GROUPS SUE US OVER ANTIBIOTICS IN FARM FEED

US GROUPS SUE FDA TO STOP ADDITION
OF HUMAN ANTIBIOTICS IN LIVESTOCK FEED

New York (AFP) - A coalition of consumer groups in USA filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against the US Food and Drug Administration over the use of human antibiotics in animal feed, saying it creates dangerous superbugs.  The suit alleges that the regulatory agency concluded in 1977 that the practice of feeding healthy animals low doses of penicillin and tetracycline could lead to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in people.  “However, despite this conclusion and laws requiring that the agency act on its findings, FDA failed to take any action to protect human health,” the groups said in a statement.  The lawsuit aims to “compel FDA to take action on the agency’s own safety findings, withdrawing approval for most non-therapeutic uses of penicillin and tetracyclines in animal feed.”

Groups included in the filing include the Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Public Citizen, and Union of Concerned Scientists.  As farming has become more industrialized, farmers have relied more heavily on antibiotics because they help animals digest more efficiently and stay healthy in the terrible crowded conditions.  Meanwhile, the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has increased. Resistant bacteria can evolve whenever drugs are used against them because sub-strains that are less susceptible to antibiotics will survive and multiply.  Last year, the FDA authorities pressed farmers to give fewer antibiotics to livestock and poultry to reduce this kind risk.

 

Human drugs are usually added to feed or mixed into water given to cows, turkeys, chickens, pigs and other livestock.  However, they are administered at such low levels that they do not treat disease, but leave surviving bacteria stronger and more able to resist them.  Accumulating evidence shows that antibiotics are becoming less effective, while our grocery store meat is increasingly laden with drug-resistant bacteria.  Vegetables and fruits are rich in fiber and nutrients, but instead of eating them we give them to animals and we ingest the fats, cholesterol, hormones and antibiotics from the animals meat. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?   

As early as 1961, The AMA journal stated that 90+% of heart disease can be prevented with a Vegetarian diet.  There is a strong link between colon cancer and meat eating. Toxins in meat, do damage because they are not expelled as quickly they would be in carnivores.  Dioxin, one of the deadliest toxins, is concentrated in meat at levels 22 times what are safe, according to the EPA. More than 95% of all dioxin exposure comes in meat, dairy, and eggs. None comes in vegan foods (the other 5% is environmental).  Factory farming has made meat eating more dangerous. Because the animals are given tranquilizers, hormones and antibiotics, the latter often up to 30 times higher than humans consume in a lifetime. Preservatives in meat are dangerous to human health too.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Why Be a Vegan / Vegetarian?”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/why_be_a_vegan_vegetarian.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/vegetarian_recipes_and_resources.htm

MILLIONS OF INDIAN BABY GIRLS ABORTED

UP TO 12 MILLION GIRLS ABORTED
IN INDIA OVER LAST 30 YEARS: STUDY

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Up to 12 million girls were aborted over the last three decades in India by parents that tended to be richer and more educated, a large study in India found, and researchers warned that the figure could rise with falling fertility rates.  The missing daughters occurred mostly in families which already had a first born daughter.  Although the preference for boys runs across Indian society, the abortions were more likely to be carried out by educated parents who were aware of ultrasound technology and who could afford abortions.  “The logic is families are saying if Nature gives us a first boy, then we don’t do anything. But if Nature gives a first girl then perhaps we would consider ultrasound testing and selective abortion for the subsequent children,” said lead author Professor Prabhat Jha at the Center for Global Health Research in Toronto, Canada.

 Jha and his colleagues, who published their study in The Lancet, said abortion of girls in India was different from the situation in China, where a one-child policy results in even abortions of the first girl.  In India there is no required one-child policy.  But the concern is that if urban women decide they only want one child, then the practice of selective abortion may increase.  
India enacted a law in 1996 to prevent the use of scanning for prenatal sex determination and selective abortion of girls but Jha said it was very difficult to enforce because of a huge unregulated private medical practice.

 

Families in India are increasingly aborting their second child if they know it to be a girl and they already have a daughter.  Selective abortion of female foetuses, usually after a firstborn girl, has increased in India over the past few decades, probably because of persistent son preference, and has contributed to a widening imbalance in the child sex ratio.  Killing unborn babies, not even asuras do that, even demons love their children.  The baby depends on your mercy.  When you were in your mother’s womb nobody aborted you.  Don’t do others what you would not like to be done to you. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

India:  Our population is our country’s strength; killing unborn fetuses will defeat us at in the end.  Abortion is becoming more and more prominent in India today due to Western influence.  Don’t destroy your future joy.  Have mercy with your kids.  Killing other humans is always a crime; no matter the age.  Every child needs protection, don’t deny it by selection.  Children are so beautiful, sweet and full of joy; how could anyone conceive a system which take their life, avoids their birth and destroys their hopes? A child being created under the heart of its mother is a separate entity, a soul like you and me; it does not belong to either the mother nor the father.  It is a gift of God, think of all she could be.   If you want to spoil your life, abort a child and pay the price.

“Dharma & Science”
“Bharat-Hindustan-India and the World”
http://bharatstopabortion.blogspot.com/
http://www.dharmascience.net  -  http://www.dharmascience.net/hindi/

SAUDI WOMAN DRIVES, GOES TO JAIL

SAUDI WOMAN ARRESTED FOR DRIVING
AND UPLOADING A VIDEO TO YOUTUBE

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi authorities have re-arrested an activist who defied a ban on female drivers in the conservative kingdom, a security official said Monday. Manal al-Sherif was accused of “violating public order” and ordered held for five days while the case is investigated, the official said. Al-Sherif launched a campaign against the longtime ban last week by posting a video clip on the Internet of herself behind the wheel in the eastern city of Khobar. Through Facebook, the campaigners set June 17 as the day all women should drive their cars. The page, called “Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself,” was removed after more than 12,000 people indicated their support for the call. The campaign’s Twitter account also was deactivated. Al-Sherif was detained for several hours on Saturday by the country’s religious police and released after she signed a pledge agreeing not to drive.

A security official said al-Sherif was re-arrested Sunday at dawn. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Khobar prison chief Ayoub ben Nahit was quoted as saying in the daily Al-Watan that al-Sherif faces accusations of “violating the rules and the system by driving her car, roaming the streets of the province.” The activists argued they should have the freedom to go the store or drive to work by themselves, were cheered as whores and worse by the mutaween, the young thugs that the government allows to enforce public “morals” as interpreted in the Saudi Arabian version of Islam. Most of the women involved were banned from traveling abroad for a year as punishment.

Saudi authorities have re-arrested an activist who defied a ban on female drivers.  Hard-line clerics believe that women at the wheel create situations for sinful temptation. They argue that female drivers would be free to leave home alone and interact with male strangers, such as traffic police and mechanics.  We should not be too much concerned with material conceptions.  Am I only this body, this sex, this color, this caste?  We have to develop the transcendental eye, the divine eye, to recognize that we are all individual souls, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord Krishna. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

I am not this physical body. My own physical identification should be challenged if I am too much addicted to the physical guru parampara. “Who am l? Am I this physical body?” If I am spiritual, then in the spiritual sphere I shall have to look with spiritual eyes, and pursue whoever will come before me who is really following the path of Mahaprabhu. When the Pandavas retired to the Himalayas, Yudhisthira Maharaja was going ahead. Nobody believed they would fall. Arjuna couldn’t believe that his brothers had fallen. But even after Arjuna had fallen, a dog was going on, following Maharaja Yudhisthira. We may see many men fall down in the path of our journey towards the spiritual goal, but still we should try to reach the goal. And with the help of whoever comes along, I shall go.

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja :
“Sri Guru & His Grace”
“Instructing Spiritual Masters” - “Am I This Body?”
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/SGaHG.html#10
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/index.htm - Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library

MADRID PROTESTERS VOW TO STAY ON

HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS VOWED TO STAY
ANOTHER WEEK IN MADRID’S CENTRAL SQUARE

(Reuters) - Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square, the center of nationwide protests against mass unemployment, boiled with political passion, gawkers and families on Sunday while Spaniards voted in local elections.  Tens of thousands of protesters have packed plazas in cities throughout Spain all week in the run-up to election day, demonstrating against austerity measures and urging people not to vote for the ruling Socialists or center-right Popular Party.  At night the crowds there swell to up to 30,000 people.  Hundreds of protesters camp out overnight and occupy the plaza during the day.  The protests want to punish the Socialists over the stagnant economy and the highest unemployment rate in the European Union.  Small groups gather seated on the ground, cross-legged, in circles, listening to speakers on megaphones organizing different aspects of the protests, such as setting up neighborhood committees.

The movement, which goes under several names including “Real Democracy Now” or “M-15” for the day it started on May 15, has published a list of demands.  They include everything from shutting down all nuclear power plants to changes in foreclosure laws to allow homeowners to turn their property over to the bank and have the entire mortgage canceled.  Yesterday, the demonstrators agreed in a show-of-hands vote at a meeting in Puerta del Sol square to stay at least until May 29, when they planned another vote over the future of their makeshift camp.  “We have decided to stay at least until Sunday,” said a protest organiser.

The “outraged people's movement” goes for another week of protests in Spain. “We will continue here until there is a fair social change for most, because the revolution is here and now for the world,” the demonstrators said at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, the epicenter of the protests.  People are "outraged" by the crisis that are living and blame the government and politicians.  They may be right, but it is also necessary to look at ourselves and clean our heart to be real instruments of change. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Real spiritual life is not necessarily about changing our position in society. It is about transforming our hearts. One can be in business, in education, a mother or father, a farmer, a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a politician. One can even be a swami. But when we overcome selfishness and learn the beauty and art of selflessness - seva or selfless service - spirituality is meant to transform arrogance into humility, greed into generosity, vengeance into forgiveness, hate into love, criticism into appreciation, hopeless into hopefulness - it is meant to transform us into becoming instruments of the inner peace that is in our heart with God.  That is the real journey home.

Śrīla Radhanath Swami Mahārāja :
“Interview with Radhanath Swami by Joshua Greene”
http://gaurangakishore.blogspot.com/2010/07/radhanath-swami-interview-with-joshua.html
http://www.radhanath-swami.net/  -  http://radhanathswami.info/

16 DEAD IN MALAYSIA ORPHANAGE LANDSLIDE

LANDSLIDES BURY MALAYSIAN
ORPHANAGE, KILLING AT LEAST 16

KUALA LUMPUR (CNN) - Rescue workers were looking for at least a dozen children reported missing following two landslides that buried a Malaysian orphanage, killing at least 16 people and injuring nine others, the nation’s official news agency reported Sunday.  Rescue workers scoured the area for up to two dozen children believed buried in the landslides that hit the orphanage near Hulu Langat, southeast of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, the Bernama news agency said.  It was not immediately clear how many of the 16 killed were children. Earlier reports said the bodies of at least five children, between the ages of 11 and 14, were pulled from the debris.  Eight children, between the ages of 11 and 17, and a 22-year-old adult were pulled out alive from the debris by rescue workers and villagers.  But rescue workers were still searching for dozens missing, the police said.

The landslides, which were triggered by heavy rains Saturday, struck the orphanage at about 2:30 p.m., while many of its 49 male residents, including five adults, were outside setting up tents on the hillside for an outdoor event later in the day, the police chief said.  It is believed that two landslides occurred within seconds of each other. All of them in the camp were trapped, authorities said.  
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he “instructed relevant authorities to investigate the cause of the mishap,” and he also promised the government would rebuild the orphanage and provide payments to the victims, the news agency said.

At least 16 children died and three others were seriously injured on Saturday after registering two avalanches near an orphanage located 28 kilometers east of Kuala Lumpur.  People were attending a class when they were buried in tons of soil due to landslides after heavy rains in recent weeks.  These terrible misfortunes are due to environmental damage caused by indiscriminate deforestation, the huge amount of trees being felled to make way for cattle ranching and extensive farming. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

It’s time that humanity reverts to and values a simpler, healthier, and more natural way of life.  Only in this way may we attain true health, harmony, and prosperity.  We are part of the earth, and she is part of us.  ... The air has priceless value.  We all share the same breath - the beast, the tree, man; all breathe the same air, and it shares its essence with the life that it sustains.  The freshness of the air, the force of the waters, the mighty pine tree, every grain of sand at the beach, every drop of dew in the forest, the sap that runs through the trees, even the sound of the insects sustain and soothe the lives of humankind on this planet.  The biological wellbeing of our earth, and the future of mankind are being ruined by the materialistic vision of society.

“House of Wisdom” - “Eco conscience”
http://casadelasabiduria.org/  -  http://www.houseofwisdom.org/
http://www.houseofwisdom.org/english/services_eco_conscience1.htm

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN? WORLD AWAITS 6 PM DOOM

CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT PREPARING
TODAY, AT 6:00 PM FOR END OF DAYS

http://news.sky.com - The end is nigh - no, really - according to an American evangelist who claims the apocalypse is coming ... at 6 pm today.  Harold Camping, leader of Family Radio Worldwide, believes “beyond the shadow of a doubt” the Day of Judgment is upon us.  He is adamant the Rapture - a belief that Jesus Christ will return and take the faithful to heaven ahead of the unleashing of hell on Earth - will begin at 6pm local time in each of the world’s regions.  The 89-year-old retired civil engineer from California said he had “absolute proof” of the time and date thanks to the Bible.  “Beyond the shadow of a doubt, May 21 will be the date of the Rapture and the Day of Judgment,” he was quoted as saying in January.

“Because the year 2011 AD is exactly 7,000 years after 4990 BC when the flood began, the Bible has given us absolute proof that the year 2011 is the end of the world during the Day of Judgment,” the website of Family Radio says.  Camping claims that come 6 pm, a powerful earthquake will be felt before all the noble spirits are transported off the earth.  Everyone left behind will then suffer until October 21, when God will pull the plug on entire planet.  But radical American preachers do not have the best of reputations - and Camping is no different, having predicted the apocalypse before... in 1994.  Funnily enough, not everyone is convinced that come 6pm today they will be saying farewell to their good Christian friends.  Some of those are on the other side of the date line - as 6 pm on May 21 in Australia, New Zealand and Japan has already passed.

If Harold Camping is right, then you should probably stop reading this and go say goodbye to your family.  The 89-year-old preacher has predicted that the Christian Rapture - the return of Jesus Christ and an accompanying worldwide disaster - is set to take place today, on Saturday, May 21 at 6:00 pm.  “The Bible is a very factual book,” Camping said.  We respect the Holy Bible; but specifically at this regards, we prefer to accept as true what the Vedic Scriptures say:  This age of Kali-yuga lasts 432,000 years and up to now we have been living the first 5.0000 years, so it still remains a long time for the coming of the end of this era. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

“Maitreya said: O Vidura, the four millenniums are called the Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali yugas. The aggregate number of years of all of these combined is equal to twelve thousand years of the demigods.  The duration of the Satya millennium equals 4,800 years of the years of the demigods; the duration of the Dvāpara millennium equals 2,400 years; and that of the Kali millennium is 1,200 years of the demigods.”  As aforementioned, one year of the demigods is equal to 360 years of the human beings. The duration of the Satya-yuga is therefore 4,800 x 360, or 1,728,000 years. The duration of the Tretā-yuga is 3,600 x 360, or 1,296,000 years. The duration of the Dvāpara-yuga is 2,400 x 360, or 864,000 years. And the last, the Kali-yuga, is 1,200 x 360, or 432,000 years.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“The Śrīmad Bhāgavatam” - Canto 3: The Status Quo
Chapter 11: Calculation of Time, from the Atom
Verses 18 and 19 - Bhaktivedanta VedaBase

PLANE CRASH KILLS 22 IN ARGENTINA’S PATAGONIA

ARGENTINA PLANE CRASH 
KILLS ALL 22 PEOPLE ON BOARD

(CNN) - All 22 people aboard a commuter plane were killed when it crashed in southern Argentina, the airline said Thursday.  The Sol Lineas Aereas plane was headed to the city of Comodoro Rivadavia from Neuquen on Wednesday night when the pilot issued a distress call, said airline spokesman David Avellaneda.  Shortly after, the plane went off the radar, he said. It had on board 18 adult passengers, a baby and three crew members.  Authorities later found the wreckage of the plane in Rio Negro province. There were no signs of survivors, the airline’s website said.  “Last night, when the emergency happened, we put in place a search and rescue operation in the area, which at the time was experiencing very bad weather conditions,” said a spokesman for the country’s National Civil Aviation Administration, according to the state-run Telam news agency.

Once the wreckage was found, federal investigators were called to the scene to determine the cause of the crash, he said.  “Unfortunately there are no survivors.  We see burnt remains, everything burned,” Ismael Ali, who directs the hospital in the nearest town of Los Menucos, told the Todo Noticias channel.  Sol is based in the northern Argentine city of Rosario and generally serves smaller cities in the provinces.  Sol said it received an emergency communication from the plane at 8:50 p.m. local time, nearly halfway into the flight from Neuquén near the Andes to Comodoro Rivadavia along the coast of Rio Negro province.

The investigation into this small plane crash in southern Argentina - which killed three crew members and 19 passengers, including a baby - will take up to three months to get accurate information about the cause of the accident, said Claudio Somoza, director of the Association of Argentine Pilots.  The Transportation Minister, Juan Schiavi, described the crash of Saab 340 plane as a “very rare accident.”  It is very sad to observe that similar accidents happen everywhere.  This material world is full of nasty surprises that happen at any time and only the Holy Name of the Lord is our refuge. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

One who is intelligent understands that there is a great and supreme authority above everything.  That great authority appears in different incarnations to save the innocent from disturbances. ... 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”
Purport in Canto 8: “Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations”
Chapter 2: “The Elephant Gajendra’s Crisis” - Verse 33.
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase 2003 (Folio)

JILTED BRIDE SAVED FROM DEATH PLUNGE

CHINA: SUICIDAL BRIDE RESCUED
JILTED BRIDE JUMPS OUT OF WINDOW

http://www.smh.com.au - A jilted bride-to-be tried to throw herself from a seven-storey building in China after her boyfriend called off their wedding.  The 22-year-old college student, named only as Miss Li, put on her wedding gown before stepping through the window of the residential building in Changchun, eastern China.  But before she plunged to almost certain death, care worker Guo Zhongfan caught her by the neck and held her as others rushed to help pull her to safety.  The Reuters news agency released astonishing images of the dramatic scenes as the woman dangled 25 metres above the ground, with watching neighbours leaning out of their windows.  Neighbours and a crowd in the street seven storeys below breathlessly watch the action.  The drama ends safely, bringing cheers from a watching crowd.

The young bride dumped by her fiancé was dramatically rescued as she threatened to jump from a high rise building in her wedding dress.  One man climbed out of a window below the woman and tried to support her weight with his hands, before she was hauled back inside.  Miss Li climbed on to the ledge and sobbed for an hour before police arrived.  Devastated Li-Wan sat sobbing for an hour on a window ledge 80 ft up just hours after partner Wang Lu called off the big day.  The young woman lived on the fourth floor of the building but made her way to another apartment upstairs.  After the amazing rescue, a crowd on the street applauded Mr Guo.  “I did what anyone would have done,” he said.  Miss Li was later taken to hospital.

Here you can see the dramatic rescue video:

A 22-year-old woman in a wedding gown tried to kill herself by jumping out of a seven-storey residential building in Changchun, China, after her boyfriend of four years broke up with her, just as they were making plans to get married.  But as she jumped off the ledge to certain death, local care worker Guo Zhongfan managed to catch her.  Her rescuer said: “She was very sad about the end of her romance but she knows that now she has a second chance and should make the most of it.”  He not only saved her life by also spared her of taking birth in the lower species of life or to remain as a ghost, unable to attain a gross material body. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Just like if a man becomes disappointed and he cuts his own throat or hangs him, some way or other, eats some poison, to finish, does it mean that he is finished?  No, that is not possible. The result is, because he violated the rules of nature, he becomes a ghost.  That is his life. One who commits suicide, he becomes a ghost.  Ghost means he does not get this material body.  He remains in the subtle body, mind, and intelligence. ... But they are not happy because they have no gross body.  They want to enjoy. He’s materialist.  He has committed suicide for some material want.  So he wants fulfilling material desire.  He could not fulfill in this body; therefore commits suicide, but the desire is there.  The desire is there, and he cannot fulfill it. ... Therefore the best thing is that fix up your mind in Krishna, in Krishna Consciousness.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
Lecture on Śrīmad-Bhagavatam 3.26. 27
Bombay, January 4, 1975
Complete Works of Srila Prabhupada v2.0

 

GROWTH CHEMICAL LEADS TO EXPLODING WATERMELONS

CHINA: “EXPLODING” WATERMELONS
PUT SPOTLIGHT ON FARMING PRACTICES

http://www.presstv.ir - Chinese farmers in the country’s eastern Jiangsu Province have lost acres of their watermelons after the fruits started exploding one by one.  A report by the China Central Television said farmers were using too much of the growth promoter chemical so that they could get their fruit to market ahead of the peak season and increase their profits.  According to the Xinhua, 20 farmers in a Jiangsu village planted imported seeds from Japan, from whom 10 households said their watermelons began exploding last month.  Farmer Liu Mingsuo told Xinhua that more than two-thirds of his crop had blown up after he used chemicals to boost their growth.  Liu is, however, the only farmer from the 10 households who used chemicals.  Experts cannot explain why the chemical-free watermelons have the same fate as the non-chemical ones.

Chinese regulations don’t forbid the drug, and it is allowed in the United States on kiwi fruit and grapes. But the report underscores how farmers in China are abusing both legal and illegal chemicals, with many farms misusing pesticides and fertilizers.   China has approved the use of growth chemical - like the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron - under certain quotas and tests conducted so far show that the chemical is safe.  
People, however, are more concerned about food safety and experts believe a quality tracking system should be introduced to ensure food safety and inform the public about all stages of the food chain.

Watermelons have been bursting by the score in eastern China after farmers gave them overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather.  Prices over the past year prompted many farmers to jump into the watermelon market.  The aim of gaining more profit leads farmers to depend on chemical fertilisers and many have no choice but to cut down their trees and to poison their soil with cheap fertilisers to produce cash crops for sell.  People have been taught to want more and more, and the result is pollution, hunger and war. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

You have to feed 16 pounds of grain and soybeans to a cow to produce one pound of edible beef. In other words, to produce 500 pounds of meat on a 700 pound cow requires that the cow consume 8,000 pounds of grains and soybeans. ... In environmental matters, for instance, the largest culprit against the environment is the farm industry. Because it takes 16 times more food to feed cattle than what we receive in return, that means we are using 16 times more land than is necessary to produce food. And this land is mostly cleared forests and drained wetlands, which are growing in short supply, and are essential for the biological diversity of nature. ... The largest polluter of rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers (for water wells) is not the manufacturing industry, but the agriculture industry, by the runoff from chemical fertilizers, manure and pesticides.

Śripad Yajnavalkya Dasa :
“Defending Dharma”
http://stephen-knapp.com/defending_dharma.htm
http://es.scribd.com/doc/46973472/DefendingDharma

‘TORERO’ BULLFIGHTING PLAY FOR 21ST CENTURY

THE BULLFIGHTER REFUSES TO FIGHT
THE BULL DUE TO HE HAS BECOME HINDU

http://www.abc.es - The company “Suripanta Theatre” opened last Friday, in the city of Navalmoral dela Mata (Cáceres), Spain, the XXI edition of Amateur Theatre Festival “Villa de Navalmoral “, which will run from 6 to May 28 with seven plays and the closing gala.  “Suripanta Theater” goes to the House of Culture with its latest production entitled “Torero (the last three lots of the Macareno Antonio)” a comedy that tells how a matador, Antonio El Macareno , refuses at the last minute to enter the arena, having the overflowed square and in front of his own people, and even during full show!.  Entrenched in the chapel, hidden in his hands the reason for such a grave decision: he has converted to Hinduism.  In the scene, you can see - as in a parade - all those rascals who live at the expense of the bullfighter: parents, sister, girlfriend and even the village priest, who has vocation of attorney.  All with one intention: to get him into the ring no matter what.

The dialectical struggle between the bullfighter and the group around him that live at his expense inevitably end in a violent and tragicomic denouement.  ‘Torero’ shows us a tragicomic and hilarious portrait of the human condition in a dissolute, amoral society.  Arturo Ruíz, David Desola - the play writers - and Esteve Ferrer - director of the show - said:  “‘Torero’ does not intend to reflect the bullfighting world as it is alive today.  Our interest is to focus on the figure of the matador and his environment, full of village brides, close family members, attorneys and rascals of low birth who feed from the ephemeral success of those who risk their lives in the ring.   ‘Torero’ is an anti-hero who fights and bleeds to survive.”

“Torero, las tres ultimas suertes de Antonio el Macareno,” is a picaresque comedy or grotesque tragicomedy which is now touring Spain.  The play’s plot is that a famous bullfighter refuses to enter the bull ring, even though the place is packed with his fans, because he has converted to Hinduism and has a crisis of conscience.  His fiance, family and a priest try to dissuade him.  The plot of this play reminds us of the purifying power of the process of Krishna Consciousness, as happened with Srila BB Harijan Maharaj who had been a bullfighter by profession and became a perfect example of dedicated and wonderful Vaishnava. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Havi Das (Ilan Chester), a disciple of Prabhupada, went to Bogota and began to chant Hare Krishna and one of the first people that attended his lecture was Bhimala Srila Harijan Maharaj.  Now, at that time, he was known as Miguel Antonio Chávez, and by coincidence or by special destination, he was a bullfighter by profession, which is not exactly a Vaishnava style profession.  He was a frustrated bullfighter because he did not want to know anything more about that, he wanted to know about the spiritual life.  Then he attended the class and he liked it so much that he moved two days later along with Havi Das and they began to found the first temple of Krishna Consciousness in Colombia.  BB Srila Harijan Maharaj represented the ideals of Krishna Consciousness and when he left this world he had already preached in many places, he made devotees in Chile, USA, Germany and Colombia, left many churches, and above all, he won the hearts of all devotees in a very special way.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Welcome to Krishna’s Family”
“The Message of Srila Prabhupada - The Most Precious Gift”
http://bhaktipedia.org/espanol/index.php?n=paramadvaiti_ba.bienvenidos_a_la_familia_04

SWISS SAY NO TO EUTHANASIA RESTRICTIONS

VOTERS IN SWISS CITY OF ZURICH VOTED
AGAINST ASSISTED SUICIDE RESTRICTIONS

Zurich (AFP) - Voter in the Swiss region of Zurich, which has become known as a hub for “death tourism”, have voted against plans to restrict assisted suicide to local residents.  The motion brought by the conservative Federal Democratic Union party sought to impose a one-year residence requirement in the Zurich canton for those who resort to legally sanctioned assisted suicide.  A locally based association, Dignitas, has gained notoriety over the past decade by offering more than 1,000 foreigners, mainly terminally ill people, the opportunity to take advantage of relatively permissive Swiss laws.  The motion was rejected by the 78 % of the votes.  A second motion calling for a national ban on assisted suicide was also rejected by the 84 % of the votes.  Passive help for those wanting to end their lives is allowed and efforts to change the Swiss laws have failed.

In Switzerland a person may be given “passive” assistance to suicide, such as being supplied with a lethal dose of a drug, provided it is not done for selfish motives or for gain.  Active assistance, including helping the person to take the drug or administering it, is forbidden.  Dignitas, a Swiss organisation founded by controversial human rights activist Ludwig Minelli that assists the terminally ill, said that by the end of 2010 it had worked with 1,138 people seeking to end their lives.  The list includes 592 people from Germany, 102 from France, 118 Swiss nationals, 19 Italians, 18 US nationals and 16 people from Spain.  The group says that in the last decade it has approached more than 1,000 foreigners about benefiting from Swiss assisted suicide laws.

Voters in Zurich overwhelmingly rejected yesterday proposed bans on assisted suicide and “suicide tourism” -  foreigners travelling to Switzerland to get help ending their lives.  Euthanasia, assisted suicide or "mercy killing” is only legal in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and the US state of Oregon.  The Greek word euthanasia means, "dying well".  To have a "good dead" is possible if at the time of death one remembers God, despite of all adverses circumstances.  The Greek word euthanasia means, "dying well".  To have a "good dead" is possible if at the time of death one remembers God, despite of all adverse circumstances. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Euthanasia is now a subject of moral inquiry, and is controversial because it concerns the right of people to kill themselves deliberately. ... Euthanasia is a medical procedure that is performed to end the life of an evicted human being.  Supporters of such a procedure are convinced that this is a great task; therefore, they say it is the best to do when face suffering; others call this work an “act of compassion.”  However, they forget the importance and seriousness of death.  These people are unaware that at the moment of death one has to receive special attention, since it is the last moment of his life:  God created death for the soul can transmigrate into another body, so this is the way to satisfy all desires and pay all debts that have been accumulated.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Vedic Wisdom”: “Euthanasia. Dying with Dignity?”
http://vwonline.blogspot.com/  -  http://www.sabiduriavedica.org
http://bhaktipedia.org/espanol/index.php?n=sabidurias_vedicas.eutanasia

GUN DEATHS HIGHER AMONG URBAN YOUTH

OFFICIAL CENTERS IN U.S. REPORTS
GUN CRIMES HIGH AMONGST TEENS

http://www.medpagetoday.com - Firearm homicide rates among 10- to 19-year-olds exceeded the combined rate for all ages in many metropolitan areas during 2006-2007, according to the CDC.  Interestingly, youth suicides from firearms were lower than for all ages combined during the same period, according to the May 13 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.  Compared with the national rate of 4.2 per 100,000 persons per year, firearm homicide rates for the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas averaged 5.2 overall; the highest rates being in the central cities. In all, 66% of these areas had rates exceeding the national rate.  The youth firearm homicide rate was 6.8 for the 50 largest metropolitan areas combined, and exceeded the all-ages rate in 80% of metropolitan areas.
 
The report looked at firearm homicide and suicide rates in 50 metropolitan statistical areas, which are defined by as “a core area containing a substantial population nucleus, together with adjacent communities.”  Examples of metropolitan areas are “New York; northern New Jersey; Long Island” and “Los Angeles; Long Beach; Santa Ana.”  The 62 central cities such as New York, Newark, N.J., and Chicago referred to in the report generally comprise the core areas.  The CDC suggested that national and state prevention programs directed at reducing firearm violence should focus on youths, particularly in central cities.  Suicides and homicides by guns were the fourth and fifth leading causes of death in the U.S. during 2006-2007, together accounting for approximately 30,000 fatalities each year.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published that more firearm homicides were completed by 10 to 19 year old Americans in metropolitan areas than all other areas.  Large metropolitan areas suffer about two-thirds of all firearm homicides in the United States, with inner cities most affected.  To reduce the carnage, the country needs to teach young people ways to resolve conflicts without violence.  In big cities there are technological advances, a lot of money, luxury and pleasure, but young people do not find meaning in their lives and are prone to drugs and gun violence. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Great progress ... So much on every level medically, militarily. It used to be bows and arrows and guns, then machine guns, then big big guns, then bombs, then atom bombs, then nuclear bombs. ... So with all this progress why the greatest medical problem is mental health, mental disease, depression. ... Insanity, frustration, suicide, just people minds just burst with craziness, they just go on rape people, shoot people. ... So yes, so much tremendous progress but Prabhupada our Guru Maharaj said there is a pinprick in society. There is frustration, there is depression, and there is loneliness. The mind is simply not satisfied. The mind will never be satisfied no matter how much you money you make, no matter how much sex you have, no matter how much power you have, no matter how much position you have, no matter how much land you own. The mind will never be satisfied.

Śrīla Radhanath Swami Mahārāja :
“Conquering The Greatest Enemy”
http://www.radhanathmaharaj.net/content/conquering-greatest-enemy-radhanath-swami
http://radhanathswami.info/  -  http://www.radhanath-swami.net/

WOMAN BEHEADED AT SHOP

BRITISH WOMAN BEHEADED IN STORE
ON SPANISH ISLAND BY 'PROPHET OF GOD'

http://www.smh.com.au - A Man has beheaded a woman in front of stunned shoppers at a supermarket on the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife.  The suspect, a 28-year-old homeless Bulgarian, was chased, tackled and detained by security guards after he fled the store brandishing the head in his hands.  Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the 62-year-old victim was a British citizen but were yet to contact her next of kin, who is believed to be an expat living in Tenerife.  The killing took place at 10.30am local time on Friday in the southern town of Arona, 15 kilometres north of the beach resort of Los Cristianos.  Colin Kirby, a local magazine reporter, spoke to an English couple who claimed they saw the man walk in to the shop and stab the woman repeatedly with a sword-like blade.  After the attack, the bloodstained man reportedly ran on to the street carrying the victim's head, telling passers-by: ''This is my treasure.'' He also yelled: ''God is on Earth.''

Some witnesses presumed the man was carrying the head of a mannequin.  Kirby, who was outside the shop, said: ''I heard people shouting and screaming and making a commotion. A Hispanic-looking guy, very scruffy, was walking behind me muttering to himself, carrying what I thought was a joke head by the hair, with blood. It made me think of Clash of the Titans, gorgons. I thought, 'It's a joke.'''  
Mayor Jose Alberto Gonzalez said the attack appeared to be random and had been recorded on the supermarket's security cameras. Police confirmed the alleged killer had previous convictions for violence and had been in a psychiatric hospital.

A man randomly attacks and beheads a British 60-year-old woman in a supermarket on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.  The woman was shopping when a 28-year-old Bulgarian man stabbed her to death while claiming to be a “prophet of God”.   He then hacked off her head and ran from the store carrying it by the hair.   At every step there is a danger waiting for us.  There is no safe place in this material world.  Only the chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna cleanses the mirror of the heart and extinguishes the fire of misery in this ocean of birth and death. 

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

Just as the evening lotus blooms in the moon’s cooling rays, the heart begins to blossom in the nectar of the Name, and at last the soul awakens in full knowledge of its real inner treasure - a life of love with Krsna in the highest mellows of devotion. Again and again tasting nectar, the souls dive and surface in the ever-increasing ocean of joy.  In this way, all phases of the self are fully satisfied and purified by bathing in the nectarine mellows of the Holy Name of Krsna. Therefore, let the Sankirttan of the Holy Name be victorious. ... We are forced to come into creation and again die. The mundane wave catches the soul which mingles with that vibration in different stages.  That is stopped by the second effect of Sri Krsna Sankirttan and we become liberated ... from the great conflagration of threefold miseries.

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja :
“Our Inner Treasure : The Spirit of the Name”
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/oittsotn.html
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library