It’s lying. Only about 2 of those people are 4th cousins or closer. It’s just that Ashkenazi Jews kept their DNA to themselves, so there’s a lot of endogamy, cousins marrying cousins. I never knew true genetic genealogical terror until I started delving into Ashkenazi Jewish DNA. I thought the Irish were difficult. Ha!

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