The most remarkable thing about Independence Day is the horrid weather in which it was granted. Probably even the British, let alone the Quaid-e-Azams Muslim League, didnt plan the Partition to fall in this weather, and it just happened, but in the end, they picked the moment when the rainy weather was turning towards its end. As it turned out, this is also the most unsuitable weather for loadshedding, though not really the worst (which is the hot weather of May and June). But we really shouldnt complain, because the rains have not really poured this year, and its surprising that WAPDA hasnt made more use of the readymade excuse this provides. That the rains wouldnt come has been predicted by those who believe in global warming. Well, it looks as if were going to be in the middle of it all, and if global warming has anything to do with it, there will be loadshedding for a long time in the future. However, another event rolling by has been the advent of Ramazan. Ramazan has made a start by falling in the month of the creation of Pakistan, which also took place in Ramazan, but Eid this year will fall in September, while the Eid of Partition came a few days after Independence Day. We wont come full circle for another 3 years, at which point we will have gained two Hijra years by following the Gregorian calendar. Someone should look into the moonsighting issue, for Arab countries had their first fast on Saturday, while Pakistan followed suit, but a day later. Yet the OIC has got a decision about one moonfighting, which it is too toothless to implement, because the members are separate nations which insist upon separate moonsightings to prove this point. But the real point is that though the monsoon is supposed to last into September, there has been just enough rain, and enough of a chill in the air, to warn not quite of winter, but autumn, which will probably roll around as usual in October. Perhaps its not a thought to repeat at the height of the heat in May, but even that contains a promise of the winter to come just months down the line. As a matter of fact, we are closer now to winter than we care to admit, but this horrible mugginess has led to less colds and flus than winter, but still this is flu-eye weather enough. And the fevers alone are probably enough to make a lot of people drop their fasts because of fever. However, the real issue has been that of sugar. A lot of sugar is consumed in Ramazan, so if the mills have been profiteering, then theyve made a killing, and no one should object unless theyre against the Profit Principle, and the American side in the War on Terror. No matter people cant buy sugar, they should remember that the Third World doesnt deserve any sugar, but they shouldnt object to its being smuggled to Afghanistan. After all, there is an election out there, and anyone pointing to more flaws than prove the Third-Worldness of Afghanistan, or casting in doubt the results is clearly a traitor in the War on Terror, who should be sent to the next TTP meeting. The next big thing apart from the price of sugar just before Ramazan has been the all-important question of whether the Governor is to consult the Chief Minister before saying anything about the candidates for being elevated to the Bench. The case is made all the more piquant in the Punjab, because here, of all things, we have a pair of dark glasses as Governor, not a person. What value are the President and Chief Justice supposed to place on the recommendations of a pair of dark glasses? That question has not yet been settled. And until it is, the LHC moves on sugar will hang fire. The sugar matter has caught the public imagination, but those who exploit keep on doing so, because making a profit is what the War on Terror is all about. And all those mill owners are doing is making a profit. Just like those oil companies, all those ghee mills, and all those rental power plant owners. Before the War, one needed an excuse to make profits, but now one need not be ashamed. Greed is good, as the character in the movie Wall Street said. So I suppose this is a time to celebrate, not so much our independence, as those who celebrate it, even though there is no power, sugar, and a high court beholden to a pair of dark glasses.