Warriors get the glory, but in the end, its the chicken hawks who stay home and get the girls.

The DNA company is a for profit outfit so, they periodically solicit you for upgrades, (which my cousin has paid for a few times).

Their most recent pitch has been $50 to see if you have the Warrior gene. I have no interest in spending 50 bucks on this but it is an interesting hypothesis.

About 30% of Europeans have the gene, up to 60% of New Zealand Maori tribes. The gene is associated with aggressive behavior and certain decision making behavior. Nothing said on fondness for weapons but who knows.

Article here.

Without physical conditioning, training and the right mindset, no weapon can make you a brave and effective soldier. Any weapon can be used to maim and kill, but with guns you can kill lots of civilians in a hurry. Just point and pull the trigger. Its the attribute of the gods, to destroy at a distance. And they are the weapons of cowards.

We have an elaborate folklore, a social pathology, a lucrative industry and a political ideology built on this perversion.

Tribal peoples decorate their weapons with color, feathers, bits of bone, shell and fur. And who hasn’t admired the exquisite workmanship of a matched pair of flintlock dueling pistols, or a fine English shotgun. My personal favorite, the M-1 Garand: perfectly functional and undecorated, but finished to an extreme (and probably unnecessary) level of quality and precision.

Men are boys, and we have our toys. But we prefer to call it “collecting”, or paper over our simian behavior under layers of philosophical or political justifications. We admire the smooth mechanical craftsmanship of precisely machined actions and the highly evolved form and shape of our weapons, perfectly adapted to their intended use.

Over and above the form and function of the piece, they are often decorated with engraving and carving, and even their accessory scabbards and holsters are often things of beauty. This is clearly not done for military or harvesting efficiency. There is clearly something else going on here.

Modern military weapons are sometimes designed to be mass produced as cheaply as possible, with stampings instead of machined forgings, and cheap wooden or plastic stocks rather than milled and polished wood. But even Saddam had one of his AK-47s (the 20th century equivalent of the Roman gladius) gold-plated. Go figure. The legionaire’s sword was no doubt a roughly shaped piece of standardized military hardware, mass-produced to be identical for uniform training purposes. But I bet the Centurion’s personal blade was the highest quality he could afford, and the officers no doubt carried works of art.

I’m not knocking it, I confess I am bitten by the bug as well. But its important we recognize this obsession for what it is.

First of all, a good knife is a piece of artwork, with the symmetry of its sloping blade and the glint of the honed edge, the detail of the hilt, the guard, all that scrollwork. On polished display, it’s sure to brighten most any room.

Second, there’s the defense factor. Who would believe anyone would have more than a fistful of keys to fend off an attacker, and would have not the slightest regret when it comes to slicing a would-be attacker’s carotid artery?

Third, would be the image, adding a swagger to the walk, realizing you are carrying a deadly weapon down a crowded street, whether displayed or not.

As a weapon of aggressive choice, it could become a very silent killer and, used effectively, remain utterly untraceable, regardless what CSI Miami might want to say about it. Sort of like one’s weapon of choice being a Bear, and bullet of choice being a nicely bladed K-Mart brand arrow — cheap but effective.

From the shiv to the Claymore, collectables all.

The Argentinian gauchos didn’t carry guns like our cowboys, they were only armed with a blade. That might explain something.