suchandra

When Vaishnavas would apply at the European Union to get funds for opening a vedic farm project they would probably send a letter of refusal. When it comes to subsidy Europe's tobacco farmers the EU government pays every year 500-900 mio dollar to keep these farmers alive and produce tobacco. If you thought that Vaishnava leaders would protest against this procedure, negative report. They keep quiet, Hare Krsna farms closed. A critique of EU subsidies for tobacco farmers posted by Annexe Ten reasons to phase out tobacco subsidies and to reorient support to reward healthy products in the European Union 1 Ambivalent policy (bad for the EU’s reputation) The huge disparity between the money spent subsidising tobacco and that spent campaigning against smoking suggests ambivalence in the European Union policy towards health goals. True, but not really complet. The subsidies to tobacco growing amount for 963 million euros and employ almost 500.000 people in less-favoured regions. The only campaign of the EU against tobacco is paid by a percentage (3%) of tobacco premiums (about 30 million euros a year) and has been underused by DG SANCO the last 5 years (a 30% spending of the global amount). The general EU budget is NOT putting money to fight smoking and, what is worse, member states get 70 BILLION euros per year on tobacco taxes…… which part of this money goes to fight smoking???????? 2 Against health Tobacco kills more than 500,000 EU citizens and around 1 million Europeans in total each year. There is no justification for the huge financial support for a product which is so harmful. Support of the Common Agricultural Policy should be oriented to reward healthy products in the first place. True, but again please apply to butter (cardiovascular diseases) or wine, and also to structural policies (traffic accidents). 3 Costly The annual cost of tobacco subsidies is around EUR 1 billion annually. In 2002 the European Union (EU) still subsidised tobacco production to the tune of EUR 963 million. True, but think about the 500.000 employs and the 1.500 labour hour per hectare (copared with the 147 labour hours per hectare in cereals). 4 No economic rationale Subsidies are used for supporting a product with limited commercial value. Subsidies remain by far the greatest main part of farmers’ gross incomes and account for more than 75 % of total receipts farmers obtain from this crop. (Page 7 of the 2003 Communication from the Commission document). The origine of the subsidy in 1970 was to pay the labour costs, that aount for this 75%. In the Commission staff working paper “Tobacco regime. Extended impact assessment”, the lack of economic rationale was shown in a manner which is even more convincing. On the one side farmers receive subsidies and have to pay taxes. The support which the farmers receive from the community is subsidies minus taxes. On the other side they gain income from tobacco growing, but have to pay production costs such as wages, rent and interest. The support from the community represents 98% of the total net income of tobacco growers. In the Commission document this is acknowledged in the following way: “Finally, another interesting conclusion can be drawn from the ratio between the balance of current subsidies and taxes and the net value added: for year 2000, this indicator, which measures the dependence of the agricultural revenues on the public support, is equal to 98% for tobacco producers of the three considered countries, by far the highest value compared to other agricultural sectors.” (Page16-17) 5 Fails to achieve its main objective Tobacco subsidies were originally intended to encourage farmers to grow commercially valued varieties of tobacco and thus reduce imports. The policy failed to adapt production to demand or reduce imports, resulting in the EU remaining the world’s highest importer of raw tobacco, 540,000 metric tons in 2001. Not really true: tobacco production in Europe is limited by quotas (that is why the imports are so high); the quality has been improving, because there are European tobaccos in the main international blends and because the exports of European tobaccos are increasing in volume and in value. 6 A necessary part of the CAP reform The EU farm ministers agreed on a reform of the Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on 26 June 2003. Under the agreement, the EU will introduce a single farm payment system which will no longer be linked to the volume of production. These new "single farm payments" will be linked to the respect of environmental, food safety and animal welfare standards. In the framework of a general policy, it would be difficult not to envisage to phase out tobacco subsidies and to develop alternative source of income and activity to tobacco producers. Ultraperipheral areas (Canary Islands, Aegena islands, French overseas) and CMOs like seeds do not fall into the SFP system; those exceptions are justifies by the Commission sying that “to avoid the negative effects of decoupling…..”. If in remote areas decopling is negative, in labour-intensive productions (like tobacco, cotton, fruits…) an exception can be thinkable. On the other hand, PARTIAL decoupling is the real principle of the reform. 7 Unfeasible with enlargement If enlargement of the EU were to include the 10 accession countries and the three countries hoping to join (Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey), then expenditure on tobacco subsidies could potentially double, which would be economically and politically impossible. True, but limits have been established for new member states workers for up to 7 years, and if this is acceptable for human beens, solutions can be found for an agricultural product. On the other hand, it is logical to think that 10 new members should mean more expenditure, as it happens with, say, structural funds. 8 Against free trade Direct producer support mechanisms are trade distorting and should disappear as part of the global World Trade Organisation negotiations. Trade ministers from Africa and other developing countries have warned the EU in July 2003 that there can be no successful conclusion to the new WTO round unless Europe agrees to greater cuts of its farm subsidies. Tobacco does not make the difference (and also cotton) in the global trade, and there is still room in the amber box to maintain the current direct support (about 32 billion euros). And, why African ministers opinions are more valuable than European or American ones???? 9 Unfair to developing countries Tobacco farmers in developing countries don’t receive subsidies. Public support makes up 98% of the income of the European producers and remains unfair to developing countries. Tobacco farmers in developing countries DO recive public support. Please ask in Argentina or Brazil, and also ask for the trade barriers that protect local production and tha in the EU is so low that we can consider that it does not exist. And please be coherent: if tobacco is HARMFUL, it is in every single place of the world: or do you prefer an increase in the tobacco production of developing countries because their lifes are less valuables???? Also, European tobacco has to cope with the stricter rules on pesticides, nicotines, etc but third countries sometimes do not have a legal framework for tobacco production. 10 Consistent with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control The FCTC calls for diversification away from tobacco farming, towards alternative crops or alternative livelihoods. Countries moving to ratify the Convention should be exploring ways to divest their tobacco farming interests. Tobacco subsidies completely contradict this basic objective. Not true: the FCTC explicitly excluded the agricultural subsidies to tobacco from the articles in the final text.

Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur would rather comment, different men put different interpretations to this. Additionally, it depends in front of which audience?

The attempt to attain the Lotus Feet of Sri Krsna by one's own endeavour is called aroha-pantha. Krsna cannot be obtained by this method. Only upon surrendering unto Sri Krsna can the jiva obtain the service of the Lord by His will and mercy. Endowed with such firm faith, one should engage in the process of sadhana and bhajana. The words pada-dhuli or dust particle indicate the jiva's eternal identity as an infinitesimal part and parcel, vibhinnamsa, of Bhagavan. As long as the jiva is not situated in his svarupa, anarthas are inevitable. In such a condition, ascertainment of the ultimate goal remains ambiguous. Suddha harinama-sankirtana begins upon awakening of sambhanda-jnana and only such suddha nama-sankirtana is prema obtained. When by continous chanting of sudha nama, rati, which is a combination of samvit and hladini potencies of the Lord's svarupa-sakti, toward the Lotus Feet of Bhagava is awakened in the heart of the jiva, he is known as jata-rati-bhakta, a devotee in whom rati or bhava has manifested. There is a difference between the nama-sankirtana of an ajata-rati-sadhaka, one in whom rati is not manifest and a jata-rati-bhavuka-bhakta. To deceitfully present oneself as a jata-rati-bhakta before having reached such a stage is completely improper. After anartha-nivrtti one becomes situated in naivantarya or uninterrupted steadiness in the practice of sadhana, sravana, kirtana and so forth. Next one attains sveccha-purvika which means meditation on the pastimes of the Lord by one's own will. This is an advanced stage of asakti. This then is followed by the condition known as svarasiki when the pastimes of the Lord automatically manifest in one's heart as an uninterrupted flow, this comes in the stage of bhava after suddha-sattva manifests in the heart. At last one comes to the stage of krsna-prema, the stage where one doesn't have to worry, do I see myself as the lowest of all and thus am situated as the highest Vaishnava? Thanks sd.

Good point (btw awesome webdesign), Prabhupada once explained how the Buddhists were about to establish Buddhism in India and it only was stopped by Lord Caitanya's preaching. What would be the situation if India would be today a Buddhist state like China? People should acknowledge this and the Time mag would be the right place for such a tribute so that the whole world can see it.

"The Highest Vaisnava Sees Himself as the Lowest of All." Prabhupada would never have made such a statement, indicating that the person who indoctrinates this must be the highest Vaisnava of all. What I have understood from Srila Prabhupada's books is that a Vaisnava is very humble and carries the verse 'trnad api sunicena' around his neck like a necklace. trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih Thinking oneself to be even lower and more worthless than insignificant grass which has been trampled beneath everyone's feet, being more tolerant than a tree, being prideless, and offering respect to all others according to their respective positions, one should contentiously chant the holy names of Sri Hari. (Sri Siksastakam, verse three)

Especially in Eastern Europe where people have been oppressed so heavily they might join Vaishnava institutions as kind of relief from terrible slavery of communism. But as soon these people find out that leaders of Vaishnavism are materially motivated, susceptible to fall down, they reject institutionalized Vaishnavism even more resolute than let's say French people or the British. These people suffered so badly and when finding out that scrupelous Vaishnava leaders are doing the same, exploiting them and even going for their broken down farmhouse, they won't just walk out the door like we Westerners and say, well, these people ruined my life, took all my possessions and spent it for a mansion in Florida, it's all Krsna's mercy. These people wont say that, their temperament is different.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/press/false_color_postcard_edr.html Phoenix Reports Good Health After Mars Landing 05.25.08 -- A NASA spacecraft today sent pictures showing itself in good condition after making the first successful landing in a polar region of Mars. Read more <!--CONTINGENCY At this time, Phoenix should be on the surface of Mars. No signal was detected at the time of landing, and the first transmission window with the spacecraft has closed. Mission controllers are waiting for the next communications window, which begins at 6:43 p.m. PDT (9:43 p.m. EDT). --> On the Phoenix Blog: Landing Day 05.25.08 -- Follow the mission team's landing blog. Comments are no longer being taken. Icy, Patterned Ground on Mars 05.26.08 <!--Promo date and doctitle ends--> This image shows a polygonal pattern in the ground near NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, similar in appearance to icy ground in the arctic regions of Earth. Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude. This is an approximate-color image taken shortly after landing by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager, inferred from two color filters, a violet, 450-nanometer filter and an infrared, 750-nanometer filter. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

May be that's the only way to save the German speaking countries. ISKCON failed badly and now they seem to hand what is left over to HDG Narayana Swami. And calling the takeover ceremony "Vaisnava Ecumenism".

Fall or no fall - it's all illusion. Interesting video on how it is proven that our perception is an illusion. Holographic Universe (Part 1 of 2 ) its all illusion. <embed src=" " type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"> Holographic Universe ( Part 2 0f 2 ) its all illusion <embed src=" " type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"> <!-- / message --> <!-- sig -->

Interesting video on how it is proven that this world is an illusion. Holographic Universe (Part 1 of 2 ) its all illusion. <embed src=" " type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"> Holographic Universe ( Part 2 0f 2 ) its all illusion <embed src=" " type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425">

This is a nice thought, yes agreed, the reality of our present world and the way ISKCON proceeds, it is no fun. However, we humans are not the only ones thinking there's hardly any fun, even the insects seem to be frustrated to take care of the basic neccessities and cheat others. Butterflies Trick Ants Into Raising Young Blue Butterflies Trick Ants Into Adopting and Raising Butterfly Larvae WASHINGTON May 23, 2008 (AP) The Associated Press Call it the cuckoo of butterflies. Like the well-known birds, the Alcon blue butterfly has found a way to get others to raise its offspring. A caterpillar of Maculinea alcon, having recently emerged from a flower of Gentiana pneumonanthe A caterpillar of Maculinea alcon, having recently emerged from a flower of Gentiana pneumonanthe is carried back to a nest of the ant Myrmica rubra by a foraging worker ant./A female Maculinea alcon butterfly laying eggs on a flower head of the Marsh gentian, Gentiana pneumonanthe. (Courtesy of David Nash) More Photos Researchers in Denmark report that the large blue butterfly has managed to produce larvae with a chemical coating similar to that of the local Myrmica rubra ants. The butterflies deposit their larvae on marsh gentian plants where exploring ants find them, identify the chemical coating, and take the butterfly larvae back to the ant colony and feed them until they grow up and leave, the researchers report in Thursday's edition of the journal Science. The researchers, led by David R. Nash of the University of Copenhagen, added that elsewhere in Europe the Alcon butterfly uses a different ant species to raise its young.

Thanks Mahak, whatever a great man does - common men will follow. Yes, this planet should be transformed into a gardening culture with fruit trees, flower fields, vegetable plantations and beautiful ponds. However, before this can happen they have to drop the bombs to clear the path for a new living on this planet. Environment Wildlife Pesticides: Germany bans chemicals linked to honeybee devastation Alison Benjamin guardian.co.uk, Friday May 23 2008 Article history Bees gather around a honeycomb. Photograph: Reso/Rex Features Germany has banned a family of pesticides that are blamed for the deaths of millions of honeybees. The German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has suspended the registration for eight pesticide seed treatment products used in rapeseed oil and sweetcorn. The move follows reports from German beekeepers in the Baden-Württemberg region that two thirds of their bees died earlier this month following the application of a pesticide called clothianidin. "It's a real bee emergency," said Manfred Hederer, president of the German Professional Beekeepers' Association. "50-60% of the bees have died on average and some beekeepers have lost all their hives." Tests on dead bees showed that 99% of those examined had a build-up of clothianidin. The chemical, produced by Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of the German chemical giant Bayer, is sold in Europe under the trade name Poncho. It was applied to the seeds of sweetcorn planted along the Rhine this spring. The seeds are treated in advance of being planted or are sprayed while in the field. The company says an application error by the seed company which failed to use the glue-like substance that sticks the pesticide to the seed, led to the chemical getting into the air. Bayer spokesman Dr Julian Little told the BBC's Farming Today that misapplication is highly unusual. "It is an extremely rare event and has not been seen anywhere else in Europe," he said. Clothianidin, like the other neonicotinoid pesticides that have been temporarily suspended in Germany, is a systemic chemical that works its way through a plant and attacks the nervous system of any insect it comes into contact with. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency it is "highly toxic" to honeybees. This is not the first time that Bayer, one of the world's leading pesticide manufacturers with sales of €5.8bn (£4.6bn) in 2007, has been blamed for killing honeybees. In the United States, a group of beekeepers from North Dakota is taking the company to court after losing thousands of honeybee colonies in 1995, during a period when oilseed rape in the area was treated with imidacloprid. A third of honeybees were killed by what has since been dubbed colony collapse disorder. Bayer's best selling pesticide, imidacloprid, sold under the name Gaucho in France, has been banned as a seed dressing for sunflowers in that country since 1999, after a third of French honeybees died following its widespread use. Five years later it was also banned as a sweetcorn treatment in France. A few months ago, the company's application for clothianidin was rejected by French authorities. Bayer has always maintained that imidacloprid is safe for bees if correctly applied. "Extensive internal and international scientific studies have confirmed that Gaucho does not present a hazard to bees," said Utz Klages, a spokesman for Bayer CropScience. Last year, Germany's Green MEP, Hiltrud Breyer, tabled an emergency motion calling for this family of pesticides to be banned across Europe while their role in killing honeybees were thoroughly investigated. Her action follows calls for a ban from beekeeping associations and environmental organisations across Europe. Philipp Mimkes, spokesman for the German-based Coalition Against Bayer Dangers, said: "We have been pointing out the risks of neonicotinoids for almost 10 years now. This proves without a doubt that the chemicals can come into contact with bees and kill them. These pesticides shouldn't be on the market."

Court stays land acquisition for Vedanta University Bombay News.Net http://www.bombaynews.net/story/362902 Saturday 24th May, 2008 (IANS) The Orissa High Court has stayed until June 23 acquisition of land for the Vedanta University to be set up in the coastal town of Puri. The university is proposed to come up near the Konark-Puri marine drive in over 6,000 acres of land with a phased investment of Rs.150 billion. But the university project faces considerable opposition from local residents. 'Some people who have lost their land have sought the intervention of the court describing the land acquisition for the project as illegal,' one of their lawyers, Subir Palit, told IANS. After hearing the petitions, Justices I.M. Quddusi and S.R. Singharavelu ordered the government Friday to stay the land acquisition till the next hearing of the case June 23.

Good point, great post - nice to see that there're real sadhus at audarya, sadhus who constantly see Krsna everywhere.

Looks rather like an advertising slogan of a new business, than actually thinking of benefitting people. However, more and more people seek for relieve of pain, can't tolerate it anymore to live in a diseased condition. Austrian Comedian Herbie Fux lived his last days in so much pain that he asked for euthanasia. Today, May 25, he would have become 80 years old. He prefered to die on Tuesday, his relatives comenting, he couldn't take the pain anymore he said he didn't want to suffer like that. Euthanasia seems once again to revive in the EU, especially more and more prominent people like pianist Georges-Adrien Chevalier, are chosing this way to leave the world in dignity. The Church is criticizing this development heavily, comenting, children are only taking birth nowadays by cesarean delivery and old people are demanding for assisted suicide. In Switzerland the news says that many old people are complaining that euthanasia would be with 8000 Dollar too expensive but the government introduces now an option for the poor that costs only 400 dollar. In Zurich they opened a so called "euthanasia hospiz", a place where people can go to die. It is a development from which one obviously dissociates but it's probably unimaginable to do without such epochal achievements. There's lately a strong rush to Euthanasia orgs the news says.

Somehow it seems that migraine was never taken seriously by medical science and even today 2008 all those medicines, like Zomig, Blocadren, Depakote, although quite expensive, don't treat, according leading medical doctors, the actual cause but supress the symptom. Meanwhile doctors even prescribe antidepressants in big scale. In other words all those medicines just block the awareness of pain but don't treat the actual causation. HH Satsvarupa das Goswami is no singular case. "I was exhausted from the constant migraine pain and reaction to the doctor’s supervised medical regimen. This low point also manifested in several ways including reduced japa.Somehow, in the hours in between pain, I managed to write, including letters." Today one can say that migraine reached epidemic dimensions of millions of persons concerned. Migraine is nothing but a headache, a signalling system that there are doshas, pitta, vatta, kapha not in balance. Not enough fire element in the digestive tract, air circulation blocked, etc etc. Since western medical doctors are still in darkness how to actually treat this disease, it seems that their collegues from the ayurvedic department in South India are in the same way in darkness how to solve this problem.

You're right, agreed. Thing is the Jehova's witnesses always drop their mag into our letterbox. Today it read, "the bible doesn't demand blind faith in the existence of God," and, "from observation coming to the state of believe", "what does creation tell us about God?" Since the watchtower magazine is the most read and most successful religious magazine (about 16 million copies in more than 80 languages per week), I thought, why not try to replace "bible" with "vedas" and see what happens?

What does creation say about God? Does nature reveal God's wisdom? Don't the stars reveal God's power? Brahma Samhita 5.29: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the first progenitor who is tending the cows, yielding all desire, in abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and affection by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs or gopīs. Brahma Samhita 5.30: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept in playing on His flute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals with head decked with peacock's feather, with the figure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of Cupids. Brahma Samhita 5.31: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, round whose neck is swinging a garland of flowers beautified with the moon-locket, whose two hands are adorned with the flute and jeweled ornaments, who always revels in pastimes of love, whose graceful threefold-bending form of Śyāmasundara is eternally manifest. Brahma Samhita 5.32: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane. Brahma Samhita 5.33: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal puruṣa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth. Brahma Samhita 5.34: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, only the tip of the toe of whose lotus feet is approached by the yogīs who aspire after the transcendental and betake themselves to prāṇāyāma by drilling the respiration; or by the jñānīs who try to find out the nondifferentiated Brahman by the process of elimination of the mundane, extending over thousands of millions of years.

Over the years, devotees have been manipulated to believe that a bona fide guru can have forbidden relationships or diverge large amounts from the Vaishnava institution's money. When you dare to mention these things or attack the credibility of the persons doing these things, you are entitled as a blasphemer or offensive. Within Srila Prabhupada's books, letters, lectures, morning walks, conversations we find a very different picture. In fact, we discover things such as, a bona fide guru is above the option to fall down, or that you cannot change the books of an acarya, and the list goes on.

Thanks so much great share!

Looks Richard Nixon was hardly able to actually concentrate on what was written in this letter. The letter is dated 28 June 1972. Despite Nixon’s so-called secret plan and his claim to have achieved “peace with honor,” by the time he resigned in 1974, almost 21,000 Americans were killed in Vietnam during his presidency: over 36% of the total of 58,000 U.S. casualties in the entire war. 1972 June 23 - Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the C.I.A. to obstruct the F.B.I.'s investigation into the Watergate break-ins. June 26 - Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney co-found Atari. June 28 - U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that no new draftees will be sent to Vietnam. June 29 - Furman v. Georgia: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the death penalty is unconstitutional. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972 "In early June 1974, White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig had ordered the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command (CIC) to make a study of President Richard Nixon's alleged ties to organized crime and also to the smuggling of gold bullion to Vietnam. The results of that investigation, car.ried out by the CIC’s Russell Bintliff at the direction of Colonel Henry Tufts, were submit.ted to Haig in late July 1974. Whether Haig confronted Nixon with the CIC report, or whether Haig informed Nixon’s successor, Gerald Ford, of the report and its contents, is unknown. Bintliff himself is convinced that both events occurred, and that the President’s resignation followed as a consequence of his investigative findings. But Bintliff cannot prove that, and since Haig refuses to discuss the issue, the matter remains in doubt. Still, Ford’s pardon of Nixon, enacted in the absence of any criminal charges, remains a disconcerting anomaly in Amer.ican history. Indeed, it seems almost a contradiction in terms. For how does one forgive and forget what has not been committed or what remains unknown?” Hougan, Secret Agenda, pp. 312-313.3

Princess Diana was wearing a blue sapphire. Blue sapphire should only be weared in rare cases. http://www.littlebelt.com/yogo/diana.shtml

To call house eight tricky is rather the interpretation of people who are overstrained to see things in context. House eight is the place of transformation, inner growth and to disengage from past material attachment. Scorpio or house 8 is the most misunderstood sign in the zodiac. The popular quip that house 8 is all about sex and death does not do justice to the deep mystery and regenerative healing powers of this sign. Remember that the zodiac is a process describing the growth of consciousness. It is the nature of transformation that the old ego must die for the new self identity to be born. This ego death is one of increasing self awareness through the generation of a wiser, more complete being. The new ego is made more powerful, more capable, more whole. Like in nature we find the symptom of forest fire and winter season, but this clear cutting is never destructive. Rather all the positive energies are preserved in earth and come out with new life and growth. House 8 never causes destruction in a negative sense but a process of getting rid of material attachments which block up our development. For karmis this can also mean paving the path and to make room for the next karma to fructify. For Vaishnavas this always means getting rid of things which are detrimental for spiritual development. Mercury in field 8 means, the way of thinking is being changed. Vaishnavas would say, starting to learn to see God's creation as described in sastra. House 8 is also attributed to saints, monks and ascetics - it is in deed the best sign for becoming free from material attachment. Since this is a process of reorientation, good association and sadhu-sanga is always helpful. Since house 8 is assigned to Pluto who rules over money, it also indicates heirship or monetary gain, but this also depends on our spiritual maturity. Prabhupāda: So Kṛṣṇa has got ten hands. So my father used to say, "When Kṛṣṇa takes your money or possession in ten hands, how you can protect it with two hands? And when He give you in ten hands, how much you can take in two hands?" So in my case it has become practical. Everything He has taken in ten hands, and now He is giving in ten hands. I am practically experiencing. My Guru Mahārāja ordered me, "You do this." I was trying to save my business, my family, with two hands, and Kṛṣṇa took it in ten hands. And now, after making me beggar, He is giving me, ten hands: "You take as much as you like." Now I am thinking of my father's instruction.…ambition was that I become a great de… bhāgavata. That was his… He used to invite so many saintly persons, and he would pray, "Please bless my son"—I was very pet son—"that he may become a devotee of Rādhārāṇī. Rādhārāṇī may bless him." That was his only prayer. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Fulfilled. Morning Walk Conversation with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda February 10, 1976, Māyāpura

Diamond is only good, never harmful - otherwise why so many women/men are wearing it?

There are lately many people having this same problem and my first thought when seeing a broadcast about test-tube babies, was, this is due environmental stress. They should find out if a person with symptom described above could improve, when living for let's say 6 months in a total natural environment. If this won't help to regain reproductiveness one could say that things go terribly wrong on this planet. Adopting children was never a topic for me, this is like getting the work of somebody else, what was meant for the inner growth of another person and not for me. <table class="" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="98%"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td bgcolor="#eeeeee"> Re: US INFERTILITY RATES Answered By: techtor-ga on 05 Sep 2007 10:50 PDT Rated: </td> <td align="right" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <!-- google_ad_region_start=answer_text --> Greetings Loebandco, I looked around the Internet and fished out these statistics websites. It was hard to come by any year-by-year statistics, so I hope these will do: The Fertility Race Statistics http://www.americanradioworks.org/features/fertility_race/common/stats.shtml "In 1995 2.1 million, or 7.1% of the nation's married couples were infertile. There were 2.3 million in 1988 and 2.4 in 1982." AdoptionStatistics.com - Statistics on Infertility/Impaired Fecundity http://statistics.adoption.com/infertility_impaired_fecundity.php "- About 6.1 million women experienced impaired fecundity in 1995, compared with 4.9 million in 1988. The percent with impaired fecundity increased to 10.2% in 1995 from 8.4% in 1988. Some of this increase is due to the aging of the baby boom generation.(Fertility, Family Planning, and Women's Health, 1997) - There were 2.1 million infertile couples in 1995, compared to 2.3 million in 1988 and 2.4 million in 1982. (Freundlich, 1998)" National Center for Health Statistics - Fertility/Infertility statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/fertile.htm Medline Plus - List of Resources on Infertility http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/infertility.html Health Statistics - Cancer, Infertility, Prevent Heart Disease, Arthritis http://www.yourfuturehealth.com/resources_statistics.htm#infertility Family Plannning Perspectives: Volume 30, No. 1, January/February 1998 - Impaired Fecundity in the United States: 1982-1995 http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/3003498.html On IVF: Fact Sheet: In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) - from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine http://www.asrm.org/Patients/FactSheets/invitro.html IVF COnnections - LInks - contains links to statistics on US Clinics from 1995 to 2000 http://www.ivfconnections.com/links.htm Baylor College of Medicine IVF - ART - Some background on IVF use and a little statistics http://www.baylorart.com/BaylorArt/IVF.htm "According to latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), IVF has an overall success rate of 22.8% live births per egg retrieval." Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance - United States, 2000, study found at CDC (with some statistics on IVF) http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5209a1.htm Alabama Infertility and IVF, IVF Success Rates http://www.infertilityalabama.com/IVF/PregnancyRates.aspx "Fewer than 5% of infertile couples in treatment actually use IVF." SIRM: In Vitro Fertilization and Universal Insurance Coverage: The Need is Great and the Time is NOW! - Published in the Las Vegas Health Guide, January 2001, Volume 1, Number 1, By Geoffrey Sher, M.D. http://haveababy.com/news/lvhg.asp InteliHealth: Fact Sheet on In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9032/29381/331858.html?d=dmtContent Fact Sheet: In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) - basically a repeat of the above http://www.fertilethoughts.net/faq/asrm/invitro.html Google Search terms used: us infertility statistics "in vitro" fertilization statistics united states "in vitro" fertilization statistics united states infertility statistics annual I hope this has been a most helpful answer. If you need anything else, or have a problem with the answer, do please post a Request for Clarification and I shall respond as soon as I can. Thank you.