JUNK FOODS CAN LEAD TO ADDICTION

NEW STUDY SUGGESTS JUNK FOOD IS
“AS ADDICTIVE AS HEROIN AND SMOKING”

LONDON (CBS) - Fatty foods are addictive and trigger responses in the brain similar to cocaine and heroin, according to a Nature Neuroscience study. Neuroscientists from the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida, fed rats a high-fat diet and then measured their responsiveness to reward. “We basically bought all of the stuff that people really like—Ding-Dongs, cheesecake, bacon, sausage, the stuff that you enjoy, but you really shouldn’t eat too often,” said co-author Dr Paul Kenny. The reward circuits in the brains of addicts often have dulled responses, leading them to seek more addictive substances to get their fix. Rats given greater access to the tasty foods developed binge- and compulsive-like eating behaviour and gained more weight. They also needed more stimulation to reach a certain reward threshold over time.

“The study shows evidence that drug addiction and obesity are based on the same underlying neurobiological mechanisms,” says Kenny. “The animals completely lost control over their eating behaviour, the primary hallmark of addiction.” Even when the rats were conditioned to associate a light signal with a shock to the foot, the obese rats would continue to eat despite seeing the light. Skinny rats fed standard lab chow pellets stopped eating when they saw the light. This finding helps us to understand why individuals who often express a desire to limit activities with well-known negative health impacts still struggle to control those behaviours. “This is very similar to what you’d see in humans who overindulge,” Kenny says. “It seemed that it was okay, from what we could tell, to enjoy snack foods, but if you repeatedly overindulge, that’s where the problem comes in.”


Rats eat what makes them feel good and slowly become addicts to that behaviour; once the addiction has been established, they are willing to subject themselves to extremely uncomfortable situations in order to have access to that food again. Unfortunately, people exhibit similar behaviours.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Vedic culture strongly promotes vegetarianism. The vegetarian diet has been followed since antiquity by those who have chosen the path of yoga, goodness, and purification. ... No more junk food. Only buy pure organic ingredients and prepare nice food with love to offer to God and be purified by eating sanctified food, free of Karmic reactions.No more use of artificial colors, chemical flavoring, preservatives, and the thousands of other illness producing horrors that the drug and food control agency has not yet prohibited due to their ignorance.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Ecology and Meditation”
“Body Mind and Soul in Harmony with Nature”
“The Body - We are what we eat”
http://www.vrindavan.org/English/about/VaishnavaEcology.html

153 TRAPPED IN CHINA COAL MINE

RESCUERS IN CHINA STRUGGLE
TO FREE 153 TRAPPED MINERS

BEIJING (NYTimes.com) - Rescue workers in northern China struggled Monday to reach 153 miners trapped a day earlier when water gushed into a warren of tunnels dug for a new underground coal field. Government officials say an additional 108 men scurried to safety as the mine began flooding Sunday afternoon. A preliminary investigation suggests that miners may have broken through to an adjacent subterranean pit where water had been accumulating, according to the official Xinhua news service. Television news broadcasts on Monday showed workers feeding tubes into a shaft in an effort to drain the flooded mine, part of a network of tunnels being built at the Wangjialing Coal Mine, a 42-square-mile coal field in Shanxi Province that was scheduled to begin production later this year. Most of the trapped were migrant workers from Shanxi, Hebei, and Guizhou provinces. President Hu Jintao ordered that emergency workers “spare no effort” to save the miners.

Official reports showed the country’s vice premiere, Zhang Dejiang, at the scene of the accident, which is about 500 miles southwest of Beijing. The accident is a familiar tale in China’s coal-producing heartland, where safety standards often take a back seat to production. Although Chinese officials say the number of mining-related deaths has dropped by half in the past decade, 2,631 coal miners were killed by gas leaks, explosions or flooded tunnels last year. If rescue efforts fail, it would be the deadliest accident since 2007, when 172 miners died in a flooded coal mine in Shandong Province. The worst events tend to occur in Shanxi, which produces 30 percent of the nation’s coal and has a reputation for illegal and poorly regulated mines.


Many mine accidents and the subsequent cover-ups, usually occur because the main concern for these companies, are economic profits and coal production. They are not interested in improving safety standards for the benefit of the poor workers.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

At the present moment human society is overly influenced by the mode of passion, and consequently people are engaged in working in big factories. They forget how distressful it is to live in such places. In Bhagavad-gītā such activities are described as ugra-karma, that is, distressful activities. Those who utilize the energies of the worker are called capitalists, and those who actually perform the work are called laborers. ... The result is that there is always a distressful situation.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam”
Purport in Canto 4 - Chapter 29 - Verse 28.

DOUBLE SUICIDE BOMBINGS ON MOSCOW SUBWAY

SUICIDE BOMBERS HIT TWO MOSCOW
SUBWAY STATIONS, DOZENS KILLED

MOSCOW (AP) - Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow's subway system as it was jam-packed with rush-hour passengers Monday, killing at least 37 people and wounding 102, officials said. They explained that 23 people were killed in an explosion shortly before 8 a.m. at the Lubyanka station in central Moscow. The station is underneath the building that houses the main offices of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, the KGB's main successor agency. A second explosion hit the Park Kultury station about 45 minutes later. Chumikova said at least 12 were dead there. The ministry later said 38 people were injured. The blasts practically paralyzed movement in the city center as emergency vehicles sped to the stations. In the Park Kultury blast, the bomber was wearing a belt packed with plastic explosive and set it off as the train's doors opened, said Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia's top investigative body. The woman has not been identified, he told reporters.

The last confirmed terrorist attack in Moscow was in August 2004, when a suicide bomber blew herself up outside a city subway station, killing 10 people. Responsibility for that blast was claimed by Chechen rebels and suspicion in Monday's explosions is likely to focus on them and other separatist groups in the restive North Caucasus region. Russian police have killed several Islamic militant leaders in the North Caucasus recently, including one last week in the Kabardino-Balkariya region. The killing of Anzor Astemirov was mourned by contributors to two al-Qaida-affiliated Web sites. The killings have raised fears of retaliatory strikes by the militants.


Terrorism has again hit the big cities, and it has done so in one of its most vulnerable systems: the Metro, during peak hours, killing many innocent people. Such atrocities will stop when we learn that despite differences, we are brothers and we must care and protect one another.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

It has already been stated that differences in the individuals are unavoidable as they are conscious units. Now the problem is to find a common ground and interest for the solution of these differences. A sense of common interest can be fostered among individuals, if they know that they are inter-connected, are parts of one Organic System and are the sons and daughters of one Father. Here is the task of all religions: to teach people that all beings of the world are closely inter-related. ... Real religion teaches love for one another.

Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Madhava Mahārāja :
“Realistic Solution for Diverse Humanity”
Speech at a ‘Spiritual Summit Conference’ - 1968 Calcutta.
http://www.sreecgmath.org/scgmtimes/scgmsbdm.php

REBELS KILLED 321 VILLAGERS IN DRC

EVIDENCE OF THE MASSACRE OF 321
IN DR CONGO HAS BEEN UNCOVERED

AFRICA (BBC News) - Fighters from the notorious Lord's Resistance Army raided several villages in a remote part of north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing and abducting children. The killings took place last December but have not previously been reported. Human Rights Watch says this is one of the worst massacres carried out by the LRA, whose fighters roam across several countries after spreading from Uganda. The rebel leaders initially claimed to be fighting to install a theocracy in Uganda based on the Biblical Ten Commandments, but they now sow terror in Sudan and Central African Republic, as well as DR Congo. In the latest attack, the rebels hacked to death villagers and made others carry looted goods. Some 250 people were abducted. The United Nations had heard rumours that an attack was to be launched around Christmas, and reinforced their troops in the area. But they were deployed to towns like Dungu and Niangara rather than the remote villages where the killings finally took place.

Human Rights Watch, working with local groups, has verified 321 deaths - but other activists have given far higher estimates. Witnesses say the stench of death hung over the area for weeks. Children were a particular target of the LRA. At least 80 were taken by force - boys to become fighters, girls to be used as sex slaves by LRA combatants. Quite why they killed so many of their victims is a mystery. "We don't understand what their strategy really is, but they clearly like killing, like destroying things," said Father Joseph Nzala, the Catholic priest at Tapili. Many villagers are still too frightened to go home, and they continue to live in a makeshift camp on the edge of Niangara.


Some armed groups use violence causing extreme suffering to civilians and justify their actions on religious grounds, but the real cause lies in the unbridled desires of material enjoyment, lust and anger, all sins that God does not approve.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Sin is the cause of sufferings. Cause of sin is desire for committing sin. Misconception of self is the cause of desire for committing sin. Nescience is the cause of misconception of self and aversion to Absolute Knowledge is the cause of nescience. So the root cause of sin is aversion to Sree Krishna, Who is All-Existence, All-Knowledge and All-Bliss. This Divine Knowledge only can be imparted by a bona fide Guru, the absolute-counterpart and grace-incarnate form of Supreme Lord.

Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja :
“Process of Initiation”
Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math
http://www.sreecgmath.org

TURN OUT THE LIGHTS ON SATURDAY

WORLD TO EMBRACE DARKNESS TONIGHT
GLOBAL EVENT, GO DARK FOR "EARTH HOUR

BEIJING (Xinhua) - The countdown to Earth Hour is on. This weekend, on Saturday March 27, everyone world-wide is being asked to shut off the lights for one hour at 8:30 p.m. local time, wherever they may be. People across the globe will once again embrace darkness for an hour, following the call to build a low-carbon, more environment-friendly world. The grassroots lights-off campaign, known as "Earth Hour," was launched in 2007 in Sydney, when the city switched off its lights to highlight the world's climate problems. It's part of an eco-conscious effort to draw awareness to climate-change by halting energy consumption for one hour. The annual event, which falls on the last Saturday of each March, has since then become increasingly popular as it celebrates its fourth anniversary this year. The global event has enjoyed consistent backing from non-governmental organizations worldwide and the participation of thousands of towns.

In Germany, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin will go dark after local parliamentarians, advocating environmental protection, turn off a super-size switch in front of the gate. Meanwhile, people at the site, by cycling upon special equipment, can light up a bear figure, Berlin's emblem. Last year, the lights went out at the Empire State Building, the Sydney Opera House and even the Eiffel Tower! This year organizers expect 115 countries to participate. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also adhered in support of Earth Hour emphasizing the simple message that climate change is a concern for all the inhabitants of the planet Earth. “The United Nations is once again pleased to support Earth Hour, a global awareness campaign on climate change”.


Today around the world, people turn off their lights for an hour as a show of support for taking action on climate change. It is a powerful global message about environmental awareness, but there are also many other small actions we can do to to save energy and protect the environment.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

No more unnecessary trips in cars. Let us use bikes whenever possible. Walk more. Participate actively in civic services such as planting trees in public places, provision of drinking water to passengers, cleaning of soiled areas, recycling of waste, protection against abuse of animals, etc. We should see the power of God manifested in everything, and then act with the utmost responsibility and care. Even a faucet that is leaking must be closed. We should save energy.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Ecology and Meditation”
“Body Mind and Soul in Harmony with Nature”
“The Environment”
http://www.bhaktipedia.org/espanol/

BUSH 'WIPED HAND' AFTER SHAKING WITH HAITIAN

DID FORMER US PRESIDENT BUSH
WIPE HAND AFTER SHAKING HAITIAN'S?

BEIJING, (Xinhuanet) - A controversial video is widely circulated on various websites, showing former U.S. President George W. Bush wiping his hand on his counterpart Bill Clinton's shirtsleeve after shaking hands with a man during their humanitarian visit to Haiti. On March 22, the two former U.S. presidents went to visit the survivors, who suffered from strong earthquake in January, at a large homeless camp in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. The Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund has raised 37 million U.S. dollars from 200,000 donors, including American president Barack Obama, who donated money from his Nobel Peace Prize award. But Bush seems to be very careful about his personal hygiene, the video shows that after shaking hands with a member of the crowd, he seemingly rubbed his hand on Clinton's shirtsleeve.

BBC footage shows the pair visiting a homeless camp in Port-au-Prince, where they greeted people displaced by the earthquake. While Mr Clinton's back is turned, Mr Bush appears to shake hands with one man before wiping his hand on his predecessor's arm. George W Bush has been accused of insensitivity by his gesture, whether intentional or accidental, it was criticised as insulting to the disaster-stricken country. The footage has prompted tweets and blogs accusing the former president of insulting Haiti and, as the shirt belonged to Bill Clinton, it was also suggested that Bush was demeaning him. Others web sites have suggested he was just being affectionate with his fellow former president. However, the truth is not easy to judge.

During the Vedic age, the Kings were methodically trained to become magnanimous and to perform sacrifices for the development of society and prosperity of the subjects. The rulers were interested in the happiness of their people and looked after their spiritual realization, but this does not happen in Kali Yuga.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

A responsible king was always approachable by his citizens. Generally the citizens, great and common, all had an aspiration to see the king and take benediction from him. The king knew this, and therefore whenever he met the citizens he immediately fulfilled their desires or mitigated their grievances. ... In a responsible monarchy the citizens had no grievances against the government, and even if they did, they could approach the king directly for immediate satisfaction.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam”
Purport in Canto 4 - Chapter 21 - Verse 6.

CONSUMED VIAGRA TO ABUSE HIS DAUGHTER AND DIED

MAN DIES FROM OVERDOSE OF VIAGRA WHILE
HAVING INTERCOURSE WITH HIS DAUGHTER OF 16

SANTIAGO (Chile) - One man died of a heart stroke caused by an overdose of Viagra in Villarrica. The victim, at death, was having sex with his 16 year old daughter with whom he already had a baby. Police sources reported that “A man of 40 years died in Chile due to an overdose of Viagra. After he began to have convulsions, the Emergency Services were alerted and he was taken to the local hospital, where he died, due to a cardiac arrest.” Braulio Contreras, deputy of the Criminal Investigation (PDI) stated that “The deceased, Juan Carlos Valdes Traimaqueo, suffered a stroke after ingesting two tablets of Viagra to have sex with his daughter at a motel in Villarrica, southern Chile.” And that “The worst thing was that the rest of the family and his wife were aware of the relationship that both had”. The Sex Crimes Squad of the PDI Temuco performs research on this case to find out why this father committed the crime of incest. It was established that the child had been sexually violated by her biological father since she was 14 years old. It was also found that due to this, the girl became pregnant, having a daughter with his father, now a year and a half old, "said Jaime Woldarsky prefect, head of the Brigade.

After pregnancy, the sexual abuses of the father against his own daughter continued. The family was aware of the abuses, "but did not report the crimes, to maintain an image of the father as head of the family at home", added the sub-prefect. In the case of the younger woman said not remember when the abuse started against him, so it is presumed that these were initiated when the victim was young, so no resistance to these facts. "It was apparently accustomed to these events and assumed as something perfectly normal," said the official of the PDI.


The Manu Samhita: 2-215 (Laws of Manu) claims that lustful desires are so strong that “even if one is highly advanced, materially or spiritually, he may be sexually attracted to his mother, sister or daughter”. If you think that Vedic sastras exaggerate, just read this kind of news and you will realize how strong the spell of sexual attachment is.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

In this material world everyone is attracted by sex. ... but this same sex happiness is also there in the hogs. The hogs eat the whole day, here and there -“Where is stool? Where is stool?” - and then have sex without any discrimination. The hog does not discriminate whether he has sex with his mother, sister, or daughter. So, the sastra says we are encaged in this material world only for sex. ... The aim of human life is to get out of the clutches of the material world. ... And it all begins with our attraction for madana, the pleasure of sex.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Journey of Self-Discovery”
Chapter: “The Pleasure Principle”
“Krsna, Enchanter of the Soul”

TOMORROW, MARCH FOR THE ”UNBORN CHILD DAY”

SPAIN AND LATIN AMERICA
TO MARCH AND PRAY FOR LIFE

MADRID (CNA) - With the recent approval of new abortion law in Spain, various secular institutions expressed their active participation in the “World Day for Life” which will be held on Thursday 25 March, under the motto “Unborn Child Day” with the aim of promoting the repeal of the new law. In all Spanish cities vigils, Eucharist or Rosaries for life, will be conducted.

As pointed HazteOir.org, “what began as a demonstration to call attention to the new abortion law, in March 2009, it has become an appointment with a vocation for renewal every year and with an immediate goal: the repeal of the new law. ”

In Madrid, “the president of HazteOir.org, Ignacio Arsuaga, will read one of the prayers (requests for the sacrament), during the Eucharistic celebration presided by Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, at the Almudena Cathedral,” the organizers explain. Also in several Spanish cities will be held peaceful demonstrations against abortion centers.

In Peru, the March for Life, under the Unborn Child Day, is organized by Ceprofarena (Center for Family and Promotion of Natural Fertility Regulation) in coordination with the Archbishop of Lima. In Venezuela, the Episcopal Conference (CEV) which since 2000 has held the Week for Life, will promote the Unborn Child Day.
In Argentina, there will be masses and awareness activities and also demand for “the defense of life since the moment of conception”.
The same will happen in Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia and many other Latin American countries.


Since “conception” and throughout pregnancy, the soul is present in the womb. The soul enters using the semen of the father as a vehicle. Germ cells of dad and mom come together under the supervision of Paramatma, who allows the soul to enter into the “emulsion” formed by sperm and egg, thus pregnancy is produced.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The soul is transferred to the semen of a man who is just suitable to become his father. During sexual intercourse, the soul is transferred through the semen of the father into the mother's womb in order to produce a particular type of body. … it is not the semen of the man that creates life within the womb of a woman; rather, the living entity, the soul, takes shelter in a particle of semen and is then pushed into the womb of a woman. Then the body develops. There is no possibility of creating a living entity without the presence of the soul simply by sexual intercourse.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam”
Purport in Canto 3 - Chapter 31 - Verse 1.

COCA-COLA TOLD TO PAY FOR DAMAGE TO ENVIRONMENT

INDIA, KERALA PANEL ASKS COCA-COLA
TO PAY FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY PLANT

NEW DELHI (Times) - Coca-Cola, the world’s largest beverages maker, should pay Rs 216 crore compensation for pollution and depleting groundwater. A high-power committee appointed by Kerala government has accused Coca-Cola of causing damages to the tune of Rs 216.26 crore through the operation of its bottling plant in Plachimada in Palakkad district. Observing that there was "impeccable evidence to prove that the Plachimada factory had caused immense damage to the environment and people and their health". Besides heavy withdrawal of ground water, the bottling plant run by Coca-Cola’s bottling arm, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages, had "inflicted harm on the farming and environment in the area" by dumping solid waste. The company is responsible for these damages and it's obligatory that they pay the compensation to the affected people for the agricultural losses, health problems, loss of wages, loss of educational opportunities and the pollution caused to the water resources, the Committe said.

Sludge from the plant, supplied to farmers as fertiliser, contained dangerous levels of cadmium and lead, says the report, breaking up the damages into losses incurred under various heads between 1999 and 2004. The plant was shut six years ago after protests against the company. Coca-Cola, however, rejected the report. Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd denied that its operations had caused any damage. "Based on scientific evaluation, our Plachimada plant operations haven't been shown to be the cause of local watershed issues," the company said.


Soft drinks have zero nutritional value compared with native Indian drinks like nimbu pani, lassi, panna, sattu. The soft drinks giants, through advertising, have made the youth of India feel ashamed of their indigenous drinkings, in spite of its nutritive and healthy values.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

With the proliferation of automobiles, air pollution threatens humanity, the industrial revolution has brought air and water pollution, truck farming with its pesticides and chemical fertilizers has introduced innumerable poisons into our food system, advances in physics have brought about the nuclear threat and possible holocaust, ... Even with all the advances in medical cures, new and incurable diseases have only increased. It seems that the goals of knowledge and pleasure have not been achieved.

Śrīpad Bhakti Bhāvana Vishnu Mahārāja :
“Has Science Failed Us?” - “Thesis”
Sri Narasingha Chaitanya Matha
http://www.gosai.com/chaitanya/

CELEBRATE WORLD WATER DAY 2010

WORLD WATER DAY 2010, UN CALLS FOR
URGENT INVESTMENT IN SAFE CLEAN WATER

NAIROBI, Kenya (Capital FM) - Under the theme: ‘Clean Water for a Healthy World’, World Water Day 2010 will see a series of initiatives organized around the globe to raise awareness and emphasise the key importance of good water quality in improving human well-being. The global event aims to bring attention to the state of water quality around the world, and is a call for action on pollution prevention, clean-up, and restoration of waterways in order to sustain healthy ecosystems and human well-being. Central to World Water Day 2010 is the launch of the UN-Water Statement, a consensus document of 26 UN agencies and other partners, scientists, and practitioners, pointing out the state of the world’s water and defining the will and the way forward.

Adeel Zafar, Chairman of UN-Water, said water quality impacts the lives of millions of people worldwide annually, a majority of them under the age of five. The report ‘Clearing the Waters: A Focus on Water Quality Solutions’ also indicated that repairing leaky water and sewerage networks could secure not only supplies but reduce pollution and generate employment. UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner said human activity over the past 50 years was responsible for unprecedented pollution and the quality of world’s water resources was increasingly challenged. According to UNEP, globally two million tons of sewage, industrial and agricultural waste was poured into the world’s waters every day and at least 1.8 million children under five years-old died every year from water-related diseases.


Protecting water sources from pollution is everyone's responsibility. There is no need of great inventions or machinery. The best way to make a difference is by simply changing your mindset: Do not waste the resources God gives us.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The more human society engages in the exploitation of undeveloped material resources for sense gratification, the more it will be entrapped by the illusory, material energy of the Lord, and thus the distress of the world will be intensified instead of diminished. ... There is no need of machines and tools or huge steel plants for artificially creating comforts of life. Life is never made comfortable by artificial needs, but by plain living and high thinking.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam”
Purport in Canto 2 - Chapter 2 - Verse 37.

STRONG SANDSTORM TURNS BEIJING SKY ORANGE

CHINA: STRONG SANDSTORM LEAVES
BEIJING SHROUDED IN ORANGE DUST

BEIJING (BBC News) - Beijing has been shrouded in orange dust as a strong sandstorm blew hundreds of miles from drought-struck northern China to the nation's capital. The authorities have issued a level-five pollution warning and urged people to stay indoors. In Tiananmen Square, clouds of dust obscured monuments and visitors wore masks to avoid the dust and soil. The storm has already caused havoc in Xinjiang, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Hebei regions and is heading to South Korea. Residents of the South Korean capital, Seoul, as well as those in central and western regions, have been advised to stay indoors. By Saturday, the storm had spread over an area of 810,000 sq km (313,000 sq miles) with a population of 250 million, state news agency Xinhua reported. It was expected to last until Monday, the meteorological agency said in a statement on its website. Guo Hu, head of Beijing's meteorological agency, said the storm came from the deserts of Inner Mongolia.

Beijing has long-suffered from sandstorms - including a single instance in April 2006 when 300,000 tons of sand poured down on the city, Xinhua reported. But Mr Guo said the storms had become less frequent in recent years. Currently 270 million people are affected and forecasters say the storm will move from northern China and reach past the Yangtze River basin. Experts say the storms are, in part, caused by deforestation and the rapid expansion of urban areas in recent decades. The desert's shifting sands can cause sandstorms which can send grit to South Korea and Japan and reach as far as the western United States.


It is thought that the sandstorm is caused by severe drought. It is also believed that deforestation is the culprit for the desert’s shifting sands. No matter what the true causes, one thing is clear: the environmental degradation suffered by our mother earth, mainly lies in our lack of gratitude to God and His creation.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

So it is all Krishna's blessings. Krishna is the Lord. He is the Lord of all the Lords. He is the creator. ... Now you are sitting under a tree. You feel happy. No sunrays will fall upon you. And you will be happy. You get cool breeze, you get flowers, the scenery. The trees are helping us. To all our senses they help. They make us enjoy. You enjoy. But, no (laughs), we never enjoy. We cut the trees. We don't preserve the beauty. Whenever we want we cut the trees. For our satisfaction we cut the trees. Whenever we want, at the beginning we cut, and branches we cut, and the leaves and everything we cut and enjoy.

Śrīla Bhakti Vaibhava Purī Mahārāj :
Lecture: “Navada Bhakti”
Slovenia, summer 1998.
Śrī Krishna Chaitanya Mission.

FORMER NEPALESE PM G.P. KOIRALA PASSES AWAY

NEPAL'S PEACE ARCHITECT AND FORMER
PM GIRIJA PRASAD KOIRALA DIES AT 85

KATHMANDU, Nepal (BBC News) - Nepal's former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who served five terms and led mass protests that ended the king's authoritarian rule in the Himalayan nation, died Saturday. He was 85. Koirala was born in 1925 in Bihar of India. Koirala spent seven years in prison in the 1960s for fighting for democratic rule. After democracy was introduced in 1990, he became one of the most powerful forces in the country's tumultuous political scene. He was democratically elected Prime Minister in 1991 after a popular revolt ended absolute rule by the king. He was also a key figure in the peace process that ended 10 years of communist insurgency with the Maoist rebels giving up their armed revolt and joining mainstream politics. In May 2006, the government and Maoist rebels began peace talks, the first in nearly three years, resulting in a peace accord by November 2006, declaring a formal end to a 10-year rebel insurgency. Recently, Koirala was nominated for Nobel Prize by Nepali government to honor his effective role resolving decade long insurgency and peace process.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed condolences. “Koirala spent his entire political life championing the cause of the people. Koirala was a mass leader and a statesman, whose knowledge and wisdom guided the polity of Nepal in the right direction at critical junctures in the country's history.” Mr Singh said.
Mr Koirala's body will lie in state at the national stadium on Sunday, with his funeral later in the day at the Pashupatinath Hindu temple in Kathmandu.


The leaders of the countries long to find peace for their people through international treaties, but then new problems arise as resentment, envy and ambition still remain in the individuals. Knowledge about the science of God is the way to turn the mass mind towards spiritual realization.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

There is a need for the science of Krishna in human society for the good of all suffering humanity of the world, and we simply request the leaders of all nations to pick up this science of Krishna for their own good, for the good of society and for the good of all the world's people. ... The Lord inaugurated this system of mass sańkīrtana, and leaders of all countries can take advantage of this spiritual movement in order to keep the mass of people in a pure state of peace and friendship with one another. This is now the demand of the present human society all over the world.

ŚŚrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Introduction.

LONELINESS LINKED TO HIGH BP IN ELDER PEOPLE

LONELINESS MIGHT HAVE NEGATIVE EFFECT
ON BLOOD PRESSURE IN OLDER ADULTS, STUDY

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new study at the University of Chicago shows, for the first time, a direct relation between loneliness and larger increases in blood pressure. The relation is independent of age and other factors that can cause blood pressure to increase, including body-mass index, smoking, alcohol use and demographic variations like race and income. The researchers also looked at the possibility that depression and stress might account for the increase but found that those factors did not fully explain the increase in blood pressure among lonely people 50 years and older. Researcher Louise Hawkley wrote in an article, “Loneliness Predicts Increased Blood Pressure”, that loneliness worked as if it is a distinctive health-risk factor in its own right. The article came out in the current issue of the journal, “Psychology and Aging”. During the five-year study, Hawkley found a lucid relation between feelings of loneliness and increasing blood pressure. The team based its research on a study of 229 people aged 50 to 68. The randomly chosen group included whites, African Americans and Latinos who were part of a long-term study on aging.

Researcher Louise Hawkley said, “Loneliness is characterized by a motivational impulse to connect with others but also a fear of negative evaluation, rejection and disappointment. We hypothesize that threats to one's sense of safety and security with others are toxic components of loneliness, and that hypervigilance for social threat may contribute to alterations in physiological functioning, including elevated blood pressure”.



Generally, people in this material world consider loneliness as an overwhelming experience and a source of many illnesses, on the other hand, people who perform service in different religions, value loneliness and living modestly very highly, as one of the paths to attain wisdom and spiritual realization.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

May I continuously reside in a small, lonely cottage at the base of a desire-tree in the most holy abode of Sri Navadvipa-dhama, which is sanctified by the lotus feet of Sri Saci-Nanadana. Such a bhajan-kutir is perfectly suitble for constant remembrance of, and service to the divine daily sports that are always present in Sri Vraja-dhama. Indeed, in contrast to this, I will never live in any other place, even if it is bankered for with great enthusiasm by the most wise sages and demigods of all sorts ... all such places cannot attract me as much as my modest bhajan-kutir in Sri Navadvipa-dhama does.

Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinoda Thākura :
Śri Śri Sva-Niyama-Dvadasakam - 4th Verse.
“Whre to Live, and Where Not to Live”.
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library - www.bvml.org/SBTP/.