Jerry P

Suppose a parent's estate is set up for securities and cash to pass to 4 surviving children using a Transfer On Death to avoid probate. Now, what happens if one or more of the beneficiaries refuses to sign the TOD papers upon the death of the parent? Does that tie up the estate for the others, or does each get their share as soon as they sign for the transfer?

If the bird were on a surface, its weight would obviously be included in the total payload. However, what about when it is flying freely in the air inside the plane?

My Napolitani inlaws make a ratatouille-like vegetable stew that they call what sounds like "paska neesh" (maybe pasqua nizzo?) Does anyone know the correct name and spelling in Italian?

The language always confused me a little, especially regarding the relationship of the second clause to the first:

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

If the Federal Government determined that a well regulated militia was, in fact not necessary to the security of a free State, then could the amendment be deleted?

Who exactly *is* this militia?

At what level of "regulation" (allowed by the first clause) does the right become "infringed"?

Cavalli-Sforza has published data that place the genetic distance between modern humans from 0.006% to 0.030%, with greatest differences behtween sub-Saharan populations and the rest of the world.

Is there any other living species with genetic distance across a unique species that is greater than this, say 0.5-1.0%? (No guesses or hypotheses, please...only answers from the literature with citations or authors.

See: http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m154/shemuel14/...

Where does the "extra" square come from?

A recent report noted, "Without the cooling effect of atmospheric aerosols, it is likely that greenhouse gases alone would have caused more global mean temperature rise than that observed during the last 50 years." http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2...

So, is the widespread use of aerosols an antidote to global warming? Should aerosol propellants be brought back in deodorants, hairsprays, etc? Should governments and large industries begin introducing aerosols on a megascale to counteract global warming before it is too late?

With MLK Day just past, I wonder about the race issue in a potential Obama presidential campaign. Is there a distinction (based on deep seated prejudice) that Obama is somehow *different* than the rank and file of US black people, because his father was directly from east Africa, and so has little/none of the historical and cultural baggage associated with American slavery, Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws, the civil rights era, etc.?

I notice that many of the refutations of creationism focus on the peceived deficiency in scientific sophistication among creationists.

Is this warranted?

I notice that many of the refutations of creationism focus on the peceived deficiency in scientific sophistication among creationists.

Is this warranted?

Recently, scientists have claimed a 99.5% homology between the genes of Neanderthal and those of modern humans. However, how close is the homology between different groups of modern humans, for example, comparing me to my brother, or to someone of the same general background (northern European), or to someone of a different background (e.g., Korean or Zulu)?