As I gradually return to blogging, I’ve a new post up on Bilerico.com prompted by the recent about face of reggae star Beenie Man. Check it out here.

There are times when I’m ashamed to be an American.

 Carol’s daughter has informed me of her intent to pursue legal action against me for my recent post about her mother’s illness and death, saying in part that “it isn’t your story to tell.” In writing “The ‘Good’ Death” I was following Carol’s wishes as she expressed them to me, that I continue to advocate for the right to die as she did, and that her story be told as both an inspiration and a cautionary tale. 

However, I also know that Carol cared about my family and I, and don’t think that she would want us to sacrifice our freedom or livelihood in her memory. While I firmly believe that nothing I wrote is legally actionable, I also have little financial resources with which to defend myself. I have removed the post from Notes From a Barking Shaman as a show of good faith, though I stand by what I wrote, and consider it to be one of my finest pieces this year.

This pending legal action leaves NFABS in a bit of limbo. This blog has always first and foremost been a place where I use my words to serve my gods’ will. Either I have misinterpreted said will, or They are simply uninterested in/unable to shield me from the consequences of doing so. Until this mater is resolved, it is in my best interest to let NFABS lie fallow. I will likely continue posting links to interested articles on the web, usually with a bit of commentary of my own, but for the foreseeable future I will be unable to write any more original content here.