November 2003

Constitutional Amendment to ban same sex marriage

Colorado congresswoman Marylin Musgrage is introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment earlier this session. The proposed amendment to the Constitution would restrict the definition of marriage to one man and one woman.

The Denver Post has this article quoting Colorado legislator Kevin Lundberg.

"Marriage consisting of one man and one woman has for millennia created an environment of stability and compassion," said state Rep. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, at a news conference at the state Capitol. "It is the most effective way to maintain a safe, nurturing environment for children."

A human resources person once gave me an interesting tool for determining if something is discriminatory. To determine if a statement about a group is prejudiced substitute the group with another. For example if a quote is about women one might replace the statement with a racial minority.

The same thing could be applied to this statement. The same statement could read: Marriage consisting of one race has for millennia created an environment of stability and compassion. It is the most effective way to maintain a safe, nurturing environment for children.

Tough loss for the Rams

The Colorado State Rams suffered a tough loss Friday night. After a mediocre first half the Rams bounced back, entirely on the back of quarterback Bradlee VanPelt.

Postfix Enabler for OS X 10.3

Panther users have an easier way to enable Postfix on their machines. This will enable users to setup local mail servers more easily. I haven't tried the program yet but will give it a shot this evening.

Campbell runs again; Post gets it wrong

Senator Campbell announced plans to run for re-election today in Denver. Campbell at a kickoff fundraiser with vice president Dick Cheney said he was feeling fine after completing radiation treatment for prostate cancer. The Denver Post says there are only two people opposing Campbell in 2004. However a search of the web readily turns up six opponents. Two Republicans, three Democrats and one Libertarian Perhaps the Post meant that there are only two candidates who have filed?

Choices for Coloradoans

Speculation abounds about whether Sen. Campbell will run again in 2004. His campgain is off to a slow start on the fundraising front and lackluster re-election projections. Coloradoans will have several candidates to choose from including a field of Republican and Democratic challengers. The contenders include:

Upgrade complete

With the filp of a couple of switches this morning the migration to Drupal 4.3 is complete. No new features yet but the transition is smooth. Here's what I did.

  • Create a copy of the database with the name test_ appended to the start
  • Unpack the 4.3 distrubution and merge my existing customized files into the distribution
  • Change the config to use the test_ database
  • Run the updater script on the test site
  • After all is well move the test site into the production path
  • Change the config to recognize the real database
  • Run the updater on the live database

Ten-million ways to say no

Coloradans said no in an overwhelming way. The campaign to bring increased gambling to the state proves to be one of the most costly ever with the proponents and opponents spending in excess of $10 million in the effort to get their position out. Like the other efforts to increase gaming in recent years voters handed the measure an 80% to 20% defeat.

Where do you stand?

Political Compass will help you see where you stand. This is a very interesting two-dimensional analysis of positions instead of the more common one-dimensional left to right description.

Coffee

Dave Winer says he's tired of Starbucks because it's too strong. I've never liked it because it's always burned. Why has a coffee company that hasn't ever figured out how to roast a single bean become popular? Why have we allowed ourselves to think this is acceptable? If you want some good coffee check out Bongo Billys. It's better if you can go to their Buena Vista shop in person and have a wonderful bakery item while taking in the view, but even pre-ground and mailed to your house it's the most wonderful fresh and properly roasted coffee you're likely to encounter. Try it as it's a wonderfully smooth coffee that will change completely what you think coffee should be.

Long Update

The update to OS X 10.3 server took longer than anticipated tonight.

Initally the problem started when the CD-ROM drive wouldn't read the CD. A quick shake and things were back in order. Disk one completed the installation of the first part of the update to 10.2 Server. After inserting the second disk the installer couldn't find several manual files that are a part of the server requirements. Another try and it still couldn't be found.

Restarting in disk mode I hooked it up to the powerbook and created a disk image to update files from. Then a clean install of 10.3 worked like a charm. After the upgrade was complete it was time to install MySQL and update the web server. The new format for the built in administration of the web server took some figuring to get the proper portions of the configuration into the correct files.

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