TOURIST SAVES WOMAN BY PULLING SHARK’S TAIL

AUSTRALIAN SWIMMER GRABS 12FT SHARK BY TAIL
TO STOP IT ATTACKING A TEENAGE FEMALE DIVER

(AP) - Nineteen-year-old Elyse Frankcom was leading a swimming with dolphins encounter in waters off Western Australia on Saturday when the shark bit into her hip and buttocks. Her boss Terry Howson, from Rockingham Wild Encounters, says other people in the water acted quickly to help her. The shark - believed to be a three metre great white or whaler shark - savaged Ms Frankcom’s hip and buttock, but Fremantle Volunteer Sea Rescue senior skipper Frank Pisani, who was one of the first rescuers on the scene, said her injuries could have been a lot worse if not for the amazing actions of one of the tourist. “He told us the shark brushed past him, pushed him aside, and grabbed hold of Elyse,” Mr Pisani said. The man then grabbed hold of the shark’s tail while Ms Frankcom punched it in the nose, forcing it to drop her and swim away. ‘‘She started to sink to the bottom but he grabbed hold of her and brought her to the surface and got her back on board the boat’’ Mr Pisani said.

Mr Pisani and Mr Howson were both full of praise for the unknown man’s actions. “He thought it was just natural what he did,” Mr Pisani said. “It was pretty amazing to grab hold of a shark’s tail and try to fight it.” Mr Howson said the man was just a regular guest on board the tour boat and was quick to play down the attention. “As he sees it, it’s nothing special, he just did what he thought he could do at the time,” he said. Mr Howson said he had spoken to Ms Frankcom today and she was very keen to be reunited with her saviour. “The first thing I said to her was I was really proud of her for punching that shark in the nose, and she laughed,” he said.

Ms Frankcom underwent surgery at RPH last night and was recovering this morning in a stable condition, a hospital spokesman said.


The 19-year-old diving guide, Elyse Frankcom, miraculously survived the attack when a snorkeller grabbed the tail of the shark, after it clamped its jaws around her waist, and saving her life by this action. The hero who saved the life of the young lady declined to give his name or speak further about his courageous action. Śrī Krishna Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the real hero who frees the fallen souls from the clutches of this illusory world. He is the source of all incarnations in Kali-yuga, and is well known as Patita-pāvana, the savior of all fallen souls. He is Krishna, the son of Maharaja Nanda, fully enriched with the mood and radiance of Sri Radha.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

I have been thinking of the namaskara sloka of Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami’s mangalacarana in Caitanya-caritamrta. ... Kaviraj Goswami offers his respect (vande) to Sri Krishna Caitanya. Sri Krishna means Radha Krishna, who have appeared as Caitanya. He is Krishna Caitanya, or Krishna conscious. This name was given to him by Kesava Bharati Maharaja as Mahaprabhu began his preaching lila. The word “caitanya” means consciousness. Mahaprabhu is always conscious of Krishna. “Caitanya” also means “soul.” Mahaprabhu is the soul of Krishna, Srimati Radharani, and thus he is conscious of Krishna as only she can be. ... Sri Radha saw Gauranga in her dream once, a golden dancing figure in a land nondifferent from her own Vrindavana. His dancing and chanting made the entire universe cry. When she awoke, she wondered who this figure was. Was he Krishna, or was he her own self in another form? When Krishna arrived and heard her speaking about this he merely laughed. However, his kastauba mani (gem) representing all jivas that He wears over his heart suddenly shone brightly revealing to Radha the reason why Krishna only laughed.

Śrīla Bhakti Vedanta Tripurari Mahārāja :
“Our Two Sweet Gods”
Gaura Purnima, Vrindavana, March 20, 2000
“Q & A with Swami B. V. Tripurari” - Vol. II, No. 11
http://swami.org/
Sri Caitanya Sanga - http://www.swami.org/pages/sanga/

NEW TRUSTEES IN PARLIAMENT WORLD’S RELIGIONS

NEW BOARD OF TRUSTEES ELECTED IN
PARLIAMENT OF THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS

www.parliamentofreligions.org - USA. The Board of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions elected seven new Trustees for a three-year term at its October 24-25, 2010 meeting, in a commitment to extending its reach to diverse religious and spiritual communities. They are: Anju Bhargava (Hindu); Kirit Daftary (Jain); Dr. Robert Henderson (Baha’i); Mary Nelson (Christian); Christopher Peters (Native American); Dr. Anantanand Rambachan (Hindu); Kuldeep Singh (Sikh). The Council is governed by a board of 35 Trustees total, with persons of Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Jewish, Hindu, Indigenous, Pagan, Sikh, Zoroastrian, and humanistic traditions. The roots of the Council go back to the historic 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions, when for the first time in history the traditions of East and West met for formal interreligious dialogue.

The most recent was the meeting in Melbourne, Australia in 2009, the largest gathering of religious leaders the world ever saw: 6,500 participants from over 80 countries representing over 200 religious, spiritual and traditional communities attended for one week. Over the years, the Council has initiated dialogues and nurtured relationships among people of difference. In doing so the Council has provided a framework for expressing many visions of a just, peaceful and sustainable future. In the process, religious and spiritual communities have discovered a shared commitment to ethical principles. This shared commitment has opened the way for a new era of cooperative action among the world’s religious and spiritual communities as well as civil and political societies. The well-being of the Earth and all life depends on this collaboration.


The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions was created to cultivate harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions in order to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world. It is crucial to try to search for an impartial and liberal approach to different views of religious faiths in this world to build a world-fellowship of different religions which can promote the unity of hearts amongst human beings.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Every individual has his peculiar nature distinct form any other. So, obviously individuals will vary in their opinions and tastes and this is quite natural. ... 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. Although steadfastness or firm belief in God (Nistha) according to some particular faith and eligibility of the individual is congenial for healthy spiritual growth of every individual, religious bigotry which begets enmity is condemnable, as it is against the real interest of the individual and society. Real religion teaches love for one another. Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu propagated the cult of all-embracing Divine Love which brings universal brotherhood on a transcendental plane.

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

ISLAMISTS EXECUTES TEENAGE GIRLS ACCUSED OF SPYING

AL-SHABAAB EXECUTES TWO TEENAGERS
ACCUSED OF SPYING IN CENTRAL SOMALIA

www.telegraph.co.uk - An al-Qaeda linked Somali group executed two teenage girls accused of spying yesterday in a public square as hundreds of people watched on. Ayan Mohamed Jama, 18, and Huriyo Ibrahim, 15 were tried by the group’s courts and shot by 10 masked men after being accused of spying for government soldiers fighting the Islamist group. Residents said they were dragooned into watching the event and expressed disgust at have to witness the murder of the girls. “Everyone was very sorry for the young girls who were killed in front of hundreds,” said one resident of the town. Another witness said: “The group informed the population that a punishment was going to be carried out in public on two women they claimed had been found guilty of spying, I didn’t know they were planning to shoot them”. “The two girls were sitting on the ground with their hands tied behind their back. Then a group of fighters covered their faces and shot them from behind,” he said. “It was shocking, the girls were so young. They looked so desperate but nobody could help them.”

“We captured those ladies from Hiiran region, they were spying to Ethiopian and Somali governments, if we saw anybody who spying, he/she will face the sharia law,” said Al-Shabaab regional commander. Militia members had toured the Beletweyne’s streets, informing residents about the pending executions by loudspeaker and ordering everyone to attend. Al Shabaab has imposed a draconian Taliban-style religious regime on areas of Somalia under its control. The group has vowed to overthrow the Western-backed Somali transitional government that has been established to forestall the spread of militant influence in the failed Horn of Africa state.


Somalia's Islamist insurgents, the Al Shabab, has executed two teenagers after deciding that they were spies. Through big loudspeakers, they ordered people to gather in the center of town to witness the execution. According to Vedic principles, a woman, a brahmana, an old man, a child and a cow should never be killed. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam we learn that Kamsa, although he was a great enemy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and a powerful demon, knew very well that one suffers in the next life according to the karmas of this life, and therefore he was afraid of killing Devaki, since she was a woman, she was his sister, and she was pregnant. But nowadays people are crueler than those demons of the Vedic times, and now they do not hesitate to kill innocent women in public.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Kamsa considered that if he killed his sister, while living he would be condemned by everyone, and after death he would go to the darkest region of hellish life because of his cruelty. It is said that a cruel person like a butcher is advised not to live and not to die. While living, a cruel person creates a hellish condition for his next birth, and therefore he should not live; but he is also advised not to die, because after death he must go to the darkest region of hell. Thus in either circumstance he is condemned. Kamsa, therefore, having good sense about the science of the soul’s transmigration, deliberately refrained from killing Devaki. … Although the body is temporary, it always gives one trouble in many ways, but human civilization is now unfortunately based on tanu-mānī, the bodily concept of life, by which one thinks, “I belong to this nation,” “I belong to this group,” “I belong to that group,” and so on. Each of us has his own ideas, and we are becoming increasingly involved, individually, socially, communally and nationally, in the complexities of karmānubandha, sinful activities.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam”
Purport in Canto 10, Chapter 2:
“Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krishna in the Womb” - Text 22.

ARGENTINE EX-PRESIDENT NESTOR KIRSHNER DIES

POWERFUL ARGENTINE POLITICIAN & EX- PRESIDENT
NESTOR KIRCHNER DIED OF A HEART ATTACK, WAS 60

www.washingtonpost.com - Argentine former President, UNASUR general secretary and the husband of the current president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Nestor Kirchner, died yesterday morning at 9:50am Argentina time in the city of Calafate due to a heart attack. President Cristina Kirshner and her husband, traveled earlier this week to their summer home in Calafate, to take a break after Mrs. Kirshner complained of chest pains. Mr. Kirshner, had been pestered by ill health and had undergone two major operations in 2010 alone. This February the 60 year old ex-president had surgery to remove a blockage in his carotid artery, which carries blood from the heart to the brain. September saw him come back to the surgical table, when routine tests revealed a blocked coronary artery and he was given an emergency angioplasty after complaining of numbness in his legs.

Kirchner who was considered President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s closest adviser and a major power broker in her government, had been expected to run again for president in next year’s election switching office with his wife.

Born in Rio Gallegos, Kirchner started his political career by becoming the mayor of Rio Gallegos in 1987 to 1991. In 1991 he became the Governor of Santa Cruz for the next 12 years. He then ran for President. Kirchner will be remembered as a great leader, who took the reigns of an economically battered country, and sorted things out significantly. Mr. Kirchner served as president from 2003 to 2007, when his wife became the country's second female president (after Isabel Martínez de Perón, who served during the mid-1970s). The couple was regarded by many as the Bill and Hillary Clinton of Latin America. As Argentina's most powerful couple, the Kirchners held a place in the national imagination that recalled the near-mythical Peróns. From yesterday morning, thousands of people fill the historic Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires, to mourn the death of their former president Nestor Kirchner and support his wife, president Cristina Fernandez.


This Peronist leader's death leaves a major gap in the political arena of Argentina, and several successions: the leadership of the Peronist Party and the national deputy banking, among others charges. All citizens are very shocked and surprised by this sudden death, but we must remember that at the time of death, every living entity is so helpless that, although unwilling, we are forced to give up this body and enter another. And because our life is too short, we must make great efforts to make sure to occupy our mind with topics related to Lord Krishna and issues about our future spiritual life, because at any time we are going to be forced to leave here.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Our duration of life is not very long, and there is no certainty of when we shall be ordered to leave everything for the next stage. ... A living being is eternal by constitution. He is, so to speak, in the whirlpool of birth and death due to his contact with material energy. Freed from such material energy, a living entity is liberated and is eligible to return home, back to Godhead. Those who want to live forever without changing their material bodies should not waste valuable time with topics other than those relating to Lord Krishna and His devotees. ... Every human being dislikes meeting death, but he does not know how to get rid of death. The surest remedy for avoiding death is to accustom oneself to hearing the nectarean pastimes of the Lord as they are systematically narrated in the text of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It is advised herein, therefore, that any human being who desires freedom from death should take to this course of life as recommended by the rishis headed by Śaunaka.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam”
Purport in Canto 1, Chapter 16:
“How Parīkshit Received the Age of Kali” - Texts 6 - 8.

CHOLERA KILLS 1,555 IN NIGERIA, SAYS U.N.

CHOLERA OUTBREAK HITS
NIGERIA HARD THIS YEAR

NIGERIA (CNN) - A cholera outbreak in Nigeria has killed more than 1,500 people, the United Nations said Tuesday. It is the worst cholera outbreak in Nigeria in recent years. The number of cases is three times higher than last year and seven times higher than in 2008, the United Nations Children’s Fund said. The outbreak has led to 40,000 cases in Nigeria and resulted in 1,555 deaths, UNICEF said. Women and children account for four of every five cases, the agency said. The disease’s spread seems to have been largely contained in Nigeria, where new cases are still being reported in parts of the country, particularly the northeast, the United Nations said. Cholera is caused by a bacterial infection of the intestine and, in severe cases, is characterized by diarrhea, vomiting and leg cramps, according to the CDC. In such cases, rapid loss of body fluids can lead to dehydration and shock. “Without treatment, death can occur within hours,” the agency has said. A person can get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the bacteria. The disease kills about 120,000 people a year, according to the World Health Organization.

During epidemics, the source of the contamination is often the feces of an infected person, and infections can spread rapidly in areas where there is poor sewage treatment and a lack of clean drinking water.

Two-thirds of rural Nigerians lack access to safe drinking water, and fewer than 40 percent of people in affected areas have access “to toilet facilities of any description,” the Nigerian Health Ministry said in August.


Cholera is an infectious disease of rapid development that causes diarrhea, leading to severe dehydration and possibly death if not treated quickly. However, the disease is easily preventable with clean water and sanitation, but in places like West Africa, water sanitation and hygiene are virtually nonexistent in those crowded slums in cities and rural villages. There are many diseases that primarily affect the poorest people on the planet. We should understand that the era of Kali is felt everywhere and try to bring some relief, both material and spiritual to those so impoverished countries.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

In Kali-yuga, people are almost exclusively devoted to gross materialism, with hardly any affinity for self-realization.

“When greed, dissatisfaction, false pride, hypocrisy and envy become prominent, along with attraction for selfish activities, such a time is the age of Dvāpara, dominated by the mixed modes of passion and ignorance. When there is a predominance of cheating, lying, sloth, sleepiness, violence, depression, lamentation, bewilderment, fear and poverty, that age is Kali, the age of the mode of ignorance. Because of the bad qualities of the age of Kali, human beings will become shortsighted, unfortunate, gluttonous, lustful and poverty-stricken.”

Symptoms of this yuga are already manifest throughout the world.

Purports to the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam,
Canto 12: “The Age of Deterioration.”
Chapter 3: “The Bhūmi-gītā.” - Texts: 29, 30, 31.
by the humble servants of HDG A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gainesville, Florida, USA - July, 1982.
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase - http://srimadbhagavatam.com/sb/12/en