Essay

A loss in bloggerland

I recently started reading a blog by an acquaintance. (I'm intentionally not saying how I know this person). The blog is insightful, succinct and a very enjoyable read. When the author found out an acquaintance was reading it made some of the personal revelations therein uncomfortable and they took down the blog. Too bad. I hope it will come back soon...

Upgrade Miles

I got around to doing the upgrade to the latest version of Drupal tonight. The main site hasn't been upgraded yet but it will be in the next couple of days. The database and site on my Powerbook are upgraded and it looks nice. It took a few minutes to get the old themes out of the way and to re-work the .htaccess file to make the rewrite work properly. Ironically I was thinking of starting anew with a simpler theme and keeping it simpler. The default theme with the new Drupal does this nicely.

So this was an upgrade that was "assisted" by United Airlines. Having an extra two hours to wait for the flight tonight gave me plenty of time to work out the kinks. Not that it made me happy per se. But it gave some time to work out the kinks.

Are you your stories?

Dave Winer asks a question on Scripting News today. The question is a bit of a different form, but one that I've often contemplated. What is reality? Is your "reality" and my reality the same? Is each person's reality so shaped by their perception and experience that is is unique? Dali asks the same question in this painting. Is it possible for people to be more than the sum of their stories. Does anything other than your stories, those you have lived, show you the swans first or the elephants?

Merry Christmas everyone

Paraphrasing Dickens' Tiny Tim: "Merry Christmas, everyone." Christmas morning has already made it's way to Australia and New Zealand among others. Having always celebrated Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere thoughts of going to the beach for Christmas are still a little hard to reconcile. It's been a long year with many sad times and many times to celebrate. As we gather with family for the holidays, listen to beautiful music, and share special times with friends there will be so very much to remember. Christmas will take me to the family homestead for the first time in many years.

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.

Challenging the Law

An essay written in an examination period for a Shakespeare class. The topic "Challenging the law" was given as the starting point.

Challenging the law seems to be best taken in the sense of challenging "fundamental" law. A trial of a person for a crime is not in this sense a challenge of the law. Rather, a challenge of the law entails one seeking to refute or challenge basic or specific laws.

Bollingbroke makes at least two such challenges, which are related i.e. the second is not possible without the first. Compression of time in the play suggests Bollingbroke had a military force, although this is never tested before his exile. His first challenge (or defiance) of the law comes when he denies Richard' authority and returns from exile. Richard's inability to uphold his "lawful" claims on Bollingbroke's land and his exile make Bollingbroke's challenge successful.

Bollingbroke's second challenge is in some ways more lofty. However, it is not a new challenge. This is, Bollingbroke challenges the law(s) of inheritance of the crown and usurps it from Richard. While the "God given" laws on descent of the crown seem loftier and therefore harder to challenge, Richard himself had successfully these laws so Bollingbroke knew that it could be done.

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