April 2007

Contents Of This Issue:

The Quote

 "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
-George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists"
-From the website www.anunreasonableman.com

Just Published...

"Originality in Spiritual Revival—Manna for the intellectually hungry. Entice your senses, quench a thirsty soul, witness a noble rebellion, feel the gentle ache of solitude and surrender to truth!"— Halabi is legendary Lebanese, once again. Her poetry is emblematic of a woman's self struggle to ponder hidden truths. In classic Halabi style, her last sanctuary is ultimately resurrected in her mind's eye, emanating, resting and sourced from her soul. She forces you to wonder, to self reflect. Equipped in a self-inflicted war of words, her armed struggle vehemently opposes the imposed wrongs of life, the wrongs of love, the wrongs of destinies. Halabi's pain runs through veins bypassing the heart towards the soul. Her poetry enables the imagination by means of inter-dependent avenues of thought, critical thinking and an innovative integration of reasoning, whereby one finds oneself leveraging from Halabi's "imagistic" words seeking a truism towards an ultimate inner peace. Wendy Acho, Executive Director-AMEAC Women Business Council.

"From the majestic mountains of Lebanon, Grace’s voice echoes in the valley below. She takes us on a journey where love, pain, suffering, hope—all human feelings are revealed in beautiful lines of insightful poetry. All is experienced under the Grace of God…"—Karim El-Koussa , Author and 2001 Winner of the Saeed Akl Prize for Literature.

As a passionate and pensive child, Grace Halabi, spent her childhood years relishing the majestic mountains and the beguiling ocean of her native Beirut. Her love for poetry is akin to that of her father, a linguist specialist for the deaf and mute and an English professor, and that passion is manifested in her collection of eloquent poetry and prose.

A Renascence of Heart and Soul, profoundly moving with its emotional immediacy, highlights the vitality of her intelligence and the yearnings of her imagination. A Shakespeare, Milton, and Khalil Gibran partisan, her writings reveal a likeness to their wings.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Grace Halabi is a dynamic, accomplished and integrity-driven professional offering over 18 years in the financial industry.
Multilingual, an accomplished writer, and a recipient of innumerable awards for leadership, professionalism, communication and dedication, Grace’s integrity and inspiration has afforded her the respect of all who know her. Grace believes that passion is the driving force that propels her success train and that an individual can leverage change far more effectively than most institutions. Her success in the banking industry accelerated as a result of her convictions and investment in self-exploration. Throughout her career, she has earned a track record of success in managing business initiatives. Grace completed her education in English Literature and is a published author. She was selected for inclusion in “International Who’s who”. Grace’s expertise in managing the creative process, motivating and empowering team members has given her the distinction of being a leader who that rewards initiative, creative thinking and teamwork.

Ralph Nader: How do you define your legacy 
www.anunreasonableman.com

In 1966, General Motors, the most powerful corporation in the world, sent private investigators to dig up dirt on an obscure thirty-two year old public interest lawyer named Ralph Nader, who had written a book critical of one of their cars, the Corvair. The scandal that ensued after the smear campaign was revealed launched Ralph Nader into national prominence and established him as one of the most admired Americans and the leader of the modern Consumer Movement.

Over the next thirty years and without ever holding public office, Nader built a legislative record that is the rival of any contemporary president. Many things we take for granted including seat belts, airbags, product labeling, no nukes, even the free ticket you get after being bumped from an overbooked flight are largely due to the efforts of Ralph Nader and his citizen groups. Yet today, when most people hear the name "Ralph Nader," they think of the man who gave the country George W. Bush. As a result, after sustaining his popularity and effectiveness over an unprecedented amount of time, he has become a pariah even among former friends and allies. How did this happen? Is he really to blame for George W. Bush? Who has stuck by him and who has abandoned him? Has our democracy become a consumer fraud? After being so right for so many years, how did he seem to go so wrong?

With the help of exciting graphics, rare archival footage and over forty on-camera interviews conducted over the past two years, "An Unreasonable Man" traces the life and career of Ralph Nader, one of the most unique, important, and controversial political figures of the past half century.

"A PROBING AND INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTARY."  -A.O. Scott  The New York Times

Negotiate Like a Phoenician- Author Biography
Dr. Habib Chamoun-Nicolas

The book was featured last issue.  For more details please visit resources > books.  A copy
can be ordered at the following link http://www.keynegotiations.com/books.html. 

Over two decades, Dr. Chamoun-Nicolas has been conducting negotiation and business development activities in diversified sectors (industrial, commercial, government, institutional) for the sales and marketing of services and products. He has worked for ELF Aquitaine, ICA Fluor Daniel, and Brown and Root. Dr. Chamoun has trained thousands business and government professionals on A Business Development Approach on Sales and Negotiation and has conducted extensive research on How Mexicans Negotiate.

Dr. Chamoun-Nicolas graduated from University of Texas at Austin and the Monterrey Institute of Technology and has participated in several special executive programs, such as the Program on Negotiation at Harvard University and the Brazilian Seminar at the International School of Business at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Chamoun has also been an invited guest speaker and instructor at several universities: Thunderbird School of International Business in the GLOBAL MBA program, MBOC at the University of Texas, PANAM, University of Texas Dallas Cohort MBA program, and the University of Houston on Negotiation and Business development related topics. Dr Chamoun has participated as a professor at the Virtual University of the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico. The Autonomous University of Honduras, Business International School of San Pedro Sula and Catholic University of Guayaquil Ecuador are among the Central and Latin America Universities were he has taught negotiation. He is the author of many articles on negotiation and the books: Desarrollo de Negocios, in its 3rd edition, Trato Hecho-Guía para una Negociación sin Fallas (2nd edition) and DEAL: Guidelines for a Flawless Negotiation (a special edition on Culture and Negotiation, in English).

A partial list of his commercial and industrial clients includes: Exxon-Mobil, Marathon Oil Company, Halliburton, Dynasol (Repsol / Grupo Desc), Telmex, Telcel, Axtel (Bell Canada), Maxcom, Sears, Banorte, Banrural, Jugos del Valle, USA, Bimbo Snacks, USA, T-Systems International, AMECO (equipment branch of Fluor Daniel Corp), AIT Group Mexico, Baxter, Grace Davison, RSM BEPAM, Santa Marina y Esteta Abogados, Henkel, Celanese, Procter and Gamble, CAIC, Shell Oil, Franklin Covey, Grupo Educare, SGS Mexico, and others.

Dr. Chamoun is a member of the advisory board of the Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution at the South Texas School of Law. Also he is a board member of the American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Genesys, ITS, and the CELH (Chamber of Latin entrepreneurs of Houston). Dr. Chamoun has been honored as the writer of the year 2006 at the 4th Hispanic Book Festival of Houston and he has been appointed by Major Bill White of Houston as a Council member of the Mayor’s International Affairs & Development Council of the Americas. Dr. Habib Chamoun-Nicolas was awarded with the title of honorary professor at the Faculty of entrepreneurial specialties at the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil.
 

Please help us bring life to a hospital in Ain Ebel- South Lebanon

The World Lebanese Cultural Union
&
The Los Angeles Cedars Rotary Club 

are hosting a dinner banquet on  Sunday April 22nd At 5 p.m.

The Down Town LA Marriott Hotel Honoring Dr Ghassan Boutros

$100 p/p- VIP Table $1,500

The proceeds will be used to purchase  Medical Equipment for a hospital in Ain Ebel

Your participation would be greatly appreciated.
We invite you to place  an ad in the program book
or to donate items for the silent auction.

For information please call
Amira (310) 786-7812 
Majeda (714) 993-2521 
Susan (818) 913-2000
Therese (310) 787-1892
Yara (805) 494-9745

PLEASE READ: Your help for my sister, Jessica Abood
From: "Lily Brook Abood" <lilybrook@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, March 19, 2007 12:18 pm
To: info@cedarsusa.com

Hello,
I apologize for the anonymity of this email. I am trying to reach out to Arab-American communities to help raise awareness about the need for bone marrow donors with our ethnic background.

I've never imagined writing an email of this sort, so please bear with me and read this all
the way through. And, when you're done, please share it with your friends and family, and
help me push it get the word out.

I am writing to ask for your help and your good wishes. My sister, Jessica Cody Abood, was originally diagnosed with leukemia in January 2006 and spentthe majority of last year
fighting the disease. She put in a good fight though and in March 2006 the cancer went
into remission. But, the cancer came back and the treatment this time around needs to be different.

The doctors have recommended that Jessica receive a bone marrow transplant as soon as the cancer is in remission, but because of our unique ethnic heritage (primarily Lebanese and German), she does not currently have adonor match.  If you could reach out to your communities and families to help raise awareness and recruit donors, I would greatly appreciate your help.

For those of you who are interested, I've pulled together some more information about getting tested and the process of donating marrow or blood. To summarize the attached pdf: it's really, really easy. To be tested (and added to the registry) all you need to do is get a cheek swab. That's it. One Q-tip rolled around and you're done. (The process of donating marrow/blood to a patient is a bit more complicated, but you always have the choice to donate or not, and they make the process very simple for the donor.)

I cannot overemphasize my plea for individuals from racial or ethnic minority groups to be tested. Of the 4,000,000+ donors in the Registry, there is not one single match for Jessica. So, please please please reach out to people that you know who may have Lebanese/Arab ancestry, or help me locate community organizations or church groups that may have access to Arab-American communities.

The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) has made great strides in its efforts to provide matches for more patients. Yet, even with millions of potential donors and tens of thousands of cord blood units on the Registry, patients from some racial and ethnic groups remain less likely to find a suitable match than others. In addition, some patients are unable to find a suitable match because of the rarity of their tissue traits. Some tissue traits are more likely to be found among people of a particular racial or ethnic heritage. That is why a pressing need remains for more people who identify themselves as American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or multiple-race to volunteer as donors.

Jessica completes her chemotherapy treatment today and we will know in a few weeks if the treatment was successful. If her cancer is in remission, she will need a bone marrow transplant. Please help us improve her chances at life by getting tested, sending this email far and wide, and sending all the love in the world her way.

Thank you.  Lily B. Abood   email lilybrook@gmail.com

If you'd like to find out more about my leukemia, please visit The National Cancer Institute <http://www.cancer.gov/ > or The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society <http://www.leukemia.org/>

For more information about bone marrow registries, or getting yourself tested, please visit The National Marrow Donor Program<http://www.marrow.org/> , or the American Bone Marrow Donor Registry <http://www.abmdr.org/

House Of Lebanon Event : A Bridge to Our Roots

Please mark your calendars, November 3, 2007 at 7:30pm, the Lebanese American Foundation will hold its House of Lebanon Annual Banquet at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The highlight of this event will be the "Ray R. Irani Pride of Heritage Award", presented this year to Mr. Mohamed Ahmar, a pioneer in the field of graphic and imaging systems distribution. Mr. Ahmar, just out college in 1985, founded International Computer Graphics, ICG . Twenty years later in 2005 ICG was ranked 67 on the list of top 100 private California companies, with seven nation-wide distribution centers .

Mr. Mohamed Ahmar is the third distinguished recipient of the "Ray R. Irani Pride of Heritage Award". The first Award was presented in 2005 to the International Industrialist Ambassador Gilbert Chagoury. The second award was presented in 2006 to Mr. George Hage, founder of Hetron USA, a leading international manufacturer of security systems.

The House of Lebanon Ray R. Irani “Pride of Heritage” Award is given annually by the House of Lebanon to an individual who best exemplifies those qualities that have distinguished Lebanese Americans - Love of family and country, generosity of spirit, dedication to the community, excellence in business or profession, and is supportive to the mission and purposes of the Lebanese American Foundation.

We are fortunate this year, that LAF Director Dr. Nabil Feghali and his capable wife Mrs. Fairouz Fegahli have accepted to be the Co-chairs of this event. They will present to you on November 3rd, 2007 a most interesting program rich in entertainment and culture. The House of Lebanon "Artists Group" will exhibit works of art and literature. 
www.houseoflebanon.com  

Cedars Organization Event- Casino Night

Casino night April 21st: prizes include airline tickets, ipod, LCD TV and more.
Our Lady Of Lebanon Cathedral Remsen St.  Brooklyn NY. 
For tickets call 646-662-6605  or  908-209-0740  $50 per person.
Click here for flyer and detalis.
 

BEIRUT NIGHTS 1st Year Anniversary
Celebration Event @ BYBLOS!   APRIL 13 @ 9pm

- Best International DJ Music Mix
- TOP HITS Live band
- Spectacular Bellydance Show

BYBLOS
1964 Westwood Blvd.
LA, Ca. 90025
310-475-9558

For Reservations & info, call:
FAMOUS STAGE ENTERTAINMENT
818-378-7550
info@famousstage.com
www.famousstage.com
 

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