The 2007 Detroit Ratha-Yatra

A photographic peek into the 2007 Detroit Ratha-Yatra, held this past Sunday, September 16, complete with The Festival of India, live at Belle Isle.


Sri-Sri Radha Kunjibihari, ISKCON Detroit, always welcoming me home....

The "Motor City Mahajana" Bharata Prabhu, basking in the glow..Sriman Joe "JoeDasa" Swift Prabhu, working the crowds for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath
ECSTASY!
HG Yugal Kishore Prabhu was the MVP (Most Valuable Prabhu) of the Parade. His dancing lifted all to newer and better heights, way above the ugly industrial landscapes of Metro Detroit. Traveling with him, watching him always preach with such vigor and realization, seeing the way devotees respect and confide in him, I feel very privileged to be his preferred driver, sometimes-humble servant, and very good friend

Shashi, our very good friend from ISKCON Toronto, gets ready to entertain the guests and scare the kids in his role as Kamsa in HH Bhakti-Marg Swami's wonderful bit of theater "Tenth Canto"

Biofuels may cause more harm that good...

Feeling good about biofuels? This so-called alternative to the our lovely national petroleum addiction may not be all it's cracked up to be, despite what Mr. TV may say.

Then again, this is one side of the story about biofuels.

original article linked here

By Sybille de La Hamaide

PARIS (Reuters) - Biofuels, championed for reducing energy reliance, boosting farm revenues and helping fight climate change, may in fact hurt the environment and push up food prices, a study suggested on Tuesday.

In a report on the impact of biofuels, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said biofuels may "offer a cure that is worse than the disease they seek to heal".

"The current push to expand the use of biofuels is creating unsustainable tensions that will disrupt markets without generating significant environmental benefits," the OECD said.

"When acidification, fertilizer use, biodiversity loss and toxicity of agricultural pesticides are taken into account, the overall environmental impacts of ethanol and biodiesel can very easily exceed those of petrol and mineral diesel," it added.

The OECD therefore called on governments to cut their subsidies for the sector and instead encourage research into technologies that would avoid competing for land use with food production.

"Governments should cease to create new mandates for biofuels and investigate ways to phase them out," it said.

The OECD said tax incentives put in place in many regions, including the European Union and the United States, to encourage biofuel output could hide other objectives.

"Biofuel policies may appear to be an easy way to support domestic agriculture against the backdrop of international negotiations to liberalize agricultural trade," it said.

CUT DEMAND

Instead it encouraged members of the World Trade Organization to step efforts to lower barriers to biofuel imports to allow developing countries that have ecological and climate systems more suited to biomass production.

The OECD also encouraged government to work on cutting demand for transport fuel rather than encouraging production of so-called "green" fuels.

"A liter of gasoline or diesel conserved because a person walks, rides a bicycles, carpools or tunes up his or her vehicle's engine more often is a full liter of gasoline or diesel saved at a much lower cost to the economy than subsidizing inefficient new sources of supply," it said.

Biofuels, made mainly from grains, oilseeds and sugar, have been accused of being responsible for a recent surge in farm commodities prices, along with other factors such as lower output and tight stocks.

The OECD, which said in July that it saw biofuels keeping prices at high levels into the next decade, said it would lead to an unavoidable "food-versus-fuel" debate.

"Any diversion of land from food or feed production to production of energy biomass will influence food prices from the start, as both compete for the same input," it said.

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Vegan Cooking: The Revenge

This past Tuesday, the Vegan Cooking Workshop, the ecstatic prasadam/preaching programs courtesy of the New Vrindaban Brahmacari Ashram, centered in the lovely villa of Athens, Ohio, home of Ohio University, got off and running.

Now in its fifth year, this program feeds over 100 students a week the pure goodness of home-cooked prasad, made by the artistic chef-dom of HG Balarama Chandra Prabhu. The whole experience is augmented this year by the fact that we have our own house in town.

On the outside it may look a little dingy, but on the inside a wonderful devotional atmosphere permeates. Instead of the stale smell of day-old beer, incense and the vibration of the Holy Name resounds. It is a true oasis in the middle of the typical realm of student-emanated passions and desires.

Here are some photographic highlights of the first week.

For sale, a big wooden table. Rather shiny and nice. Contact us at cfici26@yahoo.com for more details
The kids get down on an ecstatic pasta dinner


Balarama is picky. It has to be JUST right! First class!

Jason and Narin partake of The Nectar of Furniture Assembling

When I told Mauricio to open the can with his teeth, he thought I was serious!

Better association than your local bar. Preparing prasad with love and care.

Balarama plots his takeover of the Russian Federation.

The kids offer up a lovely prayer to get us all in a spiritual mood before devouring the first feast of the year
The year of Vegan Cooking madness begins! Stay tuned in the months to come for all the adventures.

Slices of Life at New Vrindaban...

This is Bhakta-Chris, reporting live on September 2, 2007, from New Vrindaban Dham.

Lots of wonderful, transcendental activities occur at New Vrindaban, and I shamelessly take many photographs of them to share with devotees worldwide. Here is this week's attempt to embarass my good friends and comrades in devotional service...

This is a public-service announcement...if you see this young man, HG Caitanya Das Brahmacari, Spiritual Director, New Vrindaban Management Team, please humbly ask him to eat a cereal that is not designed for four-year old children. Caitanya, this is for your own good. We want you to come over to the organic world.


Yugal Kishore Das croons in costume for the Lord's pleasure during our ongoing Janmastami festivities.

The Reverend Janak Mahajana Das looks regally over our Kailash collection for Janmastami, giving his grave approval

HG Jagadish Caitanya Das-in bliss as he expertly fans the forms of the Lord during our continuing Janmastami festival.

Madhava Ghosh is very ready to make sure that all those who attended Kesava and Madhava's recent "sannyox" ceremony also reap the benefits. This humble photographer, after some thought and discussion, politely declined.

Janak Mahajana in his ideal state, working with the national symbol of Estonian pride, the beetHey Jason! Welcome back to the fire of the New Vrindaban Kitchen! Hold on tight!Devotees who wash dishes together go back to Godhead togetherJanak Mahajana has had enough of having his picture taken.

More candid shots coming soon. Beware and Haribol!

Public Enemy #1: Bottled Water

From www.breitbart.com, on Aug 15, 2007. Original article linked here

It's a hugely beneficial liquid in a slim cylinder of plastic, but for US environmentalists, it is the new public enemy number one: bottled water.

With US bottled water sales growing nearly 10 percent annually -- and the trash from tossed containers climbing just as quickly -- calls for Americans to go back to drinking tap water have surged since the beginning of summer.

"This country has some of the best public water supplies in the world," the New York Times said in an editorial earlier this month.

"Instead of consuming four billion gallons (15 billion liters) of water a year in individual-sized bottles, we need to start thinking about what all those bottles are doing to the planet's health."

As was pointed out at World Water Week in Stockholm on Monday, US personal consumption per capita, including water from all sources, hits 400 liters (106 gallons) each day -- compared to 10 liters (2.6 gallons) a person in developing countries.

And US consumers are drinking more bottled water by the day. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, growth in bottled water sales last year was 9.7 percent, making the total market worth about 11 billion dollars.

Bottled water in the United States does not mean mineral water, even if Americans grumble more and more about paying a high price to drink water with little to distinguish it.

At the end of July beverage giant PepsiCo was forced by public pressure to explain on its Aquafina bottled water that the contents inside come from ... the tap.

Pepsi's response "is an important first step," said Gigi Kellett, director of the "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign.

"Concerns about the bottled water industry, and increasing corporate control of water, are growing across the country," she said.

From mineral springs or from public pipes, water once in a bottle is expensive. The New York Times estimated that for some consumers the bill could hit 1,400 dollars a year -- for an amount that, taken from a home faucet, might cost less than half a dollar.

And it is not always better.

"Bottled water sold in the United States is not necessarily cleaner or safer than most tap water, according to a four-year scientific study," the National Resources Defense Council recently reported. It also said regulation has not guaranteed more pure water in bottles.

Another point of attack is the packaging waste, which Earth Policy Institute tied to an issue of US security policy: oil imports.

According to the institute, it costs the United States 1.5 million barrels of oil a year to produce the plastic bottles used for water.

And if one adds the energy required to transport it -- especially premium water imported all the way from France, Italy and even the Fiji islands -- the negative impact on the environment rises quickly.

The anti-bottled water campaign has gotten political support: the mayor of San Francisco has stopped supplying water in containers to his staff, telling them to drink what comes out of the faucet.

And New York has launched a campaign to persuade its inhabitants to stick to public sources to quench their thirst.

Feeling they were at the center of the target, bottled water producers went on the defense last week, in part arguing that bottled water helps liberate consumers from calorie-heavy sweet sodas.

"The bottled water industry has recently been the target of misguided and confusing criticism by activist groups and a handful of mayors who have presented misinformation and subjective criticism as facts," the International Bottled Water Association said.

Association president Joseph Doss said they were being unfairly singled out.

"If the debate is about the impact of plastic packaging on the environment, a narrow focus on bottled water spotlights only a small portion of the packaged beverage category and an even smaller sliver of the universe of packaged products," he said.

"Any efforts to reduce the resources necessary to produce and distribute packaged goods -- and increase recycling rates -- must focus on all packaging,"