Last Days

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5 This week kicks off with a blast of good
news from across the pond, or at least the other side of Lake
Washington, as the Microsoft Corporation announced its
$100,000 donation to the campaign to approve
Referendum 71, the ballot measure that will determine
whether Washington State keeps its expanded domestic-partnership rights
for same-sex couples. “Microsoft’s donation is larger than all the
contributions combined for the campaign to reject R-71,” reported
The Stranger‘s Dominic Holden, who broke the story after
finding today’s filing with the state Public Disclosure Commission.
Holden also acknowledged the splashy donation “could also summon
conservative interests—e.g., the Mormon Church—to dump
money in on the other side.” Moneybags both pro and con have till
October 12 to pour bucks into the coffers of those supporting their
position, after which individual donations can’t top $5,000. Spooky
fact: A recent poll shows a mere 51 percent of likely voters support
the referendum. Which is why Last Days must now implore you to
tell everyone you know to vote to approve
Referendum 71. If you’re a Washington State resident who
supports something close to equal rights for same-sex couples and is
not yet registered to vote, register to vote right
now, and then when it’s time to vote, vote to approve
Referendum 71. (And thank you, Microsoft.)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6 The week continues with some fascinating
findings from the University of Pennsylvania, where researchers have
confirmed that carrying a gun increases a person’s
risk of getting shot and killed. Details come from
NewScientist
.com, which reports that researchers analyzed 677
shootings over 30 months in Philadelphia and found that people who
carried guns were 4.5 times as likely to be shot and 4.2 times as
likely to get killed than unarmed citizens. “When the team looked at
shootings in which victims had a chance to defend themselves, their
odds of getting shot were even higher,” reports NewScientist.com. “While it may be that
the type of people who carry firearms are simply more likely to get
shot, it may be that guns give a sense of empowerment that causes
carriers to overreact in tense situations…” Still, the study’s
conductors are shying away from hard judgments: “We don’t have an
answer as to whether guns are protective or perilous,” said researcher
Charles Branas. “This study is a beginning.”

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7 Speaking of the ongoing investigation
into gun owners’ elevated risk of being shot and killed, the week
continues with a gun owner being shot and killed.
Today’s bullet-ridden corpse: Meleanie Hain, the
31-year-old woman in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, who made headlines last
year when she attended her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game carrying a
loaded 9 mm Glock pistol. Mrs. Hain’s insistence on her legal right to
pack at the playfield made her a Second Amendment hero—but her
alleged heroism and everything else came to an abrupt end today as Hain
was found shot dead along with her 33-year-old husband, Scott, in what
investigators believe was a murder-suicide. Details come from the
Associated Press, which reports both Mr. and Mrs. Hain were pronounced
dead shortly after 8:30 p.m. at their home in Lebanon, a small city
about 80 miles west of Philadelphia. As neighbors told the Lebanon
Daily News, they first learned something was wrong when the Hains’
children—a 10-year-old boy and girls aged 2 and 6—ran from
the house screaming, “Daddy shot Mommy!” The day after
tomorrow, police will confirm the grisly facts to CNN, reporting that
Hain was chatting with a friend via webcam when she
was shot to death by her husband, who then shot himself. Horrifying
detail: Mrs. Hain’s web-chat buddy was reportedly looking away from the
computer when he heard a shot and a scream; when he looked back at the
computer, he could no longer see Hain, just Scott firing several rounds
from a handgun. Condolences to all.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8 Nothing happened today, unless you count
the three people indicted in U.S. District Court after they were found
with 11 kilograms of cocaine in their luggage at Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport or the would-be neo-Nazi who
blew off his hands while making homemade explosives
inside his family’s California home.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9 Nothing happened today, unless you count
Barack Obama being awarded the 2009 Nobel
Peace Prize, a sudden honor that will surprise even the man’s
most passionate supporters while driving his detractors into psychotic
overdrive.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10 The week continues with surprise
Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama giving a
long-
overdue speech on gay rights at tonight’s Human Rights
Campaign dinner in Washington, D.C. “I will end ‘don’t ask,
don’t tell,'” vowed the president. “We should not be punishing
patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country. We
should be celebrating their willingness to step forward and show such
courage… especially when we are fighting two wars.” Obama also called
on Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and secure
domestic-partnership benefits, and offered a nod to impatient gays: “I
appreciate that many of you don’t believe progress has come fast
enough… Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination
we will reach.” All in all, a great speech from a man known for his
great speeches, but as gay-rights hero Cleve Jones told the Associated
Press, “It lacked the answer to our most pressing question, which is
when.” Stay tuned.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11 The week ends as it began: with
extravagant fussing over gay equality. Today’s newsworthy fussing
transpired in two locales, the first of which was Washington,
D.C., where many thousands of gays and those who love them
gathered for the National Equality March, featuring a
vocal anti-Obama contingent, an impressive and heartening youth
turnout, and an appearance by the de facto Queen of All Gay, Lady Gaga.
Meanwhile in Seattle, many hundreds of gays and those
who love them gathered for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender
Equality March, hoofing it en masse from Volunteer Park to the
steps of the downtown Federal Courthouse to show their support for
Referendum 71 and full legal equality.

Marching is good; voting is better. Vote to approve Referendum
71, and send Hot Tips to lastdays@thestranger.com.