4TH TYPHOON IN MONTH LASHES PHILIPPINES

FOURTH STORM TO HIT THE PHILIPPINES IN A MONTH
HAS LASHED THE REGION BRINGING HEAVY RAIN AND WINDS

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The fourth typhoon to lash the Philippines in a month brought pounding rain and winds to the eastern coast early Saturday as it barreled toward Manila along the same path as an earlier storm that left the capital still partially submerged. Thousands were evacuated from their homes in the eastern province of Quezon, where Typhoon Mirinae made landfall after midnight, as rains threatened to unleash mudslides. Typhoon Mirinae, locally named Santi, packing 150 kph winds, is expected to make landfall Saturday at the eastern portion of the island of Luzon.

The typhoon was expected to pass south of the sprawling city of 12 million later Saturday morning with winds of 93 miles (150 kilometers) per hour and gusts of up to 115 mph (185 kph). Mirinae was tracking the same route as Tropical Storm Ketsana on Sept. 26 when it dumped the heaviest rains in 40 years in and around Manila - a month's worth in just 12 hours - leaving hundreds dead and thousands stranded in cars, on rooftops and in trees. The northern Philippines is still struggling to recover from back-to-back storms that killed 929. About 122,000 people remain in government-run evacuation centers, and many communities in Manila suburbs are still under water, with residents moving around on makeshift rafts and foot bridges.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

In the Seventh Canto, Chapter 1 and Sloka 26 of the Bhagavatam, Sri Narada addresses King Yudhisthira as follows:
As the Lord is never perturbed even by abuse and ill-speaking about Himself, therefore if one fixes one's mind on the Lord either with a feeling of animosity or without animosity, or out of fear or from affection or from desire for self-enjoyment and self-gratification, one realizes the Lord in accordance with the nature of one's mind-fixation on the Lord.
This shows that the mere fact of mind-fixation on the Lord brings on the Lord's Grace even where the determining motive is something different from Bhakti in the Lord for His own sake.

Srila Bhakti Hridaya Bon (Vana) Maharaja :
"Sri Rupa Goswami’s Bhakti-Rasamrta-Sindhuh"
"Sadhana-Bhakti" - Commentary on Text 3

EXHIBITION ON LIFE AND TIMES OF INDIRA GANDHI

OBSERVING 25TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY
OF INDIRA GANDHI'S ASSASSINATION

NEW DELHI (India Today) - In an attempt to make the younger generation realise the contributions of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Congress has organised an exhibition on the life and times of the former PM here in which rare photographs, film and literature would be available. AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi said a series of programmes have been lined up as the party was observing the 25th death anniversary of Gandhi on October 31. In every block, district and state of the country, the party has asked its office-bearers to have a two-minute silence at 9.20 am, the time when Gandhi was assassinated. In Delhi, the party would have three programmes with one at Shakti Sthal, the place where Gandhi was cremated, at 1 Safdarjung Road Road where she was assassinated and the Indira Gandhi Award function for national integration. Twenty-five years ago, on October 31, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. She was 67-years-old.

Her death marked the passing of the generation that brought India Independence and nurtured its development through ‘Nehruvian socialism’. Indira Gandhi’s abolition of privy purses and privileges of Indian princes, bank nationalisation, progressive takeover of export and import trade. Her ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan and 20-point programme, are still relevant and pursued by the Congress. She added stimulus to India’s industrialisation and food production through the Green Revolution. India’s nuclear programme was her legacy. It started in 1967, in response to the nuclear threat from China and to establish India’s stability and security interests. In 1974, India successfully conducted an underground nuclear test - Smiling Buddha, with that India became the world’s youngest nuclear power. According to professor P Radhakrishnan "Indira Gandhi is the greatest and tallest woman India has ever produced. At the height of her popularity many of her idolaters depicted her as Goddess Durga or Kali, Bharat Mata, and believed her as someone infallible and invincible. She had also acquired a formidable international reputation as a ‘statesman’". In December 1999, Indira Gandhi was voted the greatest woman of the past 1,000 years in a poll by BBC News Online.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Srila Prabhupada: I am hearing that the present American president, President Carter, he has some such plan and he is discussing it with Indira Gandhi. He is consulting with Indira Gandhi quite intimately.

Srila Sridhara Maharaja: Yes, they are accepting our broad policy. From what I hear from the radio and newspaper, it seems that their policy is becoming much more broader than before.

Srila Prabhupada: Besides that, they don't have any other way. Otherwise they cannot achieve what they are actually wanting-the peace through the United Nations; that cannot be achieved.

Srila Sridhara Maharaja: Yes, nothing less than Krishna consciousness will be able to give them that desired peace; nowhere else will they find it.

Srila B.R. Sridhara Maharaja & Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"Room Conversation - March 1977"
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library - www.bvml.org/SBRSM

UN TORTURE INVESTIGATOR IS DEPORTED

ZIMBABWE CANCELS VISIT UNITED NATION'S TORTURE INVESTIGATOR AND DEPORTS HIM TO SOUTH AFRICA

JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Zimbabwean immigration officials barred the United Nation's torture investigator from entering their country and returned him to South Africa Thursday, an act he termed a "serious diplomatic incident" that reflects a split in the coalition government. "There are certainly some parts of the government who do not want me to assess the current conditions of torture," Manfred Nowak angrily told reporters in Johannesburg upon arrival from Zimbabwe. Nowak said he had a meeting scheduled with Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a longtime opposition leader, on Thursday at the start of his mission to investigate alleged attacks on Tsvangirai supporters by militants linked to President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

Tsvangirai's spokesman, James Maridadi, said Thursday that Nowak's trip had been cleared and that he could not immediately say why he had been barred. Joey Bimha, the top civil servant in the ZANU-PF-controlled foreign ministry, said Nowak had been told he could not come because officials were engaged with Tsvangirai's temporary withdrawal from the Cabinet. A trio of foreign ministers from neighboring countries was holding talks with the factions Thursday and Friday in an attempt to end the impasse. "We had no option but to send (Nowak) back because we had informed him that his services were no longer needed here," Bimha said.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Ignorant persons, enmeshed as they are in worldly objects, always undergo suffering in the material world and are continuously in a state of fear. But the pure devotee or the intelligent person knows that Sri Krishna is the Supreme Controller. This is why those who worship Sri Krishna never fear anything or anyone, as there could never be any cause for them to fear. Maya enters the heart of the jiva and increases suffering, fear and lamentation born of ignorance in the same proportion as the separation that there is between the jiva and Sri Krishna.

Srila Bhakti Dayita Madhava Maharaj :
"Pearls of Devotion"
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library - www.bvml.org/SBDMM

DISGRACED CLONING RESEARCHER CONVICTED

SOUTH KOREAN RESEARCHER CLONING SCIENTIST
HWANG WOO-SUK GUILTY OF EMBEZZLEMENT

SEOUL (AFP) - Disgraced South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk -- who gained fame in 2004 when he claimed to have cloned human embryonic stem cells -- was found guilty Monday of embezzling from his stem cell research fund and illegally buying human embryos. The Seoul court also ruled that Hwang, 56, who became a national hero after he claimed to be the first to successfully clone human stem cells, had partially fabricated the results of his research. He was given a two-year sentence that was suspended provided he stayed out of trouble with the law for the next three years. Hwang's surprising findings in his stem cell research drew him a cult-like following. Immediately after he disclosed the findings in 2004, many medical experts and patients hoped that the breakthrough might lead to cures for diseases such as cancer. The South Korean government had touted him as a national hero and announced plans to set up a committee to promote Hwang as a candidate for a Nobel prize.

Time magazine named him one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2004. But eventually his two published papers on the research were found to have been fabricated. As suddenly as he gained fame, he became embroiled in a national scandal. Hwang apologized publicly in January 2006 after a panel of scientists from Seoul National University found he had not derived human stem cells from eggs, as he claimed. He apologized but he continued his research despite revelations of fraud in his work. Hwang made a public apology and eventually was fired from his professorship at the university.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Acharyyavan puruso veda – the meaning of the Upanisads can be understood only by those who have their Guru. ... Only by approaching the Guru with a serving attitude will the meaning be revealed. ... Research scholarship in the illusory world is all quite a different approach. Scientific research is going from one misconception to another misconception. It is all misconception. It is error and has falsehood at the root. The research scholars try to research the nature and cause of everything, but ultimately it is all His sweet will. Neglecting that, they simply research, research, research, but if His will is withdrawn, everything will be falsified.

Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja:
"Focused to Sri Guru"
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library - www.bvml.org/SBRSM

SRI LANKA TO PROBE U.S. CHARGES OF POSSIBLE WAR CRIMES

SRI LANKA WILL PROBE RIGHTS ABUSES & WAR CRIMES
DURING CIVIL WAR AGAINST THE TAMIL TIGERS

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's president will appoint a home-grown committee to probe a U.S. State Department report of possible war crimes at the end of Sri Lanka's 25-year war against the Tamil Tigers, the government said on Monday. Sri Lanka is facing heavy Western pressure over its human rights record, which the government blames on members of the Tamil diaspora who have settled in European countries or the United States and are angry the Tigers were beaten. The United States issued a report on Thursday detailing possible atrocities by both government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the final battle of the 25-year war, and urged Sri Lanka to investigate the allegations.

Sri Lanka had already rejected the report as unsubstantiated. The decision to appoint a local panel is unlikely to satisfy the West, given Sri Lanka's long history of inquiries into rights abuse that have largely failed to hold anyone accountable. A probe into the massacre of 17 aid workers in 2006 blamed on security forces was wound up prematurely. The State Department report, requested by Congress, recounted allegations of government shelling of civilians during the early months of 2009 and killing of LTTE fighters who had surrendered. It also accused the Tigers, who were listed as a terrorist organization by more than 30 countries, of recruiting children to fight and keeping thousands of Tamils as human shields by killing those who tried to flee.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Now, this is the world of suffering ... Because we have got three sources of affliction. One is adhyatmika, second is adhibhautika, and the third is adhidaivika. That is, physically we have got number of diseases. Daily we are suffering from physical sufferings and mental sufferings. Mentally, that we want repeated not away. Then my mind will be disturbed. Mind will suffer, mind. Which the mind doesn't like if comes nearer then the mind will suffer. ... And the second one is we are suffering due to people of this universe, all the universe. And due to beasts and birds and animals or any, any poisonous insect we suffer. And because suffering is knowing and always we suffer due to war, due to sufferings of humanity and all the beasts and birds, due to congregational suffering, we are unhappy.

Srila Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Maharaj:
"Lecture given in Novo Mesto, Slovenia 26.6.1999"

BAGHDAD SUICIDE CAR BOMBS KILL NEAR 160

CAR BOMBS KILL AT LEAST 155, WOUND HUNDREDS
IN DEADLIEST ATTACKS FOR TWO YEARS IN BAGHDAD

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two powerful suicide car bombs near high-profile government offices rocked the capital on Sunday in the deadliest attack here in more than two years, killing at least 155 people and raising fresh worry about the capabilities of Iraq's security services ahead of national elections scheduled for January. The Ministry of Interior said that in addition to the dead, more than 600 people were injured. Charred bodies, limbs and the smoldering shells of dozens of cars littered the area. The explosions also shattered windows throughout the nearby Mansour Hotel, which houses the Chinese Embassy. Some ceilings collapsed.

The blasts, which the government said bore the signature of al Qaeda in Iraq, most damaged Baghdad's provincial headquarters and the nearby federal Ministry of Justice. Many of the protective blast walls surrounding those buildings collapsed. President Barack Obama called the attacks an attempt to "derail Iraq's progress." He said the U.S. "will stand with Iraq's people and government as a close friend and partner as Iraqis prepare for elections early next year." "These bombings serve no purpose other than the murder of innocent men, women and children, and they only reveal the hateful and destructive agenda of those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that they deserve," Obama said.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

By means of my senses, viz., hands, feet, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin I am engaged in a variety of work, by reason of doing which there has been appearing this multitude of diverse kinds of dangers that confront me. By attempting to walk with these feet I often stumble and fall, by trying to discuss with this mind I am invoking manifold evil by not being able to understand the real subject of knowledge. In such hour of peril the lotus feet of my Sri Guru, being moved to pity, have manifested themselves in this world in order to impart to me the knowledge 'that you are the servant of the Darling of Nanda', and to dispel the darkness of ignorance due to my loss of sense of duty, which had lead me to embark on the enjoyment of worldly objects and to think such enjoyment to be my duty.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura :
“The Teachings of Lord Caitanya - Vol. II - Testimony of Love"

ANGLICAN GROUP MULLS ROME SWITCH

ANGLICANS PONDER ROME INVITATION
TO JOIN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

BBC News - Some Anglican clergy have said they are ready to accept an offer to join the Roman Catholic Church at a meeting of about 600 conservative priests. Members of the Forward in Faith group discussed the Pope's invitation to Anglicans to convert to Catholicism but keep many of their existing practices. Many who are considering conversion are unhappy at women bishops being introduced into the Church of England. Others at the meeting, in Westminster, urged their colleagues to stay. They have pleaded with their colleagues to stay inside the Church and fight for a compromise that would allow them to live harmoniously with women bishops.

Under the terms of the invitation offered by the Vatican, those who convert could keep many of their Anglican traditions in their own special section of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican said it was responding to pleas for help from Anglicans. Some leading Anglicans have criticised the Vatican over the move. The Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, said: "We mustn't be treated as a junior partner in this. It's got to be done in a serious way that respects each party and I was raising a question simply, 'Is that being done at the present moment?'" Father Geoffrey Kirk, is among those who said he intends to convert to Catholicism. He said: "The Church of England is, in the view of many of us, ceasing to be the church of Jesus Christ and becoming the church of political correctness, not only the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate - to which we object - but also in many attitudes to human sexuality from divorce and remarriage, to homosexuality."

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The Supreme Lord's presence is realized in three stages. The kanishtha-adhikārī is in the lowest stage of realization. He goes to a place of worship, such as a temple, church or mosque, according to his religious faith, and worships there according to scriptural injunctions. Devotees in this stage consider the Lord to be present at the place of worship and nowhere else. ... the second stage of realization are called madhyama-adhikārīs. These devotees observe the distinctions between four categories of being ... He adores the Lord, considering Him the object of love; he makes friends with those who are in devotional service; he tries to awaken the dormant love of God in the hearts of the innocent; and he avoids the atheists, who deride the very name of the Lord. Above the madhyama-adhikārī is the uttama-adhikārī, who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"Śrī Īśopanishad - Purport in Verse 6"

MORE DIE AMID RIO SLUM VIOLENCE, 35 NOW DEAD

VIOLENCE HAS CONTINUED TO GRIP SEVERAL SHANTYTOWNS
IN RIO DE JANEIRO, POLICE EXPAND ANTI-GANG RAIDS

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Police in Rio expanded a crackdown on gangs beyond the area hit by a wave of killings that has claimed at least 35 lives since the weekend, officials said Wednesday. The clashes came less than three weeks after the city was awarded the 2016 Olympic Games. They began when a drug gang tried to invade a rival's territory and three policemen were killed when a helicopter was shot down by gunfire over the weekend. Subsequent firefights between police and heavily armed gang members have left the affected slums in chaos.

Hundreds of residents fled their homes overnight, choosing to sleep in streets away from their own neighborhoods after rumors spread that drug gangs were set to battle again. Gangs are suspected of using high-caliber weapons to shoot down a helicopter on Saturday near the Morro dos Macacos slum, which remains the scene of fighting between rival gangs and police trying to subdue them. Three of six police officers on board were killed in the crash. Most of the dead this week were suspected gang members, but the victims also included several bystanders. While the violence began in a northern area near the Maracana stadium, which will host the Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies, police searching for suspects behind the downing of the helicopter launched operations in slums in Rio's south and center on Wednesday and Thursday.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

When there are different centers of interests, nobody can avoid clashing of individuals, groups, nations etc. As for example, if circles are drawn with different centers, circumferences will cross, but if there is one center of interest there may be smaller or bigger circles but there will be no crossing. According to Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu there should be knowledge of the real self, real interest and one center of interest. Supreme Lord Sri Krishna who is 'Achyuta' can only be the common center of interest from whom all the spirit souls have emanated. If we pour water at the root of the tree, whole tree is nourished with all its parts, in like manner, by serving Krishna we serve all.

Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja :
"Strongest Spiritual Force on Earth"
Published on Sep 6, 2002.

FOSSIL "IDA" NOT "THE LINK" ONLY A DISTANT RELATIVE

47 MILLION YEAR OLD FOSSIL 'IDA' NOT BELONG IN SAME
PRIMATE CATEGORY AS MONKEYS, APES AND HUMANS

NEW YORK (AP Science) – Remember Ida, the fossil discovery announced last May with its own book and TV documentary? A publicity blitz called it "the link" that would reveal the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans. Experts protested that Ida wasn't even a close relative. And now a new analysis supports their reaction. In fact, Ida is as far removed from the monkey-ape-human ancestry as a primate could be, says Erik Seiffert of Stony Brook University in New York. He and his colleagues compared 360 specific anatomical features of 117 living and extinct primate species to draw up a family tree. They report the results in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. Ida is a skeleton of a 47 million-year-old cat-sized creature found in Germany. It starred in a book, "The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor." Ida represents a previously unknown primate species called Darwinius. The scientists who formally announced the finding said they weren't claiming Darwinius was a direct ancestor of monkeys, apes and humans.

The new analysis says Darwinius does not belong in the same primate category as monkeys, apes and humans. Instead, the analysis concluded, it falls into the other major grouping, which includes lemurs. "This is a rigorous analysis based on many features," said Eric Sargis, an anthropology professor at Yale. He said he'd found the argument of the Darwinius researchers unconvincing, so the new result came as no surprise. In fact, it confirms what most scientists think, said David Begun, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Toronto.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Darwin has given the theory of evolution - "Fossilism". Vedānta has given "subjective evolution". In Darwin's theory of objective evolution, matter evolves consciousness. The object exists first, and by its development, life is coming, consciousness is coming - from stone. That is objective evolution. But an object is a relative term; without the subject, an object cannot stand. The subject is the primary substance. Whatever is to be felt is only an idea in the subjective ocean. So, the subject, consciousness is first. The object, the gross, proceeds from the subtle. ... The material scientists think that the subtle proceeds from the gross. This is upside-down. It is just the opposite. Not "fossil-fatherism," but "God-fatherism."

Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja:
"The Search For Sri Krsna - Chapter 3: Fossilism vs. Subjective Evolution"

BILL GATES: IDEOLOGY THREATENS HUNGER FIX

BILL GATES PUSHES FOR MORE ATTENTION ON AFRICA
ADVOCATES FOR NEW 'GREENER' GREEN REVOLUTION

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - The fight to end hunger is being hurt by environmentalists who insist that genetically modified crops cannot be used in Africa, said Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of software giant Microsoft. Gates said GMO crops, fertilizer and chemicals are important tools - although not the only tools - to help small farms in Africa boost production. "This global effort to help small farmers is endangered by an ideological wedge that threatens to split the movement in two," Gates said in his first address on agriculture made during the annual World Food Prize forum. "Some people insist on an ideal vision of the environment," Gates said. "They have tried to restrict the spread of biotechnology into sub-Saharan Africa without regard to how much hunger and poverty might be reduced by it." The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in recent years has turned its focus to helping poor, small-holder farmers grow and sell more crops as a way to reduce hunger and poverty.

The foundation, which has committed $1.4 billion to agricultural development efforts, announced nine new grants worth a total of $120 million aimed at raising yields and farming expertise in the developing world. "The next Green Revolution has to be greener than the first," Gates said. "It must be guided by small-holder farmers, adapted to local circumstances, and sustainable for the economy and the environment." The World Food Prize was established by Norman Borlaug, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist known as "the father of the Green Revolution" for his work with rice and wheat.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

In this world everyone is puffed up with false prestige despite the failure of all his endeavors. When so-called philanthropists, who supposedly want to help the poor, are approached by members of the Krishna consciousness movement, they say, "You are simply wasting your time, while I am feeding vast masses of starving people." Unfortunately, their meager efforts, either singly or together, do not solve anyone's problems. ... Unfortunately such materialists, either singly or combined in the form of the United Nations, cannot fulfill their plans. The truth is that the many millions of human beings, animals, birds and trees - indeed, all living entities - are maintained solely by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam - Purport in Canto 5 - Chapter 18 - Verse 27"

DRINKING YOUR WAY TO HEALTH? PERHAPS NOT

EXPERT SAY RECENT STUDIES TOUTING HEALTH
BENEFITS OF MODERATE DRINKING MIGHT BE MISLEADING

(HealthDay News - Dennis Thompson) - Just about every month a new study emerges touting the health benefits to be gained from a daily glass of wine or a pint of dark beer. The benefits related to cardiovascular health have become well-known. A study released in mid-July, for instance, found that moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in women by increasing the amount of "good" cholesterol in the bloodstream and reducing blood sugar levels. Wine also has been found to increase life expectancy and provide potential protection against some forms of cancer. But don't invest in that case of Pinot noir just yet. Experts from the American Heart Association say that though these studies do show some benefits to moderate drinking, the health risks from alcohol consumption far outweigh the potential rewards.

Moderate drinking any alcohol at all is known to increase your risk for contracting cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, colon/rectum and breast, liver damage and accidents caused by impaired reflexes, said Dr. Jennifer Mieres, director of nuclear cardiology at the New York University. The health benefits from drinking generally are related to the antioxidants and anti-inflammatories found in red wines and dark beers, but those substances can be found in a number of different fruits and vegetables. Though the studies touting the positive health effects of alcohol are scientifically accurate, they also appear to play into people's desires for quick fixes to complex problems, Mieres said."People look for easy ways to get heart-healthy benefits, and drinking is an easy way to do that. It's a known human tendency: Let's find an easy way out that doesn't involve a lot of thought or work." (http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/)

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

What is my inner self-interest? I must enter the plane of reality, I must get back my proper self. And in Krsna's connection I will enter the environment and see what the world really is. If I am given some wine or some poison, then I shall become beside myself. I shall see things in a distorted way. I will be unable to recognize my sister or mother and actuated by animal nature, I will see everything as an object for my enjoyment. The crude tendency of lust will cover my vision of everything. Then again when I am sober, I shall see the same things, but my perception of them will be changed. In this way we must be prepared to go deeper beneath the surface reality, and find out who we are, what is our real self-interest.

Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja:
"Subjective Evolution of Consciousness - Chapter Nine: Spiritual Evolution"

DARFUR KIDNAP VICTIMS ENDURED MOCK ASSASSINATIONS

KIDNAPPERS TERRORIZED TWO AID WORKERS
DURING MORE THAN 100 DAYS IN SUDAN

DUBLIN (AP) - A freed Irish aid worker held captive for three months in Darfur said Monday that her captors terrorized her and a Ugandan friend by repeatedly staging their mock executions using live gunfire. Sharon Commins and colleague Hilda Kuwuki, who both worked for Irish aid agency GOAL, were abducted July 3 and freed without harm Sunday. Commins said they both might have died from broken spirits if not for the moral support they gave each other. "You could die in there of sadness. You could just die if you didn't lift your spirits," Commins told Irish broadcasters RTE before her departure from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, aboard Ireland's government jet.

"We definitely needed each other. We prayed together and tried to keep each other strong." Commins, 33, said. She and the 42-year-old Kuwuki were held in the open in mountainous terrain, received two meals a day but little water, were allowed to bathe about every two weeks, and had to sleep on the ground with one blanket each. They were permitted to phone their families once as part of the kidnappers' efforts to extract a reported $1 million ransom. She said their captors, who numbered from a dozen to about 18 gunmen, amused themselves by pretending to shoot the pair. "There were mock assassinations on a few occasions, so it was extremely scary. We were always anxious and stressed and upset until the minute we got out,". "We'd be told to kneel on our knees and they would shoot around us," Commins said. Sudan's government said no ransom was paid for their release and vowed to bring the kidnappers to justice.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The taming of Kaliya is one of the Vrindaban Pastimes of Boy-Krishna. Kaliya is the type of cunning and malice. He is the embodiment of unrelenting cruelty. There is no place for Kaliya in the happy realm of Vraja. Deceit and cruelty are as poison to the artless loving nature of the denizens of Vraja. It is quite conceivable for the confiding chums of Krishna not to entertain any suspicion regarding the malicious intention of cruel and deceitful persons whose purpose is to poison them against Krishna. They may even unwittingly fall into the counsel of such evil persons. But Krishna is sure to rescue His Own from the wiles of His enemy.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura :
“The Serpent Kaliya” – An essay printed by The Harmonist - May 1932.

FIREWORKS BLAZE KILLS 33 IN INDIA

BLAZE IN INDIAN FIREWORKS WAREHOUSE
KILLS 33 - VICTIMS HAD NO TIME TO FLEE

PALLIPAT, India (CNN) - People traditionally light firecrackers to mark the Hindu festival of Diwali, but this time a raging blaze at a wholesale fireworks store killed at least 33 people in southern India, when an explosion turned a temporary firecracker warehouse into an inferno, police said Saturday. Some of the dead included customers who had arrived at the shop ahead of Diwali, a major Hindu festival observed with lights and fireworks. S. Radhakrishnan, a Tamil Nadu state police official, said three people were arrested in connection with the Friday evening fire, including the owner of the building and the owner of the fireworks store in the town of Pallipat, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Chennai.

Radhakrishnan said the fireworks store had been denied a government license to operate and was doing business illegally. The owner's father died recently and the shop had been closed for a few days, he said. A rush of customers were at the store when it re-opened just before Diwali. Police have not determined the cause of the fire but they suspect an electrical short-circuit may have set off firecrackers inside the warehouse, which triggered the blaze. The store was crowded and there was only one exit. People panicked, not knowing how to escape the flames, Radhakrishnan said. Rescue workers pulled charred remains from the gutted building. Fireworks suppliers in India are notorious for flouting safety regulations and such tragedies have become commonplace.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has said, Divine Love is the best and only solution of the disturbed situation of the world. That Divine Love (Prema-Bhakti) for the Supreme Lord can be cultivated by 'Nama-Sankirtan' - chanting of the Holy Name of Supreme Lord, viz. (namely) Krishna, Rama, Govinda, Madhava, etc. In the present age, 'Nama-Sankirtan' is the best medicine and effective way to achieve the summum bonum of human life as it can be performed under any sort of circumstances.

Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja :
"Strongest Spiritual Force on Earth"
Published on Sep 6, 2002.

BABY IN STROLLER SURVIVES TRAIN COLLISION

BABY SURVIVES PRAM'S COLLISION WITH TRAIN
BABY OK AFTER TRAIN HITS STROLLER IN AUSTRALIA

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - A 6-month-old baby has miraculously survived a train hitting his stroller, which rolled onto the tracks when his mother let go for an instant. The escape was captured on security camera footage that shows the red, three-wheeled stroller plunging off a station platform just as the commuter train pulls in, and the mother's panicked lunge to grab it. The train pushed the stroller, with the baby strapped into it, about 130 feet (40 meters) along the tracks before it stopped, but it did not go under the train. Paramedics, who arrived to find the baby being comforted by his mother, confirmed the child received a bump on his head.

Police have not identified the mother, who wished to remain anonymous, and say the incident was an accident. Police said they released the video to underscore the need for people to be extra safety conscious when using the train system. The stroller's front wheel drifts toward the track, and the stroller rolls toward the edge, flipping over as it hits the tracks. The mother spots it just before it pitches over the side, and lunges forward — too late. The train pulls into the station, and the mother clutches her face in apparent panic and devastation. As the train stops, onlookers rush forward. The whole incident took about seven seconds.

Click & watch the dramatic footage of this amazing accident.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

As stated, no one can protect the person whom Krishna is prepared to kill, and no one can kill the person whom Krishna protects.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:

"The Srimad Bhagavatam - Purport in Canto 4 - Chapter 17 - Verse 30"

Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is omnipotent, and if He wants to kill someone, no one can save that person. Similarly, if He wants to save someone, no one can kill him.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"Krishna Book - Chapter 72 - The Liberation of King Jarāsandha"

INTERRACIAL COUPLE DENIED MARRIAGE LICENSE

LOUISIANA JUSTICE OF THE PEACE REFUSED TO ISSUE
A MARRIAGE LICENSE TO INTERRACIAL COUPLE

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A white Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long. "I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told. He said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said. Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said. "There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage," Bardwell said. "I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it." If he did an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said. "I try to treat everyone equally," he said. Bardwell estimates that he has refused to marry about four couples during his career, all in the past 2 1/2 years.

The couple of Beth Humphrey, 30, and 32-year-old Terence McKay, both of Hammond, say they will consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint. She is white and he is black. "We are looking forward to having children," she said. "And all our f riends and co-workers have been very supportive. Except for this, we're typical happy newlyweds."

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Formerly, at least in India during my time, marriages did not take place because the boy and girl liked each other. No. ... Marriage took place only after an astrological calculation of past, present, and future had determined whether the couple would be happy in their life together. When marriage is thus sanctified, the man and the woman live peacefully and practice spiritual culture. Each one helps the other, so they live very happily and become advanced in spiritual life. And at last they go back home, back to Godhead. That is the system. Not that a grown-up girl and a grown-up boy mix together, and if he likes her and she likes him they get married, and then he leaves or she leaves. This kind of marriage was not sanctioned. But of this Kali-yuga it is said, "dām-patye 'bhirucihm-patye 'bhirucih" : Marriage will take place simply because of mutual liking, that's all.

Srila A.C. BV Swami Prabhupada:
"The Journey of Self-Discovery"
Chapter VI - Material Problems, Spiritual Solutions.

UN AGENCY : FOOD AID AT LOWEST LEVEL EVER

DESPITE NUMBER OF "CRITICALLY HUNGRY PEOPLE"
IS AT HIGHEST LEVEL, GLOBAL FOOD AID IS AT LOWEST

London - (EFE). Josette Sheeran, the UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) executive director said it is facing its biggest ever challenge. She says that the WFP needs more money to cope with rising food prices, droughts and conflict. The WFP said that levels of food aid are at a 20-year-low, and warned that more than 1 billion people will go hungry worldwide for the first time. The World Bank estimates that food inflation during that period pushed an additional 100 million people into deep poverty, on top of a billion that were already scraping by on less than $1 a day. The number of undernourished people in the world has grown largely due to higher food prices, according to the agency.

About 65 per cent of the world's hungry live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia, according to the agency. China, Russia and Brazil — the other three BRIC emerging economies — face medium risk. An earlier report said that most of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are facing extreme or high risk of food shortages, according to a ranking of 148 nations.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

More money causes attachment, less money causes suffering, sound health causes pain due to attachment in leaving the body at the time of death, bad health causes pain during life. In this way material happiness is painful in all aspect. One has to develop attachment for Krishna. Then one will be free from any kind of sufferings, he will get eternal happiness.

Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja:
"Srila Gurudev's Bay Area Tour - Aug 19, 2002"

Hence, devotional faith is the only means of attaining the love of Krishna. At the incoming of wealth, as pleasure is ensured and poverty disappears, so pure bhakti kindles love for Sri Krishna in a person and frees him from the bondage of maya. So the direct fruit of love is neither cessation of poverty nor cessation of re-birth but the positive realisation of Eternal Bliss which is Divine Love. This is the highest end of human existence.

Srila Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Maharaja :
"Six Goswamins" - Chapter: Sanatana Goswami - Sanatana Siksha.

WAVE OF DEADLY ATTACKS IN PAKISTAN

GUNMEN, BOMBERS HIT 4 SITES IN PAKISTAN
AT LEAST 36 POLICE OFFICERS AND CIVILIANS DIE

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN y AP) - Pakistan reeled under a wave of audacious terror attacks on security installations Thursday that left 36 people dead and highlighted the Taliban's ability to strike at the heart of the nation's anti-terror establishment despite months of pressure from the military. Again teams of gunmen militants launched a string of bold strikes against Pakistani law enforcement Thursday, leaving at least 36 police officers and civilians dead, authorities said. At least 11 militants also died in the fighting, while others were missing.

Three nearly simultaneous assaults were carried out mid-morning in the eastern city of Lahore, said police officers. Militants stormed Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency, along with two police training centers. The attackers gained entrance to each facility, setting set off explosives and taking hostages in some cases. At least 25 people died in the Lahore attacks. In northwestern Pakistan, a suicide car bomber hit a police station in the Kohat district, killing at least 11 people - eight civilians and three police, said Kohat Police Chief Dilawr Bangish. A dozen people were injured in the attack. The offices of several senior police and government officials are next to the police station that was targeted. Several military installations also are nearby. Militant attacks have become increasingly bold in recent days.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

A section of people has become more, ferocious than beasts. People have now become habitual to this day-to-day horrible crimes. When Tamagun predominates, people become violently inclined. Tamagun causes destruction. The whole world is running fast towards destruction. It is now beyond the capacity of human efforts to restrain this trend of thought. Gradually this world is becoming unfit for stay of peace loving good people. If this unholy violent trend is not restricted, it will gradually contaminate the whole human society.

Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja :
""His Teachings" - published on Apr 5, 2002"

DOCTOR REMOVES PLASTIC FRAGMENT LODGED IN LUNG

AMAZING: MAN HAD A 1-INCH PIECE OF FRAGMENT
OF A PLASTIC EATING UTENSIL STUCK IN HIS LUNG

RALEIGH, N.C. USA – (AP) A man who was plagued with coughing fits should be OK now that they have removed a 1-inch piece of plastic from his lung, where it had rested since he apparently inhaled it nearly two years ago while sucking down a soft drink at a Wendy's restaurant. Doctors at Duke University Medical Center say the plastic fragment of an eating utensil - with the fast-food Wendy's logo still legible on the side - was likely to blame for the coughing, fatigue and pneumonia spells that plagued the man for two years. The piece of plastic also show 'A-M-B-U-R-G-E-R-S,' as part of the Wendy's motto of "Old Fashioned Hamburgers.

The 50-year-old man said he probably inhaled it while gulping a drink from Wendy's. "I like to take big gulps of drink," he said. Manley met with multiple doctors, who eventually determined there was a foreign object in his left lung, eventually Dr. Momen Wahidi, who mostly works with cancer patients, did the surgery and removed the mystery object. Dr. Wahidi said he will meet with Manley in a month for a checkup, but he expects a full recovery.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

tāni sarvāni samyamya / yukta āsīta mat-parah
vaśe hi yasyendriyāni / tasya prajñā pratishthitā

One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence.

"Bhagavad-gītā As It Is : 2.61"

yuktāhāra-vihārasya / yukta-ceshtasya karmasu
yukta-svapnāvabodhasya / yogo bhavati duhkha-hā

He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.

"Bhagavad-gītā As It Is : 6.17"