Wednesday
The day started at 8:30. With a phone call.
The fact that it was my father on the other end was the only thing that stopped me from unleashing doom upon an unsuspecting populace. He was relaying a call from my brother who needed to be rerouted around an accident on his way home from Oklahoma.
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful.
After work, and I had dinner with and . Tonight’s fare: Mexican. And, it was good. I had long known that the restaurant was there, but I had never eaten there. It’s definitely worth going to again.
NPR and PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation: Family Secrets: The line between “secrecy” and “privacy.”
Talk of the Nation: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – 10 Years Later
All Things Considered: Rain Dampens First Flight 100th Anniversary
All Things Considered: Christmas with The Blind Boys of Alabama
All Things Considered: Thurmond’s Mixed-Race Daughter ‘Finally at Peace’
Fresh Air: Interview with theologian Bart D. Erhman
Stray Toasters
- The Shocker
- “Hairless gerbil tail-puller”
- I have had I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon stuck in my head for the past few hours.
- It seems as thought the cats have found yet another cabinet that they can open.
- Utah drivers. *shakes head*
- There’s something to be said for the simple pleasure of reading a good book while enjoying a cup of tea.
- H.P. Lovecraft. Cthulhu. Madness. “Indiana is the new Massachusetts.”
Rant of the Day
U.S. Discrict Court Judge Paul L. Friedman granted John Hinckley (the man who shot then-President Ronald Reagan, press secretary James Brady and two others… in the hopes that he could get Jodie Foster to fall in love with him) unsupervised visits with his parents. Stipulations in this decision include:
- Hinckley is not allowed to leave his parents “at any time” while he is away from the hospital
- The first two (2) outings must be in the Washington, D.C. area
- The Secret Service must be notified prior to any unsupervised visit – including a full intinerary.
Hinckley was arrested in March of 1981 and confined to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in 1982 when he was found “not guilty by reason of insanity.” He has apparently been on supervised trips (bowling alleys, shopping centers, restaurants, etc.) without any incident. His parents are hoping that these initial visits will pave the way for him to be able to take unsupervised overnight visits to their home in Williamsburg, VA; they had originally hoped for a decision before Thanksgiving of this year, so that they could spend the holiday with them.
The optimist in me hopes that Mr. Hinckley’s mental state truly has improved.
The pessimist/realist in me sees far too many opportunities for things to go awry with unsupervised visitation. The most simple of these, and I realize that they may seem hyperbole, include:
- Is the senior Mr. Hinckley expected to go to the bathroom with his son?
- Assuming that overnight visits are approved, what happens when his parents fall asleep? (Will they have to lock him in his room? Will they install an alarm system on the front door?)
- What happens if the Secret Service, who will be able to track Hinckley’s movements, sees him with something that they assume to be a weapon? In fact, let’s take that one step further: What constitutes “a weapon?” Could/would they descend upon him for picking up a stick or a large rock? (Again, I concede that this is a bit of a stretch, but you see what I’m getting at.) I won’t even go into “commonplace items” like silverware/cookware.
I am a bit conflicted on this one, for the reasons stated above. I’m not sure whether I’m happy that there seems to be progress with respect to patients’ rights or stunned/scared/upset/something at the precedent that this could set.
And that’s my 2¢ worth.
Namaste.
in the AFC North
