Don McLeroy lost by .75%. That's a difference of only 839 out of 111,575. Yes, your vote matters.

Jim Cashion defeated Mike Fleming for Republican Nomination for JP Pct. 4 by 3.4%. Larger margin than the above race? Depends on how you look at it. That's only 33 votes. Yes, your vote matters. I don't know good or ill about Jim Cashion (son of Red Cashion), but I know Mike Fleming would have been the best choice (He's one of our elders). One possible upside is that perhaps he will have larger resources to run against the Democrat nominee, which will be determined in a run-off. There were 7 people running for the Democrat spot.

Jerry Pitts made it to the runoff against Laura Taylor Davis for County Treasurer. He is a member at Twin City, and came in only 36 votes ahead of the third place candidate. Yes, your vote matters.

Steve Ogden, a good guy, especially for being the chairman of the Texas Senate Finance Committee, defeated challenger Ben Bius 47,612 to 22,141.

So what should we make of Don McLeroy's defeat? Well, the "Citizens for a Smarter State Board of Education" or whatever they are called ran ads like crazy in our area, McLeroy's home. As Chace Murphy said, they were probably trying to weaken his support here, let the votes be even elsewhere, and let his opposition's support in his neck of the woods (he's an East Texas resident) push him over the top. I never heard a single Don McLeroy ad. Yet he only lost by .75%.

The news is even better than that effort to look on the bright side, though.

The Republican Party had 5 ballot propositions, basically poll questions:

#1 had to do with requiring Photo ID to vote
#2 had to do with limiting government growth to the combination of increased population and rate of inflation.
#3 had to do with cutting Federal income taxes to improve the economy
#4 had to do with preserving the use of God's name, prayers, and the ten commandments in public places
#5 had to do with requiring expectant mothers seeking an abortion to see a sonogram first

You might think #2 and #3 might be the largest vote getters in this day and age. Money and excessive government are important issues to us, right? Also, Photo ID has been hot-button topic for some time that voters have supported, but elected officials won't follow through on. Following Don McLeroy's ouster, you might expect #4 to be down among Republican voters. Sonograms before abortions actually was the least supported, but I wonder if many folks voted no because they don't want women getting abortions, so this seemed like a concession. I think of it more as doing the best with the situation as it is.

Out of all these, the proposition with both the highest total vote count and the highest percentage supporting it reads as follows:

"The use of the word “God”, prayers, and the Ten Commandments should be allowed at public gatherings and public educational institutions, as well as be permitted on government buildings and property."

Passed with 1,366,803 votes - 95.13% of the total for that proposition.

There is hope for us, yet.

(Election information from http://wtaw.com/media/Election-March-2010.htm, the Secretary of State's website, and http://www.brazosvotes.org/system/files/SampleBallot-Rep.pdf)

It's somewhat fitting that an election day is Texas Independence Day. Come to find out, the New York Times ran an article bashing Don McLeroy. There are lots of folks outside of Texas who would like to tell us how to vote. You see, Texas is just behind California in terms of dominating the textbook market. With the other former republic's budget in its current state, that places Texas in an even stronger position. Publishers will cater to Texas' wants, and that has some folks in other states scared. They don't want to have to buy books that teach about Intelligent Design and poison their kids minds with that idiocy.

So, in good Texas form, go vote for Don McLeroy Texas State Board of Education, District 9 (basically East Texas), and show those interlopers the spirit of independence is still strong.

A young-Earth creationist on the state education board? How terrible! Us Texuns is gunna be ignernt!

I heard a political ad on the radio, narrated by a guy who makes fun of Texas culture and with tinny westerny music in the background. Here is the text from the ad:

"We have a problem. Don McLeroy, the District 9 representative to the Texas State Board of Education believes that the earth is less than ten thousand years old, that humans walked with dinosaurs, and that supernatural explanations are valid science. Click here for audio from a recent debate…

"Maybe having a dysfunctional Board of Education didn’t matter back when we were only fightin' with Oklahoma for who had biggest cowboy hat, but now Texas is part of the global economy and our kids are competin' with kids from Asia and Europe for the good jobs....

"Come on Texans, on March 2nd, let’s send this guy home. Keep the State Board of Education smart! Vote against Don McLeroy in the Republican Primary."


If you aren't sure if you can make it to vote, go listen to the second audio clip at the bottom of this page and you'll be motivated. Angry, but motivated: http://sites.google.com/site/smartstateboardofeducation/


Now, to my rant:

The ad is a strange one. I can understand it playing in Austin or urban areas, but in College Station? It seems strange that they make fun of a) creation b) supernatural explanations c) Texas culture and d) Texas accents for a couple of reasons:

A) They ran the ad on the conservative talk radio station?
B) They ran the ad in Aggieland, one of the places that most VALUES the same things they MOCKED?
C) They are appealing to people who hate Texas culture... in Texas?

Get off your high, ignorant, horse and don't even try to talk to me about valid science! I was created by the Almighty, and you will not insult Him with your meaningless babble! Everything around us declares that we can't begin to comprehend how much INTELLIGENCE there is in Intelligent Design! You want to sit my child in your classroom and tell him he's stupid for believing in a Creator? I'm sorry, that is absurd. Evolution, when you take away the shroud of so-called science it hides behind, is folly that any reasonable person can see. Not all do see, or many have so much pre-learning that prejudices their thinking that it is difficult to see, but it takes YOUR kind of education to do that, not logical thinking, not observation of what makes sense, not what ACTUALLY conforms to scientific method. I'm not ranting against everyone who believes in evolution. I'm ranting against those who believe evolution because they refuse to listen to an alternative when it doesn't conform to their brand of "science." The FOOL has said in his heart there is no God. Sure, that's quoting God's book, what else am I going to say? Well, I'll say this:

The Segway is one of our modern marvels. It balances itself automatically, autonomously, without user input. It has become the platform for a rescue robot and a wheelchair that can stand up. Its designers are obviously intelligent, but wait, that's not scientific. We can't say that.

There you have a fairly standard argument for intelligent design. You ask a question: How did this thing come about? You examine the evidence: It is a complex, yet organized system. It fulfills a purpose, and it functions in an orderly fashion. You draw a conclusion based on the evidence: All of the evidence - purpose, organization, orderly and predictable productive function - suggest that it has a design, and hence, a designer. Not all understand how it works, and lesser species may not recognize it as high technology by a higher intellect, but a reasonable person would conclude that it took a fair amount of intelligence to design it and build it. That's really a simplistic argument. It doesn't scratch the surface. I tried to write out a whole list of things that go into the Segway, but couldn't do it justice, so I'll have to summarize.

How much intelligence went into the Segway?

The Segway is designed and made as a result of hours upon hours of intelligent design, facilitated by many more hours of intelligent design: for its computers, for its computer programs, for computer programs to write those computer programs, for computers and programs that were used to design it, and programs to write those programs, for machines, for their components, for the materials in those components and in all the aforementioned computers, for the means to extract, process, transport, track, qualify, package, and retransport those materials, for the machines to make the machines that extract, process, transport, track, qualify, package, and retransport, for the computers that operate THOSE machines, for the design, construction, and operation of systems to acquire and supply fuel or all those machines, for the machines to transport the intelligence beings to operate the machines, for the health care to maintain the functionality of the intelligences operating those machines, for the machines used in that health care, for the development of food crops to sustain those intelligent beings those who support them.... But not just at any one moment in time. All human history that contributed, even in the peripheral way, must be accounted for.

For something as limited in function as the state-of-the-art Segway, when you add it all up, THERE ARE BILLIONS OF YEARS OF INTELLIGENT DESIGN RESULTING IN THE SEGWAY! And this is the best we can do with all of that! Something that is (drum roll) able to stand up on its own without falling over.

--

Within minutes of birth, a baby horse can walk on its own. You say it is assembled without intelligence, that it knows what to do with any intelligence programming it, that no intelligence supplies its power, nor materials for its construction, that no intelligence built its factory, that no intelligence designed it. No intelligence at all. Yet it easily exceeds in short order what billions of cumulative years of intelligent design concocted.

--

Um, I don't understand the problem. Why do you want our kids to be "intelligent" and our state board to be "smart?" It looks to me that, according to you, much better things get accomplished "without intelligence." I'd rather my kids learn from the maker of the horse than from someone who thinks we might someday catch up with our biggest competitor - time, chance, and the inherent properties of matter.


When an animal looks at a Segway and doesn't recognize the intelligence behind the design, that doesn't say anything about the intelligence of the Segway designer. Just the foolishness of the animal.

When your intelligence can't understand the Creator's intelligence, that doesn't mean His intelligence doesn't exist.

Those who exalt their own intelligence because they do not believe in the Creator make one of the strongest arguments against evolution. The higher they declare their own intelligence to be, the greater the intelligence must be that accomplishes things they cannot.

You think you're so smart? Okay. Fine. Make me a man. And do it with dirt.


--------------

Mostly unrelated:

I know there are environmental careers out there that don't have to do with global warming, but I still thought this email I got from A&M was kind of funny:

"The Environmental Careers Panel has been canceled tonight Feb 23rd due to unsafe traveling conditions for the panelists."

Breakfast: Chocolate chip waffles, with peanut butter and syrup, and bacon on the side
Lunch: Sandwiches, chips, and root beer
Supper: Fried backstrap

mmm...

-----

I got a video a couple of days ago about the 1999 Bonfire called "The Burning Desire" and it includes the entire A&M/texas game. I would recommend the video. Not everyone will really understand it, but it gives a glimpse into what makes Aggieland such a special place. It also gives an interesting look at the relationship between A&M and texas and how they put aside their differences in the days that followed. It made me think of two brothers who don't get along well, but when someone from the outside tries to hurt one of them, the differences, for a time, aren't as important anymore. Doesn't make them friends, and it doesn't mean the wayward one changes his ways (and we all know who that is), but they are able to come together over something that surpasses all of that. I've heard, and maybe sensed as much, that the rivalry isn't as heated as in the old days, and I wonder if this didn't have something to do with that.

Here are a couple of things from then that stand out:

Bonfire Letter
by Eric Opiela, UT Student Body Vice President, currently Executive Director of the Republican Party of Texas
"I had the great privilege of attending the memorial service at A&M tonight and was deeply moved by the events I experienced. The A&M student body is truly one of the great treasures of our State.

"As part of the UT delegation, we sat on the floor of Reed Arena, and immediately following the end of the service, I heard this rustling sound behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw the sight of close to 20,000 students spontaneously putting their arms on their neighbor’s shoulders, forming a great circle around the arena.

"The mass stood there in a pin-drop silence for close to five minutes, then, from somewhere, someone began to hum quietly the hymn "Amazing Grace". Within seconds, the whole arena was singing. I tried too—I choked, I cried.

"This event brought me to tears. It was one if not the defining moment of my college career. I learned something tonight. For all us Longhorns discount A&M in our neverending rivalry, we need to realize one thing. Aggieland is a special place, with special people. It is infinitely better equipped than us at dealing with a tragedy such as this for one simple reason. It is a family. It is a family that cares for its own, a family that reaches out, a family that is unified in the face of adversity; a family that moved this Longhorn to tears. My heart, my prayers; and the heart of the UT student body go out tonight to Aggies and their family and friends as they, recover, from this great loss. Texas A&M, The Eyes of Texas are Upon You—and they look with sincere sympathy upon a family that has been through so much tragedy this semester."


The Twelfth Man
by Fred Maddox
"The twelve young people who died were truly remarkable kids. They were scholars, student athletes, active in Boy Scouts, 4-H, Church groups, they were leaders. If you had to chose a dozen students to represent the best of Texas A&M, you probably wouldn't do much better than these.

"I have just learned about Timothy Doran Kerlee, Jr. He was the twelfth student to die, when his life support was disconnected last Friday evening. Let me tell you about this amazing kid.

"Tim graduated last year from Germantown High School in Germantown, Tennessee. He was an Eagle Scout, graduated third in his class, and was elected to his High School Hall of Fame. He was a student athlete, and a member of the National Honor Society. He was active in the youth group and drama club at his Methodist Church.

"He was actively recruited by Texas A&M, and when he enrolled he tested out of his entire freshman year. That is how this 17 year-old could be classified as a sophomore. Tim's father said that he was thrilled to be at A&M, and especially excited about bonfire. When the stack collapsed, his pelvis was crushed, his arm was broken, and his internal organs were scrambled like an omelette.

"On the front page of Friday's Dallas Morning News is a large photo of the collapsed stack taken during the early part of the rescue effort. You can see a team working at the base of the logs to save a trapped student. About five feet above the rescue team is Tim Kerlee, reclining on a pile of logs, propped up on one elbow. Unless you look carefully at the photo you will probably not notice that his legs are laying in an odd position. What was happening, according to the rescue teams, was that Kerlee was directing the teams to other students trapped in the stack. He kept telling them that he was O.K., and he directed rescuers to at least five other students before he allowed them to take him down from the stack.

"He was taken into emergency surgery, and when they opened him up they found his organs so badly damaged that they couldn't identify much of what they saw. They closed him up, wrapped him in a sheet to hold him together, and placed on life support. He lived long enough to see and speak to his parents. He was aware that he was dying and asked to be removed from life support. When his parents asked him why he wanted to, he asked them why he should fight for a few more days of life when he could be in Heaven with Jesus right now.

"Well, he got his wish. I feel sorry that I never had a chance to know Tim Kerlee, but I praise God for kids like Tim Kerlee. If you had to pick a twelfth man you couldn't do much better."

(http://acct.tamu.edu/smith/bonfire.htm)

Ever notice how Theodin King of Rohan is all about death and dying and "Our swords will be shattered and our horses maimed and we'll have trip-and-falls and go down in utter defeat as the dark forces take over the world and burn our families and villages and chickens," but he's okay with it? I guess that's just how he rolls.