DSK CANCELS BRUSSELS SPEECH AFTER PROTESTS

VIAGRA-FUELLED STRAUSS-KAHN
TOOK PART IN ORGY SAYS MADAME

www.dailymail.co.uk - A Viagra-fuelled Dominique Strauss-Kahn took part in a seedy orgy in the basement of a Paris restaurant, it has been claimed. The disgraced banker is alleged to have had sex with a young woman for 30 minutes - as five other men looked on and pleasured themselves. Brothel keepers Dominique Alderweirel, also known as Dodo La Saumure, and his partner Béatrice Legrain made their claims in an interview in today’s Spanish edition of Vanity Fair. The couple, who reportedly run a string of sex establishments in Belgium, said the ‘erotic’ party took place after lunch at L’Aventure restaurant on March 6, 2009. Béatrice, dubbed a madame, said: ‘The party lasted in total for an hour and a half. Dominique Strauss-Kahn had taken Viagra.  I have in my head the image of DSK, dressed only in a white shirt. ‘He had lowered his trousers and maintained four sexual relations in a row with the girl, who was on all fours just metres from us.’

Strauss-Kahn has been engulfed in a tide of sex scandals since he was arrested for trying to rape a New York hotel chambermaid in May 2011.  When those charges were dropped and he returned to France only to face similar accusations of sexually abusing a young French writer. When those allegations were also dropped, he was then confronted with more claims he used prostitutes supplied by a Lille vice network. And he now faces a further investigation in France over an unfolding prostitution and corruption scandal. The revelations come as Strauss-Kahn cancelled plans to speak at a European Parliament debate next week, after MEPs said it would be ‘indecent’ for him to appear. Strauss-Kahn’s withdrawal followed a protest by Socialist MEPs, who wrote to Parliament president Martin Schulz to say that it would be ‘indecent’.  Schulz had been ‘concerned’ after also receiving ‘lots of letters’ from members of the public. Earlier this month, Strauss-Kahn was heckled at a speaking engagement in Cambridge University.

The shamed former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief, Strauss-Kahn, 62, canceled an appearance at a European Parliament debate on the global economic and financial crisis following an outcry by deputies.  This is not the first time that DSK is facing an uphill battle to participate in conferences.  Once considered a favorite for the French presidency, he has been dogged by sex scandals in the US and France that have destroyed his political career. We must control the sex drive.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

We should always remember Nrsimhadeva. Nrsimhadeva kills Hiranyakasipu. Who is Hiranyakasipu? “Hiranya” means wealth and “kasipu” means bed - sexual desire. So “Hiranyakasipu” means “those who have desire for wealth and sex; and also for name and fame”. Such persons cannot get Krishna. So, Hiranyakasipu is within us. Externally, we may see a demon, but that demon is also residing within ourselves. That demon should be killed! Then you can go to Krishna. There is also one-pointed, causeless, eternal devotion residing within our real selves. That is called “Prahlada”. There is Prahlada, Nrsimha Bhagavan and bhakti.  Nrsimha Bhagavan will remove all ulterior motives from our hearts. He will kill Hiranyakasipu and enhance Prahlada.

Śrīla Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Mahārāja :
“Golden Saying” - 1/19
Published on May 31, 2002
http://www.sreecgmath.org

EGYPT’S COPTIC POPE BURIED, CHRISTIANS ANXIOUS

COPTIC POPE’S DEATH ADDS TO
FEARS IN EGYPT’S TIME OF TRANSITION

Cairo (Kareem Fahim) - A tearful crowd of thousands that included members of Egypt’s emerging political class attended a funeral service Tuesday for Pope Shenouda III, who spent four decades as the popular and charismatic leader of the country’s Coptic Orthodox Church. During a two-hour morning ceremony, with prayers read in Arabic and Coptic, the pope, dressed in an embroidered robe in a white, open coffin, was remembered as a “wise captain” who built bridges to Muslims and other Christian denominations as he spread the church’s influence around the world. The death Saturday of the only pope many Egyptian Copts had ever known underscored feelings of unease many Christians have about the tumult of Egypt’s political transition since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak. By the early evening, there were scenes of pandemonium as thousands of people mobbed a van carrying Shenouda to his burial site, in a monastery in northern Egypt.

Red-faced military policemen wrestled mourners carrying the pope’s portraits as they strained for a last glimpse through the dark windows of the white van. The grief seemed only to compound the long-held complaints about discrimination which since Mr. Mubarak’s departure have been replaced by deeper fears that Islamist parties could further marginalize the minority Christian population if they try to fashion Egypt into a more observant Muslim state.  Sally Toma, a psychiatrist and leftist activist who is a Copt, said she hoped for a younger pope, and one more ready to embrace changes, including on the question of divorce, which the church prohibits. “Pope Shenouda was lovable and funny and witty and very educated. He was also an army man, a man of discipline. I guess it’s difficult to question discipline,” she said.

Pope Shenouda III, an giant figure for 40 years at the helm of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, died Saturday at age 88.  His body was laid to rest on Tuesday in a monastery after a moving funeral Mass at a Cairo cathedral attended by tens of thousands.  His death brought fears among Christians about the political rise of Islamists in this mainly Muslim and conservative Arab nation. Beyond the cultural differences, we are branches of the same spiritual tree which has God at its roots.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Even if Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, etc., all keep their own ideology, legends, and traditions, we should realize that all of these legends and conceptions of God and forms of worship ultimately refer to the same Supreme God and lesser demigods, although they may be called by different names according to present day variations in region and culture. In other words, all these doctrines and faiths are simply outgrowths of the original religion and worship of the one Supreme Deity that spread throughout the world many thousands of years ago from the same basic source, and which is now expressed through the many various cultural differences in the world.  Therefore, no matter what religion we may consider ourselves, we are all a part of the same family.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Death of the Aryan Invasion Theory”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/death_of_the_aryan_invasion_theory.htm

YOUR MIND ON MEDITATION: LESS WANDERING, MORE DOING

MEDITATION: “PERFECT PRACTICE” FOR
THOSE WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER

www.latimes.com/health - The brains of experienced meditators appear to be fitter, more disciplined and more “on task” than do the brains of those trying out meditation for the first time. And the differences between the two groups are evident not only during meditation, when brain scans detect a pattern of better control over the wandering mind among experienced meditators, but when the mind is allowed to wander freely. Those insights emerge from a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which looked at two groups: highly experienced meditators and meditation novices, and compared the operations of the “Default Mode Network” - a newly identified cluster of brain regions that go to work when our brains appear to be “offline.” “I think it’s safe to say this is brain-training at work,” says Yale University psychiatrist Judson Brewer, who conducted the study with psychologists from Yale, the University of Oregon and Columbia University. 

By the definition of the latest study, mental control was defined as the ability to keep two key nodes of the default mode network from becoming active during meditation. The posterior cingulate cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex appear to be hubs of the brain’s “neutral” setting-areas that come alive when we are not engaged in a task that requires more specialized attention and let our minds wander.  Why would mental control over our daydreams make us more healthy? It turns out that having a well-functioning default mode network - one that lets us explore ourselves and our lives but doesn’t intrude into our efforts to concentrate when that’s what’s needed - is critical to mental health.  Those of us who daydream more often are more likely to be depressed - either because we get caught in a cycle of rumination or because depressed people have poorer concentration (which comes first isn’t clear).

From this study, more evidence emerges that meditation strengthens the brain. By comparing brain scans of experienced meditators' brains and brains of those who try to meditate for the first time, there emerges a pattern of greater control over the mind that wanders among experienced meditators. In addition, meditation not only helps the brain, this technique together with prayer are spiritual practices which allow us to reconnect with our own essence.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

It is believed that the sages from the ancient time of the Indus-Saraswati civilization practiced both yoga and meditation. ... Modern medicine has endorsed the beneficial effects of many of these meditation techniques in countering the harmful effects of stress on the human system.  Many leading medical authorities now recognize that through the practice of meditation and yoga, one can regulate heart rate, blood pressure, and other vital phenomenon, hitherto considered as beyond the influence of voluntary control. ... There are even reports of brain changes, as observed by MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) techniques, after meditation.  Scientists have discovered palpable thickening of some critical areas of the brain cortex in monks who perform meditation over prolonged periods.

Dr. Hiro Badlani:
“Hinduism - Path of the Ancient Wisdom”
Chapter 14 - “Consciousness: Cosmic Intelligence of the Divine”
Chapter 44 - “Meditation: The Spiritual Practice”
http://hinduismpath.com/

STUDY SAYS FASTING MAY HELP PROTECT BRAIN

FASTING CAN HELP PROTECT AGAINST
BRAIN DISEASES, SCIENTISTS SAY

United Kingdom (The Guardian) - Researchers at the National Institute on Ageing in Baltimore said they had found evidence which shows that periods of stopping virtually all food intake for one or two days a week could protect the brain against some of the worst effects of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other ailments. “Reducing your calorie intake could help your brain, but doing so by cutting your intake of food is not likely to be the best method of triggering this protection. It is likely to be better to go on intermittent bouts of fasting, in which you eat hardly anything at all, and then have periods when you eat as much as you want,” said Professor Mark Mattson, head of the institute’s laboratory of neurosciences.  Cutting daily food intake to around 500 calories - which amounts to little more than a few vegetables and some tea - for two days out of seven had clear beneficial effects in their studies, claimed Mattson, who is also professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Scientists have known for some time that a low-calorie diet is a recipe for longer life. Rats and mice reared on restricted amounts of food increase their lifespan by up to 40%!  A similar effect has been noted in humans. But Mattson and his team have taken this notion further. They argue that starving yourself occasionally can stave off not just ill-health and early death but delay the onset of conditions affecting the brain, including strokes. “The cells of the brain are put under mild stress that is analogous to the effects of exercise on muscle cells,” said Mattson. “The overall effect is beneficial.” This model has been worked out using studies of fasting on humans and the resulting impact on their general health – even sufferers from asthma have shown benefits, said Mattson - and from experiments on the impact on the brains of animals affected by the rodent equivalent of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

If you want a smarter brain and a shapelier profile, fasting on alternate days might not be such a bad idea after all. Fasting for regular periods could help protect the brain against degenerative illnesses, according to US scientists. They claim that giving up almost all food for one or two days a week can counteract impact of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.  Vaishnavas respect special moments for fasting and perform devotional service, such as on Ekadasi.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Ekadasi is considered to be the favourite day of Krishna, when devotees refrain from material activities. ... As we approach the full moon and the new moon, the watery portion of our bodies is enhanced by the movement of the earth, the moon and the sun, and thereby the enjoying spirit is also developed. So, fasting is necessary to meet with that external movement of nature. Fasting can save us from that peculiar reaction. ... Also, from the spiritual perspective, Krishna Himself also feels more necessity for enjoyment, and when Krishna feels more necessity, the devotees have a greater chance to offer service. ... So, the first reason is to please Krishna and the secondary reason is that by fasting, we can make our body dry and so our enjoying spirit will be lessened.

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja :
“Ekadasi” - http://bvml.org/SBRSM/ekadasi.html
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/index.htm
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/books/

ARGENTINA, PREGNANT GIRL OF 10 YEARS

ARGENTINA’S 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL
PREGNANT SHOCKED THE NATION

www.lanacion.com.ar - In Argentina, days ago a 10-year-old girl was hospitalized with a 26-week pregnancy resulting from rape, in the Maternity Hospital Vidal the Corrientes province. The girl was derived from the town of San Miguel, located 85 kilometres from the provincial capital, where she lives with her parents and five siblings in a rural area. There she has been raped by a member of her family. “This never ceases to amaze and move us because she is the youngest of the girl mothers who had to be admitted to this hospital,” said the director of the maternity ward, Norma Perez. “She understands very little what happens, she is afraid and distressed.” The doctor explained that the girl is “controlled”, but her pregnancy is a “high risk” one.  The doctor explains: “Pregnancy should continue because it is advanced, but what is done with her in the next few days will be the product of a judicial decision.”

Rosa Esquivel is the judge who is studying the case involving the young pregnant girl, and she has confirmed that “the accused is less than 16 years old” and that he “belongs to the family environment of the pregnant girl.” However, it is not clear whether he is a direct family member. “The complaint comes from the police station in San Miguel, so what we did first was to focus on child protection and the girl,” said the magistrate. “There are several circumstances to consider, such as age, and it is difficult to make decisions having so little infrastructure that exists in the province to bring psychological attention to the girl.” This is another case of a “girl mother,” that moves Corrientes province and the whole country. In 2007, in Argentina there had been two similar cases involving children of 11 years in the cities of Concepcion and Paso de los Libres. In the provinces of Corrientes, Chaco and Misiones there are high rates of “early pregnancy”, and annually more than 3,000 babies are born to girls between 10 and 14.

In Argentina, a 10 year old girl from the rural area of San Miguel, province of Corrientes, is having a pregnancy of more than 6 months and she was admitted to a health centre due the "high risk" her pregnancy poses to her health. The head of the Neonatology Service of the hospital, Norma Perez, said that "she is the youngest of the mother-girls they had to attend so far." Everywhere, men who seek to indulge their senses at any cost, often harass and commit rapes to girls.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Individuals’ failure to control their minds and senses in efforts to fulfill their desires can escalate to such desperate measures as robbery, rape, and even murder. Material lust is like a blazing fire, never leaving a person with any peace. Such desires always force people to attempt to satisfy their cravings. The flames of such desires consume all hope for peace in such individuals. When society is made of many such individuals, whose primary interest is to simply satisfy their own desires and gratify their senses, this disorder prevents peace in human society. Society remains in a state of escalating chaos. Such disorder grows to the degree in which society pursues selfish gratification. Without controlling our mind and senses, there is no possibility for peace. Only people who can give up their numerous material desires by spiritualizing their consciousness can attain real peace of mind and work in peace and unity with others.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Toward World Peace: Seeing the Unity Between Us All”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com  -  http://www.stephenknapp.info/
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/toward_world_peace_ebook.htm

INDIA’S NEW AMERICAN STYLE

AMAZING TRANSFORMATION:
HOW INDIA BECAME AMERICA

www.nytimes.com (by Akash Kapur) - Recently, both Starbucks and Amazon announced that they would be entering the Indian market. Amazon has already started a comparison shopping site; Starbucks plans to open its first outlet this summer. I grew up in rural India, the son of an Indian father and American mother. I spent many summers (and the occasional biting, shocking winter) in rural Minnesota. I always considered both countries home. In truth, though, the India and America of my youth were very far apart: cold war adversaries, America’s capitalist exuberance a sharp contrast to India’s austere socialism. For much of my life, my two homes were literally - but also culturally, socially and experientially - on opposite sides of the planet. All that began changing in the early 1990s, when India liberalized its economy. Since then, I’ve watched India’s transformation with exhilaration, but occasionally, and increasingly, with some anxiety.

More than half a century ago, R. K. Narayan, that great chronicler of India in simpler times, wrote about his travels in America. “America and India are profoundly different in attitude and philosophy,” he wrote. “Indian philosophy stresses austerity and unencumbered, uncomplicated day-to-day living. America’s emphasis, on the other hand, is on material acquisition and the limitless pursuit of prosperity.” By the time I decided to return to India for good, in 2003, Narayan’s observations felt outdated. A great reconciliation had taken place; my two homes were no longer so far apart.  This reconciliation had both tangible and intangible manifestations. Something had changed in the very spirit of the country. India is infused with an energy, a can-do ambition and an entrepreneurial spirit that I can only describe as distinctly American. But other things have come to India, too: pollution, crime, and a feeling of anxiety for those, like me, who are torn between celebrating and lamenting its change.

Another brick has come down in the great wall separating India from the rest of the world. Starbucks and Amazon, two emblematic companies of American consumerism announced their arrival into the Indian market. India’s remarkable process of Americanization has in so many ways been a wonderful thing. It has lifted millions from poverty; villages grow more prosperous, but there are also more troubles due to new violence. Ancient social structures are collapsing under the weight of new money.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

For people with no spiritual interest, life is just eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The consumer society has been given itself the task of exhausting all efforts to meet these four activities and make them sophisticated, which are so elementary, by the way, that even animals have already perfected them quite a while ago. ... You can no longer easily distinguish between necessary and unnecessary, and almost nothing invites us to be aware of the suffering caused to other living entities to produce the various articles and products sold. While we are all consumers, the dynamics of materialism and progress infuses us that we have born only to consume, produce and consume again. This is certainly problematic and impoverishes the spirit. ... It's like a kind of lack of control in desires and the purchase capacity.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Conscious Consumers” - “Vedic Wisdom Collection”
http://www.vedic-wisdom.org/ - http://vedicwisdom.weebly.com/
http://bhaktipedia.org/espanol/index.php?n=sabidurias_vedicas.consumidores_conscientes
http://www.sabiduriavedica.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134&Itemid=141&lang=en

SEXUALLY REJECTED FLIES TURN TO BOOZE

BARFLIES: SEX-DEPRIVED MALE
FRUIT FLIES GO FOR THE BOOZE

New York Times News Service - They were young males on the make, and they struck out not once, not twice, but a dozen times with a group of attractive females hovering nearby. So they did what so many men do after being repeatedly rejected: They got drunk, using alcohol as a balm for unfulfilled desire. Fruit flies apparently self-medicate just as humans do, drowning their sorrows or frustrations for some of the same reasons, scientists reported in the journal Science.  Their work suggests that some elements of the brain’s reward system have changed very little during evolution, and these include some of the mechanisms that support addiction. To test the relationship between stress and alcohol in fruit flies, researchers at the University of California allowed one group of male flies to mate freely with available virgin females and another group were mingled with females which had already mated and were thus indifferent to any approach.

After four days, the flies in both groups fed in glass tubes outfitted with four straws, two providing a regular diet of yeast and sugar and two containing yeast, sugar and 15 percent alcohol. All fruit flies like it, but the rejected flies drank a lot more on average, supping from the spiked mixture about 70 percent of the time, compared with about 50 percent for their sexually sated peers. The flies were apparently using the alcohol as a way to compensate for their frustrated desire. “Reading this study is like looking back in time, to see the very origins of the reward circuit that drives fundamental behaviors like sex, eating and sleeping,” said Dr. Markus Heilig, the clinical director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Heilig, who was not involved in the research, said the findings also supported new approaches to treating alcohol dependence. Researchers are investigating several compounds aimed at blunting alcohol urges.

Fruit flies, like many humans, develop a taste for alcohol. Researchers theorize that pleasurable activities like having sex boost the activity of fly brain circuits that use a chemical substance, and that feels good. If a fly is denied sex, the system goes into deficit, driving the fly to seek other rewarding activities such as drinking alcohol.  A similar chemical is linked to drinking in humans.  Instead of alcohol, why don't try with mantras which produce significant benefits?

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Spiritual disciplines recommend meditational practices such as silent meditation, silent recitation of mantras and also the verbal repetition of specific mantras out loud. A Clinical Test of the Benefits of Mantra Chanting was performed on three groups of sixty-two subjects, males and females of average age 25. They chanted the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra twenty-five minutes each day under strict clinical supervision.  Results showed that regular chanting of the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra reduces Stress and depression and helps reduce bad habits & addictions. These results formed a PhD Thesis at Florida State University. Spiritual practitioners claim many benefits from Mantra Meditation such as increased realization of spiritual wisdom, inner peace and a strong communion with God and the spiritual realm. These effects may be experienced by following the designated spiritual path.

Śrīpad Bhakti Bhāvana Vishnu Mahārāja :
(David H. Osborn) ‘Science of the Sacred’
‘Ancient Perspectives for Modern Science’
“Scientific Verification of Vedic Knowledge”
“Vedic Sound and Mantras”
http://gosai.com/writings/science-of-the-sacred

TEENAGER KILLS HERSELF AFTER FORCED MARRIAGE

MOROCCO OUTRAGED OVER SUICIDE OF GIRL
WHO WAS FORCED TO MARRY HER RAPIST

Rabat, Morocco (AP) - The case of a 16-year-old girl who killed herself after she was forced to marry her rapist has spurred outrage among Morocco’s internet activists and calls for changes to the country’s laws. An online petition, a Facebook page and countless tweets expressed horror over the suicide of Amina Filali, who swallowed rat poison on Saturday to protest her marriage to the man who raped her a year earlier.  Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code allows for the “kidnapper” of a minor to marry his victim to escape prosecution, and it has been used to justify a traditional practice of making a rapist marry his victim to preserve the honor of the woman’s family. “Amina, 16, was triply violated, by her rapist, by tradition and by Article 475 of the Moroccan law,” tweeted activist Abadila Maaelaynine. It is said that a judge can recommend marriage only in the case of agreement by the victim and both families.

The marriage is then pushed on the victim by the families to avoid scandal, said Fouzia Assouli, president of Democratic League for Women’s Rights. “It is unfortunately a recurring phenomenon,” she said. “We have been asking for years for the cancellation of Article 475 of the penal code which allows the rapist to escape justice.” The victim’s father said it was the court officials who suggested from the beginning the marriage option when they reported the rape. “The prosecutor advised my daughter to marry, he said ‘go and make the marriage contract,’” said Lahcen Filali in an interview. Filali said Amina complained to her mother that her husband was beating her repeatedly during the five months of marriage but that her mother counseled patience. A Facebook page called “We are all Amina Filali” has been formed and an online petition calling for Morocco to end the practice of marrying rapists and their victims has already gathered more than 1,000 signatures.

A Moroccan teenager committed suicide by drinking rat poison after being forced to marry her rapist, who wed his victim in a bid to beat the system and evade prison. In many societies, the loss of a woman’s virginity outside of wedlock is a huge stain of honor on the family. In cases of rape, the burden of proof is often on the victim and if the woman can’t prove it, she may be prosecuted for debauchery.  In this society away from God, the laws favor those with power and seek to gratify their senses at all costs.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Those who regularly indulge in illicit relationships outside marriage will see the members of the opposite sex merely as objects of sense stimuli and nothing more. They treat others, including their elders, such as parents, with irreverence. ... In a society of sinners, there cannot be peace and happiness. The result is war, crime, murder, rape, terror and torment. The root cause of these sins is the fundamental mistake of identifying oneself with the body, which forms the basis for sense enjoyments, through foul means, if necessary. ... Only with the total eradication of these sins by a global effort can sanity return to human society and not merely by protracted and prolonged rhetorical speeches at the United Nations organizations and other world organizations.

Śrīla Bhakti Swarup Tirtha Mahārāja :
“Only God Can Save This Earth”
Discourse at Maryland University, USA
Gaudiya Vaishnava Association (GVA)
http://www.gva.in/index.php

NO DAMAGE REPORTED AFTER QUAKE IN JAPAN

STRONG QUAKE SHAKES
JAPAN, NO DAMAGE SEEN

Tokyo (AP) - A strong earthquake shook northern Japan on Wednesday evening, causing small tidal changes on its Pacific coastline but no damage or injury was reported. Several towns issued evacuation orders or advisories to residents nearest the coast. A swelling of 20 centimeters (8 inches) was observed in the port of Hachinohe in Aomori, northern Japan, about one hour after the quake struck the region. Smaller changes were also reported in several locations on Hokkaido island and Aomori prefecture. The agency lifted all tsunami advisories about an hour and half later. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the tremor was 6.8 magnitude. An aftershock of magnitude 5.9 struck followed about two hours later. The town of Otsuchi in Iwate prefecture, where more than 800 died in last year's tsunami, issued an evacuation order to all households along the coast as a precaution, said prefectural disaster management official Shinichi Motoyama. No damage or injury was reported from the quake so far, he said.

Iwate was heavily damaged by last year's earthquake and tsunami. Thousands of aftershocks have shaken the region since then, nearly all of them of minor or moderate strength. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 left some 19,000 people dead or missing. Japan marked the first anniversary of the disasters on Sunday, as the country still struggles to rebuild. Wednesday's tremor was centered about 146 miles (235 kilometers) south of Kushiro, Japan, on Hokkaido island. It was a relatively shallow 6 miles (10 kilometers) below the sea surface. The quake was not felt in Tokyo. Japan's meteorological agency had initially said the waves could be as high as 50 centimetres, but US monitors said there was no Pacific-wide tsunami threat. There were no reports of abnormalities at the Higashidori and Onagawa nuclear power plants in northern Japan, domestic media reported. Reactors at both plants had been shut down for routine maintenance when the quake hit.

There were no immediate reports of damage after northern Japan was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 6.8.  A tsunami warning was issued but later lifted. On March 11, 2011, the country’s northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 quake and a big tsunami, which triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years since Chernobyl. The disaster killed about 20,000 people.  Whether you believe it or not, everyone is subordinate to nature, which is working under the direction of God.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Modern scientists say that there are no demigods and that there is no God, that all events are being carried out by nature. It is true that nature is working, but nature, after all, is nothing but matter. Matter cannot work without being directed by a living being. We cannot say that matter works independently. In the ocean we always see that there are great waves moving. Water is dull matter, but the air is pushing these great waves and dashing them onto the earth. Scientists say that nature works in this way and that, but nature is not independent. We receive information from authoritative śāstras that nature is moving under the direction of the demigods. So we cannot say that these processes are automatically taking place. Scientists admit that nature is working in a wonderful way, but, after all, nature is not under their control. The scientists may accept or defy Krishna, but they cannot defy the activities of nature.

Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda :
“Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahuti”
Chapter 17 “Taking Shelter of Krishna, the Supreme Controller”
Verse 42 - Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International

WHEN DIETS DIVIDE RELATIONSHIPS

THE PROBLEM OF COUPLES
WITH DIFFERENT EATING HABITS

http://mexico.cnn.com/salud - Food brings people together. A great deal of bonding can happen over a pot of soup, but when one person wants chicken noodle while the other wants vegetable, it can turn into a food fight. Couples expect the normal relationship woes - sex, money, respect - but with the growing prevalence of dietary restrictions and interfaith marriages, the kitchen is increasingly turning into an all out turf war.  “How we feed ourselves and each other says a great deal about how we feel about ourselves and our loved ones,” says psychotherapist Karen Koenig, who has written four books on eating and weight. Dean Thompson, 41, of Austin, Texas, and his girlfriend, Amanda Abbott, 39, know the anything-but-simple nature of food all too well. Thompson is a vegan; Abbott is not. At the end, their culinary contingencies could be fortunately settled. While neither says they will change from omnivore to vegan or vice versa for the other, Abbott says she does find herself cooking more vegetables and eating more healthily.

Relationships, like gravy, aren’t always smooth, and couples must learn how to whisk through the bumps, says Ramani Durvasula, a licensed clinical psychologist and professor of psychology. Here a few of her tips: Respect: Regardless the reason for the choice - religion, ethical conviction, medical - it is critical that one person not mock or otherwise ridicule or put down the choices of another partner. That runs both ways:  If one person is a committed vegan, he or she may need to get off his/her high horse and not make it a moral indictment of the partner who does not choose to eat that way, because that is a choice that may not be amenable to that partner. Find ways to voice preferences that are not disrespectful. Communicate: Such different choices only work if there is clear communication about grocery shopping or meal planning. Compromise: If the person with more restrictions also does the bulk of the cooking, then there may need to be a way to meet halfway so one doesn’t feel there is no choice but vegetarian, etc.

Due to many dietary restrictions, ethical convictions and interfaith marriages, who prepares the meal and “what is there to eat today?” have become difficult challenges to overcome for most of the couples.  This shouldn't be a surprise, food is an “anything-but-simple subject,” says psychotherapist Karen Koenig.  But the solution is simple: if we just eat vegetarian food, its vibration assists us in our spiritual upliftment, while if we eat meat our consciousness assimilates fear, suffering and aggression.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Pure and wholesome vegetarian foods are what is needed for our own refinement, health, strength, and happiness; while other kinds of food cause pain, suffering and disease.  Furthermore, we can see that the process of preparing and eating food is also a part of the Vedic system for making spiritual advancement. As the Vedic literature explains, what we eat is an important factor in the process of purifying ourselves and remaining free from accumulating bad karma. It actually is not so difficult to be vegetarian, and it gives one a much higher taste in eating and in one’s spiritual realizations. The level of our consciousness is also determined not only by what we think and do, but also by the vibrational level of what we put into our bodies as food. The more natural and peaceful the food, the more healthy and peaceful will be our consciousness.

Stephen Knapp (Śrīpad Nandanandana dasa) :
“Vegetarianism: Recommended in Vedic Scripture”
http://www.stephen-knapp.com
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/vegetarianism_recommended_in_Vedic_scripture.htm

BUNGEE JUMPING DEATH: TWO KILLED IN ARGENTINA

TWO YOUNG DIED TO PRACTICE
"BUNGEE JUMPING" FROM A CRANE

www.perfil.com - In Argentina, two youths of 25 and 27 years died after their heads collided in the air after being thrown from a crane with harnesses, from 25 yards when practicing bungee jumping in the locality of La Reja, Moreno, police said. The spokesman said the agency DyN that the impact occurred last Saturday, after the victims bounced in a vacuum tied to the ankles with an elastic rope as part of the practice of extreme sports. The incident occurred in a country house placed on Alvarez Thomas street, Ruben Dario corner, where a crane for the construction of buildings had been erected in the early hours of Saturday. The deceased were identified by police sources as Marcelo Martinez, 25, and Alexis Papayani, 27, both residing in Buenos Aires city. One victim was killed instantly, while the other died in an ambulance, while he was being rushed to hospital in Moreno city.

According to reports, the couple's son who owns the country house planned to realize a venture related to bungee jumping and invited about ten friends to this place to test the crane and other elements provided for the activity. The youth had taken some preventive measures, such as the placement of an inflatable structure at the foot of the crane, because it is a high-risk sport. A neighbor, identified only as Martin, told the cable channel Todo Noticias (TN), that at noon on Saturday, cars started arriving and the country house, "when jumping, it looked like fun but later we found that something went wrong due to the movement of ambulances and scientific police arrived at the house, "explained the man. The bungee jumping, also known as goming, is an extreme sport in which those who practice it are thrown from a great height, such as high bridges, to bounce into space with an elastic rope tied from the ankles that allows, first, fall rapidly, and then break the fall to bounce in the air repeatedly.

In Argentina, Buenos Aires, Moreno district, two young men died while practicing "bungee jumping" from a crane.  They jumped tied to the same rope and due to the effect of the jumping itself their strings crossed and their heads clashed violently. One of them died instantly and the other on the way to hospital. This extreme sport is increasingly practiced and just for experience the frenzy of jumping into empty- nobody forces the jumpers to take the leap - you risk losing the valuable human life, and that's not a game.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

Currently, it is imposed the general idea that “You have to enjoy the world.”  But the concept of enjoyment is dangerous, self-destructive and, in turn, it makes people to put their lives at risk.  More and more people spend large amounts of money on distractions that have no importance, just to satisfy their desires.  Some are poisoned themselves with drugs and alcohol, while others engage in activities that are constantly exposed their health and welfare.  In the rush to meet happiness artificially, man does foolish things, knowing from experience that is wrong and that ultimately end up disappointed. ... However, this type of activity sooner or later, discouraged artificially them, it is a pleasure so brief that fails to meet the expectations of enjoyment. ... We invite you to learn more about the spiritual life, which delivers a superior taste.

Śrīla Bhakti Aloka Paramadvaiti Mahārāja :
“Dangerous Fun” - “Fictitious Happiness”
http://bhaktipedia.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php
http://bhaktipedia.org/espanol/index.php?n=sabidurias_vedicas.diversiones_peligrosas