Please ignore my chuckle headed-ness today, too many distractions!

I think Cuba will run to the arms of Putin and Medyevdev, once Fidel and Raul have passed on. I see the brothers waiting for the US to bend, I see a young communist party ready to spit in the eye of U.S. Recent allowances to the Cuban people, like DVD's, the thrill for a Cuban National to actually stay in a hotel, usually only reserved for tourists  and some artisits benefitting greatly from endowments by U.S. patrons says to me, they want to sit at the adult table. Continued defiance of some basic human rights, tells me they are doomed to the immature stature of a non-productive government, unless and until a great world power absorbs Cuba into its economic sphere. Of course, my humble views.  

True, a disease or height can be passed in one generation, but how many earlier generations had the recessive gene for that disease/trait?I still think skill and speed are learned, not genetic.

Now here is a great big ball of wax Scout and Skiguy, and all.Brian Sykes writes in "Seven Daughters of Eve", how important sickle cell anemia (effects Africans) and thalasseamia (effects Turkey, Mediterranean) was to understanding the migration of humans. Both diseases evolved to combat malaria, the sickle cell or elongated blood cell is more difficult for the malaria parasites to infect. If you are born of one parent carrying the mutated hemoglobin, you have a natural resistance to malaria. If both parents have mutation, you have sickle cell anemia or thalasseamia, most kids with either of these diseases die before age five, the disease persists because of the ressecive quality to the mutation.  Geneticists find markers in mutated genes, calculate (alas, a miracle occurs) and it can be determined how groups migrated by the frequency of markers in certain sequences.Physical prowess, like eye color, could be ressecive, no argument there.I know that there was a project to determine anscestry of a group of well known black entertainers and educators, Oprah, Chris Rock, and others. The focus was on origins, not specified attributes, I think  that it would be considered racist, not by me but being white I may be a poor judge of the sensitivity factor. 

Why am I not surprised? Tithes for the Lud, Tithes for the pretender.

There are others on this board who have made the suggestion that such a program did in fact, exist.  your suggestion seems eminently reasonable and agrees with the facts that I am aware of.Scout if you mean me please show me a quote where I suggest such a thing. If I did say a large scale slave breeding project exsisted, I'll eat my hat.I suggest that a large scale program is not possible simply because most slave owners only held one or two slaves. We are talking about maybe 5% who held a couple hundred.Maybe some slaves were allowed to choose thier partners, from what I've read (see F. Douglass & Jefferson) most were not. "A quiet toungue was a wise head"-Douglass, What slave would openly critisize the master?Genetic traits can be passed in one generation, point in fact, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, congenital blindness, cystic fibrosis and others, why not skill, speed and height? I like the theory of animal husbandry, how about a hunter who can't throw a spear due to injury or genetic weakness? Will he observe that a plot of land can be planted and harvested to feed his family and trade for meat? His offspring may be less athletic but will eat and reproduce anyway.

Is the 6'4 Randy Moss a better WR or athlete than the 5'9 Wes Welker? Does Moss's natural physical trait of being taller, which is a common and desired trait for wide receivers, mean he has to work less at it than Welker does in order to be good?I don't know but there is a certain finesse to the athelete who excells beyond usual expectations.Yes all humans and animals for that matter evolved to survive, this supports the idea that slaves who survived the Middle Passage were fit or lucky. If you agree that Jefferson's remarks, for starters, support a mindset to breed slaves, then which slaves would be selected? You see similarity among human DNA, because, as recent studies indicate, the whole of humanity sprang forth from the African continent. I don't wish to offend any creationist proponents, in fact I fail to see where evolution forces a 'creation' of humans out of the discussion.As it stands, I don't see how a lineage of well bred slaves, who would excel in sports can be totally dismissed.

That's true, but it still doesn't convince me that athleticism is mostly genetic.  Tall and lean is great for high jumpers or track, but wouldn't be a desired trait for other sports like rugby or an American football running back.QuoteYou will have to explain how braun(spelled correctly by me finally) and hieght would not help the running back!