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The Island - Saturday Magazine, 24 September 1994
An Exclusive Interview on his 99th Birthday in London,
Tilak S. Fernando spoke to Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Mahanayake
The 99th birthday of the Most Ven. Aggamahapanditha Balangoda
Anandamaitreya Mahanayake Thera was celebrated at The Saddhatissa
International Buddhist Centre, Kingsbury, North West London on 23
August 1994. The Ven. Mahanayake was observing the lent of Rainy
Season (Vassna Retreat) in London at the time. Addressing the large
gathering on this occasion Ven. Thera said : ' You are celebrating my
birthday and I am reaching my 99th year. That means my life span is
fast coming to an end. Is this a thing to celebrate ? Well ! as for
me, it is a thing for celebration, because nearer I go towards death
happier I feel, as I know nearing my death means I am moving towards a
new birth. My humble wish is to be reborn over and over again among
human beings for the service of the Buddha Dhamma. In this life I
could not fulfil my wish to its pristine purity. But I know in my next
life I will be more influential, better learned, much stronger and
capable of carrying out my service to propagate Buddhism in the world.
It is common knowledge in Sri Lanka that my aspiration is to attain
Buddha hood some day in the distant future.
Perhaps it will be decided when I see Lord Maitreya'.
Q. I am sure people in Sri Lanka would like to know something about your life prior to your priesthood . Would you like to talk about it?
A. I was born on 23 August 1896 to Heenmenike and Mathies Appuhamy. Fourteen days after I was born, my mother had died and my saddened father had left the village altogether. It was my uncle Dingirihamy Mudalali ( father's brother) and his wife Yasohamine who brought me up. To me they were my parents.
Q. What were you called in your childhood, and what made you to enter priesthood?
A. My ( gihi) name was Punchi Mahattaya. At the age of 9 an eminent figure from the Mahabodhi Society, Brahmacharya Walisinghe Harrischandra visited my school, Kumara Vidyalaya, in 1905, and delivered a speech on Buddhist way of life. Having listened to his talk, I thought I should follow the true Buddhist path and be a model like the gentleman himself. Those days everyone respected and honoured monks. At the age of 15, after a ' battle' with my 'parents' to obtain their blessing to take up robes, I received their consent in 1911. Finally I was ordained as a 'Samanera', at Nandaramaya, Balangoda Udumulla Temple, which was also built by my uncle Dingiri Mudalali.
Q. In a spiritual context, how would you explain the moral decadence of the people in Sri Lanka over the years ?
A. Towards the latter part of the British rule Sri Lankans lived a happy and a pious life. Their aim was to uphold their culture and religion. When foreign influence was encroaching upon the Lankan society people like Anagarika Dharmapala fought against such tide waves . They foresaw the impact and the damage the foreign influence was going to have on the Country. That was the main purpose set forth to oust the British and seek Independence. But once we received our Independence, our National leaders, in my opinion, did not understand the very purpose of achieving that freedom. Therefore, they carried on as before, and the result was that the country went from bad to worse.
Q. We didn't really reap the benefits out of our Independence , is that what you mean ?
A. During the British rule, at least the Europeans listened to our peoples' claims and their agitation, but our leaders turned a deaf ear to any public outcry. By Sri Lanka becoming more liberalised, it caused a steep decline in cultural and religious values. Soon, people started to divide themselves into various political groups, whereas during the Colonial regime there was complete unity among the people. That unity was associated with preserving Buddhism and our cultural values, but today's deterioration on moral cultural, economical and spiritual values are due to this division of our own people. They are only interested in competing against each other and promoting their own political parties and not religion or cultural values.
Q. In the light of reference to ' Devas' ( Gods) in Buddhist ' prayers' such as in ' Ethipiso Bagawa...., Eththa Watcha Chamhehi ..... Swakhato Bhagawatho..etc...' can you reconcile such references with the concept of an Omnipresent God, as referred to in Hinduism ?
A. Buddhists don't believe in an Omnipresent or Omnipotent God.
Every man , according to Buddhist philosophy, has the opportunity to be born in one of six Deva Worlds as a Deva, if one lives a morally good clean life. In other words, there are people who have ascended to higher worlds due to their good Karma. There are some earth bound Devas too, who are very near us. Humans can transfer merit to some Devas, but not to every Deva. Merely repeating like a parrot gathas such as ' Aaaka satt tarta bhummatta or Ethha Watha Chamhehi', out of habit , or offering alms, for the sake of name and fame , there is nothing to transfer as merit to Devas, and people cannot expect protection from Devas in such circumstances. Today when they want to give alms to priests some go in search of Nayaka Theros, famous priests ( ' big guns'... with an infectious laugh ) and forget the poor monks who lead religious and secluded lives. Out of such alms giving people cannot expect any help from Devas! It is my personal belief that Devas have forgotten our country, unfortunately !
Q. Today Lord Buddha's message is being interpreted to the world in various forms, such as Hinayana, Mahayana and Vagirayana. Do you agree that these different interpretations tend to blur Buddha's basic message ?
A. There may be different schools of thought, different rituals and rites among various sects, but the underlined factor is that Buddhists are all united in Lord Buddha's ' Attangika Magga' ( 8 fold path).
Rituals and ceremonies are unimportant but what matters is the quality of life one leads and whether it is pure and unblemished. Then you will find you are on the way to progress, in Lord Buddha's point of view.
Q. How would you analyse the terms 'Soul' and 'Athma' ? Lord Buddha taught that the word 'soul' had no meaning . How would you account for the cycle of rebirth taking the concept of soul as interpreted by other religions?
A. There are two ways of explaining this if we take the Sun as a simple example. A teacher, who takes a class of young children, may use the conventional language to tell his students that the Sun is rising and setting, although there is no such thing , but the phenomena take place due to the rotation of the earth. When the same teacher takes an advanced class he has to use 'deeper' language and use scientific examples and perhaps be more philosophical. Likewise, Buddha's teachings varied according to the level of inteligence of the seekers of the truth and he used the words such as 'Soul' and 'Athma' as appropriate. But to those aspirants who had opened up their intelligence, Lord Buddha taught the Vipassana Meditation - dealing with topics such as 'what is life? What is man ( matter + mind)?'; Mind is a series of impermanent occurrences to be taken as unchanging essence or 'soul'; Physical body is also a stream of material state subject to momentary change and there is nothing to be taken as ego, entity or 'soul'. This practice of understanding one's own nature, Buddha said, was not practicable to use in the ' ordinary world'.
Q. The subject of paranormal phenomena is being explored in depth today in the Western world. In the University of Edinburgh, a Chair has been set up for the sake of Parapsychology which involves the study of Ghosts. What are your views on Ghosts or Bhuthayas as we call them?
A. Well! when a man dies, sometimes he is born in a different world with a subtle body due to his attachment to his family. In that subtle (astral) body form the dead person can live for some time till he ascends to a higher world with the help of meritorious deeds done by his relatives. In that body such a person can travel faster than light because it moves with the mind.
Q. How is that only some people can see such subtle bodies and others not ?
A. Some dead persons in that state can make their astral bodies become solid so that others may see it. Others are not able to do it and, therefore, they cannot show themselves.
Q. There is a belief in Sri Lanka that people are always born under various 'Ganas' such as Rakksa, Deva and Manussa Gana. Is it a fact?
A. It is only an astrological interpretation. Now, I belong to Raksa Gana but I am not cruel at all ( highly tickled with laughter ).
Q. Today a lot of Buddhists are becoming Sai Baba devotees. In view of the confused state of mind in certain Buddhist quarters, could you throw some light on the subject ?
A. I also visited Sai Baba some 20 years or so ago when I was nearly going blind with Cataract. Everyone advised me against an operation and, I was very confused. Suddenly a Dayaka in our temple, who could not speak English paid my travelling expenses and invited me to accompany him to India , as an interpreter, to see Sai Baba. When I saw Sai Baba at Whitefield, Bangalore, he came to me straight, out of the crowd, and blessed me with his usual gesture of waving his right hand and walked away from me. After taking a few yards, suddenly he turned back and walked towards me again. Next, he put both his hands on my shoulders, smiled and said ' Get your eyes operated, it will be successful'. I told Sai Baba, that was exactly I was contemplating in my mind to ask him. He simply smiled again and repeated, 'Don't you worry, operation will be successful' and went away.
Q. What was your instant reaction ?
A. I was stunned because even without having to ask the question Sai Baba knew exactly my thoughts. According to me, He is a very powerful person with some wonderful psychic powers. He is regarded as incarnation of Lord Vishnu, a world teacher, coming Messiah, advanced yogi etc., by various people. But to me, he is one who has tremendous powers and highly spirutually elevated personality.
Q. So, then, as a Buddhist there is no harm in following Sai Baba ?
A. Well! supposing if you were to visit a Harley Street specialist for a consultation or to get some treatment, is it harmful to your religion ? (smilingly) . Likewise, people go to Sai Baba to clear their doubts, seek help for various forms of mental, psychical psychological etc. There is no harm at all in doing so.
I will tell you another story. In Anguttra Nikaya, Lord Buddha referred to six great teachers who were true believers in a creator God called Brahmma. These teachers taught people how to follow a morally good path in life to develop their jhanas ( spiritual knowledge). Those who practised such disciplines were later born in Brahma world. So, The Buddha said, the pupils were not even Buddhists but followers of Brahmma God, yet they listened to their teachers with open minds, respected their masters' teaching and followed their good advice and led pure and moral lives which helped them to earn much merit. They were consequently reborn in Deva and Brahmma worlds.
Q. What happened to your sight after you met Sai Baba ?
A. Two weeks after I returned back to Sri Lanka I went completely blind in both my eyes. Immediately I entered the general hospital and got my right eye operated. It was successful. Later the left eye was operated on. Now I can read big letters even without having to wear spectacles.
Q. Do you think that Sai Baba helped you and encouraged to undergo your eye operations ?
A. Yes ! Yes ! His blessings on me also have helped me a great deal.
Q. How would you categorise Buddhists in Sri Lanka today - Average, Deep or just ritualistic ?
A. People in every village and town are now becoming more and more interested in the practice of meditation. Specially it is encouraging to see mostly the youth , both male and female , becoming interested in Vippassana meditation. In my view, the uneducated are getting caught up in ritualistic practices which was not found some 50 years ago. But on the whole, Buddhism is now improving among the educated classes and it is a very good sign.
Q. In Sri Lanka you are regarded as one of the most respected and holy monks who has reached spiritual enlightenment to a very high degree. Yet in some sections of the society there were subtle criticism about your close association with the late President Premadasa , who was a politician. What are your comments?
A. I am not a politician and I do not belong to any political party .
People have totally misunderstood me. I knew Mr. Premadasa as a young boy who came to our temple to read my Dhamma School books. I was very much familiar with him long before he entered politics. Later when I was in the USA he had named a new village in my home town Balangoda , under his Gam Udawa project. He called it the Ananda Maitreya Gama, and I did not even know about it as I was in the USA at the time. When I returned to Sri Lanka I went to thank him. He asked me whether it was not a good idea to live close to Colombo , at my age, as it was tiresome for me to travel to and from Balangoda. Within a week he showed me a video film of a plot of land and asked me, 'Hamuduruwane do you like this place?' It was a calm place near a river and ideal for my meditation, I told him so. When I was in England two years later, he phoned me and asked me return to Sri Lanka to take over the new temple which he had already built without my knowledge. He had already named it Battaramulla Chitta Viveka Asramaya . When I saw him in Colombo again he told me, ' Hamuduruwane, this is my religious obligation as I have a great regard for you, and this has nothing to do with politics. I do not want you to get involved in politics or become a UNP supporter.' It is true that I went to see some of his Gam Udawa programmes, and that was purely out of my own accord to see what they were like. Even Mrs. Bandranaiyke has told me the same thing , not to get involved in politics, when she was the Prime Minister. Late Dr. N.M.Perera had made a request in his last will for me to perform his funeral rites . The moment I heard about it I went and did everything to fulfill his last wishes.
Q. Looking back at your past, would you comment on the lax discipline of some of the modern monks. Do you agree that Vinaya Council in Sri Lanka has not pulled its weight to cleanse the Sangha of such deviants? Some years ago the Vinaya Council exercised stringent powers of discipline. Why has it failed to deliver?
A. Some years ago Bhikkus were much engrossed in keeping to Vinaya. Even now in most temples there are many disciplined monks. If there was a lax in discipline I can only think of the new University education, followed by monks taking up teaching careers. Even among them I know quite a few who are trying to maintain highly disciplined Orders.
Here and there you will always find a black sheep, you can't avoid it. Even during Lord Buddha's time there were 250 bhikkus who were living in a monastery misbehaving. They were dancing with women and sleeping with women . Women were singing and playing the harp, and they were entertaining the monks etc. Ultimately Lord Buddha had to send Ven. Sariputta to chase the undisciplined monks away ( laughter....) . My advice is, if you come across a undisciplined monk try and explain to him the purpose of his becoming a bhikku, in a loving and caring manner, otherwise if you condemn him he will become incorrigible.
Q. What are you future plans?
A. To do some service to Dhamma whenever I get an opportunity. But the problem is that I never get a free moment, whether I am in Sri Lanka , England or in the USA, people are gathering to see me and they seek advice. I suppose it is also a form of service . My main aim is to attain to a higher level of mind development. I will do it. My conscience says that I am going to do it. I do not want to be born in heavenly worlds when I am dead. I would like to be born in Sri Lanka as a human being to develop Buddhism further and propagate Lord Buddha's philosophy throughout the world in its pristine purity. I have this strong feeling and urge within me. Apart from that, as many people are aware, my aspiration is to attain Buddhahood in the distant future someday. Perhaps it will be decided when I see Lord Maitreya.
(Source: http://www.lankaweb.com/dhamma/ )


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If you haven't already seen this post by Ashley Miller, you probably should. Especially if you're under some misapprehension that we're in a post-racial society just because Obama got 51% of the vote. She didn't lose her father to disease, or to an accident. She lost her father because her father decided his Southern upbringing was more important than his filial relationship.
I'm sorry to be doing this over the phone, your father has forbidden me from seeing you in person. I'm sorry, he just cannot support your lifestyle anymore, he will not be speaking to you again, he asked me to tell you.
That was my stepmother, the day after Thanksgiving, the day after she discovered I was dating someone. Someone who was not white. Someone who was black. Someone who was sitting in the next room and knew what the phone call was going to be about before it even started.
Your father wants you to know that he still loves you. But you've gone too far.
This broke my damn heart.
And what's more is, I've seen something very similar myself when my father all but disowned my sister for being gay. And in a way, it would have been better if he had disowned her, rather than simply harboring a "father knows best" grudge that he brings up every time we communicate with one another. My sister and I are both practically estranged from my father except for the very rare and awkward call. Whenever these calls happen, I cringe inwardly knowing that if conversations venture anywhere near my sister's "life choices" and his disapproval, I'll let fly with a rant about how she no more chose her sexuality than I chose my eye color.
And yes, I know that elides a lot of the argument of how much sexuality is a choice. But frankly, when someone talks about how they disapprove of someone else's lifestyle choices, it damn well ought to be a lifestyle choice you have total control over. Who you love is not a choice you can truly make, any more than you can choose to be convinced about something. What you choose to accept as true without ever examining critically, on the other hand — especially if it's a revulsion to a whole class of people so well internalized that all you can do to defend said revulsion is to preface your otherwise blatantly hateful statements with "I've got no problems with the coloreds or the the queers BUT" — that's a choice.
You can choose to examine that loathing of miscegenation or of homosexuality. Or you can choose to lose a person who represents a valuable part of your life over your dogged determination to stick with your "traditions" or "values" because of how you were raised. It's your call to make — to decide that your daughter's happiness is expendable and must be subsumed into her strict obedience to the social mores of your older generation.
You may only get to make that call once, though. And you will both be the poorer for it.

subset: commoncrawl


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In the midst of the current state of the world with all its faces and forces of genocide, injustice, evil and oppression, I reach back in the practice of sankofa to retrieve and bring forth the timeless ancient ethical wisdom of our honored ancestors. And I do this realizing the awesome unequal suffering of women and children in this month and moment of history and in honor of their defiant and radical refusal to be defeated, to be resigned in despair or to cease their resistance in opposition to oppression and in affirmation of their dignity, humanity and indispensable role of sustaining, shaping and bringing good in the world.
As we close out this month of celebration, commemoration and meditation in special and rightful homage to African women and to women as a whole, it is important to reaffirm our continuing commitment to respecting and securing the equal dignity and rights of women, and to reflect on the awesome meaning and indispensable role of women in co-creating, restoring and sustaining the world. And for us, as a people, this reflection is best centered and pursued within the framework of our own culture and in the context of our own times.
It is indeed a time when we are called and morally obligated to recognize the precarious state of the world characterized by processes and practices that disrupt, endanger and degrade both our social and natural worlds which are interlinked and mutually determining, and to appreciate the ever-present urgency to engage these problems and develop ethical and effective ways to restore and sustain the world. As Nana Dr. Wangari Maathai, leader of the Green Belt Movement, stated in her Nobel Peace Prize lecture, "Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own."
Surely, there is an urgent need to respond in rightful and productive ways to is-sues of justice in society and between peoples of the world; plunder, pollution, and depletion of the environment; natural and human-made disasters; structured and persistent poverty; the awesome ruin and waste of war to people and the natural world; the unequal burdens on women and children; and the profound concern for the interests of future generations.
It is important to note that our ancient ancestors raised the question of sustaining the world as an ethical obligation in the earliest of times. It develops as a discourse and moral duty in the ethical imperative of serudj ta, to repair, remake and renew the world, found in the Husia and evolves in the Odu Ifa as an explicit and specific responsibility for women, with the implicit under-standing of a shared responsibility with men.
The Odu Ifa, reaffirms this shared divine status and world-encompassing responsibility of women and men to sustain the world. But it explicitly assigns women the role as sustainers of the world, again with the implicit understanding that men are co-creators and co-sustainers with them. The central source of the ethical concept of women as sustainers of the world is Odu 10:2 and is developed in the narrative of creation. As the narrative unfolds, three orisha (divine spirits) Odu, Obarisa and Ogun are sent from heaven into the world. Odu, the female orisha, which symbolizes women in the world, turns around and returns to ask Olodumare, the Creator, two essential questions, and the answer to each defines the central tasks and responsibility of women in the world.
When Odu asks what is to be done in the world, Olodumare, Lord of Heaven, assigns women to be co-creators of a good world with men. And the text says he gave both women and men the ase (ashe), the divine power and authority, to do what they needed to make the world dara, good, i.e., beneficial and beautiful. When Odu asks what is her particular power within the assignment of co-creator of the world, Olodumare says, "You will be their mother forever and you will also sustain the world." It is important to note here that these assignments are world-encompassing assignments. Thus, Odu is assigned not only to be the mother of the orisha, but also mother of the world, even as she is to be sustainer of the world.
The text tells us he also gave Odu a great spiritual power and "the ase so that whatever men wanted to do, they could not possibly create anything, if they excluded women." The use of the word create (dá) refers to the assignment of co-creation of the world and reaffirms the indispensability of women in all things of importance and value in and for the world. It finds its parallel text and reaffirmation in Odu 248:1 in which Olodumare commanded the due respect for the presence, power and effective participation of the female orisha, Oshun, divine spirit of culture, learning and human flourishing for successful deliberations and work of creation. Here we are reminded of Nana Dr. Anna Julia Cooper's contention that the eventual triumph of women's rights will at the same time signal "the final triumph of all rights over might, the supremacy of the moral forces of reason, justice, and love in the government of the nation" and by extension, in the nations of the world.
The three world-encompassing roles and responsibilities divinely assigned to women in the Odu Ifa are interrelated and flow from the identity of all humans as eniyan, chosen ones, those divinely chosen to bring good in the world. It is within the context of our collective vocation of bringing good in the world, then, that the additional and particular aspect of women's vocation of mother of the world and sustainer of the world emerge. Thus, to be co-creator is to bring good in the world. To be mother of the world, in the bio-social sense, is to co-create spiritually and ethically grounded human beings, to nurture, teach, protect, mentor and advise on various levels and in various venues, ultimately including the whole world. And to sustain the world, as the phrase "mu ilé ayé ro" suggests, is to literally make the world stand upright, i.e., ensure that it is good, secure and endures. In Odu 78:1 and other chapters, this dual emphasis on well-being and right-being requires among other things: the quest for and ethical application of knowledge; the struggle for justice; the cultivation of character; the pursuit of peace; and active concern and care for the earth.
It is within this overarching concern for humanity and the world that Nana Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, great and honored educator, institution-builder and activist, teaches us that to sustain the world, "We must re-make the world. The task is nothing less than that." And she reminds us in this earnest striving and struggle that "the task that is before us as human beings cannot be accomplished singly," that is to say by one race, gender, class, religion or nation. On the contrary, she says, "we must live together; we must work together. We must be willing to use the great measuring rod of justice and fellowship to (humankind) for the sake of (humankind) everywhere" and thus, for the world.


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Hard to believe, but this is installment #19 from my blog thread describing what to call groups of animals … See how many you can guess. Answers listed at the bottom of the page.
- Ooh, how the glaring glared when I started up the vacuum cleaner.
- The ostentation was ostentatious for sure.
- A sleuth sleuths slowly.
- Touch an electric fry and you'll fry.
- The posse shot the posse and ate it.
- The sedge hid in the sedges.
- Glaring of cats
- Ostentation of peacocks
- Sleuth of sloths
- Fry of eels
- Posse of turkeys
- Sedge of bitterns [1]
NOTES: [1] Sedge is also defined as any rushlike or grasslike plant of the genus Carex, growing in wet places. © Jadi Campbell 2017. All photos © Uwe Hartmann. To see more of Uwe's animal photos and pics from our trips go to viewpics.de. Fun animal names from www.writers-free-reference.com, Mother Nature Network and www.reference.com.
Click here for my author page to learn more about my books and me.


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Large Number of Late Season Corn Market Factors
Corn prices at this time of year are typically dominated by yield prospects of the U.S. crop with those prospects pretty well settled. This year, there is considerable uncertainty about U.S. production prospects as well as changing indications of corn consumption.
Production uncertainty stems from both acreage and yield considerations. For acreage, the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) currently estimates planted acreage at 97.379 million acres. The Farm Service Agency report of prevented acreage released last week indicated prevented corn acreage of 3.411 million acres. The estimate exceeded expectations and resulted in speculation that the NASS estimate might eventually be reduced. However, there has not been a close relationship between prevented acres and the change in the NASS estimate of planted acres from June to the final estimate. In 2010, for example, 2.1 million corn acres were reported as prevented, but the NASS final estimate of planted acres exceeded the June estimate by 320,000. In 2011, prevented acres totaled 3.01 million, yet the final NASS estimate of planted acres was only 346,000 less than the June estimate.
Beyond planted acreage, there is some uncertainty about potential acreage harvested for grain. While some insist on analyzing acreage harvested for grain as a percentage of acreage planted for all purposes, the nominal difference between the two is more informative. The difference rather than the ratio is more informative since acreage harvested for silage is nearly constant in years with good growing conditions (varied by only 400,000 acres from 2008 through 2010) while changes in planted acreage are motivated by demand for grain. The difference between planted acreage and acreage harvested for grain averaged only 6.8 million acres in 2009 and 2010, about 400,000 less than the previous 5-year average. The difference increased to 7.95 million in 2011 and 9.78 million in 2012 as poor weather resulted in more acres harvested for silage or abandoned. This year, NASS estimates the difference at 8.244 million acres. There is potential for the difference to vary from that estimate, depending on how the growing season ends.
The NASS August forecast of the U.S. average corn yield of 154.4 bushels per acre was three to four bushels less than expected. The initial reaction was that the forecast would be larger in subsequent reports. However, weather conditions have become less favorable as large areas of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois received less than average precipitation over the last 60 days and particularly over the past 30 days. While more seasonal temperatures in coming weeks will help advance maturity, the combination of warm and dry weather will likely result in declining crop condition ratings and yield expectations more in line with the USDA forecast.
The pace of corn consumption has also accelerated as the 2012-13 marketing year winds down. Based on weekly estimates of ethanol production, it appears that corn used for ethanol and co-product production during the last quarter of the marketing year will be 40 to 45 million bushels more than used during the summer quarter last year. If so, use for the entire marketing year will exceed last week's USDA forecast by 30 to 35 million bushels.
The recent pace of exports of U.S. corn has also been a little higher than expected, averaging 12.55 million bushels per week in the six weeks ended August 15. The USDA raised the forecast of 2012-13 marketing year exports by 15 million bushels, to a total of 715 million, in last week's WASDE report. With just over two weeks left in the marketing year, cumulative export inspections are reported at 666 million bushels, suggesting that inspections need to average 21.3 million bushels per week in the last 2.3 weeks of the year to reach that projection. However, through the first 10 months of the marketing year, the cumulative Census Bureau export estimate exceeded inspections by 27 million bushels. If that margin persists through August, weekly shipments need to average less than 10 million bushels per week. It appears that exports will reach the projected level.
To reach the USDA forecast of feed and residual use for the 2012-13 marketing year, use during the last quarter of the year needs to total only 382 million bushels. That is 60 million bushels more than use during the summer quarter last year when an estimated 1.2 billion bushels of new crop corn were harvested before September 1. However, the required use is 90 million bushels less the average summer use in 2010 and 2011. It appears that use could exceed the USDA projection, leaving the inventory of old crop corn on September 1 less than the current forecast of 719 million bushels.
Taken together, recent developments suggest that new crop corn prices may have established a low before harvest. At least the extreme lows that have been reflected in some private forecasts now seem unlikely. The September 12, USDA Crop Production report looms as very important for price direction.
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"It's all about practice, practice, practice. You can only get better every time you practice, and if you get worse then you're doing something wrong."
George Sotiropoulos knows that a win against Joe Lauzon at UFC 123 will keep him in title contention in the lightweight division, and he's not worried about WEC standouts Ben Henderson, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone being thrown into the mix.
"I've never seen Ben Henderson fight," says Sotiropolous. "Unfortunately I didn't get to see many WEC bouts, but I match up well against anybody," he said.
After winning a unanimous decision against Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 116, many observers thought "Sots" would be in line for a title shot, taking on the winner of champion Frankie Edgar versus Gray Maynard in January.
With the UFC folding the WEC and all of its fighters into the mothership, the winner of that bout will now face the winner of a December tilt between WEC champ Ben Henderson and number one contender Anthony Pettis to unify the lightweight belt.
For Sotiropolous, however, recent events just mean a slight delay in the inevitable.
"The title is very important for me," says Sotirpolous. "But I want to win every fight. I want to be the best lightweight in the world. I don't look at what fights are going to get me a title shot. I don't care who I fight or why. I care about winning. And if I continue to win, eventually I'll be the champion."
It's that workmanlike attitude that has kept the Australian undefeated inside The Octagon (13-2 overall, 6-0 UFC) after making a name for himself on season 6 of The Ultimate Fighter as a member of Team Serra.
"I was 19 years old when I started training, and I have never felt better than I have during this camp," he says. "Every day I can't wait to train. After each session I am excited to start the next, and I've noticed the improvement, my training partners have noticed the improvement and my coaches have noticed the improvement. I'm having an epiphany in training right now and feel like I'm making leaps and bounds in all areas of my game," he says.
That's a scary proposition for anyone facing the former Australian amateur boxing champion, Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt and protégé of Japanese-American mixed martial artist Enson Inoue.
"I met Enson in Guam at one of my fights and he gave me an invitation to come and train with him in Japan," he said. "That led to fights there and if it weren't for him I wouldn't have had the opportunity to fight in Japan."
Indeed, it was in Japan against Shinya Aoki where Sotiropolous suffered his last loss after he hit Aoki with an illegal groin strike, but to him that seems like ages ago.
"I'm so much more improved now anyway," he says. "My wrestling, Muay Thai, boxing, jiu jitsu; I'm very well rounded," he said.
With Joe Lauzon's last victory coming in impressive fashion against Gabe Ruediger at UFC 118 in front of his hometown crowd in Boston (he won via armbar 2:01 into round one), Sotiropolous knows he'll have his work cut out for him against the Massachusetts native.
"He looked great against Gabe, and he looked really good against Sam Stout too," he said. "I've studied all of his wins and all of his losses, and he's an erratic fighter with good jiu jitsu that I have to be careful of, but I'm confident that I will be able to impose my will and my game on him. Technically and physically I am superior. I will dominate," he said.
A former welterweight prospect, Sotiropolous dropped to 155 pounds at UFC 101 and has fared well there, winning against the likes of George Roop, Jason Dent and then Joe Stevenson in front of his hometown crowd in Sydney, Australia at UFC 110, before besting Pellegrino last July.
The former finance industry worker with a degree in business from Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia likes to say; "If you can move a grain of sand a day, eventually you can move a mountain," and his philosophy hasn't changed much even throughout his success in the UFC.
"It's all about practice, practice, practice," he says. "You can only get better every time you practice, and if you get worse then you're doing something wrong. I've acquired skills along the way that have prepared me for a career in fighting, and every day I'm getting better and better. Competing allows me to execute the techniques that I practice," he says.
Sotiropolous has proved that he has what it takes to compete against the best in the world. With both Stevenson and Pellegrino, he proved that he can hang with some of the best wrestlers in the game, even though as an Australian he didn't grow up with wrestling in his blood.
"Australia is very much a mirror of England when it comes to wrestling," he said. "We didn't have it in the education system. But you have to seek out answers to the holes in your game," he says. "I went out and found what I needed to do. I traveled and so on. I have no weaknesses."
The former Australian national jiu jitsu champion is also evolving his ground game, and has added 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu founder Eddie Bravo, one of the sport's innovators, to his team. Bravo cornered George for the first time against Pellegrino, and Sots says his presence has made a world of difference in his own confidence.
"I joined Eddie in November 2008 and he has a lot of faith in me and he joining the team shows that faith. His style will be the evolving force in MMA and jiu jitsu on the ground. I think his style is the future of submission grappling," he said.
With three Submission of the Night honors under next opponent Lauzon's belt, Sotiropolous will have his chance to prove that theory in Detroit.
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Legends Never Die (CD)
Few artists are ever as controversial as they are influential. New York legend R.A. The Rugged Man has lived up to this billing by combining the authenticity of his undeniably rugged life with his undisputed mic skills. Now, two decades after his career began, R.A. has improbably outlasted nearly all of his peers. Having been banned, forgotten, and left behind, the Rugged Man has somehow emerged with a thriving career, a nonstop touring schedule, a die-hard fan base, and a new album sure to solidify his place as one of the most important figures in underground hip-hop. Featuring A-list guests like Tech N9ne, Hopsin, Talib Kweli, Brother Ali, Krizz Kaliko, Vinnie Paz, Masta Ace, Sadat X, and more, Legends Never Die is not only a celebration of R.A.'s illustrious career, but an exciting look at what's still to come.
1. Still Diggin Wit Buck
2. The People's Champ
3. Definition Of A Rap Flow (feat. Amalie Bruun)
4. Learn Truth (feat. Talib Kweli)
5. Bang Boogie
6. Tom Thum
7. Holla-Loo-Yuh (feat. Tech N9ne and Krizz Kaliko)
8. Media Midgets
9. Shoot Me In The Head
10. Legends Never Die (Daddy's Halo)
11. The Dangerous Three (feat. Brother Ali and Masta Ace)
12. Luv To F*k (feat. Eamon)
13. Underground Hitz (feat. Hopsin)
14. Laugh, Clown, Laugh
15. Sam Peckinpah (feat. Vinnie Paz and Sadat X)
16. Outro
17. Still Get Through The Day (feat. Eamon)
18. Bonus: Make You Famous (feat. Block McCloud)
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In the land of the opioid epidemic, foreign websites and credit cards deliver potent painkillers without prescription to America's heartland.
In the 12 months I researched these stories, I interviewed dozens of current and recovering opioid addicts, in person, on the phone and via email and social media. Most were strangers—though once word spread that I was reporting on the opioid crisis, private messages came in from friends as well.
I heard from two—one East Coast, one West Coast—each who knew loving middle-age mothers who lost adult sons to opioids. I heard from a Tennessee woman I knew whose teenage daughter had been in and out of rehab three times. I talked to her daughter as well, and she told me she was now clean—except for drinking, and occasionally smoking pot. "I've got this," she said.
But I hung up the phone fearing that she wasn't through shooting heroin, and a few months later I learned that she had overdosed—and been saved by paramedics with a dose of the overdose antidote naloxone.
Many I spoke with started their opioid journey with prescribed pain pills. Some would later leave their nice houses and find street drugs in back alleys and parts of town they never would have ventured before to feed their addiction. I rode with police officers who showed me those neighborhoods, who told me the only reason people came there was to get drugs.
Then the circles got closer. I talked to a relative, a pain medicine specialist, who described how he had been offered "rewards" for prescribing opioids for normal pain—which he said he declined to do.
As this issue was about to go to press, I learned that a friend, a 57-year-old production designer for film and commercials, had just died, from a heroin overdose. Our kids are the same age—he and I coached Little League together. We hung out at the field with our kids countless times, bonding over the joy we took in trying to teach and protect our sons. His ex-wife found him alone at his home, on her birthday. The pain is unfathomable.
At his memorial service, his two sons, a nephew and another relative performed one of his favorite songs, Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here."
When I told another friend how he had died, she was dumbfounded. "Wait, the guy that coached my kids, who has two sons, and a job … what, he comes home and does heroin? Who does that?"
More people than you know.
There were other degrees of nonseparation. Another friend, a parent of three that I had known for years, sent a private message that she knew someone I should talk to: her. Her kids went to the same religious school my kids went to. I had served on committees with her and her husband. They were your average American middle class couple. I had left my kid at their house for play dates and sleepovers.
But they too had been addicts, she told me. They were clean now, but had suffered through opioid addiction that lasted more than five years. Tramadol, she said, a supposedly harmless opioid-based pain medication, started as an innocent option and became an addiction costing thousands of dollars, the respect of a child and their home. "It was supposed to be nonaddictive—that's bullsh**," she said. "Had I known, I would never have started that."
Neither would they have likely been able to fuel their tragic habit, except for a reality that postal inspectors and law enforcement officials have described to Congress as a river of illegal prescription drugs flowing into the country. My friends didn't have to go to the bad part of town, to the other side of the tracks, to drug houses or pill mills.
They had them delivered by U.S. Mail and FedEx. To their door.
And so, I did too.
My friends didn't have to go to the bad part of town, to the other side of the tracks, to drug houses or pill mills. They had them delivered by U.S. Mail and FedEx. To their door.
The India Connection
Earlier this year, a U.S. Senate committee detailed the ease with which investigators were able to access online, highly addictive opioids like fentanyl and carfentanyl. Starting with a Google search, "fentanyl for sale," they contacted sellers in China willing to sell bulk quantities of the synthetic opioid. Preferred payments were in Bitcoin or through PayPal. The committee reported that nearly $800 million worth of illicit fentanyl doses had been sold online to U.S. consumers from China in the past two years.
The bipartisan report by the Senate Homeland Security Committee said that while commercial shippers like FedEx and UPS are required to supply Customs and Border Protection with advance data about international packages, drug organizations continue to use the two corporate shippers to slip packages in. Further, advance documentation on packages is not required for U.S. Postal Service deliveries received from foreign postal organizations. Those packages are theoretically inspected manually upon arrival in the U.S. Yet as one U.S. postmaster told me, there are few specific inspection rules, at least at the local level. "The message is more about keeping yourself and your family healthy," he said.
Despite government and industry efforts to control opioid abuse and addiction by tightening prescription access and making it harder to convert pharmaceuticals for street use, the tap on illegal drugs has apparently, been running wide-open on the internet all the while. I decided to try it.
Iodine, a blog site that reports on information from the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, recently called Tramadol "the most dangerous drug in the world." Introduced in 1995, this synthetic opioid—similar to OxyContin—carried with it the promise of low risk for addiction, a promise that has proven false. Tramadol has been widely prescribed in the U.S., despite its great potential for both addiction and abuse. Prescriptions here rose by 88 percent from 2008-2013, from just over 23 million prescriptions to nearly 44 million.
"One of the reason[s] people like taking Tramadol," Iodine reported, "is because for some people it works as an antidepressant, producing euphoria or energy, unlike other opioids which tend to make people drowsy. This has led [to] it being used recreationally, while people still go to work or live their daily lives."
Studies show the drug being abused worldwide, with significant occurrences from the African nations of Cameroon, Nigeria and Egypt, to Ireland and more. SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) reported a 145 percent increase in Tramadol-related adverse reactions from 2005-2009, at a level that continued for at least two years.
It Started Quickly
Paula (not her real name) said that after a particularly stressful week involving school bullying, a restraining order and other anxieties, her husband suggested she take one of his pain pills, which he'd been taking for years, first prescribed for a skin condition. He thought it would help her relax, as most opioids do.
Instead, "It felt like an upper to me," she recalled. "I started taking them more and more. I started losing weight. It gave me so much energy. Before I knew it, I was full-on addicted."
Her husband had been refilling his prescription from an online pharmacy—one that never asked questions. So when Paula wanted some of her own, she just ordered them.
"We Googled it and looked at the top one or two names." They called, or sometimes ordered online, and were never asked for a prescription, or a doctor's name—just a credit card number. While they were told they were talking to a Canadian pharmacy, the guy on the phone usually sounded like he was from India, she said.
"And we were just blowing money. … But I just needed more pills," she said. "Each bottle of 80 pills was like $120, or $220, I don't remember," she said. Between the two of them, they were ordering two bottles a week. "We blew the college money for one of [the kids]," she said.
"The deliveries came so often, I became friends with the FedEx guy," she said.
She and her husband shared their addiction. As costs mounted they tried to stop. Eventually the narcotics deliveries led to financial ruin.
"There's no more pills, we have no more money, that's it, you're off of it. I probably would have kept going if we could have afforded to," Paula said.
She quit cold turkey. She described the experience as hellish. Her husband's was worse, because he tried to wean himself with Suboxone, a lower dose opioid that supposedly eases withdrawal from stronger opioids.
Three weeks later, a plain padded 5x9-inch envelope from Singapore showed up in my mailbox. … It's that easy. No prescription, no doctor identified, no proof of any condition or identification.
It took Paula a month to begin to feel normal, she said, but her husband found it was harder to kick Suboxone than the opiate. It took him months to finally get rid of all the symptoms.
"We had to sell the house," she said. "It was bad."
Canadian Pharmacy's website is adorned with half of the Canadian flag. Nowhere on the site does it say they're in Canada. In the FAQ section, it says they manufacture and ship from India.
I Googled "opioids online" and found a few options. I decided to go with the one I at least had a referral from, Canadian Pharmacy. The site listed dozens of drugs sold, alphabetically by categories, from Allergies, Anti-Anxiety and Antidepressants, lots of options for men's health, all the way through the alphabet to Weight Loss and Women's Health. In the middle was Pain Relief.
Under that heading were options of Elavil (an antidepressant with the potential for a fatal overdose); Modafinil (a Schedule IV controlled substance similar to an amphetamine); Prednisone (a steroid used to manage inflammation); and Soma (a muscle relaxer that blocks sensations between the nerves and the brain).
All of these require a prescription in the U.S., which disclose potential side effects, and some are known to be potentially addictive. At the bottom of the list was Tramadol, which the site described as "a strong opioid analgesic sold within the territory of the USA under the brand name Ultram."
Tramadol is available on the site in dosages of 50, 100, 200 and 250 mg. I ordered 30 pills at 100 mg, with regular delivery. My total charge was $97.13, and I was promised a delivery in two to three weeks. The website's FAQ said the drugs were generic but with the same quality control as brand-name, and that "they are approved by the Indian FDA, as that's where they are manufactured and shipped from."
And three weeks later, a plain padded 5x9-inch envelope from Singapore showed up in my mailbox. Inside were three sets of 10 white pills, professionally packaged, with "Tramadol" stamped on the back, along with a manufactured date of four months before, and an expiration date of almost seven years later. It read "Manufactured in India by HAB Pharmaceuticals & Research Limited."
It's that easy. No prescription, no doctor identified, no proof of any condition or identification.
I called the company on an 800 number for U.S. residents to ask how they were able to distribute narcotics that, to be legal, require a prescription in the United States. A woman who identified herself as Keisha told me, "In India, opioids are not considered controlled substances."
It's been years since Paula and her husband quit. But temptation still arrives frequently in the mailbox.
"I'm still getting refill emails," she said. "I'm like, 'Oh God.'"


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Author: David White, Aberdeen Group
'Pervasive business intelligence—BI for the masses—is often described, but rarely achieved. Conventional BI approaches have enjoyed limited success, partly due to high up-front costs and complexity that often comes with those solutions. However, prior Aberdeen Group research shows increasing interest in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business intelligence, with twice as many organizations using this deployment approach as one year ago – 15% in 209 compared to 7% in 2008.
This Analyst Insight is based on data collected from more than 400 BI users using two separate surveys during 2010. The research seeks answers to three major questions of SaaS business intelligence deployments: can SaaS bring business intelligence to new user populations or areas of business; can SaaS change the economics of BI deployment, and does SaaS foster a more agile approach to business intelligence?