India struggles to protect Yoga heritage

It was only a matter of time before Yoga became an international trade issue with patent and copyright battles and legal struggles to own posture and disciplines. With over 20 million practitioners in the US alone, all eyes are on Yoga with billions of dollars at stake. Patanjali would be certainly be amused.

MUMBAI, INDIA, October 6, 2005: Yoga has to remain an Indian discipline. It's in this spirit New Delhi's health minister has approved a project of almost US$3.6 million to protect on the international level the patent on the postures involved in this ancient discipline that is an expression of Indian culture and religion, which the West has been trying to get a hold of after it gained worldwide popularity. A team of experts will produce a digital document on the 1,500 asana or yoga postures, to be translated in English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese, and distributed in 11 countries. Under the supervision of V. K. Gupta - a health ministry expert - the team, which can count on the collaboration of more than 100 members and 15 Indian religious schools, examined 16 Vedic texts (Hindu sacred texts) to illustrate yoga's historical origins and evolution, said patent lawyer K.M. Gopakumar. In the West, yoga generates huge revenues in the range of billions of dollars. Many improvised gurus, of Indian origin, start up their own yoga business. The Indian health ministry has recorded more than a thousand yoga-related websites run by these "gurus" who publicise yoga postures and practices claiming that they are their original creation and therefore protected with an international patent and covered by copyrights. Once the Indian government's document is issued, ''the so-called life-style gurus cannot claim copyright and allege infringement by others," said Gopakumar. In the United States, in Europe and Japan at least 150 yoga postures are covered by patents, says the health ministry. In the US alone 2,300 yoga schools and yoga practices have copyrights. Yoga is also connected to health, as underlined by the Indian health ministry's project, which aims to protect this wide religious, scientific and cultural heritage, which includes 75,000 formulas of ayurvedic medicine and 50,000 formulas of unani herbal remedies. - read more... www.adnki.com.

Supernova blast 41,000 years ago led to extinction of mammoths

This theory, if proven correct, would explain the discovery of frozen mammoths in Alaska following a sudden change in climate that must have occurred very quickly – fascinating...

A supernova blast 41,000 years ago started a deadly chain of events that led to the extinction of mammoths and other animals in North America, according to two scientists.

If their supernova theory gains acceptance, it could explain why dozens of species on the continent became extinct 13,000 years ago.

Mammoths and mastodons, both relatives of today's elephants, mysteriously died out then, as did giant ground sloths, a large-horned bison, a huge species of armadillo, saber-toothed cats, and many other animals and plants.

Read the full article...<http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050926/mammoth.html>

New Analyses Bolster Central Tenets of Evolution Theory

When scientists announced last month they had determined the exact order of all 3 billion bits of genetic code that go into making a chimpanzee, it was no surprise that the sequence was more than 96 percent identical to the human genome. Charles Darwin had deduced more than a century ago that chimps were among humans' closest cousins.

But decoding chimpanzees' DNA allowed scientists to do more than just refine their estimates of how similar humans and chimps are. It let them put the very theory of evolution to some tough new tests.

If Darwin was right, for example, then scientists should be able to perform a neat trick. Using a mathematical formula that emerges from evolutionary theory, they should be able to predict the number of harmful mutations in chimpanzee DNA by knowing the number of mutations in a different species' DNA and the two animals' population sizes.

Read the full article.... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/25/AR2005092501177.html

Arctic ice 'disappearing quickly'

The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk for a fourth consecutive year, according to new data released by US scientists. They say that this month sees the lowest extent of ice cover for more than a century. The Arctic climate varies naturally, but the researchers conclude that human-induced global warming is at least partially responsible. They warn the shrinkage could lead to even faster melting in coming years. "September 2005 will set a new record minimum in the amount of Arctic sea ice cover," said Mark Serreze, of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Boulder, Colorado.

Read full article.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4290340.stm

Free Talk on Meditation in New York City

M Speaks on Meditation
Come  and meet M, a Yoga and Meditation master from India. He will be in New York City on Saturday 1st October 2005 at 6.30 pm at the Community Church of New York at 40 E 35 Street (between Park and Madison Avenues) in the Assembly Hall.

To find out more visit:  http://www.universalquest.com/m.html

Planet X? - Distant object found orbiting Sun

Astronomers have found a large object in the Solar System's outer reaches. It is being hailed as "a great discovery".

Details of the object are still sketchy. It never comes closer to the Sun than Neptune and spends most of its time much further out than Pluto. It is one of the largest objects ever found in the outer Solar System and is almost certainly made of ice and rock. It is at least 1,500km (930 miles) across and may be larger than Pluto, which is 2,274km (1,400 miles) across. The uncertainty in estimates of its size is due to errors in its reflectivity. It might be a large, dim object, or a smaller, brighter object. Whatever it is, astronomers consider it a major discovery. In 2004 scientists discovered Sedna, a remote world that is 1,700 km across.

Read the article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4726733.stm

Japanese scientist develops first 'female' android

It was bound to happen, and who better than the Japanese to accomplish it – the first human looking android robot. Like some fantasy science-fiction concept out of a Manga or Anime comic book, a Japanese scientist is  well on the way to creating the perfect companion – to a male scientist that is – a beautiful Japanese female robot with silicone skin that mimics human behavior and has over 30 sensory receptors. And his greatest challenge – to fool people into thinking that his Robots are human. I wonder if Asimov would be jumping for joy or rolling in his grave...From the BBC article (click to see the picture – quite amazing!! - looks like a Stepford Wife!)

Japanese scientists have unveiled the most human-looking robot yet devised - a "female" android called Repliee Q1.

She has flexible silicone for skin rather than hard plastic, and a number of sensors and motors to allow her to turn and react in a human-like manner. She can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She even appears to breathe. Professor Hiroshi Ishiguru of Osaka University says one day robots could fool us into believing they are human.
Repliee Q1 is not like any robot you will have seen before, at least outside of science-fiction movies. She is designed to look human and although she can only sit at present, she has 31 actuators in her upper body, powered by a nearby air compressor, programmed to allow her to move like a human.

Read the full article.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4714135.stm

EU: Thousands of vitamin products threatened by ruling

An interesting article from the Independent in the UK:

Campaigners for Britain's millions of vitamin and supplement users have reacted with dismay to a ruling that could sweep up to 5,000 products off the shelves. The European Court of Justice has rejected British health food industry claims that the proposed Food Supplements Directive, coming into force on 1 August, breaches EU rules. Yesterday's decision means some 300 nutrients and nutrient sources in the UK will be banned unless they can obtain inclusion on a 'positive' list -- a move that supplement manufacturers say requires excessive levels of testing and red tape. Among the vitamins and supplements facing a ban are boron, important for healthy teeth and bones; sulphur, important for healthy skin; and 1,000mg Vitamin C tablets...

Read the full article at: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article298799.ece

A film on the life of the Buddha

With Buddhism’s popularity on the rise around the world as a way of living spiritually in a secular, scientific age, it was only a matter of time before talk of a movie on his life would arise. Bertollucci’s “Little Buddha” was the last brave effort at retelling this story on the silver screen using a modern tale of reincarnation to weave in the story of the making of the “Buddha”. In more recent years, Karen Brown’s wonderful biography, just called “Buddha”, made a real impression on me with its casting Buddha in a very post-modern context as a man very much of his time during the Axis Age (around 500BC, as humans settled down to urban civilizations, philosophers began discussing the self and the purpose of life around the world – Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, the Upanishadic Sages and Elijah were all contemporaries.) Brown managed to beautifully present a life lived in questioning and doubt leading to an amazing spiritual awakening of compassion and universal consciousness. Let’s hope the movie can imbibe of some of that intelligence and perspective.

This is from the London Times of 23 July:

More than a decade ago an epic film about Buddha was abandoned after it provoked such threatening protests in India that the director needed police protection. Now the Anglo-Indian director Shekhar Kapur, is embarking on his own ambitious project, with a possible role for Richard Gere, a devout Buddhist. Although the film has yet to be cast, reports suggest that Brad Pitt and Aishwarya Rai, the former Miss World and star of Bride & Prejudice, might also be involved.

The film will tell the story of the man who appeared to have everything — a royal title, looks and the most beautiful girls — but who felt that something was missing and went on to attain enlightenment. Some 2,500 years after his death, Buddha looks likely to be brought to life on the big screen as the film-makers have secured the blessing of the Dalai Lama. The film has a big budget — up to about £70 million, it is believed — funded entirely by the Indian billionaire industrialist Bhupendra Kumar Modi. In India it is not unusual for a sole person to back a film. In this case, he is supporting one of the industry’s leading directors. After making the critically acclaimed Bandit Queen, Kapur directed Elizabeth, which was nominated for seven Oscars and 12 Baftas, and made a star of Cate Blanchett.

Read the full story....http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1704639,00.html

Religious hate crimes rise fivefold after London Bombing

In a worrying turn following the bombings of 7/7 in London , British Muslims are facing an unprecedented rise in hate crimes including taunts, telephone attacks and physical violence. Additionally, it looks like the British Police are adapting a “shoot first” and “ask questions later” approach to tracking potential terrorists as was demonstrated in yesterday’s shooting of a Brazilian student. The Guardian newspaper, probably the UK’s most progressive paper, is covering both these issues extensively.

The number of faith hate crimes has risen fivefold in the fortnight since the London bombings, the Guardian has learned. The Metropolitan Police has recorded 800 race and faith hate crimes since the July 7 attacks.

The number of faith hate crimes, predominantly directed at British Muslims, has passed the 200 mark. In the same fortnight last year, 30 faith hate incidents were reported by the Met.
Nationally, the figure for hate incidents directed at Muslims has passed 1,200 as a backlash continues.

Read this story at http://www.guardian.co.uk/attackonlondon/story/0,16132,1534518,00.html

Universe 'too queer' to grasp

Universe 'too queer' to grasp says scientist Professor Richard Dawkins.

Scientist Professor Richard Dawkins has opened a global conference of big thinkers warning that our Universe may be just "too queer" to understand. Professor Dawkins, the renowned Selfish Gene author from Oxford University, said we were living in a "middle world" reality that we have created. Experts in design, technology, and entertainment have gathered in Oxford to share their ideas about our futures.

Read more at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4676751.stm

Let My Country Awake

My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!
~ Thomas Jefferson

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world is not broken up into fragments by the narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arm towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit,
where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
- Rabindranath Tagore

Today in Mythology: The dog days of summer and the Rosa Mundi

Today is the start of the “dog days of summer”, in which the Sun moves directly opposite the position of the Dog Star Sirius, marking the hottest day of the year. Historically, many cultures have attached special significance to Sirius. Sirius was worshipped in the valley of the Nile long before Rome was founded, and many ancient Egyptian temples were constructed oriented so that light from the star could penetrate to their inner altars. The Egyptians based their calendar on the heliacal rising of Sirius, which occurred just before the annual flooding of the Nile and the Summer solstice. In Greek mythology, Orion's dog became Sirius. The Greeks also associated Sirius with the heat of summer: the name Sirius is derived from Seirios meaning "the scorcher". This also explains the phrase "dog days of summer" - see the full definition at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius.

Today is also Rosa Mundi - Rose of the World - day in the Palestinian Christian Calendar. This day has its roots in Rosicrucian - http://www.rosicrucian.org/ - mythology (a 17th century secret society rooted in Christian mysticism that has influenced many aspects of modern life including Freemasonry. See the definition of Rosicrucianism at the Wikipedia site - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosicrucian .) Esoterically, the Rose is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge with the Rose of the World as a synonym for Pax Cultura, peace through culture. Daniil Andreev, the Russian mystic and poet, saw Rose of the World as a sign of  the future age of Mother of the World, a New spiritual and idealized Age of Aquarius. So now, when you look at a red rose you can see it as a meditation on an ideal new age to come and the dream of world peace and a new awakening.

July rolls in

Welcome to July.

The Romans called this month September ("seventh") until it was renamed in honor of Julius Caesar -- creator of the Western solar calendar -- by his adoptive son Octavian, who would claim the title Augustus and rename the eighth month for himself, thereby pushing September to its present position as the ninth month. The Romans also believed that if it rained on the first day of July, the entire month would be rainy as well.

In our time July starts this month with Live 8 and the G8 summit. Today, millions of people will gather around the world to end poverty, particularly in Africa, where 30,000 die needlessly every day (go to http://www.live8live.com. Today Venus Williams will win Wimbledon after a gruesome battle against Lindsay Davenport and this weekend America prepares to celebrate its independence and freedom from the British.

Hi-Tech Stone Age Site Found

Thought you might find this interesting:

2.34-million-year-old Hi-Tech tool manufacturing site found

A 2.34-million-year-old tool manufacturing site in East Africa may have been the Stone Age's center for high tech, according to French archaeologists who studied more than 2,600 artifacts excavated there.

The archaeologists believe relics at the site in Kenya, called Lokalalei 2C, display a level of tool-making sophistication among its dwellers that was unique to the Late Pliocene, which occurred between 2.6 and 2.0 million years ago.

Read more...<http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050627/stoneagetool.html>

Paul: the greatest evangelist

Today is the Feast of St. Paul, the first and most successful evangelist in the history of Christianity, and, if 1 Corinthians 13 and his famous speech on the Areopagus to the skeptical citizens of Athens (Acts 17) are anything to go by, one of the most gifted poets of his time. Christianity would not have become the religion it is today without his faith and evangelical zeal. Here are some of the most beautiful words ever written about faith, hope and charity:

1 Corinthians 13
(from the King James Bible)
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
 not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

America and its religions

"Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion--several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight."
~ Mark Twain

In addition to being the wealthiest, most militaristic and the most armed (citizenry) country in the world today, America turns out to be the most religious as well. There are estimated to be around 250 religions in America, of which over 200 have their origins in Protestant Christianity. According to the recent American Religious Identification Survey, 77% of Americans consider themselves Christian (159 million in over 200 denominations), 13% secular (scientific/humanist/non-religious), 1.3% Jewish, 0.5% Moslem, 0.5% Buddhist, 0.5% agnostic, 0.4% atheist, ).4% Hindu, 0.3% Unitarian Universalist, 0.1%  Pagan and the rest a mix Baha’i, Sikh, New Age, Native American, Scientology and Deist. According to the survey the fastest growing religions (in percentage terms from 1990 onwards) in America are (in descending magnitude): Deism, Sikhism, Hinduism, New Age and Baha’i. One of the most interesting findings is that while the Christian population has increased by 9 million since 1990, the number of people that have become non-religious or secular has doubled to over 28 million – that’s a lot of people dropping out of organized religion. What is it about religiosity that makes us so violent, I wonder?

UK Hindus Start Campaign to Prevent Europe-Wide Ban on Swastika

LONDON, ENGLAND, January 20, 2004: Hindus in the UK are starting a campaign to reclaim the swastika from its Nazi associations. German MEPs called for a Europe-wide ban of the symbol after Prince Harry wore it on a fancy dress costume. But Hindu Forum spokesman Ramesh Kallidai said the swastika had been a Hindu good luck charm for centuries. The group will stage public awareness workshops across the UK and lobby politicians in an attempt to educate the public and prevent a ban, he said. "It's the second most sacred symbol in the Hindu tradition which has been used for 5,000 years to ward off evil," Mr. Kallidai said. The forum would make a particular effort to get the message across to Jewish groups, he added. "After all it is the Jewish anguish that needs to be considered. They were the community that was most affected by the misuse of the swastika so naturally they would have concerns. "Hindus use the swastika merely as a religious sacrament, to express their devotion to God, surely nobody can have any objections to that," he said.

Displaying the swastika is illegal in Germany. However, Mr. Kallidai said a similar ban in the UK would have an adverse affect on Hindus who regarded a swastika in much the same way as a Christian viewed a cross. Buddhists also view the swastika as a good luck charm. "You find it in houses, temples and in portraits of Hindu gods. A swastika is even painted on the head of a baby who's just had his first hair-cutting sacrament," he said. The Hindu swastika faces to the right, unlike the one adopted by the Nazis which faces to the left. (HPI note: This is a commonly repeated but incorrect statement. Hindus use both the left- and right-handed swastikas, and examples can be found of both together on Indus Valley seals.) It is also traditionally red, a color regarded as auspicious by Hindus. "Just because at a particular moment in history one section of society used it, or a mirror image, to unleash xenophobic ideology does not mean Hindus should be punished," Mr. Kallidai said. "It's like saying the Ku Klux Klan burn crosses so therefore let's ban the use of crosses worldwide."

The Hindu Forum's campaign has gained backing from other groups. Maganbhai Patel of Leicester's Hindu Association said the general public's confusion needed to be addressed. "Hindus have been using the swastika for centuries, whereas it was only adopted by Hitler comparatively recently, in the 1920s and 1930s. "We use it for marriage ceremonies and also for other religious ceremonies and events," Mr. Patel said. And Kapil Dudakia, of Milton Keynes Hindu Association, said the swastika was viewed "positively" by billions of people around the world including followers of the Buddhist and Jain faiths. "When I got married, literally as soon as you entered the hall where the marriage took place you saw swastikas everywhere. They were also on the invitation cards," he said. "It's only in certain quarters of the Western world where you've got these very negative connotations. "What we've got to do is separate the evil of Hitler and his ideology from the symbol of the swastika which actually means something quite different," Mr. Dudakia said.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4188141.stm

Romanian woman gives birth at 66

A 66-year-old Romanian woman is believed to have become the world's oldest mother yesterday, after giving birth to a girl.  Doctors at the Giulesti Maternity hospital in Bucharest said Adriana Iliescu's daughter, Eliza Maria, was delivered by caesarean section more than six weeks before the end of a normal, 40-week pregnancy. The child's twin sister was stillborn. Ms Iliescu's extraordinary case is likely to lead to renewed calls for curbs on fertility treatment. She had earlier defended her decision to become pregnant by saying that she came from a family with an unusual history of longevity. A hospital spokeswoman said last night that her daughter weighed 1.5 kilos (3.2 pounds) less than half the weight of an average newborn. She was in the intensive care unit, but breathing on her own. "The mother is doing well. She is saying she has been given a new lease of life," the spokeswoman added. Doctors performed the emergency caesarean after the smaller of the twins died in Ms Iliescu's womb. Ms Iliescu had undergone fertility treatment for nine years, including procedures to reverse the effects of menopause, before being artificially inseminated, said Bogdan Marinescu, who runs the hospital. When he was asked why he had been so willing to help a 66-year-old woman become pregnant, Dr Marinescu replied: "She was in the right condition to carry a pregnancy."  - Read the full article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1392095,00.html

Researchers find secret lab of Leonardo Da Vinci

Researchers have discovered the hidden laboratory used by Leonardo Da Vinci for studies of flight and other pioneering scientific work in previously sealed rooms at a monastery next to the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata, in the heart of Florence. The workshop rooms, located between the Institute for Military Geography and the Basilica, include frescos on walls painted by Da Vinci that have "impressive resemblances" to other examples of his experimental work, including a tryptich of birds circling above a subsequently erased representation of the Virgin Mary that "constitutes a clear citation of the studies by the Maestro on the flight of birds", according to the three researchers, Alessandro Del Meglio, Roberto Manneschalchi and Maria Carchio. - Read the article at the IOL site.

Happy Birthday Dr.King!

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15,1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had been graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955 In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family. In 1954, Martin Luther King accepted the pastorale of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, “l Have a Dream”, he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated. ~ From the Nobel Peace Prize Profile.

Scientific Meditation for Happiness

I watched an excellent episode of the Charlie Rose show - http://www.charlierose.com - last night where he interviewed a series of scientists and academics on the new scientific thinking on happiness. Yes, Americans are not the happiest people in the world and while buddhist monks did rate the highest in all studies, people in Latin American and Asian third world countries came out on top. The French and Japanes came out close to the bottom. A positive outlook on life it seems - no matter how bad things seem materially - is the secret to happiness! Martin Seligman, the Director of The Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania put forward an exercise they have developed that guranteed an increase in your happines quotient within a month. Every night, before going to sleep, write down 3 things that went well for you today (made you happy, raised a good feeling in you, felt succesful.) Do this religiously every night for four weeks and then assess your happiness levels. I started yesterday - let's give it a shot!

Giant ice slabs set for collision

Two giant slabs of ice are about to hit each other in Antarctica, possibly with spectacular results, say Nasa experts. A 160km-long iceberg is heading on a collision course with a huge floating glacier in the sea near the US McMurdo Research Station. The B-15A iceberg should collide with the Drygalski Ice Tongue no later than 15 January 2005, though it is slowing. US space agency scientists are studying the iceberg's progress by monitoring satellite images of the region. See the amazing/worrying photographs and story.

Ten days of the Hajj

For Muslims all over the world, these first ten days of the month (1/12 - 1/21) of Dhu al-Hijjah are the days of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, commemorating the journey of the Prophet Mohammed, his family and supporters from Mecca to Medina, to establish a new faith based on the revealed word of the Qu'ran. This solemn rite of pilgrimage, which every Muslim must make once during his or her life, emphasizes the central Muslim tenets of submission to divine will, brotherhood, and unity, and also commemorates the trials of the Prophet Abraham and his family in making their arduous, perilous God-directed journey into Egypt. The ten days of the Hajj are followed and climaxed by the holy days of Eid al-Adha. ~ From the Universal Festival Calendar by Dan Furst.