Wednesday 28 January 2009

Colgate haram Google search

Odd.

So I wrote earlier about my blog post on the halal status of Colgate toothpaste showing up (kinda) high in Google search results. At least, I thought so. I mean, that’s what I got when I did a Google search with the same search terms as my intrepid visitor.

When I related the story to someone else though, their results varied. Not sure whether that’s because of a localized version (I’m currently defaulted to www.google.com.my), or some other customization due to IP address location or something else. I’ve never really paused to ponder how Google throws its search results together. They’ve served me well enough over the years.

It’s just odd that a search for the same terms, at the same time, gives different results, with my blog post showing up in one, but not another. And just so no one thinks it was some vainglorious self-promoting ego-trip, I snapped a pic of my search results.



If the above looks suspicious, just keep in mind it’s a crop from a pdf print of the search results page.

Ah well. Someone else managed to find my blog post via Google, so it doesn’t matter how that happened. Just hope it helped someone.

Tuesday 20 January 2009

An activist is born!

So much for staying private. :-) I’ve just started a “movement” blog to save A’isyah’s pre-school from being evicted. I’ll be pinging that blog to PPS, and that opens up a path to this blog, although convoluted.

I’m a newbie to the whole activist scene. I’m not even active on the current Gaza War issue, beyond announcing my views in my FB status and having discussions with some friends and colleagues. That’s the hot-button issue here right now, of course. Hotter even than the recent Kuala Terengganu by-elections where BN lost.

So here, I am, fumbling through an issue more personal to me.

Save the Al Hidayah Islamic Pre-School!

Monday 12 January 2009

419 scam: Want a share of some millions “found” in Baghdad during the war?

Oh my. My blog is turning into some myth-busting site. Hehe.

I received an email this afternoon, forwarded to me by a colleague. Alarm bells went ringing as soon as I saw the header. An email from someone within the US Army? Can’t be.

And then I read the email. My mind was pretty much made up by then that this was some kind of scam.

Here’s the email that was forwarded. Take note of the From: field.



From: Sgt.Al Thompson [mailto:thompson@usarmy.com]
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 10:24 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients
Subject: Matter Of Interest.

Matter Of Interest.

My name is Sgt.Al Thompson, a member of the U.S. ARMY USARPAC Medical Team, which was deployed to Iraq in the beginning of the Iraq’s war. I will like to share some highly classified information about my personal experience and role which I played in the pursuit of my career serving under the U.S ARMY.

Though, I would like to hold back some certain information for security reasons for now until you have find the time to visit the BBC website stated below to enable you have insight as to what I'm intending to share with you, believing that it would be of your desired interest one-way or the other. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm

Please get back to me after visiting the above website to enable us discuss more. I'm not comfortable sending this message to you without knowing fully well if you are indeed with me or you may decides to go public.

Please reply me via my personal email:sgt.althompsonus@gmail.com confirming you have visited the site and that you have understood my intentions.
Thanks,
Best Regards,
Sgt.Al Thompson



Let’s just try to ignore the bad grammar, shall we? ;-) It didn’t take much to unravel this scam that I wonder if anyone’s been taken in by it.

My “Internet sleuth” quick response below:



Dear All,

Beware! This is a variation on the (419) Nigerian email scams on the internet. The way it works is, the scammers offer a share in huge sums of money, but you need to pay them some advance fees first (for “processing”, etc.).

Please see:
Phishbucket article

Break The Chain forum post

This one capitalizes on a real event, which was reported by the BBC (hence the legitimate link in the email). The gist: A stash of money was found in some containers in Baghdad, but there are some questions as to where the money came from and even whether all the money found has been accounted for.

Don’t fall for this scam!



I don’t usually use the Importance: High flag in email, but I did with my response above. Just wanted to make sure no one had already tried contacting the scammers. They can be quite persuasive apparently.

On another note, these scammers aren’t very imaginative when it comes to the fake names, eh?

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Dangers of birth control pills?

Another entry in the “Internet sleuth” series, from an email I researched this morning.

This time, I’ll include the quoted email that was forwarded to me:


Menstrual cycle - very important send to all your friends.

I am sure most of you have a daughter, a granddaughter, a niece, a friend or a friend's daughter... this might be worth checking out. PASS THIS ON EVEN IF YOU DON'T USE IT!!

Recently, this past week, my cousin Nicole Dishuk (age 31... a newly graduated student with a doctoral degree about to start her new career as a Doctor...) was flown into a nearby hospital, because she passed out. They found a blood clot in her neck, and immediately took her by helicopter to the ER to operate. By the time they removed the right half of her skull to relieve the pressure on her brain, the clot had spread to her brain causing severe damage. Since last Wednesday night, she was fighting for her life. They induced her into a coma to stop the blood flow and then operated 3 times.

Finally, they said there was nothing left that they could do. Multiple clots in the left side of her brain were found, the swelling wouldn't stop and she was on the life support. She died at 4:30 that day. She leaves behind her husband, a 2-year old, Brandon and a 4-year old, Justin.

The CAUSE of DEATH they found was a birth control she was taking that allows you to only have your period 3 times a year. Doctors said it interrupts life's menstrual cycle, and although it is FDA approved... it shouldn't be. So to the women in my address book, I ask you to boycott this product and deal with your periods once a month, so you can live the rest of the months that life has in store for you.

Please send this to every woman you know - you may save someone's life. Remember you have a cycle for a reason.

FYI: The name of this new birth control is Lybrel. If you go to Lybrel.com you will find a least 26 pages of information regarding this drug. The second birth control is Seasonique. If you go to Seasonique.com you will find at least 43 pages of information regarding this drug. The warning and side effects regarding both pills are horrible.

Please forward this to as many daughters AND sons, co-workers, friends and relatives. Several lives have already been changed.

God bless!


And the response I sent out, after my research:


Hi All!

Another one to investigate. This one I took on mainly because I personally know women who have trouble with their normal menstrual cycles and have opted to use medication to control certain aspects of it.

First check reveals that it appears to be a mixed bag. There’s info debunking the urban legend of Nicole Dishuk:
Snopes page on Dishuk

Interesting to note that the original “warning” didn’t include info on particular brands of birth control pills. That info was apparently added on in later cycles of the email forward.

But, yes, there is a real case of a woman named Nicole Dishuk, PhD in psychology, married and mother of two young boys, who died of a stroke. From here on out, however, it gets murky. There is no definitive proof that the cause of death was the birth control pills she was taking, even though there is a news report (here: ABCLocal site) saying her husband was told that the doctors identified the birth control pills as the only risk factor for Nicole to suffer a stroke (blood clot to the brain). Whether this was established as the cause of death is unknown, because the private medical records are not available. Note also that there is no indication she even took either of the two brands identified in the “warning” below.

And here one has to note that all medication comes with risks, and contraindications are noted precisely to highlight potential risks.

So this is where we get controversial. A good jumping off point for different points of view on this topic can be found here:
About.com site on Contraception

Some say we should go au naturel, and avoid all medicines entirely, because they interrupt with the “normal” body functions. See the “warning” that was just forwarded below. Or some comments posted under the About.com post above:
“Anything that interupts (sic) a life cycle has to be dangerous.”
“Nutrition feeds the cells which in turn communicate with our 600 trillion cells helping the body to heal itself. … Put synthetic drugs in a human body and take the consequences.”

Some take the opposing stand, noting that a lot of medicines do a lot of good to people who may not have the same “normal” experiences as the majority.
There’s the case of someone who “started getting (her) period at the age of 11, when (she) first started getting (her) period (her) cycle was 35 days long and (her) actual period was 8 days long.” This person went on birth control pills at 17 and no longer suffers such terrible PMS symptoms or cramps. And there are other cases such as hers.

Some say that anyone taking medication should be responsible over their own bodies and be informed about any risks they may face.

There are many opinions on the matter, but in the end, ladies, it’s your prerogative. Stay informed.

Conclusion: Not all birth control pills are suitable for all women; you have to be aware of any potential risk factors. However, it is unfair to depict them as dangerous and having no benefit whatsoever.


It’s easy enough to sympathize with the origins of this particular myth. But there’s a danger to perpetuating misinformation, in that it could scare women off potentially useful information regarding contraceptives. All in all, a thorny subject, but still, better to spread knowledge than ignorance!

A’isyah at school

It was A’isyah’s second day of pre-school today, and she was just as excited about school today as she was yesterday. This morning, however, she was prepped with her crocs, which prompted her to ask about her black shoes. She was just told that she can wear her black shoes another time. Hehe. Not sure how long that will keep up.

Al Hidayah Pre-School

Since I haven’t mentioned it yet, the school is Al Hidayah in Damansara Heights, pictured above. Three of my sister’s kids went there, and the youngest just graduated from Al Hidayah to enter Standard 1 in SKBD, which is just nearby. They have a good number of teachers/caregivers, and a pretty diverse program, plus instruction in both Malay and English. Quite a few yuppy Malays out there with kids who aren’t so fluent in Malay apparently.

Siti Nur A’isyah on her first day of school

Two days straight, and A’isyah is still very enthusiastic about the whole experience. I think she’s glad that she has others her age group to interact with. For me, I just hope that she gains more confidence in interacting with others.

Tuesday 6 January 2009

News from Dubai starting to hit home

Big news today. Just found out from the local paper (NST) that Meydan have cancelled the construction contract for WCT and Arabtec to build the world’s largest horse racecourse. It’s all over the Gulf news. A sampling can be found here and here.

Interesting to note that the reason given was “because of non-adherence to the agreed time schedule for construction”, as mentioned in Meydan’s statement.

Hmm. No further comment from me.

Dropping off A’isyah at school

I just dropped off A’isyah at her pre-school, for her first day of school. She was so excited this morning, dressed up in her uniform and wearing her favourite black shoes, with her backpack on her shoulders. Decided to change her shoes though, after seeing the other kids wearing sneakers or crocs even. Maybe for the time being she can wear her crocs. It’d be easier to take off and put back on as she goes in and out of the school building.

First impressions were ok. A’isyah seemed alright, and was curiously watching all the other kids. She met one new girl who was there the day we registered A’isyah. And there was this new boy who was crying the whole time after his parents left, just as he was on the day we registered. Feeling better about A’isyah being able to cope now. At least she wasn’t bawling her eyes out. Hehe.

So this whole morning I’ll probably be wondering if she’s doing alright on her first day of school.

Monday 5 January 2009

Halal status of Colgate toothpaste

I was browsing my Statcounter logs earlier and found an interesting search engine entry into my blog. One of my earliest posts was about a halal scandal involving Colgate toothpaste, and apparently it’s now a popular enough reference on the topic. I’ve actually seen a few Google searches on “Colgate” and “halal” leading into my blog before, but I never bothered to check it out much.

This latest search was for the phrase “is Colgate haram”, and interestingly, my blog post appears on page 3 of the Google results (as of this writing).

I figure it’s only appropriate I update that post with the latest info, which is to say that the issue has been settled (at least, for now). I can’t say about other locales, but the Colgate toothpaste sold in Malaysia is now certified halal. You can check out Colgate Malaysia’s statement, which specifically states that:
“The calcium in Colgate toothpaste is sourced from minerals.
The glycerin in Colgate toothpaste is sourced from plants.”


I hope this puts to rest the question of whether Colgate toothpaste is haram.

The other question that remains unresolved is whether the original “flyer” was indeed a misinformation marketing tactic, or was created for genuine reasons. I suppose it’s irrelevant, because in the end, Colgate sat up, took notice, and went ahead with the halal certification process to prove its credentials.