Saturday, February 26, 2011

Synchronicity


Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events, that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner.
Conclusive evidence of concepts of archetypes and the collective unconscious,[5] in that it was descriptive of a governing dynamic that underlies the whole of human experience and history—social, emotional, psychological, and spiritual. Concurrent events that first appear to be coincidental but later turn out to be causally related are termed incoincident. wikepedia

Synchronicity the coming together of inner and outer events in a way that is meaningful to the observer and can't be explained by cause and effect.   Synchronicity is the granddaddy of all psychic phenomena, synchronicity manifests itself in clusters of numbers, names, objects, words and symbols.

A psychological state can somehow affect the physical world, synchronicity is an explanatory principle; it explains "meaningful coincidences" such as a beetle flying into your room while a friend was describing a dream about a scarab. The scarab is an Egyptian symbol of rebirth. Therefore, the propitious moment of the flying beetle indicated that the transcendental meaning of both the scarab in the dream and the insect in the room was that the person needed to be liberated from his excessive rationalism.  There is an acausal principle that links events having a similar meaning by their coincidence in time rather than sequentially. Carl Jung claimed that there is a synchrony between the mind and the phenomenal world of perception.


All synchronistic phenomena can be grouped under three categories:

  1. The coincidence of a psychic state in the observer with a simultaneous objective, external event that corresponds to the psychic state or content, (e.g., the scarab), where there is no evidence of a causal connection between the psychic state and the external event, and where, considering the psychic relativity of space and time, such a connection is not even conceivable.
  2. The coincidence of a psychic state with a corresponding (more or less simultaneous) external even taking place outside the observer's field of perception; i.e., at a distance, and only verifiable afterward (e.g., the Stockholm fire).
  3. The coincidence of a psychic state with a corresponding, not yet existent future event that is distant in time and can likewise only be verified afterward.
Sources:
C.G. Jung's Psychology of Religion and Synchronicity by Robert Aziz


Imagine that you are walking along the street one day, pondering about an old friend you haven’t seen in years. Your eyes are focused on the sidewalk, but you glance up to discover that your friend is walking toward you. A joyous meeting ensues. Together, you speak of other friends you used to hang with. A taxi cab slowly pulls up, and a second old friend steps out. The unexpected reunion erupts into hysterical laughter. What are the odds that the three of you would appear at this moment? Just then, the door of a nearby apartment opens. It is your other buddy, the last in the group of friends. The laughter ceases. It is replaced with something more like reverence.
This is synchronicity, or meaningful coincidence. It may occur as a single event, or a chain of related events. It often elicits humor; the distorted sense of reality caused from events that seem beyond all probability. The term synchronicity was coined by famous psychiatrist Carl Jung, who had experienced the phenomenon many times.



They are time prompts and symbols of duality, pointing the way to a reality beyond man’s three-dimensional frame of reference

Read more at Suite101: What Does 11:11 Mean?: Synchronicity, Time Prompt and Symbolic Duality http://www.suite101.com/content/what-does-1111-mean-a109040#ixzz1F3AjeGVd
Have you been seeing 111 or 1111 lately? You are not alone!
It is as if some unseen force telepathically turns your eyes to the 1111 address on a house, to the clock at 11:11am then 1:11pm and again as you go to bed at 11:11pm...and it is! What ever your belief, acknowledge that God/Spirit/Angels are telling you you are on your path and to say, "Thank-you" for them talking to you. Whenever you see the sequence 111 or 1111 show up, it is a great sign of a golden opportunity. Both sequences mean that a "doorway" has opened up in which your intentions and goals will manifest extremely quickly. So, focus your thoughts and intentions whenever you see 111 or 1111,it's almost like making a wish when a cake with candles is presented to you.


What is the Islamic Perspective on all this?
The greatest thing that Allah (SWT) has enjoined is Tawheed.
 Literally Tawheed means "unification" (making something one) or "asserting oneness", and it comes from the Arabic verb wahhada which itself means to unite, unify or consolidate.

It is the belief that Allah (SWT) is:
One, without partner in His dominion and actions (Ruboobeeyah)
One without rival in His divinity and worship (Ulooheeyah/’Ebaadah)
One without similitude in His essence and attributes (Asma wa Sifaat)

Imām Ibn al-Qayyim said: ‘There is no [true] bliss, nor any delight, joy, or completeness for him, except in knowing Allāh, loving Him, being tranquil in the remembrance of Him, feeling delighted in drawing closer to Him and in yearning to meet Him; this being the paradise of the worldly life. Likewise, there is no delight or success for him in the Afterlife, except with his being enveloped in the Abode of Bliss in the Paradise of the next life. So there are for him two paradises, he will not enter the latter without first entering the former.

I heard Shaykh’l-Islām  Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh sanctify his soul, saying: ‘Indeed there is a paradise in this world, whoever does not enter it will not enter the Paradise of the Afterlife.’

Imaam Ibnul-Qayyim, rahimahullah said: If you would like to draw a conclusion of what is contained in someone’s heart then use as a proof the movements of his tongue, for surely, he will show you what is contained in his heart regardless of whether he wants to or not. Yahyaa Ibn Mu’aadh said,
The hearts are like pots. They boil with that which they contain and their tongues are their ladles [i.e. scooping spoons]. So look at a man when he speaks. His tongue will scoop out for you that which is contained in his heart, whether it is sweet or bitter, fresh or salty and other than that. And the flavor of his heart will become clear to you from that which his tongue scoops out. 1
This means that just as you can taste the flavor of foods being cooked with your tongue and you realize the true flavor of them, similarly you can taste what is in a man’s heart by way of his tongue, in the same manner that you can taste what is in the pot with your tongue.
  • Footnote: 1) Collected by Aboo Nu’aym in “al-Hilyah” (vol. 10/pg. 63)
  • Source: “al-Jawaabul-Kaafee/ad-Daa wad-Dawaa” (pg. 242-249) – K.S.A.: Daaru Ibnil-Jauzee-2006
  • Transcribed from: The Appendix of An Explanation of the Hadeeth: “Say, ‘I believe in Allah’, and then be upright and steadfast” | Ibn Rajab
Thus all events occur by the will and permission of Allah;

Truly, the religion with Allah is Islam. Those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians) did not differ except, out of mutual jealousy, after knowledge had come to them. And whoever disbelieves in the Ayat (proofs, evidence, verses, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, then surely, Allah is Swift in calling to account. 
(  سورة آل عمران  , Aal-e-Imran, Chapter #3, Verse #19)

Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding. 
(  سورة آل عمران  , Aal-e-Imran, Chapter #3, Verse #190)


And those who disbelieve and deny our Ayat (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) are those who will be the dwellers of the Hell-fire. 
(  سورة المائدة  , Al-Maeda, Chapter #5, Verse #10)

Say (to the disbelievers): "Tell me, if Allah took away your hearing and your sight, and sealed up your hearts, who is there - an ilah (a god) other than Allah who could restore them to you?" See how variously We explain the Ayat (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), yet they turn aside. 
(  سورة الأنعام  , Al-Anaam, Chapter #6, Verse #46)

Do they not then consider the Qur'an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein many a contradiction. 
(  سورة النساء  , An-Nisa, Chapter #4, Verse #82)

 And verily, I am indeed forgiving to him who repents, believes (in My Oneness, and associates none in worship with Me) and does righteous good deeds, and then remains constant in doing them, (till his death). 
(  سورة طه  , Taha, Chapter #20, Verse #82)

O ye people! Adore your Guardian-Lord, who created you and those who came before you, that ye may have the chance to learn righteousness; 
(  سورة البقرة  , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #21)

 Allah disdains not to use the similitude of things, lowest as well as highest. Those who believe know that it is truth from their Lord; but those who reject Faith say: "What means Allah by this similitude?" By it He causes many to stray, and many He leads into the right path; but He causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path),- 
(  سورة البقرة  , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #26)


They followed what the evil ones gave out (falsely) against the power of Solomon: the blasphemers Were, not Solomon, but the evil ones, teaching men Magic, and such things as came down at babylon to the angels Harut and Marut. But neither of these taught anyone (Such things) without saying: "We are only for trial; so do not blaspheme." They learned from them the means to sow discord between man and wife. But they could not thus harm anyone except by Allah.s permission. And they learned what harmed them, not what profited them. And they knew that the buyers of (magic) would have no share in the happiness of the Hereafter. And vile was the price for which they did sell their souls, if they but knew! 
(  سورة البقرة  , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #102)

 



Friday, February 25, 2011

Surah Al-Kahf 01

A PARADIGM SHIFT


"And We sent thee not (O Muhammad), but as a Mercy unto (all) the worlds"
The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 21, Verse 107

Allah tells us in the Qur’an:
"Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the Night and the Day; in the sailing of the ships through the Ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which Allah sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds and the clouds which they trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth, (here) indeed are Signs for a people that are wise"

He is Allah, there is nothing worthy of worship but He. He knows all things – hidden and revealed. He is the Beneficent, the Merciful. He is Allah, there is no deity but He. The sovereign, the Holy, the Sublime, the Guardian of (True) Faith, the Watcher over his creation, the Mighty, the Irresistible, the Supreme, Glory to Allah! (High is He) above what they ascribe to Him! He is Allah, the Creator, the Originator, the Bestower of Forms. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. All in the heavens and the earth glorify Him. And He is the Almighty, the Wise. (Quran, 59:22-4)

If God sent a religion, how would people who do not know of the religion believe in it? What means did God put in the human beings by which they can decide right from wrong? Surely the religion was not revealed to the whole of humanity at once. It must have started from one point. How would others know of it and more so accept it and believe in it? What is that one faculty that is shared by all human beings by which a message can be analyzed and determined to be right?

The answer is quite simple; it is the human mind and the faculty of reasoning. It is the mind that helps us judge things and decides between right and wrong in every matter of our lives. The word of God, if it is to be transferred to other people who are foreign to it, must conform to the faculty of reasoning that God put in all of us. This is why in Islam faith in God is not the outcome of dogmas and doctrine but rather the product of reasoning and deep scrutiny of revelation.

When one era ends and a new one begins’ , as we wittness the end of decades of ruling elite, dictors, kings and preveleged rulers, we can't help but suspect that some major shift is in the works.  Couple this with the strange death of birds, bees, fish and other animals, we can be certain this will be a year never unlike any other. Or is it can we look back in history and find other times in Man's existance when such things happened?  If so, what were the outcomes?

When you talk to people from any faith or even no-faith you get the sence that something foreboding is about to happen, anyone with just average intelligence can feel and read the signs.  Depending on your perspective and knowledge base this can be anything from "The End of the known World" Senerios to a period of Global Consciousness Raising.  There certainly are changes occuring on a universal scale wittnessed in planetary alignments, sunflare eruptions, climate changes, mass blood shed, mass insanity, sucides, murders, earthquakes, vocanic eruptions, corruption, dictators being ousted, revolutions, social unrest, you name it and it is happening and increasing at an alarming rate!

So what does a person do in this uncertain times, we of the Islamic faith can look to our Prophet's legacy and the Quran for answers:

”Surely, knowledge of the Hour is with Allah alone. ” (Holy Qur’an 31:34)



 There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades, Earth will not cross the galactic plane in 2012, and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.

 A reversal in the rotation of Earth is impossible. There are slow movements of the continents (for example Antarctica was near the equator hundreds of millions of years ago), but that is irrelevant to claims of reversal of the rotational poles. However, many of the disaster websites pull a bait-and-shift to fool people. They claim a relationship between the rotation and the magnetic polarity of Earth, which does change irregularly, with a magnetic reversal taking place every 400,000 years on average. As far as we know, such a magnetic reversal doesn’t cause any harm to life on Earth. A magnetic reversal is very unlikely to happen in the next few millennia, anyway.



 The Earth has always been subject to impacts by comets and asteroids, although big hits are very rare. The last big impact was 65 million years ago, and that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Today NASA astronomers are carrying out a survey called the Spaceguard Survey to find any large near-Earth asteroids long before they hit. We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs. All this work is done openly with the discoveries posted every day on the NASA NEO Program Office website, so you can see for yourself that nothing is predicted to hit in 2012.

Solar activity has a regular cycle, with peaks approximately every 11 years. Near these activity peaks, solar flares can cause some interruption of satellite communications, although engineers are learning how to build electronics that are protected against most solar storms. But there is no special risk associated with 2012. The next solar maximum will occur in the 2012-2014 time frame and is predicted to be an average solar cycle, no different than previous cycles throughout history.

Islam believes in Doomsday - a day when the entire world will be destroyed. This day is called “Day of judgement.”
Holy Quran has explicitly stated this

 “Verily, Allah! With Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour“ (Surah Luqman 31/34).

So there is no indication in Quran or the saying of the prophet Muhammad (SA)  that 2012 is the end of the world - according to what is projected by the mayan calender, and as potrayed by the movie.





The exact time of the Doomsday is given neither in Qur’an nor in Hadith. But Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) have pointed out the distinctive signs in Hadiths and in Qur’anic verses, which will happen near to the last hour constantly warned the believers for the appointed day.

The Major Signs:
Although they appear here in no particular order, it is important to point out that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that these last, major signs will follow each other like pearls falling off of a necklace…
  1. Coming of Masih ad-Dajjal (The AntiChrist)
  2. Arrival of The Mahdi
  3. The appearance of Masih al-Isa (Jesus Christ), the son of Mary (peace be upon him)
  4. Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog)
  5. The destruction of the Kabah and the recovery of its treasure
  6. Emergence of the Beast
  7. The smoke
  8. Three major landslides (one in the East, one in the West, and one on the Arabian peninsula)
  9. The wind will take the souls of the believers
  10. The rising of the sun from the west
  11. The fire will drive the people to their final gathering place
  12. Three blasts of the trumpet (fear & terror, death, resurrection)
The Minor Signs:
  1. The disappearance of knowledge and the appearance of ignorance (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Ahmad)
  2. Books/writing will be widespread and (religious) knowledge will be low (Ahmad)
  3. Adultery and fornication will be prevalent (The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that this has never happened without new diseases befalling the people, which their ancestors had not known.) (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Al-Haythami)
  4. When fornication becomes widespread among your leaders (The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that this will happen when the people stop forbidding evil) (Ibn Majah)
  5. Adultery and fornication will be performed in the open
  6. The consumption of intoxicants will be widespread (Bukhari & Muslim)
  7. Women will outnumber men……eventually 50:1 (Bukhari, Muslim, & Ahmad)
  8. Killing, killing, killing (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, & Ahmad)
  9. The nations of the earth will gather against the Muslims like hungry people going to sit down to a table full of food. This will occur when the Muslims are large in number, but “like the foam of the sea”.
  10. People will beat others with whips like the tails of oxen (Muslim) ?The Slave Trade
  11. The children will be filled with rage (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
  12. Children will be foul (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
  13. Women will conspire (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
  14. Rain will be acidic or burning (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
  15. Children of fornication will become widespread or prevalent (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
  16. When a trust becomes a means of making a profit (at-Tirmidhi, Al-Haythami)
  17. Gains will be shared out only among the rich, with no benefit to the poor (at-Tirmidhi)
  18. Paying zakat becomes a burden and miserliness becomes widespread; charity is given reluctantly (at-Tirmidhi & Al-Haythami)
  19. Miserliness will be thrown into the hearts of people (Bukhari)
  20. Episodes of sudden death will become widespread (Ahmad)
  21. There will be people who will be brethren in public but enemies in secret (He was asked how that would come about and replied, “Because they will have ulterior motives in their mutual dealings and at the same time will fear one another.”) (at-Tirmidhi)
  22. When a man obeys his wife and disobeys his mother; and treats his friend kindly while shunning his father (at-Tirmidhi)
  23. When voices are raised in the mosques (at-Tirmidhi)
  24. People will walk in the marketplace with their thighs exposed
  25. Great distances will be traversed in short spans of time
  26. The people of Iraq will recieve no food and no money due to oppression by the Romans (Europeans) (Muslim)
  27. People will hop between the clouds and the earth
  28. A tribulation will enter everyones home (Ahmad)
  29. The leader of a people will be the worst of them (at-Tirmidhi)
  30. Leaders of people will be oppressors (Al-Haythami)
  31. People will treat a man with respect out of fear for some evil he might do (at-Tirmidhi)
  32. Men will begin to wear silk (at-Tirmidhi)
  33. Female singers and musical instruments will become popular (at-Tirmidhi)
  34. When singers become common (Al-Haythami)
  35. People will dance late into the night
  36. When the last ones of the Ummah begin to curse the first ones (at-Tirmidhi)
  37. People will claim to follow the Qur’an but will reject hadith & sunnah (Abu Dawood)
  38. People will believe in the stars (Al-Haythami)
  39. People will reject al-Qadr (the Divine Decree of Destiny) (Al-Haythami)
  40. Time will pass rapidly (Bukhari, Muslim, & Ahmad)
  41. Good deeds will decrease (Bukhari)
  42. Smog will appear over cities because of the evil that they are doing
  43. People will be carrying on with their trade, but their will only be a few trustworthy persons
  44. Wealth will increase so much so that if a man were given 10,000, he would not be content with it (Ahmad & Bukhari)
  45. A man will pass by a grave and wish that he was in their place (Bukhari)
  46. Earthquakes will increase (Bukhari & Muslim)
  47. There will be attempts to make the deserts green
  48. The appearance of false messengers (30 dajjals) (Bukhari)
  49. Women will be naked in spite of being dressed, these women will be led astray & will lead others astray (Muslim)
  50. The conquest of Constantinople by the Muslims (Ahmad)
  51. The conquest of India by the Muslims, just prior to the return of Jesus, son of Mary (peace be upon both of them)(Ahmad, an-Nisa’i, at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
  52. When people begin to compete with others in the construction of taller buildings (Bukhari)
  53. There will be a special greeting for the people of distinction (Ahmad)
  54. The Euphrates will disclose a treasure (The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that whoever is present should not take anything from it) (Bukhari & Muslim)
  55. Two large groups, adhering to the same religious teaching will fight each other with large numbers of casualties (Bukhari & Muslim)
  56. Wild animals will be able to talk to humans (Ahmad)
  57. A man will leave his home and his thigh or hip will tell him what is happening back at his home (Ahmad)
  58. Years of deceit in which the truthful person will not be believed and the liar will be believed (Ahmad)
  59. Bearing false witness will become widespread (Al-Haythami & Ahmad)
  60. When men lie with men and women lie with women (Al-Haythami)
  61. Trade will become so widespread that a woman will be forced to help her husband in business (Ahmad)
  62. A woman will enter the workforce out of love for this world (Ahmad)
  63. Arrogance will increase in the earth (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
  64. Family ties will be cut (Ahmad)
  65. There will be many women of child-bearing age who will no longer give birth.
  66. There will be an abundance of food, much of which has no blessing in it.
  67. People will refuse when offerred food.
  68. Men will begin to look like women and women will begin to look like men


We are fortunate to have been given so much knowledge of the coming events as the Last Day (Qiyamah) draws closer. No other people have been blessed with such details of the future trials and events that will overcome mankind. While the prophecies in the Qur'an and those told to us by Muhammad (Peace be upon him) are already coming true as time unfolds, Muslims are either unaware or remain unserious regarding their value. Use this knowledge to prepare yourselves and strengthen your faith.

 

Thursday, February 24, 2011

"Poverty Pimps"


Poverty pimp or "professional poverty pimp" is a pejorative label used to convey that an individual or group is benefiting unduly by acting as an intermediary on behalf of the poor, the disadvantaged, or some other "victimized" groups.
Those who use this appellation suggest that those so labeled profit unduly from the misfortune of others, and therefore do not really wish the societal problems that they appear to work on to be eliminated permanently, as it is not in their own interest for this to happen.
The most frequent targets of this accusation are those receiving government funding or that solicit private charity to work on issues on behalf of various disadvantaged individuals or groups, but who never seem to be able to show any amelioration of the problems experienced by their target population. Some even suggest that that if profit were eliminated as a factor, greater steps in the alleviation of the oppressive situations could begin to truly occur. wikipedia

You know the neighhood programs to help the poor that never seem to do anything but fatten the pockets of those that run the programs!

There is a wonderful article in this months Mother Jones magazine, how to get rich off the backs of the poor, "Poverty Barons".  While it spotlights the thousands of fast money loan shops and tax preparation shops in the poorest of neighborhoods, charging astronomical interest rates, fees and percentages of ones own money, targeting the low income and disparate amongst us. I would like to focus on the "Muslims" that come into our poor neighborhoods with the same ambitions.  You know them they open tobacco shops, gas stations or rental centers, selling lottery tickets, ciggeretts, pork or in some cases cheap alcoholic drinks, suggery sodas and all other kind of unhealthy paraphenalia. Tying the poor into unmanagible contracts for goods that they almost never own and certainly cannot afford.

All of this is to make quick unbelievable profits from limited financial investment and is never intended to benefit the population it serves. Many of these people have only come to this country, speaking little english to exploit the poverty cash cow.  Way back when, I can not remember a foreign Muslim comming to the hood to give "Dawa" or ever remember seeing Muslim women wearing "hijab". The first mention of Islam in my neighhood was from the nation of Islam and Malcom X.  In my early days of Islam we sewed our own clothing to get the look we wanted to represent our new faith, some of those styles have become popular fashion statements, no doubt copied from our early designs.

Nowadays, we can see Korean, Vietnemise, Italians and all sort of ethnic groups comming to the "hood" to get rich quick!  It seems like a pattern, depress the neighborhood, let property value drop and then sweep up in government set asides for a win fall profit. Same old game played again and again.  It seems to never stop and no one is trying to put an end to this shameful tactic of profiting off the backs of the working poor, who earns only $16,000 to $25,000  a year and truly live from pay check to pay check.

To add insult to injury lets add to this sad senerio count in the number of poor that enter the penal sytem for no other reason than they cannot afford an attorney and what you have is a system, hell bent on keeping a certain segment of it's population below the poverty line as an economic source for the unscrupolous business minded individuals that happen to be in position to benefit, not that they are smarter but are more willing to put moral values aside to make money.

A new image is emerging, "The Peddlers of Islamic Ilm", all sort of money grabbing opportunities packaged as the must have experience of sitting with or enjoying the company of someone annointed with the divine lineage of our beloved Prophet (saws) or one who has sipped from such a cup all at the cost of our hard earned money.  Don't mis-understand me I am all for Islamic Education but what I have seen over the years is a growing industry built on the gullibility of mainly western Muslims, who thirst for that all inspiring "Islamic Enviornment."

We no-longer save for Hajj and Umrah, we hear chatter about the next conferance, or event that allows us to sit with the scholars and learn from them.  How much learning does it take to pray 5 x's a day, fast during the month of Ramadan, pay your Zakat, make Hajj once in a life time and say there is but One God , Allah and Muhammad is his last prophet (saws).   Its true, learning Arabic and memorizing Quran are full of blessings but most of us have little time after working and providing for our families, out of our shreaking income, to do anything more than keep up with the fundamentals of our religion.

This too becomes problematic in todays time of economic down turns, we need to have lectures on how to survive these stressful times and make extra income, not taking more of that disappearing income to attend high cost Islamic events , no matter how meaningful or well intended the organizers of these events are, they too are looking more like " Ilm Pimps", may Allah forgive me, but this is my opinion and I pray that there will be some day Islamic conferances on keeping healthy and fit, money management, survial skills, building Muslim elderly communities, how we can come together and raise the economic status of all Muslims world wide. Wa Allahu Alim

Just a dua of mine

THE POVERTY PIMPS' POEM

Let us celebrate the poor,
Let us hawk them door to door.

There's a market for their pain,
Votes and glory and money to gain.

Let us celebrate the poor.

Their ills, their sins, their faulty diction
Flavor our songs and spice our fiction.

Their hopes and struggles and agonies
Get us grants and consulting fees.

Celebrate thugs and clowns,
Give their ignorance all renown.

Celebrate what holds them down,
In our academic gowns.

Let us celebrate the poor

Friday, February 18, 2011

COINTELPRO





(an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations

COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological warfare, planting false reports in the media, smearing through forged letters, harassment, wrongful imprisonment, extralegal violence and assassination. Covert operations under COINTELPRO took place between 1956 and 1971, however the FBI has used covert operations against domestic political groups since its inception.[2] The FBI's stated motivation at the time was "protecting national security, preventing violence, and maintaining the existing social and political order."[3]

FBI records show that 85% of COINTELPRO resources targeted groups and individuals that the FBI deemed "subversive,

FBI Director J Edgar Hoover issued directives governing COINTELPRO, ordering FBI agents to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" the activities of these movements and their leaders.

In an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr, MIT professor of linguistics and political activist Noam Chomsky spoke about the purpose and the targets of COINTELPRO saying, "COINTELPRO was a program of subversion carried out not by a couple of petty crooks but by the national political police, the FBI, under four administrations... by the time it got through, I won't run through the whole story, it was aimed at the entire new left, at the women's movement, at the whole black movement, it was extremely broad. Its actions went as far as political assassination."
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

How to Forgive Yourself and Move on

By emmysgreetings, eHow Member

First off, it doesn't matter what kind of life you came from or how you were raised, we all as humans make mistakes that sometimes haunt us. Some of us are more open about our past and some of us are not. However; many of us have a hard time forgiving ourselves for our past mistakes and this keeps us from moving on emotionally and sometimes physically. In order to forgive yourself for your past mistakes and move on you must quit pushing those feelings away and face reality.

Instructions

  1.  
    The first step to forgiving yourself is to face reality. Take responsibility for your actions and quit making excuses for them.
  2.  
    Second off; ask yourself what you have done to change your ways and prevent those mistakes from reoccurring? If you fear that you may make the same mistakes in the future, you will have a harder time moving on. In this case, you will be more likely to become numb over time and this can cause many problems in your life, such as drug or alcohol abuse or relationship troubles. So, just remember to face your past and choose to make changes that will keep you from making the same mistakes in your future.
  3.  
    Lastly, try praying about your feelings and ask God to show you the way to move on. If you take the time to not only reflect on your past, but to pray to God and ask for his guidance, you will find it much easier to forgive yourself and move on.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Status



Well another week has arrived and off I go to work.  So much has changed in the surrounding world yet here I go to my Job as usual not much changing there.  What is always strange about this life is that no matter how much it seems things change, things pretty much stay the same. (I do believe someone already said that:))

Well that is another point, can anyone truly come up with an idea or saying that has not been said or done before? There is not anything new under the sun and this I can bear witness to, when you live as long as I have, you testify to these facts that manifest in your own life. To say that this life is short is such an understatement, I can actually remember the smell in the air on my 16th birthday which seemed like yesterday, yet it was soooo long ago, don't want to tell my age here ;))

These things made self evident only strengthens my belief in an afterlife and solidifies my commitment to follow the message sent by God.  It seems pretty obvious that what is written in the Quran is from the Lord of the Universe, it's the only thing that makes since out of what is a senseless existance.

I bear wittness that there is but one God who calls himself Allah and I bear wittness that his last messenger after a long list of men that were sent to mankind to guide to the way back to God, was Prophet Muhammad (saws) from the Quraish tribe of Arabia.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Islamic Medicine and Health Care

Historical and contemporary views

by Ahmad F. Yousif

In contrast to modern Western civilization, the classical Islamic tradition does not separate science from religion. Accordingly, one finds that both the Qur'an and the traditions of the prophet Muhammad are saturated with references to learning, education, observation, and the use of reason in all realms of life—medicine and health care included.
Islam teaches individuals and societies how to live a physically, mentally, and morally upright life. The Islamic legal system, derived from the Qur'an and sunnah (traditions of the Prophet), aims at creating a healthy environment that will have a positive effect on an individual's physical, mental, and spiritual development.

Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan

$1,150,798,896,076

Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,421,933"

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In U.S. War And Occupation Of Iraq 4,754

Number Of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan : 2,324


http://iava.org/

   :      Information Clearing House: ICH

: Information Clearing House: ICH

Egypt's prayers are answered as Mubarak quits

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Your Thoughts Create Your World!




To create abundance is a state of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well being. It is beneficial to think positively and to harness the state of abundance both internally as well as externally. You need to allow yourself to heal by letting go of the past. This is going to be a challenge but you will be able to move on.

There is always a point in your life where you will be unhappy. You become unhappy with your job, your career, your home life, your marriage, your friendships, and more. This unhappiness is caused by the not being able to create abundance in your life. Abundant life is not about material possessions that you can acquire. Look at the rich, no matter how much money they have it seems as though they are always struggling with something. They do not need their riches to be happy. They are missing out on abundant life.

To create abundance, you need to begin evaluating your life values first. You also need to evaluate your thoughts, what you believe in, and your emotions. You need to begin changing what you are not happy with. No matter where you are in life you can always take time to find abundant life. Train your mind to think more positively and more logical even when you are in the middle of troubles. When you do this you will notice a drastic change.

You can find the spirit of abundant life anywhere in the world. Unfortunately most people go through their entire life not able to experience the feeling. You need to make sure you are wide open and prepared to receive the abundant life. Get rid of all your negative emotions. This will be a struggle everyday but you need to let it go in order to create abundance.

Its also vital to put an end to unsettled things in your life. These are like evil demons eating away your happiness. Stop giving in to failure and hurt. Stop the cycle. Finish with the past and run to the future with positivity. You are sure to create abundance in doing this.

Changes are to be welcomed though difficult they may be. Welcome positive changes and aim to make the best out of everything you go through. Live and work in a positive perception of the world and grab every opportunity to make positive changes in your life. As you see each one keep your focus on. This holistic attitude gets you abundance.

Do not be selfish. As you increase in abundant life you will naturally be more generous towards people out there. In being generous, you help people, you help change your neighborhood and you help change your world!

Mend your relationships with everyone. Sometimes people get distracted by their own problems and they forget that others may have a problem too. Its important to focus on simple things in life that make you happy and others happy as well. When you work on abundant life you will get a healthier mind and body.

 by Jak Spinks

Practical Steps on "How to Become Rich"



Step 1: Get a well-paid jobThis is a reasonable amount of work, and takes a few years, but it's a virtually guaranteed way to make a good income. If they're willing to put in the work, almost any intelligent person can get a job paying $100,000 or more within the space of a few years. While it's not easy, it is by far the easiest and most likely way to secure a good income. In fact, I've already written an entire article on how to get a job paying more than $100,000 a year for those who wish to pursue this avenue.
http://www.paulstips.com/brainbox/pt/home.nsf/5ee57044cf5411a288256cc40022bfb0/a7ef9e334a3c00b84a257164002ea052!OpenDocument



Step 2: Get good tax advice
However you make your money, your number one expense is likely to be funding the government. In most developed countries, the average worker pays around 30% of everything they earn straight into the taxman's pocket. If you've taken my job advice, you'll most likely pay even more than that.

While taxation is necessary to fund the good things governments provide, you don't do yourself any favors by paying more than your fair share. If you're serious about building wealth, get a good accountant who understands how to legally minimize your tax bill.

Step 3: Save 20% of everything you ever earn
As soon as you get paid, arrange to have 20% of your income removed into a savings account. Many banks can do this automatically for you. Keep your savings account separate from your spending account, and you'll barely miss this money.

There's a saying in economics "expenses rise to meet income". This means money that's easily available to you is certain to be spent. That's why most people's paychecks disappear before their next payday. They get used to having a certain amount to spend, and habitually run down their bank account.

Have your savings moved somewhere it's a hassle to get them out of to avoid this risk. Many high interest accounts require you to give them a few days notice, which is ideal for this purpose.

Step 4: Conservatively invest the funds that build up in your savings account
Once a month, go into your savings account and divide the money by investing it into the three core conservative assets: shares, property and cash. Open a mutual fund account for shares, a property fund for property, and a money market fund for cash. Look for share and property funds that invest in a broad range of assets and most importantly charge very low fees. An index fund is ideal for the shares. An index of property funds is ideal for property.

Put an equal amount into each account. This will diversify you against risk in any one particular asset. If you're younger, this rule is a little bit flexible, allowing you to take a little more risk and put more into shares and property if you like.

Step 5: Reinvest any income you get from your assets straight back into buying more assets
Mutual funds and property funds pay dividends. Money market accounts pay interest. Don't take this income into your spending account. Instead, select the option to have it reinvested into the fund that generated it.

Step 6: Never touch these funds and do your best to ignore them
The business press, like the mainstream press, loves a crisis. "Shares to skyrocket" or "Property to plummet" headlines will sell many more copies than "Things to continue steadily". All markets go up and down. Every day, some speculation will be published about some crisis or opportunity.

Ignore it all.

Just keep putting the 20% into your assets. Sometimes they'll go up and sometimes they'll go down in value. But over the long term, they'll almost certainly go up.

Step 7: Wait a decade
Do what I've outlined above and in a decade you'll be rich. Sure, you won't be Bill Gates, but you'll almost certainly be in the top 20% of wealth holders. Wait another decade and you'll be in the top 5% or higher.

That's the plan. It's not the most exciting or glamourous way to build wealth, but it's the easiest. Quite simply, this is how most rich people got there.

You too can join them, if you follow it.

Some Teachings of the Jewish Talmud

A Rabbi, 1956

"What our friends in the North do not fully appreciate is the fact that there is no difference between most of the Jews and their Christian neighbors in their attitudes toward the Negro. This is not a by-product of antisemitism, but an honest conviction. For these Jews desegregation presents not merely a school problem, but also a problem of the mixing of races."

Where a Jew Should Do Evil

Moed Kattan 17a: If a Jew is tempted to do evil he should go to a city where he is not known and do the evil there.


 
Penalty for Disobeying Rabbis
Erubin 21b. Whosoever disobeys the rabbis deserves death and will be punished by being boiled in hot excrement in hell.


 
Hitting a Jew is the same as hitting God
Sanhedrin 58b. If a heathen (gentile) hits a Jew, the gentile must be killed.


 
O.K. to Cheat Non-Jews
Sanhedrin 57a . A Jew need not pay a gentile ("Cuthean") the wages owed him for work.


 
Jews Have Superior Legal Status
Baba Kamma 37b. "If an ox of an Israelite gores an ox of a Canaanite there is no liability; but if an ox of a Canaanite gores an ox of an Israelite...the payment is to be in full."


 
Jews May Steal from Non-Jews
Baba Mezia 24a . If a Jew finds an object lost by a gentile ("heathen") it does not have to be returned. (Affirmed also in Baba Kamma 113b). Sanhedrin 76a. God will not spare a Jew who "marries his daughter to an old man or takes a wife for his infant son or returns a lost article to a Cuthean..."


 
Jews May Rob and Kill Non-Jews
Sanhedrin 57a . When a Jew murders a gentile ("Cuthean"), there will be no death penalty. What a Jew steals from a gentile he may keep.
Baba Kamma 37b. The gentiles are outside the protection of the law and God has "exposed their money to Israel."


 
Jews May Lie to Non-Jews
Baba Kamma 113a. Jews may use lies ("subterfuges") to circumvent a Gentile.


 
Non-Jewish Children are Sub-Human
Yebamoth 98a. All gentile children are animals.
Abodah Zarah 36b. Gentile girls are in a state of niddah (filth) from birth.
Abodah Zarah 22a-22b . Gentiles prefer sex with cows.


 
Insults Against Blessed Mary
Sanhedrin 106a . Says Jesus' mother was a whore: "She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters." Also in footnote #2 to Shabbath 104b of the Soncino edition, it is stated that in the "uncensored" text of the Talmud it is written that Jesus mother, "Miriam the hairdresser," had sex with many men.

Gloats over Christ Dying Young
A passage from Sanhedrin 106 gloats over the early age at which Jesus died: "Hast thou heard how old Balaam (Jesus) was?--He replied: It is not actually stated but since it is written, Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days it follows that he was thirty-three or thirty-four years old."

Sick and Insane Teachings of the Talmud
Gittin 69a . To heal his flesh a Jew should take dust that lies within the shadow of an outdoor toilet, mix with honey and eat it.

Shabbath 41a. The law regulating the rule for how to urinate in a holy way is given.

Yebamoth 63a. States that Adam had sexual intercourse with all the animals in the Garden of Eden.

Yebamoth 63a. Declares that agriculture is the lowest of occupations.

Sanhedrin 55b. A Jew may marry a three year old girl (specifically, three years "and a day" old).

Sanhedrin 54b. A Jew may have sex with a child as long as the child is less than nine years old.

Kethuboth 11b. "When a grown-up man has intercourse with a little girl it is nothing."

Yebamoth 59b. A woman who had intercourse with a beast is eligible to marry a Jewish priest. A woman who has sex with a demon is also eligible to marry a Jewish priest.

Abodah Zarah 17a. States that there is not a whore in the world that the Talmudic sage Rabbi Eleazar has not had sex with. On one of his whorehouse romps, Rabbi Eleazar leanred that there was one particular prostitute residing in a whorehouse near the sea, who would receive a bag of money for her services. He took a bag of money and went to her, crossing seven rivers to do so. During their intercourse the prostitute farted. After this the whore told Rabbi Eleazar: "Just as this gas will never return to my anus, Rabbi Eleazar will never get to heaven."

Hagigah 27a. States that no rabbi can ever go to hell.

Baba Mezia 59b. A rabbi debates God and defeats Him. God admits the rabbi won the debate.

Gittin 70a. The Rabbis taught: "On coming from a privy (outdoor toilet) a man should not have sexual intercourse till he has waited long enough to walk half a mile, because the demon of the privy is with him for that time; if he does, his children will be epileptic."

Gittin 69b. To heal the disease of pleurisy ("catarrh") a Jew should "take the excrement of a white dog and knead it with balsam, but if he can possibly avoid it he should not eat the dog's excrement as it loosens the limbs."

Pesahim 111a. It is forbidden for dogs, women or palm trees to pass between two men, nor may others walk between dogs, women or palm trees. Special dangers are involved if the women are menstruating or sitting at a crossroads.

Menahoth 43b-44a. A Jewish man is obligated to say the following prayer every day: Thank you God for not making me a gentile, a woman or a slave.

Talmudic Doctrine: Non-Jews are not Human
The Talmud specifically defines all who are not Jews as non-human animals, and specifically dehumanizes Gentiles as not being descendants of Adam. Here are some of the Talmud passages which relate to this topic.

Kerithoth 6b: Uses of Oil of Anointing. "Our Rabbis have taught: He who pours the oil of anointing over cattle or vessels is not guilty; if over gentiles (goyim) or the dead, he is not guilty. The law relating to cattle and vessels is right, for it is written: "Upon the flesh of man (Adam), shall it not be poured (Exodus 30:32]); and cattle and vessels are not man (Adam).

"Also with regard to the dead, [it is plausible] that he is exempt, since after death one is called corpse and not a man (Adam). But why is one exempt in the case of gentiles (goyim); are they not in the category of man (Adam)? No, it is written: 'And ye my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are man" (Adam); [Ezekiel 34:31]: Ye are called man (Adam) but gentiles (goyim) are not called man (Adam)."

In the preceding passage, the rabbis are discussing the portion of the Mosaic law which forbids applying the holy oil to men.

The Talmud states that it is not a sin to apply the holy oil to Gentiles, because Gentiles are not human beings (i.e. are not of Adam).

Another example from tractate Yebamoth 61a: "It was taught: And so did R. Simeon ben Yohai state (61a) that the graves of gentiles (goyim) do not impart levitical uncleanness by an ohel [standing or bending over a grave], for it is said, 'And ye my sheep the sheep of my pasture, are men (Adam), [Ezekiel 34:31]; you are called men (Adam) but the idolaters are not called men (Adam)."
The Old Testament Mosaic law states that touching a human corpse or the grave of a human imparts uncleanness to those who touch it. But the Talmud teaches that if a Jew touches the grave of a Gentile, the Jew is not rendered unclean, since Gentiles are not human (not of Adam).

From Baba Mezia 114b: ""A Jewish priest was standing in a graveyard. When asked why he was standing there in apparent violation of the Mosaic law, he replied that it was permissible, since the law only prohibits Jews from coming into contact with the graves of humans (Adamites), and he was standing in a gentile graveyard. For it has been taught by Rabbi Simon ben Yohai: 'The graves of gentiles [goyim] do not defile. For it is written, 'And ye my flock, the flock of my pastures, are men (Adam)' (Ezekiel 34:31); only ye are designated men (Adam)."

Ezekiel 34:31 is the alleged Biblical proof text repeatedly cited in the preceding three Talmud passages. But Ezekiel 34:31 does not in fact support the Talmudic notion that only Israelites are human. What these rabbinical, anti-Gentile racists and ideologues have done in asserting the preceding absurdities about Gentiles is distort an Old Testament passage in order to justify their bigotry.

In Berakoth 58a the Talmud uses Ezekiel 23:20 as proof of the sub-human status of gentiles. It also teaches that anyone (even a Jewish man) who reveals this Talmudic teaching about non-Jews deserves death, since revealing it makes Gentiles wrathful and causes the repression of Judaism.

The Talmudic citation of this scripture from Ezekiel as a "proof-text" is specious, since the passage does not prove that Gentiles are animals. The passage from Ezekiel only says that some Egyptians had large genital organs and copious emissions. This does not in any way prove or even connote that the Egyptians being referred to in the Bible were considered animals. Once again, the Talmud has falsified the Bible by means of distorted interpretation.

Other Talmud passages which expound on Ezekiel 23:20 in this racist fashion are: Arakin 19b, Berakoth 25b, Niddah 45a, Shabbath 150a, Yebamoth 98a. Moreover, the original text of Sanhedrin 37a applies God's approval only to the saving of Jewish lives (cf. the Hesronot Ha-shas, Cracow, 1894).
Black Slavery

Marc Lee Raphael

"Jews also took an active part in the Dutch colonial slave trade; indeed, the bylaws of the Recife and Mauricia congregations (1648) included an imposta (Jewish tax) of five soldos for each Negro slave a Brazilian Jew purchased from the West Indies Company. Slave auctions were postponed if they fell on a Jewish holiday. In Curacao in the seventeenth century, as well as in the British colonies of Barbados and Jamaica in the eighteenth century, Jewish merchants played a major role in the slave trade. In fact, in all the American colonies, whether French (Martinique), British, or Dutch, Jewish merchants frequently dominated.

"This was no less true on the North American mainland, where during the eighteenth century Jews participated in the 'triangular trade' that brought slaves from Africa to the West Indies and there exchanged them for molasses, which in turn was taken to New England and converted into rum for sale in Africa. Isaac Da Costa of Charleston in the 1750's, David Franks of Philadelphia in the 1760's, and Aaron Lopez of Newport in the late 1760's and early 1770's dominated Jewish slave trading on the American continent."

Jews and Judaism in the United States a Documentary History (New York: Behrman House, Inc., Pub, 1983), p. 14. Raphael is the editor of American Jewish History, the journal of the American Jewish Historical Society at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

Revolution and Islam

bismi11.gif (1074 bytes)



In all of its broad meanings, the word most associated with revolution is change. We live with revolutionary changes every day. The Earth spinning on its axis; the Moon's orbit around the Earth; and the Earth's orbit in relation to the Sun are celestial motions demonstrating cycles of revolution in which many observable changes take place. The alternation of the day and the night; the changes of the seasons; tide changes; migratory cycles of animals and the very regulation of time are all phenomena affected or controlled by revolution.

All living things accept this form of revolution as a part of life and beyond control. That part of Creation that is best able to submit to uncontrollable, unstoppable change, has the best chance of survival and success. The leaves fall from trees as the sap goes into the roots in preparation for winter; birds fly south and then back north in migratory cycles; animals fur thickens then sheds, adapting to seasonal changes. Indeed, the examples of natural revolutionary phenomena are too numerous to count as is the reaction of life to it.

From the tiniest atom to the grandest galaxy, everything is in flux. The similarities in atoms and galaxies show a oneness in origination and activity. Allah ta ala says in Holy Qur'an: Allah originates Creation and then repeats it. Life begins. It grows and develops, reacting and adapting to the unending changes which affect it. It reproduces itself, and, when it can no longer resist or adapt to revolution, it dies, which is, in itself, another change.
And so, with mankind, we also submit to the natural cycles of revolution: resting our bodies at night in sleep, rising again in the morning, only to lay down in rest the following night; Planting in the spring, harvesting in the fall; wearing warm clothes in the winter, and light clothes in the summer. Revolution is nothing but change. Change from one state or condition of being to another.

Revolution has been used to define great changes within a socioeconomic or cultural structure, such as the Industrial Revolution, the American Civil Rights struggle and Women's Rights movement; or political upheavals within a social structure or government, such as the American, French and Russian revolutions. These types of revolutions, although signaling great changes, did not necessarily improve the lot of those most affected by it.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Global Revolution 2011 - Egypt Tunisia - TJP Ken O'Keefe

Would the Government Experiment on it's Own Citizens?

Project MKULTRA - Mind Control

 
 
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Declassified MKULTRA documents
Project MKULTRA, or MK-ULTRA, was the code name for a covert, illegal CIA human research program, run by the Office of Scientific Intelligence. This official U.S. government program began in the early 1950s, continuing at least through the late 1960s, and it used U.S. and Canadian citizens as its test subjects.

The published evidence indicates that Project MKULTRA involved the use of many methodologies to manipulate individual mental states and alter brain functions, including the surreptitious administration of drugs and other chemicals, sensory deprivation, isolation, and verbal and sexual abuse.

Project MKULTRA was first brought to wide public attention in 1975 by the U.S. Congress, through investigations by the Church Committee, and by a presidential commission known as the Rockefeller Commission. Investigative efforts were hampered by the fact that CIA Director Richard Helms ordered all MKULTRA files destroyed in 1973; the Church Committee and Rockefeller Commission investigations relied on the sworn testimony of direct participants and on the relatively small number of documents that survived Helms' destruction order.

In 1977, a FOIA request uncovered a cache of 20,000 documents[6] relating to project MKULTRA, which led to the Senate Hearings of 1977.[2] In recent times most information regarding MKULTRA has been officially declassified.

Although the CIA insists that MKULTRA-type experiments have been abandoned, 14-year CIA veteran Victor Marchetti has stated in various interviews that the CIA routinely conducts disinformation campaigns and that CIA mind control research continued. In a 1977 interview, Marchetti specifically called the CIA claim that MKULTRA was abandoned a "cover story."[7][8]
On the Senate floor in 1977, Senator Ted Kennedy said:
The Deputy Director of the CIA revealed that over thirty universities and institutions were involved in an "extensive testing and experimentation" program which included covert drug tests on unwitting citizens "at all social levels, high and low, native Americans and foreign." Several of these tests involved the administration of LSD to "unwitting subjects in social situations." At least one death, that of Dr. Olson, resulted from these activities. The Agency itself acknowledged that these tests made little scientific sense. The agents doing the monitoring were not qualified scientific observers.[9]
The Agency poured millions of dollars into studies examining methods of influencing and controlling the mind, and of enhancing their ability to extract information from resistant subjects during interrogation.[19][20]
Some historians have asserted that creating a "Manchurian Candidate" subject through "mind control" techniques was a goal of MKULTRA and related CIA projects.[21] Alfred McCoy has claimed that the CIA attempted to focus media attention on these sorts of "ridiculous" programs, so that the public would not look at the primary goal of the research, which was developing effective methods of torture and interrogation. Such authors cite as one example, the fact that the CIA's KUBARK interrogation manual refers to "studies at McGill University", and that most of the techniques recommended in KUBARK are exactly those that researcher Donald Ewen Cameron used on his test subjects (sensory deprivation, drugs, isolation, etc.).[19]

One 1955 MKULTRA document gives an indication of the size and range of the effort; this document refers to the study of an assortment of mind-altering substances described as follows:[22]
  1. Substances which will promote illogical thinking and impulsiveness to the point where the recipient would be discredited in public.
  2. Substances which increase the efficiency of mentation and perception.
  3. Materials which will prevent or counteract the intoxicating effect of alcohol.
  4. Materials which will promote the intoxicating effect of alcohol.
  5. Materials which will produce the signs and symptoms of recognized diseases in a reversible way so that they may be used for malingering, etc.
  6. Materials which will render the induction of hypnosis easier or otherwise enhance its usefulness.
  7. Substances which will enhance the ability of individuals to withstand privation, torture and coercion during interrogation and so-called "brain-washing".
  8. Materials and physical methods which will produce amnesia for events preceding and during their use.
  9. Physical methods of producing shock and confusion over extended periods of time and capable of surreptitious use.
  10. Substances which produce physical disablement such as paralysis of the legs, acute anemia, etc.
  11. Substances which will produce "pure" euphoria with no subsequent let-down.
  12. Substances which alter personality structure in such a way that the tendency of the recipient to become dependent upon another person is enhanced.
  13. A material which will cause mental confusion of such a type that the individual under its influence will find it difficult to maintain a fabrication under questioning.
  14. Substances which will lower the ambition and general working efficiency of men when administered in undetectable amounts.
  15. Substances which promote weakness or distortion of the eyesight or hearing faculties, preferably without permanent effects.
  16. A knockout pill which can surreptitiously be administered in drinks, food, cigarettes, as an aerosol, etc., which will be safe to use, provide a maximum of amnesia, and be suitable for use by agent types on an ad hoc basis.
  17. A material which can be surreptitiously administered by the above routes and which in very small amounts will make it impossible for a person to perform physical activity.

 Budget

A secretive arrangement granted the MKULTRA program a percentage of the CIA budget. The MKULTRA director was granted six percent of the CIA operating budget in 1953, without oversight or accounting.[23] An estimated $10 million USD or more was spent.[24]

 Experiments

CIA documents suggest that "chemical, biological and radiological" means were investigated for the purpose of mind control as part of MKULTRA.[25]

 Drugs

 LSD

Early CIA efforts focused on LSD, which later came to dominate many of MKULTRA's programs.
Once Project MKULTRA officially got underway in April, 1953, experiments included administering LSD to CIA employees, military personnel, doctors, other government agents, prostitutes, mentally ill patients, and members of the general public in order to study their reactions. LSD and other drugs were usually administered without the subject's knowledge or informed consent, a violation of the Nuremberg Code that the U.S. agreed to follow after World War II.

Efforts to "recruit" subjects were often illegal, even though actual use of LSD was legal in the United States until October 6, 1966. In Operation Midnight Climax, the CIA set up several brothels in San Francisco, CA to obtain a selection of men who would be too embarrassed to talk about the events. The men were dosed with LSD, the brothels were equipped with two-way mirrors, and the sessions were filmed for later viewing and study.[26]

Some subjects' participation was consensual, and in these cases they appeared to be singled out for even more extreme experiments. In one case, volunteers were given LSD for 77 consecutive days.[27]
LSD was eventually dismissed by MKULTRA's researchers as too unpredictable in its results.[28] Useful information was sometimes obtained by questioning subjects after they had ingested LSD.

 Other drugs
Another technique investigated was connecting a barbiturate IV into one arm and an amphetamine IV into the other.[29] The barbiturates were released into the person first, and as soon as the person began to fall asleep, the amphetamines were released. The person would then begin babbling incoherently, and it was sometimes possible to ask questions and get useful answers.

Other experiments involved drugs such as temazepam (used under code name MKSEARCH), heroin, morphine, MDMA, mescaline, psilocybin, scopolamine, marijuana, alcohol, sodium pentothal,[30] and ergine (in Subproject 22).

 Hypnosis

Declassified MKULTRA documents indicate hypnosis was studied in the early 1950s. Experimental goals included: the creation of "hypnotically induced anxieties," "hypnotically increasing ability to learn and recall complex written matter," studying hypnosis and polygraph examinations, "hypnotically increasing ability to observe and recall complex arrangements of physical objects," and studying "relationship of personality to susceptibility to hypnosis."[31] Experiments were conducted with drug induced hypnosis and with anterograde and retrograde amnesia while under the influence of such drugs.

 Canadian experiments

The experiments were exported to Canada when the CIA recruited Scottish psychiatrist Donald Ewen Cameron, creator of the "psychic driving" concept, which the CIA found particularly interesting. Cameron had been hoping to correct schizophrenia by erasing existing memories and reprogramming the psyche. He commuted from Albany, New York to Montreal every week to work at the Allan Memorial Institute of McGill University and was paid $69,000 from 1957 to 1964 to carry out MKULTRA experiments there. In addition to LSD, Cameron also experimented with various paralytic drugs as well as electroconvulsive therapy at thirty to forty times the normal power.

 His "driving" experiments consisted of putting subjects into drug-induced coma for weeks at a time (up to three months in one case) while playing tape loops of noise or simple repetitive statements. His experiments were typically carried out on patients who had entered the institute for minor problems such as anxiety disorders and postpartum depression, many of whom suffered permanently from his actions.

[32] His treatments resulted in victims' incontinence, amnesia, forgetting how to talk, forgetting their parents, and thinking their interrogators were their parents.[33] His work was inspired and paralleled by the British psychiatrist William Sargant at St Thomas' Hospital, London, and Belmont Hospital, Surrey, who was also involved in the Intelligence Services and who experimented extensively on his patients without their consent, causing similar long-term damage.[34]

It was during this era that Cameron became known worldwide as the first chairman of the World Psychiatric Association as well as president of the American and Canadian psychiatric associations. Cameron had also been a member of the Nuremberg medical tribunal in 1946–47.[35]

Naomi Klein states in her book The Shock Doctrine that Cameron's research and his contribution to the MKUltra project was actually not about mind control and brainwashing, but about designing "a scientifically based system for extracting information from 'resistant sources.' In other words, torture...Stripped of its bizarre excesses, Dr. Cameron's experiments, building upon Donald O. Hebb's earlier breakthrough, laid the scientific foundation for the CIA's two-stage psychological torture method