RUSSIA FACES ‘10 DAYS OF HELL’

RUSSIA’S TOP DOCTOR WARNS OF
‘10 DAYS OF HORROR’ FOR CITIZENS

http://en.ria.ru/russia - The 10-day New Year holidays that begin in Russia on Sunday will be “ten days of hell,” the country’s top public health official warned on Thursday. “Most of our citizens will be left to their own devices. And there is no worse enemy for a Russian than himself,” Gennady Onishchenko told journalists. Russians finish work on December 29 to prepare for New Year and do not go back to work until January 9. The period invariably sees an increase in public drunkenness and fires. 
Onishchenko predicted rampant alcohol consumption and gluttony leading to an “unhealthy atmosphere” in households across the nation over the festive period. He urged Russians with children not to drink on New Year’s Eve. “You will be greeting the New Year with your family and, as head of the family, you will be setting a bad example,” he said. “Or are you not happy to be with your family?”. 

At least come 2015, the government will crack down on smokers and “those who worship the pagan deity Bacchus,” Onishchenko said, referring to a Roman god of wine. A harsh anti-smoking law was filed in the Russian parliament earlier this year, and legislation aimed to curb alcohol consumption is also in the works. Some 23,000 people die of alcohol poisoning annually in Russia, while another 75,000 die of alcohol-related diseases, according to official statistics. Russians were the world’s fourth heaviest drinkers in 2011 with annual consumption of 11 liters of pure ethanol per every citizen older than 15 years, according to the World Health Organization. Only Moldova, the Czech Republic and Hungary drank more. 
The “ten days of horror” will also see most of the public turned into couch potatoes by “mindless” TV programs, Onishchenko said. Onishchenko, 62, who has held the post since 1996, has made a name for himself by being able to find a public health angle in almost any public event.

“Ten days of horror.” That’s what Gennady Onishchenko, Russia’s chief health inspector, calls the traditional holiday period in the country, which encompasses New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and Orthodox Christmas on January 7. He’s referring to Russians’ penchant for imbibing mass quantities of alcohol during the festive season. And not just during the holidays. “There is no worse enemy for a Russian than himself,” says Onishchenko. Russians can claim the fourth-highest rate of alcohol consumption per capita in the world, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO says that 1-in-5 Russian men will die due to alcohol abuse. The world we live in is likened to a dream, and in our effort to achieve happiness we increase the illusion by alcohol or drugs; but unfortunately it will increase our miseries.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Intoxication is one of the more obvious sinful activities because so many people develop addictions to it. Whether it be alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, or caffeine, addiction to intoxication is very common.  Considering the fact that our senses are impossible to satisfy, it is no surprise that many take to intoxication in an attempt to break free of the senses.  Instead of trying to escape the senses, the Vedas tell us to purify them through practicing devotional service to God, or Bhakti yoga. ... The easiest way to refrain from these activities is to always keep yourself engaged in God’s service wherever you are and whatever you may be doing. Keep chanting “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare” and you will be guaranteed of success.

Krishna’s Mercy - Jai Shri Krishna :
“The Four Regulative Principles” - Posted on Feb 15, 2009
http://www.krishnasmercy.org/dotnetnuke/
http://krishnasmercy.wordpress.com/2009/02/15/the-four-regulative-principles/ http://www.krishnasmercy.org/dotnetnuke/Teachings/FourRegulativePrinciples/tabid/85/Default.aspx

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/

'DUMB WAYS TO DIE' VIDEO GOES VIRAL

MELBOURNE METRO TRAINS SAFETY
CAMPAIGN TURNS INTERNET SENSATION

www.iol.co.za - A catchy tune, some cute animated figures and a giggle at blood on the train tracks has delivered almost 12 million YouTube hits for an Australian passenger safety message called Dumb Ways to Die. “It's distracting. It's wonderful. We're thrilled. It's been a huge hit for us,” Melbourne's Metro Trains spokeswoman Leah Waymark said Wednesday. “Getting young people thinking perhaps thinking twice before they do something dumb, that's a great outcome.” 
John Mescall, creative director at advertising agency McCann Worldgroup's Melbourne office, said the key to producing the nation's fastest-trending internet hit ever was sneaking up on those the safety message was intended to reach. “If it looks and smells and tastes like an ad, it won't get shared,” he said. “You need a good title. Dumb Ways to Die! Who wouldn't click on that? If we'd called it How to Behave Around Trains, you'd be looking at just 100 000 shares.” 

Mescall put the rip-roaring success down to breaking the taboo and being funny about death. “I think a part of us needs to do that,” he said. “It's like laughing at the thing that's hiding in the corner that's going to get us all in the end.” - Sapa-dpa.  The brains behind the clip, John Mescall, says he has been taken back by the response. He says YouTube has told him it is one of the most successfully shared files on mobile devices. ''From the beginning we planned to make it very shareable, but look you can never plan for something to be the biggest viral campaign in the world,” he said. The song can also be downloaded from iTunes. It has become an unexpected hit in several Asian countries including Taiwan, Vietnam and Singapore. 
Ms Waymark says while the popularity of the video has been overwhelming, she says the importance of the message should not be lost. “To have young people singing about safety around trains is just a terrific outcome for us,” she said. The video has knocked off Rihanna's Diamonds and Psy's Gangnam Style to be number one on the Viral Video Chart.

It's hard not to like “Dumb Ways To Die”, the cute, three-minute animation that this week became Australia's fastest spreading viral advertisement and which promotes safety around trains. It features a bunch of colourful, pill-shaped figures, each demonstrating a ludicrous way to kill oneself - taking one's helmet off in space, using one's private parts as piranha bait, scratching a drug dealer's new car. At the song's final verse we get the message: that possibly the dumbest ways to die are by being too close to the edge of a train station platform, driving around the boom gates at a level crossing, or running across the tracks between the platforms. Humour is importantat because “young people often see themselves as being indestructible so shock images of body bags don't work,” said Leah Waymark, the Melbourne's Metro Trains spokeswoman. Why do we like doing activities that are risky for us? To escape from these harmful behaviours we should have a greater commitment to our inner self and the Supreme.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The average lifetime of a human being consists of many days and nights, so major scares are bound to come up every now and then, incidents which bring a person to the verge of death or some other major calamity. Some things such as accidents and natural disasters are more or less unavoidable, but other scares come about through choices that are made. ... but how do people react to these near-death experiences if they do occur? ... Why do we repeatedly perform activities that we know are bad for us? ... Harmful behavior can only be eradicated if we have a higher engagement. ... The problem is that the activities which best stimulate the senses are often those which are the most harmful. So what can be done? The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that the living entities need a higher engagement, something which transcends all other activities. ... This discipline is known as Bhakti-yoga, or devotional service.

Krishna'sMercy.org - Jai Shri Krishna :
“Dangerous Behavior” - Posted on July 17, 2010
http://www.krishnasmercy.org/dotnetnuke/
http://krishnasmercy.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/dangerous-behavior/

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/