suchandra

You're surely being tricked, humbugged or bumboozled by Fox - but Rabbi Moische Arye Friedman would 100% surely never shake hands with someone who eats pigs. http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/12/12/iran.holocaust.ap/index.html

Seems like God speaks directly through you and told you all this absolute knowledge. Or is it what your brain is saying? This is what we have right now - so many beliefs and religions as there're people on this planet. At the same time the whole planet is in total chaos, wars, poverty, famine. But still people think that they have perfect knowledge and want to teach. This is called maya, illusion.

Verse below in the 11th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, 5/36, somehow stresses that it is even more difficult to attain Lord Krishna's transcendental Kingdom in other ages, like Satya, Tretā or Dvāpara. Kali-yuga ki jaya? - Any suggestions? kaliḿ sabhājayanty āryā guṇa jñāḥ sāra-bhāginaḥ yatra sańkīrtanenaiva sarva-svārtho 'bhilabhyate kalim — the age of Kali; sabhājayanti — they praise; āryāḥ — progressive souls; guṇa-jñaḥ — who know the true value (of the age); sāra-bhāginaḥ — who are able to pick out the essence; yatra — in which; sańkīrtanena — by the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Supreme Lord; eva — merely; sarva — all; sva-arthaḥ — desired goals; abhilabhyate — are attained Those who are actually advanced in knowledge are able to appreciate the essential value of this age of Kali. Such enlightened persons worship Kali-yuga because in this fallen age all perfection of life can easily be achieved by the performance of sańkīrtana. "It is stated here that among the four ages — Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kali — Kali-yuga is actually the best because in this age the Lord mercifully distributes the highest perfection of consciousness, namely Kṛṣṇa consciousness, very freely. The word ārya has been defined by Śrīla Prabhupāda as "one who is advancing spiritually." The nature of an advanced person is to search for the essence of life. For example, the essence of the material body is not the body itself but the spirit soul that is within the body; therefore an intelligent person gives more attention to the eternal spirit soul than to the temporary body. Similarly, although Kali-yuga is considered to be an ocean of contamination, there is also an ocean of good fortune in Kali-yuga, namely the sańkīrtana movement. In other words, all of the degraded qualities of this age are completely counteracted by the process of chanting the holy names of the Lord. Thus it is stated in the Vedic language, dhyāyan kṛte yajan yajñais tretāyāḿ dvāpare 'rcayan yad āpnoti tad āpnoti kalau sańkīrtya keśavam (Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 20.346) "Whatever is achieved in Satya-yuga by meditation, in Tretā by offering ritual sacrifices and in Dvāpara by temple worship is achieved in Kali-yuga by chanting the names of Lord Keśava congregationally." The Vedic process gradually lifts the conditioned entity out of the darkness of ahańkāra, or false identification with the gross material body, and brings him to the platform of self-realization, or ahaḿ brahmāsmi, "I am spirit soul. I am eternal." One has to make further progress to discover that although one is eternal, there is a superior eternal entity, who is the Lord Himself within one's own heart and within every atom in the material universe. Beyond this second phase of self-realization there is the third and final stage of perfection, which is realization of Bhagavān, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His own abode. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not primarily the superintendent of this world but rather the enjoyer of His own world, which is beyond the most fantastic dreams of the conditioned living entity. In other words, although the king or president of a country is ultimately the controller of the prison department, the king or president derives actual pleasure within his own palace and not in administering justice to the foolish prisoners. Similarly, the Lord appoints the demigods to administer the material creation on His behalf while He Himself personally enjoys the ocean of transcendental bliss in His own transcendental kingdom. Thus, realization of the Lord within His own kingdom is far superior to the primitive understanding that the Lord is the "creator" of the prison of the material world. This realization of Bhagavān begins with understanding that there are innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets in the spiritual sky and that on each of them a particular expansion of Nārāyaṇa dwells with His innumerable devotees who are attached to that particular form. The central and chief planet in the spiritual sky is called Kṛṣṇaloka, and there the Personality of Godhead exhibits His supreme and original form of Govinda. As confirmed by Lord Brahmā, govindam ādi-puruṣaḿ tam ahaḿ bhajāmi. Lord Brahmā also states: īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Brahma-saḿhitā 5.1) Thus, love of Kṛṣṇa and entrance into Kṛṣṇa's planet in the spiritual sky is the most supremely perfect and exalted status of life available anywhere, at any time, throughout the totality of existence. That perfection is available in Kali-yuga simply by chanting the holy names of God: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. Therefore every sane man, woman or child should deeply understand the unprecedented opportunity offered by Caitanya Mahāprabhu and seriously take up this chanting process. Only the most unfortunate and irrational person will neglect this transcendental opportunity."

Downloads: Radha Gopinath Download Download Calendar in Zip Format (483K) Download Calendar in PDF Format (527K) Download Calendar for India (only) in PDF Format (28K) Zipped Downloadable Information Vaishnava Calendar: www.purebhakti.com Calendar www.radhagopinath.com Calendar www.krsna.org Calendar www.hknet.org.nz Calendar www.purebhakti.com Calendar Ekadasi: Ekadasi details from www.goloka.com Ekadasi details from www.salagram.net Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: Chaitanya’s life Gaudiya Vaishnavism - The Tradition of Chaitanya Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts The Teachings of Lord Chaitanya Online Book Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32 (A Verse from the Bhagavata Purana, which is believed to refer to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) Scriptural Statements/Predictions regarding Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s birth Chaitanya Charitamrta Online Golden Volcano — Divine Lava Gauranga: The Ultimate Conception of the Supreme Reality Audio/Video Websites: www.prapatti.com Lord Jagannath: Marriage: Srimad Bhagavat Gita Yoga: Hindu Parishad Quotes: Deities: Vedic Culture Center

This is pretty much false racism - there's no such thing as Russians, French, Hungarians, British, Germans. All these people were part of a huge global migration and are a mixture of all kind of different ethnical groups. Folks were always emigrating and all over Europe it is nothing but a mixture of so many different nationalities in every European country, even millions of Asians and Africans live all over Europe. The "British", what are those "British", these are all immigrants from anywhere and everywhere - same like US residents. Five Million so called "Germans" immigrated in the 19th cent. to US and are now called "Americans". So this is all bogus racism. Btw, what was the reason that the immigrated Jews were expelled from countries that consisted of people who were also nothing but immigrants? What was their "crime"? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran is Jewish, 30,000 Jews live in Iran - so why you call him a Nazi?

America doesnt respect anyone - fewest they respect their own people. Take Vietnam, 51,000 young soldiers being killed, what for? They were killed by US weapons and US explosives which US companies sold to the Vietnamese Communists while the US government sent thousands of young US boys to war, knowing well that they would never come back. Same now in Iraq (report below), 50,000 casualties but what for? To advance sinful living and kali-yuga. Where from are these illiterate Muslims getting the ammunitions, of course from US companies which belong to Bush&co. And all over US genuine spiritual institutions for uplifting society like Vaishnava temples in total bad shape due no support by the government. <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=550 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>The Real Cost of the Iraq War: 50,000 U.S. Casualties </TD></TR><TR><TD> Michael Moore – Alternet January 4, 2007 To bring the human cost to Americans of the invasion and occupation of Iraq home, antiwar groups across the country are marking mark the 3,000th death of a member of its military components (at this writing the total is 3,004). But by focusing only on the number of dead Americans we are being manipulated along with the media and public by the administration's determination to minimize the cost in blood of establishing permanent military bases in the heart of the Middle East oil patch. That public relations strategy consists of prohibiting images of the dead and wounded returning home and those of U.S. casualties in Iraq in the U.S. media as well as aggressive efforts to prevent such coverage by foreign media – including deadly attacks on Al-Jazeera reporters and offices. It also plants stories and interviews, leaks to FOX and other Pentagon-friendly reporters and provides generous payola to foreign (especially Iraqi) news sources. Still, the most consistent propaganda effort since the invasion aims to keep public attention away from the actual amount of blood being shed by American military victims of the war and their families. That cost now exceeds 50,000 casualties -- a far cry from the 3,000 to which most of the public is restricted to know. "Casualties" in the military sense is the total number made unavailable for duty from all causes, including deaths and wounds suffered in combat as well as injuries, accidents and illness in a war "theater" such as "Operation Iraqi Freedom" (the official Pentagon name for the invasion and occupation). So whether caused by "hostile" (24,965 as of Dec.27) or "non-hostile" (25,406 as of Dec. 2) causes, the Pentagon's own web sites record a toll of more than 50,000 so far in "OIF." However, for most Americans who depend on mass media for information, the approaching number of only 3,000 is the only measure of the loss of life and limb the media allow them to know. For the rest of us, here are the facts: The Pentagon reports deaths on a daily basis at although its own total always lags behind the wire services number because it insists survivors must be informed before a dead solider, marine, sailor or airman can be added to the casualty lists. But the Pentagon only reports the wounded on the weekly basis (usually on Tuesdays) at the same site and it reports the non fatal casualties from non hostile causes only monthly and on another website. From those sources, we can count U.S. military occupation forces casualties as more than 50,371 as of Dec. 27. The total (as above) includes 2,400 killed and 22,565 wounded (which includes both severely and less severely wounded) by what the Pentagon classifies as "hostile" causes. By that date, another 583 military personnel had died from "non hostile" causes such as accidents, suicides (there were 99 "self inflicted fatalities") and illness and, as of Dec. 2, another 24,823 had been injured or become ill seriously enough to require medical evacuation. According the excellent site Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, another 147 U.S. "contractors" have also been killed since they invaded Iraq. I urge opponents of the war to make the public aware that the actual human cost of the invasion and occupation of Iraq exceeds 50,000 troops and their families who have suffered death and often life-long disability -- of whom the 3,000 are just one tragic part. ---------- <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=550 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>Bush's Stalingrad, Baghdad's Revenge </TD></TR><TR><TD> By Henry Makow, Ph. D. – January 11, 2007 Many of the US marines storming Baghdad were only 8 years old when when Pappy Bush tricked Sadaam Hussein into invading Kuwait, and then incinerated Iraqi soldiers when they tried to retreat. These young marines were playing little league baseball and graduating from high school while millions of Iraqis endured a a gruelling US-led embargo. Yet these marines will be the ones to feel the revenge of an enraged people, armed, provisioned, and prepared to defend their homes to the death. Young marines who signed to "serve their country" will bleed and die in Baghdad alleyways so Bush, Rockefeller and their cronies can be more filthy rich. American families will mourn their loved ones so Sharon and Rothschild can have an empire from the Nile to the Euphrates. The devil is rubbing his hands in glee. Once again he has pitted innocent peoples in a death struggle. How better to degrade humanity and render it vulnerable to his world government? As I write this, US stock markets are soaring on a tide of nothing-but-positive news from the US media. Our rulers believe that "saying so makes it so." But it doesn't take a genius to foresee that the U.S. is not going to conquer Baghdad without levelling it to the ground and killing most of its inhabitants. By pretending to "liberate" the Iraqi people, it cannot very well turn around now and annihilate them. American leaders have been snagged by their own nauseating propaganda. Soon the hot desert sun will bear down on their deluded army. Sand storms will choke its machinery, a rebuke from an irate God. Eventually, in months or years, the US army will straggle home from Iraq under a barrage of face-saving bluster. A marine general said the US had not "game planned" for a war like this. The game plan was Afghanistan; the reality is Vietnam. Is this intended to be another American debacle like Vietnam choreographed by the globalists? Does the US need to be weakened to melt it into the new world order? Already the U.S. has lost the world's respect. The Iraqi leadership appears calm because it did game plan for this war. Soon it will extract fitting revenge. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

This name "Shatru-karshana" could also refer to Lord Ramacandra and Hanuman as Shatru-karshana das, servant of Shatru-karshana, Lord Ramacandra. Was Hanuman actually a real powerful ksatriya?

Historical facts about Srila Prabhupada's one-man pioneer operation of bringing Krishna to the West. <CENTER>SRILA PRABHUPADA AND THE GAUDIYA MATH </CENTER><CENTER>By Sridam sakha das </CENTER> When Srila Prabhupada originally started ISKCON, he was very willing to undertake his mission in co-operation with his godbrothers. However, they were all envious of his success, and neglected all of his requests for help. As if that were not enough, they also did their utmost to disrupt his efforts in whatever way they could, for instance, by poisoning the minds of his disciples against him and reinitiating them. That they acted in the way they did is hardly surprising, in consideration of the fact that they had directly and deliberately disobeyed the instructions of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Against his wishes they elected an acarya after his departure. Not only that, but none of them ever followed his instructions to go and preach in the west. Srila Prabhupada's final instructions to his disciples with regard to his Godbrothers was to have nothing further to do with any of them. Sounds familiar? During the time that I spent living in a temple, from what I heard from other devotees, this was, more or less, the impression that I had of Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers and the Gaudiya math. However, after having done some research on the subject, I began to recognise how complex an issue it was, and that my previous understanding had been simplistic and misinformed. The reader is no doubt familiar with many of the negative comments Srila Prabhupada had to make about his Godbrothers. However, he praised them on numerous occasions too: "I am very glad to know that Ananda prabhu is staying with you, please offer my dandavats. He is my old Godbrother, sincere Vaisnava. Please treat him like your father. Do remain in full co-operation." (S.P. letter 6/5/'73) "So if you are actually serious to take instructions from a siksa guru, I can refer you to one who is most highly competent of all my god-brothers. This is B.R. Sridhara Maharaja, whom I consider to be even my siksa guru, so what to speak of the benefit that you can have from his association...When I was in India, Acyutananda, Ramanuja, and myself, with others, lived with Sridhara Maharaja, so Acyutananda knows him very well. He spared a big house for us and if both of you go there now, it will be very good for your spiritual benefit. Then I will feel that you are safe. Besides that, if you wish to live in India, you can make arrangements for this house so that other of your god-brothers may go there in the future." (Letter to Hrsikesa, 69-01-09) Srila Prabhupada apparently intended his disciples' association with Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja to be of a more long term variety. In the following, Srila Prabhupada again makes the immense love and respect that he felt for his exalted godbrother very clear. More pointedly, he says that his association with Srila Sridhara Maharaja was arranged by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and Krsna in order to help prepare him for the great mission he was later to undertake. However, perhaps most significantly of all, he states that he wanted to make Srila Sridhara Maharaja the head of ISKCON: "So when we came back to Allahabad, so Ganesa Babu, he introduced me, that "Here is a nice devotee." So Prabhupada immediately replied, "Yes, I have marked him. He does not go away, he hears." This (indistinct), "Yes, I will accept him as disciple." Then I was initiated. In this way our relationship with Gaudiya Matha developed, and gradually as it developed, the other side diminished. Then, there are long history, it will take time, but I had the opportunity of associating with His Holiness. For several years I had the opportunity. Krsna and Prabhupada liked it to prepare me. Sridhara Maharaja lived as a... Sridhara Maharaja: (indistinct) Prabhupada: (laughs) ...in my house, some may say, a few years, so naturally we had very intimate talks and he was my good adviser. I took his advice, his instruction very seriously, because from the very beginning I know he's a pure Vaisnava and devotee, and I wanted to associate with him, and try to help him also in so many ways. He also tried to help me, so our relationship is very intimate. After the breakdown of the Gaudiya Matha, I wanted to organize another organization, making Sridhara Maharaja head." (Room Conversation, Mayapur, March 17, 1973) Unfortunately, the above quote is not included in some, if not all of the Prabhupada databases, but, if the reader is interested, I will happily send them the whole conversation.) Speaking of his sannyasa guru, Srila Prabhupada says: "So I am feeling very much obliged to my, this godbrother, that he carried out the wish of my spiritual master and forced me to accept the sannyasa order. This godbrother, H.H. Kesava Maharaja is no more. He has entered Krsna's abode So I wish to pass a resolution of bereavement and send them. And I have composed one verse also in this connection in Sanskrit.....so I did not want to accept this sannyasa order, but this godbrother forced me 'you must.' apayayan mam, he forcefully made me drink this medicine...the Vaisnavas, the spiritual master, they forcefully say 'you drink this medicine.' You see apayayan mam anabhipsu ardham Sri-Kesava-bhakti prajana-nama. So this my Godbrother, his name is Kesava, Bhaktiprajnan Kesava. Krpambudhi. So he did this favour upon me because he was ocean of mercy. So we offer our obeisances to Vaisnava, krpambudhi. Vancha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca. The Vaisnavas, the representatives of the Lord, they are so kind. They bring the ocean of mercy for distributing to the suffering humanity. Krpambudhir yas tam aham prapadye. So I am offering my respectful obeisances unto this His Holiness, because he forcefully made me adopt this sannyasa order. So he is no more in this world. He has entered Krsna's abode. So I am offering my respectful obeisances along with my disciples...We are writing like this, "Resolved that we the undersigned members and devotees of International Society for Krishna Consciousness Incorporated, in a condolence meeting under the presidency of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, today the 21st of October, 1968, at our Seattle branch, express our profound bereavement on hearing the passing of His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Sri Srimad Bhaktiprajnan Kesava Gosvami Maharaja, the sannyasa guru, preceptor of our spiritual master, and on October 6th, 1968, at his headquarter residence in Nabadwip, West Bengal. We offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Sri Srimad Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja with the following verse composed on this occasion by our spiritual master." This verse I have already explained to you. So I wish that you all sign this and I'll send it tomorrow by air mail." (21st October '68, condolence lecture, Seattle) "The cult of Caitanya philosophy is richer than any other, and it is admitted to be the living religion of the day with the potency for spreading as visva-dharma, or universal religion. We are glad that the matter has been taken up by some enthusiastic sages like Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja and his disciples. We shall eagerly wait for the happy days of Bhagavata-dharma, or prema-dharma, inaugurated by the Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu." (Srimad-Bhagavatam: Introduction) "In the same order as Kardama Muni, about one hundred years ago, Thakura Bhaktivinoda also wanted to beget a child who could preach the philosophy and teachings of Lord Caitanya to the fullest extent. By his prayers to the Lord he had as his child Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, who at the present moment is preaching the philosophy of Lord Caitanya throughout the entire world through his bona fide disciples." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 3: Chapter Twenty-two, Text 20 Not only did Srila Prabhupada sometimes praise his godbrothers, but on one occasion even blessed one of his harinama disciples to take diksa from one of them: "Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet. I understand from the letter of Asita das that he has gone to your place in Jagannatha Puri. He has asked permission from me for taking initiation from you. I have given him my permission and you can initiate him if you like so that he may increase his devotional service there." Letter to: Sripada Madhava Maharaja : 75-01-14 Bombay "If you want to take initiation from Madhava Gosvami Maharaja I have no objection." Letter to: Asita das : 75-01-10 Bombay Nevertheless, despite praising individuals, Srila Prabhupada also made many negative statements about his godbrothers too. In the following he states: "We shall be very careful about them and not mix with them. This is my instruction to you all. They cannot help us in our movement, but they are very competent to harm our natural progress. So we must be very careful about them." (Letter to Rupanuga Maharaja, 74-04-28, Tirupati) However, Srila Prabhupada's final instructions with regard to his godbrothers were very different. Literally days before passing away, he formed the "Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust", one of the purposes of which was to link up again with the Gaudiya Math devotees, and to work with them on a co-operative basis. The statement of purpose for the Trust in this regard, reads as follows: "In keeping with the spirit of the previous acarya's vision of Gaudiya-Madhva sampradaya, to cement relations with all the sister temples of Gaudiya-Madhva sampradaya under one banner, to solidify preaching the message of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as desired by His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada and Srila Thakura Bhaktivinoda and all the previous acaryas in this line." (Room Conversation, Vrindaban, October 29, 1977, 771029RC.VRN) Srila Prabhupada did not stop at merely instructing his disciples, but he went so far as to directly involve his own godbrothers, by appointing two of them onto the Trust's five man governing board: Bhavananda: With bookstand. Prabhupada has formed a trust, the Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity Trust, and its purpose is to develop Gauda-mandala-bhumi. Prabhupada's one idea is to build this darsana-mandapa at the yoga-pitha. And another is to finish Sridhara Maharaja's darsana-mandapa at his..., like that, to develop the different..., to encourage co-operation between the different Godbrothers in the temples. The members of the trust are myself and Tamala Krsna Maharaja and Giriraja, Svarupa Damodara, myself, Madhava Maharaja and Madhusudana Maharaja. Prabhupada named those members. Prabhupada: How do you think the idea? Jayapataka: All of your ideas, Srila Prabhupada, are perfect. I am not someone to offer opinion. But if you ask, I think that actually, especially the yoga-pitha, natha-mandira, that's a very dynamic idea, and in general it must do good. Prabhupada: We want co-operation. (Room conversation, Vrndavana, 6 November 1977) Srila Prabhupada was also willing for ISKCON funds to be used to erect buildings on the property of his godbrothers, and even for printing their literature: Tamala Krsna: Yes, I think the general is already covered by this Mayapura-Vrndavana Trust committee. That's for all of India. And Gauda-mandala-bhumi is especially for encouraging the development of Gaudiya Vaisnavism in that area--Sridhara Maharaja's natha-mandira, this Yoga-pitha Bhaktivedanta Hall. Different buildings. Supposing one of your Godbrothers may have written some manuscript, he has no money. We can print some books for him so he can sell them, like that, works within the Mayapura area. Prabhupada: That we shall fix up, what to spend. Tamala Krsna: The Bhaktivedanta Swami Charity trustees would fix that up? Prabhupada: Hm. Tamala Krsna: Yes. Prabhupada: All right. So although Srila Prabhupada did make many negative statements about the Gaudiya Math and his godbrothers, he made many positive ones too, and his last words show unequivocally what policy he wanted to be followed. It can sometimes be quite confusing when an acarya makes seemingly contradictory statements. Why did Srila Prabhupada appear to do so on this particular topic? For the simple reason that, by necessity, acaryas must teach their disciples in terms of time, place and circumstance: "It is the concern of the acarya to show mercy to the fallen souls. In this connection, desa-kala-patra (the place, the time and the object) should be taken into consideration." (Adi 7.38) "The Vedas instruct us that knowledge must always be considered in terms of desa-kala-patra. Desa means 'circumstances,' kala means 'time,' and patra means 'the object.' We must understand everything by taking these three elements into consideration." (Life Comes from Life: The First Morning Walk April 18, 1973) The principle of changing the divine message out of consideration of desa-kala-patra by the acarya may also take quite extreme forms, such as those practiced by Sankaracarya and Lord Buddha. As a deliberate preaching strategy, they taught false doctrines to their disciples, for the purpose of uplifting them. This principle even applies to vaisnava acaryas too: "These are the secrets of the acaryas. Sometimes they conceal the real purpose of the vedas and explain the Vedas in a different way. Sometimes they enunciate a different theory just to bring the atheists under their control." Madhya-lila 25.42 Therefore we can understand that Srila Prabhupada's apparently contrary statements about his godbrothers were also part of a necessary preaching strategy. However, he also cautioned us that although in his preaching a vaisnava may make strictly relative statements, that it is nevertheless the responsibility of those hearing him to be careful to extract the true essence of his message: "Vaisnava who is preaching, it may be in a different way, according to time and place and the party. They have to change something, desa-kala-patra. *But we have to see the essence.*" Prabhupada's Lectures Srimad-Bhagavatam 1974 741008SB.MAY "The essence of devotional service must be taken into consideration, and not the outward paraphernalia." Madhya-lila: Chapter Twenty-three, Text 105 As Srila Prabhupada had so many godbrothers, their interaction with him and his disciples was a complex and potentially volatile situation. Certainly, a number of his godbrothers were enviously working against him, and he needed to safeguard his young disciples, many of whom wouldn't have been able to discriminate between the qualified and unqualified. Besides that, he was physically present as their diksa and siksa guru, for which reason there was no need for them to go outside of the society he had created. Therefore, safer for him to say: "none of you see them." Also, as an acarya, it was his duty to criticise and decry those activities of his godbrothers which were deviant, for the sake of teaching the proper standard to his disciples. Again, however, these statements were relative to desa-kala-patra, and cannot be used to definitively portray his ultimate stance towards his godbrothers, when put in perspective with everything else he had to say on the subject. When one reads Srila Prabhupada's definitions of and statements about ISKCON, then it becomes easier to understand why ultimately he was willing to involve his godbrothers within it. According to what he says, ISKCON appears to extend considerably beyond its physical manifestation, i.e. the temples and communities, and their attendant management structures. It is non-sectarian, and is prepared to embrace the world, just as its founder was. The name itself says it all: a society for Krsna consciousness. To the extent that you're Krsna conscious, you belong: "ISKCON (the International Society of Krishna Consciousness) is a non-lucrative organisation, whose purpose is to promote the well-being of human society by drawing its attention to God. We are a non-sectarian society, and our members include people from Christian, Jewish and Moslem as well as Hindu faiths. The aim of ISKCON is not to found a new religious sect, but to invoke the living entity's dormant love of God, and thus provide the human society of all faiths with a common platform of clear theistic knowledge and practice. Members of ISKCON may retain their own respective religious faiths, as ISKCON is meant to establish a clear, practical common formulation of the common ideal of all theists, and to defeat the unnecessary dogmatic wranglings that now divide and invalidate the theistic camp. This common ideal of theism is to develop love of God." (Letter to: ****** : 68-08-24 Montreal) "A devotee sees all living entities with spiritual vision and does not discriminate on the platform of the bodily concept of life. Such qualities develop only in the association of devotees. Without the association of devotees, one cannot advance in Krsna consciousness. Therefore, we have established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Factually, whoever lives in this society automatically develops Krsna consciousness." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4: Chapter Twelve, Text 37 "This Krsna consciousness movement is a transcendental science, and there is no room for jealousy. This movement is meant for the paramahamsas who are completely free from all jealousy (paramam nirmatsaranam)." Nectar of Instruction: Text Six "The Hare Krsna movement is meant for those who are serious about understanding this science. There's no question of our being some sectarian group. No. Anyone can join. Students in college can be admitted. You may be a Christian, you may be a Hindu, you may be a Muhammadan--it doesn't matter. The Krsna consciousness movement admits anyone who wants to understand the science of God." (Science of Self Realization: Chapter One :Learning the Science of the Self) "Just by pouring water on the root of a tree, one nourishes its trunk and all of its branches, fruits and flowers, and just by supplying food to the stomach, one satisfies all the limbs of the body. Similarly, by worshiping Lord Visnu one can satisfy everyone." Krsna consciousness is not a sectarian religious movement. Rather, it is meant for all-embracing welfare activities for the world. One can enter this movement without discrimination in terms of caste, creed, religion or nationality. If one is trained to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, who is theorigin of visnu-tattva, one can become fully satisfied and perfect in all respects." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 8: Chapter Five, Text 49 "Bhagavata-dharma has no contradictions. Conceptions of "your religion" and "my religion" are completely absent from bhagavata-dharma. Bhagavata-dharma means following the orders given by the Supreme Lord, Bhagavan, as stated in Bhagavad-gita: sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja. God is one, and God is for everyone." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 6: Chapter Sixteen, Text 41 "Sun is neither Indian nor American. Similarly, God, Krsna, He's neither for Indian or for... He is for everyone. Sarva yonisu kaunteya sambhavanti murtayo yah, tasam mahad-yonir brahma aham bija-pradah pita. He's the father of everyone, not only human beings, but in the animals, the trees, the aquatics, everyone, all living entities. Mamaivamso jiva...This is universal. This is... This Krsna consciousness movement is therefore universal, real universal." Prabhupada's Lectures Bhagavad-gita 1972 721126BG.HYD Srila Prabhupada's non-sectarian stance is also demonstrated in the following, wherein he implies that pure transcendental association is not confined solely within the four walls of the ISKCON institution: "There are many societies and associations of pure devotees, and if someone with just a little faith begins to associate with such societies, his advancement to pure devotional service is rapid." (Nectar of Devotion: Chapter Nineteen :Devotional Service in Pure Love of God, p.14) Although Srila Prabhupada invited his godbrothers to work with his disciples in 1977, it was by no means the first time that he had come up with the idea: "So far as I am concerned, I am always for co-operation. If we can co-operate, we can do tremendous service for Lord Caitanya in the matter of propagating the mission of Lord Caitanya very nicely. I am prepared to co-operate with the Gaudiya mission wholeheartedly. Soon you can negotiate about our amalgamation on a co-operatively basis, it will be great service to Srila Prabhupada." Letter to Dr Syamasundardas Brahmacari, 5-9-69 "Best thing is that all we Godbrothers work together. Then the criticism will stop, otherwise even we join together, criticism will go on. So this has been going on for the last 24 years, but everyone of us is doing his best keeping Lord Caitanya in the center. We should be satisfied so much." Letter to: Jayapataka Maharaja : 71-02-23 Gorakhpur Since Srila Prabhupada saw ISKCON as "a non-sectarian society" whose members included Christians, Jews, Moslems and Hindus, who, moreover, were permitted to "retain their own respective religious faiths", then it is small wonder that he was willing to accommodate his own godbrothers, who were so qualified. It is an often over-looked fact that the number of Srila Prabhupada's godbrothers instrumental in the break up of the Gaudiya Math was very small. When Srila Prabhupada denounces "the Gaudiya Math", he is by no means making a blanket condemnation of every single disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, of whom there were 60,000. In the following he explains: "In the beginning, during the presence of Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Astottara-sata Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada, all the disciples worked in agreement; but just after his disappearance, they disagreed. One party strictly followed the instructions of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, but another group created their own concoction about executing his desires. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, at the time of his departure, requested all his disciples to form a governing body and conduct missionary activities co-operatively. He did not instruct a particular man to become the next acarya. But just after his passing away, his leading secretaries made plans, without authority, to occupy the post of acarya, and they split in two factions over who the next acarya would be. Consequently, both factions were asara, or useless, because they had no authority, having disobeyed the order of the spiritual master. Despite the spiritual master's order to form a governing body and execute the missionary activities of the Gaudiya Matha, the two unauthorized factions began litigation that is still going on after forty years with no decision." (Adi-lila Chapter Twelve, Text 8) So Srila Prabhupada clearly says that it was the "leading secretaries" who disobeyed Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, and who ultimately "split in two factions over who the next acarya would be", beginning "litigation that is still going on after forty years with no decision." Elsewhere Srila Prabhupada has explained who the leaders of these two factions were, namely Bhakti Vilas Tirtha Maharaja of Sri Chaitanya Math, and Ananta Vasudeva of Bagh Bazaar Math. So much for the leading secretaries. But what about everyone else? Srila Prabhupada plainly says that they: "strictly followed the instructions of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura". As for Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's instruction to preach in the west, this was to Srila Prabhupada in particular. Srila Prabhupada was a unique acarya who was especially chosen, empowered and sent by the Lord to turn the tide of kali yuga. This service was particularly meant for him, and no-one else could have accomplished it. However, just because the disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati did not achieve such large scale preaching triumphs as their illustrious godbrother, for this reason alone we cannot therefore assume that every one of them was necessarily less dear to Krsna: "Krsna becomes obliged to the loving spirit of the devotee and not exactly to the service rendered. No one can serve Krsna completely. He is so complete and self-sufficient that He has no need of any service from the devotee. It is the devotee's attitude of love and affection for Krsna that makes Him obliged." Nectar of Devotion: Chapter Twenty-two: Qualities of Krsna Further Explained Rather, we should remember that they "strictly followed" their spiritual master's instructions. What to speak of those who did, Srila Prabhupada even declared those who did not to be transcendentally situated, going so far as to compare their disputes to those that happen in the party of Srimati Radharani: "Even amongst our God-brothers we have misunderstanding but none of us is astray from the service of Krishna. My Guru Maharaja ordered us to execute his mission combinedly. Unfortunately we are now separated. But none of us have stopped preaching Krishna Consciousness. Even if there was misunderstanding amongst the God-brothers of my Guru Maharaja none of them deviated from the transcendental loving service of Krishna. The idea is that provocation and misunderstanding may remain between one man and another. But our staunch faith in Krishna Consciousness may not allow any material disruption. Please therefore try to be sympathetic with any person even if they differ. The only qualification we have to scrutinize is if one is acting in Krishna Consciousness as far as one is able to do it. This personal grudge is not inhuman and as I have told many times, that individualism is the cause of personal misunderstanding. When such individualism is employed in the center of Krishna there is no harm even if there is personal misunderstanding. Personal misunderstanding exists even in the higher levels. There is competition of loving Krishna even in the party of Srimati Radharani." Letter to: Brahmananda : 67-11-18 Calcutta "So far as your question about controversy amongst the disciples of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja, that is a fact. But this controversy is not material. Just like in a national program, different political parties are sometimes in conflict and make propaganda against each other, but their central point is always service to the country. Similarly, amongst the disciples of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati there may be some controversy, but the central point is how to preach the mission of His Divine Grace. If the central point is fixed up then there is no harm in such controversy. Every individual being must have his opinion; that is the significance of individuality, but all such differences of opinions must coincide in Krishna. In the battlefield of Kuruksetra were Arjuna and Bhisma who were fighting with one another, and because Krishna was on the side of Arjuna, sometimes Bhisma pierced the body of Krishna also with arrows. But still they remained the greatest devotees of the Lord, and Krishna accepted the friendship of Arjuna just as He accepted the inimical arrows of Bhisma in the same loving spirit." Letter to: Mandali Bhadra : 69-07-28 Los Angeles "Among Vaisnavas there may be some difference of opinion due to everyone's personal identity, but despite all personal differences, the cult of Krsna consciousness must go on. We can see that under the instructions of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja began preaching the Krsna consciousness movement in an organized way within the past hundred years. The disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja are all Godbrothers, and although there are some differences of opinion, and although we are not acting conjointly, every one of us is spreading this Krsna consciousness movement according to his own capacity and producing many disciples to spread it all over the world." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4: Chapter Twenty-eight, Text 31 "Disunity between individual souls is so strong within this material world that even in a society of Krsna consciousness, members sometimes appear disunited due to their having different opinions and leaning toward material things. Actually, in Krsna consciousness there cannot be two opinions. There is only one goal: to serve Krsna to one's best ability. If there is some disagreement over service, such disagreement is to be taken as spiritual. Those who are actually engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be disunited in any circumstance." Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4: Chapter Thirty, Text 8 Srila Prabhupada's relationship with his godbrothers is of an inconceivable nature, and very easy to misconstrue. For instance he described Srila Madhava Maharaja in the following way: "...it is better not to mix with my Godbrothers very intimately because instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may sometimes pollute them. This attempt was made previously by them, especially Madhava Maharaja and Tirtha Maharaja and Bon Maharaja but somehow or other I saved the situation. This is going on." (Letter to Rupanuga Maharaja, 74-04-28, Tirupati) Nevertheless, a year later he allowed him to initiate his harinama disciple, and in 1977 appointed him as a governing board member on the charity trust which he had created. Srila Prabhupada may have criticised his godbrothers, but he also warned his disciples that they did not have the right to do the same. Rather, any disciple should respect the godbrothers of his guru: "one should respect one's spiritual master's Godbrothers as one respects one's spiritual master." Adi-lila: Chapter Five, Text 147 Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati also warns of the danger of getting involved in the transcendental disputes between great vaisnavas, and taking sides: "Those, whose judgement is made of mundane stuff, being unable to enter into the spirit of the all-loving controversies among pure devotees, due to their own want of unalloyed devotion, are apt to impute to the devotees their own defects of partisanship and opposing views." Sri Brahma samhita p.72 If pure devotees differ, then it is for their own inconceivable and transcendental reasons. It is certainly not done out of sectarian prejudice. Therefore, to project such motives onto Srila Prabhupada, by using his statements in an attempt to inculcate an attitude of prejudice in the minds of the innocent and impressionable against all Gaudiya math devotees is dishonest and duplicitous. One who does this certainly misrepresents Srila Prabhupada. In the pages that precede this one, we have proven conclusively that Srila Prabhupada was not antagonistic to his godbrothers and their followers, and that moreover he wanted his own disciples to fully co-operate with them. However, even if we had not done this, it would still not give any more justification to the propagation of sectarian dogma against them. Such behaviour is avaisnava. As can be seen from a previous quote, Srila Prabhupada held his godbrother and sannyasa guru Srila Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Maharaja in very high esteem. The same can be said of Srila Kesava Maharaja's own disciple, Srila Narayana Maharaja. Srila Prabhupada talked to him before passing away, of his great desire that all the disciples and grand disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati "work conjointly": "Srila Prabhupada (Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati) said that we should preach in Europe, America. That was his desire, and his other desire was that we all work together jointly to preach". "Yes, that is right" said Narayana Maharaja. "I didn't waste a single moment" said Srila Prabhupada "I tried my best, and it has been successful to some extent". Srila Prabhupada's voice was choked with emotion. "If we work conjointly" he continued, "then as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said prthivite...sankirtana has great possibilities. My life is coming to an end. It is my desire that you all forgive me for my mistakes..." ..."Whatever instruction you give me" said Narayana Maharaja "I will follow with absolute sincerity. I consider you my guru." Narayana Maharaja said that what Srila Prabhupada had created should be protected, and it was everyone's duty to do so. He pledged to help in whatever way he could. Regarding Srila Prabhupada's asking his godbrothers for forgiveness, Narayana Maharaja said "we never thought that you did anything wrong. On the other hand, you bless us, we need it. You never did any wrong. If someone is offended by your actions, that is his fault." After a pause, Narayana Maharaja spoke again, this time referring to Srila Prabhupada's disciples. "They should be told that they should never get motivated by their own self-interest" he said. "They should make your mission successful." Srila Prabhupada turned his head slowly, looking over the devotees as they gathered in more closely. Then slowly he lifted his hand, as if to call them to attention, and said "Do not fight among yourselves, I have given direction in my books." He then lowered his hand. (Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta, Vol 6, p.399-401) Srila Prabhupada and Srila Narayana Maharaja spent much time in each other's association before Srila Prabhupada departed for the west. They first met in 1947. When Srila Prabhupada received sannyasa from Srila Kesava Maharaja, Srila Narayana Maharaja performed the fire yajna, and made Srila Prabhupada's danda. When Srila Prabhupada had started ISKCON, Srila Narayana Maharaja sent him mrdangas, karatalas, books, tilak, pictures, Deities, japa mala, clothing, harmonium, pera (a sweet) etc etc. Throughout the time that Srila Prabhupada was preaching in the west, he frequently contacted Srila Narayana Maharaja, who assisted him in many ways: "Please offer my obeisances to Srimad Narayana Maharaja. I have not heard from him in a long time. Please request him to find out a large piece of land perhaps with a house, between Mathura and Vrndavana, for purchasing." (S.P. letter 26/7/'70) Srila Prabhupada in fact wrote hundreds of letters to Srila Narayana Maharaja, most of which were unfortunately lost while in the care of ISKCON. However, from the ones which remain, a booklet has been compiled which is now available for purchase. From these few letters that we do have, the intimacy and appreciation which Srila Prabhupada felt for Srila Narayana Maharaja is very evident: "Our relationship is certainly based on spontaneous love. That is why there is no chance of us forgetting one another. By the mercy of Guru and Gauranga may everything be auspicious for you. This is my constant prayer. >From the first time I saw you I have been your constant well-wisher. At his first sight of me, Srila Prabhupada also saw me with such love. It was in my very first darsana of Srila Prabhupada that I learned how to love" Letter from Srila Prabhupada 28th September 1966 "Because in all Gaudiya Mathas, I think that you are the real guru-sevaka, so I always correspond with you and I always give my full love and affection to you.If I was not thinking like this and putting so much trust in you, I would never have sent you my key and my money. I have so much faith and love for you." Letter from Srila Prabhupada, New York, May 17th 1967 Srila Prabhupada entrusted Srila Narayana Maharaja with the great honour and responsibility of putting his body into samadhi. After Srila Prabhupada's disappearance, when his sons tried to stage a take-over bid of the ISKCON assets, from morning to evening for days, Srila Narayana Maharaja tirelessly testified on behalf of ISKCON in the Bombay courts. Srila Prabhupada also specifically asked Srila Narayana Maharaja to guide his disciples in his physical absence, and to teach them the siddhanta of Gaudiya Vaisnavism as taught by Srila Rupa and Raghunath das Goswamis.

Irony of fate is of this kind - that as soon a so called spiritual leader doesnt follow his previous acarya/acaryas - he/she is immediately excluded from attracting conditioned souls to perform purely transcendental devotional activities. And here lies the crux - in order to cover up his/her being banned from preaching pure devotional service/activities, he/she is forced by the material energy to preach within the realm of the three modes of the material energy in order to compensate this vacuum. Since material illusion works as such that you yourself cant even understand your own illusioned condition the path of misleading innocent followers/disciples sets the ball of karmic activities rolling. Coming back to ISKCON - this mechanism is of course always activated in the name of Prabhupada. Therefore you always hear, Prabhupada wanted this, Prabhupada actually said this. In sum - above mentioned scenario of whole yatras being blown by engaging the rank&file class of devotees in so called "transcendental activities" which are in fact nothing but activities of action and reaction (e.g. Kazakhstan tragedy) - we find presently world wide ISKCON temples to be caught between the devil and the deep blue see: Brahmins send out to collect for an opulent temple performance at the same time, intelligent class of people dont fall into this "trap" and become active followers of Gaudiya-Vaishnavism - temples/Vaishnava congregations remain avoided by local intellectuals/thinkers/philosophers/natural leaders. Locals of that kind who make their fellow people easily to also become devotees. Those who feel attracted to this typical ISKCON setup are those who feel their own material contamination supported - name, fame and distinction. Therefore you find presently worldwide the same kind of people associated with ISKCON. But always they mention, "we do as taught in Prabhupada's books". This is Prabhupada's present precarious sacrificial lamb condition.

Is the Indian economy truly booming? By Tavleen Singh | Friday, January 05, 2007 11:12:15 IST As this year it was the lower middle class tourists who partied the night away. They lit fires on the beach and danced to Bollywood music in makeshift beach nightclubs that sparkled with fairy lights. On New Year’s Eve at sunset, I went for a walk on the beach in the Maharashtrian village by the sea in which I have spent most New Year holidays in the past four years. Usually the beach is deserted but for a few glamorous visitors from Mumbai who own weekend homes in the village. This year was different. There were hundreds of tourists on the beach to watch the last sunset of the year. Young boys played cricket with tennis balls, small children played in the sand and ladies in saris and men in their underclothes waded into the sea to watch the sun go down. What interested me was that nearly all the visitors were lower middle class tourists, the kind of people who do not usually indulge in the frivolity of New Year holidays by the sea. You do not need to be told that the Indian economy is growing at more than 9% a year when you witness a scene like this. You know. A middle class New Year In past years, the New Year’s Eve parties in my village have been confined to Santa Barbara style villas that rich businessmen from Mumbai have built by the sea. Their guests are page 3 people who arrive in fancy SUVs to swill French champagne, watch fireworks on the beach at midnight and dance till dawn. This year it was the lower middle class tourists who partied the night away. They lit fires on the beach and danced to Bollywood music in makeshift beach nightclubs that sparkled with fairy lights. Noisy as they were it warmed my heart to see such obvious signs of prosperity. Tourism has brought change for the better. When I first came here four years ago, the village wallowed in a sense of genteel decay. The little cottages with their tiled roofs and wide verandahs looked as if they had seen better days and there was that torpor that comes from economic stagnation and under-employment. This year nearly every house in the village looked freshly painted and nearly all offered rooms for rent to visiting tourists. Some converted their gardens into impromptu, open-air restaurants and new shops selling cold drinks, consumer goods and offering telephone services suddenly appeared. I do not need government statistics to tell me that there is an economic boom underway I can see it happening but what I do need to know from the government is why with so much money around Indian children continue to have their childhood snatched from them on account of failed government policies. The National Family Health Survey released just before the last year ended tells us that one in three Indian children under the age of three is clinically underweight. The Survey shows that despite the economic boom the number of underweight (read malnourished) children fell a meagre two percentage points from 35 to 33 percent since the last survey seven years ago. In Uttar Pradesh 47% of children under the age of three are malnourished and in Madhya Pradesh the figure goes up to a sickening 60%. These are not the sort of statistics you expect from a country that is experiencing an economic boom. They represent a monumental failure of the government’s anti-poverty measures and a total failure of its grandiose child welfare programmes. What compounds the tragedy of so many millions of India’s children growing up permanently handicapped because of malnourished childhoods is that if government were sincere in its efforts to do something about this shaming problem it would be so easy to rectify. All we need is a serious attempt to implement an Akshay Patra type midday meal scheme in the states where the problem is acute and with so much public-private partnership around these days this can be easily done. The best anti-poverty programme Akshay Patra is a program that evolved in the kitchens of the ISKCON temple in Bangalore with the financial backing of Infosys. I have written before in this column that it is among the most impressive anti-poverty programmes I have seen. It works on the simple principle that if children can be given at least one nutritious meal a day they will not grow up with stunted brains and permanent physical damage. Outside Tamil Nadu, where the concept began, midday meal schemes have largely failed because of governmental neglect and corruptionwhen it comes to programmes of this kind. Akshay Patra works because it is run by ISKCON with money provided through the philanthropy of private companies like Infosys. In rural Rajasthan the programme works through the efforts of village women who are given charge of cooking and feeding the children instead of this vital task being left in the hands of government employees who are notorious for using anti-poverty programmes to increase their own wealth. At the end of my walk on the beach I found myself making the New Year wish that someone up there in those corridors of power realizes this year that the simplest measures are all we need for every Indian to participate in the economic boom. As long as India’s children live in semi-starvation it will remain ephemeral and meaningless.

Nobody nowadays is not aware of how ritvik is just defeating all other options how to run ISKCON without embarrassment of a huge logbook of "fallen masters" and that it is also clear that Prabhupada set it up that way. Looks rather like purposeful deception to say, "ritvik is a concocted system".

When Bad Things Come From 'Good' Food http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/health/nutrition/02seco.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 By DENISE GRADY </NYT_BYLINE>Published: January 2, 2007 [...] But until recently, getting sick from salad was something that most Americans didn’t even think about unless they were traveling to a poor country. At home, fruits and vegetables have been regarded as clean and safe for as long as most people can remember. Lately, though, produce has caused a disturbing number of disease outbreaks; just since September, bacteria-tainted tomatoes, spinach and lettuce have made hundreds of people sick, and killed three. There have been 20 serious outbreaks in the past decade or so, and many have come from crops grown in California, not from imports. Fruit juices, alfalfa sprouts and almonds have also been involved — all of them supposedly health foods, like salad, the things we feel most virtuous about eating. The known outbreaks are just the tip of the iceberg, health officials say; far more illness is never reported. Most people don’t call the health department about a few days of gut trouble. The government estimates that over all, food-borne microbes — not just the ones on produce — make 76 million people a year sick, put 325,000 in the hospital and kill 5,000. In a modern country, a rise in disease caused by tainted food seems like a giant step backward in public health. But there hasn’t been much public outrage or even disgust at the notion of filth seeping into the food supply. Among the nastiest bacteria is E. coli 0157:H7, which makes a powerful toxin that can cause severe illness and sometimes even kidney failure. This is the germ found on spinach a few months ago, and more recently on iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants. It comes from cow feces and was first identified in 1982. Feeding the animals grain instead of hay seems to promote its growth. The strain is harmless to cows, but in people it is so dangerous, according to the Food and Drug Administration, that swallowing as few as 10 organisms may be enough to cause an infection. About 73,000 people a year get sick from this type of bacteria, and 61 die, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. “It’s gotten more attention this fall, but we’ve seen these outbreaks due to lettuce and other leafy greens for a long time,” said Dr. Christopher Braden, chief of the outbreak response and surveillance team for enteric diseases at the disease centers. “We are seeing this on an ongoing basis. That’s not an acceptable outcome. We need to find ways to interrupt that contamination.” Last August, the F.D.A. announced a “lettuce safety initiative” in response to recurring E. coli outbreaks. It began with last fall’s lettuce harvest and included visits by inspectors to farms and cooling and packing facilities. But the spinach and Taco Bell outbreaks happened anyway. There are several ways that bacteria can contaminate lettuce. Water is an obvious route, whether from unsanitary irrigation or spraying, or from flooding. Animals can carry bacteria onto farmland, which is apparently how the spinach outbreak occurred — feral pigs wandered from cow pastures to spinach fields, taking E. coli with them. Sick workers who handle produce can also contaminate it, and so can dust blowing off pastures. One bad batch can spoil others when they are mixed for chopping and bagging. Scientists think most contamination lies on the surface of crops, but studies have shown that it is possible for bacteria to be taken up through root systems and actually wind up inside the plants, where no amount of washing could get rid of it. In any case, E. coli 0157:H7 tends to be sticky and is difficult or impossible to wash off, even when it’s only on the surface of produce. Over the past 30 years, diseases linked to produce have increased, Dr. Braden said. Increased ability to detect outbreaks may explain part of the increase, but not all of it, he added. “We’re convinced it’s real in large part,” he said. “We’re seeing an increased number of outbreaks, an increased number of cases in outbreaks, and an increase in the number of types of produce involved.” The reason is not known for sure. But, Dr. Braden said: “The way produce is farmed and processed has changed. It’s become more centralized, and you have these huge processors and distributors that produce tens of thousands of pounds of a particular produce in a particular day. If something goes wrong with that produce you’ve got a big problem, whereas with small farmers, if there is a problem it’s much more limited.” In addition, he said, bagged and prewashed produce didn’t exist 25 years ago, and people today eat more raw vegetables than in the past. “There’s probably more susceptible people eating those things,” Dr. Braden said. “We have an aging population, and more people with chronic medical conditions that might make them more susceptible.” The F.D.A. is responsible for produce safety, while the Agriculture Department oversees meat, poultry and eggs. Some politicians have urged that a single new agency be formed to take charge of all food safety, but even if that is done, it still may not answer basic questions about how to clean up produce. Dr. David W. K. Acheson, chief medical officer at the center for food safety and applied nutrition at the F.D.A., said the agency was trying to find ways to prevent outbreaks. But, Dr. Acheson said, it has nowhere near the resources to inspect the hundreds of thousands of facilities that handle fresh produce in the United States. The Agriculture Department has far more inspectors and is required by law to have one in every major meat processing plant. One question the drug agency is trying to figure out, he said, is how close is too close when it comes to cattle and produce. “We know that 0157 is a natural contaminant of cow feces,” Dr. Acheson said. “Cow feces, if it gets on fresh produce, is not good. Should there be some limitation as to how close cattle should be to a leafy-greens field? Fifty feet, 5 miles, 50 miles? What’s the science?” Fifty feet may be plenty if the cows are downhill and downstream of the farm, he said — but if it’s the other way around, five miles may not be enough. “What’s really going to work?” Dr. Acheson asked. “At this point, there are a lot of unknowns.” Another approach, instead of trying to prevent contamination, is to get rid of it after the fact. Nuts can be heat-treated and juices can be pasteurized. Some experts have recommended irradiating lettuce. “People in the agency are looking at the impact of that,” Dr. Acheson said. “There are two pieces: does it work, and what dose do you need? Then, what’s the impact of that dose on the quality of the product? You could irradiate anything and sterilize it, but you may end up with mush. It’s not quite that easy.” Dr. Braden said that so far, scientists had not found any way to prevent outbreaks. “Not that people aren’t working on it hard,” he said, adding that the food industry itself is under pressure. “There may be some self-regulation from the industry, the growers themselves,” he said. “They have to do something themselves, or else they’re going to lose their market.”

who can intelligently lift up about 40 million tons of dust and transport it annually from the Sahara to the Amazon basin? Only Krishna can do this! Saharan dust has been proposed to be the main mineral source that fertilizes the Amazon basin, generating a dependence of the health and productivity of the rain forest on dust supply from the Sahara. "Here we show that about half of the annual dust supply to the Amazon basin is emitted from a single source: the Bodélé depression located northeast of Lake Chad, approximately 0.5% of the size of the Amazon or 0.2% of the Sahara. Placed in a narrow path between two mountain chains that direct and accelerate the surface winds over the depression, the Bodélé emits dust on 40% of the winter days, averaging more than 0.7 million tons of dust per day." http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1748-9326/1/1/014005/erl6_1_014005.html "Satellite observations show continuous dust transport across 5000 km from the Saharan sources to the Caribbean Sea and North America in the Northern summer and to the Amazon basin during the Northern winter [1, 2]. Due to the annual cycle in winds over the Sahara, the winter Saharan dust sources are different from the summer sources [3]. In the summer, dust fluxes reaching the Tropical Atlantic shore originate mainly from the northwest and central-west parts of the Sahara. During winter, strong surface winds (the Harmattan winds) occur along the southern border of the Sahara, activating sources on the border of the Sahel, notably the Bodélé depression in Northern Chad. Analysis of satellite data [4] shows that out of the 240 ± 80 Tg (1 Tg = 10<SUP>12</SUP> g = one million tons) of dust transported annually from Africa to the Atlantic ocean, 140 Tg are transported in the summer and 100 Tg in the winter. A total of 140 ± 40 Tg is deposited in the Atlantic ocean and 50 ± 15 Tg reach and fertilize the Amazon basin. This is four times an older estimate, explaining a paradox regarding the source of nutrients to the Amazon forest. Swap et al suggested [5] that while the source for minerals and nutrients in the Amazon is the dust from Africa, it was estimated that only 13 Tg of dust per year actually arrive in the Amazon. However, they pointed out that 50 Tg are needed to balance the Amazon nutrient budget. Here we show a remarkable arrangement in nature in which the mineral dust arriving at the Amazon [6, 7] basin from the Sahara actually originates from a single source of only ~ 0.5% of the size of the Amazon or ~ 0.2% of the Sahara: the Bodélé depression. Located northeast of Lake Chad (17°N, 18°E) near the northern border of the Sahel, it is known to be the most vigorous source for dust over the entire globe [3, 8]. Unlike most of the large sources in the Sahara that emit mainly during the summer months, the Bodélé depression emission pattern reaches its peak during the winter months. This depression is a unique dust source due to its location at a bottle neck of two large magmatic formations that serves as a `wind lens', guiding and focusing the surface winds to the Bodélé. The Tibesti mountains to the north and the Ennedi mountains southeast of the Bodélé form a large (more than 44 300 km<SUP>2</SUP>) caldera-like valley [9]. Downwind, on the southwest corner, the caldera forms a cone with a narrow pass that accelerates the surface winds towards the Bodélé, which is located in a depression along the pass (see figure 1 right). A unique low level wind jet (LLJ) forms over the Bodélé [10, 11], and the maximum dust production occurs in the winter when the LLJ is strongest. <!--[ej/figure/start]--> <TABLE width="80%" bgColor=#ffffcc><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>Figure 1. The surface wind focusing toward the Bodélé. Right: 3D topography of the Sahara; left: a rare shuttle image of emission from the Bodélé between the Tibesti and the Ennedi mountains (the projection of the shuttle image is marked in black on the map and the viewing direction is towards the southwest). The most significant pass between the northeast of the Sahara and the southwest is the one between the Tibesti and the Ennedi mountains. The structure of the mountains creates a caldera shape that guides and accelerates the surface winds from the northeast through the narrow pass located at the southwest. The Bodélé is located downwind directly after the pass. Several wind tunnels can be seen on the shuttle image starting as far north as 1000 km from the pass and focusing towards it, activating the Bodélé downwind from the passage (marked as white lines in the topographic map). A heavy dust storm leaving the Bodélé towards the Sahel is can be seen in the distance. The white dust emitted from the Bodélé is shown in the middle of the narrow path between the Tibesti (the black mountains on the right) and the Ennedi (left) approaching Lake Chad (see on the right near the horizon). The focusing effect can be seen as the distance between the wind tunnels become smaller near the Tibesti–Ennedi narrow path.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <!--[ej/figure/end]--> During the winter, the near surface winds are consistently northeasterly, making the Tibesti–Ennedi structure very efficient in focusing and guiding the winds over the Bodélé with an average of more than two days per week of winds stronger than 12 m s<SUP>–1</SUP> [9, 11]. The surface winds over the Bodélé have a pronounced diurnal pattern, reaching the critical velocity for dust emission in the early morning and weakening toward the evening [12]. Therefore a clear `dust parcel' forms, travelling away from the Bodélé, shown as an area covered by heavy dust with clear borders. This parcel can be detected by satellites on the day following the emission (figure 3: see the parcel in the right satellite image) and sometimes can be followed up to 3–4 days downwind, southwestward towards the Atlantic. In the same season, the Sahel biomass burning reaches its peak [13]. Therefore, the dust from the Bodélé may mix with the smoke, making retrievals of the dust properties over the Sahel much more difficult. Actual transport of a dust parcel from the Bodélé to the Atlantic ocean can be seen on an ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) [14] movie (available at ). The rate of emission from the Bodélé depression has not been measured yet from space or otherwise, due to its remote, isolated location and difficulties in analysis of traditional satellite data of dust over the bright desert. Here we take advantage of recent advancement in satellite instrumentation to produce the first quantitative estimate of the amount of dust emitted from the Bodélé and transported across the Atlantic ocean to the Amazon. The analysis of emission combines data from two satellite instruments: MODIS (moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer), which provides daily observations of dust emitting days and dust parcel area but no quantitative estimates of dust concentration over the bright desert; and MISR (multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer), which provides estimates of the average dust optical depth of the parcel that in turn is used to derive the dust column mass but has only a nine-day revisit frequency. 2. Methods and results The analysis over land is aimed at estimating the contribution of the Bodélé to the total dust flux reaching the African coast, followed by detailed analysis of dust fluxes reaching the Amazon coast, over the Atlantic ocean. Data from the MODIS blue channel (0.47 µm), with 1 km resolution, are used for detecting the area of the dust parcel emitted from the Bodélé. By using information from two satellites carrying the instrument, observing the same spot on ground 3 h apart (Terra ~ 10:30 AM, Aqua 1:30 PM), we observed the patterns of the dust activity. The dust (wind) speed and direction are calculated from the difference in the location of the dust front in the two satellites [9]. Then the emission starting time is estimated from the wind speed, the location of the source and the location of the dust front, and the duration of the emission is extracted from the wind velocity and the length of the dust parcel along the wind direction. Similarly, these properties can be calculated when using the location of the dust parcel from satellite images of the day after the emission. The optical parameters of the dust plume are derived from MISR data [15]. Each MISR pixel is measured from nine different angles, enabling the use of the directional variability of the dust in order to retrieve optical parameters over bright surfaces. The dust flux was calculated by converting the MISR optical thickness into dust mass [4] and integrating it over the entire parcel. Dust emission starts with saltation and blasting of the surface crust by larger particles that release and lift the finer dust particles [16]. The large particles sink relatively quickly and are not transported to large distances from the source. The aerosol optical depth near the Bodélé may contain a contribution from the large particles. Therefore, to estimate the amount of fine dust that can be transported over large distances we focus on the day following the emission, where the average dust parcel is more than 1200 km away from the source. The mass column concentration for Saharan dust M is estimated from the dust optical depth τ<SUB>d</SUB> using the following ratio: as estimated in several field experiments combined with Aeronet measurements and models [17–21]. The mass flux of a particular event over land is the product of the average mass column concentration (calculated from the average dust optical thickness) and the parcel area. The analysis of the MODIS and MISR satellite data over the desert was complemented with calculations of the dust flux over the Atlantic ocean. To do so, we separated the satellite measurements of aerosol optical depth into dust, marine aerosol and smoke. The amount of marine aerosol is estimated using the NCEP surface winds [22]. Dust and smoke are separated by estimating the contribution of the fine particles to the optical depth derived from MODIS. The flux of dust transported from Africa to Brazil is then calculated by applying the westward NCEP winds to the dust concentration, and the longitudinal length between 20°S and 10°N of the segment through which the flux is being computed near the African and the Brazilian coasts (the method and results are described in detail in [4]). All dust outbreaks over the Saharan Atlantic zone from October 2003 to October 2004 were analysed in this study. Figure 2 (blue line) shows the accumulated distribution of days that the Bodélé emitted dust form October 2003 to October 2004 defined from MODIS data. Dust emission was highest during the winter time and occurred on 50% of the days during late winter and spring (February–April). The average duration of each event is about four days. The emission decreased sharply in May–June and occurred on less than 20% of the days during July–September. <!--[ej/figure/start]--> <TABLE width="80%" bgColor=#ffffcc><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>Figure 2. Dust emission from the Bodélé. The blue line shows a cumulative histogram of the Bodélé emission days between October 2003 to October 2004 and the red line is the corresponding cumulative histogram of the estimated dust mass emitted from the Bodélé. This analysis indicates that more than 60 Tg of dust were emitted during this year.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <!--[ej/figure/end]--><!--[ej/figure/start]--> <TABLE width="80%" bgColor=#ffffcc><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>Figure 3. Dust production and transport across the Atlantic ocean from the Bodélé depression northeast of Lake Chad (17°N, 18°E) to the Amazon basin. Main image: distribution of the average aerosol optical depth as a measure for the column aerosol concentration derived from MODIS data for January 2003–March 2003 (http://g0dup05u.ecs.nasa.gov/OPS/Giovanni/). The upper right MODIS true colour image shows a huge dust plume leaving the Bodélé depression in the top right corner. The dust parcel emitted on the previous day, 1300 km downwind from the Bodélé, is shown closer to the ocean. The parcel is marked with an arrow connecting to the parcels optical depth measured by the MISR instrument (upper left). High dust concentrations follow all the way to the Amazon, with cross section profiles of dust western transport flux shown as a function of latitude (averaged for 5° of latitude and longitude) centred at 17°W and 37°W.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <!--[ej/figure/end]--> The average measured wind near the source derived from the Aqua–Terra difference for 40 cases is 13.2 ± 1 m s<SUP>–1</SUP> with azimuth direction of 250° ± 6°, in line with previous measurements [7]. Moreover, during the winter–spring period the wind of the one-day-old dust parcel has a similar average wind speed of 13.0 ± 1.5 m s<SUP>–1</SUP> and direction of 247° ± 9°. The average daily duration of emission is 8 ± 2 h, starting at 5 am ± 2 h. The average length of the dust package is L = 370 ± 100 km, and the average width is W = 700 ± 300 km. Based on 21 cases of MISR analysis, the one-day-old dust parcel has an average optical depth of 1.1 ± 0.4 (with standard error of 0.1), and neutral spectral reflection of sunlight (Angstrom exponent of 0.2), indicating that the aerosol is pure dust [23]. The error estimate includes the error due to averaging for the entire parcel and the error of the dust retrieval [24]. The total mass of dust emitted from the Bodélé and observed by MODIS on the next day parcel is calculated as the product of the average MISR aerosol optical depth and the average parcel area covered by the dust, yielding M<SUB>tot</SUB> = 2.7 τ<SUB>du</SUB>A, where A is the averaged parcel area, M<SUB>tot</SUB> = 0.77 ± 0.1 Tg/day. The accumulation of emitted dust mass from October 2003 to October 2004 is plotted in red in figure 2. The analysis of the satellite data shows that during the winter–spring time of 2003–2004 more than 58 ± 8 Tg of dust were emitted from the Bodélé, as measured 1300 km downwind from the source. At this distance the dust parcel is mostly free of the large particles that were removed earlier by gravitational settling. The estimates of dust flux emitted from the Bodélé depression are compared here to the dust fluxes across the Atlantic ocean to the Amazon [4]. In figure 3, we show the results of calculation for average of two years (2003–2004) of emissions and two cross section of the Atlantic ocean, one next to the African coast (brown frame) and one next to the South American coast (yellow frame). Out of 80 ± 8 Tg of dust transported to the ocean from Africa (between 20°S and 10°N), 40 ± 13 Tg arrive at South America. If we assume that the deposition rates over West Africa are similar to those over the Atlantic ocean we find that out of the 58 ± 8 Tg of dust emitted from the Bodélé depression, about 45 ± 6 Tg are loaded on the westward trade winds to be transported across the ocean. This amounts to 56% of the total annual burden, all coming from a single source. 3. Discussion Using satellite data and reanalysis wind fields we have identified a remarkable connection between the Amazon forest and a single dust source in the Sahara: the Bodélé depression and its wind regime. A unique combination of global wind pattern and topography forms a vigorous dust source that emits an average of more than 0.7 Tg of dust per emission day and is active mostly during the winter–spring, which is different from most other Saharan dust sources. We estimate that between November and March, the Bodélé depression sends more than half of the dust that is deposited annually in the Amazon forest. Our direct measurements are consistent with a recent modelling study showing that the Bodélé is responsible for > 40% of dust optical depth over the Amazon in the winter season [25]. The soil of the Amazon tropical rainforest is shallow, poor in nutrients and almost without soluble minerals. Heavy rains have washed away the nutrients in the soil obtained from weathered rocks. The rainforest has a short nutrient cycle, and due to the heavy washout, a stable supply of minerals is required to keep the delicate nutrient balance [26]. Kimmins [27] showed that any change in the nutrient supply will convert tropical forests to `wet deserts'. Despite the insight we gained into the role of the Bodélé in fertilization of the Amazon forest, some key questions remain open. What is the relationship of the mineralogical content of the dust to the local surface mineralogy? What is the size of the reservoir of mineral dust there? And since when has the Bodélé emitted such a huge amount of dust, and for how long will it continue to do so? Such questions, among others, were the motivation for the BoDEx Field Experiment [28]. An expedition to the Bodélé during the spring of 2005 aimed at collecting in situ measurements of the emitted dust, and characterizing the local meteorology and the surface properties [29]. Answers to these questions are needed to understand the nature of the emissions in the past, and the future capability of the Bodélé to fertilize the Amazon." Acknowledgments We thank Gala Wind for the help with the MISR analysis. This work was supported by NASA. IK is incumbent of the Benjamin H Swig and Jack D Weiler career development chair. This research was partly funded by the Weizmann–Argentina Cooperation program. References <DL compact><DT>[1] <DD>Prospero J M and Carlson T N 1972 Vertical and areal distribution of Saharan dust over the western equatorial North Atlantic ocean J. Geophys. 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Here Chanchalapathi Das says, when there's an auspicious day like today, Vaikuntha Ekadashi, one can attain special advancement very quickly. http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/29889/saddam-has-chance-to-attain-moksha.html

Moneycontrol.com posted 2006-12-30 10:45 Bangalore: Devotees from South India believe that Saddam Hussein has a good chance of attaining salvation, as he was hanged on auspicious day of Vaikuntha Ekadashi. See the video: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/29889/saddam-has-chance-to-attain-moksha.html Since it's believed that if one gets darshan of god and receives mercy on this day, one can reach the abode of god quickly, said Iskcon Vice-President in Bangalore Chanchalapathi Das. Though he ran out of luck in Iraq, Hindu priests believe there's still hope for Saddam, in the afterlife. Saddam died on Vaikuntha Ekadashi, which is auspicious for attaining salvation. As it's coincidental that on this day he was hanged and it's an auspicious day. Therefore there's some benefit for his soul. Not that all his sins will be pardoned, but it's good fortune that he'll get blessings of god. It's not that whatever your sins you'll be promoted, but some good fortune will happen. Maybe god will bless him with wisdom, said Chanchalapathi Das. Thousands of devotees throng Vishnu and Krishna temples on Vaikuta Ekadashi, which fell on December 30 this year. They believe that Vaikunta Dwar or Swarg Dwar the doors of heaven are open on Saturday. Saddam's hanging on this day perhaps gives hope for his soul. And what most people think is that no sin is so great that it can't be forgiven. Devotees believe: If you come here on Vaikunta Ekadashi, you'll go to heaven Every one's sins will be forgiven If he really repents for his sins, he'll be forgiven You'll get moksha Sinner or not, it's the day when thousands seek heavenly grace at prominent Vishnu temples like Iskcon and Tirupathi.

News Brief – December 30, 2006 "Saddam Hussein has been executed for crimes against humanity, Iraqi officials claim. Hung just before 3am British time, they added that the former Iraqi dictator put up no resistance and asked for his Koran to be passed on to someone. Saddam was said to be in a defiant mood on the gallows and refused to wear a hood. Before being executed he is alleged to have shouted: 'God is great. Or so the official story goes. However this website is extremely sceptical, the reason being that we don’t believe that the man tried and executed was in fact Saddam Hussein but one of his doubles, if indeed an execution even took place. Outlandish as this may sound, the evidence for this claim is substantial and convincing. See the links below": Saddam’s wife could not recognise her husband www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=1703 Mrs Saddam Says Saddam Not Saddam www.vialls.com/subliminalsuggestion/saddamscam.html Iraqi Commander Swears he saw USAF fly Saddam out of Baghdad www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=1079 Hussein Given Safe Haven in Belarus? www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=729 Shaddam Shaddam New Vaudeville Scam! www.vialls.com/subliminalsuggestion/saddamscam.html Yes, but Where Are the Saddam Look-Alikes? www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=742

I t would be interesting to investigate at which point the killing of cows actually starts. If the governments pass a tax law for farmers which is so tough to hardly survive that actually a farmer is forced to sell his cows otherwise he would go straight into flat broke along with his whole family it is actually not the farmer who kills cows but the government which passes such crazy making laws. Same in India - now Hindus are being blamed to sell their holy cows to Muslims who do nothing but kill them and sell the leather so that sinful Europeans can have their leather shoes made from India's holy cows. But if we look closer it is the governmental laws who enforce people to do these sinful activities in order to not run into total indebtedness what is according Canakya Pundit never acceptable for humane living.

Since we live in the age where the power belongs to them who own the dollar printing press, there should be no further problem to pay for all this. Already about 30,000 US military troops fighting in Iraq under US flag are not US citizien. <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=550 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>US Military considers recruiting foreigners </TD></TR><TR><TD> Bryan Bender – Boston Globe, December 26, 2006 Apart from anything else this helps minimise U.S. casualty figures. Because if those recruited are killed in combat they don't have to be reported as U.S. casualties because they are not yet US citizens, officially. However, the fact that the mainstream media is now reporting this indicates that the powers that be are contemplating changes in U.S. citizenship legislation, or at least legislation as to who can and cannot serve in the U.S. armed forces. Either way, change is on the way and the mainstream media is being used to prepare the American public for these changes, whatever they may be. Ed. Military considers recruiting foreigners Bryan Bender – Boston Globe December 26, 2006 The armed forces, already struggling to meet recruiting goals, are considering expanding the number of noncitizens in the ranks -- including disputed proposals to open recruiting stations overseas and putting more immigrants on a faster track to US citizenship if they volunteer -- according to Pentagon officials. Foreign citizens serving in the US military is a highly charged issue, which could expose the Pentagon to criticism that it is essentially using mercenaries to defend the country. Other analysts voice concern that a large contingent of noncitizens under arms could jeopardize national security or reflect badly on Americans' willingness to serve in uniform. The idea of signing up foreigners who are seeking US citizenship is gaining traction as a way to address a critical need for the Pentagon, while fully absorbing some of the roughly one million immigrants that enter the United States legally each year. The proposal to induct more noncitizens, which is still largely on the drawing board, has to clear a number of hurdles. So far, the Pentagon has been quiet about specifics -- including who would be eligible to join, where the recruiting stations would be, and what the minimum standards might involve, including English proficiency. In the meantime, the Pentagon and immigration authorities have expanded a program that accelerates citizenship for legal residents who volunteer for the military. And since Sept. 11, 2001, the number of imm igrants in uniform who have become US citizens has increased from 750 in 2001 to almost 4,600 last year, according to military statistics. With severe manpower strains because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and a mandate to expand the overall size of the military -- the Pentagon is under pressure to consider a variety of proposals involving foreign recruits, according to a military affairs analyst. "It works as a military idea and it works in the context of American immigration," said Thomas Donnelly , a military scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington and a leading proponent of recruiting more foreigners to serve in the military. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grind on, the Pentagon has warned Congress and the White House that the military is stretched "to the breaking point." Both President Bush and Robert M. Gates, his new defense secretary, have acknowledged that the total size of the military must be expanded to help alleviate the strain on ground troops, many of whom have been deployed repeatedly in combat theaters. Bush said last week that he has ordered Gates to come up with a plan for the first significant increase in ground forces since the end of the Cold War. Democrats who are preparing to take control of Congress, meanwhile, promise to make increasing the size of the military one of their top legislative priorities in 2007. "With today's demands placing such a high strain on our service members, it becomes more crucial than ever that we work to alleviate their burden," said Representative Ike Skelton , a Missouri Democrat who is set to chair the House Armed Services Committee, and who has been calling for a larger Army for more than a decade. But it would take years and billions of dollars to recruit, train, and equip the 30,000 troops and 5,000 Marines the Pentagon says it needs. And military recruiters, fighting the perception that signing up means a ticket to Baghdad, have had to rely on financial incentives and lower standards to meet their quotas. That has led Pentagon officials to consider casting a wider net for noncitizens who are already here, said Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Hilferty , an Army spokesman. Already, the Army and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security have "made it easier for green-card holders who do enlist to get their citizenship," Hilferty said. Other Army officials, who asked not to be identified, said personnel officials are working with Congress and other parts of the government to test the feasibility of going beyond US borders to recruit soldiers and Marines. Currently, Pentagon policy stipulates that only immigrants legally residing in the United States are eligible to enlist. There are currently about 30,000 noncitizens who serve in the US armed forces, making up about 2 percent of the active-duty force, according to statistics from the military and the Council on Foreign Relations. About 100 noncitizens have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. A recent change in US law, however, gave the Pentagon authority to bring immigrants to the United States if it determines it is vital to national security. So far, the Pentagon has not taken advantage of it, but the calls are growing to take use the new authority. Indeed, some top military thinkers believe the United States should go as far as targeting foreigners in their native countries. "It's a little dramatic," said Michael O'Hanlon , a military specialist at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution and another supporter of the proposal. "But if you don't get some new idea how to do this, we will not be able to achieve an increase" in the size of the armed forces. "We have already done the standard things to recruit new soldiers, including using more recruiters and new advertising campaigns," O'Hanlon added. O'Hanlon and others noted that the country has relied before on sizable numbers of noncitizens to serve in the military -- in the Revolutionary War, for example, German and French soldiers served alongside the colonists, and locals were recruited into US ranks to fight insurgents in the Philippines. Other nations have recruited foreign citizens: In France, the famed Foreign Legion relies on about 8,000 noncitizens; Nepalese soldiers called Gurkhas have fought and died with British Army forces for two centuries; and the Swiss Guard, which protects the Vatican, consists of troops who hail from many nations. "It is not without historical precedent," said Donnelly, author of a recent book titled "The Army We Need," which advocates for a larger military. Still, to some military officials and civil rights groups, relying on large number of foreigners to serve in the military is offensive. The Hispanic rights advocacy group National Council of La Raza has said the plan sends the wrong message that Americans themselves are not willing to sacrifice to defend their country. Officials have also raised concerns that immigrants would be disproportionately sent to the front lines as "cannon fodder" in any conflict. Some within the Army privately express concern that a big push to recruit noncitizens would smack of "the decline of the American empire," as one Army official who asked not to be identified put it. Officially, the military remains confident that it can meet recruiting goals -- no matter how large the military is increased -- without having to rely on foreigners. "The Army can grow to whatever size the nation wants us to grow to," Hilferty said. "National defense is a national challenge, not the Army's challenge." He pointed out that just 15 years ago, during the Gulf War, the Army had a total of about 730,000 active-duty soldiers, amounting to about one American in 350 who were serving in the active-duty Army. "Today, with 300 million Americans and about 500,000 active-duty soldiers, only about one American in 600 is an active-duty soldier," he said. "America did then, and we do now, have an all-volunteer force, and I see no reason why America couldn't increase the number of Americans serving." But Max Boot, a national security specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that the number of noncitizens the armed forces have now is relatively small by historical standards. "In the 19th century, when the foreign-born population of the United States was much higher, so was the percentage of foreigners serving in the military," Boot wrote in 2005. "During the Civil War, at least 20 percent of Union soldiers were immigrants, and many of them had just stepped off the boat before donning a blue uniform. There were even entire units, like the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry [the Scandinavian Regiment] and General Louis Blenker's German Division, where English was hardly spoken." "The military would do well today to open its ranks not only to legal immigrants but also to illegal ones and, as important, to untold numbers of young men and women who are not here now but would like to come," Boot added. "No doubt many would be willing to serve for some set period, in return for one of the world's most precious commodities -- US citizenship. Some might deride those who sign up as mercenaries, but these troops would have significantly different motives than the usual soldier of fortune." </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

According normal medical standard todays Ganga is so much polluted that you not only can drink Ganga water but you also cannot bath in the Ganges. Of course it is said in sastra that the water of Mother Ganga cant be polluted, this is surely true, but this does not mean that our bodies cannot become polluted by Coli bacteria which causes severe illness to million of village people, especially children. "Grains which were watered with polluted Ganges water smell badly when being cooked", says a farmer who is worried about the future of so many people in the Ganges valley. No moksha for Ganga in Varanasi Sandeep Banerjee CNN-IBN Posted Saturday , December 18, 2006 at 09:32 Updated Saturday , December 18, 2006 at 11:17 WAITING FOR DELIVERANCE: The Ganga at Varanasi continues to choke inspite of a grassroots plan. <!-- div class='clearAll vSpacer3'> </div --> Varanasi: The Ganga Action Plan in Varanasi has failed to clean up the holy river. Inspite of a grassroots plan to save the river in this region, the Ganga at Varanasi continues to choke to death. Confluences of rivers are sacred in Hinduism but not in Varanasi it seems, where the Asi river now known as Nagwa Nala meets the Ganga. “It’s so dirty that you can't even stand here. It stinks all the time,” a boatman says. Today, the Ganga is in a living hell because there are 30 sewers that dump sewage into the river just a half-a-kilometer upstream of Varanasi. The water treatment plants, set up under the Ganga Action Plan in the 80's, are supposed to divert Varanasi's sewage for cleansing but daily power cuts make them ineffective. And while these plants have a daily capacity of 100 million litres a day, Varanasi today generates 250 million litres of sewage daily, so most of it simply flows into the river. But the faithful still use the river to cleanse their sins. “People say the Ganga is pure. The sewage comes but it still stays pure,” a devotee says. It is not just the sewers that are polluting the river, there are people searching for valuables, sifting through ashes from the pyres of the Manikarnika cremation ghat while dead bodies are thrown straight into the river. “If a man dies of snakebite we put the body into the river as it is, in the hope that is cured,” a curator says. But there are people in Varanasi who have solutions to these problems like Veer Bhadra Mishra, mahant of Sankatmochan Temple, who is an engineer by training and has given the UP government an alternate plan to treat Varanasi's sewage. Nine years later, he's still to hear from the authorities. “In other cities I think the municipal authorities have not done that much amount of work. But in Varanasi we know the solutions then why can't they implement it?” Mishra asks. Mishra runs a lab and has countered official claims that the Ganga Action Plan has been successful in Varanasi. The water is tested regularly for levels of organic pollution and his comments on the Ganga Action Plan are scathing. “We have failed in conceptualisation, planning and execution. Without diagnosing the disease, medicines were prescribed,” Mishra says. The Ganga waits for deliverance at Varanasi as sewage is dumped into it. However, the question that arises now is will the river of salvation ever find its own deliverance in Varanasi? (With inputs from Rohit Khanna) Be a Citizen Journalist: If you have images or videos of the Ganga being polluted, mail them to us at citizen@ibnlive.com

In which intervals you're getting migrains? I had migrains for many years but somehow found the cause and now it's over.

Typical case of Prabhupada's young uneducated editors didnt properly explain Prabhupada how to put it in proper English. And "Although rape is not legally allowed" also just refers to a ksatriya who kidnaps his future wive like vedic ksatriyas used to perform such rituals. In this way it became clear who is the strongest. Although brahmins would never do such a thing.

Gender Irrelevant in Cosmic Consciousness</ARTTITLE> CHAITANYA CHARAN DAS posted 27 Dec, 2006| Updated at 2127hrs IST <TABLE width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom align=middle> </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=bottom align=middle height=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE style="BORDER-BOTTOM: #dfdfdf 1px solid" width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left>RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <!--google_ad_region_start=article-->We are neither male nor female for at core we are spiritual souls, whereas our gender refers only to our shell, the physical body. Our spiritual identity is eternal, our gender is transient. According to the Bhagavad Gita, we attain in our next life a body as per the thought that predominates our consciousness at the last moment of this life. So a male in this life may become a female in the next life, if the person dearest to him happens to be a female and vice versa. Hence gender is physical misidentification. Only when we distance ourselves from our temporary physical gender we will be freed from the ideological preconceptions that are inevitably dragged into discussion on the gender of God. So in the conventional sense gender refers to bodily gender, so God is neither. Yet God is both male and female as seen in the worship of divine couples in Vedic tradition. The inclusive Vedic definition of God as the source of everything, the cause of all causes, leads to an egali-tarian understanding of God — as both male and female. In Radha-Krishna, Radha personifies the primordial cosmological female principle and Krishna, the primor-dial cosmological male principle. Sometimes personification is mistaken to be a mere literary device, but this misconception overlooks the omni-dimensional all-encompassing nature of divinity. So Radha and Krishna are not symbols denoting metaphysical principles. As divine embodiments, they are particular individuals, yet they are universal individuals, being wholly identical with the ontological principles they personify. Krishna is compared to the sun and Radha, to sunshine. Though sunshine comes from the sun, to say that the sun is superior to or exists prior to the sunshine is incorrect for sun includes sunshine. The sun has no meaning without sunshine, without heat and light. And heat and light would not exist without the sun. The sun and sunshine coexist, each equally important for the existence of the other. They are simultaneously inconceivably one and different, achintyabhedabheda tattva. Likewise, the singular Absolute Truth manifests as the plural Radha-Krishna for the sake of loving reciprocation. One person, two personalities; inconceivable identity in diversity. Hence the saint Bhaktivinoda Thakura sings, "Just as there is no sun without sunshine, I do not accept Krishna without Radha". The Gita explains that God is the source, the essence and the best of everything. Therefore, as Radha, God is the supreme worshipper, and as Krishna, God is the supreme worship-ped. In terms of tattva or philosophical truth, Krishna excels as the supreme controller and so the traditional reference to God as male. But in terms of lila or divine loving exchanges, Radha excels by controlling Krishna with her selfless spiritual love. Krishna is celebrated as Madan-Mohan, who mesmerises everyone, but Radha is glorified as Madan-Mohan-Mohini, the mesmeriser of the mesmeriser for spiritual aspirants, Radha acts as the divine mediatrix, without whom access to Krishna is not possible. So devotees always chant her name before Krishna's, as is also seen with Sita-Rama and Lakshmi-Narayana. Like the Biblical Bride-of-Christ concept and the Kabbalistic Jewish conception of the Female Divine, the truth behind Radha-Krishna is theologically profound and constitutes the zenith of spiritual awareness. This enligh-tened God consciousness resolves all confusion, contradiction and conflict caused by misconceptions of sexuality and spirituality. The writer is spiritual mentor at ISKCON, Pune.

You mean what is also stated in the Mahabharata when a ksatriya prince kidnapped his future wife - or Krishna kidnapped Subhadra? That this is considered as rape? I dont understand why people call Prabhupada mysoginistic - after all he just repeated what the Vedas say, women are materially less intelligent but NOT spiritually. As soon a woman becomes a devotee her spiritual intelligence is awakened and spiritual intelligence is unchecked by material limitation. If Prabhupada would be looking down on women he would never have published the Prayers of Queen Kunti.

Someone is just harassing me that Prabhupada was mysoginistic - especially last sentence of this purport, http://www.vedabase.net/sb/4/25/41/en what to reply?

India's full and active participation in efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction a major condition for the Nuclear Deal Media Release Dec. 21, 2006 http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/14834.asp Attacking US President George W Bush, senior Democratic lawmakers have described as "outrageous" and "shameless" his statement that he considered certain provisions in the new law Indo-US civil nuclear deal as mere "advisory". Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who was the author of the Harkin Amendment which said it shall be the policy of the US to secure India's full and active participation in efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, sharply criticised the President for his clarification, seen in many quarters as an attempt by the White House to allay concerns and apprehensions of India.