Recall, too, that that $5.9 billion request is just the first installment for a wall that would likely cost near $50 billion or more, so that first installment is really a commitment for a much larger amount and for exercise of such issues as eminent domain to obtain private lands.

Those parts are compared to what I will call a standard template of a known population.  This is where the confusion arises; how do you get the standard template.  For what I will call historically scientifically advance populations like Europe and more recently the US (think maybe from 1850 till now) there is a better defined template than other areas.  But various DNA testers use different templates so they have different results.

Two of the major testers, 23&Me and Ancestry, recently changed their chips and now post before and after DNA results which for most folks are different.  Both of the companies claimed the upgraded chips produced better (but different results) than the older chips.

To complicate matters almost all North American Indian tribes go out of their way not to provide DNA and every testing company I am aware of makes it clear the DNA template they use on their testing chip only has DNA from Central and South American Indian tribes.  The testing sites often combine East Asian and Native American DNA.  While migration from East Asia to North America is fairly well established and this makes sense a lot of Asians would test with more Native American DNA than Americans who's ancestors came from Europe.

There has also been significant research into what I will call ancient DNA.  My tests have shown me to have 292 Neanderthal variants which puts me in the top 25%.  This means a little less than 4% of my DNA is from Neanderthals; but also means 50% of the population has about 2% Neanderthal DNA.

While that may sound like a lot the thing to keep in mind is that back when Neanderthals were around the population was very small.  It was not until the 1500s that there was any mixing of "Indian" and "non Indian" DNA and there were a lot more people around.  While the DNA mixing increased since then it was never really that much in great part due to the massive decrease in the "Indian" population due the influx of Europeans.

If you go to any of the DNA boards there is a constant stream of posts along the lines of 'my family told me we had Indian DNA but it is not showing up in tests' by new comers.  The old hands try to be patient but the fact of the matter is while claiming Indian DNA seems to be popular it is far less common than most folks think.

I had less Indian DNA than Warren and my best guess is it occurred some time between 1700-1750.  Sad to say paper records from that time are few and far between for Indians.  Not sure that means I will, or will not, be the nominee.  On the other hand I have traced my paper records back a lot further to England, Normandy Vikings, and Viking raiders in the Great Heathen Army.  This is possible not just because of better paper record keeping in Europe but also because there were far fewer people back then.  Not only were there fewer people there were "alpha males" who sired many offspring.

Given the existential threat Trump demonstrates to our democracy, my thinking has gone to what combination of qualities (and candidates) would be needed to cleanse the Trump stain on the nation's present and future.

  We may not need a Baptist Sunday School teacher, as was Jimmy Carter, after the criminal Nixon resigned, but it does seem that we need a solid citizen with government/private experience and a good sense of humor.. one that warms the citizenry but does not come across as smug or flip.  

While age is not an overwhelming factor, Democrats would lose the edge over Trump with a candidate his age or older. We need seasoned leaders to work the often arcane ways of Congress, such as Speaker Pelosi, but the presidential ticket would, preferably, offer candidates not older than in their 50s.

And, the Democratic ticket needs to look like America, as they say.  No two white males.  Tim Kaine would have been a good vice president and president, if that happened, but he hurt Secretary Clinton by not helping her.

The Democratic Party as well as candidates and spokespersons need to, as a priority, take on the insidious and rampant old saw, of bothsiderism, calling out lazy media figures at all times.  
And, importantly, Democrats need to avoid bothsiderism as a way to appear fair and honest.

Shortly before the midterms, the Daily Show invited two guests, a Democrat (Cory Booker) and a Republican (John Kasich) to give their thoughts. Kasich sounded like Bernie Sanders in his take on Republicans as progressives, when we all know different; Booker spoke about how both sides do it, and both need to get together to make DC work..  Kasich almost had me (not really).  

Those schools have been, in order of appearance in designated "championship" games since 1998, are: Tennessee, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Miami, Nebraska, Ohio State, LSU, USC, Texas, Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, Notre Dame, Clemson, and Georgia. (Additionally, Michigan State and Washington have made the CFP semifinals.)

I would further note that this year's CFP payout to Alabama and Clemson is estimated to be about $14-15 million apiece. Average payout to each SEC program from the CFP will be $4.5 million per school, based on the $54 million each conference will receive from the CFP. That's why the CFP / BCS has been such an exclusive club. It's been an extraordinarily lucrative set-up for the Power 5 conferences plus Notre Dame.

The other five FBS-level conferences (aka "Group of Five') will collectively share a remaining pool of $81 million, which works out to $16.2 million per conference and is only 30% of what the Power 5 conferences will pull in. Additionally, Central Florida will receive another $4 million for its appearance in the Fiesta Bowl.

This is very much political, as well as religio-political.  For a number of reasons, the Russian Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch in Moscow have been feeling their oats and there have been suggestions (or more than mere suggestions) that, since the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople is pretty much bottled up by the Turks, the Ecumenical Patriarchate should be moved to Moscow.

The Ecumenical Patriarch is not really the equivalent  of the Roman Catholic Pope.  He's "first among equals," and doesn't have the powers of the Catholic Pope.  But it's important for the Eastern Orthodox.

It would allow Cheeto to declare victory while the actual effects go through the courts and possibly the government is reopened.

"There's a joke, and I know it very well.
It's one of those that I told you long ago,
Take my word. I'm a madman, don't you know?
The ground's a long way down, but I need more.
Is the nightmare black, or are the windows painted?
Will they come again next week?
Can my mind really take it?"
- Elton John, "Madman Across the Water" (1971)

Experienced, high-level World Bank officials began resigning in droves as they saw Wolfowitz institute a reign of cronies with little development experience and massive salaries. The management style of the newcomers, cliquish among themselves and harsh toward outsiders, alienated those who remained.

None of these appointments, however unpopular, proved Wolfowitz's undoing. It was the provisions he made for his girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza, that finally blew up in his face.

A person with direct knowledge of the matter told CNBC that Bannon, who was then CEO of Trump's campaign, reached out to Stone.

Bannon's attorney declined to comment, and the one-time White House chief strategist did not return repeated calls seeking comment.