Latest Polls Suggest Trouble Ahead for Obama

The latest round of national public-opinion polls gives President Barack Obama plenty to worry about as he plans his re-election strategy for next year.  

Political analysts say the latest poll results suggest the public has lost faith in President Barack Obama's ability to turn the domestic economy around.

The latest NBC News Wall Street Journal poll found Obama’s approval rating at a new low of 44 percent, while 51 percent disapprove.

Republican pollster Bill McInturff is involved with the poll and he spoke to MSNBC television.

“And when economic pessimism is this difficult and confidence is that bad it is very hard for a president to recover," he said. "It takes a substantial event to try to change those kind of numbers.”

Similar results are found in the latest survey by NBC News and the Washington Post where 77 percent of those asked now see the country headed in the wrong direction.

The president will offer new proposals on job creation Thursday in a speech to Congress. But veteran political analyst Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News says Obama may have a tough time getting the public to listen.

“The more fundamental problem President Obama has is that it is all about the economy.  The unemployment rate is still terrible," said DeFrank. "The U.S. economy is still growing but at a very anemic rate.”

Many economists see little chance of a dramatic change in the jobless rate before next year’s election, which now stands at 9.1 percent.

Since 1900, only two presidents have won re-election with jobless rates higher than seven percent-Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 and Ronald Reagan in 1984.

American University presidential historian Allan Lichtman says it is virtually impossible for an incumbent president to escape blame for a bad economy.

“As [former President] Herbert Hoover once said, a man who should know, ‘the president gets the credit for the sunshine and the blame for the rain’.  It is very difficult for a president of the United States to deflect blame against others,” he said.

But Republicans do not fare well in the latest polls either.  The ABC News Washington Post survey found that only 28 percent of voters approve of Republicans in Congress, while 68 percent disapprove.

Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who supervises the NBC Wall Street Journal poll, says Americans want lawmakers to put aside their differences and work together to help the economy.

“All of this says, look, get back to work and do your job," said Hart. "People are struggling and they want Washington to understand it and they want the president to be able to get something done.”

The only good news for the president in the latest polls is that his favorability rating remains higher than his approval rating, which analysts say means the public still likes Obama personally even as they lose faith in his policies.

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Are mobile phones safe for Kids to use?

While many experts say there is no link between mobile phone use and cancer in adults there is still widespread uncertainty about the risks kids face.

 Link between mobile phone use and cancer in adults/kids.

Research into health and mobile phones has been beset with difficulties. Mobiles have been in use for a relatively short time and yet cancers can take decades to develop.

However most scientists seem to agree about one thing - that if mobiles are hazardous, children may be more vulnerable than the rest of us to their possible ill-effects.

"If the penetration of the electromagnetic waves goes for four centimetres into the brain, four centimetres into the adult brain is just the temporal lobe," says Dr Annie Sasco of the Institute of Public Health, Epidemiology and Development in Bordeaux.

"There are not too many important functions in the temporal lobe - but in a child the more central brain structures are going to be exposed.

"In addition kids have a skull which is thinner, less protective, they have a higher content of water in the brain, so there are many reasons that they absorb more of the same radiation," she adds.

'Possibly carcinogenic'

European research just published in America's Journal of the National Cancer Institute has concluded children who use mobile phones are at no greater risk of developing brain cancer than those who don't.

But critics say the research is too short-term and the data it used is out of date.

About five billion people now use mobile phones across the world


The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has recently reclassified mobile phones. The UN agency has fallen short of saying that mobile phones are definitely hazardous, instead they have re-classified mobile phones as possibly carcinogenic.

The re-classification was the result of a meeting held at the headquarters in Lyon of the world's leading scientists in the field.

They reviewed experimental data from animal research and also the longest running research project into the use of mobile phones by brain cancer sufferers.

"The strongest evidence really comes from the studies of cancer in humans and there was some evidence that there may be an association between the use of mobile cell-phones and certain types of brain cancer," says Dr Kurt Straif of the IARC.

The GSMA, the industry body representing the interests of the mobile industry followed up the IARC's findings by saying: "The IARC classification suggests that a hazard is possible but not likely."

And while the GSMA acknowledged that some mobile phone users may be concerned it said that present safety standards remain valid, and that there was need for further research.

Safety advice 

Some scientists believe the IARC's classification of a "possible" link between cancer and mobile phone use is not strong enough. 

IARC's classification

"I think mobile phones are a risk for brain tumours and we have already quite substantial epidemiological evidence showing that people who use cell-phones for more than 10 years have about a doubling in their risk of glioma, which is a brain tumour, quite often fatal," says Dr Annie Sasco.

Certainly for parents, giving children mobiles helps to keep tabs on them when they are out and about in a world full of hazards. But if the hazard is the phone itself, then we would be wise to take precautions.

"From the review of the exposure determinants we can clearly say that it is mostly the use of cell-phones for voice calls, particularly when the phone is close to the brain or to the ear - so you could for example recommend a hands-free kit for voice calls," said Dr Straif.

"There is also some evidence that exposure in children may be up to two-fold higher because of the different biology and other factors that influence exposure, therefore it may be prudent to restrict it further to kids and take these pragmatic measures more seriously," he added.

Text rather than talk, hands-free sets, use a land-line when there is one to hand - the sort of advice that some would like to see governments and health authorities passing on to consumers in the light of the IARC's new classification for mobile phones.

Elizabeth Ruffinengo, from Women in Europe for a Common Future, believes that as mobile phones represent a possible carcinogen there should be some safety recommendations.

"We have heard scientists saying that children are more at risk when it comes to exposure to mobile phones, so what we want is recommendations following the new IARC's classifications and so far we have not seen any.

We think we face a new emerging health risk and that we shouldn't wait 30 to 40 years to see the results."

So after 20 or so years with mobiles, many experts say there is nothing to worry about, the UN says there might be a problem, and others believe there definitely is an issue.

It is up to the individual to decide whether to dismiss the warnings or take minor precautions to ensure those thought most vulnerable do not blame us if the most dire predictions do turn out to be correct.

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Lord Murali Dhar(Krishna's) Life Story Overview

Lord Krishna appeared over five thousand years ago in Mathura, India to Devaki and Vasudeva in the jail cell of the tyrant Kamsa. The place of His birth is known as Sri Krishna Janmasthana. He appeared with His brother Balarama in response to the demigods' prayers for protection from the widespread influence of demonic administration on earth.

krishna born in the jail cell of the tyrant Kamsa

Previously, the demigods and demons had been at war in the heavens. When the demons were defeated by the demigods, they decided to instead attack this planet earth. Thus, they invaded the earth by discretely taking birth as princes in powerful royal families of the time. And as the earth became overrun by militaristic activities of these kingly demons, the demigods including the Earth goddess earnestly sought Lord Visnu's protection. Seeing the deteriorating social and political conditions and hearing the prayers of the demigods, the all-compassionate Supreme Lord Muralidhar decided to descend for the benefit of all. The Supreme Lord descends from time to time in this material world to reestablish the teachings of the Vedas. In His Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna promises: "Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear milleniumm after millenium." Although eternal the Lord appears in specific circumstances out of mercy for His devotees. In fact, His principal biography, the Srimad Bhagavatam states, "the learned men describe the births and activities of the Unborn and Inactive." Therefore, although He appears within the material dimensions of time and space, He is most definitely not of it. Day of the dark half of the month of Sravana. This corresponds to July 19th 3228 BC. He exhibited His pastimes for a little over 125 years and dissappeared on February 18th 3102 BC on the new moon night of Phalguna. (His departure marks the beginning of the current age of corruption known as Kali.) The great scholar Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti neatly outlines Lord Krishna's activities in this way: the first three years and four months were spent in Gokula, then equal lengths of time in Vrindavana and Nandagram, eighteen years and four months in Mathura, and finally ninety-six years and eight months in Dvaraka totalling 125 years of manifest pastimes. See the Krishna-lila chart.

Lord krishna in Gokula

Lord Krishna's early pastimes are briefly summarized at the website Krishna's Adventures in Vraja"During this childhood time , He grew up as the son of His foster parents Nanda and Yasoda in the midst of the idyllic beauty of Gokula, Vrindavana, and Nandagram. Not only did He destroy numerous demons, but also performed His famous rasa dance Krishna enjoyed the dance of love (rasa-lila) with the gopis many of whom are expansions of His own internal energies. The supreme gopi known as Srimati Radharani is the object of Krishna's highest devotion. This beautiful dance would occur in the autumn season at night under a full moon when Lord Murali Dhar would captivate the young gopis with the extraordinary music of His flute . These esoteric pastimes constitute the most confidential expression of divinity ever revealed.

Lord Krishna magic with the extraordinary music of His flute

Usually the conception of sprirtual perfection consists of overwhelming feelings only of awe and reverence at God's majesty. However, in these pastimes each devotee loves God either as a master, a best freind, a mischievous son, or even as an intimate lover, thus revealing the infinite possibilities of divine love. These early pastimes of Lord Krishna in Vrindavana illustrate the extraordinary intimacy that one can have with God. These pastimes are described in detail by Sri Visvantha Chakravarti in his Sri Krishna Bhavanamrta Mahakavya When Krishna and Balarama were older, They were invited to Mathura, where Karnsa, Their demonic uncle, was planning Their death in a wrestling match against two large and powerful wrestlers. When Kansa saw his wrestlers defeated, he ordered his friends to drive the brothers out of Mathura, plunder the riches of Their cowherd friends, and kill Their fathers, Nanda

and Vasudeva. However, Krishna immediately killed Kansa and Balarama killed his eight brothers. Lord Krishna then established the pious King Ugrasena as the emperor of several kingdoms.

Krishna and Balram battling Kansa & his eight brothers

In Mathura, both Krishna and Balarama were initiated by Gargamuni in the Gayatri mantra Later They went to live under the care of Sandipani Muni who instructed Them in all the Vedic arts and sciences in sixty-four days and nights especially in military science, politics and spirituality. As an offering (guru-daksina) to Their teacher, They recovered his son from death. Although God does not need instruction from anyone else, Lord Muralidhar and His brother set the perfect example : one must accept instruction from and serve a bona-fide spiritual master to advance in spiritual life. For the next eighteen years, They continued to live in Mathura halting the impending threat of many demonic kings. Later in Their pastimes Lord Balarama married a princess named Revati.

Lord Krishna married many queens, the foremost among them being the extraordinarily beautiftil Queen Rukmini. (See Sri Rukmini website for the story of Their marriage). Both Krishna and Balarama established Their palaces in Dvaraka off the coast of western India, where They enjoyed married life for many years. Although They were married, Lord Krishna and Lord Balarama exhibited the quality of detachment from material life perfectly. When They were about ninety years old, the great world war of

Kurukshetra took place. This climactic battle brought together all the major world leaders. Lord Krishna took the role of a charioteer on the side of the pious Pandavas, while Lord Balarama refusing to participate went on a pilgrimage tour thereby blessing the entire land of India. At the start of the war, Lord Krishna displayed His stupendous Universal Form delivered His famous message known as the Bhagavad-gita, literally the Song of God. This Song contains the essence of all knowledge having been spoken by the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Himself. This war concluded with the destruction of the demonic kings and the reinstatement of the righteous Pandava princes. Having completed Their mission, Balarama and Murali Dhar resumed Their life in Dvaraka where They spent some thirty-five more years before ending Their earthly manifest activities The foremost description of Lord Krishna's activities occurs in the Srimad Bhagavatam, literally "the Beautiful Book of God.

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