“Power tends to corrupt,” said Lord Acton, the 19th-century British historian. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” His maxim has been vividly illustrated in psychological studies, notably the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, which was halted when one group of students arbitrarily assigned to serve as “prison guards” over another group began to abuse their wards.
But new scholarship is bringing fresh subtlety to psychologists’ understanding of when power leads people to take ethical shortcuts—and when it doesn’t. Indeed, for some people, power seems to bring out their best. After all, good people do win elective office, says Katherine A. DeCelles, a professor of management at the University of Toronto, and no few business executives want to do good while doing well. “When you give good people power,” DeCelles says she wondered, are they more able than others “to enact that moral identity, to do what’s right?”
In a study recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, DeCelles and her co-authors found that the answer is yes. People’s sense of “moral identity”—the degree to which they thought it was important to their sense of self to be “caring,” “compassionate,” “fair,” “generous” and so on—shaped their responses to feelings of power.
DeCelles and her colleagues developed moral identity scores for two groups, 173 working adults and 102 undergraduates, by asking the participants to rate how important those ethically related attributes were to them. The researchers had some participants write an essay recalling an incident in which they felt powerful, while others wrote about an ordinary day. Then the participants took part in lab experiments to probe how they balanced self-interest against the common good.
The undergraduates were told they shared a pool of 500 points with other people, and they could take between zero and ten points for themselves. The more points they took, the better their odds of winning a $100 lottery. But if they took too many—there was no way of knowing what that tipping point was—the pot would empty and the lottery would be called off.
The participants who had just written about an ordinary day each took roughly 6.5 points, regardless of their moral-identity score. But among those who had been primed to think of themselves as powerful, the people with low moral-identity scores grabbed 7.5 points—and those with high moral-identity scores took only about 5.5.
In surveys, the last group showed a greater understanding of how their actions would affect other people, which is the crucial mechanism, DeCelles says. Power led them to take a broader, more communally centered perspective.
The experiment involving the adults found a similar relationship between moral identity, ethical behavior and innate aggressiveness. Assertive people who scored low on the moral-identity scale were more likely to say they’d cheated their employer in the past week than more passive types with similar moral-identity scores. But among those with high moral-identity scores, the assertive people were less likely to have cheated.
In sum, the study found, power doesn’t corrupt; it heightens pre-existing ethical tendencies. Which brings to mind another maxim, from Abraham Lincoln: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
At issue is the Specialized High School Admissions Test, which is the sole criterion for admission to eight specialized schools that, even in the view of city officials, have been troubled by racial demographics that are out of balance.
Although 70 percent of the city’s public school students are black and Hispanic, a far smaller percentage have scored high enough to receive offers from one of the schools. According to the complaint, 733 of the 12,525 black and Hispanic students who took the exam were offered seats this year. For whites, 1,253 of the 4,101 test takers were offered seats. Of 7,119 Asian students who took the test, 2,490 were offered seats. At Stuyvesant High School, the most sought-after school, 19 blacks were offered seats in a freshman class of 967.
“I refuse to believe there are only 19 brilliant African-Americans in the city; it simply cannot be the case,” Mr. Hewitt said. “It is a shameful practice and it must be changed.”
The test-only rule has existed for decades, as have complaints about its effect on minority enrollment. In May 1971, after officials began thinking about adding other criteria for admission, protests from many parents, mostly white, persuaded the State Legislature to enshrine the rule in state law.
'via Blog this'
Hungary's deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar announced that, upon the recent discovery of roughly 1000 acres of illegal GM corn, all of these "frankencrops" were systematically destroyed. He also claimed that none of the pollen from the crops had spread, and that the government will continue to monitor seed distribution and crop plantings to ensure that no more GMOs are planted.
'via Blog this' ....what Monsanto subsidiaries have made their way into the natural food aisle? "...a tweeter pointed out that Monsanto has a lot of subsidiary companies (including Seminis, De Ruiter, Peotec, Western, DEKLAB, and Asgrow), and through them Monsanto owns a large percentage of the seeds out in the world. I was even more shocked to realize that when Monsanto bought up Western Seeds it officially moved into organics. Their organic line now includes wheat, barley, oats, triticale, beans and peas.
Even if these seeds are purchased by organic farmers and grown organically, they still owe their existence to Monsanto. I could no longer trust the USDA organic label to mean something was Monsanto-free."
There's nothing they are leaving untouched: the mustard, the okra, the bringe oil, the rice, the cauliflower. Once they have established the norm: that seed can be owned as their property, royalties can be collected. We will depend on them for every seed we grow of every crop we grow. If they control seed, they control food, they know it -- it's strategic. It's more powerful than bombs. It's more powerful than guns. This is the best way to control the populations of the world. The story starts in the White House, where Monsanto often got its way by exerting disproportionate influence over policymakers via the "revolving door". One example is Michael Taylor, who worked for Monsanto as an attorney before being appointed as deputy commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1991. While at the FDA, the authority that deals with all US food approvals, Taylor made crucial decisions that led to the approval of GE foods and crops. Then he returned to Monsanto, becoming the company's vice president for public policy.
Thanks to these intimate links between Monsanto and government agencies, the US adopted GE foods and crops without proper testing, without consumer labeling and in spite of serious questions hanging over their safety. Not coincidentally, Monsanto supplies 90 percent of the GE seeds used by the US market. Monsanto's long arm stretched so far that, in the early nineties, the US Food and Drugs Agency even ignored warnings of their own scientists, who were cautioning that GE crops could cause negative health effects. Other tactics the company uses to stifle concerns about their products include misleading advertising, bribery and concealing scientific evidence.
In 1949, 226 workers became ill after a container of herbicide exploded at a Monsanto Company plant in Nitro, West Virginia.[5] Many were diagnosed with chloracne; a medical report at the time described "systemic intoxication in the workers involving most major organ systems."[citation needed]
Thousands of individuals[specify] were exposed at Fort McClellan Alabama,[citation needed] when a chemical weapons training center and a nearby Monsantofactory disposed of chemicals into a west Anniston creek over several decades. Many people settled out of court, but a class-action suit is still ongoing. Although the incineration of the chemical weapons at Fort McClellan ended in 2011, areas of the base remain closed or off-limits due to the residual contamination. A significant percentage of soldiers[specify] who trained or were stationed at Fort McClellan have chloracne and many of those[specify] maintain that chemical weapons were tested on them.[citation needed]
Almost 2,000 individuals suffered chloracne, among other symptoms, after chronic exposure to cooking oils contaminated with PCBs and PCDFs in northern Kyūshū, Japan in 1968. The syndrome came to be called Yusho or "Rice Oil" disease.[citation needed]
In 1979, a similar case of mass contamination of cooking oil was reported in central Taiwan. Over 2,000 individuals were affected by what came to be called Yu-Cheng.[6]
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko suffered from prominent facial chloracne after being diagnosed with possible dioxin poisoning in late 2004 according to prominent toxicologist John Henry, though he never personally examined Yushchenko.[citation needed]
A New Jersey cop who did not appreciate being video recorded by a 15-year-old boy threatened to steal the teen’s camera forever.
“Turn that video camera off right now or it’s going to be mine forever,” the Hanover Township police officer said, obviously knowing he was being recorded, but dumb enough not to care.
The cop is not named in the ABC Local story but I’ve contacted the teen through Facebook in the hopes of obtaining it.
The very small group of American women who are at risk of experiencing an unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives account for almost half of all abortions. Many of these women did not think they would get pregnant or had concerns about contraceptive methods. The remainder of abortions occur among the much larger group of women who were using contraceptives in the month they became pregnant. Many of these women report difficulty using contraceptives consistently.
Abortion is one of the safest surgical procedures for women in the United States. Fewer than 0.5% of women obtaining abortions experience a complication, and the risk of death associated with abortion is about one-tenth that associated with childbirth.
In the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a woman, in consultation with her physician, has a constitutionally protected right to choose abortion in the early stages of pregnancy-that is, before viability. In 1992, the Court upheld the basic right to abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. However, it also expanded the ability of the states to enact all but the most extreme restrictions on women's access to abortion. The most common restrictions in effect are parental notification or consent requirements for minors, state-sponsored counseling and waiting periods, and limitations on public funding.
Pregnancies and Their Outcomes
• In 2008, there were 6.4 million pregnancies to the 62 million women of reproductive age (15-44) in the United States. Sixty-six percent of these pregnancies resulted in live births and 19% in abortions; the remaining 15% ended in miscarriage.
• In New Jersey, 194,800 of the 1,722,494 women of reproductive age became pregnant in 2008. 58% of these pregnancies resulted in live births and 28% in induced abortions.
• In 2008, 1.2 million American women obtained abortions, producing a rate of 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age. The rate is virtually unchanged from 2005, when the abortion rate was 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women 15-44.
• In 2008, 54,160 women obtained abortions in New Jersey, producing a rate of 31.3 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age. Some of these women were from other states, and some New Jersey residents had abortions in other states, so this rate may not reflect the abortion rate of state residents. The rate decreased 9% since 2005, when it was 34.3 abortions per 1,000 women 15-44. Abortions in New Jersey represent 4.5% of all abortions in the United States.
Where Do Women Obtain Abortions?
• In 2008, there were 1,793 abortion providers in the United States. This is virtually unchanged from 2005, when there were 1,787 abortion providers. Thirty-four percent of these providers were hospitals, 21% were abortion clinics (clinics where more than half of all patient visits were for abortion), 26% were clinics where fewer than half of all visits were for abortion, and 19% were private physicians' offices. Seventy percent of all abortions were provided at abortion clinics, 24% at other clinics, 4% at hospitals and 1% at private physicians' offices.
• In 2008, there were 75 abortion providers in New Jersey. This represents a 12% decline from 2005, when there were 85 abortion providers.
• In 2008, 87% of U.S. counties had no abortion provider. 1/3 of American women lived in these counties, which meant they would have to travel outside their county to obtain an abortion. Of women obtaining abortions in 2006, nonhospital providers estimate that 27% traveled at least 50 miles.
• In 2008, 24% of New Jersey counties had no abortion provider. 9% of New Jersey women lived in these counties.
Restrictions on Abortion
In New Jersey, the following restrictions on abortion were in effect as of January 2011:
New Jersey does not have any of the major types of abortion restrictions—such as waiting periods, mandated parental involvement or limitations on publicly funded abortions—often found in other states
'via Blog this'COP is Your Voice in the United States Congress
A Lone Ranger goes to Washington to repeal Drug Prohibition and end the War on Drugs: Ask Him Why*
by Mary Ann Akers of the Washington Post
Howard Wooldridge has one of the craziest jobs: trying to convince 535 of the most uptight people in Washington – the entire membership of Congress - to repeal drug prohibition. That means everything from marijuana to cocaine to heroin. He urges them to adopt the 10th Amendment (states’ rights) as a guiding principle for drug policy.
See COP’s rep in action in the Congress. Click below for a four minute video produced by the Washington Post.
*To protect our children better from pedophiles and other threats by not wasting time on a Charlie Sheen, Willie Nelson, Snoop Dog, Rush Limbaugh or any adult. Have a drug problem? See a doctor.
He said what??!!: On July 21, 2010 during a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Congressman McCaul of Texas said this about the Mess in Mexico: ‘We must contain the violence in Mexico. We do not want to see it spill over the border.’
In other words, as long as it is Mexico suffering 60,000 KIA (killed in action) since 2007 for our prohibition, no problemo. Just keep the dead bodies on the other side of the Rio Grande. How do you spell, We Don’t Care How Many Mexicans Die?
On the other hand.. In a NY Times interview on July 25, 2010 former Mexican President Vincente Fox said..”That is why my position is that we should move as fast as possible into legalizing drug consumption.” Fox cares that 50,000 of his fellow citizens have been slaughtered in the name of American drug prohibition since 2007.
In March 2012 Vice President Biden traveled to Central America to ask them to stop talking about legalization. His short message to President Perez of Guatemala and others: Drop Dead ( cáigse muerto) & your country too. We love our prohibition & you should too.
In March 2012 noted evangelist Pat Robertson came out forcefully for the legalization of marijuana, noting that its prohibition ruins the lives of too many young people. “Treat marijuana like alcohol,” he said.
Ann Landers came out for marijuana legalization/regulation before her death in 2002.
Harm to Youth Due to Marijuana Prohibition
SUMMARY: Although the intent of marijuana prohibition was to limit the ability of youth to buy it, this result has not been achieved, quite the contrary. Since 1975 teens in government surveys report that marijuana is readily available and easier to obtain than alcohol. Teen use has recently overtaken their consumption of tobacco. The strength of marijuana has increased. By these metrics, prohibition has been at best a failure and perhaps made the situation worse.
As law enforcement has increased its marijuana arrests (new record number of arrests for simple possession in 2010), the result has been more teens have suffered and died than need be. Detectives assigned to marijuana enforcement arrest no pedophiles and those possessing child porn. Road officers have caught fewer deadly DUIs, due to more and more time spent searching cars for marijuana. Teens have been murdered after they took the job option of selling marijuana. College tuition has risen dramatically in the past twenty (20) years, as tax money was diverted to increase prison populations due in part to marijuana prohibition. Those teens unlucky enough to have been caught are burdened by a life-long, drug-related criminal record which restricts their ability to get a job, a student loan, a license, a credit card. a license, etc.
Personal Safety. Pedophiles stalk our young teens in internet chat rooms, asking them to “meet in real life.” Meanwhile thousands of detectives are flying around in helicopters or attached to drug squads to make many of the 200,000 arrests for drug sales. Child cyber pornography continues to be a serious threat to little boys and girls in America. Per Senator Biden’s hearing in April of 2008, law enforcement so under-resources this problem that only 2% (12,000) of these criminals were arrested in 2008. Per recent news, that figure is now 4% per year are caught. At the end of 2008 about 190,000 little boys and girls were still in the home of a sexually abusive parent or guardian. This while the police arrested 800,000 for marijuana crimes, mostly possession.
Many teens are subjected to random drug tests to play sports, etc. They all know that consuming alcohol or even meth and cocaine on Friday night will allow them a ‘clean’ urine on Monday morning. Marijuana, since it is fat soluble, will show up on a urine test on Monday. Thus, many teens choose the much more dangerous alcohol over the use of marijuana.
Prohibition creates tens of thousands of part and full-time jobs for teens to sell pot. No legal job available to teens is as easy to obtain or as rewarding. Teens sell pot for profit and or to be popular with their peer group. This can end up with them having a criminal record, in prison or dead. Although not broken down by drug, SAMHSA reported in 2005 that 900,000 teens were selling prohibited drugs.
The vast majority of teens who are getting high or “partying” choose between alcohol and marijuana. Marijuana use is actually safer than alcohol for the user, those nearby and the community. Consumption does not provoke aggressive or violent behavior. On average, those teens who use marijuana in place of alcohol have better health outcomes: no overdose deaths from marijuana, far fewer homicides, suicides, rapes, assaults, car crashes, and other problems caused by drinking & rarely by marijuana. We need to make unwanted but inevitable experimentation less risky.
Marijuana use does NOT increase use of harder drugs. The last federal study-1994- concluded that marijuana was the “terminus” illegal drug for 72 percent of users. The most recent research in 1999 done by the Institute of Medicine (division of the National Institute of Health) concluded, “There is no evidence that marijuana serves as a stepping stone [to other drugs] on the basis of its particular physiological effect.” 96% of marijuana smokers never try heroin. One of prohibition’s greatest dangers is having a teen meet a drug dealer to buy marijuana and be offered a low cost or free sample of drugs like heroin. Or, the dealer puts meth or heroin into the marijuana to hook the teen on the much more dangerous and expensive drug. This does happen.
NOTE: If marijuana were legal for adults, teens would buy it from older siblings or other adults, much like alcohol reaches teens. This would continue to be against the law, similar to an adult can not furnish alcohol to a minor. The advantage of legal, regulated and taxed marijuana is the adult would provide the teen pure marijuana inspected by the government. The older sibling would not offer the teen other drugs for sale, certainly no free or low cost samples of hard drugs.
Also, the consumption of alcohol causes the death of more teens than all other drugs combined. If marijuana were legal for adults, educators could put the proper focus on what is by far the biggest drug threat to teens – alcohol.
Minority youth are severely impacted: Studies show these groups use at about same rate, but youth of color are stopped, searched and arrested at rates as high as four times the white rate. Former police chiefs – George Napper of Atlanta, Anthony Bouza of Minneapolis and Norman Stamper of Seattle – have criticized this outrageous feature of marijuana enforcement.
Prohibition causes disrespect for all laws. Teens see the hypocrisy of marijuana being illegal, while cigarettes, alcohol, Oxycodone, Valium & Prozac are legal. Young adults who have their cars or persons illegally searched by over-zealous police become bitter and don’t respect the law. The long-term damage to our society of developing contempt for law and authority at an early age is hard to measure, but evolves into lack of respect for government and the Congress, and admiration for outlaws.
Educational costs. Tuition costs at colleges are much higher, as states fund narcotics units and then build more prisons to hold those they arrest. Thus fewer young people can attend or they are burdened with huge debts upon graduation. The average student graduating in 2012 is $28,000 in debt.
The best studies have shown that the criminal justice system in 2011 spent about 12 billion to enforce marijuana prohibition and about 7 billion in taxes was not collected from its sale. This money was unavailable for pressing public purposes of all kinds. The money is truly lost in the sense that its expenditure fails to accomplish any worthwhile public purpose.
Long term consequences: President Jimmy Carter told Congress in 1977, “Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this clearer than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use.” An arrest becomes a ball and chain follows the young person all the way thru life, decreasing their ability to obtain good employment and wages. When Michael Phelps the swimmer was arrested as a drunk driver, that crime was no problem for Kellogg. However, his smoking marijuana lost him a million dollar contract.
Has marijuana prohibition protected our teens from using it? No. Marijuana has been easier for our teens to buy than alcohol for 30+ years. Those who support prohibition have testified (citing no research) that marijuana would become easier for teens to buy, if legal for adults. The federal government reports that marijuana “is readily available to America’s youth.” How could it become easier to obtain than “readily available?”
Would more teens try it, if it were legal for adults i.e. send the wrong message? No. Medical doctors –board certified in addiction psychology - have stated that at least as many teens try marijuana because of the glamour and excitement factors (forbidden fruit) created by its prohibition, as are deterred by it being illegal for everyone.
Unholy Alliance: Cops, Cartels, Cultivators and the Competition (Beer Industry) Unite to Keep Marijuana Illegal
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. That explains how chiefs of police stand shoulder to shoulder with the blood-thirsty Mexican Cartels in their support for marijuana prohibition. It explains why illegal growers cheer their sheriff in Northern California, as the cops encourage no change to the market being controlled by the cartels & growers. During the Fall of 2010 the California Beer and Beverage Association gave $10,000 to defeat Prop 19. (a California ballot issue to treat marijuana much like beer). Even as police officers know too well the horrific damage and death caused by the use of alcohol, they embrace these deadly distributors of pain and sorrow. Why this unholy alliance, this gathering of strange bedfellows? Simple. Money, money and money.
Law enforcement stands to lose billions nationally (eleven billion according to Harvard economics professor Jeff Myron), when this nation repeals its 8-10 decade long marijuana prohibition. In these tough times all the ‘free’ money coming from Washington and state capitols to search for green plants keeps the wallets and purses full of good overtime money. Indeed the FBI just reported that despite cutbacks in the ‘Thin Blue Line,’ my profession arrested a new record number of Willie Nelsons and Snoop Dogs in 2010. Marijuana arrests now account for exactly 50% of all drug arrests. This is nonsense, even as every cop knows that pot is a much, much safer drug than alcohol. Money trumps public safety, common sense and human decency. Shame on the command officers like Sheriff Baca of Los Angeles SD who want the cartels to continue to be in charge of marijuana distribution and sales. Bless the street cops who by the hundreds of thousands privately wish marijuana were treated like beer. Indeed, in the blog PoliceOne a survey showed support for ‘treat it like beer’ running at just over 50%
The Mexican cartels have operational control of North American marijuana production and distribution, according to testimony in the US Congress. They earn somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-20 billion (some 50 to 80% of their gross incomes). Our Department of Justice reports that about 240 Mexican-led gangs control the distribution of all drugs in more than 1000 cities across the USA. This empire is as if Al Capone branched out of Chicago to control the illegal booze market across the whole country back in the 20s and early 30s. In 17 states the cartels now grow marijuana in our national forests and parks, destroying watersheds, polluting the streams with chemicals and shooting and killing those hikers who are unlucky enough to come across their crop. Note: the cartels are NOT growing grapes in our national forests. I wonder why?
As bad as we have it, the cartels have destroyed civilization in Mexico’s six northern states in the past 5 years. Rule of law has completely disappeared. Crimes are not reported, because why waste the time? The American response to this was best stated by Congressman McCaul (R-TX) at a foreign relations committee meeting this summer of 2010, ‘We need to keep the violence contained on the other side of the border.’ In other words, as long as 60,000 + Mexicans are dying for our prohibition, no problemo. Disgusting.
The growers of some of the nation’s best marijuana live in Northern California. At watering holes there are worried looks on the faces of men and women who are making billions growing the weed. Legalization would start to cripple their highly lucrative businesses. They know their profit margins would drop like a stone (recent Rand Corporation estimated about an 80% drop in gross profits). In 2010 this writer asked a waitress in Eureka what would happen to the city, marijuana were legal. ‘This town would dry up in a hurry.’ She replied. She was probably going to vote no on legalization in order to save her job. The growers opposed Prop 19.
In Fall of 2010 the distributors of America’s second deadliest drug –alcohol- went public with their support for prohibition. They donated $10,000 to the Stop 19 campaign. The beer crowd knows full well they already compete with marijuana as a moderate, pleasant intoxicant. Legalization would allow millions more to put down the martini or beer and choose marijuana for a change. Of course their press people denied any attempt to reduce legal competition And the police embrace these dollars and support. Embarrassing.
None in this Unholy Alliance have dared to write opeds stating all the advantages of pot prohibition because, of course, there are none. None express their desire to keep the money coming because that would expose them as the worst of ‘leaders.’ The cops, cartels, cultivators and beer makers have joined hands to keep the money coming. These Chicken Littles warn the sky will fall, if prohibition were ended. Ultimately their distortions, outright lies and money were successful in 2011. Stay tuned for 2012 and 2013.
Rear-end of COPs board member – Karen Anderson (Send in your rear end. It will be put on display!)
Truck & Trailer about to go to Colorado in the fall of 2012:
Supporters of the War on Drugs/Modern Prohibition (an unholy alliance of politicians, cops, terrorists and criminals)
1. Fraternal Order of Police, Mexican Drug Cartels, National Sheriff’s Association, drunk drivers
2. Chiefs of Police Association., child porn crowd, MADD, Pedopohiles
3. Senators John McCain, John Kerry, Tom Coburn, Chuck Grassley
4. Big Pharma, Private Prison Industries, Inc.
5. California Narcotics Officers Association, Al-Qaeda & the Taliban
6. MS-13 Gang Association, Crips & Bloods – Hell’s Angels
7. The Washington Post, New York Times, Washington Times
8. FARC of Colombia, Shining Path of Peru
9. George Will, President Obama
10. Congressmen Dan Lungren, Dan Burton, S. Reyes, Lamar Smith
2. Governor Gary Johnson (R-NM) -former, Guatemala President Perez
3. William F. Buckley, Ann Landers & Milton Friedman- now with the angels
4. Drug Policy Alliance, Americans for Safe Access
5. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-CA) & Rep. Roger Goodman (D-WA)
6. Mike Jones - Deputy Chief of Police (ret.) & Peter Christ -police captain (ret.)
7. LEAP – Law Enforcement Against Prohibition - Eric Sterling of CJPF
8. Congressmen Ron Paul, Tammy Baldwin, Dana Rohrabacher, Jared Polis
9. VMMA – Veterans for Medical Marijuana, CATO Institute
10. Your name here
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Vision Statement
Envision an America where there are no drug dealers on sidewalks selling drugs, shooting each other and destroying neighborhoods. Imagine a world where all drugs are sold in a state-regulated store by a clerk making 12 dollars an hour. Picture a world where al-Qaeda and other terrorists do not make billions guarding the drug trade and selling drugs. Think of an America where felony crime is reduced by half which allows the police to focus on the deadly DUI, the child predator and other public safety threats. Consider the prospect of redirecting the 72 billion tax dollars currently spent chasing non-violent drug users & their suppliers. See a world where, if one day you or a loved one has a drug problem, you see a doctor not a judge.
This world is possible when we find the courage to end Modern Prohibition.
'via Blog this'The thieving part is unknown, the victim part is.
And to think that there are Western stooges in government and in ”yuman rights” groups demanding sharia for Muslim immigrants in the West. Unfreakingbelieveable.
Ibrahim Toure, a resident of Gao who is not related to the police commissioner, said he was passing by the square just after the amputations and saw children carrying buckets of water to wash away the blood. ”There was blood everywhere,” said Toure, who described how the children also were trying to carry bags of sand in order to soak up the liquid.
ISLAMISTS CONDUCT AMPUTATIONS IN MALI
BY BABA AHMED AND RUKMINI CALLIMACHI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Islamic police said they used a stage in a public square to amputate the right hand and left foot of five accused thieves in a city of Mali on Monday, in the latest application of Sharia law in the country’s north.
That region of Mali, an area the size of Texas or France, was overrun by rebels allied with al-Qaida five months ago.
Despite a loud outcry from the international community and protests from locals, the Islamists have applied an extreme interpretation of Islam, and have stoned to death an adulterous couple, cut off the hand of another thief and publicly whipped people accused of other transgressions.
Monday’s amputations occurred in the northern city of Gao, said Aliou Hamahar Toure, its Islamic police commissioner.
I am often asked, Why I left Islam? As absurd as it may be, some Muslims cannot even allow themselves to think that leaving Islam is an option, or even possible. They rather think that those who leave Islam are paid Jewish agents than accept the fact that people have freedom to think and some may even think that Islam is not for them. The following are my reasons:
Until few years ago I used to think that my faith in Islam was not based on blind imitation but rather was the result of years of investigation and research. The fact that I had read a lot of books on Islam, written by people whose thoughts I approved of and delving into philosophies that were within my comfort zone, emphasized my conviction that I had found the truth. All my biased research confirmed my faith. Just like other Muslims I used to believe that to learn about anything one has to go to the source. Of course the source of Islam is the Quran and the books written by Muslim scholars. Therefore, I felt no need to look elsewhere in order to find the truth, as I was convinced that I have already found it. As Muslims say "Talabe ilm ba'd az wossule ma'loom mazmoom". The search of knowledge after gaining it is unnecessary.
Now I realize this was a mistake. What if we want to learn the truth about one of these dangerous cults? Is it enough to depend only on what the cult leader and his deluded followers say? Wouldn't it be prudent to widen our research and find out what other people have to say about them? Going to the source makes sense only in scientific matters, because scientists are not "believers". They do not say something because they have blind faith. Scientists make a critical analysis of the evidence. It is very much different from religious approach that is based entirely on faith and belief.
I suppose it was my acquaintance with the western humanistic values that made me more sensitive and whetted my appetite for democracy, freethinking, human rights, equality, etc. It was then that when I reread the Quran I came across injunctions that were not on a par with my newfound humanistic values, I was distressed and felt uncomfortable to read teachings like these:
Q.3:90 But those who reject Faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of Faith,- never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have gone astray. Q.16: 106 Any one who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters Unbelief,- except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith - but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty.
One may think that the dreadful penalty mentioned here pertains to the next world. But Muhammad made sure that these people received their penalty in this world as well:
Q 9.14 Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of Believers,
There are also Hadiths that clearly says " So, wherever you find them, kill them, for there will be a reward for their killers on the Day of Resurrection."
Ali burnt some people and this news reached Ibn 'Abbas, who said, "Had I been in his place I would not have burnt them, as the Prophet said, 'Don't punish (anybody) with Allah's Punishment.' No doubt, I would have killed them, for the Prophet said, 'If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.' "
I found many tales of brutality of Muhammad like this story:
Eight men of the tribe of 'Ukil came to the Prophet and then they found the climate of Medina unsuitable for them. So, they said, "O Allah's Apostle! Provide us with some milk." Allah's Apostle said, "I recommend that you sh ould join the herd of camels." So they went and drank the urine and the milk of the camels (as a medicine) till they became healthy and fat. Then they killed the shepherd and drove away the camels, and they became unbelievers after they were Muslims. When the Prophet was informed by a shouter for help, he sent some men in their pursuit, and before the sun rose high, they were brought, and he had their hands and feet cut off. Then he ordered for nails, which were heated and passed over their eyes, and they were left in the Harra (i.e. rocky land in Medina). They asked for water, and nobody provided them with water till they died.
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) Said: The blood of a Muslim man who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle should not lawfully be shed except only for one of three reasons: a man who committed fornication after marriage, in which case he should be stoned; one who goes forth to fight with Allah and His Apostle, in which case he should be killed or crucified or exiled from the land; or one who commits murder for which he is killed.
The more I read the more I questioned the sense of Justice of Muhammad. The following is very disturbing. I dare to say that any man who reads it and is not taken aback with disgust has a long way to go to become a human.
Narrated Abdullah Ibn Abbas:
A blind man had a slave-mother who used to abuse the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and disparage him. He forbade her but she did not stop. He rebuked her but she did not give up her habit. One night she began to slander the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and abuse him. So he took a dagger, placed it on her belly, pressed it, and killed her. A child who came between her legs was smeared with the blood that was there. When the morning came, the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) was informed about it.
He assembled the people and said: I adjure by Allah the man who has done this action and I adjure him by my right to him that he should stand up. Jumping over the necks of the people and trembling the man stood up.
He sat before the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and said: Apostle of Allah! I am her master; she used to abuse you and disparage you. I forbade her, but she did not stop, and I rebuked her, but she did not abandon her habit. I have two sons like pearls from her, and she was my companion. Last night she began to abuse and disparage you. So I took a dagger, put it on her belly and pressed it till I killed her.
Thereupon the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Oh be witness, no retaliation is payable for her blood.
I felt the above story was a manifest injustice. Muhammad condoned a man killing a pregnant mother and his own unborn child just because he said that she insulted the Prophet!
(Arabs used to sleep with their maid slaves. Quran perpetuates this tradition Q.33: 52 Muhammad himself slept with Mariyah the maid slave of Hafsa his wife without marrying her.)
Forgiving someone for killing another human being just because he said she insulted Muhammad is unacceptable. What if that man was lying to escape punishment? What does this story say about Muhammad's sense of Justice? During the past 1400 years, how many husbands escaped punishment for killing their innocent wives by accusing them of blaspheming the prophet of God and this Hadith made them get away with it?
Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib:
A Jewess used to abuse the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and disparage him. A man strangled her till she died. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) declared that no recompense was payable for her blood.
It was not easy to read these stories and not be moved. There is no reason to believe that all these stories were fabricated. Why should believers, who have tried to depict their prophet as a compassionate man fabricate so many stories that would make him look like a ruthless tyrant?
I could no longer accept the brutal treatment of those who chose not to accept Islam. Faith is a personal matter. I could no more accept that the punishment of someone who criticizes any religion must be death.
Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas:
The verse "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Apostle, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite side or exile from the land...most merciful" was revealed about polytheists. If any of them repents before they are arrested, it does not prevent from inflicting on him the prescribed punishment, which he deserves."
How could a messenger of God maim and crucify people on the account that they resist accepting him? Could such a person really be a messenger of God? Wasn't there a better man with more moral and ethical fortitude to bear this mighty responsibility?
I could not accept the fact that Muhammad slaughtered 900 Jews in one day, after he captured them in a raid that he started. I read the following story and I shivered:
Narrated Atiyyah al-Qurazi:
I was among the captives of Banu Qurayzah. They (the Companions) examined us, and those who had begun to grow hair (pubes) were killed, and those who had not were not killed. I was among those who had not grown hair
Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah:
A thief was brought to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him). He said: Kill him. The people said: He has committed theft, Apostle of Allah! Then he said: Cut off his hand. So his (right) hand was cut off. He was brought a second time and he said: Kill him. The people said: He has committed theft, Apostle of Allah! Then he said: Cut off his foot.
So his (left) foot was cut off.
He was brought a third time and he said: Kill him.
The people said: He has committed theft, Apostle of Allah!
So he said: Cut off his hand. (So his (left) hand was cut off.)
He was brought a fourth time and he said: Kill him.
The people said: He has committed theft, Apostle of Allah!
So he said: Cut off his foot. So his (right) foot was cut off.
He was brought a fifth time and he said: Kill him.
So we took him away and killed him. We then dragged him and cast him into a well and threw stones over him.
Seems that Muhammad passed judgment before hearing the case. Also by cutting a thief's hand he is left with no other means to earn his bread except begging, which would be difficult since he is defamed as a thief and so hated by people. Therefore re-offending becomes his only means of livelihood.
After living many years in the West and being received kindly by people of other religions or of no religion, who loved me and accepted me as their friend; who let me into their lives and their heart, I could no longer accept the following mandates of the Quran as the words of God:
Q.58: 22 You will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, making friendship with those who oppose Allah and His Messenger'c
Q.3: 118-120
O you who believe! Take not as (your) bitaanah (advisors, consultants, protectors, helpers, friends, etc.) those outside your religion (pagans, Jews, Christians, and hypocrites) since they will not fail to do their best to corrupt you. They desire to harm you severely. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, but what their breasts conceal is far worse. Indeed We have made clear to you the aayaat (proofs, evidence, verses), if you understand. Lo! You are the ones who love them but they love you not, and you believe in all the Scriptures [i.e., you believe in the Tawraat and the Injeel, while they disbelieve in your Book (the Qur'an)]. And when they meet you, they say, 'eWe believe.' But when they are alone, they bite the tips of their fingers at you in rage. Say: 'ePerish in your rage. Certainly Allah knows what is in the breasts (all the secrets).' If a good befalls you, it grieves them, but some evil overtakes you, they rejoice at it'c
And
Q.5: 51 O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as awliya' (friends, protectors, helpers, etc.), they are but awliya' to one another'c
I also found the above statement false. The evidence is in the Bosnia and Kosovo crisis; where Christian countries, waged war against another Christian country, to liberate Muslims. Many Jewish doctors volunteered to help the Kosovar refugees, despite the fact that during the WWII, the same Albanian Muslims took sides with Hitler and helped him in his holocaust against the Jews.
It became obvious to me that Muslims are accepted by all the people of the world yet our prophet wants us to hate them, to disassociate ourselves from them, to force them into our way of life or kill them, subdue them and make them pay Jizya. How silly! How pathetic! How inhumane! No wonder there is so much inexplicable hate of the West and of the Jews among Muslims. It was Muhammad who inseminated the hate and the distrust of the non-believers among his followers. How can Muslims integrate with other nations while holding these hateful messages of the Quran as the words of God?
There are many Muslims who immigrate to non-Muslim countries and are received with open arms. Many of them get into politics and become part of the ruling elite. We suffer no discrimination in the non-Islamic countries. But see how our holy prophet tells us to deal with non-Muslims where we are the majority:
Q.9: 29 Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.
I also find the following verses completely against my conscience. I love all humanity and wish everyone to be happy in this world and forgiven in the next. But my holy prophet bade me not to seek forgiveness for the unbelievers even if they are my parents and beloved ones.
(Interpretation of the meaning by Muhsin Khan):
Q.9: 113
It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allaah's forgiveness for the mushrikeen, even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are the dwellers of the Fire (because they died in state of disbelief).
Quran and hadith are full of outrageous verses like these that to me are clear proof that Muhammad was not a prophet, but a cult leader. To force people to denounce their own family is what cults do. He was an impostor who lied so loudly and so forcefully that the ignorant people of his time believed in him. Then the following generations echoed these lies passing them to the next. Philosophers and writers were born in this atmosphere of lies and elaborated on them, embellished them, and made them credible. But when you go to the core of the religion, when you read the Quran and study the hadith you see they are nothing but pure nonsense. Rumi was a great poet and a mystic, he tried to give Islam mystical significance that it lacked. But what Rumi said is Rumi's thinkimg. Quran is bereft of mystical meanings. Muhammad's concept of religion and god was extremely primitive. Why Rumi, Attar, Sohravardi or other mystics strive to attribute meanings to senseless verses of the Quran has to do with their upbringing as Muslim kids. On one hand, unlike the more rationalist thinkers such as Ar Razi, they could not denounce Islam altogether for it was ingrained in their subconscious mind. Nothing is more difficult to get rid of than religion. This is truly the most potent narcotic if it is administered to a person from childhood. Yet as intelligent people it was not possible for these great minds to accept the Quran for its face value. Therefore they tried to find esoteric meanings in meaningless verses of the Quran and it was they who gave birth to a new religion that had nothing to do with what was taught by Muhammad. Yet this religion was palatable to those with brains.
Thus we have two Islams. One that makes strives to attribute mystical significance and otherworldly meanings to the inane teachings of the Quran, as is professed by Sufis, and the other that rejects any interpretation of these verses beyond their literal meanings, as is practiced by the majority of Muslims with their hub in Saudi Arabia among the Wahhabis. And of course there is a myriad of sects that go in between these two extremes, each interpreting the Quran according to their own whims and caprices, each calling others mortad or heretics and constantly making war among themselves to impose their own "right" version of the pure Islam on others.
However, the real Islam is not what its philosophers and mystics have inferred but what is in the Quran and that is the Islam of the fundamentalist and the terrorist. The real Islam is the Islam that abuses women, that allows men to beat their wives, that imposes penalty tax on the religious minorities, that wants to dominate the world by subduing all the non-Muslims, that calls for Jihad and killing the non-believers until Islam becomes the only dominant religion of the World.
My rejection of Islam is not based on the bad deeds of the Muslims but on the bad teachings of its holy book and on the bad deeds of its founder. Many cruelties and heinous acts of violence, perpetrated by Muslims throughout the centuries were inspired by the Quran and the Sunnah (the examples of the prophet). That is why I condemn ISLAM for the bad things that Muslims do. Any effort to humanize Islam is a waste of time. The obstacle to any reform is Quran. The enemy is Islam and that is the target of my attacks. I do that, despite knowing that I have become the magnet of the hatred of fanatical Muslims and my own life could be in danger. Yet I know that by eradicating Islam we can save the world from the dangers of a catastrophe that otherwise is looming over our heads and could cause more disaster than the 1st and 2nd World Wars combined. Eradication of Islam means restoring peace among humanity and civility, democracy and prosperity in the Muslim world.
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