Just an update in the public realm since my last two posts were protected. On Sunday, I found out that my biological father passed away on October 30th. His funeral was last Thursday and I was not located in time even though I would certainly have gone. I didn’t know him at all; we had not had contact in more than 20 years except for half an hour on the phone about a year ago. Unfortunately, I find myself in the very awkward predicament of being his sole heir. His brother lives in Delaware, but my father died in New Jersey and according to intestate succession laws, I would likely be appointed administrator of his estate. Needless to say I have no experience with this, and having been out of contact with him I never expected to be in this position. Also, he was only 55, and while I knew he had heart disease I didn’t expect him to die anytime soon.

I am trying to figure out what to do. I was fortunate to have yesterday off (for my foot) because that gave me an opportunity to do a lot of research. I am probably going to have to go to New Jersey this Thursday to meet with a local attorney and start going through his papers.

Well, I made myself late for work, but I was a good samaritan. Someone had struck a deer on Route 50 just before Prosperity, and it was dying in the right lane as people just drove around it. I pulled over and called 911, and within about three minutes there was an officer on the scene. I said “it’s still alive” and she said “yeah, we’re gonna have to put it down.” She made me get behind my car and she looked at the deer for a couple of seconds before getting out her service weapon and shooting it. She took it by the hind legs and pulled it off the road, but it wasn’t dead so she had to shoot it again. I got back into my car and she got back into hers and pulled over on the median in front of me. I was going to just go, but she got out and walked back to me. She asked if I was the one who had struck it (no), and if I had seen who did (also no). She said she would help me get back into traffic (people were driving by to my right), and she stopped both lanes and let me get back on the road.

If you want to hear about the gore, click here to translate the following. I’m sharing this because I saw it, and I have to record it for myself, but it’s graphic so I’m encoding it. If you want to mention this section in your comment, please encode it at the same link.
Jura V svefg fnj gur qrre, vg ybbxrq qrnq. V chyyrq bire naljnl. Naq gura V fnj gung vg jnfa’g qrnq, vg jnf dhvgr nyvir, ohg greevoyl vawherq. Vgf gnvy jnf n srj lneqf njnl naq vgf gnvyobar jnf ivfvoyr. Vg jnf n lbhat znyr jvgu whfg bar irel fznyy nagyre. V jngpurq va ubeebe naq qvfznl nf vg gevrq ercrngrqyl gb trg hc. Vg tbg vgf srrg haqre vg n srj gvzrf, naq bapr vg rira tbg n srj vapurf bss gur tebhaq, ohg vg pbyyncfrq ntnva. Gurer jnf n ybg bs oybbq ba gur ebnq, naq zber pbzvat sebz vgf zbhgu. V pna’g rzcunfvmr rabhtu gung guvf qrre jnf NYVIR. V ubcr vg jnf va fubpx ng yrnfg fb vg jnfa’g va cnva. Jura gur bssvpre fubg vg gur svefg gvzr, vg gjvgpurq n ovg, naq nf fur qenttrq vg bss gur ebnq vg sybccrq nebhaq - jr obgu xarj vg jnfa’g qrnq. Fur jngpurq vg sbe n srj zber frpbaqf orsber gnxvat nvz ntnva. Gur thafubgf fbhaqrq yvxr sverpenpxref - whfg bar ybhq ONAT naq gung jnf vg. Nsgre gur frpbaq fubg, gur qrre sybccrq n pbhcyr bs gvzrf naq gura jrag vagb greevoyr pbaihyfvbaf sbe n srj frpbaqf zber.

As I approached work, I heard a traffic report: “Route 50 and Prosperity, a report of an accident a short time ago.”

Goodnight, Bambi. Sleep well.

Note: I took a couple of snapshots. Here is the deer alone on the road, and here just before she shot it. (The glare in the second one is the sun, not the gunshot!) These pictures are not gory, but they might not be for sensitive readers.

As I am writing this, the Vatican says the Pope has not yet died. It is strange to follow the contradictory reports - to watch an old man thousands of miles away go through the process of dying. His experience is quite similar to any elderly person dying “of old age” in that his body quite simply started to fail. The last several reports from the Holy See indicate his organs are starting to fail - breathing becoming difficult; heart problems; kidneys failing - this is how all natural deaths proceed. This serves to emphasize a thought I’ve had in my head for several years: The Pope defecates like everbody else. I know it’s crass, but it’s true. As much as Catholics deify him - I believe he’s said to be the closest thing to God on earth - he is still human. And as humans die, so too does the pope pass. In the end, we are all the same.

The life of one of DC’s most valuable queer assets was cut short on Wednesday. Wanda Alston, the director of the mayor’s office on GLBT affairs, was found dead by her partner Wednesday afternoon. Police have not released details, but they have stated there was blood found beside the body and that the death was a homicide. Articles are in the Washington Post (mainstream) and the Washington Blade (gay press).

I heard on the radio this morning that the man who caused the train wreck in California will be charged with murder. I can’t help but wonder if this is appropriate - murder indicates premeditation, and he almost certainly couldn’t have known that another train would be passing, the freight car would be there, etc. Shouldn’t he be getting charged with manslaughter?

Regardless of what the appropriate charges are, I bet he wishes he’d stayed in the vehicle now. His life is going to get a lot worse than it already must have been.

So it’s pretty much common knowledge now that there’s a video circulating of a Marine shooting an Iraqi in Fallujah. I saw the clip on TV last night, and I have no problem with the Marine making the decision himself. Not all of the details are known, of course, but for the most part I’m fine with his following his gut reaction. Those of us sitting over here on our asses have no fucking idea what was going through that Marine’s head. We cannot put ourselves in his shoes; we simply do not know his situation. So what right do we have to judge him?

I’ve heard rumors about what happened: supposedly the Marine was shot in the face the day before, or maybe he’d watched a buddy die a few hours prior to the incident; and I’ve heard rumors about why: the Iraqi was reaching for a detonator on his belt, or maybe he’d pulled a gun. But we don’t know. I regret the potentially unnecessary loss of life, I regret the investigation that the Marine is going to be forced through, I agree that it was a tragedy…but we should not judge this Marine.

Disclaimer: I am well aware that this post could be controversial; that’s part of why I published it: to get people thinking and spark discussion. It’s just a thought that came to me and I wrote about it quickly. I have not thought out the whole argument, and my mind can be changed.