COSTA RICA'S PRESIDENT HAS SWINE FLU

COSTA RICAN PRESIDENT OSCAR ARIAS
HAS SWINE FLU, QUARANTINED AT HOME WITH FEVER

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Nobel Peace laureate and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Tuesday that he has swine flu, showing that not even a head of state is safe from the virus that has caused worldwide concern but relatively few deaths. The 69-year-old president and Nobel Peace Prize winner said in a statement that he was quarantined at home and is being treated with the anti-flu medicine oseltamivir. "The pandemic makes no distinctions," Arias said. "I am one more case in this country and I am being submitted to the recommendations that health authorities have established for the entire population."

Arias suffers from asthma and is at higher risk than most, but was in good enough health to continue working. "Aside from the discomfort of the fever and sore throat, I feel in good shape and in full capacity to carry out my work by telecommuting," Arias said in the statement. The president had flu symptoms since Sunday, but participated in public activities as late as Tuesday morning, when he appeared at a call center. Arias has been serving on-and-off as a mediator in the political crisis in Honduras after that country's president was ousted June 28 in a coup.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

This material world is full of distress, and both the pious and impious are subject to it. The cold of winter treats everyone alike. It does not care for the pious or impious, the rich or the poor. The difference between the pious and the impious, however, is that the pious man thinks of God when he is in his miserable condition.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"On the Way to Krishna - Chapter 4 - The Roads of the Foolish and the Wise"

Everyone takes birth in this material world because of the contaminated desires of his previous life, and thus he is subjected to the stringent laws of nature, such as birth and death, distress and happiness, profit and loss. One should not be disturbed by duality, but should always be fixed in My service and thus remain balanced in mind and satisfied in all circumstances, considering all things to be given by Me, and one should remain undeviated from engagement in devotional service. Thus one can live a very happy and peaceful life, even within this material condition.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"Krishna Book - Chapter 73 - Lord Krishna Returns to the City of Hastināpura"