Sadakah

Two masters

December 29, 2014

Always smile 

Someone said to William James, an American philosopher and psychologist: “You are the only happy person I know: you always have a smile on your lips, even when facing great difficulties.”

“I am not always smiling because I am happy,” answered William James. “I am happy because I am always smiling.”

Wise man’s answer 

A king asked Saadi of Shiraz: “While travelling through the cities of my country, do you use to think of me and about my works?”

“Oh King, I think of you, whenever I forget about God,” was the wise man’s answer.

The Dancing Days Are Gone : Selamat Datang Krisis Ekonomi

TANDA-TANDA AWAL

Media milik United Malays National Organisation enggan dan gagal melaporkan tentang nilai ringgit dengan dolar yang mendadak jatuh. Hanya portal-portal internet yang berani melaporkan kejatuhan nilai ringgit/dolar ini. Mengikut berita - kejatuhan nilai ringgit ini sama saperti kemuncak krisis ekonomi 1998. Ketika tulisan ini digarap 1 dolar Amerika bernilai 3 ringgit 49 sen.

Media milik parti Ketuanan Melayu juga gagal memberi pencerahan kepada pembaca tentang makna dan tanda dari kejatuhan nilai ringgit ini. Pembaca Melayu terus dibodohkan dengan berita-berita Raja, Melayu dan Islam.

Pembaca wajib diberi maklum : apabila nilai ringgit jatuh ertinya duit upah/duit gaji yang masuk dalam poket kita – walau pun jumlah angkanya sama – tetapi kuasa membelinya merosot. Ini bermakna kalau dulu satu tin susu boleh dibeli dengan harga 1 ringgit kini harganya telah naik menjadi 2 ringgit. Bila harga barang naik ertinya nilai duit dalam poket kita kurang.

Tanda-tanda ekonomi dunia sedang dilanda krisis telah mula dapat dilihat. Harga minyak mentah tiga bulan dahulu lebih dari 100 dolar satu tong kini telah jatuh ke 61 dolar. Apa maknanya kejatuhan harga minyak? Dari satu segi harga yang murah adalah baik untuk pengguna. Baik untuk negara pengimpot minyak. Tetapi untuk negara pengeluar minyak saperti Malaysia kejatuhan harga ini memberi tamparan yang hebat.

Ketika Najib membentangkan belanjawan 2015 – pendapatan negara bergantung pada dua minyak –petrolium dan minyak sawit. Kini harga jualan kedua-dua minyak telah jatuh. Ertinya belanjawan Najib telah bocor. Kebocoran ini akan membawa krisis ekonomi yang melebar TIDAK berapa lama lagi.

Pendapatan negara pengeluar minyak – saperti Malaysia- semakin kurang. Kita bukan saja menghadapi krisis belanjawan yang bocor malahTIDAK ada lagi keupayaan untuk mengimpot barangan. Jual beli semakin berkurangan. Ini menjadikan ekonomi dunia merundum. Inilah lingkaran setan dalam sistem ekonomi kapitalis.

Kita telah membaca bagaimana TV Bernamatelah gagal membayar gaji pekerja. Besar kemungkinan TV Bernama akan gulung tikar. Kita juga mula mendengar desas desus bahawa telah ada jabatan kerjaan yang upah dan gaji bulanan lewat dibayar. Kita juga mendengar bagaimana anak-anak muda – graduan yang baru lulus – mendapati peluang pekerjaan semakin menguncup. Dalam masa yang sama kita mula mendengar syarikat itu dan syarikat ini mula memberhentikan pekerja. Kita membaca tentang dana PTPTN telah dikurangkan.

Hakikatnya semua ini adalah tanda-tanda krisis ekonomi telah sampai. Hakikatnya krisis ini berkemungkinan lebih buruk dari apa yang berlaku pada tahun 1998 dahulu.

Merundumnya ekonomi akan membawa krisis politik. Pada tahun 1998 – krisis mata wang bermula dengan runtuhnya nilai Thai Bhat – merebak ke Rubles Rusia dan akhirnya melanggar Ringgit Malaysia.Kali ini pekara yang sama sedang berlaku. Mata wang Rusia sedang merundum. Bezanya kali ini bukan sahaja ekonomi Rusia merundum tetapi ekonomi dunia.

Krisis ekonomi ini akan membawa krisis politik. Pada tahun 1998 – krisis ekonomi telah meperlihatkan kepada kita bagaimana Presiden Haji Muhamad Suharto telah diburu rakyat di jalan raya. Di Malaysia krisis ekonomi ini telah menimbulkan krisis dalaman dalam parti United Malays National Organisation.

Pada tahun 1998 – Anwar Ibrahim telah dibuang dari kerajaan dan parti. Anwar telah dituduh meliwat. Apa yang terjadi kepada Anwar Ibrahim ini adalah manifestasi dari krisis ekonomi yang melanda Malaysia pada ketika itu. Dengan bijak Mahathir telah mengalihkan pandangan orang ramai dari memahami kenapa ekonomi merundum kepada jubur Azizan.

Di Jakarta demo anak-anak muda pelajar telah menumbangkan Suharto. Di Kuala Lumpur demo telah meledak apabila Anwar Ibrahim dibuang dari kerajaan. Apakah perkara yang sama akan berlaku? Jawabnya: Iya. Malah kali ini satu ledakan yang lebih besar akan berlaku.

Untuk memahami apa bentuk ledakan yang akan terjadi kita wajib meneliti apa yang sedang berlaku sekarang. Najib Razak kini sedang dilihat oleh ahli parti United Malays National Organisation sebagai beban. Kalau dulu parti Ketuanan Melayu ini terpaksa memikul Mahathir Muhamad. Kali ini bukan sahaja memikul Najib malah parti ini wajib memikul Rosmah dan anak beranak Rosmah Mansor.

Projek menendang Najib semakin kuat didengar. Dua tahun dahulu sebelum PRU13 kita ada mendengar secara hitam puteh Mahathir berkata jika Najib tidak dapat menebus kekalahan Dolah Badawi maka dirinya akan diundurkan. Dalam PRU13 Najib bukan saja gagal malah kalah lebih terok dari Dolah Badawai.

Bila parti bani Ketuanan Melayu ini kalah maka ianya telah membuat sandiwara mencari sebab yang membawa kekalahan. Sandiwara ini telah ke hulu ker hilir mencari sebab musabab kenapa mereka ditolak rakyat. Dikatakan parti Ketuanan Melayu ini telah melakukan kaji selidik dan bedah siasat. Musabahah diri.

Secara dalaman para pemimpin United Malays National Organisation tahu bahawa mereka hanya mendapat 47% sokongn rakyat. Ini pun kemenangan dengan jalan tipu. Rakyat Malaysia – termasuk di Sabah dan Sarawak- telah memberikan 52% sokongan kepada Pakatan Rakyat. Dimana-mana negara dalam dunia ini jika sesebuah parti mendapat undi 52% maka pastilah parti itu akan memerentah. Tapi TIDAK di Malaysia. Ini bukan penipuan. IniROMPAKAN siang hari.

Dalam sandiwara mencari kenapa parti Ketuanan Melayu ini kalah – telah timbul pelbagai tuduhan. Paling senang ialah menuduh Bangsa Cina belot dan tidak sedar diri sebagai pendatang. Kemudian menuduh ada kumpulan Melayu yang bersedia menjadi kuda tunggang DAP-Cina. Kemudian menuduh Melayu TIDAK bersatu.

Kelihatan pelbagai sebab telah ditimbulkan tetapiTIDAK ada pemimpin Parti Ketuanan Melayu yang mengakui bahawa orang ramai telah benci dengan United Malays National Organisation kerana mereka mendapat kuasa dengan jalan TIPU. Parti Ketuanan Melayu ini terbukti telah mendapat undi dengan penipuan yang dirancang oleh SPR dan dibantu oleh pelbagai jabatan kerajaan termasuk Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara.

Apa yang saya tulis ini bukan fitnah. Ini bukan propaganda kering. Ini ialah hasil laporan Suruhan Jaya DiRaja Sabah tentang pendatang haram yang baru sahaja diumumkan. Dari laporan ini amat jelas dibuktikan bahawa kuasa United Malaya National Organisation yang ada pada hari ini adalah kuasa haram yang didapati dengan jalan TIPU UNDI.Penipuan undi ini berlaku secara teratur dan dirancang di Sabah.

Apabila rakyat semakin benci dan semakin marah kepada bani Ketuanan Melayu maka kita mula mendengar suara Perkasa dan suara Isma. Suara ini disambut pula oleh pelbagai jenis NGO Melayu/Islam. Rata-rata semua suara ini membawa kesah-kesah dongeng tentang Raja, Melayu dan Islam. Raja tidak lagi di hormati, Melayu semakin hilang kuasa dan Islam sedang dihina.

Raja , Melayu dan Islam ini sebenarnya hanyalah manifestasi dari pada politik yang sedang bergolak. Politik ialah perebutan kuasa. Merebut kuasa bertujuan untuk merebuat ekonomi. Justeru apa yang kita lihat hari ini adalah perebutan punca-punca ekonomi.

Parti Ketuanan Melayu yang selama ini berkuasa telah menjarah harta kekayaan negara ini. Dari kiri dari kanan – dari depan dari belakang – mereka telah merampok kekayaan negara untuk anak bini dan kroni. Rompakan ini telah diketahui ramai. Fakta ini telah disedari ramai. Orang ramai bertambah benci dengan parti Ketuanan Melayu ini.

Maka untuk menepis serangan orang ramai. Untuk menyelamatkan diri, dan untuk terus berkuasa parti United Malaya National Organisation tidak banyak pilihan. Parti ini terpaksa berdongeng dengan kesahRaja, Melayu dan Islam.

Raja , Melayu dan Islam ini kononnya akan dapat mempertahankan kuasa mereka. Memang betul untuk sementara waktu kesah dongeng Raja, Melayu dan Islam ini sedang agak menarik. Sebenarnya, Raja, Melayu dan Islam adalah agenda mengolah persetujuan untuk memastikan bani Ketuanan Melayu terus berkuas.da. Perkasa dan Isma dan kuncu-kuncunya sedang naik tocang. Tetapi hakikatnya: dibelakang semua ini ialah perebutan ekonomi.

Apabila krisis ekonomi dunia ini sampai dan melanda Malaysia maka kita akan melihat cerita dongeng Raja, Melayu dan Islam ini akan lebih rancak dijadikan slogan dan pekikan perjuangan bani Ketuanan Melayu.

Tanda-tanda semakin jelas dilihat bagaimaan Perkasa secara terbuka telah memberi amaran kepada Najib agar TIDAK menipu rakyat. Kita juga telah membaca bagaimana seorang Ketua Bahagian parti Ketuanan Melayu dari Batu Kawan telah membuat laporan polis terhadap 1MDB. Kita juga telah terbaca bagaimana Menteri Besar Pahang yang juga pemimpin tertinggi parti Ketuanan Melayu telah menyaman Utusan Malaysai. Walhal – akhbar ini adalah milik parti Ketuanan Melayu sendiri.

Ini adalah tanda-tanda bahawa parti Ketuanan Melayu ini sedang beramok sesama sendiri. Dibelakang semua ini wujud perancangan licik yang sedang diatur untuk menendang Najib dan Rosmah.

Semua tanda-tanda ini ikat berikat dan sabit menyabit. Semua tanda-tanda ini adalah signal bahawa kuasa United Malays National Organisation semakin rapuh. RAPUH? Jika telah rapuh pastilah akan runtuh? Jika runtuh pastilah baik untuk Pakatan Rakyat.

Sabar dahulu – politik, kuasa dan harta – yang dimiliki oleh United Malays National Organisation tidak akan senang menyerah bagitu sahaja. Jangan lupa dibelakang cerita dongeng Raja, Melayu dan Islam ini wujud Dulah Terpendam/Deep State. Pada ketika ini Daulah Terpendam sedang mengipas kesah kesah dongeng ini. Raja , Melayu dan Islam dikipas untuk satu persediaan yang lebih besar untuk menyambut kedatangan krisis ekonomi.

True Important

Jean was out walking with his grandfather in Paris.
At one point, they saw a shoemaker being insulted by a customer who claimed that there was something wrong with his shoes.
The shoemaker calmly listened to his complaints, apologised and promised to make good the mistake.

Jean and his grandfather stopped to have a coffee.
At the next table, the waiter asked a man if he would mind moving his chair slightly so that he could get by.
The man erupted in a torrent of abuse and refused to move.

‘Never forget what you have seen,’ said Jean’s grandfather.
‘The shoemaker accepted the customer’s complaint, while this man next to us did not want to move.

‘People who perform some useful task are not bothered if they hear some critics to their work, but people who do no useful work at all always think themselves very important and hide their incompetence behind their authority.’

angsaputehpoksir and Tiger

Bila Nak Interview Akupulak ?

From an interview in 2003

December 10, 2014 by Paulo Coelho and read by Poksir

Google Alerts is great. Sometimes I found things about myself that I did not expect. Today I found an old interview for an Indian newspaper – and here are some Q&A

Could you recall from your life where you felt the feminine face of God?

It was in 1992, when I was sitting inside of a grotto, in Lourdes. Since then, I try to accept my feminine side. When I write, I am a woman. I got pregnant from life, and I don’t know how the baby looks like. My pregnancy cycle lasts for two years, and I don’t take notes, I don’t make plans. The only thing that I know is that life put inside me a seed that will grow when time comes. Then, when time comes, I sit and write. Every creative act demands a respect for mystery, and I respect the mystery, without trying to understand it.

What do you feel when readers hug you and confess in public how the book had changed their lives? 
First and foremost, I am a writer – and a writer is always facing the challenge of a new book. This is, for me, what makes life interesting: there is always a new book to be written, which involves pain, joy, suffering, relief, feelings of a person who is alive. I don’t think why this or that happened, and I became a worldwide celebrity. I think: “Am I honest in which I am doing? Can I still talk to my soul?
The secret of the success of my books, if there is one; it is the absence of secrets.

Did you expect this world wide success?
When I wrote “The Alchemist”, I was trying to understand my own life, and the only way that I could do it was through a metaphor. Then, the book – with no support of the press, because the media normally refuses to publish anything about an unknown writer – made its way to the readers, and the readers start to discover that we share the same questions. Little by little, the book started to travel abroad, and today is one of the best seller books of all times. But this success came slowly, based on a word-of-mouth promotion, and this gives me the sensation, the wonderful sensation that I am not alone.

In an Interview with Juan Arias of El País you confessed that, “Happiness to me is very abstract, To tell you the truth, I am never happy”.
The fact that I don’t search for happiness, does not mean that unhappiness is the choice. The right choice is “joy”. Challenges, defeats, victories, excitement, never being bored by this peaceful Sunday afternoon “happiness”.

As a best-selling author how far has consumerism affected you. You have to go through a corporate capitalist structure.

As Buddha said, first you have to have, then you can renounce everything. It is easy to make a chastity vow if you are impotent. Easier to make a poverty vow if you are incapable of earning money with your choice, your dream. I could buy a castle, but I bought a watermill, not because I feel guilty – I work hard – but because a watermill is close to my way of seeing life, and easier to maintain. As for my work, no publisher dares to ask me anything – I don’t see the point of “corporate capitalist structure”.

In The Alchemist you have said that you have to pay a price for the perusal of ones dream. What’s the price you paid in the journey with your dream?
A very high one. But I am glad that I paid this price for my dream, instead of paying the price of living someone else’s dreams.

You have been into an asylum twice. People like Michael Foucault have written about the power discourses that create madness. How do you see you days in the asylum?
I cannot summarize that. I wrote a whole book on my experience, “Veronica Decides to Die”. But one thing I can say: it was not a traumatic experience, to begin with. It was in my path, I had to see it as something that I must overcome, not as something I was victimized by.

If you meet a person who has a deep sense of worthlessness, who is broken, and has decided to end her life, what would you tell her?

Dare to be different. You are unique, and you have to accept you as you are, instead of trying to repeat other people’s destinies or patterns. Insanity is to behave like someone that you are not. Normality is the capacity to express your feelings. From the moment that you don’t fear to share your heart, you are a free person.

'Fatwasis' oleh Faisal Tehrani dibaca oleh Poksir

Geger kini tentang fatwa.

Teman-teman di Sisters in Islam (SIS) memfailkan permohonan untuk mencabar fatwa pengharamannya dan mempertikaikan kesahan fatwa oleh Jawatankuasa Fatwa Negeri Selangor.

Adalah dimaklumkan bahawa fatwa yang diwartakan di Selangor pada 24 Julai 2014 itu menyatakan mana-mana individu, pertubuhan atau institusi yang berpegang kepada fahaman liberalisme dan pluralisme agama adalah sesat dan menyeleweng daripada ajaran Islam dan memetik NGO Sisters in Islam (SIS) itu sebagai contoh.

Ekoran dari itu Sultan Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (kanan) bertitah:

"Beta menyeru kepada umat Islam janganlah tergesa-gesa mengkritik fatwa yang telah dikeluarkan tanpa memahami dengan sepenuhnya.

“Sesuatu fatwa bukan hanya boleh dibuat atau ditentukan oleh mufti sahaja tetapi ia dibuat melalui jawatankuasa fatwa yang terdiri daripada alim ulama dan juga profesion yang mahir dalam bidang masing-masing termasuk mereka yang dalam bidang perundangan."

Untuk mereka yang mengenal SIS, NGO ini terlibat dengan aktiviti mempromosikan hak wanita dalam Islam, terutamanya berkaitan polisi dan undang-undang.

Aku sendiri pernah diundang dua kali untuk acara mereka. Kali pertama terdapat sebuah forum mengenai kebebasan bersuara dan berkarya yang dianjurkan sempena penerbitan semula bukuMuslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism.

Buku himpunan esei tersebut diharamkan Kementerian Dalam Negeri, akan tetapi SIS gigih mencabar pelarangan tersebut, dan mereka berjaya. Dalam acara itu juga aku memohon maaf kepada SIS secara terbuka kerana pernah memomokkan mereka dalam karya-karyaku, sedang aku sendiri kurang tahu apa yang mereka pernah lakukan.

Permohonan maafku alhamdulillah diterima, dan aku mengekalkan hubungan mesra dengan pimpinan SIS sejak itu.

Kali kedua, aku diundang menghadiri sebuah program yang membincangkan bagaimana jengkelnya dan kejinya filem Melayu seperti Ombak Rindu yang mempromosikan ‘kebaikan’ dan ‘keindahan’ rogol seperti yang dilakukan oleh Hariz (lakonan lelaki ganteng Aaron Aziz) kepada Izzah (lakonan wanita ayu Maya Karin).

Seingatku, sepanjang pergaulan, dan sepanjang acara yang kusertai, tidak pernah ada kempen supaya menerima satu-satu fahaman tertentu. Mereka adalah wanita Islam yang berkerjaya, berpendirian, dan kritis.

Sesebuah fatwa yang dipaksakan ke atas penganut Islam adalah bukan fatwa. Tetapi ia adalah 'fatwasis', atau fatwa fasis. Fasisme, seperti yang kita maklum berlindung di sebalik agenda atau alasan untuk meletakkan kepentingan negara melebihi kepentingan individu atau masyarakat.

Dalam hal fatwasis atau fatwa fasis, alasan yang digunakan adalah untuk kemaslahatan umat Islam. Kita juga tahu fasisme itu sendiri sesuatu yang bertentangan dengan ajaran Islam kerana ia dipakejkan sekali dengan, antara lain; unsur-unsur nasionalisme, korporatisme, dan totalitarianisme.

Dalam hal fatwasis seperti yang terlihat dalam kes Sisters in Islam atau SIS, mereka berhak menolak fatwa yang diwartakan tersebut. Ini kerana rata-rata ulama yang ada hari ini, kurang dilengkapi dengan ilmu-ilmu selain Islam. Mereka malah kurang menguasai apa itu liberalisme atau pluralisme yang sering dijaja di dalam khutbah atau kuliah Maghrib itu.

Ini adalah kerana kemahiran mereka berbahasa Inggeris sangat rendah, dan mereka hanya mendapat maklumat dari sumber sekunder.

Oleh kerana dalam mazhab Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah tidak mempunyai kekuatan kepimpinan agama, maka NGO seperti Sisters In Islam berhak, malah wajar mempertikaikan fatwa sedia ada. Bahkan, sesiapa sahaja boleh, jika mahu, mempersoalkan dan mengkritik fatwa yang dikeluarkan oleh ulama kita.

Sheikh Adel al Kalbani, bekas Imam Masjidil Haram misalnya mengatakan, ini adalah salah satu kelemahan dalam mazhab Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah yang amat mendesak dan sengit. Maka tidak hairanlah masyarakat hari ini menyampah, dan mentertawakan para ustaz sehinggakan aktiviti atas katil pendakwah atau ustaz juga mereka jadikan hal yang sensasi. Kata Sheikh Adel al Kalbani, dipetik;

"Kita pada zaman ini, sayang sekali tidak memiliki seorang tokoh dalam kalangan Ahli Sunah untuk dijadikan rujukan seluruh dunia Islam. Setiap perbezaan itu boleh dibincangkan dan diambil keputusan oleh seorang yang sudah dilantik oleh seluruh ulama.

“Tetapi tokoh seumpama ini tiada. Saya pernah membaca di media, mengapa Amerika lebih senang berhubungan dengan golongan Syiah kerana mereka mempunyai tokoh yang boleh dijadikan rujukan. Ulama perlu bukan hanya menguasai ilmu agama, tetapi budaya negara lain.”

(Lihat wawancara bertajuk “Pendakwah Kurang Ilmu Berbahaya” di Berita Harian 7 November 2014.)

Jawapan beliau dalam satu wawancara di media tempatan ini mengisyaratkan bahawa kaum agamawan mesti sedar bahawa setiap perbezaan boleh dibincangkan, atau didialogkan memandangkan mazhab Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah tiada ulama yang cukup hebat untuk dirujuk secara tunggal. Apatah lagi para ulama hari ini kurang ilmu, dan tidak cukup faham budaya lain dan hanya membuat keputusan berdasarkan sangkaan sahaja.

Fatwasis adalah salah satu contoh bahaya kepada masyarakat apabila ulama tidak cukup ilmu dan bertindak semberono. Fatwasis akan menjadi perhambaan agama yang menggerunkan jika tidak dilawan dan ditentang habis-habisan.

Apakah gejala fatwasis ini boleh dicabar? Jawapannya boleh. Hasnan Kasan, dalam sebuah buku akademik yang berjudulInstitusi Fatwa di Malaysia terbitan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia pada tahun 2008 menyatakan fatwa-fatwa yang ada di Malaysia dalam banyak keadaan adalah lemah dan bukanlah sesuatu yang tidak boleh dikritik atau dipertikaikan.

Sebagai contoh, beliau menyatakan fatwa-fatwa yang terdapat di negara ini banyak yang tidak selaras. Dalam hal ini, fatwa berkaitan penggunaan tanah wakaf didapati berbeza antara negeri Kelantan dan Negeri Sembilan. Di Kelantan, terdapat fatwa melarang penggunaan tanah wakaf selain dari tujuan asal wakaf diadakan, sementara di Negeri Sembilan penggunaan tanah wakaf selain dari tujuan asal dibenarkan untuk sementara. Ini termasuklah fatwa tentang pengharaman rokok dan penyertaan dalam pertandingan ratu cantik.

Selain itu, pengkaji dalam bukunya yang sangat bernas itu menjelaskan keahlian Ahli Jawatankuasa Syariah juga boleh dipertikaikan. Bahkan Hasnan menjelaskan terdapat anggota Jawatankuasa Fatwa atau mufti “yang datang dari lulusan institusi-institusi pengajian tradisional tanpa memiliki apa-apa sijil”.

Beliau juga mengatakan ‘kriteria untuk menyertai institusi fatwa dalam menentukan hukum syarak tidak jelas, tidak ada kelayakan tertentu, dan lebih mengejutkan, tidak melalui proses temuduga untuk menguji keupayaan mereka dalam perundangan Islam’.

Hasnan seterusnya mengkritik bagaimana mufti atau ahli Jawatankuasa Syariah hanya menguasai satu mazhab sahaja iaitu mazhab Syafie. Mereka pula hanyalah pengekor dalam mazhab tersebut dan tidak menguasai mazhab selain Syafie.

Dalam buku beliau juga, Hasnan menyebutkan institusi fatwa tidak mempunyai autoriti penuh. Terdapat beberapa contoh fatwa boleh dicabar misalnya dalam hal pengharaman upacara bertafakur di Tugu Pahlawan pada Hari Pahlawan seperti yang dikeluarkan oleh Jawatankuasa Perunding Hukum Syarak Wilayah Persekutuan, atau pengharaman penajaan Carlsberg memandangkan ia adalah perniagaan haram. Kerajaan Malaysia tidak mengikut fatwa tersebut kerana membenarkan Carslberg menajai Sukan Komanwel. Penjelasan fatwa juga tidak cukup, senteng dan tidak bertujuan menerangkan, dan dilakukan tanpa perincian.

Hal-hal di atas menunjukkan fatwa terdedah untuk dimanipulasi oleh pihak berkepentingan dan para ulama kurang ilmu, maka tidaklah menghairankan fatwa kini telah menjadi fatwasis. Kaum fasis agama ini bermaharajela dan berselindung di sebalik serban, jubah, janggut dan terompah kayu mereka.

Aku ingin mencadangkan kumpulan yang pro fatwa fasis ini untuk membaca di luar bidang, dan berinteraksi serta menuntut ilmu. Ini kerana masyarakat hari ini lebih abstrak dan kompleks, justeru satu fatwa yang tergopoh-gapah daripada mereka yang tidak ada kelayakan akan dipertikaikan, menimbulkan keresahan, dan mendatangkan pertelingkahan dalam masyarakat.

Akibat yang fatal akhirnya adalah manusia, atau ahli masyarakat menjadi benci kepada agama. Apabila mereka benci kepada agama, masyarakat akan menjauhi agama, dan akibatnya manusia akan terumbang-ambing dan direbut oleh gejala materialisme.

Dalam hal ini kita mesti memahami bahawa Islam bukanlah sebuah agama mengekang. Ayatollah Taleqani (kanan), dalam khutbah Jumaat terakhir beliau pada November 1979, iaitu sebelum meninggal dunia menjelaskan bahawa Islam adalah agama yang memberikan ruang kebebasan, malahan matlamat Islam adalah untuk memerdekakan manusia.

Justeru, Islam yang bersifat membebaskan itu tidak seharusnya mengikat dan merantai manusia. Islam tidak harus menggunakan apa-apa bentuk perhambaan untuk mengurung manusia.

Malahan, Ayatollah Taleqani menegaskan atas nama Islam, ulama tidak seharusnya meletakkan kepentingan kelas mereka dan mengeksploit rantai-rantai atau gari-gari perhambaan ini. Kata-kata beliau dipetik dalam terjemahan bahasa Inggerisnya;

“Islam is the religion of freedom. Its goal is people’s liberation. If a religion aims at liberating people from all forms of bondage, it cannot itself be made a chain for keeping people in bondage....In the name of religion, (they wish to) further the interests of their own class by enslaving people in exploitative chains. (1)”

(lihat Ayatollah Taleqani, Anjuman E-Touhidi - E-Resalat, Mardi-Ez-Tabar-E-Nur [A Man from the Abode of Light] halaman 10–18 (1979), dicetak semula dalam Suroosh Irfani, Iran’s Islamic Revolution, halaman ii (1983).

Suka atau tidak, Sheikh Adel al Kalbani, bekas Imam Masjidil Haram sendiri mengatakan “golongan Syiah mempunyai tokoh yang boleh dijadikan rujukan”, sementara mazhab Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah ketandusan pemimpin agama yang berkaliber, “tidak memiliki seorang tokoh dalam kalangan Ahli Sunah untuk dijadikan rujukan seluruh dunia Islam”.

Oleh kerana itu, eloklah ahli Majlis Fatwa berhenti menjadi angkuh dan perasan mereka adalah segala-galanya. Berhentilah menjadikan fatwa sebagai alat untuk merantai manusia. Jangan menjadikan fatwa sebagai gari dan alat cambuk untuk menjauhkan manusia dari agama.

Tingkatkan ilmu, dan tidak usah lagi membodohkan penganut Islam. Jika fenomena fatwasis ini berterusan, tidak mustahil akan ada kebangkitan besar-besaran menolak kaum agamawan akan berlaku dalam waktu terdekat.

The servant’s daugther

November 8, 2014 

In ancient China a certain prince in the region of KubangBuaya was about to be crowned Emperor; before that, in accordance with the law, he had to get married.

Advised by a wise man, he decided to call all the young women in the region to choose the most suitable among them.

An old lady who had been a servant in the palace for many years heard the comments on the preparations for the audience and felt a deep sadness, for her daughter nurtured a secret love for the prince.

The daughter of a servant wins the heart of the prince with her honesty and dedication

On reaching home and conveying the news, she was astonished to hear that her daughter also intended to present herself before the prince.

“My child, what are you going to do there? All the prettiest and richest young women in the court will be there. Get that silly idea out of your head! I know that you must be suffering, but don’t change your suffering into madness!”

“Dearest mother, I am not suffering and far less have I gone crazy; I know that I shall never be the chosen one, but it’s my chance to be at least for a few minutes close to the prince. That makes me happy, even knowing that my fate lies elsewhere.”

At night, when the young woman reached the palace, indeed all the prettiest young ladies were there, dressed in the prettiest clothes, displaying the most beautiful jewels, and willing to fight in every possible way for the opportunity that lay open to them.

Surrounded by his court, the prince announced the challenge: “I shall give each of you a seed. The one who brings me the prettiest flower in six months’ time will be the future Empress of China.

The young girl took her seed, planted it in a vase, and even though she did not know much about the art of gardening, took care of the earth with great patience and tenderness, for she thought that if the beauty of flowers was as deep as her love, then she did not need to worry about the result.

Three months passed by and nothing bloomed.

The young woman tried a bit of everything, spoke to farmers and peasants – who taught her all sorts of gardening techniques – but nothing worked, all her efforts came to nothing.

Finally, the six months came to an end and nothing had flourished in her vase.

Even knowing that she had nothing to show, she decided to return to the palace, realizing that this would be the last meeting with her beloved. The day arrived for the new audience.

The girl appeared with her vase without a plant, and saw that all the other pretenders had managed to produce fine results, each of them with a prettier flower than the next, all with a variety of shapes and colors.

At last came the moment everyone was waiting for: the prince entered and observed each of the pretenders with great care and attention.

After reviewing them all, he announced the result, pointing to his servant’s daughter as his chosen wife.

Everyone present began to complain, saying that he chose precisely the one candidate who had failed in the assigned task.

Then the prince very calmly clarified the reason for his choice: “She was the only one among you all to cultivate the flower that made her worthy to become an Empress: the flower of honesty.

“All the seeds that I distributed were sterile, and there was absolutely no way that they could flourish.”

Dari Cucu Lobai Ma'adah

Kenapa Anwar wajib dipenjara

 

Bacalah surah yang aku bawa ini. Surah ini bukan warita orang-orang dahulu kala - warita orang kini jua. Aku membawa surah surah songsang untuk tatapan kita semua. Tuan Pembaca yang budiman jangan terasa hati. Jangan merasa marah. Iqrak dahulu.

Nobat merpati di gunung.
Memberi salam nuri di pintu.
Berbeka burung di bumbungan.
Berkokok si tambang denak.
Bertitir ketitir jantan.
Berkubu balam tembaga tiga gaya'

Surah yang ditulis ini aku harapkan akan dihanyutkan air dari gunung melimpah ke sungai dari sungai mengalir ke laut. Surah ini aku harapkan akan akan diterbangkan angin naik ke awan. Jatuh di awan disambar helang dan gagak untuk disebar ke Kampung Hulu dan Kampung Hilir. Hendaknya.

Titir canang pemanggil.
Pukul tabuh larangan.
Palu gong pelaung.

Aku amat amat yakin pada Selasa 28 haribulan Oktober 2014 ini nanti Anwar Ibrahim akan dipenjara. Rayuan Anwar akan meleset dan gagal. Lima orang Tuan Hakim termasuk Ketua Hakim Negara yang akan menjadi Pengerusi Sidang Mahkamah Rayuan ini akan mendapati Anwar bersalah.

Inilah surah songsang yang aku bawa. Sabar dahulu, biar aku huraikan kenapa Si Anwar ini akan dipenjara. Kau baca dahulu apa yang aku tulis ini. Satelah selesai bacaan maka kau berbunyilah sehendaknya.

Aku berani menulis sedemikian kerana dari apa yang aku amat-amati telah jelas. Bagaikan terang lagi bersuluh. Bagaikan telefon telah berdering. Bagaikan durian sudah dapat aku ciumi. Semua babak-babak politik yang berlaku kebelakangan ini menyatakan bahawa Si Anwar ini akan masuk penjara.

Awal-awal duhulu aku memiliki pandangan bahawa 'tidak mungkin' Si Anwar ini dihantar ke Sungai Buluh atau Kajang. Kenapa aku beralih pandangan. Apakah aku telah ditumbuk rusuk hingga terbatuk-batuk? Jawabnya tidak. Realpolitik –uberpolitik kata orang German – meyakinkan aku bahawa Anwar akan dipenjara.

Awal wahid: Pada hemat aku memasukkan Anwar ke penjara ini adalah satu pelaburan Najib dan Rosmah yang paling lumayan. Umum telah mengetahui bagaimana Najib dan Rosmah bersama Saiful didakwa telah bersama merancang untuk memerangkap Anwar.

Inilah buktinya - satu pelaburan murah tetapi pulangan yang amat lumayan. Najib dan Rosmah meraih pulangan yang tidak terhingga.

Apakah para pembaca telah lupa bagaimana juru lecok dan juru heboh Mahathir telah berleter tentang Najib seorang Perdana Menteri yang manai. Najib lebih lembik dari Dolah Badawi. Apakah perlu aku ingatkan tentang Kadir Jasin dan Zainuddin Mydin telah secara terbuka memukul canang memberi tanda bahawa Najib Razak wajib ditendang jika United Malays National Organisation mahu selamat. Dalam firasat dua ekor budak suruhan Anak Lelaki Iskandar Kutty ini Najib adalah 'jantan lembik' yang tidak bermaya dan tidak bertenaga untuk mengemudikan agenda – ketuanan Melayu. Najib wajib diganti.

Justeru apabila Anwar dipenjara ini ialah sebotol Viagra yang ditelan Najib. Dengan pantas Najib akan naik 'ngang' dan memiliki syawat keberanian untuk melakukan sesuatu. Selama ini di laman media sosial – di 

Facebook

, blog dan di Tweter - Najib digambarkan sebagai Jantan Mandul yang takut kepada bini. Imej Najib kena 'rojak kangkang' ini telah tersebar meluas. Dakwaan kesah-kesah Rosmah menengking Najib secara terbuka telah menjadi rahsia umum.

Aku wajib mengingatkan pembaca bahawa yang membebaskan Anwar Ibrahim ialah Abdullah Badawi. Tun Dolah sosok yang warak ini juga adalah musuh ketat Anak Lelaki Iskandar Kutty. Justeru, dengan memasukkan Anwar sekali lagi ke penjara pasti akan menggembirakan Anak Lelaki Iskandar Kutty gembira. Satu KPI untuk Najib.

Pada hemat aku masa dan saat untuk Anwar ke penjara ialah 28 haribulan ini. Ini tarikh yang tepat. Aku tidak perlu mencari Raja Bomoh atau berjumpa Harun Din untuk menilik air di pinggan. Aku sendiri boleh meramalkan apa yang akan berlaku minggu depan. Pergolakan politik terkini meyakinkan aku bahawa Anwar akan kena.

Pada ketika ini Pakatan Rakyat tidak sekuat ketika mula menang PRU13 dahulu. Apabila Sultan Selangor memungut Azmin Ali untuk menjadi Menteri Besar ini membuktikan bahawa Pakatan Rakyat tidak lagi kompak dan padu. Malah Sultan Selangor telah menerangkan kenapa Baginda memungut Azmin Ali. Menurut Sultan ini kerana wujudnya perbalahan dalam Pakatan. Ini kata-kata Sultan Selangor. Kata-kata ini tepat sekali.

Apakah perlu aku melakarkan bukti tentang apa yang terjadi dalam Pakatan. Apakah para pembaca telah mula lupa tentang perangai dan kelakuan Hadi Awang yang berdolak dalik? Haji Hadi yang kini dianggap Jaguh You Turn adalah salah satu punca yang menjadikan Pakatan Rakyat tidak keras padu.

Kelakuan Hadi Awang yang berdolak dalik ini telah memberahikan nafsu syahwat Najib untuk bongkar dan mengembang. Najib merasa dan melihat Pakatan tidak 'solid' lagi. Dalam masa yang sama umum juga telah diberitahu bahawa wujudnya satu gerombolan yang menamakan diri mereka “Youji”. Gerombolan ini dikatakan telah 'bersulit-sulit dan bercanda-canda' dengan Najib. Bila aku mencongak pada 29 haribulan ini gerombolan Youji ini pasti akan 'bersyukur' Anwar Ibrahim dipenjara.

Di sini biar aku buka labon sejarah - pada 20 September 1998 apabila Anwar Ibrahim ditangkap – dia adalah bekas Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia dan juga Timbalan Presiden Parti Gerombolan Ketuanan Melayu. Penangkapan Anwar ini memeranjatkan Minah dan Mamat dari hujung kampong hingga ke ceruk Felda. Penangkapan ini telah menjemput ribuan warga dan anak muda untuk berpolitik di jalan raya. Bentrokan dan pertempuran hebat berlaku di jalan raya. Ramai yang cedera dan ramai yang ditangkap.

Pada 28 haribulan nanti aku yakin tidak ramai yang akan datang ke Mahkamah di Putrajaya. Ini bukan kerana tidak ada sokongan kepada Anwar. Sokongan masih teguh. Apa yang kurang ialah generasi anak-anak muda yang membesar 15 tahun lalu kurang arif tentang sejarah.

Aku juga yakin bahawa pemenjaraan Anwar ini amat-amat disukai oleh Cucu Iskandar Kutty dan Menantu Dolah Badawi. Khairy Jamluddin dan Mukhriz pasti menyimpan niat untuk menjadi ketua Gerombolan Ketuanan Melayu. Budak dua ekor ini pasti melihat Anwar Ibrahim ini sebagai penghalang projek mereka untuk menjarah harta kekayaan negara ini.

Malah aku rasa bukan sahaja Khairy dan Mukhriz mungkin merasa selesa apabila Anwar dipenjara – ramai juga pemimpin dan ahli United Malaya National Organisation akan merasa 'happi' kerana Anwar telah menerima hukuman. Tocang Najib yang terbarai akan mencanak naik dalam Parti Ketuanan Melayu. Nyawa Najib dan Rosmah bersambung apabila Anwar dalam penjara

Akhirnya dalam surah songsang ini aku wajib menjelaskan bahawa kes Saiful ini bukan hal undang-undang atau hukum hakam atau Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Ia juga pada hemat aku tidak ada sangkut paut dengan agama-agama, dengan Islam, dengan Tok Arab, dengan ilmu fekah atau ilmu tajwid.

Ia juga bukan tentang bahan bukti, atau tentang keterangan saksi atau juga alibi atau tentang bagaimana undang-undang dan hukum wajib di fahami. Ianya juga tidak ada sangkut paut dengan semangat perundangan atau pun bersangkutan dengan Piagam Hak Asasi Manusia yang digunapakai oleh Bangsa Bangsa Bersatu.

Anwar Ibrahim dipenjara untuk menyelamatkan United Malays National Organisation dari runtuh terbarai. Anwar Ibrahim dipenjara untuk tujuan politik. Anwar Ibrahim dipenjara untuk memastikan Pakatan Rakyat akan kucar kacir dan koyak rabak.

Selagi sosok yang bernama Anwar Ibrahim dapat bergerak bebas. Selagi Anwar Ibrahim dapat berhadapan dengan Mak Cik dan Pak Cik di kampung. Selagi Anwar Ibrahim dapat berkata kepada media. Selagi Anwar Ibrahim dapat berucap di luar negara – nyawa dan nafas United Malays National Organisation akan menjadi sesak dan pendek.

Sama ada Haji Hadi menerima hakikat ini, sama ada Nik Abduh menerima hakikat ini, sama ada Harun Din menerima hakikat bahawa sosok Anwar Ibrahim inilah yang melahirkan ikatan setiakawan antara PAS, DAP dan PKR. Benci bagaimana pun seseorang terhadap Anwar Ibrahim – mereka tidak akan dapat menafikan apa yang aku tulis ini.

Tanda dan makna telah aku lakar. Aku ingin ingatkan bagaimana datuk nenek moyang kita mengira hari;

Tengah malam sudah terlampu.
Dinihari belum lagi tampak.
Budak budak dua kali jaga.
Orang muda pulang bertandang.
Orang tua berkalih tidur.

Embun jantan rintik rintik.
Bunyi kuang jauh ke tengah.
Sering lanting riang di rimba.
Melenguh lembu di padang.
Sambut menguak kerbau di kandang.
Berkokok mandung merak mengigal.
Fajar sedang menyingsing naik.
Kicak kicau bunyi murai.
Tak tibau melambung tinggi.
Berkuku balam di hujung bendul.
Terdengut puyuh panjang bunyi.
Puntung sejengkal panjang sejari.
Itulah alamat hari nak siang.
Inilah tanda Anwar akan dipenjara.

Perkenan sungguh aku akan tulisan Hishamuddin Rais (Cucu Lobai Ma'adah) ni

The Pond Story

Frogs being boiled

October 22, 2014

Several biological studies have shown that a frog placed in a container along with water from his pond, he will remain alive while you heat the water. The toad does not react to the gradual increase of temperature (change of environment) and only dies when the water boils, swollen and happy.

On the other hand, if a toad is thrown into that same container when the water is already boiling, he will immediately jump out. He will be a little singed, but alive!

Sometimes we can be like the boiled toads. We do not notice changes.
We think everything is good, or that whatever is evil will pass, it’s just a matter of time.
We are about to die, but we are floating, stable and apathetic as the water warms up every minute.
We are dying, fat and happy, without having noticed the changes around us.

There are boiled toads who still believe that the key is obedience, not competence: might is right, and obey whoever is sensible. From all this, where is the real life? It is better to emerge from a situation, maybe a little singed from time to time, but alive and ready to act.

DrFrankLucido.com

Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts

Republished with expressed permission from: Lynn Zimmer Ph.D. John P. Morgan MD The Lindesmith Center, 1997 Phone 800-444-2524, $13.95 Myth #1 Marijuana's harms have been proved scientifically. In the 1960s and 1970s, many people believed that marijuana was harmless. Today we know that marijuana is much more dangerous than previously believed. Fact: In 1972, after reviewing the scientific evidence, the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse concluded that while marijuana was not entirely safe, its dangers had been grossly overstated. Since then, researchers have conducted thousands of studies of humans, animals, and cell cultures. None reveal any findings dramatically different from those described by the National Commission in 1972. In 1995, based on thirty years of scientific research, editors of the British medical journal Lancet concluded that 'the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health.' Myth #2 Marijuana has no medicinal value. Safer, more effective drugs are available, including a synthetic version of THC, marijuana's primary active ingredient, which is marketed in the United States under the name Marinol. Fact: Marijuana has been shown to be effective in reducing nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. There is also appreciable evidence that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders. A synthetic THC capsule is available by prescription, but it is not as effective as smoked marijuana for many patients. Pure THC may also produce more unpleasant psychoactive side effects than smoked marijuana. Many people use marijuana as a medicine today, despite its illegality. In doing so, they risk arrest and imprisonment. Myth #3 Marijuana is highly addictive. Long-term marijuana users experience physical dependence and withdrawal, and often need professional drug treatment to break their marijuana habits. Fact: Most people who smoke marijuana smoke it only occasionally. A small minority of Americans - less than 1 percent - smoke marijuana on a daily or near daily basis. An even smaller minority develop dependence on marijuana. Some people who smoke marijuana heavily and frequently stop without difficulty. Others seek help from drug treatment professionals. Marijuana does not cause physical dependence. If people experience withdrawal symptoms at all, they are remarkably mild. Myth #3 Marijuana is highly addictive. Long-term marijuana users experience physical dependence and withdrawal, and often need professional drug treatment to break their marijuana habits. Fact: Most people who smoke marijuana smoke it only occasionally. A small minority of Americans - less than 1 percent - smoke marijuana on a daily or near daily basis. An even smaller minority develop dependence on marijuana. Some people who smoke marijuana heavily and frequently stop without difficulty. Others seek help from drug treatment professionals. Marijuana does not cause physical dependence. If people experience withdrawal symptoms at all, they are remarkably mild. Myth #4 Marijuana is a gateway drug. Even if marijuana itself causes minimal harm, it is a dangerous substance because it leads to the use of 'harder drugs' like heroin, LSD, and cocaine. Fact: Marijuana does not cause people to use hard drugs. What the gateway theory presents as a causal explanation is a statistical association between common and uncommon drugs, an association that changes over time as different drugs increase and decrease in prevalence. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United States today. Therefore, people who have used less popular drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, are likely to have also used marijuana. Most marijuana users never use any other illegal drug. Indeed, for the large majority of people, marijuana is a terminus rather than a gateway drug. Myth #5 Marijuana offenses are not severely punished. Few marijuana law violators are arrested and hardly anyone goes to prison. This lenient treatment is responsible for marijuana's continued availability and use. Fact: Marijuana arrests in the united states doubled between 1991 and 1995. In 1995, more than one-half-million people were arrested for marijuana offenses. Eighty-six percent of them were arrested for marijuana possession. Tens of thousands of people are now in prison for marijuana offenses. An even greater number are punished with probation, fines, and civil sanctions, including having their property seized, their driver's licenses revoked, and their employment terminated. Despite these civil and criminal sanctions, marijuana continues to be readily available and widely used.' Myth #6 Marijuana policy in the Netherlands is a failure. Dutch law, which allows marijuana to be bought, sold, and used openly, has resulted in increasing rates of marijuana use, particularly among youth. Fact: The Netherlands' drug policy is the most nonpunitive in Europe. For more than twenty years, Dutch citizens over age eighteen have been permitted to buy and use cannabis (marijuana and hashish) in government-regulated coffee shops. This policy has not resulted in dramatically escalating cannabis use. For most age groups, rates of marijuana use in the Netherlands are similar to those in the United Sates. However, for young adolescents, rates of marijuana use are lower in the Netherlands than in the United States. The Dutch people overwhelmingly approve of current cannabis policy, which seeks to normalize rather than dramatize cannabis use. The Dutch government occasionally revises existing policy, but it remains committed to decriminalization. Myth #7 Marijuana kills brain cells. Used over time, marijuana permanently alters brain structure and function, causing memory loss, cognitive impairment, personality deterioration, and reduced productivity. Facts: None of the medical tests currently used to detect brain damage in humans have found harm from marijuana, even from long-term high-dose use. An early study reported brain damage in rhesus monkeys after six months' exposure to high concentrations of marijuana smoke. In a recent more carefully conducted study, researchers found no evidence of brain abnormality in monkeys that were forced to inhale the equivalent of four to five marijuana cigarettes every day for a year. The claim that marijuana kills brain cells is based on a speculative report dating back a quarter of a century that has never been supported by any scientific study. Myth #8 Marijuana causes an amotivational syndrome. Marijuana makes users passive, apathetic, and disinterested in the future. Students who use marijuana become underachievers, and workers who use marijuana become unproductive. Fact: For twenty-five years, researchers have searched for a marijuana-induced amotivational syndrome and have failed to find it. People who are intoxicated constantly, regardless of the drug, are unlikely to be productive members of society. There is nothing about marijuana specifically that causes people to lose drive and ambition. In laboratory studies, subjects given high doses of marijuana for several days or several weeks exhibit no decrease in work motivation or productivity. Among working adults, marijuana users tend to earn higher wages than nonusers do. College students who use marijuana have the same grades as nonusers. Among high school students, heavy marijuana use is associated with school failure, but school failure usually comes first. Myth #9 Marijuana impairs memory and cognition. Under the influence of marijuana, people are unable to think rationally and intelligently. Chronic marijuana use causes permanent mental impairment. Fact: Marijuana produces immediate, temporary changes in thought, perceptions, and information processing. The cognitive process most clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory. In laboratory studies, subjects under the influence of marijuana have no trouble remembering things they learned previously. However, they display diminished capacity to learn and recall new information. This diminishment only lasts for the duration of intoxication. There is no convincing evidence that heavy long-term marijuana use permanently impairs memory or other cognitive functions. Myth #10 Marijuana can cause permanent mental illness. Among adolescents, even occasional marijuana use may cause psychological damage. During intoxication, marijuana users become irrational and often behave erratically. Fact: There is no convincing scientific evidence that marijuana causes psychological damage or mental illness in either teenagers or adults. Some marijuana users experience psychological distress following marijuana ingestion, which may include feelings of panic, anxiety, and paranoia. Such experiences can be frightening, but the effects are temporary. With very large doses, marijuana can cause a temporary toxic psychosis. This occurs rarely, and almost always when marijuana is eaten rather than smoked. Marijuana does not cause profound changes in people's behavior. Myth #11 Marijuana causes crime. Marijuana users commit more property offenses that nonusers. Under the influence of marijuana, people become irrational, aggressive, and violent. Fact: Every serious scholar and government commission examining the relationship between marijuana use and crime has reached the same conclusion: marijuana does not cause crime. The vast majority of marijuana users do not commit crimes other than the crime of possessing marijuana. Among marijuana users who do commit crimes, marijuana plays no causal role. Almost all human and animal studies show that marijuana decreases rather than increases aggression. Myth #12 Marijuana interferes with male and female sex hormones. In both men and women marijuana can cause infertility. Marijuana retards sexual development in adolescents. It produces feminine characteristics in males and masculine characteristics in females. Fact: There is no evidence that marijuana causes infertility in men or women. In animal studies, high doses of THC diminish the production of some sex hormones and can impair reproduction. However, most studies of humans have found that marijuana has no impact on sex hormones. In those studies showing an impact, it is modest, temporary, and of no apparent consequence for reproduction. There is no scientific evidence that marijuana delays adolescent sexual development, has a feminizing effect on males, or a masculinizing effect on females. Myth #13 Marijuana use during pregnancy damages the fetus. Prenatal marijuana exposure causes birth defects in babies and, as they grow older, developmental problems. The health and well-being of the next generation is threatened by marijuana use by pregnant women. Fact: Studies of newborns, infants, and children show no consistent physical, developmental, or cognitive deficits related to prenatal marijuana exposure. Marijuana has no reliable impact on birth size, length of gestation, neurological development, or the occurrence of physical abnormalities. The administration of hundreds of tests to older children has revealed only minor differences between the offspring of marijuana users and nonusers, and some are positive rather than negative. Two unconfirmed case control studies identified prenatal marijuana exposure as one of many factors statistically associated with childhood cancer. Given other available evidence, it is highly unlikely that marijuana causes cancer in children. Myth #14 Marijuana use impairs the immune system. Marijuana users are at increased risk of infection, including from HIV. AIDS patients are particularly vulnerable to marijuana's immunopathic effects because their immune systems are already suppressed. Fact: There is no evidence that marijuana users are more susceptible to infections than nonusers. Nor is there evidence that marijuana lowers users' resistance to sexually transmitted diseases. Early studies which showed decreased immune function in cells taken from marijuana users have since been disproved. Animals given extremely large doses of THC and exposed to a virus have higher rates of infection. Such studies have little relevance to humans. Even among people with existing immune disorder, such as AIDS, marijuana use appears to be relatively safe. However, the recent finding of an association between tobacco smoking and lung infection in AIDS patients warrants further research into possible harm from marijuana smoking in immune-suppressed persons. Myth #15 Marijuana is more damaging to the lungs that tobacco. Marijuana smokers are at high risk of developing lung cancer, bronchitis, and emphysema. Fact: Moderate smoking of marijuana appears to pose minimal danger to the lungs. Like tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke contains a number of irritants and carcinogens. But marijuana users typically smoke much less often than tobacco smokers and, over time, inhale much less smoke. As a result, the risk of serious lung damage should be lower in marijuana smokers. There have been no reports of lung cancer related solely to marijuana. However, because researchers have found precancerous changes in cells taken from the lungs of heavy marijuana smokers, the possibility of lung cancer from marijuana cannot be ruled out. Unlike heavy tobacco smoker, heavy marijuana smokers exhibit no obstruction of the lungs small airways. This indicates that people will not develop emphysema from smoking marijuana. Myth #16 Marijuana's active ingredient, THC, gets trapped in body fat. Because THC is released from fat cells slowly, psychoactive effects may last for days or weeks following use, THC's long persistence in the body damages organs that are high in fat content, the brain in particular. Fact: Many active drugs enter the body's fat cells. What is different (but not unique) about THC is that it EXITS fat cells slowly. As a result, traces of marijuana can be found in the body for days or weeks following ingestion. However, within a few hours of smoking marijuana, the amount of THC in the bran falls below the concentration required for detectable psychoactivity. The fat cells I which THC lingers are not harmed by the drug's presence, not is the brain or other organs. The most important consequence of marijuana's slow excretion is that it can be detected in blood, urine, and tissue long after it is used, and long after it's psychoactitvity has ended. Myth #17 Marijuana use is a major cause of highway accidents. Like alcohol, marijuana impairs psychomotor functions and decreases driving ability. If marijuana use increases, an increase in traffic fatalities is inevitable. Fact: There is no compelling evidence that marijuana contributes substantially to traffic accidents and fatalities. At some doses, marijuana affects perceptions and psychomotor performance--changes which could impair driving ability. However, in driving studies, marijuana produces little or no car-handling impairment--consistently less that that produced by low to moderate doses of alcohol and many legal medications. In contrast to alcohol, which tends to increase risky driving practice, marijuana tends to make subjects more cautious. Surveys of fatally injured drivers show that when THC is detected in the blood, alcohol is almost always detected as well. For some individuals, marijuana may lay a role in bad driving. The overall rate of highway accidents appears not to be significantly affected by marijuana's widespread use in society. Myth #18 Marijuana-related hospital emergencies are increasing, particularly among youth. This is evidence that marijuana is much more harmful than most people previously believed. Fact: Marijuana does not cause overdose deaths. The number of people in hospital emergency room who say hey have used marijuana has increased. On his basis, the visit may e recorded as marijuana-related even if marijuana had nothing to do with the medical condition precipitating the hospital visit. Many more teenagers use marijuana than use drugs such as heroin and cocaine. As a result, when teenagers visit hospital emergency rooms, they report marijuana much more frequently than they report heroin or cocaine. In the large majority of cases when marijuana is mentioned, other drugs are mentioned as well. In 1994, fewer than 2 percent of drug-related emergency room visits involved the use of marijuana alone. Myth #19 Marijuana is more potent today than in the past. Adults who used marijuana in the 1960's and 1970's fail to realize that when today's youth use marijuana they are using a much more dangerous drug. Fact: When today's youth use marijuana, they are using the same drug used by youth in the 1960's and 1970's. A small number of low-THC samples seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration in the early 1970's are used to calculate a dramatic increase in potency. However, these samples were not representative of the marijuana generally available to users during this era. Potency data form the early 1980's to the present are more reliable, an they show no increase in the average THC content of marijuana. Even if marijuana potency were to increase, it would not necessarily make the drug more dangerous. Marijuana that varies quiet substantially in potency produces similar psychoactive effects. Myth #20 Marijuana use can be prevented. Drug education and prevention programs reduced marijuana use during the 1980's. Since then, our commitment has slackened, and marijuana use has been rising. By expanding and intensifying current anti-marijuana messages, we can stop youthful experimentation. Fact: There is no evidence that anti-drug messages diminish young people's interest in drugs. Anti-drug campaigns in the schools and the media may even make drugs more attractive. Marijuana use among youth declined throughout the 1980s, and began increasing in the 1990s. This increase occurred despite young people's exposure to the most massive anti-marijuana campaign in American history. In a number of other countries, drug education programs are based on a "harm reduction" model, which seeks to reduce drug-related harm among those young people who do experiment with drugs.