Or is it, “People kill people with guns”? Either way, there’s been a bit too much of it going on too close to home for my comfort. Now, people are being shot over speed bumps.
No, seriously. A guy was shot over a speed bump.
OK. I don’t know what to make of this, but the hubby just called and told me, and the news confirmed that a gunman has barricaded himself at the Discovery Building in Silver Spring.
A barricade situation involving a gunman who may have taken at least one person hostage has been reported at the Discovery Communications Building in Silver Spring, Md.
Police have shut down several roads, including Georgia Avenue, around the building at One Discovery Place.
All employees at One Discovery Place have been alerted to the incident and are seeking shelter or have been evacuated from the building.
Hazmat teams, bomb squads and SWAT teams have been called to the building.
The Discovery building? Why the Discovery building? My guess is either a disgruntled former employee or a domestic issue or stalker situation between the gunman and the hostage.
I’d started thinking that I was too hard on our power company last week, when I agreed with Gov. O’Malley that their service was less reliable than power in some Third World countries. I was starting to think maybe that was a bit hyperbolic.
That is until I read the Post this morning. Apparently, Pepco is proud of its pitiful performance. (more…)
OK. Technically, I’m getting married in the evening. But I couldn’t resist.
The next time you see a blog post from me, I should be a legally married man.
We’d talked about it earlier in the week, but hadn’t really made a definite decision to go. Then, Sunday morning I came downstairs to find this Washington Post story on the computer monitor.
On Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6-year-old Heaven Skyler Wilson dragged herself off the school bus that dropped her in front of her home on a rural road in Jetersville, just south of Richmond. The little girl, who had never had so much as an ear infection in her life, was pale and feverish and complained of an upset stomach.
The next day, Heaven’s grandmother, Pat Sparrow, took her to a nearby clinic. Heaven, usually a bright, bubbly girl with blond pigtails, dimples and effusive energy, had a sore throat and a 103-degree temperature. The doctor swabbed her for the flu, and the test was positive.
It was just something going around, Sparrow said she was told. The doctor told Sparrow to take Heaven home, give her Tylenol and chicken broth, and let her rest.
By the next morning, Heaven couldn’t breathe. Sparrow called 911.
…Two weeks later, on Oct. 21, ravaged with double pneumonia and a staph infection that deprived her brain of oxygen, Heaven was disconnected from the respirator. She lived for four minutes.
At 11:18 p.m., Heaven died in the arms of her mother, Sara Wilson. “You never heard such an awful scream from someone who loved her child so much,” Sparrow said, her voice shaking.
He was already packing the kids lunches at that point. So I knew that after swimming lessons, we’d be headed to the H1N1 vaccine clinic held this Sunday in Montgomery County. The end of our H1N1 saga — that is, the saga of getting the kids vaccinated — was finally in sight. And, as my husband said when he asked if I saw the article, “You just want to know you’ve done everything you can to protect your children.”
But, until Sunday, there wasn’t much we could do.
I’ve heard why taxing bonuses handed out by banks that accept bailout funds — as the House just voted to do — is a bad idea.What I haven’t heard is a better one.
Every morning, my neighbor and her six-year-old daughter share a bus stop with a terrorist — or a member of a terrorist organization, at least. That’s distressing enough, because my son rides the same school bus, but I recently discovered that the terrorist at my son’s bus stop is me; his Dad, who puts him on the bus each morning. And another terrorist, his Papa, picks him up from school every day.
We became terrorists one morning in February 2006, when we got dressed up, put a coat and tie on our then four-year-old son, and drove to the state capitol.
Wow. In one day, I’ve become a little prouder to be an American, and now I’m a little prouder to live in Maryland.
The days of unwarranted snooping by the Maryland State Police may be over.
Democratic state legislators on Jan. 22 introduced a bill to protect the First Amendment rights of dissenters.
Entitled the Freedom of Association and Assembly Protection Act of 2009, the bill would require the police to have at least “reasonable suspicion” before they could start collecting dossiers on individuals.
The bill is an outgrowth of the controversy that erupted last year when it was revealed that Maryland state troopers had been gathering intelligence on—and infiltrating groups of—nonviolent anti-war and anti-death penalty groups. Dozens of individuals and groups were surveilled, and the state police accused some of being suspected terrorists.
Nice to know my state is living up to its nickname once again.
What was that about investing in our crumbling infrastructure, again?
I ask because a water main somewhere in Montgomery County, Maryland, ruptured today and washed out much of my day. Though my experience was nothing compared to what some people had to deal with.
The Washington Post has wrapped up its 13-part “Who Killed Chandra Levy” series, and I’ve been following it; unable to resist a combination of local interest and the kind of crime story that has always fascinated me. (I think in another life I’d like to be a crime writer of some sort. I channeled some of that into the LGBT Hate Crimes Project, I think.)
But as I followed along I never forgot about some of the cases I wrote about in the previous post. In the process of researching that post, I came across many more cases that I didn’t include because the length of the post made me decide to limit it to the cases of those women mentioned in the comments of a WaPo blog post about the Levy series. Since the series on the Levy case is wrapping up, I wanted to take the opportunity to post about a few more cases that have gotten less attention than the Levy case.
Maryland has taken two baby-steps towards equality.
Gov. Martin O’Malley signed two bills to bring some of the rights married couples have to unmarried couples — including gay couples — along with measures related to health and support for Maryland veterans.
O’Malley, who supports creating a civil unions law that has yet to find enough support in the Maryland General Assembly, said he believed the bills help address “inequities and unfairness” against committed couples who are not married, including gay couples.
“Without the ability to have the legal protections that say, a civil unions statute would give, then these other bills, will, I suspect, continue to come through the legislature and continue to be approved by the legislature …” O’Malley said.
One of the bills allows unmarried couples more rights to make about a dozen medical decisions for each other, if they meet certain criteria to show they are a committed couple. For example, they would have to show joint checking accounts or joint property ownership to qualify.
The other bill exempts domestic partners from paying property transfer taxes when one person dies.
California gets marriage, and we get … well, … slightly more than we had before.
What he said. In solidarity with the Day of Silence, I’m not posting anything else today.
If you’ve come here looking for something to read, I invite you to spend some time reading the stories collected in the LGBT Hate Crimes Project. (Which I’ve decided needs to be taken up again.)
Update: It’s encouraging to hear that so many schools in Montgomery County, MD, are participating, including the school our boys will eventually attend.
[Hat-tip to Kip for the reminder.]
I’d forgotten about this.
If a woman consents to having sex with a man but then during intercourse says no, and the man continues, is it rape?
n Maryland–as well as in North Carolina–when a woman says yes, she can’t take it back once sex has begun–or, at least, she can’t call the act rape.
That was the recent ruling by Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals in a case that may soon make its way to the state’s highest court and that has captured the attention of feminists and legal experts across the country. Advocates for victims’ rights insist it’s not just a matter of allowing a woman to have a change of heart. If the law doesn’t recognize a woman’s right to say no during sex, they say, there is no recourse for a woman who begins to feel pain or who learns her partner isn’t wearing a condom or has HIV. Those who are wary of these measures say they’re not arguing against having a man stop immediately when a woman no longer wants to have sex, but with how to define immediately.
Until I read this.
Sometimes it seems like being gay and having a husband means having to talk abou the kind of things that other people take for granted, even while doing something as mundane as rolling over a 401(k) It definitely means having to think about and talk about things that I bet a good number of married heterosexual couples don’t think about. In many cases, they don’t have to. Just being married protects them.
It’s something we faced when we finalized Parker’s adoption, and took the occasion to update our wills, as well as completing advance directives and medical powers of attorney. And it’s something we’ll have to think about again, as we update our wills and other documents when we finalize Dylan’s adoption. It was yesterday, after the social worker (who’d came over for one of the required home study visits before Dylan’s adoption is finalized), and after we had dinner that the hubby told me about the latest development in Maryland.
I didn’t mean to go off, really. But I had just had enough. It was one of those moments when you mutter to yourself, “That’s all I can stand. I can’t stand no more.”
We were out grocery shopping yesterday. It’s not unusual for one group or another to have a table set up outside the grocery store. Sometimes it’s the Girl Scouts, selling cookies. Sometimes it’s people raising money for charity. Sometimes It’s people protesting property taxes in Montgomery County (Usually people who don’t have children in public schools, because they’re retired or just don’t have kids. So it doesn’t matter to them that we have some of the best schools in the area, and even in the country.)
Someone was setting up a table when we went in, but I didn’t look to see what it was. We were too busy getting the kids situated and getting into the store. But on the way out I saw this guy sitting at the table, with a sign asking for signatures to repeal a law that would “allow men in women’s restrooms.”
It goes without saying that becoming a parent changes you in countless ways. I’ve heard it described as having your heart walking around outside of your body. I’ve heard it said that you learn to love in a way you never did before, and you learn to fear in a way you didn’t before. I know that becoming a husband and a father made me a lot more emotional than I’d ever been. I can access emotions now that seemed to be permanently walled off. I knew something was up the day I found myself crying while watching an episode of Oprah.
I’ve also developed a kind of “parent radar” or at least that’s what I call it. That is, I don’t just keep up with my own kid. When we’re out at a park, playground or social event. I keep an eye out for other kids too. It’s like I automatically scan the area and figure out which kids belong with which adults. (And which adults, at a playground or a park, aren’t there with a kid, a dog, or their jogging shoes.) And out of the corner of my eye I’ll spot a kid rushing headlong in to danger. Once I saw a toddler about to get hit by a bicycle—neither the bicyclist or his mother saw him in that moment—and pulled him out of the way just in time.
Maybe it’s because I see a little of my own children in every other child I see. Maybe I see that same vulnerability, and I’d want someone to look out for them if I wasn’t there. Maybe it’s not that unusual. No one wants to see a child hurt. Or at least most people don’t. Who wouldn’t try to save a child from harm, even if it’s not their own? After all, not being a parent doesn’t mean preclude anyone from loving or caring a child. And, unfortunately, being a parent—even to children they’ve conceived and birthed—doesn’t make some people any more inclined or equipped to deliver the love and care that comes after conception and deliver. Thus, this series.
If ever I had a doubt (and I haven’t) that we moved to the right place to raise our family, I don’t anymore. It one of the things LGBT parents have to take into consideration when making the decision about where our families are going to live and our children are going to grow up: How accepting is this place? How open is it? And, depending on your political leanings, how progressive is it.
When Montgomery County fought back fundamentalists attempts to dictate our schools’ health curriculum, I had an inkling that we were in the right place. Now that the county has handily passed transgender equality legislation, I’m downright proud to be a resident.
I tend to repeat myself, and there’s something from that last post that bears repeating. At least I think so, because it’s pretty good lead in to another installment of poisonous parenting.
But I do remember using the word “commitment” — the same one Dr. Height used in talking about our families — when the host asked me what I thought was the most important thing a child needed in a family. I meant more than just commitment to one another between parters or parents, but commitment to making sure a child grows up in a home where he/she knows he/she is loved, wanted, protected, respected, and accepted for who he/she is, in a place where he/she is safe and cared for.
I started writing this post right after I finished the previous one, because it occurred to me the main point made a good jumping off point for another installment in this series.
As I listened to the rest of the show, I was struck that Dr Height and I used the same word — “commitment” — in talking about our families. When the host asked me what I thought was the most important thing a child needed in a family. I meant more than just commitment to one another between parents and/or extended family, but commitment to making sure a child grows up in a home where he/she knows he/she is loved, wanted, protected, respected, and accepted for who he/she is, in a place where he/she is safe and cared for.
“…[C]ommitment to making sure a child grows up in a home where he/she knows he/she is loved, wanted, protected, respected, and accepted for who he/she is, in a place where he/she is safe and cared for.” That’s something that that’s not dependent upon what parts you have, what you do with them, or whether you can reproduce with them. No matter what the Maryland Court of Appeals says.
I’m not sure why my my commitment is worth less and less worthy of protection and support than the family next door or across the street from me. After all, we’re all committed to making sure our kids grow up in homes where they are loved, wanted, protected, respected, accepted, safe, and cared for with love. Nor I sure why some people make the cut for equal protections and equal citizenship just because they can make babies, but can’t manage to bring them up in homes where they’re wanted, loved, respected and — most of all — safe and protected.
Britney Spears — who, you’ll remember, once got married as a joke, and for 55 hours still had more rights and protections in her marriage than I do in mine — had to be court ordered to childproof her home in order to have visitation with her kids. But one almost gets the idea that really making the house safe for children might mean removing Spears from it. Or the kids.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m still fuming over the Maryland Appeals Court gay marriage ruling. When I read the decision, it was a full 20 minutes before I could speak in more than one word at a time. The rest of the family got monosyllabic answers from me for a while.
Well, all except for the baby. But even she doesn’t take my mind of of it, because I keep remembering this paragraph from the decision.
Looking beyond the fact that any inquiry into the ability or willingness of a couple actually to bear a child during marriage would violate the fundamental right to marital privacy recognized in Griswold, 381 U.S. at 484-86, 493, 85 S. Ct. at 1681, 14 L. Ed. 2d 510, the fundamental right to marriage and its ensuing benefits are conferred on opposite-sex couples not because of a distinction between whether various opposite-sex couples actually procreate, but rather because of the possibility of procreation.
And every time I think about that paragraph I’ll think about stories like this one.
Technorati Tags: courts, current events, gay marriage, gay rights, homophobia, marriage, maryland, parenting, politics
“Looking beyond the fact that any inquiry into the ability or willingness of a couple actually to bear a child during marriage would violate the fundamental right to marital privacy recognized in Griswold, 381 U.S. at 484-86, 493, 85 S. Ct. at 1681, 14 L. Ed. 2d 510, the fundamental right to marriage and its ensuing benefits are conferred on opposite-sex couples not because of a distinction between whether various opposite-sex couples actually procreate, but rather because of the possibility of procreation.”
-Judge Glenn Harrell, Jr.
One week ago today, our daughter was born. One week ago today, we were waiting at the hospital and I was standing in the delivery room waiting to be born. We were there because her birthmother chose us, from 20 or so families, to be her adoptive parents. We were there because, when she chose us we said yes. We said yes to raising, loving, and caring for a child that we did not and could not conceive. I don’t know all of the reasons why our daughter’s birthmother chose us. All I know is that the biological parents who conceived her were not able to raise her. Their circumstances were less ideal than those they want her to grow up in. So, they chose us and, before she was even born, we said yes. And we will continue to say yes to loving her, caring for her, protecting her, teaching her, guiding her, and giving her every opportunity we can to help her grow into a happy, healthy, successful (however she defines success for herself) adult.
Now the Maryland Court of Appeals is telling me that because the hubby and I did not biologically produce the son and daughter we are raising that we do not deserve the protection and benefits of marriage, and that our children do not deserve the protection and benefits of having legally married parents. It takes very little time to conceive, nine months to bring to term, and many hours to deliver an infant into the world.
Technorati Tags: courts, current events, gay marriage, marriage, maryland, politics
OK. I plead guilty to this When I got my iPhone 4, I gave Parker my old iPhone 3G (with parental controls in place, phone service deactivated, everything restored to factory settings, history wiped clean, and internet access and the App Store on lockdown) to play games on, etc. But does that make me a “Scrooge”? Puh-leeze. An eight-year-old needs the latest iPhone?
It’s happening again. I’m getting that “I’ve got a book in me, if I can make time to write it,” feeling. Of course, that “if” is the big, and the deciding, factor.
I was never one of those who claim “there’s no such thing as bisexuality.” I’ve known too many bisexuals to buy that the “don’t exist.” So, I’m not surprised that a study now indicates there is too such a thing as bisexuality. In men, that is.
Apparently, it’s hard to build a successful television show around someone who’s (a) unlikeable and (b) had no discernible talent beyond reproducing.
It’s not that I don’t trust the guy, and maybe the whole Weinergate thing has me a little gun shy, but am I the only who thinks Obama tweeting for himself may not be the best idea?
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