• Canada: Sacred Fire Arbour Awakening honours Aboriginal spirit at Cambrian
• Sunrise becomes first UK music festival to use renewable energy smart grid
• Musicians rebuild Cambodia's lost ancient harp

• Women's Wisdom Weekend at MUM: Saturday 11 May Live Web event
• Enlightenment for Everyone now available in ebook format
• Live365 partners with Transcendental Music to launch custom Internet radio stations increasing awareness of Transcendental Meditation: Wall Street Journal

• US: Graffiti force closure of Joshua Tree park sites
• US: Researchers report sharp rise in extremist 'patriot' groups
• Scottish man dies, taking town's dialect with him

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Positive Trends
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Canada: Sacred Fire Arbour Awakening honours Aboriginal spirit at Cambrian
23 May 2013 - The Sacred Fire has been lit at Cambrian College, bringing a strong spirit of unity to the campus and the community. A number of Aboriginal ceremonies took place on Thursday 16 May at Cambrian, to support the official Sacred Fire Arbour Awakening. The day began with a Sunrise ceremony, followed by an Awakening ceremony, which allow the Arbour to be used for future ceremonies, prayers, teachings, and workshops. (more)

Sunrise becomes first UK music festival to use renewable energy smart grid
23 May 2013 - Sunrise is set to become the first festival in the UK to be powered by a smart grid. The grid creates energy through solar panels and vegetable oil generators, using battery units to regulate power as and when it is needed. Organizers hope the system will significantly reduce the festival's energy consumption and believe it could revolutionize the way festivals are powered in future. The grid is part of a continued partnership with the Green Festival Alliance and forms a collaboration between energy companies including Greenheart Energy, Firefly Solar, and RPM Fuels. (more)

Musicians rebuild Cambodia's lost ancient harp
21 May 2013 - A Cambodian composer has revealed the sound of an ancient harp which has gone unheard for more than eight centuries. The pin harp is shown being played by maidens in the stone reliefs on the walls of the Angkor Wat temple complex. With arts, music, and dance almost destroyed during the Khmer Rouge regime, the effort to revive Cambodia's traditional music has been embraced by international arts bodies, culminating in the festival Season of Cambodia this month in New York. (more)

UK: Chelsea Flower Show celebrates its centenary year
21 May 2013 - The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have toured the Chelsea Flower Show as the event celebrates its centenary year. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall also viewed the gardens -- including an African-themed plot created by Prince Harry's charity. More than 165,000 visitors are expected to visit the show in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea this week after it opens to the public on Tuesday. This year's displays heavily feature native British plants and the Royal Horticultural Society said it was hoping to inspire young people to start gardening. (more)

Shakespeare's sonnets come to life in new app
20 May 2013 - A new app launched on Monday aims to bring William Shakespeare's sonnets to the masses with the help of short films starring stage actors performing them in front of New York landmarks. The Sonnet Project is a free app for the iPhone and iPad that showcases the Shakespeare's poetry through films of up to two minutes and performances by award winning actors. Shakespeare's 154 sonnets were first published in 1609. (more)

Scotland set for Generation visual arts celebration
17 May 2013 - A blockbuster celebration of the visual arts -- the biggest ever in Scotland -- will be staged in more than 50 venues across the country to coincide with the staging of the Commonwealth Games next year. The nation's booming arts scene over the last quarter-century will be showcased in five major exhibitions in Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as dozens of other smaller venues. The National Galleries of Scotland is joining forces with Glasgow Life, the body responsible for the city's vast art collection, for a free 'landmark exhibition' charting the evolution of Scottish art and cutting-edge artists since 1989. (more)

Vatican opens Argentine gaucho show
17 May 2013 - The Vatican on Friday opened an exhibit on Argentine gauchos, the legendary horsemen of the pampas -- a show that's been years in the works and coincidentally opened under the first Argentine Pope. Officials weren't sure when Francis might swing by 'The Gaucho: Tradition, Art and Faith,' which opened in an exhibition space underneath the piazza's colonnade. But if he goes, he'll find antique silver straws and mate gourds -- containers for Argentina's traditional herbal tea -- saddles and stirrups, ponchos, documents, and a host of gaucho-inspired artwork. The exhibit also highlights ties between Italy and Argentina. (more)

Scotland: Funding for electric microcar tourism project
16 May 2013 - Open-sided electric microcars will be used to help tourists explore Scotland's countryside through an environmentally friendly transport scheme. The Eco Travel Network (ETN) has won a new Scottish Green Transport Prize after demonstrating the benefits of hiring lightweight Renault Twizys to visitors as a 'cheap, green, and fun' alternative to using 4x4s on country roads. The network plans to use the £50,000 prize money to expand north of the Border and develop even sturdier buggies for the rugged terrain of the islands. (more)

International Day of Families 15 May
15 May 2013 - The International Day of Families is observed on the 15th of May every year. The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 and reflects the importance the international community attaches to families. The International Day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic, and demographic processes affecting families. (more)

US: Charity auction brings in $38.8 million for environment
15 May 2013 - Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Christie's auction house raised $38.8 million through a charity art auction and donations, Christie's said on Tuesday, with proceeds to benefit environmental and conservation causes. Many of the works, which were created for and donated to the auction by the artists, sold in spirited bidding in a packed auction house. Art collectors from around the globe also placed bids by telephone. A panel of environmental experts and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation will decide which conservation projects will benefit from the proceeds of the sale. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Women's Wisdom Weekend at MUM: Saturday 11 May Live Web event
11 May 2013 - Saturday, 11 May a live Web event--a Women's Wisdom Weekend--is being held at Maharishi University of Management, USA. Several women share their personal and professional journeys through talks and lively Q and A sessions. The event is available on the web through live streaming video on MUMTV. (more)

Enlightenment for Everyone now available in ebook format
6 May 2013 - The recently published book Let Your Soul Sing: Enlightenment is For Everyone is now available worldwide in ebook format. The new ebook version expands on the richness of knowledge featured in the original paperback, including over 100 embedded links to music videos, short clips of video lectures by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, scientific research on Transcendental Meditation, and other videos. In the book author Ann Purcell explains that, far from being a state of consciousness possible only for a few rare individuals, enlightenment is in fact the most natural state of life, available to everyone through simple, effortless meditation techniques that expand human awareness and perception of the truly unified reality of life. (more)

Live365 partners with Transcendental Music to launch custom Internet radio stations increasing awareness of Transcendental Meditation: Wall Street Journal
1 May 2013 - Live365, the leader in internet radio broadcasting, announces the launch of Transcend Radio, the newest venture of Transcendental Music, the premier non-profit record label under the David Lynch Foundation, the Wall Street Journal reported. The primary goal of the David Lynch Foundation is to fund the teaching and practice of Transcendental Meditation, helping at-risk social groups reduce stress in their daily lives. Transcend Radio will help bring the benefits of Transcendental Meditation to a global audience, through two uniquely programmed radio stations. (more)

Gala event honoured jazz greats, supports Transcendental Meditation for veterans, women, at-risk children
23 April 2013 - A new video highlights the David Lynch Foundation's fourth annual Change Begins Within benefit gala--'An Historic Night of Jazz' --held at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The benefit helped the Foundation begin to deploy a team of young professional instructors bringing Transcendental Meditation to thousands of inner-city students, veterans, and women and girls in the New York City area and nearby states during 2013. (more)

WATCH LIVE: 'Our Conscious Future' conference at Maharishi University of Management - Saturday, 20 April
19 April 2013 - The Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy at Maharishi University of Management presents a visionary conference event, titled Our Conscious Future. On Saturday, 20 April, eight remarkable thought leaders and innovators are converging on the MUM campus to present TED-style talks that will go right to the heart of what it means to be fully human in the 21st century. Each speaker will explore different facets of mind, body, society, and consciousness and present the most recent discoveries and solutions to help enhance individual life and change the world. Register to view Saturday's afternoon and evening conference sessions FREE ONLINE via streaming video. (more)

Canada: Times Colonist features beautiful Salt Spring Island Vastu home
18 April 2013 - Far above the bucolic, yacht-filled harbour and bustle of weekend markets on Salt Spring Island off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, a house sits perched on a rock in the crystalline air, embraced by tall evergreens, mossy outcrops, and a view you'd expect to see in a painting. It's the home of people from the United States who had heard about the friendly island and decided to build a remarkable retirement home there. Based on an ancient form of Indian architecture--called Maharishi Sthapatya Veda, or Vastu--the home is designed to increase occupants' health and happiness. (more)

US: Iowa Transcendental Meditation community featured in Smithsonian magazine
12 April 2013 - Fairfield, Iowa, might be surrounded by cornfields, farmhouses, silos, and barns, but it's definitely not your average Midwestern town in the United States. It's the home of Maharishi University of Management--one of the reasons Smithsonian magazine dubbed the town of 10,000 one of 'The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2013' in their April 2013 issue. (more)

First Maharishi Peace Palace in Europe holds dozens of courses, lectures, events
9 April 2013 - The first Maharishi Peace Palace to be built in Europe, inaugurated last October near the centre of the country in Erfurt, Germany, has already hosted many courses and lectures. Dr Eckart Stein, director of the Peace Palace and one of the project leaders for its development and construction, talked about the building's progress since it officially opened. He said that many courses are already running in the Peace Palace, including those focused on Transcendental Meditation and its advanced techniques, human physiology as the expression of Veda and the Vedic literature, Maharishi Ayur-Veda pulse reading for good health, and Ayurvedic cooking. (more)

Maharishi Vastu Architecture website now available in six languages
27 March 2013 - The Maharishi Vastu Architecture website--MaharishiVastu.org--is now available not only in English, but has been translated into five other languages: Danish, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish. A French-language site is also planned. (more)

US: Smithsonian magazine feature on Fairfield, Iowa, highlights Vastu architecture
23 March 2013 - An article in the April issue of Smithsonian magazine, featuring Fairfield, Iowa, as #7 in its '20 Best Small towns to Visit in 2013', includes several very positive references to Vastu architecture, said Jonathan Lipman, AIA, director of Maharishi Vastu architecture programmes for North America. Mr Lipman described the publication as 'one of the most respected and prestigious magazines in the United States'. (more)

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Flops
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

US: Graffiti force closure of Joshua Tree park sites
13 April 2013 - Acts of graffiti have become so pervasive at Joshua Tree National Park's most popular hiking spots that officials have had to close them to the public, and they blame the big bump in vandalism on social media. Rangers said they've found graffiti spray painted on 17 sites, including the famous rock formations and historic Native American sites, at the Southern California park's Rattlesnake Canyon. They put historic Barker Dam off limits after vandals carved their names into the cement of the Old West landmark. National Parks officials said the graffiti started with just a few markings, but quickly spread. They blame vandals who posted pictures of their handiwork on social media sites such as Facebook, which enticed others to the same spot and leave their own illicit marks. 'I've worked at six national parks, and this is the most extensive I've seen in 20 years,' ranger Pat Pilcher told reporters this week during a tour of some of the damage. Meanwhile, the San Bernardino County Sun reports that officials are closing 308 acres of the canyon until April 30 while volunteers from the Urban School of San Francisco help scrub the graffiti off the giant granite boulders. (more)

US: Researchers report sharp rise in extremist 'patriot' groups
5 March 2013 - President Barack Obama's administration and the gun control debate after the Connecticut school shooting have led to surging numbers of anti-government 'patriot' groups, according to a civil rights group that tracks extremist groups. The Southern Poverty Law Centre reported the rising numbers on Tuesday in its annual report on extremist groups. The number of anti-government patriot groups, one category tracked by the centre, rose dramatically over the past four years, from 149 groups in 2008 to 1,360 today, researchers reported. That was up about 7 per cent from the 1,274 active in 2011. The election and re-election of the nation's first African-American President and the rugged economy have fuelled their growth, said Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the SPLC. (more)

Scottish man dies, taking town's dialect with him
4 October 2012 - In a remote fishing town on the tip of Scotland's Black Isle, the last native speaker of the Cromarty dialect has passed away, taking with him a little fragment of the English linguistic mosaic. Academics said Wednesday that Bobby Hogg, who was 92 when he died last week, was the last person fluent in the dialect once common to the seaside town of Cromarty, 175 miles (280 kilometres) north of Edinburgh. 'I think that's a terrible thing,' said Robert Millar, a linguist at the University of Aberdeen in northern Scotland. 'The more diversity in terms of nature we have, the healthier we are. It's the same with language.' 'We'll all live,' Millar said -- but it's part of a relentless trend toward standardization which has driven many regional dialects and local languages into oblivion. Linguists often debate how to define and differentiate the world's many dialects, but most agree that urbanization, compulsory education, and mass media have conspired to iron out many of the kinks that make rural speech unique. (more)

Guinea: Ethnic riots spread in capital
21 September 2012 - At least one person was killed on Friday, as ethnic riots pitting the Peul and the Malinke, the two largest ethnicities in the country, spread from a market in Conakry, to the suburbs of the Guinean capital, according to witnesses and the Red Cross. Tensions between the two groups have been running high ever since the 2010 Presidential election, which was won by Malinke politician Alpha Conde. He defeated a Peul candidate, and the vote was overwhelmingly carried out along ethnic lines. Since coming to power, Conde is accused of favouring his ethnic group in appointments to government ministries, all the way down to the guards and janitors. (more)

Ethnic riots sweep India's Assam, at least 30 killed
24 July 2012 - Police shot dead four rioters in India's northeastern state of Assam on Tuesday as security forces struggled to contain ethnic fighting that has killed at least 30 people and left riverside hamlets ablaze, forcing tens of thousands from their homes. Rioting between Bodo tribespeople and Muslim settlers has raged for days in a region near Bangladesh. Police opened fire on rioters burning property in the Bodo-dominated Kokrajhar district, killing the four, police inspector general S N Singh told Reuters. Rival mobs have spread to rural areas in three districts, targeting hamlets along river banks and in the jungle. About 500 villages have been destroyed by arson, said police. The latest violence was sparked on Friday night when unidentified men killed four youths in Kokrajhar district, police and district officials said. In retaliation, armed Bodos attacked Muslims, suspecting them of being behind the killings. (more)

Teargas, clashes in Ukraine over language law
4 July 2012 - Police fired teargas and used batons to disperse hundreds of protesters in Kiev on Wednesday after parliament voted to make Russian, rather than Ukrainian, the main language in schools and local government in some parts of the former Soviet republic. The chamber rushed the language bill through on Tuesday, minutes after a surprise proposal by a pro-Yanukovich deputy, giving opponents little time to cast their vote and prompting scuffles both in parliament and on the streets. Opposition parties and millions who speak Ukrainian as their first language see the bill as a threat to sovereignty, keeping Ukraine in Russia's sphere of influence after 20 years of independence following the break-up of the Soviet Union. 'This bill would push the Ukrainian language out of use,' said one of the protesters, 40-year-old entrepreneur Yuri Chernyak. 'It might be too late but we must do something and not stay indifferent.' (more)

Mali Islamists to continue destroying UNESCO sites
1 July 2012 - A spokesman for an Islamist group says they plan to destroy historic UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Malian city of Timbuktu before implementing strict Shariah law. Ansar Dine spokesman Sanda Abu Mohamed said Sunday that Islamists will continue the destruction they started Saturday. Mali's government said in a statement that they condemn the destruction of the centuries-old Muslim saints' tombs. They say the destruction is akin to 'war crimes' and that they will prosecute at a national and international level. Islamist fighters from the Ansar Dine group have declared that they now control the northern half of Mali after driving out an ethnic Tuareg separatist group. The rebel groups took advantage of a power vacuum created by a March coup in the capital to seize ground in the north. (more)

Decline of linguistic and cultural diversity linked
13 May 2012 - The decline of linguistic and cultural diversity is linked to the loss of biodiversity, a study has suggested. The authors said that 70 per cent of the world's languages were found within the planet's biodiversity hotspots. Data showed that as these important environmental areas were degraded over time, cultures and languages in the area were also being lost. The results of the study have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). 'Biologists estimate annual loss of species at 1,000 times or more greater than historic rates, and linguists predict that 50-90 per cent of the world's languages will disappear by the end of the century,' the researchers wrote. (more)

Corruption scandal shakes Vatican as internal letters leaked
26 January 2012 - The Vatican was shaken by a corruption scandalafter an Italian television investigation said a former top official had been transferred against his will after complaining about irregularities in awarding contracts. The show 'The Untouchables' showed what it said were several letters that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who was then deputy-governor of Vatican City, sent to superiors, including Pope Benedict, in 2011 about the corruption. Vigano, currently the Vatican's ambassador in Washington, said in the letters that when he took the job in 2009 he discovered a web of corruption, nepotism, and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts to outside companies at inflated prices. In one letter, Vigano tells the pope of a smear campaign against him (Vigano) by other Vatican officials who wanted him transferred because they were upset that he had taken drastic steps to save the Vatican money by cleaning up its procedures. Despite his appeals to the pope that a transfer 'would be a defeat difficult for me to accept', Vigano was named ambassador to Washington in October of last year. (more)

Cyberbullying a problem around the globe: poll
11 January 2012 - More than 10 per cent of parents around the world say their child has been cyberbullied and nearly one-fourth know a youngster who has been a victim, according to a new Ipsos/Reuters poll. And more than three-quarters of people questioned in the global survey thought cyberbullying differed from other types of harassment and warranted special attention and efforts from parents and schools. 'The key to this study is that it measures parental awareness of cyberbullying, not actual rates of the behaviour,' said Keren Gottfried, of the global research firm Ipsos. 'While we can't speculate on what actually happens, it is quite possible that the proportion of children actually being cyberbullied is in fact understated, since we are speaking with the parents, not the kids.' (more)