About Bradley Manning and the Administration’s “Hobbyhorse”

But prosecutors continued to press the more serious charges, which included violations of the Espionage Act, a 1917 law that has become the Obama administration’s hobbyhorse to go after government workers whose actions look nothing like spying. Under President Obama, the government has brought espionage charges more than twice as often under that particular law as all previous administrations combined … Americans accept that material must be classified in the interest of national security. But that acceptance is severely tested when the government classifies more than 92 million documents in a year. [The New York Times]

“It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch.”

002I still miss Fluffles terribly. It’s better than yesterday but still not good. This photo, though, taken less than 3 months ago around his 19th birthday in early May, compared to the fragile little body we buried this week shows how quickly he lost ground.

I’ve been keeping busy with all kinds of things today, but it’s after 5 pm, and I’m still in the terry robe I threw on this morning.

Kind FB friends posted beautiful sympathetic thoughts. It helps to know that others understand.

Fortunately, it’s been raining, so we don’t have to water.

Ron did transport duty today for Emme. I had a long conversation with the president of the homeowners association, paid bills and posted some items on PANA.org and OF.com Ron was quoted in MENT!

Raise Up Massachusetts

Attended a rally for an increase in the minimum wage and paid sick time at the State House yesterday.

Waited for almost an hour at the Charlie Ticket Store to get a senior pass and as a result, missed the 6:00 bus by 5 minutes, so had to take the 8:00. Had a nice supper at the South Station train terminal and read “Game of Thrones”. Was late enough to miss the traffic on 151 from the demo derby at the fair.

Comforting Words

Ron’s perspective is much better and wiser than mine has been: taking care of Mr. Fluffles was like having a parent with Alzheimer’s in the house: daily cleanup, rearranging our schedules, etc. It wasn’t good for us and it wasn’t necessary to keep Fluffles in a prolonged state of senility.

I felt guilty for the fact that he had failed, but his failing was a result of his getting old (19+), not neglect. In other words, something we couldn’t control or influence.

We tried to keep him fed and comfortable, but we couldn’t prevent the inevitable.

With All Our Hearts…

…we loved you, Fluffles.

We buried our dear little guy yesterday. Darrell, his kind groomer, told us that she also felt it was time.

Our hearts are broken. I’m sure this will change us. I can’t stop crying. Ron is devastated.

I forced us to busy ourselves yesterday afternoon and evening with positive, life-affirming activities: supporting a fellow townsman who is fighting a gang of spoiled rich kids to put in an oyster farm; visiting the Wampanoag language reclamation project open house; transporting Emme home from work.

I forced myself to finish laundry and water the garden this morning. The sorrow comes and goes, though.

Weekend

I did a big shop at Market Basket today and with Ron’s help, put clean sheets on the bed. That’s about “it”.

Yesterday morning, we drove up to MacKillop’s for coffee and pastry.

I did my banking on the way to Highfield to see the mosaics (fabulous) and the fairy houses. Did a little weeding in the sunken and West gardens while I was there. Everything looked very good, so there wasn’t a lot of work.

The LeConti’s invited us for a cookout yesterday which was a lot of fun, especially listening to April’s father Jack and his mortuary stories. He could easily write a book or maybe a mini-series.

The laptops are back home. Fluffles was horrible the other day and I was ready to dismiss him from the family.

We’ve been watering, mostly by hand with the water from the dehumidifier. Otherwise, our weekend was pretty low-key. I had a two-hour nap this morning after making coffee.

The Fair started yesterday.