India Uncut
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Saturday, October 14, 2006
3 cows = 1 AK-47
The Horn of Africa is a violent place, and an M-16 would cost you five cows. Cows are part of the region's lexicon, in fact. The Economist reports:
(Link via email from Ajay Bhat.)
(Previous posts on cows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 , 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64.)
Hardly a day goes by without a cattle raid, a retaliatory attack or a shoot-out over access to a watering hole or the distribution of food aid. “We used to spear each other in the past,” says a Kenyan Samburu warrior, “but nowadays we shoot each other.” This means that the dead now include women and children. “Since the guns came [in the early 1990s] there has been more killing. You don't need to look your enemy in the eye any more. With a gun, a boy can kill a man.”I wonder if there's a God of Cows somewhere, looking down in disgust at the species that owns cows, and thinking, "Now, how different it could have been if I had thought of opposable thumbs."
(Link via email from Ajay Bhat.)
(Previous posts on cows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 , 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64.)
