Between facts and myths/hoax

U know how interesting forwarded emails can be. Whether its humor, science fiction, trivia, religious or videos, people love to share. Problem is when they start sharing/ spreading something which makes us very skeptical. I admit i was once the gullible person who took every word from the email. Now, I'm more skeptical and curious to know the real truth. I would do my research into depth just to prove to myself that what i'm receiving is the real thing. I'm not saying i don't trust the sender, its just to satisfy myself that the email i receive is indeed the truth.

I just wanna prove some bad rumors in the world of forwarding emails. The first one, which i think most of you would know probably by now, is that Tommy Hilfiger is a racist. Here's how the fwd email looks like:

"Did you see the recent Oprah Winfrey show on which Tommy Hilfiger was a guest? Oprah asked Hilfiger if his alleged statements about people of color were true - he's been accused of saying things such as "If I had known that African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians would buy my clothes, I would not have made them so nice," and "I wish those people would not buy my clothes - they were made for upper-class whites." What did he say when Oprah asked him if he said these things? He said "Yes." Oprah immediately asked Hilfiger to leave her show. Now, let's give Hilfiger what he's asked for - let's not buy his clothes. Boycott! Please - pass this message "

Check here for the real truth. The rumor was dated back in 1996 or 97. 10 years on then, Tommy came to Oprah to clarify things. Nda pasal2 kna ucap racist~ The reason why i brought this up because i just receive an email abt this...setelah sekian lama.

The other fwd email that has every other muslim blood pumping is the speech by Starbuck's CEO on supporting the Israelian army so therefore we should boycott starbucks. This is how the email should look like:

A Thankyou To All Starbucks Customers

by Howard Schultz

Dear Starbucks Customer,

First and foremost I want to thank you for making Starbucks the $6.4 billion global company it is today, with more than 90,000 employees, 9,700 stores, and 33 million weekly customers. Every latte and macchiato you drink at Starbucks is a contribution to the close alliance between the United States and Israel, in fact it is - as I was assured when being honored with the “Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award” - key to Israel’s long-term PR success. Your daily Chocolate Chips Frappucino helps paying for student projects in North America and Israel, presenting them with the badly needed Israeli perspective of the Intifada.

Starbucks, through the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah, an international network of Jewish education centres, sponsors Israeli military arms fairs in an effort to strengthen the special connection between the American, European and Israeli defense (actually war) industries and to showcase the newest Israeli innovations in defense (war making). As my contribution to the fight against the global rise of anti-Semitism, the reason behind the current conflict in the Middle-East, I help Aish HaTorah sponsoring the website "honestreporting.com” and produce material informing of Israel’s side of the story.

Without you, my valued customer, I wouldn’t be able to raise hundreds of millions of dollars each year to protect Israeli citizens from "terrorist" attacks (Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation) and keep reminding every Jew in America, to defend Israel at any cost. $5 billion per year from the US government are no way near enough to pay for all the weaponry, bulldozers and security fences needed to protect innocent Israeli citizens from anti-Semitic "Muslim terrorism" (as described by Israeli occupiers and their supporters) Corporate sponsorships are essential.

Having the bigger picture in mind, Starbucks have donated a store to the US army to help in the “War on Terror”. I cannot emphasize enough, how vital the “War on Terror” is for the continued viability and prospering of the Zionist State.

So next time you feel like chilling out at a Starbucks store, please remember that with every cup you drink at Starbucks you are helping with a "noble" cause (i.e. helping Israelis maintain their oppression of the Palestinian people).

Howard Schultz
Chairman & Chief Global Strategist
Starbucks Coffee Stores

I did for quite some time, boycott against starbucks. However, since not all other muslims boycott against it so I said to myself well if i do want to boycott properly for a good cause, i should know how legit is this fwd email. So after around half an hour of googling and checking various websites, its proven that the email is a hoax. It was written by Andrew Winkler.

The Howard Schultz spoof letter above has caused quite a bit of a stir. In the first month of its publication, it has been read by more than 100,000 visitors on the ZioPedia site alone, and republished on hundreds of blogs all over the world. Some readers were not quite sure whether the article was 'kosher' or not. Well, it is and it isn't. Howard Schultz never wrote that letter, I did. However, all the statements I made in that letter about donations, sponsorships, political views etc. - are based on factual Howard Schultz actions and quotes, as 1/2 hour of 'Googling' will easily confirm to anyone interested.

There is obviously a lot of emphasis right now on Israel's most recent brutal aggression against Lebanon and the Gaza strip. However it's important not to forget that the current events are part of a bigger picture, Israel's criminal social-Darwinist and 19th century style colonialist plans for the region, a Jewish 'Lebensraum' from the Euphrates to the Nile. Let's face it, whatever critics will say against Israel, it will always be interpreted as being anti-Semitic. In fact, the current edition of the US dictionary Webster defines anti-Semitism as 'criticism of Israel'. How cool is that?

Andrew Winkler
Editor/Publisher
ZioPedia - A Rebel Media Group Project


Checkout Ziopedia for further details. HOWEVER, I don't know the real truth whether starbucks do sponsor the Israelian Army or not. All i know the letter is a hoax, so don't get attach by it. If you do find out that Starbucks does sponsor the Israelian army,then by all means please give me a legit link, thanks, it'll be very helpful.

Some other minor emails, like the video on Arabs partying and having the night of their life then all of a sudden the hotel floor collapsed.



They're jews, not arabs. Someone who posted the video (not u ain :) ) corrected me saying "arab juakan, arab yahudi". But come on. Realistically, the moment we saw the word Arab, it will mean middle-eastern muslims. Nda jua tpikir arab yahudi. Maybe for some :P

So yeah there's thousands of fwd emails that truly is a hoax. Myth. Not factual. Even some of the religious emails i receive, if it sounds a bit 'off', i would do my own research utk memuaskn hati. Some of them even said "If you fwd this to 50 people, you will get luck in 50 days" or some sort.

fwd this and you will receive good news tomorrow.
fwd this to 12 people within 12 hours and your prayers will be answered within 12 hours.

Who are you to decide all of these?

If you do feel that the email is useful, please don't put something towards the end about luck lah, pahala lah, rezeki lah because you don't decide on those things, its up to Allah. Seriously, some people do need to be aware about this. Its wrong. Horrifically wrong. I just hope these people realize their mistakes.

So siapa2 fwd arh ku email, and ujung2nya ada betulis cmani, jgn ambil hati if aku tagur ah hehehehe demi kebaikan. We help each other out.

Okay back to where i started, yes im more of a skeptical person now. This brings me to our old folk tradition on variety of scenarios of pantang. Some of it:

Jgn nyanyi d dapur- dpt laki tua
Jgn tukar2 tmpat duduk time makan- bnyak bini
Jgn main bawah jemuran- ani lupaku effectnya :P
Jgn putung kuku malam- pendek umur.
Jgn makan ah mua pintu- payah cari jodoh

and my all time favourite- abiskan nasi ah, menangis ia krg lol. Imagine ku nasiku karing tarus2 bekuah.

and so on..

Bnyak nyamu pantang org2 tua ani. Most of it I know is untuk mendiscipline msa tani kanak2. But if tebawa2 smpai ke tua? Some are still stuck by these principles. How far should we believe in these superstitions? Should we believe in these kind of superstitions when we know that all the decisions made in life is from the will of Allah alone? I think its wrong to believe such superstitions, not relating to any religious issue, will lead to something that is beyond our control. Same goes to horoscopes. Tarang2 nda bleh pecaya, ada jua majalah nyimpan, babal~

But please, don't take my word for granted. If i do appear wrong, please do tell me. That way we can help one another. After all im not really knowledgeable. Just budak baru belajar :P