Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Be Careful What You Wish For

Be careful what you wish for.
Our area is in deep drought (not to mention deep financial doodoo due to Conservatives' skimming of the cream and then running away from bad mortgages). So, we whine a lot about rain, or the lack thereof. Well, we need to stop whining, or stop praying so much. Fay arrived with a vengeance. Last night we received over six inches (by our rain gauge) and ten inches since Monday. Some flooding in our basement and workshop. Great fun.
And on the comic relief front, our Dems continue to yell at the Darth Vader crowd (deservedly so) about the lousy economy, and Hillary finally came out and told her supporters to get with the program and support Barack. Good job Hill. Darth Vader and his PR flacks demonstrated remarkable chutzpah by running an ad aimed at attracting disaffected Hillary supporters over to The Dark Side. Hillary says she “does not approve” that message. Again, good for you Girl. Stay with the folks what brung ya.
Meanwhile in another dark corner of the universe, Muslims and Hindus are again shooting at each other in one of the most remarkably beautiful places on Planet Earth, the Kashmir Valley. If you’ve been paying attention these past fifty years, the current state of Jammu and Kashmir in India is in the Himalayas. Just prior to Partition, Jammu and Kashmir was ruled by a Hindu prince, the Maharajah of J&K. As Partition approached, the Muslim population of Kashmir, that part of the state in Kashmir Valley, began rebelling, trying to align itself with the coming Muslim State of Pakistan. The Maharajah appealed to the Brits who sent in troops to support him. The great state of J&K was officially aligned with India. That began all The Troubles (as the Irish quaintly called their own religious killing game). Ever since then Muslims and Hindus have been shooting at one another in the Kashmir Valley. Much of the violence seemed to slowly calm down over time, although it never stopped. When I visited Kashmir in the 1960s, Indian troops were all over the place, but it was quietly beautiful.
Now, they’re shooting at each other again, all because of some decision to allow a new Hindu religious place in Kashmir. The Muslims there are not big on sharing. So, it starts all over again. Makes you wonder about religion. How many people have to die before too many have died?????

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