text:
USTFCCCA Preseason National Rankings
PRINCETON, N.J. – All eight teams are on
the track.
Columbia was the last of the Ancient Eight to kick off its 2013-14 indoor track and field season, as the squads heads towards the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track & Field Championships, March 1-2 at Dartmouth.
The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) preseason top 25 poll includes three Ivies, as Princeton is No. 21 on the men's side, while Dartmouth (No. 14) and Harvard (No. 24) are both ranked on the women's side.
Here is a team-by-team look at the Ivy League squads:
The Bears have competed twice so far in 2014, at the Yale Invitational on Jan. 11 and in the Battle for Beantown on Jan. 18. At Yale, the women saw success in the field events, as senior Victoria Buhr won the shot put, junior Morayo Akande placed third in the high jump and sophomore Kebbeh Darpolor finished third in the weight throw. The Battle for Beantown saw a number of top-five finishes, including runner up marks for senior Sasha Teninty (1,000m), sophomore O'Sha Williams (triple jump) and senior Victoria Buhr (shot put).
The men claimed four titles at the Yale Invitational, including a 1-3 finish in both the 60m and 800m. Junior Peter Rhodes took the top spot in the former, while sophomore Ned Willig placed first in the latter. Brown went 1-2 in the weight throw led by sophomore Mathew O'Hara and freshman Taylor Alarcon made it two-for-two in the triple jump with his second victory in as many events. The Bears recorded five second-place finishes at the Battle for Beantown: senior Matthew Bevil (500m), fellow classmate Colin Savage (mile), senior Jonathan Padmore (triple jump), junior Courtland Clavette (shot put) and the 4x400 relay team.
Next events: Friday, Jan. 24, Harvard Multi-Event Challenge/Friday, Jan. 24, Northeastern Invitational/Friday-Saturday, Jan. 24-25, Boston University Terrier Invitational
The Lions opened their season with a tri-meet against Yale and Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. The women recorded 72 points to win the event, while the men placed second with 47 points.
The women dominated the track events, led by senior Marvellous Iheukwumere, who won both the 60m and the 200m. Columbia also recorded wins in the 400m (sophomore Jaycee Parker), the 500m (junior Nicole Bauer), the mile (senior Caroline Williams), the 60mH (sophomore Irish Chijioke) and the 4x400m relay. Moreover, junior Nadia Eke placed first in the long jump.
The men's day was highlighted by a 1-2-3 finish in the 1,000m with junior Brendon Fish leading the way. A pair of freshmen opened their indoor careers with a bang, as Rob Napolitano and Alex Freemantle went 1-2 in the 800m.
Next event: Friday, Jan. 24, NYU Team Challenge – The Armory
The Big Red hosted the Southern Tier Collegiate Open and then traveled to Penn State to compete in the Northeast Challenge.
The women placed first in nine events in the Southern Tier Collegiate Open. Senior Emily Shearer won the mile and placed second in the 1,000m, while sophomore Kristen Niedrach, who finished ahead of Shearer in the 1,000m, also placed third in the mile. Sophomore Hillary Holmes also had double-duty, winning the long jump and placing second in the 60mH. Cornell also won the 400m, 200m, 4x400m relay and pole vault. At Penn State, sophomore Udeme Akpaete broke an 11-year-old school record in the 400m with a time of 55.16, and then was a part of the Big Red's 4x400m relay team that crossed the line with the third-fastest time in program history (3:41.33), the fifth-best mark in Ivy League history.
For the men, sophomore Bryan Rhodes opened his 2013-14 season with a weight throw mark of 64 ½ at the Southern Tier Collegiate Open, fourth-best in Cornell history. Junior Stephen Mozia won the shot-put with a mark of 62-1 ¼; both he and Rhodes rank in the top 10 nationally in their respective events. The Big Red went 1-2-3 in the high jump, led by senior Tommy Butler, and 1-2 in the pole vault, led by freshman Grant Sisserson. Among the solid performances on the track was Cornell's 1-2-3 finish in the 400m, with freshman Tobenna Attah placing first. In the Northeast Challenge, Sisserson made it two-for-two with another pole vault victory, this time clearing 16-4 3/4., a Cornell freshman record. Mozia did what he does best, winning the shot put, this time with a mark of 64-7 1/4., third-best in League history.
Next events: Friday, Jan. 24, Pentathlon – Ithaca, N.Y./Saturday, Jan. 25, Upstate Challenge – Ithaca, N.Y.
The Big Green hosted two events to open its 2014 slate, the Dartmouth Relays and a tri-meet with Yale and Columbia.
The women won the Dartmouth Relays with 140.5 points and finished second in the tri-meet with 56 points. The team recorded six individual wins at the Relays, including the long jump (senior Janae Dunchack), mile (junior Meggie Donovan), 3,000m (senior Bridget End), 800m (senior Megan Krumpoch), 400m (sophomore Jennifer Meech), and triple jump (sophomore Molly Shapiro). Donovan won for the second time in 2014, taking the 800m, while sophomore Kaitlin Whitehorn won the high jump. Senior Abbey D'Agostino took to the track for the first time in 2013-14, winning the 1,000m and anchoring the Big Green's winning 4x800m relay squad.
The men's team won both of its events, taking the Dartmouth Relays for the third-straight year with 120 points and defeating Yale and Columbia with 75 points. At the Relays, junior Jeremy Birch won the high jump in a jump-off to help hold off Southern Connecticut, which tallied 113 points. Senior Will Geoghegan won the mile, even besting former NCAA National Champion Sam Chelenga by 17-hundredths of a second. Dartmouth went 1-2-3 in the 3,000m with senior John Bleday in first, while fellow classmate Josh Cyphers won the pole vault. In its home tri-meet, Dartmouth went 1-2 in the 400m, mile and 60mH. Among the individual winners was Cyphers, who again took the pole vault title.
Next event: Friday-Saturday, Jan. 24-25, Boston University Terrier Classic
The Crimson have competed in two events so far in 2014, the Dartmouth Relays and the Battle for Beantown, which was held at Harvard.
The women placed second in the Dartmouth Relays and first in the Battle for Beantown. Sophomore Autumne Franklin was the first collegiate runner and second overall in the 60mH in Dartmouth and then took sole possession of the top spot a week later at home. Two other freshman also performed well at the Relays, as Nikki Okwelogu and Raegan Nizdil each took third in the shot put and high jump, respectively. Okwelogu went on to place first in the shot put at the Battle for Beantown. In the 60m, junior Danielle Barbian and fellow classmate Ashley Collinsworth went 2-4 in Hanover, N.H., and 1-2 at the Battle for Beantown, while senior Adabelle Ekechukwu won the weight throw, at both events. Ekechukwu set a Battle for Beantown meet record with a toss of 67-6 3/4., second-best mark in League history.
The men were led at the Dartmouth Relays by junior Jarvis Harris, who set a meet record in the 60mH with a time of 8.10 to place first. Harris also ran with the 4x200m relay team, which took first. Junior Ben Glauser (shot put) and freshman Joshua Whitener (weight throw) each placed first among collegiate athletes and second overall in their respective events, while sophomore Mark Hill finished second in the long jump. Back at home for the Battle for Beantown, seniors Andrew Ezekoye and Damani Wilson went 1-2 in the 60m, while Harris took both the 60mH and triple jump titles. Senior James Leakos won the 3,000m with a time of 8:18.78.
Next events: Friday, Jan. 24, Harvard Multi Challenge/Friday-Saturday, Jan. 24-25, Boston University Terrier Classic
The Quakers took part in the Lehigh Invitational, but the competition was farthest from their minds as they were mourning the passing of freshman Madison Holleran. The coaches left it up to the athletes as to who would like to travel to Bethlehem, Pa. Those who did performed admirably, albeit with heavy hearts.
The women garnered 77 points to place fourth. They were led by junior Lydia Ali and freshman Noel Jancewicz, who won the 200m and high jump, respectively. Senior Gabrielle Piper finished second in the 60m and third in the 60mH, while junior Jenny Thompson was the runner-up in the triple jump.
The men finished third with 113 points. Senior Maalik Reynolds won the high jump and sophomore John Li take the pole vault, while the 4x400m relay team also placed first. Junior Jordan Jett (triple jump) and sophomore Ben Bowers (60mH) each placed second in their respective events.
Next event: Saturday, Jan. 25, Haverford College Invitational
The women won a tri-meet against St. Joseph's and St. John's with 161 points, almost doubling that of their nearest competitor, the Hawks (88). The Tigers went 1-2-3-4 in the high jump and 500m and 1-2-3-4-5 in the mile, led by sophomore Taylor Morgan, junior Kim Mackay and junior Kathryn Fluehr, respectively. Sophomore Julia Ratcliffe did what she does best, winning the weight throw with a mark of 62 ½, while fellow classmate Brielle Rowe took the shot put with a mark of 38-4 ¾. The Tigers also took the pole vault (freshman Lauren Santi) and triple jump (senior Imani Oliver). Junior Emily de La Bruyere won the 1,000m and sophomore Lindsay Eysenbach took the 3,000m, while the 4x800m relay team was also victorious.
The men have competed in three events in 2014, a dual against Navy, the NYC Gotham Cup and the Monmouth Blue & White Invite. The Tigers fell to the Mids, 94-87, despite a number of strong performances. Senior Tom Hopkins had a busy two weeks, winning the 400m and finishing second in the 200m at Navy and winning the 500m and long jump at the Gotham Cup. Against the Mids, Princeton also placed first in the 800m, 1,000m, mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, 4x800m, high jump and shot put. In the NYC Gotham Cup, seniors Michael Williams and Chris Bendtsen went 1-2 in the mile, while fellow classmates Alejandro Arroyo Yamin and Tyler Udland did the same in the 3,000m. Senior Scott Rushton highlighted the Tigers' trip to West Long Branch, N.J., placing second in the shot put.
Next event: Saturday, Jan. 25, Tiger Open – Princeton, N.J.
The Bulldogs opened their 2014 slate with a pair of events, the Yale Invitational and a tri-meet against Columbia and Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H.
A number of Bulldogs posted solid performances at the Yale Invite, including junior Kira Garry's runner-up finish in the mile. Just over two and a half seconds behind her in third-place was sophomore Elizabeth McDonald. Yale teams fared well in the relays, with a win in the 4x800m and third-place finishes in the 4x400m and DMR. In the field, sophomore Karleh Wilson placed second in the weight throw, while freshman Kate Simon finished ninth in both the shot put and weight throw. The Bulldogs then placed third in the Dartmouth tri-meet with 52 points. Junior Alisha Jordan won the triple jump and placed fourth in the long jump, just behind senior Amanda Snajder, who finished for second. Snajder also finished second in the high jump, where she tied with sophomore Megan Toon. Wilson set a personal-best in the weight throw en route to the win and finished second in the shot put. Simon again performed well, placing second in the shot put and sixth in the weight throw.
For the men, the Yale Invite again saw freshman Marc-Andre Alexandre lead the way, this time placing second in the 60m and running on the Bulldogs' third-place 4x400m relay team. Senior James Shirvell finished second in the 800m, leading a contingent of four Yale runners among the top 10. Junior Isa Qasim took second in the 3,000m, part of a group of four Bulldogs who finished among the top 10. In the Dartmouth tri-meet, Yale finished third with 35 points. Alexandre was again the highlight, winning both the 60m and 200m, just ahead of senior Daniel Jones, who finished second in the 60m and third in the 200m. Senior Dana Lindberg also pulled double duty, winning the long jump and placing third in the 60m. Sophomore Brendan Sullivan took second in the pole vault and freshman James Randon finished third in the mile.
Next event: Friday-Saturday, Jan. 24-25, Boston University Terrier Classic


text:
Shri Rama Gopalan , State President, Hindu Munnani
Shri S.Gurumurthy , Joint Convenor, Swadeshi Jagran Manch
Held on 5 th OCTOBER, 1996
From the atithi who comes to our door, to the cows in our backyard, from the crows that live in our neighbourhood, to the ants that scurry past us, Hindu tradition holds that all life forms have to be fed. Food and the act of eating and feeding others haveliever been a part of western philosophical discourse whereas Hindu philosophy or everything that we understand by the word Hindu, has accorded food and the yagna of feeding and eating, the highest importance and significance. There are strict exhortations to grow food in plenty, to share it in plenty and more importantly, to make an offering everyday to the Gods, to the manes, to feed the cow and the crow and the crawling, and to ensure that all those dependent upon us are fed before we sit down to eat.
The Hindu thought therefore militates against the very idea that a person has to work before he eats or that he has to earn his food and militates very violently against thfe idea thai, food is a privileged goal. Even today in several villages across ftie length and breadth of this nation, persons rendering the services of vidya daanam and vaidya daanam would consider it a violation of dharma to accept payment for the services rendered. We should not equate daanam as understood in Hindu tradition with Christian charity. Daanam in Hindu tradition is the act of giving in the dharma of sharing - be it annam, vidya or vaidyam. And it is a telling comment on the prevalent adharma today that food, education or the sharing of knowledge, and health care - annam, vidya and vaidyam have degenerated to mean privileges of the few and not only that, these are three of the most profitable and money spinning business today.
It is a shame that there should be hunger in this land of plenty and a civilisational disgrace that we can live in the midst of it, unconcerned and impervious to the starkness of hunger. The Center For Policy Studies in Madras, had arranged for a 'Dharmasadas' in October this year In Tirumalai on the issue of ANNABAHULYAM - growing of food in abundance and ANNADAANAM - sharing of food in plenty. The Dharmasadas was graced by venerable Acharyas from different parts of the country and on the concluding day, the Acharyas blessed the people of this nation and exhorted us to rid this nation of the shame of hunger through the dharma and prayaschitta of annadaanam.It is not a 'pluralistic', 'multicultural' and 'multinational' India, as perceived in the concepts and language of fragmentation and reductionism employed by our Marxists and secularists, which can get rid of hunger. Such an India with a secular mindset can never be rid of hunger. It has to be a Hindu nation, where people accept the dharmic responsibility of feeding all living beings, which can wage this war against the adharma of hunger. India is Hindu because it is tied by the umbilical cord to its tradition, which for thousands of years has emphasized the responsibility of sharing; particularly sharing food, not just with other people, but sharing food with all living beings. To wage this war against hunger, we have to speak about India and her people in a totally different language and first wage a war against those who speak about this nation with a fragmented consciousness.
ANNADAANAM - A Living Tradition Of This NationPresented By Shri Rama Gopalan
The Center For Policy Studies has undertaken upon itself a stupendous task. There are several research institutions in this country but most of them are inspired and motivated by western thinking. Such work does not smell of the soil of this land for these people have not imbibed into themselves the culture and values of this civilisation. But, daring to be different in this situation, Shri M.D.Srinivas and Shri Jitendra Bajaj have researched into issues of real concern and tremendous importance to this country. We owe them a big debt of gratitude. Recently they have conducted a study of several of our classical texts on the tradition of annadaanam. This is not a new concept for the people of this nation. If there is anything that will touch the hearts of the people of this nation it can only be something as fundamental as annadaanam.
There was a person by the name of Theperumanallur Sivan. He was also known by the appellation Annadaanam Sivan. On the occasion of Mahamakam, he would feed lakhs and lakhs of our people. At the time of this mammoth feeding, he would not take any of the food to his home and his family was not supposed to eat of the food at the annadaanam. When all the people had es'ten, he would role his body to and fro across the leaves from which the people had eaten. He believed that it was the Lord himself who had partaken of the food and this act of rolling across the leaves was his way of seeking the blessings of the Lord. When we feed somebody, when we ofrer annam as daanam, we do not do so out of pity or a sense of charity. We are not feeding beggars who come to our door. Annadaanam as Hindus practice it, can be performed only out of Bhakti. I wished to know more about this mahatma - Theperumanallur Sivan and so I approached one of the finest writers in the Tamil language - Shri R.Ganapathy. He told me that the Paramacharya of Kanchi has spoken of Annadaanam Sivan on several occasions and he also sent me a small booklet about Sivan. This booklet was published during the lifetime of Theperumanaluur Sivan himself.
It is a remarkable booklet. It tells us how Shri Sivan undertook this great yagna. A small piece of cloth was wrapped around his waist and another piece of cloth thrown over his shoulders. He would travel in a bullock cart drawn by a single bullock. He would enter a village and cast a look at all the people there. His cart would stop before a few select homes and he would ask somebody to send ten sackfuls of rice while somebody else would be asked to send a thousand coconuts. Everybody considered it an honour and a privilege to be asked to contribute and people waited anxiously to be asked. Annadaanam Sivan prepared thus for the mahayagnam of annadaanam. How he collected and preserved the curd for the feeding is a story in itself. He would seal the mouths of the pots which contained the curd and he would then roll them into the Mahamakam pond in Kumbhakonam. The curd would remain fresh and tasty even after four or five years when they would be removed at the time "of the Mahamakam annadaanam. I. read about all this in that remarkable booklet. The life of Theperumanallur Sivan is an inspiring example of how a single person had made it his life's tapasya to feed the lakhs of devotees who gathered at Kumbhakonam at the time of the Mahamakam.
Radha amma who spoke just before me, said something very beautifully and succinctly. There are three things not for sale in this nation. To do so is to be adharmic. Traditionally, we do not sell food, medicine or knowledge. Food, medicine and knowledge should be easily accessible to anybody .who needs it. And today all three constitute big business.
We have lost sight of what is really important. Society today esteems not the acher in a school or college, nor does it hold in high esteem the dispenser of native medicine. We are overawed by the men who build big hotels or colleges and those that run huge hospitals. But eur people in the CPS have unerringly found the pulse of this nation. Shri Bajaj and Shri Srinivas came to meet me to tell me about how necessary it is for us as a nation to reinstate the dharma of annadaanam. I was deeply moved and realised that these were people who were inspired by the atma of our rishis, and great bhaktas like the Alwars and Nayanmars, into undertaking this very important task. How else is it possible that these two men who are academics by profession would even consider taking up the cause of annadanam? Annadaanam is the life force of this nation; annadaanam is the visible face of this civilisation.
They requested me to take up the cause of annadaanam in Tamil Nadu in a big way and to bring it back into our temples. I want to do it too. The only hurdle in the way is that I am waging a war. A different kind of war. But I know that I should do my bit to wage this war against hunger and I would like to start the work in two places. In Rameswaram and in Srirangam. I spoke to some of my friends in these two temple cities in this regard. I told them that I would like all bhaktas and yatris who come to the temple and all sevavratis to be fed everyday. Ideally they should be fed a proper and full meal and that is the only proper thing to do too. I have no doubt that this noble tradition will definitely be revived in this country once again and my wish is that this dharmic tradition should begin soon in Tamil Nadu. But for now, even if we are unable to feed all devotees a full and proper meal, we should start the yagna of annadaanam at least by offering them two leaf-bowls of cooked rice. I asked my friends if it would be possible to start immediately in this small way and they have all assured me that it will be done. I am very sure that the these two great temple cities will soon revive the tradition of annadaanam.
In this connection, I wish to tell you all something, There is a temple near Villupuram - the Vakrakali temple. My friend took me there. I offered prayers at the temple and was later asked to write a comment in the visitor's book. There was only one thing that I wanted to write about. I wrote saying that the tradition of annadaanam should begin again in the temple. I told them that it will not be done because it was my wish but that one day some bhakta may read my comment and may be moved by bhakti to take up the task. When I said this, my friend who had accompanied me to the temple promptly accepted the responsibility for undertaking annadaanam at the temple for the coming month. Even as we were talking, a family which had come to offer prayers at the temple and which was listening to the talk, immediately offered to undertake annadaanam that same day. My friend had said he would begin from the following day and so this good family, not wishing to put off by even a single day, this noble duty of annadaanam, came forward spontaneously to begin that very day itself. Annadaanam is a powerful, emotive issue which alone can move the people of this nation to their very depths.
Swamy Vivekananda had also spoken about the need to revive the tradition of annadaanam. And on what scale did he want us to offer annadaanam? He said that the food offered should be so abundant that there should not be a single hungry person in this nation and the water drained off the cooked rice should flow like the sacred Ganga herself. What a dream and what a desire! If Swamy Vivekananda's grand dream were to become a reality, and it will become a reality I have no doubt, who will remain hungry in this land? Indeed, who can remain hungry? In immediate response to Swamyji's wish our communist friends and the English educated Brown Sahibs declared that this would be the surest way to create more and more lazy people in this country. These Brown Sahibs are the English educated among us who are more westernised than the white man himself. There are two kinds of the English educated people. There are those like Sir Srinivasa Sastry (whose mastery of the English language would have put an Englishman to shame), who remained Indians in their culture and tradition. Those of you who are gathered here, are like him. It does not matter that you are all English educated. Your legs are firmly rooted in the soil of this nation. But not so our communist friends and the more British than the British themselves who did not and indeed could not understand the native fragrance of the dharma of annadaanam. They even approached the Paramacharya of Kanchi and asked him if the annachatrams scattered around the country did not breed lazy and unproductive people. The Paramacharya was amused and asked them a question of his own. He wanted to know if there was any place in this country where there were no lazy people. Which government office in India is working efficiently, he asked. What work is getting done? There are people in arranged hierarchies, each one supervising the person below him on the ladder that no real work gets done, he said. No person works on his own initiative, no worker is self-accountable. So it is not as though there are no lazy people in this country and if annadaanain, which will feed the hungry, creates some more laziness, it will not make much difference to the work culture, he told them. He also told them of the reason behind the annachatrams in Tamrl Nadu and the Ootuparai in Kerala where people are fed everyday. If among the thousands that are fed everyday, we have been blessed to feed one punyaatma, one good soul, then it is the blessing that accrues from such a deed that brings rains to this land. He was a mahatma, a wise man, farsighted and penetrative in his reading of the people who came to have his darshan.
Annadaanam should therefore be revived in this nation again. Almost all temples in Karnataka diligently observe the dharma of annadaanam. There is a temple in Sringeri, the Annapoorani temple. I had been there a year ago. They undertake annadaanam for the yatris and not oftly that, they serve those who stay the night, with devotion and care. The Hindu Munnani has therefore taken upon itself the task of reviving annadaanam in all the big temples in Tamil Nadu. Our temples have been forcibly impoverished today. Most of them do not have the means to perform pujas to the presiding deity even once a day Then how will it be possible for them to undertake annadaanam, I am asked. Start the annadaanam somehow, I tell them, the means for the pujas will become available automatically. Once you undertake annadaanam, those that have not paid the temple its dues for lawfully^ or unlawfully occupying temple lands, will be shamed into paying them. There is a small village called Aathoor near the temple town of Tiruchendur. There is a vast expanse of land there and politicians are feeding off the temple lands like so many parasites by forcibly and amorally appropriating temple lands and leasing them to their loyalists for a fat amount. The temple was not receiving its dues and so a farmer's sangha was constituted. The sangha issued a directive to the farmers working on temple lands to pay the their dues to the temple forthwith; failing which the sangha threatened to take away the lands and cultivate them to pay the Tiruchendur temple its dues. Faced with the threat of losing their livelihood, the farmers who had illegally appropriated temple lands started to pay the temple its rightful rent.
And that is why I tell all temples to start the work of annadaanam immediately. It is a powerful movement with tremendous moral authority. Even the most cynical and the hard-hearted among us will respond to its emotive call. And he who partakes of the food at the annadaanam, he will not do so without being stirred from within. Once he has eaten his fill he will naturally want to do something in return. This is the way our civilisation functions. To feed everything that lives is a moral responsibility on all of us and because we are fed by those that care, it is our responsibility and the responsibility of all of us who eat, that we put back something into our communities as gratitude for the food we have eaten.
I reiterate once again, we should reinstate the dharmic tradition of annadaanam in this nation. There should be no hungry person in this country and even one hungry person in this land of plenty is a shame on this civilisation. Once when Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was undertaking a pilgrimage to Kasi, he passed through a village. The condition of the people of the village shocked him - torn clothes, haggard looks and their shrivelled stomachs told their own tale. He put away all thoughts of Kasi for the that those of us who are sangha sevavratis, da at kwe any sense of shame in asking for contributions. But wy soon, the shop owners in the area began to send rice, lentils, coconuts and whatever else they could. Annadaanam is the one issue to which all the people of this nation will respond spontaneously and contribute generously, even beyond their means. And they will respond no matter who asks for it.
Therefore what we need today are elderly people whose responsibilities to their families have been fulfilled and who can devote their time to this noble task. They should step out of their homes and begin to organize annadaanam in four or five temples in their own locality. Once we begin to do this, we will create dharmic human beings in our societies. I am convinced The Challenge Of Hunger -ANNADAANAM Is The Only Solution.Talk Presented By SHRI S.Gurumurthy
I must congratulate Vigil for the courage with which they have organized this programme. The subject is not one of those 'evening subjects'. I have myself addressed meetings in this very hall and other places on subjects which would be instantly more attractive, more telling, more current. But a subject of such great depth, such great reach which has immediate as well as lasting impact, has to have an audience which does not merely listen and goes home unaffected by the poignancy of hunger. It must be an audience which is going to become a part of the large movement being initiated in this country. We heard Shri Gopaiji talking of annadaanam and its historic association with us, with our tradition, its dharmic foundations and implications. Situated as we are today it seems as though it is far away from our minds and the ideals and practices currently valued by our society. It seems inconceivable that a group like The Center For Policy Studies and its associates could, in this situation, be even considering reinstating this great tradition. It seems inconceivable because we always extend ourselves from the present into the future. And at present this seems impossible because the world in which we live does not give us the insight or the perception to see into the obvious incapacity of the present to deal with this problem. Now I will take you a little away from dharma only to come back to it ultimately.
Sometime ago in the city of Rome, some of the world leaders gathered together to talk of the very same problem - hunger, and to strive to find a solution to it. In their Joint? declaration, which was presented' at the conclusion of the summit, they admitted that in twenty years time the world will still not be able to feed all its people. The Declaration mentioned that eight hundred million people in this world live in hunger. These millions either do not have anything to eat or may be eating something which conscientiously cannot be called food. They all eat something to live. Eight hundred million people. And the declaration says that by 2015, Wi. :h is 20 years from now, their attempt will be to bring down the number to four hundred million. Twenty years fro.J now we will still not be able to solve the problem of hunger, we will be able only to bring down the number. And this is the great ideal - to reduce but not eliminate hunger - that all these great nations have set for themselves. These are leaders of nations which spend billions of dollars on useless things which harm the society, harm the world and harm the environment, and they have the audacity to tell us all that twenty years from now, we can feed only another four hundred million people. Why is it that we are unable to come to grips with the problem of hunger?
The reason we are unable to come to grips with the problem is, the way we are looking at the problem. The current perception and the mindset that perceives it, is not going to find the solution. You cannot look at hunzan life in the light of success, money, dollars, name and fame and from a self-centered stand pftfnt (hat holds 'everything is for me first' which is the way most of us think today, and expect to solve this problem. There should be a philosophic foundation for sharing; the very minimum that a person must be willing to share with another human being should be food. That is why Radha mentioned here that this idea of sharing of food is not a gift to us from the west or Christianity. We now have Christian and western ideas everywhere - western philosophies, western solutions.western economics, western politics, western methods of administration and western methods of arranging inter-personal relationships. In such an alien cultural atmosphere, the idea or the discipline that food is meant to be shared, would never occur to us. It will never be understood how we can ask a person to share food with another, not out of charity, but as a part of his own elevation. We will therefore have to think differently from the west and think in keeping with our tradition and ethos, if we have to solve the problem of hunger.
From this kind of approach to living, which is true of most of the world today, one thing is clear. That the present system of administration or politics or arrangement of world affairs or economics, has no solution to the problem of hunger and this is the admission of these great leaders who got together to discuss the problem of hunger. There were politicians at this meeting in Rome, there were economists and there were non government organizations, and all of them gathered together only to admit to this failure to find a solution. We in India, in contrast, have a living solution to hunger. Not only do we have a solution, I will make bold to say, that it is still the only solution. And a living, funcioning solution at that.
Now let us take Punjab. In Punjab, for the last 300 years and more, there has not been a single death due to hunger. There has been an unbroken tradition of public feeding or annadaanam in the thousands of Gurudwaras spread across the state; only it is known by the name of 'langar'. The food offered to the devotees and yatris is the prasadam of the Gurudwara. The devotees themselves cook and serve the food at the langar. Men and women from the most well- to- do families come there to cook, to serve, to wash utensils and to clean. This service is known as 'karseva'. Throughout the day and at any time of the night, any number of people can go to the langar to eat. Hundreds of Gurudwaras in Punjab and outside have this arrangement. And this arrangement has been made not from government responsibility but from the responsibility which the people feel as a result of the tenets of their Gurus. The sturdiest and the most hard-working people are to be found in Punjab. It has the highest prosperity and the highest per capita income in all of India. All those politicians, economists, administrators and the anglicised minds that lecture to us through the media day in and day out about how India has to develop only on the prescriptions of the west to remove hunger, need to take note of this.
But they will not acknowledge this because to do so would mean that they will be forced to alter their fundamental assumptions about this country. And one of their most fundamental positions is that this is a problem to be solved by the government, by officials and bureaucrats and by the policy resolutions of political parties. But the Indian way of tackling problems definitely does not involve handing over the problem to the government. According to the Indian ways of arrangement, people do not expect the king, the prime minister or the faceless state to make decisions concerning their day to day life or even to resolve their problems. The society's affairs were so arranged that the state was asked to handle only the residuary functions. Most of the functions of society - whether cultural, religious, economic or even political, at the level of the locality, was the responsibility of the people themselves. That is why, as Sri; Aurubindo said, there was sovereignty at every layep of our societies; whether it was the village community, the caste or work group, each collectivity had a certain measure of sovereignty in its functioning. In this arrangement, the inter institutional relationship was governed by dharma. It worked and continues to work to this day.
Sharing of food or Annadaanarn occupied, the central place in the private and public ethics of life in this country. And all our sacred texts testify to this. "Give food, Give food. Give food", this is what Srikrishna advises Yudhishtira in the Bhavishya Purana in his discourse on 'daanam' or the discipline of sharing, Yudhishtira asks Srikrishna to enlighten him about the essence of Bhishma Pitamaha's erudite discourse on dharma in the 'santi parva' of the Mahabharata. Srikrishna says, "The World, both animate and inanimate, is sustained by food..... The giver of food is the giver of life and indeed of everything else. Therefore, one who is desirous of well-being in this world and beyond. should make special endeavours to give foodF".
"Pood should be offered with venerable hospitalAy.Jp the old, the child, and the tired traveller", says Srikrishna.
Srivaraha says in the Varaha Purana, "One who gives food, gives all that is worth giving in this world".
The Taittriya Upanishad says, "Do not send away anyone who comes to your door, without offering him food and hospitality. This is the inviolable discipline of mankind. Have an abundance of food and direct all your efforts to ensure that abundance. And then announce to the world that this abundance of food is ready to be paftalceo by air.
The Aswameda Yagna of Dasarathas, the Rajasuya Yagna of the Pandavas, and all the great yagnas described in the Ramayanam, Mahabhaiatam and all the other Puranas testify to the importance of sharing food in abundance. The yagna of Harshavardana described by Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese scholor-traveller, is faithful to our tradition and indicates the same continuity - the sharing of food.
The concept of the 'Panchamahayagna' or the five-fold discipline of the Grihasta or the householder, the description of annam or food as the very first manifestation of Brahman in the Taittriya Upanishad, and the innumerable stories that extol the status of food and the elevation of annam as the first stage in the spiritu; '' and yogic journey symbolised by the 'annamaya kosa', have given to the people of this country a sacred heritage of the social, religious and spiritual tradition of food.
Food, in the Hindu tradition, was never an economic good - and neither was education and health-care. Annadaanam has been the core of all social, religious and spiritual practices and penance for the people of all faiths in this soil. Not just in theory, not just in books and literature, but in tradition and practice and as a part of the continuous flow of our civilisational consciousness. What began long before history has no record, but what has been extolled by the Srikrishnas, the Bhishmas and the Harshavardanas is testimony to the unbroken tradition of annadaanam in every Inch of Bharatavarsha.
Now, we tried to estimate the number of people who are fed through annadaanam in dharmic institutions in different parts of this country. In Dharmasthala, for example, thousands of people participate in this yagna everyday. This civilisational tradition has defied the economics of competition, profit and atomization. Shri Heggade, he is the 23rd generation Heggade in the tradition, is the trustee of the Manjunatha temple. He is a Jain by religion and it is he who organizes the annadaanam there. At Dharmasthala, it is established custom that it is a part of the worship of Lord Manjunathaswamy to eat at the annadaanam. There is no giver and no taker at Dharmasthala. A person has not completed his worship of Manjunathaswamy until he has eaten. So eating of food is elevated to great heights here and this tradition continues to this day. Fifty-seven thousand people share the prasadam of Manjunathaswamy EVERYDAY. In several Gurudwaras in this country seventy thousand, twenty thousand, ten thousand people are being fed everyday. And as Gopaiji pointed out earlier, during any occasion or celebration, the first thing a Hindu will do would be to share food with the people in his community. And the first thing that the people of this nation ask of a person who has come is 'have you eaten'? This is in the very blood of the people whose roots are in this tradition.
Let us for the time being set aside the cultural, religious and civilisational aspects of aanadaanam and talk about it from the political and economic perspectives. World political leaders have accepted that they cannot rid this world of hunger and the best they can do is reduce the number which, in another twenty years, is going to be four hundred million people. For the last two hundred years, the people of this country have been persuaded to believe that the state is the ideal delivery mechanism which alone can solve all problems of the people. And this mechanism has now confessed that it cannot find a lasting and effective solution to the problem of hunger. The point to be noted is that there is not a word from any of our economists or academics or any one of the omniscient press people who write erudite articles on hunger, poverty and development that the problem is going to remain in very much the same position even after twenty years. Now that we have their confession that they cannot solve the problem, it is time that at least a core group of people in this country began thinking about how to solve the problem. There is no country in the world which is going to come up with an answer as compelling and effective as our annadaanam because you cannot inject or incorporate the concept of annadaanam into western thinking because such an approach is not a part of their philosophy, culture or societal systems. In short, it is not in their blood. But in this nation it is an integral part of a person's thinking, and what is nipre, it is there at the operational level too.
This tradition is a living, operational tradition in several social institutions, at different levels. It is not some extraordinary tradition about which you read in history books. This was a way of life of the ordinary people of our communities and it is therefore not an impossibility. And it is still a way of life. A rough estimate of the number of people who are fed everyday by some of the dharmic institutions of this country, would be a number equal to the population of Australia. One crore. It will be a tremendous service that we will be doing the world, if we compile the statistics of annadaanam that is happening in this country. We should announce to the world that through faithful adherence to tradition, through faith and by a man's inherent desire to share, not as a matter of charity, but as a dharmic responsibility, ten million people are being fed everyday in this country. And this, in spite of the government, and in spite of the 'modern, western thinking m this country working against it. The world should know about this living tradition.
This is not an ordinary thing. I will tell you how a western mind works and why we cannot understand or accept it. Once, when I had to go abroad, I went to a restaurant with some people. When we had eaten, each person paid just his own bill, for what he had eaten. For what he alone had eaten. In India we see something quite different. When four friends go out to eat, there will be a four-way quarrel as to who will pay the bill. Each person will want to pay the entire bill himself. This is the Indian way. In the west, it is each for himself and this is accepted as normal. This is a civilisational difference - a movement in opposite directions. So, we have a system of administration, an economic philosophy, a political thought, that is powered by such thinking on the one side and on the other, we have a mind and a corresponding lifestyle which has been prepared by a ten thousand year old civilization which thinks differently. Western thinking can therefore never take root in this country. Which is why ordinary people in India accord our governments little legitimacy. And we are forced to accept an illegitimate government. In any other part of the world this continuous clash between the government and the society would take the shape of a bloody war; in India, it is a cold war. The government is up against all that the people of this nation believe in, up against what the people cherish. The people are therefore prisoners of the state.
WHY MALDISTRIBUTE - SAYS THE PRIME minister
Having confessed its inability to solve the problem lOC hunger, what does the government do to save face? 'The Prime minister of this country goes to Rome and deli'vers a speech which could at least have been better written. The speech is faulty on two counts; it is poor in prose and poorer in content. The man does not say a word about the starkness of hunger in India. He makes out that all the problem that we do have, is the problem of distribution and he is soon going to take care of distribution. And as for the hunger in the world, he promised to do his bit to solve it!! Our ostrich like attitude does not stop here. For years now we have been fudging figures in statistics on poverty to show reducing percentage of the people living below tt;e poverty line in India. They would have the country believe that there is no more than twenty percent of our people living below the poverty line. According to these figures, eighty percent of the people of this country are living a prosperous life. This is the kind of statistical fabrication that has been done for the last decade and even the media has been guilty of spreading the fiction. The present vice-chairman of the Planning Commission, Madhu Dandavate is an honest person and this fudging of statistics was unacceptable to him. Madhu Dandavate had only one thing to say. He said, instead of attempting to determine the percentage of people living below the poverty line by the wholesale price index, formulate the statistics on the basis of the consumer price index; because it is not at the wholesale price that people buy things but at the consumer point price. When that was done, the percentage of people living below the poverty line went up from twenty percent to forty percent. This happened just one month ago. The official statistics tells us that over forty percent of our people are living below the poverty line which means that they do not have any security with regard to food. And our prime minister tells the world that hunger is the world's problem and we will do our bit in solving this world problem. I wish to tell you all of the dangers of fabricating figures which can manipulate policy decisions, make our decision-makers complacent and present a rosy picture of our selves.
First of all, till around a fifteen days ago we were made to believe that the percentage of poverty had come down from forty two percent in 1984-85 to nineteen percent in 1996. We know now that this is not so and that poverty continues to remain at forty percent. Secondly, what is the quantum of food that a person needs so as not/to feel hunger? How much food grains does India need to produce so that nobody is hungry? You will all be amazed to know that today India produces 190 million tonnes of different kinds of grains and cereals. And this figure has remained stationary for the last four years because agricultural production has stagnated and come to a virtual standstill. And we are approximately 90 or 95 crores of people. So the average food grains available for every Indian (assuming that every Indian is able to afford to eat), is two hundred kilograms a year; that is, 200 kilograms putting together all food grains. This is supposed to be sufficient, according to the Indian Food Ministry. The food minister of India says this. In the year 1880 - over 115 years ago, the British government appointed a Famine Commission for India. The commission came to the conclusion that the minimum of food grains required per person, per annum, to prevent a famine situation, to prevent a person from starving, is 280 kilograms. Two hundred and eighty kilograms of food grains per person, per annum is the quantum determined by the British in 1880 to keep that person from starving. And the indigenous government, actually the same government, is saying 115 years later that 200 kilograms per head, per annum is adequate! I say the same government because in 1947, we changed the colour of the rulers but not the character. Our rulers continue to look at the problem of hunger in the same way as the British. Today, the government says an average of 200 kilograms is adequate. According to them the current agricultural production is adequate. And the food ministry says we should not produce more, because if we do, then food prices will fall and our farmers will be in trouble.
The Planning Commission came out with an estimate for the seventh Five Year Plan that we require a minimum of 240 million tonnes of rood grains by the year 2000. But the Food Ministry says no, a minimum of 200 to 205 million tonnes is sufficient because they continue to treat the British statistics as sacrosanct. And this fudging is going on with the support of our economists and academics and our elected representatives in the Parliament because they do not have the mind or the training to look at them problem differently. As a result, we are a nation which is growing food .at 35 to 40% of our efficiency and potential. Now if we tell this to our economists, parliamentarians or our agriculture specialists, they will tell us that they cannot encourage an increase in the food production.
I now wish to draw your attention to a few facts. If you compare India with China which is much larger than India in its territorial area, or with any developed country which is producing an abundance of food grains, you will be amazed to know that India has the largest expanse of plain lands which is ideal for agriculture. China is three times as large as India but its cultivable lands are only two thirds of the cultivable lands available in India. Not only does India have the largest holdings of cultivable land, her soil has suffered far less degradation than most other agricultural countries and this was attested to by some Japanese scientists who visited India. Our top soil remains as fresh as it was two or three thousand years ago. And this is because of the traditional methods of agriculture which did not consider the soil to be just something to be exploited for production, but because the farmers of this land, like all of us, worshipped the soil as Mother Earth. Our farmers have always had an emotional relationship with the land. There are festivals to worship the land, worship the trees, worship the rivers and worship the cattle that help us to cultivate. It is a relationship which accords sanctity to the environment. And that is why this land is so rich in natural resources. India is the only country in the world blessed with an abundance of perennial resources. If you go to Uttar Pradesh and drive along from Allahabad, you will see only miles and miles of plain lands fading into the horizon. No other country has this expanse of plain lands. Secondly, India has sunshine for almost the whole year. Ten months at the minimum in some parts of the country, and in the rest of the country, for the whole year. In almost all other countries, sunshine is available only for four, five or six months. Some parts of the USA has sunshine for seven months but these are arid desert lands where nothing grows except cactus. So it is possible for us to grow food grains at least twice a year. Thirdly, there is no part of India which is not washed by some perennial river. We are not like Egypt with one river or like some other countries with half a river. We have rivers running across the length and breadth of this country like the veins in our body. Fourthly, if we take 1950 to be the cut off year, whatever increase in food production there has been, has come only from 30% of our total agricultural land holdings. Over 70% of our arable lands remain unused and untapped. Out of the 120 million hectares of land on which we are cultivating our food grains and other cash crops, only 42 million hectares are irrigated - just one thirds of our total land. !f agriculture were the priority of this nation, as it should be, it will not only producer an abundance with every person in this country being able to eat, it will produce enough to feed its neighbours too.
We have been brainwashed into believing that we cannot produce enough. A mindset has been created that we are capable of only so much. But palm leaf manuscripts of the eighteenth century and British records of the same period say something totally different. These records and manuscripts have been studied and analysed by the people in the Centre of Policy Studies and these findings have been published. I would suggest to you all to read the publication. The production of food grains today is 1.3 or 1.9 tonnes per hectare. This is all that we have achieved today whereas the British records and our own villa-ge records attest to a production of nine tonnes per hectare in some places and as high as twenty tonnes per hectare in others. And some of these are the records of early English travelers. The vital difference being, that whatever was produced, was used by the people according to the decisions taken by themselves in their community. But once the British assumed control of the administration, by the middle of the eighteenth century, they levied a revenue tax of upto 250% of the produce, and within a matter of thirty years, agricultural production fell steeply and came to a grinding halt.
The British administration's intentions were clear. They were out to destroy and humiliate peoples v/ho were prosperous, peoples who had established advanced civilisations. The entire Indo- Gangetic plain with an area of forty million hectares, has been ruined. If that area can be cultivated to its original potential, it will yield enough food grains to feed the whole of Asia. But fhe^conditton" in which the land is being maintained is nothing short of criminal devastation. We have allowed the entire area to be water-logged because we have bunted the Ganga in such a way that the water cannot flow back into the Ganga and for six months in a year sheets of water remain on millions of acres of land. In the last two hundred years we have so destroyed the productivity of the area that today it does not produce enough to feed even the people of that area.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the British have recorded the production in the Allahabad area to be 7.5 tonnes per hectare. Today it is less than one tonne per hectare. So, the problem of hunger and the fall in our productivity have to be looked into from a totally different angle. We need to think differently, the way we used to think before we started to move away from our tradition. And not in the way advocated by our text books, newspapers and government records. The problem of hunger is so acute that even the inert government has been forced to move and it has now undertaken a block by block study of the Indo-Gangetic plain to find out why the productivity of the area is only 10% of what it was, a hundred and fifty years ago. This country has the potential to produce nothing less than 500 million tonnes of food grains a year. It had the tradition, it had the hands, it had the technology and it had the seeds. And this was destroyed knowingly and deliberately to debilitate the nation and its people. If you talk to an intelligent audience in Madras and tell them that the British destroyed our agriculture and destroyed our economy, they will not believe you; because the British taught us English and that made us modern. And so I implore all of you to look at the problem in an entirely different light. To think differently. To think differently means to think the way we used to, for thousands of years. A thinking which has given us this precious heritage. In this country there are nearly 70 lakhs of people who are sadhus and sanyasis. Of these maybe only 10,000 are genuine. But we make no distinction between a genuine and a fake sanyasi. It is not our way. We feed all of them. If we tell the world that we feed 70 lakhs of people every day, not as beggars but as people who we think are superior to us, no economic theory will be able to accommodate this. Because it is a matter of faith and it has always been our tradition to feed sanyasis. We cannot look at it as economics. Because some things in life are not economics. The problem in Kashmir cannot be looked at from the economic perspective. It is the most uneconomical problem ever. If an economist were asked to find a solution to the Kashmir problem, he will say, hand over Kashmir to Pakistan. It costs us nearly twenty thousand crores a year by way of defense expenditure, by way of subsidies, by way of this and by way of that. Just as the personal life of a person is not just economics, the national life of a country can also not be seen only as economics. Economics is only a part of our lives and as we move farther and farther East across the globe, it becomes a smaller and smaller part. So we have to think entirely differently. Our perceptions have to change, our mindset has to change, our attitudes have to change. Poverty and hunger are two different things. I can live with poverty. Personally, I have lived in poverty. I have lived in hunger also. There are days when as a student I have remained hungry. Being poor and bring hungry are two different situations. This society should never allow anyone to remain hungry. This is not the function of the government, this is the function of our hearts. If this message reaches 10% of Indians, the 40% of our people who are hungry today, will not be hungry for long. But our mindset is, this is not my responsibility, it is the responsibility of the Prime minister and the Government that there is hunger in this country. This mindset has to change and this is what the family tradition of this country teaches all of us. I know that until about 1964- 65, when I was living in my village, the women of every house will come outside their homes to wait for an atithi until around twelve o' clock. They will go in to eat only after that. The reason I am saying this is to drive home the point that it was, and still is, a living thought.
It is economically feasible to feed the hungry in this country, not through the state as the delivering mechanism, but only by the dharmic tradition of our societies. There is no other way we are going to resolve the problem of hunger. And every one has a role in this movement.
The roles are self-assigned. That is the exemplary nature about our tradition. Dharma is never imposed. It is an unenforced but voluntarily accepted and self-evolved code of conduct or rule of law, if we must use English words to describe it. And the assertion of India as a civilisation is conditional upon the ordinary people of this country assuming this responsibility upon themselves. Our temples have to revive, our mutts have to revive, our people have to own up to this tradition. It is possible. Five and a half crores of people go to Sabarimalai every year. Lakhs and lakhs of yatris are fed by thousands of people. As you go to the north, there is an annual Kavadi procession as people trek to the point from where the Ganga begins to flow. They come back with the sacred water on their shoulders, walking hundreds of kilometers to and fro. Dotted all along the route are public kitchens where ten to twenty thousand people are fed. Ordinary people like us form committees and do it. This tradition is alive in every nook and comer of this country. This is an invaluable heritage that this civilisation has given us. If it is not in the blood, it cannot be injected into the system by writing books or making speeches or using the advanced technology of the electronic media. We already have it in our consciousness. All that needs to be done is to trigger off the movement so that the ordinary people of this country can become conscious of this tradition once again. Once this is done, it will not be twenty years or ten years before we resolve the crisis of hunger, it can be done within two to three years.
If we start to do this, it will release ait enormous amount of dharmic energy and this will take care of the people lying destitute on the roads, under the trees and all those others who are uncared for. If we can feed these people, they will begin to stand up and move and India's villages will once again become alive and thriving. Once we solve the problem of hunger, other problems are more easily solved. So, the CPS has taken upon itself or it has been persuaded by destiny to take upon itself a study which links the traditional with the modem, that is, it connects the tradition of annadaanam to the problem of hunger that is modem in time. If this message spreads to all sections of our societies, it will soon become a major social movement which alone can resolve the problem of hunger in this country.
Powered by Joomla!.
valid XHTML and CSS.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
CLSI respects the privacy of all of our members and visitors to our website.
To ensure your privacy is protected, we have implemented the following policy.
Collection of Information
CLSI does not collect any personal information from users browsing its website. Nonidentifying data are collected for website use and design purposes. This information does not provide any personally identifying information.
As a general policy, CLSI collects and stores only personal information that is knowingly provided by our members and visitors. The voluntary personal identifying information that CLSI collects is limited to the following: use of the CLSI online store; responding to customer inquiries; contacting members and other users for online surveys; and distribution of communications, including eNews and promotional communications.
My CLSI
Access to My CLSI on the CLSI website uses limited information that is voluntarily submitted by our members. Similar information is submitted through membership applications, purchase orders, and event and meeting registrations. This information is not shared.
All members of CLSI are listed in the Membership Directory under My CLSI on our website. This networking tool is available only to current members of CLSI. Members can search for colleagues by last name, organization, or country. Search results include first and last name, organization, address, phone, fax, and e-mail.
Credit Card Account Information
Credit card information obtained from CLSI's online store is protected by SSL (Secure Sockets
Layer) security, which encrypts personal information. Only pertinent information is shared with the appropriate clearinghouse for the express purpose of completing the transaction. CLSI does not share or sell any information pertaining to online transactions.
Links to Other Sites
Our website contains external links to other websites. CLSI is not responsible for the privacy policies or content of such sites.
Privacy Policy Terms
CLSI reserves the right to make changes to this policy at any time. Use of the CLSI website constitutes consent to current policies in effect.


text:
The Motorola Droid has made something of a splash over in the US, and now we've got more news about when you'll be able to get it in the UK. Thing is, it's weird...
Proving that Motorola still has the potential to screw up even when it has seemingly managed to nail the handset, the revelation is that the company has agreed an exclusive deal with - wait for it, an online reseller. Yep, not a network, not a highstreet chain, but an online reseller.
That company is Expansys and, to be fair, it is a reasonably well known and well established online business, but odd nonetheless? Most definitely. The key points are that from 7 December Expansys will be selling the Droid - or 'Milestone' as it will inexplicably be rechristened in the UK - for £449.99.
Even stranger is that a contact version on T-Mobile will also be released only via Expansys and with no availability through T-Mobile directly. At least the deal seems decent with a £35pm contract getting the Milestone for £49.99 and providing 700m of calls, unlimited texts and 1GB of data allowance.
We're awaiting greater clarification on all this, but in the meantime it does seem Expansys has gotten itself quite the exclusive as US sales have already topped 800,000 for the Android 2.0 equipped smartphone.
Still, odd... very odd indeed.
Sim free Motorola Droid on Expansys


text:
Boxing News
Mayweather Jr. Surrenders for Jail Stint
WBA super welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. turned himself in Friday to begin serving an 87-day jail sentence for domestic abuse charges. The champ was accompanied to the courtroom by close friend 50 Cent, advisor Leonard Ellerbe and cutman Raphael Garcia.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa commended Floyd on already completing 21 of 54 counseling sessions and 45 of 100 hours of community service before he was cuffed and led to a holding cell.
He should be able to shave several weeks off his sentence with good behavior.


text:
Deerfield, IL, October 23, 2008 – Opponents of Michigan's stem cell research initiative – Proposal 2 – launched an ad yesterday using the tragic and universally reprehensible Tuskegee Experiments as a basis for comparison to stem cell research. This ad is replete with myths and misinformation. The distortions about the nature and regulatory environment of stem cell research are many, and it is important to set the facts straight.
First, examine Proposal 2 itself. The proposal explicitly states that, "All stem cell research and all stem cell therapies and cures must be conducted and provided in accordance with state and local laws of general applicability, including but not limited to laws concerning scientific and medical practices and patient safety and privacy". Thus, the proposal itself provides for state regulation of this area. Opponents of Proposal 2 appear to have intentionally ignored and under-played this fact in an attempt to scare people.
In addition to the potential for state regulation, there are also federal laws that would prevent unethical research in this potentially medically important arena.
First there is federal law that would prevent unethical stem cell experiments from being performed on human subjects. Under this law, Institutional Review Boards must approve any stem cell research involving human subjects, including clinical trials as well as the donation of embryos for the derivation of new embryonic stem cell lines. These review boards must approve patient consent documents and the research methods, to ensure that the scientific goals are ethical and beneficial.
Secondly there are Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight (ESCRO) Committees that have been set up under guidance from the National Academy of Sciences to oversee all aspects of embryonic stem cell research. This includes research conducted in laboratory dishes, in patients, and in animals, as well as providing an additional layer of oversight covering the derivation of new stem cell lines. ESCRO committee approval is therefore required for all experiments performed with embryonic stem cells. These oversight committees (IRB and ESCRO) are composed of scientists, physicians, ethicists, lawyers, and members of the community.
Next, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates all research done at private companies toward the development and testing of any medical product, and imposes similar regulations to ensure that such research is performed ethically.
The International Society for Stem Cell Research, an organization of the world's leading stem cell researchers, stands firmly for the belief that the use of stem cells will transform the lives of patients and offer new treatments for diseases that are currently incurable. Opponents of Proposal 2 have tainted that vision with claims that lead people to incorrectly conclude that such research is unregulated. This is simply not correct.
"It is preposterous that opponents of Proposal 2 have tried to link stem cell research with the Tuskegee Experiments, one of the most despicable episodes in American medical history," said Dr. George Q. Daley, ISSCR past-president and associate director of the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston. "The ad distorts and misleads. The people of Michigan should reject this cynical misinformation. Michigan scientists have much to offer in this important area of biomedical research, and it is a shame that they would be kept out of the game if this proposal passes."
Proposal 2 offers other protections to ensure the ethical conduct of regulated research by putting in place numerous restrictions of its own, including the following:
The proposal would involve only embryos that could not be used for fertility treatment, and that would otherwise be discarded if not donated for research. The embryos would also have to meet the following requirements:
Proposal 2 is about one thing. It is about accelerating medical research in Michigan to develop new treatments for currently incurable diseases.
"People need accurate information to make responsible decisions," said Dr. Daley. "Voting in favor of Proposal 2 is to vote for reasonable, regulated research in hopes of curing illness and alleviating human suffering." The ISSCR believes that research must continue with all types of stem cells.
The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is an independent, nonprofit membership organization established to promote and foster the exchange and dissemination of information and ideas relating to stem cells, to encourage the general field of research involving stem cells and to promote professional and public education in all areas of stem cell research and application.
Posted October 11, 2010


text:
Edison Lithograph & Printing : Where Big Is Beautiful
The Edison Litho brain trust of Roger Morel, Shelly Tocci and Byron Budde inspect a job fresh off the shop's KBA Rapida 205.
A skid full of product gets the nod of approval from Edison Litho's leadership.
In the final analysis, Edison Lithograph & Printing could be a stalwart commercial, large-format, packaging and trade printer, and let it go at that. Were that the extent of Edison Litho's resumé, however, the company probably would not be in business very long.
Edison Litho is a bit of a rare bird. It has all of these wondrous capabilities—powered by a trio of large-format KBA sheetfed offset presses—and leading positions in the retail, entertainment and packaging sectors. And, if that weren't enough, 40 percent of Edison Litho's brick-and-mortar business constitutes work for the trade. Despite this, or maybe because of it, that isn't enough to keep the multifaceted printer in the lead pack of the New York metro market.
Just ask Shelly Tocci, sales manager for Edison Litho. Tocci believes the secret to her company being able to gain a dominant position in the retail market is to excel in aspects beyond printing. Being able to produce a nice dot might get you there, but only the ability to deliver—literally—will keep you there.
"We started out modest with smaller retailers," she explains. "We took the time to understand their businesses, learn their needs and recognize that change is constant, particularly with in-store signage.
The Total Package
"We've realized that no matter how good of a printer we are, if we don't fulfill and kit pack properly, and on time, then it doesn't help anybody. Thus, we became great at kitting and packing, which have helped to grow our business. Our word-of-mouth reputation for our large-format printing and turnkey fulfillment capabilities has raised our awareness within the retail circles."
Like any successful printer that deals both direct with its own sales force and addresses the needs of other printers, there aren't many products that Edison Litho can't generate. Aside from point-of- purchase (POP) displays and retail signage, packaging and large-format work such as billboards, the company produces books, magazines and catalogs, directories, envelopes, flyers, greeting cards, newsletters, presentation folders and sell sheets. In addition to the aforementioned retail and packaging clients, Edison also addresses the needs of the cosmetics, automotive and communications markets.


text:
In popular US television series Chuck, where an everyday guy is transformed into a super spy, the cast appear to be almost exclusively nourished by sandwiches from a popular fast food chain. Subway's product placement deal to finance Chuck in return for screen time in May last year convinced network NBC to renew the show, and characters are munching on "footlongs" well into the fourth season.
Product placement will be hitting the UK for the first time at the end of February, the communications watchdog confirmed yesterday. In sharp contrast to the US, and shows like Chuck, there will be heavy restrictions on what can be shown, including a ban on fast food.
Ofcom said: "Both sets of rules will enable commercial broadcasters to access new sources of revenue whilst providing protection for audiences."
After a drawn-out consultation process, which started in June 2009, the regulator finally published its rules for product placement on TV and paid-for references to brands and products on radio yesterday.
The UK's largest broadcasters broadly backed the new rules. A spokeswoman for ITV said the network "welcomes today's announcement and will now work closely with clients and producers on plans for the implementation of product placement in 2011."
Channel 4 was more circumspect, saying: "The quality and editorial integrity of all C4 programming remains our primary consideration and we will consider product placement only on the principle that the programme editorial comes first."
The regulator's move to draw up product placement rules follows the previous Government's change in legislation governing the issue in April. This in turn followed a liberalisation of European broadcasting legislation in 2007.
While there is nothing in the final document that surprised the industry, after a long consultation and well-publicised initial findings, 28 February will now be a significant day for the television industry. Mark Popkiewicz, the chief executive and founder of MirriAd, the digital product placement group, said: "We welcome the code; it levels the playing field with the rest of the world. This extra revenue stream will be key for under-pressure producers and broadcasters. It is very good news."
Ofcom's rules will keep a tight grip on product placement, with restrictions on the type of products that can make it to the screen, which programmes they can be placed in and limits in how they can be seen and referred to. With radio, the rules, which went live yesterday, will force any paid-for product references or brands to be clearly flagged to the station's listeners.
The regulator said that product placement on TV will be allowed in films, including dramas and documentaries, television series including soaps, entertainment shows and sports programmes.
"But it will be prohibited in all children's and news programmes and in UK-produced current affairs, consumer affairs and religious programmes," it said.
Yet producers will not be able to tap a series of industries for funding. Under UK legislation, placement of tobacco, alcohol and gambling are banned, as are medicines, baby milk, and food or drinks that are high in fat, salt or sugar. So, said one industry insider, do not expect Stella Artois to be on tap at the Rovers Return in Coronation Street.
Ofcom said it has also banned the paid-for placement of products that cannot be advertised on UK television, such as weapons or escort agencies.
One industry expert said: "These rules are much tighter than regulation in the US. It won't be like American Idol; Cheryl Cole won't be sitting on The X Factor sipping Coca Cola."
Mr Popkiewicz said: "We are perplexed at why there are different rules to the advertising legislation. Some products can't be placed in television shows, but there can be advertising of those products around the shows."
The rules say that product placement "must not impair broadcasters' editorial independence and must always be editorially justified. This means that programmes cannot be created or distorted so that they become vehicles for the purposes of featuring product placement."
A spokesman for the regulator said it is working on a logo that will appear at the start of programmes with product placement for a minimum of three seconds as well as the end. It will also appear following the return from every advertising break.
The next two months will see broadcasters ready themselves for the new rules as well as launch an audience awareness campaign overseen by Ofcom.
In the US, product placement runs at about 5 per cent of total advertising spending. Translating that into UK spending would see it total £150m. Mr Popkiewicz said: "It could be many times more than that if it proves a popular and easy way of advertising."
One insider at a large UK commercial broadcaster was less bullish, saying that its product placement revenues for next year were more likely to be closer to £1m. "There will be some placement that gets into daytime shows and soaps, but there is a longer lead time for drama," the source said, adding: "The real benefits should come through in 2012."
Separately, the regulator is to liberalise TV sponsorship rules. Advertisers will be allowed to place products in the shows they are sponsoring, and their logos will be able to appear briefly during transmission.
The question remains whether consumers will accept advertising in their favourite shows. Mr Popkiewicz said: "There is obviously a bit of give and take, they have to make sure the product is right for the show. Audiences are entitled to push back if they don't like it." Yet, he added that some audiences have welcomed product placement. "Many are perplexed by the fake brands that appear in shows, they believe it is not a natural reflection of life."
A survey carried out in August for Deloitte found six out of 10 UK viewers would welcome product placement if it meant more free content or cheaper premium television. It estimated that first-year revenues would be in the "low tens of millions".
- More about:
- Food
- Hair
- Stella Artois
- X Factor


text:
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of ConnectMyDNA.com for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Dig this. There is a start-up that connects people through their DNA.
Unlike other social networks, ConnectMyDNA™ does not aim to connect people over their interests, timelines and pictures. It takes social bonds one step further.
The company links people together based on results of their DNA analysis. Any person in the world can submit their DNA sample to ConnectMyDNA's lab for a small fee. In return, the company will issue your individual and unique Gene Ring (video below) and tell you how you can read it. Unlike ancestry tests, your DNA test won't "find" your relatives, but will instead produce some pretty exciting stuff.


text:
Indian Wells: Roger Federer kept his bid for a fifth Indian Wells ATP Masters crown on track Thursday, cruising past South African Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals.
Federer, owner of a record 17 Grand Slam titles, arrived in California fresh from securing his first trophy in nine months in Dubai.
Roger Federer after his win. Pic/ AFP
Seeded seventh, the 32-year-old Swiss great is seeking to add to the Indian Wells titles he captured in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2012.
Anderson had beaten third-seeded Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka en route to the quarters, handing the Swiss his first defeat of 2014 after 13 match wins.
But he could make little headway against Federer, who saved the only break point he faced in the third game of the opening set.
Federer next faces Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, who brushed past big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic 6-3, 6-4.
Dolgopolov, ranked 31st in the world, stunned world number one Rafael Nadal in the third round and is in the semi-finals of an ATP Masters event for the first time.


text:
Click here to print.
Protest sparks reply on Lethem power crisis
By Staff Writer On November 21, 2012 @ 5:22 am In Local
The Lethem Power Company Inc. (LPCI) yesterday an-nounced that a generating set that recently failed, creating a "crisis" situation for residents enduring major disruptions in power and water supplies, should be back in service in the next 48 hours.
The announcement was made in an official statement from the LPCI hours after about …to continue reading this article, please subscribe. Already a subscriber ? Sign In
Article printed from Stabroek News: https://www.stabroeknews.com
URL to article: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/news/stories/11/21/protest-sparks-reply-on-lethem-power-crisis/
Click here to print.
Copyright © 2015 Stabroek News. All rights reserved.


text:
The Tallmadge girls bowling team lost a 2,026-1,869 decision to Akron Firestone Feb. 3 at Legend Lanes in Cuyahoga Falls.
Jennie Kiss led the Lady Blue Devils with a two-game total of 330 (147 and 183). Teammate Anna Chioncio had the high game (191). She also rolled a 138.
Also faring well for Tallmadge were Madison Stock (152 and 168) and Karly Wilson (149 and 123).
The Lady Blue Devils earned a 1,478-1,283 victory in the junior varsity contest.
Alexis Steen led Tallmadge with scores of 171 and 151.


text:
Lord (band)
Lord in Melbourne, July 2007
|Background information
|Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
|Heavy metal, power metal
|Years active
|Modern Invasion, Riot!
|Associated acts
|Dungeon, Nazxul, Ilium, Sedition, FromBeyond
|Lord Tim
Andrew Dowling
Mark Furtner
Damian "Damo" Costas
|Past members
|Mav Stevens
Tim Yatras
Lord (sometimes stylized as LORD) is a heavy metal band from Wollongong, Australia. The group began as a solo project for "Lord Tim" Grose of Dungeon in 2003 and expanded into a complete band when Dungeon broke up in 2005.[1] They have released four albums and 3 EP's to date. Lord has appeared with major acts that include Queensrÿche, Nightwish, Nevermore, Saxon and Gamma Ray. The band's name is usually stylised in all capital letters.
Between 1988 and 2000, Dungeon singer/guitarist and founding member "Lord Tim" Grose had collected a number of compositions he felt were either too personal to submit to the band or inappropriate for its style. In 2003, he collected these songs on an album called A Personal Journey that was issued under the name Lord.[2] At the end of 2005, Dungeon came to an end and Lord became a band featuring Grose and drummer Tim Yatras (also of Dungeon), along with guitarist Mav Stevens and bass player Andrew Dowling from Brisbane metal band Sedition. Yatras has also been a member of several black metal bands including Nazxul, Austere and Battalion. A Personal Journey was re-mastered and released to mark the occasion.
Lord performed their first live show on 31 March 2006. The group launched a national tour within months and before the end of the year had opened for Queensrÿche, Nevermore, Gamma Ray, Leaves Eyes, Atrocity and Skinless, and appeared at the final Metal for the Brain festival. On 23 December 2006, it was announced[3][4] that guitarist Stevens would be leaving the band for personal reasons and would be relocating to the United Kingdom. Shane Linfoot of Sydney band Transcending Mortality filled in as a live guitarist in early 2007 but due to both bands' hectic schedules, Linfoot departed to be replaced by FromBeyond guitarist Mark Furtner, originally in a temporary capacity but his addition was made permanent in December 2007. Furtner's work had already appeared on the August 2007 album Ascendence. Chris Brooks also contributed guest guitars by way of the solos in "Rain" and "Through the Fire".
The band toured the Australian east coast with Saxon in May 2008. After this Lord began working on a third album. The EP "Hear No Evil" appeared in late 2008, featuring two new songs, live tracks and a cover of Kylie Minogue's "On a Night Like This". The Set in Stone album was released in September 2009 and included guest contributions from Craig Goldy of Dio, Glen Drover of Eidolon, Pete Lesperance of Harem Scarem, Angra's Felipe Andreoli, Vanishing Point's Chris Porcianko, Justin Sayers from Platinum Brunette, Chris Brooks, and Stu Marshall of Paindivision. Lord completed wide-scale touring of Australia, New Zealand and Japan in 2009.
In June 2009, Tim Yatras left the band and was replaced by Damian Costas from Sydney band Vanquish.[5] During January 2010, Lord Tim announced that a medical condition had severely restricted his guitar-playing and was advised to take at least six months off from playing guitar. Temporary guitarist, Matthew Bell, filled in during his recovery.[6]
In September 2010, LORD released the "Return of the Tyrant" EP which featured a ten-minute-long orchestrated title track and six unplugged versions of Dungeon and LORD songs, with a playing time of nearly an hour.
- Current
- Lord Tim - lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
- Andrew Dowling - bass, vocals
- Mark Furtner - guitar, vocals
- Simon Batley - drums (live only 2013- 2014)
- Past
- Mav Stevens (2005–2006) – guitars, vocals
- Shane Linfoot (live only, 2007) – guitar
- Tim Yatras (2005–2009) - drums, vocals
- Matthew Bell (live only, 2010) – guitar
- Damian Costas (2009 - 2014) - drums[7]
- Studio albums
- 2003 - A Personal Journey
- 2007 - Ascendence
- 2009 - Set in Stone
- 2013 - Digital Lies[8]
- Extended play
- 2008 - Hear No Evil - Limited pressing - 500 copies
- 2010 - Return of the Tyrant
- 2015 - What Tomorrow Brings
- ^ "Lord not so sweet". Hobart Mercury. 3 May 2007.
- ^ Young, Kane; Brockman, Tom (14 May 2009). "Good LORD, it's a heavy dose of Kylie". Hobart Mercury.
- ^ LORD Press statement - Mav Departs - Ultimate Metal Forum
- ^ Naidoo, Meryl (6 December 2007). "Leading band set to show its metal". Hobart Mercury.
- ^ LORD Press statement - TY Departs - Ultimate Metal Forum
- ^ LORD seeks temporary guitarist - Pyromusic.net
- ^ "New Video, New Tour, New Releases and Changes : LORD – Australian Heavy Melodic Music". Lord.net.au. 2014-02-17. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
- ^ "Digital Lies" Release Date Revealed By Lord, Samples Posted
External links[edit]
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lord (band).
- Official links
- Lord.net.au – official website
- Lord at MySpace
- Official Lord channel at YouTube
- Lord at Metal-Archives
- Other links


text: Advance Sales of New Golf Have Started in Europe Share Comments Advance sales of the new Golf have started. Germany's 1,700 Volkswagen dealers are now taking orders for the latest version of Germany's most popular car. The market launch will take place in seven weeks. As of Friday, 17 October 2003, the new Golf will be available for test driving in Germany. Although it has comprehensive safety and comfort packages, at a starting price of € 15,220, it will not cost a cent more than its predecessor. A configurator on the internet, brochures and price lists are now available to give the customer a taste of the new vehicle. The configurator is available under www.volkswagen.de. Visitors to the site can put together their desired Golf from a range of engines and equipment. The car is then displayed as a realistic photo, with all details and the corresponding prices. For more discussion on this story, click on the link to our discussion forums at the left.