AT LEAST 53 KILLED IN MEXICO CASINO

ARSON FIRE KILLS 53
IN A CASINO IN MEXICO

Mexico City - In what Mexican officials have called an “act of terror,” a half dozen gunmen burst into a casino in Mexico’s industrial capital of Monterrey Thursday, sprayed the place with gasoline, and started a fire in the bingo section, killing at least 53 people.  Speaking to Monterrey’s leading newspaper El Norte, Nuevo León Gov. Rodrigo Medina said that at least 53 people had been killed in the attack, making it the bloodiest attack suffered by this prosperous city, which has been rocked by spiraling drug violence in the last year. Monterrey is the capital of Nuevo León state.  Officials said they expected the death toll to continue to climb in what appeared to be an attack linked to warring drug cartels, although there was no immediate information linking the massacre to drug traffickers. Up to 80 people were in the casino when it was attacked.

“Six hooded gunmen came in, shouting obscenities and firing their guns,” said a person at the scene who asked not to be named. “They drenched the place with gasoline. People were running as the place went up in flames. Those who stayed behind burned to death.”  Videos of the Casino Royale by local news channels showed a grim scene of rescue workers dragging bodies out by their feet as billowing clouds of black smoke came out of the building. One fireman appeared to be attempting rescues from a crane. The entrance to the casino was charred black and a sign reading “Royale” stood beside it.  The massacre in the Casino Royale in an upper-middle-class area of the city was the second such attack on an entertainment center in the past two months in Monterrey. The attack on the casino, located on one of Monterrey’s main avenues, took place at about 3:30 p.m. when six men drove up in two cars, officials said.
Armed men burst into a casino in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey and set a fire that killed at least 53 people and injured several others.  The attack at the Casino Royale, was the worst massacre since a crackdown on drug gangs by the authorities and infighting among the gangs exploded more than five years ago.  Casinos, growing in number across the country, have also emerged lately as targets of extortion, violence and money laundering.  Kali-yuga resides in four places: brothels, liquor shops, slaughterhouses and gambling casinos.  There, greed, lust, pride, and violence are perceived.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

King Pariksit, in disciplining the Personification of Kali, submitted to his earnest plea and granted him five places for his residence, irreligion to flourish. These are namely gambling, liquor and all other stimulants, illicit sexual intercourse, violence (brutal killing of defenseless creatures) and gold (money used in the service of the Lord properly does not fall into this category). The practice of gambling breeds dishonesty, drinking of intoxicants and taking of stimulants lead to loss of austerities. ... Hence those desiring their highest welfare should not indulge in any of these sinful activities at all, especially the religious minded person. A King and spiritual leader or ‘guru’ should shun all such activities from a distance. Such indulgence in irreligion will only deteriorate the character of the individual and all his so called preaching will be of no avail.

Śrīla Bhakti Promode Puri Mahārāja :
“Essence of Pure Devotion”
Part V -  “Preaching and Self-Practice”
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library - http://bvml.org/SBPPG/eopd5.htm

RED MEAT BOOSTS DIABETES RISK: US STUDY

RED MEAT CONSUMPTION MAY
INCREASE RISK OF TYPE 2 DIABETES

AFP - Two slices of bacon, a hot dog or a serving of deli meat daily has been found to significantly boost the risk of getting type 2 diabetes, said a major US study published on Wednesday. The research by experts at the Harvard School of Public Health represents the largest study of its kind to date and appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  Eating 50 grams of processed red meat every day increased a person’s diabetes risk by 51 percent, while eating 100 grams of unprocessed red meat each day, about the size of a deck of cards, boosted the risk by 19 percent. However, those risks went down if the red meat was substituted with nuts, white meat, low-fat dairy or whole grain proteins. “Clearly, the results from this study have huge public health implications given the rising type 2 diabetes epidemic and increasing consumption of red meats worldwide,” said senior author Frank Hu. “The good news is that such troubling risk factors can be offset by swapping red meat for a healthier protein.”
 
The data for the study came from questionnaire responses from more than 204,000 people in US nurses and health professionals’ studies. The subjects were tracked for between 14 and 28 years. Researchers also updated a meta-analysis that included their data with other studies covering more than 442,000 participants. Diabetes affects nearly 350 million adults worldwide, and more than 11 percent of adults over age 20 - or 25.6 million people - in the United States have the disease, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Type 2 diabetes, a chronic disease that involves high levels of blood sugar, is often caused by obesity, lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits.
 

Recently, a major study of the US conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health has found that routine consumption of meat could trigger Type 2 diabetes.  It is believed that the high iron content of red meat can increase inflammatory chemicals, which can destroy insulin- producing beta cells - could be the main reason of triggering Type 2 diabetes.  Due to their unnatural diet meat-eating human beings are far more susceptible to diseases and disorders as compared to their vegetarian counterparts.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Every day, several times a day, every living being, in whichever part of the world he may be, enjoys a universal ritual - eating.  Most people decide what they eat based mainly on taste, cost, habit, nutrition and convenience.  But for those who are a little more thoughtful, here are some other points worth considering. ... The Bhagavad Gita states that foods such as milk products, grains, fruits, and vegetables increase the duration of life and give strength, health, happiness, and satisfaction. Conversely, foods such as, meat, fish and fowl are putrid, decomposed and unclean. They cause numerous hazards to physical health. ... Apart from bringing severe sinful reactions, meat-eating also dulls the human intellect thus rendering it incapable of understanding the higher dimensions of life. Therefore real spiritual life, nay real human life, can not begin unless a human being stops killing his younger brothers, innocent animals, just for the satisfaction of his tongue.

Śrīpad Caitanya Caran das (BE E&TC) :
“Think Before You Eat”
“The Spiritual Scientist” - Vol. 1 Issue 8.
Bhaktivedanta Academy for Culture and Education (BACE), Pune
http://thespiritualscientist.com/