Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Back to the Hindu Snake Festival. That particular temple has 3 gods. A goddess; a great grandfather; and a young man. The spirit of the goddess has apparently never appeared to any temple member. If you remember I said that an older man got the spirit of the snake (He represented the spirit of the great grandfather god.). And the young man who got the spirit from the intruder represented the spirit of the young man. Above all the godesses and gods there is a supreme being God, which all peoples and all religions may or may not believe in. As Buddha opined, all religions are just different pathways to the same God.

The royal mother's husband died at the age of 60 of a heart attack here at the palace 33 years ago. Her children ranged in age at that time from 12 to 35. Interestingly, the royal palace and grounds are on HER side of the family. Since we only marry within our own caste, he most likely came from similar circumstances. But I don't know.

Pakistan used to be part of India. Because that area is 100% Moslem, the Indian government allowed them to break off to form their own country. In retrospect, this is often seen as a big mistake. I agree, but what do I know. Anyway, Pakistan thinks that Kashmir should be part of Pakistan, but India disagrees. That is what the major part of their disagreements are about. And why there is always an Indian military presence in Kashmir. Although there is some agreement in place, the Pakistanis continually violate the agreement and cross into Kashmir creating problems.
Francis spent a portion of his 30 years in the Army in Kashmir where the winters are apparently more like ours with lots of snow and cold. After five or six hours of snowfall, they would have to go outside and brush the snow off their tents.

Speaking of Francis. Thirty years in the Army gets him a lifetime pension equal to as if he had found a full time job as well as health benefits and commissary benefits. When he dies, his wife will continue getting benefits until she dies. That's a pretty good deal unless, of course, you die while you are in the service. I don't know if the family receives any benefits in that case.

A hardback English to Malayalum dictionary is$85 on Amazon. Don't want to pursue the language that much!!!!!!!!!!

It turns out that the Vaccine study equating vaccines with autism--the one the media picked up on leading parents to freak--has been retracted. It was a VERY flawed study. It only involved 12 children (much too small a sample of the population) and misrepresented the facts. "For example, 5 children exhibited Autism Syndrome Disorder symptoms BEFORE vaccination, yet were described as developmentally normal. Hospital pathology reports also provided NO documentation of gastrointestinal abnormalities. Mainstream experts long ago refuted the study. Consensus existsthat childhood vaccines do not pose excessive risk."--Harvard Mental Health Letter, April, 2010. Now tell me, where else can you get day-to-day Indian information AND info from Harvard?????????????????????

Treatment seems to be having a different effect on me this time. I can actually feel changes going on. For instance, in the first two weeks of treatment, during the massage, my muscles would feel a little bit sore. But not at any other time. Now we're doing joint pain medicine, and some of my joints are telling me that. Certainly not in a bad way, but in a way that reminds me this isn't just a vacation from cares and woes.

Signing off. Hope everyone is well and happy. Heard the weather in Indiana, anyway, was beautiful over Memorial Day.

Take care.

Love,
Mom/Peggy/Granny/NiNi