Went to the cemetery after breakfast to weed and water. After, zipped down to Produce Junction and got four small, smashingly brilliant yellow mums. Back to the cemetery, I planted two at Pat's grave and just set the other two at Jay's. I'm trying to decide whether they'd be okay there, as his area is heavily shaded (partly by the two towering pines Pat's aunt planted nearby in 1932).
Casey B., a member of the theatre company, called to say he had the wire supports for lawn signs and did I want to pick them up? I'll do that this morning.
Dear friend, Leslie R., called and we had a long and heartfelt talk about our family losses, the separation of church and state, and pacifism. She's a Mennonite and I'm happy to have her as a neighbor and fellow believer in peace.
WIDER: Got an amusing-if-not-so-idiotic e-mail from Mary Ann Van O., showing a maimed marine and contrasting his situation with the rich benefits members of Congress get, such as full pay, paid medical, and so on. In fact, according to whatever numbskull originated this, children of members don't have to replay student loans (hard to believe). The gist of the message was, of course, that it's unfair that our noble military--who are "protecting freedom," doncha know--don't get as much as the politicians (well, duh). I responded to it with this:

You've got that right, there's nothing "fair" about it.
But what's "fair" about invading other countries and killing people who had nothing to do with any attacks on this country? This includes children who can't possibly be accused of being enemies.
U.S. troops are not "protecting freedom." They are protecting the profits of the arms manufacturers, the mercenaries, and yes, the scummy politicians who support these illegal and immoral wars. By the way, there are two contractors in Afghanistan for every one soldier. And guess what? They're paid a hell of a lot more than the solder.
There's not a lot "fair" about persuading young men and women who can't find jobs, thanks to the laws and policies upheld by the same politicians, to kill and be killed for a worthless "cause." Those in the military take an oath to uphold the constitution of the United States and to defend this country--that's NOT what they're doing in Afghanistan. To accept the vague and fuzzy "reasons" we're fed that are supposed to justify the carnage, is to be a nation of sheep.
As for members of Congress--well, yes, they're the scum of the earth, that's a cinch, but whether all in this message is true, I don't know. I wasn't able to verify it from an independent source and I wouldn't believe Faux News if they said the sun was hot. (Incidentally, the idea that their children don't have to pay back student loans seems questionable, if only because if the parents are in Congress, they're almost surely so rich their kids don't need student loans.)
One of the many tragedies surrounding these ugly aggressions is that the young man is going to live the rest of his life maimed and broken. It's disturbing to see his picture, but we need to. And we need to see the soldiers with missing limbs, and those who are now blind and brain damaged. We need to see the body bags and we need to hear the cries of the grieving families. And, much as we may try to turn away, we need to see the still bodies of the human beings we're slaughtering on the other side of the world.
Then we need to think about what we've become.
Rosemary Molloy