BOY, 4, FALLS THREE STORIES, LANDS ON FEET

4-YEAR-OLD FALLS OUT OF THIRD 
STORY WINDOW, LANDS ON HIS FEET

http://shine.yahoo.com - When parents think about child proofing their homes, they're usually focused on keeping cabinets locked and storing sharp objects or dangerous chemicals out of reach. So when Jessica Hayes of Aurora, Colorado, was spring cleaning recently, she says says that she didn't think of the potential for danger when she pushed her couch out of the way, against the wall and under a window in her third-story apartment. While she was shampooing the carpets and her mom was helping out in the kitchen, her 4-year-old son, Dylan, climbed up on the couch to chat with a downstairs neighbor through the window. As he leaned against the flimsy screen, it gave way and he fell three stories, landing on the rock-covered ground below. He spent about 20 hours in the hospital, wearing a neck brace as a precaution, but doctors released him, saying he had barely a scratch on him.

He's not even traumatized by the event, though he does caution other kids to "not open windows." His mom, on the other hand, was so shaken up by the event that she's moved out of the third-floor apartment and is living with a relative. says that she feels "beyond lucky" that Dylan survived the 30-plus-foot fall. "There had to have been angels watching over him," his grandmother, Kelli Hayes, agreed.

Another similar case: Last month in Bahia Blanca (Argentina), the driver of a car ran over two teenagers and miraculously they emerged unscathed. According to the grandmother of one of them "Thank God they are fine. A little sore and impressed, but they are well. They are of a smaller city, Trelew, and came to walk here. When they crossed the traffic light it was red, possibly it changed when they were crossing. God put his hand and nothing happened. So you have to believe that there is something greater than ourselves," she told reporters.

A Colorado (USA) mother said her 4-year-old son survived a three-story fall with only minor injuries, landing on his feet. Jessica Hayes of Aurora said her son, Dylan, climbed atop her couch to talk to her downstairs neighbors through the window and fell through the screen. "I was terrified," she said. "I didn't know what I was going to see when I got down to the ground floor." However, the mother said she was shocked and relieved to discover Dylan had landed on his feet on the rocks below. "I feel beyond lucky. There must have been something watching over Dylan that day," she said. As Argentine teenagers who suffered no damage despite having been run over by a car, and many other cases in the world, this story shows that life and death are not dependent on us. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

It is stated, māre krishna rākhe ke, rākhe krishna māre ke:  If Krishna protects someone, no one can kill him, and if Krishna wants to kill someone, no one can save him. ... 

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. 
(Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda - “Śrīmad Bhāgavatam” 11.1.4 - “Krishna Book” - Chapter 72 - Bhaktivedanta VedaBase)

“Whatever is done by the Lord is for good,” the prime minister told the King, “If Hari protects, nobody can kill him and if Hari wants to kill then nobody can protect him,” he added. 

(Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāja - “Golden Saying” - “God is Gracing Us in All Circumstances” - Feb 10, 2003 - Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math)

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LOST MAN'S BODY CAN'T BE RECOVERED FROM SINKHOLE

SINKHOLE SITE BEING DEMOLISHED

THERE IS NO SIGN OF MISSING MAN

www.chicagotribune.com - A Florida work crew today began demolishing the Tampa-area home where a sinkhole swallowed the bedroom of a sleeping man who is still missing and presumed dead. Two nearby houses have been evacuated because the sinkhole has weakened the ground under them, and their residents probably will never be allowed inside again, said Jessica Damico of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue. Demolition of the home began this morning. "Our data has come back, and there is absolutely no way we can do any kind of recovery without endangering lives of workers," Damico said. 
Jeff Bush, a 36-year-old landscaper, is presumed dead after vanishing into the sinkhole that opened suddenly beneath his room on Thursday night. Five other people in the house were getting ready for bed when they heard a loud crash and Jeff screaming.

His brother was rescued after jumping into the hole and furiously digging in an effort to find him. Authorities used listening devices and cameras at the scene of the 30-foot (9-meter) wide hole in the ground but detected no signs of life. "There's nothing compatible with life in this situation," Damico said. "There's no way of possible survival." Jeff Bush's brother, 35-year-old Jeremy Bush, feared earlier on Saturday that his brother was lost forever. A small memorial of balloons and flowers for Jeff Bush had formed near the home on Saturday morning. "I thank the Lord for not taking my daughter and the rest of my family," said Jeremy, who worked with his brother in landscaping. 
Jeremy himself was rescued from the sinkhole by the first responder to the emergency call, Douglas Duvall of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. When Duvall entered Jeff Bush's bedroom, he saw a widening chasm but no sign of Jeff.

Authorities have discontinued the rescue effort for a Florida man (USA) who was swallowed by a sinkhole when his home's foundation collapsed and said it is unlikely his body will ever be recovered. The search for Jeff Bush, 37, was called off Saturday. Crews planned to begin demolishing this house that is perched over a huge sinkhole, deeming it too dangerous to keep searching for the man swallowed into the earth from his bedroom. The 20-foot-wide opening of the sinkhole is almost completely covered by the house and rescuers feared it would collapse on them. As we can check every day, our situation in this material world is very unstable and we are exposed to constant dangers.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord clearly says, mrityuh sarva-haraś cāham: "I am all-devouring death." 
Thus mrityu, or death, is the representative who takes everything away from the living entity who has accepted a material body. ... We are always in danger because at any moment death can take place.  It is not that only Gajendra, the King of the elephants, was afraid of death.  Everyone should fear death because everyone is caught by the crocodile of eternal time and may die at any moment.  The best course, therefore, is to seek shelter of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and be saved from the struggle for existence in this material world, in which one repeatedly takes birth and dies.  To reach this understanding is the ultimate goal of life.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam”
Canto 8: “Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations”
Chapter 2: “The Elephant Gajendra’s Crisis” - Verse 33.
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase 2003 (Folio)

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MASSIVE LOSS OF LIFE IN BRAZIL NIGHTCLUB FIRE

AT LEAST 245 KILLED

IN BRAZIL NIGHTCLUB FIRE

www.cbsnews.com - A fire swept through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing at least 245 people and leaving at least 200 injured, police and firefighters said. Police Maj. Cleberson Braida told local news media that the 245 bodies were brought for identification to a gymnasium in the city of Santa Maria. That toll would make it one of the deadliest nightclub fires more than a decade. The cause of the fire is not yet known, officials said.
Civil Police and regional government spokesman Marcelo Arigoni told Radio Gaucha earlier that the total number of victims is still unclear and there may be hundreds injured. The newspaper Diario de Santa Maria reported that the fire started at around 2 a.m. at the Boate Kiss club in the city at the southern tip of Brazil, near the borders with Argentina and Uruguay. Santa Maria is a university city with a population of around a quarter of a million.

The death toll was expected to climb as firefighters continued to pull bodies from the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, said Col. Adilomar Silva, the regional coordinator of civil defense. Most of those killed appeared to have died of smoke inhalation. Hundreds are believed to have been injured, though an exact count was not immediately available. Many people were trampled in the panic to leave the club. Rodrigo Moura, whom the paper identified as a security guard at the club, said it was at its maximum capacity of between 1,000 and 2,000, and partygoers were pushing and shoving to escape.
Ezekiel Corte Real, 23, was quoted by the paper as saying that he helped people to escape. "I just got out because I'm very strong," he said. "Sad Sunday", tweeted Tarso Genro, the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. He said all possible action was being taken and that he would be in the city later in the day.

A fire swept through a popular nightclub in southern Brazil early Sunday, killing at least 245 people. The blaze broke out during a weekend when students were celebrating the end of summer. Students at many Brazilian universities return to school on Monday. There was a pyrotechnics show going on inside the club when the fire started. Authorities stopped short of blaming it for the blaze, saying the cause was still under investigation. The incident called to mind a 2003 nightclub fire in Rhode Island where pyrotechnics used by the heavy metal band Great White ignited a blaze that killed more than 90 people. Pyrotechnics were also involved in a 2004 night club fire in Argentina that killed 194 people and a 2009 explosion at a night club in Russia that left more than 100 dead. Unfortunately, there is danger in this world at every step and therefore, one can never know when some tragedy will strike.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

It is clearly explained that all planets in the material world - beginning from Brahmaloka down to the hellish planets - are unfit places for a devotee. padam padam yad vipadām na teshām. A place where there is danger at every step is certainly not a comfortable place. The Lord therefore says in Bhagavad-gītā (8.16): ābrahma-bhuvanāl lokāh / punar āvartino 'rjuna / mām upetya tu kaunteya / punar janma na vidyate - "From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again." Thus there is no profit, even if one is promoted to the highest planet in the material universe, Brahmaloka. However, if one is somehow or other promoted to the abode of the Lord, he never returns to the material world.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) SB 4.30.18
Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth Order
Chapter 30: The Activities of the Pracetās
Verse 18 - Bhaktivedanta VedaBase Network 

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TRAVEL CHAOS AS DEADLY STORM HITS NORTHEAST US

STORMS SNARL TRAFFIC, BATTER
MIDWEST AND NORTHEAST US

http://edition.cnn.com - Winter weather complicated travel for many Americans on Wednesday - and left six dead in weather-related accidents, and even forced one NBA team to take the rare step of postponing a game due to the conditions. Six people, including two young children, have died in weather-related incidents since Tuesday. A 1-year-old and 2-year-old child were killed in a car accident in Arkansas, an official with the state's department of emergency said. Tommy Jackson also said a man was killed in his home in Saline County by a falling tree.
Snow totals in parts of Indiana ranged from 6 to 12 inches, CNN affiliate WRTV in Indianapolis reported. About 350 snowplows were clearing roads throughout the city. “It's pretty bad. You get a lot of drifting out there. That's what's killing us, mainly,” said plow driver David White. The Indiana Pacers said their game against the Chicago Bulls was rescheduled due to severe weather in Indianapolis. No makeup date was announced. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told residents they should avoid nonessential travel. New York State Police said long sections of Interstate 84 and the Taconic State Parkway were closed for several hours while crews cleared snow. Wind was causing major delays at airports, including Philadelphia International Airport. At one point, it had delays of more than four hours, the longest setbacks in the country, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Several other airports in the Northeast experienced delays of more than two hours on Wednesday. CNN meteorologist Alexandra Steele said wind was the primary problem.
As many people tried to get home, others were surveying the results of the storms that began in the Midwest and surged east. A white Christmas is rare for Little Rock, Arkansas, but a powerful winter storm took it to a new level: The 9 inches that fell broke a December 25 snowfall record that stood for 86 years. In areas where the storm has passed, officials were assessing the damage.

Heavy snow and strong winds battered the north-eastern United States Thursday, intensifying post-Christmas travel woes. More than 2,750 flights have been cancelled since Tuesday as the huge storm wreaked havoc from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. It has so far claimed at least nine people dead and many without power. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and people were warned to stay home rather than brave the strong winds, freezing temperatures and treacherous roads. The National Weather service warned of “dangerous travel conditions due to snow and ice covered roads” and said the weight of ice and snow could knock down power lines and trees. When human beings don't follow basic principles of morality and spirituality, there are reactions and those reactions come in various forms.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

It is a misperception that the West has almost all that it needs. All of us have probably heard about devastating hurricane and storms. ... If we look at the overall situation of nature in America, it is at times quite furious, and there are times when throughout the year, for many months, one is just not able to go out of the house because of heavy snowfall. This may not happen in all parts of America and it certainly does not happen in those parts of America which we see in television or movies. But it does happen in real America.  ... If you look at the world today, it’s not just the matter of India or the West, everywhere we are seeing, because people are not living according to the principles of morality and spirituality.  Because people are not performing sacrifices, that’s why the natural supplies are increasingly being destructed.

Śrīpad Chaitanya Charan das :
“The Spiritual Scientist”
“How is the Western world Having its Necessities
Despite Not Performing any Sacrifices?”
http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2012/04/how-is-the-western-world-having-its-necessities-despite-not-performing-any-sacrifices/

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SANDY HITS COAST, FLOODS NEW YORK

HURRICANE SANDY, OBAMA DECLARES
'MAJOR DISASTERS' IN NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY

http://online.wsj.com - Millions of people along the U.S. East Coast awoke without power Tuesday, as Superstorm Sandy brought powerful winds, rains, floods and snow to the mid-Atlantic states and Northeast. The mega-storm's center plowed through Pennsylvania early Tuesday after carving a harrowing path of destruction overnight, killing at least 17 people in seven states and cutting power to more than 6 million homes. In New Jersey, where the superstorm came ashore, hundreds of people were being evacuated after a levee broke early Tuesday. The post-tropical cyclone still packed 65-mile-an-hour winds at 5 a.m., when it was located about 90 miles west of Philadelphia, Penn. The storm was moving toward the west-northwest at 15 miles an hour, according to the National Weather Service. President Barack Obama on Tuesday morning signed major disaster declarations for New Jersey and New York. Thousands of people were left without power in New York. One of the city's major hospitals was forced to evacuate patients late Monday when its backup power system failed. New York City's three major airports remained closed.

The impact was mounting. As night fell Monday, a record breaking 13-foot surge of seawater hit New York City, flooding New York's Brooklyn-Battery tunnel, a major traffic artery, as well as portions of the city's subway system. Subway service could be crippled for “at least a week,” the head of the municipal transportation authority said late Monday. Sandy was relabeled from a hurricane to a posttropical cyclone on Monday evening. Earlier, its classification as a Category 1 storm, the least powerful category of hurricane, was deceiving. Scientists say the storm has an unusually low atmospheric pressure near its center, an important measure of a storm's strength. The National Weather Service warned of potential flooding in coastal areas and damage well inland. The storm shut down the federal government for a second straight day Tuesday. The storm left a trail of death, and the toll is expected to mount; at least 10 deaths were blamed on the storm. A fire destroyed at least 50 homes in a flooded neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. A fire department spokesman said more than 190 firefighters were at the blaze in the Breezy Point section.

As Superstorm Sandy churned slowly inland, millions along the U.S. East Coast awoke Tuesday without power or mass transit, and huge swaths of New York City were unusually dark and abandoned. At least 17 people were killed in seven states. New York was among the hardest hit, with its financial heart closed for a second day. The storm caused the worst damage in the 108-year history of New York's extensive subway system. Overnight, whole neighborhoods disappeared into darkness as power was cut. The World Trade Center site was a glowing ghost near the tip of Lower Manhattan. Climate change caused by human unscrupulousness, their insatiable industries and global meat consumption, affects the whole planet without distinction between rich and poor countries.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

The environmental community rightly recognizes global warming as one of the gravest threats to the planet. The expected consequences include coastal flooding, increases in extreme weather, spreading disease, and mass extinctions. Yet by focusing entirely on carbon dioxide emissions, major environmental organizations have failed to account for published data showing that other gases are the main culprits behind the global warming we see today. ... Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of methane a year. And this source is on the rise. About 85% of this methane is produced in the digestive processes of livestock, and while a single cow releases a relatively small amount of methane, the collective effect on the environment of the hundreds of millions of livestock animals worldwide is enormous. ... Simply by going vegetarian we can eliminate one of the major sources of emissions of methane, the greenhouse gas responsible for almost half of the global warming impacting the planet today.

Dr. Noam Mohr :
“What They Didn’t Tell You In Copenhagen”
VINA - Vaishnava Internet News Agency
http://wadcconference.com/bio_mohr.aspx
http://kirbymtn.blogspot.com/2007/01/noam-mohr-on-meat-eating-and.html
http://www.vina.cc/news/index.php/General/What-They-Didn-t-Tell-You-In-Copenhagen.html

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