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Post a Comment On: Steve Sailer: iSteve

"Hatfields v. McCoys"

7 Comments -

1 – 7 of 7
Anonymous rob said...

I wonder if there's any info on family feuds in societies with a higher rate of cousin marriage and kin loyalty.

4/5/07, 4:02 PM

Blogger Xhevahir said...

There's a less exciting explanation for this. Remote, difficult terrain has historically made it difficult for a state to project rule of law (or for a state to form in the first place); people living in those places resolve their disputes in ways that are probably going to look irrational to those of us living in well-policed areas. Look at the pashtunwali, or the Albanian kanuni i Lekë Dukagjini.

4/5/07, 4:30 PM

Anonymous tommy said...

There are other strange genetic diseases native to the Appalachians. There is one illness that imparts a bluish tint to the skin.

I've already mentioned that I carry beta-thalassemia trait, a supposedly Mediterranean disease. Apparently, there are a number of people with ancestry in the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas that claim the same thing. Perhaps it is a novel mutation (though it has spread amazingly quick if so).

4/5/07, 4:59 PM

Anonymous tommy said...

“They were bluer’n hell”

4/5/07, 5:05 PM

Anonymous Sockstand said...

Anyone who has lived in areas the press and academics call "hardscrabble"-usually places with a lot of Scots-Irish-knows that this comes with the territory. They are attracted to this kind of place and they inbreed, and the smart ones, or the ones who don't love fistfighting and macho behavior, leave. Over a few generations you get some clans of really bad hombres.

I'd like to figure out how to move a few thousand of them to the highlands of Durango. The elite of Mexico would have a thorn in their ass over that.

4/8/07, 12:07 AM

Blogger joycegraff said...

It's not a curse, not caused by inbreeding. It's a tiny misspelling in one little gene. 20% of people with VHL are the first in their family ever to have VHL.

And besides, the problem in the McCoy family is not VHL, it's the pheochromocytomas. Pheos occur in the general population. They can also run in families, caused by one of six different genetic flaws, one of which is VHL. So this is not confined to the McCoy family.

If anyone feels they are having uncontrolled high blood pressure, palpitations, unexplained bursts of panic or rage, and/or excessive sweating, they should ask their doctor to do a test called "plasma free metanephrines". This is the most accurate test for a pheo. Other tests only find 60-80% of pheos. They are not easy to diagnose.

Still today half of all pheos are diagnosed on autopsy. They are very dangerous. The good news is that once they are diagnosed they are almost always treated successfully.

And no medical issue is an excuse for bad behavior. No matter how lousy we feel, everyone is still responsible for his or her actions.

We wish you the best of health.
Joyce Graff, Executive Director
VHL Family Alliance
www.vhl.org 800-767-4845

4/15/07, 3:30 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The McCoys were clearly in the right. The Hatfields stole that land. STOLE it.

4/19/07, 12:57 PM

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