Yesterday quiet, but okay in a mild way. Went to WW, later to Kohl's in the morning while Pat slept. Had a 30% off coupon and bought a few things, waited in line for what seemed an age, then found the coupon doesn't kick in until next week. In a mellow mood, I just laughed.
Got to see adorable little granddaughters on the web cam. Incredibly, little Violet has two teeth--at 5 months! Vivian, as vivacious (hey, those words have gotta have the identical root) and talkative as ever, showed me several items, sang, and was generally entertaining. What a beautiful child she is.
Wider: Last night, during my daily 45 minutes of television-viewing, we had the History Channel on and saw a piece on FDR. What struck me was that in his era--let's say the forties and earlier--there was a secretary and department of "War." When did they change that to "Department of Defense?" Was it before or after the publication of 1984 ? Words matter and they can lie. I believe the word "defense" sets up an automatic combination of beliefs that crystallizes into something like "we are blameless and we're not aggressors, but we must defend our country against our enemies." If we called the whole, vast complex of death-dealing apparatus--human and mechanical--the "Department of Child Murder" or even if we went back to "War," would it make a difference? But of course, that will never happen. The whole reason for the change was and is to keep this nation of sheep focused on their iPods, satisfied they're being "defended."
Later: Well, well--I just looked it up and the federal department mentioned above was re-named in 1949, the same year 1984 was published. Coincidence?