It's really frakking cold, and other headlines

Record low temperatures today and yesterday in The Lovely City: -2.2 C. (That's 28F for those of you keeping track.) News sources forecast another five days of this. Of course, we're still having 6 or 7 power outages per day of an hour each, during which the electric heaters don't work, and now apparently there will be gas load-shedding as well. (Most people have gas heaters. The last time this happened we couldn't cook on our gas stove for two days.) Yikes.

Other headlines that grabbed my attention from the newspaper (we subscribe now):

1. The Pillion Riding Ban that was put in place during the tense days before/during Ashura has been lifted. What is Ashura? The mourning period for the grandsons of the Prophet Muhammad, who were brutally murdered in Karbala. Sometimes violence breaks out during this observance--especially in Pakistan--though things were pretty peaceful this year. What is Pillion Riding? I have no idea.

2. The city's irrigation canal has been drained for periodic cleaning.

3. Deuling headlines: "US Working Hard with Musharraf for Free Polls" and "Musharraf decries US 'Obsession with Democracy.'"

4. Ongoing fighting between militants (for lack of a better word) and the military continues in Waziristan.

5. The flour crisis continues. Prices for basic food items have been increasing at least since I arrived in Pakistan, and the price and supply of wheat and flour has been the biggest problem. The government blames hoarders and private exporters who are taking advantage of a lower-than-average wheat crop to inflate prices. Armed paramilitary units have been deployed to accompany trucks carrying flour along the Afghan border, and the caretaker cabinet (installed by The President Formerly Known as General Musharraf in November's state of emergency) has revived the idea of ration cards.

The government is especially concerned about this because, among other things, it operates "utility" shops in which basic goods are sold at subsidized low prices for those with very low incomes. The shops are seeing crowds of people--you can see long, long lines outside any shop. The price on the "free" market (maybe not so free if there's hoarding) is nearly Rs. 395 per kg--about $5.50. The subsidized price is about Rs. 295, or around $4.50. It may not sound like much, but for people who need to buy subsidized flour, it's a huge increase.