Dan Dodd, Collin County Democratic Party Chairperson Hospitalized

Daniel Dodd, Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Collin County, was admitted to the hospital Friday to treat a blood clot in his leg.

Often termed "deep venous thrombosis" such blood clots can quickly kill if it moves up to the lungs, where can form a pulmonary embolism. This condition make headlines every few years when seemingly healthy people collapse after long airplane flights or being in similarly cramped quarters. Vice President Cheney suffered one after a long trip in 2006. NBC correspondent David Bloom died of one in 2003 after spending days inside a tank while covering the invasion of Iraq. The surgeon General estimates that every year, between 350,000 and 600,000 Americans get one of these clots — and at least 100,000 of them die.

If the blood clot is caught early and treated properly, patients do very well with a mortality risk of less than 5 percent. A major goal of treatment is to prevent further abnormal clotting in the body and to avoid complications such as the development of a blood clot in the lungs. Blood clots are treated by administering blood thinners, like Heparin, Coumadin or others such as Lovenox injections. Treatment can depend on many factors such as the size of the clot, but most of the time patients must be on a blood thinner for several months. Contrary to popular belief, blood thinners do not dissolve a clot. They keep new clots from forming and from the clot getting any bigger, but the body actually dissolves the clot itself.

Dodd was expect to remain in the hospital for up to three days.

Melting Greenland Ice Sheets May Threaten Northeast United States, Canada

ScienceDaily (May 28, 2009) — Melting of the Greenland ice sheet this century may drive more water than previously thought toward the already threatened coastlines of New York, Boston, Halifax, and other cities in the northeastern United States and Canada, according to new research led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

The study, which is being published May 29 in Geophysical Research Letters, finds that if Greenland's ice melts at moderate to high rates, ocean circulation by 2100 may shift and cause sea levels off the northeast coast of North America to rise by about 12 to 20 inches (about 30 to 50 centimeters) more than in other coastal areas. The research builds on recent reports that have found that sea level rise associated with global warming could adversely affect North America, and its findings suggest that the situation is more threatening than previously believed.

"If the Greenland melt continues to accelerate, we could see significant impacts this century on the northeast U.S. coast from the resulting sea level rise," says NCAR scientist Aixue Hu, the lead author. "Major northeastern cities are directly in the path of the greatest rise."

Read the full story at ScienceDaily.com

Texans for Better Science Education Push For SBOE Chairman McLeroy's Confirmation

Update May 28, 2009 at 5:10PM - Voting strictly along party lines, the Senate refused to confirm McLeroy on a 19 to 11 vote - two less than the two-thirds majority required for confirmation. (With one Democrat not voting)

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Original Post May 28, 2009 at 12:17PM - Senate confirmation of Don McLeroy as chairman of the State Board of Education (SBOE) is expected to come up in the Texas Senate some time Thursday or Friday. McLeroy, a dentist who has no background in science or education, was first appointed SBOE chairman by Republican Governor Rick Perry in the summer of 2007. McLeroy was reappointed as SBOE chairman by Gov. Perry in 2009. Whether he can garner two-thirds approval from senators is an open question. Earlier in the session, many lawmakers believed his nomination wasn't even going to get out of committee.

The right-leaning Texans for Better Science Education, who advocates teaching creationism rather than evolution in Texas science classrooms, has sent "URGENT" messages to its members, asking them to call their senators to support McLeroy's confirmation. The group's argument?

"...He is being attacked NOT for anything done wrong during his two years as chair of the SBOE but primarily because he is Christian!"

Texans for Better Science Education contend that McLeroy is being attacked primarily [just] for being a Christian because;

As chairman of the State Board of Education, McLeroy advocates that Texas public school students should be taught "creation science" rather than biological evolution science. McLeroy is convinced that evolution taught uncritically to Texas students undermines the tenet of Christianity that people were created in the image of God.

McLeroy advocates that the Texas education standard, as set by the SBOE, must require Texas educators to have a "critical discussion" on the “strengths and weaknesses of scientific theories" with public school students.

McLeroy advocates that the science disciplines of physics, geology, biology and the archaeological study of the fossil record, which all provide evidence the earth is 4.5 billion years old and that biological processes first appeared at least 3.9 billion years ago, must be critically challenged by Texas teachers.

McLeroy advocates that teachers must engage Texas students in a "critical discussion" that archaeological evidence in the fossil record does not support the idea of natural selection as an explanation of how organisms evolved on earth over millions of years.

McLeroy wants teachers to lead students to the believe that cells and the DNA code controlling their function is so complex that intelligent design by a creator and not evolution is the only answer that can be accepted. McLeroy further advocates that the alternative "intelligent design scientific theory" should be offered to Texas students by science teachers.

In March, after a year of fierce debate about how evolution should be taught (or not taught) in Texas public schools, the State Board of Education (SBOE) voted on and passed a final version of new science education standards that will guide the content of science discussion and textbooks for the next decade.

In March, the State Board of Education removed the “critical discussion of strengths and weaknesses of scientific theories" language from the official education standard. McLeroy, supported by other creationists on the board, then effectively restored the “strengths and weaknesses of scientific theories" intent with alternative language. The amended phrases ask teachers to prompt students to “examine all sides of scientific evidence and scientific explanations so as to encourage critical thinking.”

The SBOE's decision has a large impact across the U.S. given Texas' ability, because of its size, to influence what is printed in textbooks nationwide. The new standard, with McLeroy's new language, allows him to pressure national textbook publishers to write the “strengths and weaknesses of evolution discussion" into textbooks used nationwide.

The Texans for Better Science Education group has focused their lobbying efforts on three socially-moderate Republican Senators, Sens. Seliger, Wentworth and Averitt, who have not yet voiced support for McLeroy.


KERA: Texas Schools Lag Behind in Bioscience Education (May 19, 2009)

"Only a Theory" 2:19	Barbara Forrest, Professor of Philosophy Southeastern Louisiana University - "When creationists try to dismiss evolution as 'only a theory,' they are misusing the word theory."
Avoiding the Supernatural 1:41	Nick Matzke, Public Information Project Director National Center for Science Education - "A conservative judge isn't going to just redefine science."
Science and Religion 2:29	Ken Miller, Biologist Brown University - "What science isn't very good at is answering questions [on] the meaning and purpose of things."
On Isaac Newton 1:34
A Solid Theory 1:18	Kevin Padian, Paleontologist UC Berkeley - "I don't know where people get the idea that evolution is a theory in crisis."
Natural Explanations 1:33	Robert T. Pennock, Philosopher and Evolutionary Scientist Michigan State University - "You can't have gaps that you fill in by appeal to miracles."
Science Is Not Dogmatic 2:02
Science Tests Its Claims 1:12	Eugenie Scott, Executive Director National Center for Science Education - "If you teach intelligent design as a science, you are confusing students about the nature of science."
The Power of Science 1:23	Neil Shubin, Paleontologist University of Chicago and the Field Museum - "Not every idea, no matter how beautiful, qualifies as science."

Voter ID Died Quietly At Midnight Last Night

Cartoon from LoneStar Times

Good news: Voter ID died quietly at midnight last night. House rules require at least initial floor action on bills five days before adjournment. Democrats slowed up House business enough that the Voter ID was not introduced on the floor for initial action before last night's deadline.

Bad news: Other legislation behind the Voter ID bill on the calendar was not introduced on the House floor for initial action either.

So, a bill to use $550 million in federal stimulus dollars to extend unemployment benefits for 200,000 unemployed Texans died at midnight last night too. (This was to override Gov. Perry's rejection of the federal stimulus money.)

House Republicans placed partisan politics above not only unemployed Texans, but also insurance reform, energy efficiency, renewable energy initiatives, the Texas Windstorm Insurance program, air quality, expansion of the Child Health Insurance Program and more. Texas Republicans, who control the legislative calendar, placed Voter ID legislation ahead of all this other legislation, which conservative Republicans oppose, so they could blame Democrats for killing it, rather than take the heat themselves.

On the other hand, Republicans who control the House can move to ignore House rules to revive some of the dead legislation for House action. Two-thirds of the House members would have to vote favorably on such a move, but House Democrats have said they will support a two-thirds vote on all but the Voter ID legislation. So, the ball remains in the Republican House leaders' court to act on insurance reform, energy efficiency, renewable energy initiatives, the Texas Windstorm Insurance program, air quality, expansion of the Child Health Insurance Program and more in the remaining days of this session.

So now there's just the wild card - the possibility that Gov. Perry will call a special session of the legislature, after the regular session adjourns. And, if Gov. Perry does call a special session, will Republicans use that session to force another Voter Photo ID showdown.

• Voter ID Chubbed Into Submission: Why The Last Five Days Will Hurt Republicans And Help Democrats In 2010
• Democrats Save Voting Rights; Republicans Steal Unemployment Compensation and Grin
• Logjam of bills forms in House