AMERICAN IDOL WINNER & SMOKING SPONSORSHIP

KELLY CLARKSON APPEARS IN BILLBOARD ADS
FOR CIGARETTE COMPANY SPONSORING CONCERT

BOGOR, Indonesia - Just a few miles after passing a towering "Marlboro Man" ad, a second billboard off the highway promotes cigarettes with a new American face: Kelly Clarkson. The former American Idol winner invites fans to buy tickets to her upcoming concert in Jakarta, the nation's capital. The logo of her sponsor is splashed in huge type above her head - the popular Indonesian cigarette brand “L.A. Lights”. Similar ads also run on TV. Such in-your-face tobacco advertising has been banned for years in the U.S. and many other countries. But in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, tobacco companies have virtual free rein to peddle their products, from movies to sports sponsorships and television shows. The country remains one of the last holdouts that has not signed the World Health Organization's tobacco treaty. As smoking has declined in many Western countries, it has risen in Indonesia, about 63 percent of all men light up. Smoking-related illnesses kill at least 200,000 annually in a nation of 235 million.

Anti-smoking advocates now hope Clarkson will drop the sponsorship of Indonesia's third-largest tobacco company, “Djarum”. A growing number of voices have started pleading with the Grammy-winning pop star on her Facebook page. Two years ago, a tobacco affiliate of U.S.-based Philip Morris International, which dominates Indonesia's tobacco market, removed its logo from ads promoting an Alicia Keys concert in Jakarta after the singer publicly denounced the sponsorship and apologized to her fans. “If Kelly Clarkson goes ahead with the concert, she is by choice being a spokesman for the tobacco industry and helping them to market to children,” said president of the “Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids”, which has urged Clarkson to drop the sponsorship.


Young people, identified themselves with a pop or rock star, spend much of their valuable time praising them. However, their "idols" often care more about money than the message they convey to youth. We should be attracted to the humble sadhus, because they will help us to grow spiritually.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

When humility like the blade of grass and tolerance like the tree appear in the devotee, such a devotee has passed beyond offensive chanting, attaining nistha-kirtaniya sada harih. Who will not be attracted to such a devotee, Krsna included? He will pay attention to them through the medium of his advanced devotees, telling them that “in such and such devotee you have a receptive ear to pour the nectar of my pastimes into.” This nectar will enter the heart, and ruci-bhakti will manifest. The fortunate devotee who develops this taste will have no taste for the things of this world; money, sex, followers, or even knowledge. Neither will samsara be a problem for this blessed soul.

Śrīla Bhakti Vedanta Tripurari Mahārāja :
“The Spiritual Cloud of Unknowing”
Śrī Caitanya Sanga - Vol. II, No. 7 - 2000.
http://www.swami.org/pages/sanga/

ASH REMAINS BUT SOME EUROPEAN AIRPORTS REOPEN

HALF OF SCHEDULED FLIGHTS IN EUROPE
TO RUN ON TUESDAY SAID EUROCONTROL

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Iceland's volcano has begun spewing lava and heavy ash again, threatening aviation officials' attempts to reopen the skies over Europe for air travel. About half of scheduled air traffic in Europe is expected to operate on Tuesday because of the spread of volcanic ash from Iceland, an increase on previous days, European aviation control agency Eurocontrol said. Some European airports reopened Tuesday and others were due to open progressively throughout the day after air-traffic controllers gave the go-ahead for the resumption of some commercial flights, but conditions remained variable in parts and some airlines were unable to make plans with certainty. Eurocontrol said in a statement it expected 14,000 flights to take place, compared with 27,000 to 28,000 that would normally be expected. On Monday, 67 percent of flights did not run. “By the end of today, we expect that more than 95,000 flights in total will have been cancelled since Thursday,” Eurocontrol said.

But the plans to reopen all European airports should be in doubt. A new cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano is expected to arrive Tuesday, and the U.K., in particular, is expecting further disruption. The Iceland's volcano erupted late Wednesday, spewing a cloud of fine but potentially dangerous dust high into the atmosphere and forcing air-traffic controllers to shut down swaths of airspace across most of northern and central Europe. Airlines and tour operators continued to estimate the financial impact of the chaos, as a result of lost revenue and the costs of passenger disruption. Manufacturing also is feeling the squeeze from blocked global trade routes. The disruption has left more than eight million passengers dislocated and cost airlines at least $1 billion dollars.

The volcanic ash still covers the sky in much of Europe, therefore the dangers and lack of security on flights still going on; however airlines only think in their economic losses and they are willing to allow the flights; they do not know that nature is being controlled by the Supreme Lord.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Everyone is perplexed by the same questions about earning and spending, but ultimately one must depend on the mercy of mother nature. ... The Bhagavad-gita, however, explains that the laws of nature are controlled by the Absolute Personality of Godhead. God alone is the controller of nature and the natural laws. Ambitious materialists sometimes examine a fragment of the law of nature, but they never care to know the maker of these laws. Most of them do not believe in the existence of an absolute person or God who controls the laws of nature. Rather, they simply concern themselves with the principles by which different elements interact, but they make no reference to the ultimate direction which makes such interactions possible.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Science of Self Realization”
Chapter 1: “Learning the Science of the Self”

EATING DISORDERS FOR HAVING SLIM FIGURE

MANY TEENS RISK HEALTH FOR
COPYING CELEBRITY ROLE MODELS

KOREA (Daily News) - More than one in 10 teenagers suffer from eating disorders, trying to avoid food as much as possible or alternating between fasting and bingeing in an effort to lose weight, a study reveals. A team of researchers led by Oh Sang-woo, a specialist in family medicine at Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, surveyed 5,000 middle and high school students last November and found that 15 percent of female students and 9.9 percent of males have eating disorders. Eating disorders appear frequently among teenage girls and the problem often continues into adulthood," said Lee Yong-ho, a neuropsychiatrist. Anorexia prevents the body from functioning properly. If menstruation stops for more than three months during a diet, anorexia could be the cause.

Bulimia is another eating disorder, but in contrast to anorexia, bulimics are unable to control their eating. First they binge on food, then they vomit or take pills to induce diarrhea, and then repeat the process. If this type of behavior occurs more than twice a week and continues for three months, it could be considered bulimia. Eating disorders inhibit normal physical growth in teenagers and can result in long-term health problems. Because their parents are often unaware of the problem, many teenage sufferers miss crucial opportunities to get treatment. Eating disorders are not simply a fixation on weight, but are often accompanied by depression, personality disorders and anxiety. As a result, many cases require psychiatric help. "Teenagers with eating disorders often refuse to be treated, because they are fixated on losing weight," said Yu Bum-hee, a psychiatrist at Samsung Medical Center. "Parents need to make their children realize that eating disorders are not just problems about eating, but a disease that needs to be treated."


Today, Anorexia and Bulimia are diseases that affect young women, mainly due to the bad advertising, which proposes to adolescents to have a fashion model's body, even at the expense of ruining their health. The following video shows how a person suffering from these problems sees herself.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Many individuals are easily moldable, naive, despite the fact the human being is potentially able to investigate, discriminate, and question negative or harmful things to themselves and to other beings. Advertising takes advantage of that weakness, when is used with a bad conscience to create trends, attitudes, tastes, needs ... What interests to large advertising companies is to convince with their message, although it has to resort to lies, and sells anything, without measuring the consequences of their use. ... Working in advertising is a big responsibility. So, it is essential that this profession must be done with conscious and involving the truth.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Conscious Advertising” - “Vedic Wisdom Collection”
http://vedicwisdom.weebly.com/
http://www.sabiduriavedica.org/sv.php?id=109_81
http://publicidadconsciente.blogspot.com/2010/01/anorexia-y-bulimia.html

“PACO” DRUG INCREASES IN ARGENTINA

BUENOS AIRES HOSPITALS TRIPLE ATTENTION
TO “PACO” ADDICTS - A CHEAP COCAINE PRODUCT

BUENOS AIRES (AP) - Hospitals in Buenos Aires last year tripled the number of cases dealt with a drug addicted to cheap cocaine paste base drug known as “Paco”. Health Centers had attended in 2008 to 302 people for this addiction, while in 2009 it rose to about a thousand youth consumers of “paco”, authorities said. The online edition of The New York Times published an article describing the “scourge of the poor” to refer to the Paco cocaine paste in Argentina, describing the growing problems facing low-class neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires province and City. “Argentina has one of the highest per-capita rates of cocaine use in the world and a growing problem with synthetic drugs like Ecstasy. Some parts of the country have also been afflicted by the rapid rise of “paco,” a cheap and highly addictive drug that combines small amounts of cocaine residue with toxic chemicals,” it said. But this addiction progresses to other social sectors. “In recent years we began to see more cases of children who consume 'paco', but not only in the lower social strata,” said authorities.

Social Development Minister, María Eugenia Vidal, said “the question of “paco” is part of the increasing problem of addiction which has to do with the fact that many young people do not have projects of life or households or parental protection”. The “Paco”, or pasta base, is one of the most addictive and harmful drugs. It is clearly linked to poverty and marginality. In recent years, this drug started to hurt young people not as low social strata, as it has begun to be consumed by many middle-class youth. However, the consumption of “paco” particularly affects young people in poor villages or slums of Buenos Aires province, which surrounds the City or Federal Capital, the most populous metropolis in the country with around 15 million inhabitants.


Drug addiction is a means of escaping from daily reality and feeling a false sense of bliss. This feeling is short-lived as the ecstasy stuff goes away so quickly. It is better to adopt the method of chanting the Holy Names of God, which frees one from all these material desires and provides continuous happiness.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The Supreme Person Krishna being omnipotent is fully present in His Holy Names. Chanting of the Holy Names therefore connects one immediately with Krishna, who is the supreme pleasure principle. Regular meditation on the Holy Names enables one to experience happiness streaming down from the spiritual dimension. This spiritual pleasure is so satisfying that it soon frees one from the craving for perverted mundane pleasure like drugs, alcohol etc. Millions of people all over the world have experienced the purifying potency of the Holy Names of God. Srila Prabhupada propagated the congregational chanting of the Holy Names and saved thousands of young people from a condemned life of drug addiction.

Caitanya Caran das (BE E&TC)
“The Tragedy of Self-Destruction”
“The Spiritual Scientist” - Vol. 1 Issue 16.
Bhaktivedanta Academy for Culture and Education (BACE), Pune
http://www.dandavats.com/?p=3984

CHINA EARTHQUAKE TOLL RISES

CHINA QUAKE TOLL HITS 1,339
TIBETAN MONKS PRAY OVER DEAD

JIEGU, China (Reuters) - Tibetan monks prayed Friday over hundreds of bodies at a makeshift morgue next to their monastery after powerful earthquakes destroyed the remote mountain town of Jiegu in western China and left at least 1,339 people dead. State media on Friday reported that another 332 people remain missing - as rescuers neared the end of the 72-hour period viewed as best for finding people alive. They continued to dig for survivors in the rubble, often by hand. The official toll was likely to climb further. Gerlai Tenzing, a red-robed monk from the Jiegu Monastery, estimated that about 1,000 bodies had been brought to a hillside clearing in the shadow of the monastery. He said a precise count was difficult because bodies continued to trickle in and some had already been taken away by family members. Heavy lifting equipment began arriving on Friday in the remote Himalayan region by road from hundreds of kilometres away. Food, tents and medical supplies are arriving too but rescue workers say there is a critical need for further supplies.

Soldiers, civilian rescue workers and Buddhist monks have been using pickaxes, shovels and their bare hands to pick through the rubble for survivors. "For us monks, the most important thing is life," said Danchujiasi, a monk who travelled to the scene from neighbouring Sichuan province. "We have come here to help rescue people. So many people have died, and we want to save the ones still living." The monks have also been helping to collect bodies and prepare them for funerals. At a foothill under the main monastery of Jiegu township, monks chanted Tibetan Buddhist mantras in front of piles of dead, which were being prepared for a mass cremation Saturday morning. "I'd say we've collected a thousand or more bodies here," said Lopu, a monk. "Many of the bodies you see here don't have families or their families haven't come looking for them, so it's our job to take good care of them."


No one wants to suffer, but we are suffering due to the constant cycle of birth and death. Now we are born as human beings and according to our scriptures, we can stop this cycle by the process of dedicating ourselves at the feet of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Souls imprisoned in the physical and subtle bodies and guided by selfish desires are wandering in this world from time immemorial. They take births in different species according to their actions. They gather a variety of experiences in this world, both good and bad. If these experiences make them wise and persuade them to give up their leanings for enjoyment or freedom in any form - well - they have succeeded in their life's mission. The purpose of their human birth is fulfilled. If not, they are to rotate along with the world of worldliness ceaselessly. ... Those very actions when done with a motive of pleasing the Lord, save us from the cyclic effects of this world.

Śrīla Bhakti Vaibhava Purī Mahārāj :
“Guru and Atma Nivedan”
“Unfavourable Acts that arrest Devotional Progress”
Śrī Krishna Chaitanya Mission.

SMOKING & DEPRESSION GO HAND IN HAND

STUDY: DEPRESSED ADULTS ARE
MORE LIKELY TO SMOKE HEAVILY

WASHINGTON (WLBT) - It seems depression and smoking go hand-in-hand, and the more depressed someone is, the more they smoke. New data from the Department of Health and Human Services finds the link between depression and smoking holds for both men and women and in all age groups. The study shows more than half of middle aged men with depression are smokers and rates are similar for depressed women. Adults who are coping with depression are more likely to smoke than those who were not depressed, according to the findings of a recent National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) study. Researchers from the NCHS, who published their findings on Wednesday, found that adult Americans who were clinically depressed were more likely to be smokers than those who were not, regardless of gender or age. The study also found that a higher percentage of severely depressed adults were smokers than mildly depressed adults, demonstrating that as the severity of the condition increases, so too did the propensity to smoke. "Twenty-eight percent of adult smokers with depression smoked more than a pack of cigarettes per day, which was almost twice the rate for adult smokers without depression."

Furthermore, people over the age of 20 who were depressed were more likely to be heavy smokers and less likely to quit than those who had not been diagnosed with the disorder, the study says. In the key findings of their research, which were published online at the official NCHS website, authors Laura A. Pratt and Debra J. Brody said, "Among adults with depression, men and women had similar rates of smoking, whereas among adults without depression, men were more likely to be smokers than women.


Traditional medicine and psychology have proven to be almost ineffective against depressive disorders and addictions that sicken the body and the mind. It is time to approach the Oidaterapia that seeks to integrate spirituality and faith as applicable elements to the affective and emotional support of individuals.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

“Faith can penetrate very deep in our heart. This is the time of OIDA, when we are convinced that a new dimension of reality is being discovered. You feel it, you are convinced. You know it, you believe it. This becomes your faith, your brilliant light to way out of the darkness of selfishness towards the road to healing.” [...] “The healing power of faith is best revealed in the treatment of addiction, depression and other emotional traumas. Individuals with strong religious beliefs, who also participate in religious services, receive the greatest benefit. Religion provides a confidence which increases the connection between mind, body and spirit, giving a sense of tangible meaning and purpose.”

Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaja :
“Perennial Psychology” - “Science and Oida Therapy”
“Thoughts on Oida Therapy and Studies on Faith”
http://www.oidatherapy.org
http://www.perennialpsychology.org/curso/index.html

CYCLONE IN INDIA & EARTHQUAKE IN CHINA

CYCLONE SLAMS EASTERN INDIA AND BANGLADESH
MASSIVE QUAKE DEVASTATES WESTERN CHINA

CALCUTTA (AP) - A cyclone has hit eastern India and Bangladesh, killing at least 125 people and destroying more than 60,000 homes. The storm ripped across India's West Bengal and Bihar states and neighboring parts of Bangladesh late Tuesday. The cyclone packed winds of up to 160 kilometers an hour, destroying power and telephone lines, demolishing nearly 50,000 mud huts and uprooting trees in several villages in Bihar and West Bengal.

Indian authorities are rushing aid to cyclone-hit areas, and the homeless are being shifted to temporary shelters. Many people are still disappearing, and according to the officials there are still lots of people under the trees and houses which have collapsed. Officials said most of the people who died were women and children who were crushed to death when their huts caved. The storm was accompanied by hail and rain.

YUSHU (Xinhua) - At least 617 have been killed and over 10,000 injured in a massive earthquake of 7.1 magnitude, in Yushu area in the southwest Chinese province of Qinghai on Wednesday. The quake was followed by a series of aftershocks. Thousands of houses, electric poles and dozens of temples and gas stations were destroyed in the quake, which also disrupted power supplies and telecommunications. Yesterday soldiers and civilians used shovels and their bare hands to dig through collapsed buildings in search of survivors. Officials said excavators were not available and with most of the roads leading to the nearest airport damaged, equipment and rescuers would have a hard time reaching the area. Soldiers, civilian rescuers and medical workers, have been rushed to the affected areas.

Rescue teams have saved more than 900 people from the debris of collapsed houses, the authorities reported. Today, thousands of earthquake survivors braved near-freezing temperatures with little shelter, hospitals were overwhelmed, many lacking even the basic supplies, and doctors were in short supply.

Yesterday, two natural calamities - a cyclone and a quake - have lashed different countries. These disasters almost happen daily, so how is it possible to live thinking that this place is for our enjoyment? We should take the nectar of the shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, before it would be too late.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

What relish can there be for material enjoyments when we are exposed to hunger, thirst, disease, decrepitude, emaciation, growth, decline and death. The universe is tending to decay - grass, trees, animals - spring up and die. Mighty men are gone leaving their joys and glories. Beings still greater than these have passed away, vast oceans have dried - mountains have been thrown down, the polar star displaced, the cords that bind the planets rent asunder, the whole earth deluged with flood - in such a world what relish can there be for fleeting enjoyments? Living in such a world are we not like frogs jumping in a dried up well?

Śrīla Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thākura Prabhupāda :
“Vaishnavism Real & Apparent”
Chapter: “Two Minds - Material and Spiritual”
http://www.bvml.org/SBSST/index.htm

TEEN DRINKING TIED TO BREAST DISEASE

TEENS DRINKING ALCOHOL FACE
HIGHER RISK FOR BREAST CANCER

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Young women who drink alcohol may put themselves at higher risk of developing breast disease that is a known risk factor for cancer, a new study suggests. Alcohol or alcoholic beverages are officially recognized by the National Toxicology Program as human cancer causing agents. A few cancers including breast cancer are associated with drinking alcohol. A new study in the May, 2010 issue of Pediatrics confirmed that alcohol drinking at young ages can be particularly harmful. The study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis and Harvard University found that girls and young women who drank alcohol were at higher risk of benign breast disease, which can develop to become breast cancer. High consumption of alcohol was associated with high risk of benign breast disease, the researchers found. In a group of nearly 6,900 women aged 16 to 23, researchers found that those who drank six or seven days a week had more than five times the odds of developing so-called benign breast disease years later, than those who didn't drink or who had less than one drink per week.

Women with benign breast disease have hard lumps in their breasts, which may in some instances turn cancerous. The broad group of conditions includes irregular cysts, breast discomfort, sensitive nipples, and itching, according to the National Cancer Institute. Earlier reports have linked adolescent drinking to benign breast disease based on women's recollections many years later, but the new study is the first to survey alcohol drinking directly during adolescence and follow the girls into adulthood. “Our study results give older girls and adolescents another reason to avoid alcohol,” said Catherine Berkey of Harvard Medical School, who led the research.


We are spiritual entities, and according to our actions we attain happiness or suffering. Illusion and intoxication resides into our subtle body. Due to the false identification, we carry on so many mistaken activities that harm both our physical health and our spiritual life.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Forgetting his spiritual form, the jīva took on a material form, and through his self-identity fell into deep forgetfulness of his role as servant of the Lord. Maya bestowed two coverings - the gross and subtle bodies - over the spiritual form. The subtle body is composed of material ego, material memory, material intelligence and material mind. … Obtaining the gross body, the jīva became even more entangled in his misidentification. Then the jīva began to think of himself as a material gross body. By mistaking his true identity, the jīva fell into the tight bondage of action impelled by desires. … Innumerable obstacles arose as a result of the connection with the gross and subtle bodies.

Śrīla Saccidānanda Bhaktivinoda Thākura :
“Mahāprabhura Śikshā”: The Teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Chapter 7 - “The Jīva in Māyā”
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library - www.bvml.org/SBTP/

CORAL DAMAGE WORSE THAN THOUGHT

CHINESE SHIP SPARKS GREAT BARRIER REEF
CORAL FEARS WHILE OIL FOUND ON BEACH

SYDNEY (ABC News) - A Chinese bulk carrier which ran aground off Queensland, has caused widespread damage to the famed Australia's Great Barrier Reef, according to the Australian authorities. The Chinese coal ship leaked 3 tons of oil which means a “significant scarring and coral damage” to nearly 3 kilometres of reef, authorities confirmed. Queensland State transport minister Rachel Nolan said autorities had identified coral damage caused by the ship. Rescue operations to re-float the Shen Neng 1 overnight were successful, with the bulk carrier now anchored 9 kms off Great Keppel Island, in northern Queensland. Concerns have shifted to the 3-km long, 250-meter wide trail of destruction the vessel caused when it ran aground at Douglas Shoal on April 3. The ship was carrying about 975 tons of fuel oil when it ran into trouble. The coral damage caused by the grounding of the Shen Neng 1 is worse than initially thought.


Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) chairman Russell Reichelt said that the ship had traveled more than 1 km since it first became stranded. “It didn't just (run) aground and stop,” he said. “It migrated over a kilometres over the week doing damage as it went.” GBRMPA spokesman David Wachenfeld says the ship has left a scar on the reef about three kilometres long and 250 metres wide. “We found areas of up to 20 to 40 metres across where the top of the shoal has been completely pulverised, so all of the plants and animals have been killed,” he said. The authority fears the paint scrapings found on the protected reef could be toxic; all the clean-up efforts will be the biggest ever undertaken on the Great Barrier Reef.


Individuals and big companies strive alike to gain power and expand their economic development, while remain ignorant of the true goal of life. In order to fulfil their egoistic goals, they perform actions without taking into consideration the damages caused to the environment.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Outer environmental pollution is merely a reflection of humans’ internal pollution of consciousness. … As we become polluted internally and act to satisfy those polluted desires, based on gaining money, power, distinction, adoration, and sensual gratification, we act in selfish ways for high positions or rapid and easy profits and pleasures. … It does not matter how small or big we are, or whether we are running a large corporation or just a household. Our consciousness will determine our decisions, which affects all of those around us.

Stephen Knapp (Nandanandana dasa)
“The Vedic Prophecies: A New Look into the Future”
“The Basic Pattern of Events for the Future in Kali-Yuga”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/
http://www.vnn.org/world/9801/08-1480/index.html