Since I was about 12 years old I’ve been very adamant about the seperation of church and state. Even in a time when I was a good catholic and would make the weekly rounds to mass I just never felt that it was right teaching anything pertaining to religion outside of the realm of historical fact in school. About a year ago a movement was started in Kansas school boards so that “Intelligent Design” (ID) would be taught in science class. The argument put up for that at the time was that ID was a valid scientific theory when in fact there is no evidence at all to support it.

It has always been very common for religion to find its way into schools along the lines of the bible belt but the idea of passing it as state law is just absurd. I read an article sometime in late march from the LA Times and towards the end of it you see a couple of children giving this science teacher a hard time on what is not a theory but hard fact where there is physical evidence to support it and that kind of behavior is often seen in areas where religion and ignorance have a strong hold.

In early August though the tides shifted in Kansas and it was decided that ID would not be taught in science class rooms. Unfortunately though it seemed that some other states, South Carolina in particular, are beginning to work towards teaching “alternative theories of evolution” including ID in class rooms. The worst part about all this to me is that South Carolina’s governer, Mark Sanford, doesn’t see the problem with teaching ID in schools at all and in fact promotes it.

So I went to PAX as an enforcer this year and it was super fun. I ended up doing 2 double shifts and a normal shift (completely voluntary I assure you). The only real downside to being an enforcer is that you end up missing out on alot of events. I did get to see the two I cared for the most, Women in the Game Industry and Omegathon, and I heard the minibosses from the wireless lounge without any problems (They were great!).

I didn’t have the money to get everyone souveniers like I wanted to, but I got a couple of Magic 9th edition core starter sets so I can teach people to play. I did manage to get one pair of signatures after Omegathon on a poster that I intend to have framed before I expose to the rest of the world.

For the most part, I helped out in the wireless lounge where I was assigned. I ended up helping with all of the tournaments for the wireless lounge including; mario kart, lumines, tetris, and metroid pinball. I helped out with a free console play too and tear down was kinda fun (Although heavy!).

So I’m moving back into my parents place soon to finish off school / pay off some debts. It’s sort of embarrasing for me, but what else could I do? Work is still pretty thin around here and with my kind of luck, that will only get worse. I’m very much looking forward to PAX soon but I’m still looking for someone to come with me so that I don’t get lonely when I’m off-shift. I’m going to try to run up a total head count tommorow so I can *maybe* make hotel reservations.