My father is in the hospital

Dad went in for check up yesterday and apparently has an irregular heart-beat, so he's checked into Lawrence General right now. I'll be catching a ride back to Andover with Sabbath later today. This isn't good, but I'm not sure how bad it is. Dad is 73, so he's not young anymore....

Stuff I'd been meaning to post for the past few days.

This is a bit of a grab-bag, but since I'm posting anyway...

First, a really funny article--
http://www.theonion.com/onion3816/working_from_home.html

Second, a sad and angry item--
I have been posting action alerts from the ACLU in my journal, and I think some of my readers may be wondering why I'm a member of the group, and perhaps just how much good it actually does. Yesterday I got an email from the ACLU about a lawsuit they have filed in Texas seeking immediate relief and damages for a gay black man in prison there who was being horribly sexually abused by the other inmates. The guards and other officials basically didn't care, and actually mocked him, because he was a) gay and b) black. Because of the ACLU's suit, this man is now in protective custody, away from the general population. The terrible details in the legal brief, available at the link below. Don't click it unless you REALLY want to. Part of what bugs me about this is that it reinforces every negative stereotype that I have ever held about Texans being mean, bigoted, thoughtless, callous bullies. I know people from Texas. I know that this isn't true, but right now, it feels true. Sigh.

http://www.aclu.org/court/johnson.pdf