Cedars USA
Newsletter
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Contents Of This Issue:
The Quote
What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?
- George Elliot
Caramel
Click on photo above to order a copy
Lionsgate invites you to celebrate the film that the New York Times calls "hard
to resist,"
This film is a true favorite international film sensation! Written, directed by
and starringr enowned Lebanese
producer/director Nadine Labaki,
CARAMEL was an official selection at the
Cannes, Toronto and AFI film festivels.
Labaki also received the Filmmaker of the Year award from
the Middle East
International Film Festival.
Five women meet regularly in a beauty salon, a colorful and sensual microcosm of
Beirut, where several generations come
into contact, talk
and confide in each other. In the salon, their intimate and
liberated conversations revolve around men,
marriage and motherhood, between
haircuts and sugar waxing with caramel. Rated
PG
The Los Angeles Times calls CARAMEL "sweet, intimate and sophisticated," and USA
Today
raves, it's a "cinematic treat!"
Win a free Caramel DVD- See below
This
quirky docu-drama tells the real life story of Aref Kabbara, a Lebanese-American
immigrant and father of two, who left his war ridden
country for America, but
only to find himself settling into a suburban life of solitude and daily
rituals. However, one day, Aref's kids decide
to pay him a visit that totally
disrupts his carefully planned life, and Aref finds himself trying, hopelessly
to regain control.
This film
provides a satirical glimpse into the life of an immigrant who, like many
others, had to make sacrifices to provide for his children
a better life, even
if that meant surrendering his own life to the chains of routine.
Official Selections: FAIF International Film Festival, Hollywood & New Mexico Film Festival.
Michael DeBakey, pioneer of heart procedures, dead at 99
Dr. Michael DeBakey, surgical giant and medical pioneer, died at age 99 , just
seven weeks before his 100th birthday. He was buried
July 18, 2008at Arlington National Cemetery. DeBakey
was born September 7, 1908, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the son of Lebanese
immigrants. He got interested in medicine while listening to physicians chat at
his father's pharmacy. "I always knew I wanted to be
a doctor. DeBakey created several procedures used in
today's heart surgeries. He had published many papers and trained many
heart surgeons who now practice all over the world. His patients ranged
from penniless peasants from the Third World to such famous
figures as the Duke of Windsor, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan,
Turkish President Turgut Ozal, Nicaraguan Leader Violetta
Chamorro and Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. But he
said celebrities don't get special treatment on the operating table:
"Once you incise the skin, you find that they are all very similar."
Below are links to several articles. We will be creating a page under
American-Lebanese profiles in honor of Dr. Debakey and include
his biography and accomplishments. If you have any material to contribute
to this project please email us. We hope to have it ready i
n few weeks.
You can post messages on the first two sites below:
http://debakey.mymethodistblog.com/
http://www.health.mil/Press/Release.aspx?ID=273
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/07/12/debakey.obit.ap/index.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/12/AR2008071200259.html
American-Lebanese Profile
Professor/Lawyer/Poet-
Lawrence Joseph
Professor Lawrence Joseph was born
in Detroit, Michigan, in 1948. His grandparents were Lebanese and Syrian
Catholics. He was educated
at the University of Michigan, where he
graduated Phi Beta Kappa with High Honors in English Language and Literature in
1970, and received
first prize in the major Hopwood Award for Poetry; Magdalene
College, Cambridge University, where he received both Bachelor and Master of
Arts degrees with First Honors in English Language and Literature, in 1972 and
1976 respectively; and the University of Michigan Law School,
where he received
a J.D. in 1975. He then served as law clerk to Justice G. Mennen Williams of the
Michigan Supreme Court. From 1978 to 1981, he was a member of the School of Law
faculty at the University of Detroit. In 1981, he moved to New York City, where
he was associated with the firm of Shearman & Sterling. At Shearman & Sterling,
his practice included securities, bankruptcy, anti-trust, mergers and
acquisitions, products liability, and real estate litigation. Professor Joseph
has been at St. John's School of Law since 1987. He has taught, and teaches,
courses in Torts I, Torts II, Employment Law, Jurisprudence, and seminars in The
Legal Process and Advanced Torts. In 2003, he was named The Reverend Joseph T. Tinnelly, C.M., Professor of Law.
Professor Joseph has published and has lectured extensively in areas of labor, employment, tort and compensation law, jurisprudence, law and literature, and legal theory. He has served as Consultant on Tort and Compensation Law for the Michigan State Senate's Commission on Courts, and as Consultant for the Governor of Michigan's Commission on Workers' Compensation, Occupational Disease and Employment, and has received a grant from the Employment Standards Division of the United States Department of Labor to write on workers' compensation. He has been invited to speak at law schools throughout the country, including Stanford, Columbia, Harvard, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Northwestern, and Georgetown, and is the former Chairperson of the Association of American Law School's section on Law and Interpretation.
Professor Joseph is also an internationally acclaimed poet. He has been described by David Skeel in Legal Affairs magazine as “the most important lawyer-poet of our era.” His fourth book of poems, Into It, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in Fall 2005, has received widespread attention and praise. Farrar, Straus and Giroux also published, simultaneously with Into It, Codes, Precepts, Biases, and Taboos: Poems 1973-1993 , which collects Professor Joseph’s first three books of poems, Before Our Eyes (1993); Curriculum Vitae (1988), and Shouting at No One (1983). Both books were chosen as “Best Books of the Year” by Joyce Carol Oates in the Times Literary Supplement. In 1997, Farrar, Straus and Giroux published Professor Joseph’s prose book Lawyerland, which also received national and international acclaim. Lawyerland is the subject of a Columbia Law Review symposium, "The Lawyerland Essays" (Volume 101, No. 7, November 2001), which includes essays by Robert Weisberg, Pierre Schlag, David Luban, Robin West, David Skeel, and Sarah Krakoff. Lawyerland also is being developed into a film by Mr. Mudd Productions, whose partners are John Malkovich, Russell Smith and Lianne Helfon. Professor Joseph’s poems, prose, essays, and criticism have appeared, and his work has been featured, in both national and international publications. His work has been widely anthologized, most recently in The Oxford Book of American Poetry (edited by David Lehman). Among Professor Joseph’s awards are a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, two National Endowment for the Arts poetry fellowships, and the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize, which he received for Shouting at No One. In April 2006, he was named the third recipient of the New York County Lawyers Association’s “Law and Literature Award” (prior recipients are Louis Auchincloss and Louis Begley). In 1989, Professor Joseph lectured on law and on poetry in Jordan, Israel, and Egypt through the cultural affairs offices of the United States embassies in each country. He has been a member of the board of directors of Poets House, the Poetry Society of America, and The Writer's Voice, and served on the PEN Events Committee. In 1994, he taught in the Council of the Humanities and Creative Writing Program at Princeton University. Married to the painter Nancy Van Goethem, he lives in downtown Manhattan.
websites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Joseph and http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/207
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Please find attached an article in the Detroit News for American born,
Lebanese kid (11 years old) involved in the
American politics campaigning for John McCain for President
http://www.detnews. com/apps/ pbcs.dll/ article?AID= 2008807110372
|
Lebanese Club of New York |
|
Job Fair- Oct 2008 |
|
SEAL-USA Event |
|
Dabke Classes - House of Lebanon |
|
Midwest Convention Aug 1 & 2- Cedar Rapids
Iowa
www.lac-cr.org |
|
49th Annual Lebanese Festival /Mahrajan |
|
Leb-Fest
08- Michigan see article below for details. |
|
American-Lebanese Festival Aug 31st- see article below for details. |
|
Aramaic Music Festival August 2nd
to the 4th |
Featured Organization: Peace Missions
 |
In the spring of 2009, a replica of a Phoenician ship, “Europa” named after the Phoenician princess that was kidnapped by Zeus with 17 people mostly volunteers on board, will set sail to the Following countries: Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Malta, Italy, Spain, France and the Vatican. |
Registration # 23691 Beirut,
Lebanon
Email:
peace@peacemissions.eu
web:
www.peacemissions.eu
Tel. + 961-(0)3-540-093
Letter of Introduction
Who are we:
Peace Missions is a non-government non-profit
Lebanese Organization. Originally, Mr. Fadi A. Maalouf had an idea that was
inspired
by the donation of 25,000 USD from Somalia to the victims of the infamous
Tsunami that gathered more air time on CNN, BBC and
other major news than the US, Canada and Great Britain, while residing and
working for Euro-Mid an American company based in
the EU Parliament in Brussels, Belgium in the late 2006. He then decided of
making wonders come out of Lebanon by keeping with
the traditions of the most ancient civilization, the Phoenician’s civilization.
A civilization that unlike many others was founded based
on peace, trading and construction missions (building cities, temples, and ships
etc…) for the betterment of all man-kind.
Upon his return to Lebanon and after 14 years of
living overseas, he wasted no time in gathering more members for the
organization
who shared his vision to become an organization founded by 5 pillars (founders)
with its honorary president the infamous Poet
Mr. Saed Akel and its founders; Mr. Fadi A.Maalouf (Political Strategist), Miss
Cynthia El-Murr (Attorney At-Law), Mr. George Aaraj
(Pilot Engineer), Miss Soha Abi Raed (Architect), Mrs. Barbara Hallak
(House-wife and mother) who are currently highly active in
supporting both the A.L.E.R.T. (Active Lebanese Emergency Respond Team)
and Europa Projects.
Our goal:
Rightfully and simply put…to show the
world the Lebanese true nature, spirit and moral fiber. And
To make the world realize that
we are a peaceful, caring and loving nation that is destined to make
wonders.
Means of operations:
Our means of operations is very simple. It
is to provide major corporations, banks and companies with a highly
effective and better
publicity at a lower cost. By using and taking
advantage of all kind of media resources, from TVs stations to internet websites
with
a simple, assertive business strategies in mind;
Why pay millions of dollars for the cost of
somewhat wasted advertisements, instead we will use that sum of the cost to help
people
in need and to improve the living condition of all man-kind world wide
regardless of their geographical location, nationalities, ethnicities,
religions and races.
Vision
Our ultimate vision is to create and train to the level of instructors (
A.L.E.R.T. so they can train the future generations) an emergency
respond team that will be ready to go and help the Lebanese people 1st
then the natives, world wide in case of any international or
domestic natural crisis e.g, avalanches, earth quacks, airplanes crashes.
Wearing uniforms with the cedars on their backs, helmets,
shoulder badges etc… showing the world that we too the Lebanese are inseparable
part of it, and highly effective in providing assistance
anywhere in the world.
Respectfully,
Peace Missions.
Win a poster and a copy of Caramel DVD
Register to win a copy of the DVD and two posters to use in your cultural
events. Those who help us promote
www.cedarsusa.com
can qualify by sending us an email telling us what they have done.
We will only ship to a US address. Some suggestions include
sharing the site with other groups or electronic boards, adding our link to
other sites, getting 10 or more people to join the monthly
newsletter or connecting us to additional American-Lebanese club not on our
directory. (
www.cedarsusa.com/us/usdirectory.htm )
The mission of Cedars USA is to promote excellence, community service and
networking. We focus on serving Americans of Lebanese
ancestry. We share positive news such as the above video "CARAMEL",
books, clubs, artists and prominent American-Lebanese. We
receive many stories, information and resources that maybe of interest to your
friends.
cedarsusa@yahoo.com or
info@cedarsusa.com
MORE FOOD! ~~ MORE MUSIC! ~~ MORE FUN!
(BIRMINGHAM,
MI/USA) The Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce & Lebanese Monthly Magazine in
association with The Lebanese
Festival Company are pleased to announce LEBFEST!
The 2008 Lebanese Festival – A Vibrant World-class Celebration of Heritage,
Culture
& Art at
Shain
Park in Downtown
Birmingham.
Presented by Mezza
Mediterranean Grille, The second annual two-day event – also known as a
‘Mahrajan’ – will take place on Fridy, August 1,
from 12:00 PM – 10:00 PM &
Saturday, August 2, 2008 from 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM. Everyone is welcome to attend
and encouraged to bring family
& friends to savor the sights, sounds and tastes
of EVERYTHING LEBANESE! The weekend event will feature: specialty food booths
offering tasty
authentic Lebanese cuisine & American fare; International
Artisans, Crafters and Lebanese merchandise tents; a Children’s Fun & Play area;
Live Entertainment with Music, Folkdance Troupes & Detroit Bellydance; Cultural
Displays, Mouth-watering Pastries & Homemade Ice Cream, a traditional Ethnic
Bazaar & Market, and much, much more!
The Baalbeck-style
live concert on the Paramount Bank Stage will present ‘An Evening of Lebanese
Stars’ under the Birmingham skies, with a special appearance by Motown Legend
Martha Reeves singing the US National Anthem, and featuring Jimmy A & his Rat
Pack Rollers, Detroit Bellydance featuring Lana & Lalena, teenage singing
sensations Lance Attalla & Ashley Peters, Lebanese Diva’s Amalia Kaddo & Soumaya
Aziz, Arabic Superstars Bassam Saleh & Usama Baalbaki, the Our Lady of Lebanon
Dabke Troupe, the Jazz Stylings of Eric Watson, Hollywood Actor
Alex Safi, New
York Veteran Comedian George Saba, Oud Virtuoso Karim Badr, among others.
Honorary
Chairman of the Festival Host Committee this year is Detroit Pistons Trainer
Mike Abdenour. The 2008 LEBFEST Grand
Marshall
is
NFL Great
Lomas Brown,
who will officially cut the ribbon to open the concert. The former Detroit Lion
will be joined by US Ambassador Sam Zakhem, Lt. Governor John Cherry, Secretary
of State Terri Lynn Land, Wayne County Executive Bob Ficano, Mayor Brenda
Lawrence, Detroit
Red Wings Singer Karen Newman, WNIC Radio Personality Kevin
O’Neill, Miss Michigan 2006 Angela Marie Corsi, Lebanese Consul General
Bachir
S. Tawk, and Birmingham Mayor Donald Carney.
Festival Eve
will bring an exclusive red-carpet Preview Party to Margot European Day Spa in
Birmingham, with special guest,
The Honorable
Dennis W. Archer, Esq..
This star-studded event and champagne reception will include an exhibit of great
new works by renown Lebanese American Artist Stephen Deeb and a book-signing by
best-selling author Dr. Habib Chamoun-Nicolas. Patrons can expect celebrity
sightings
with the presence of several Detroit sports figures; dine on delicious
Lebanese culinary hors d'oeuvres, courtesy of Mezza Mediterranean
Grille and
tantalizing desserts; all while listening to the soothing sounds of an
internationally acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra harpist.
Much more awaits
guests as they arrive along the limousine-lined curb to be formally greeted by
models from Roma Sposa, with guided tours
of Michigan’s most elegant Salon & Spa
at this VIP gathering. Guests will include Sponsors, Staff and Volunteers;
Chamber Members & Associates; Michigan Business & Civic Leaders, International
Diplomats, and other supporters at this By-Invitation-Only spectacular event.
As part of the
official closing ceremonies of this year's LEBFEST! 2008 Lebanese Festival, the
Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce is
hosting an Advance Screening at the
Landmark Maple Art Theatre in Bloomfield Twp., of a yet-to-be released film shot entirley on location in Beirut, on Sunday, August 3, at 12:30pm. New York Film
Director Deborah Harse will be in attendance at the feature premiere and offer
brief remarks prior to the start of the film. Immediately following the showing,
Ms. Harse will take questions from the audience and be available
for photos and
autographs. Also, in special arrangement with the Chamber, Ms. Harse is
producing DVD copies of the film to be available for purchase before and after
the screening. Seating is limited to the first 400 guests, and future showtimes
and a release date will be announced
for a later run at the theatre for general
audiences.
LEBFEST! is a
project of the Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce. Admission is free as are
the first two hours of structure parking. Shain Park is located in beautiful
downtown
Birmingham
and is situated amongst Bates, Merrill, Martin, and Henrietta Streets. Guests
are encouraged
to bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on to enjoy the concert.
Opening Ceremonies take place on Friday at 7:00 PM. An official AfterParty
takes
place on Saturday night following the concert at the Birmingham Community House.
For more information please visit www.lebanesefestival.org.
Government
Officials and Special Guests will attend
Great
entertainment for all ages
Live band and famous
singers, DJ Music, Folckloric Dance
Cultural Booths, Arts and Crafts, Children Games and Carnival
Delicious Lebanese food and Sweets can be purchased at the food court
Lots of
fun, Great selection of foods, Live music, Cultural dancing groups,
a wide variety of vendors, and Lots of fun stuff for the kids
This is an opportunity to meet and greet state
and local politicians
and like-minded individuals in an informal (tennis shoe) setting
Bring
your country flag, Camera, Video Camera, your long chair,
your tent, your family members and all your friends
Free Admission - Free Parking
For
sponsorship and booth rental (business or individual)
or would like to showcase your
organization,
Participate in the Annual
book program
and for any additional
information call:
Toll Free:
1 (888) 623 - 4788
festival@americanlebanesefestival.org
Notes and Disclaimer
- Join
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- Help
If you wish to help or if you have
links, resources, news about your community,
articles promoting excellence and community service please email us
at:
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info@cedarsusa.com.
- Disclaimer
This website is not
associated with any gov., political or religious group. The site
focuses on Americans of Lebanese Ancestry. We try to
include only links and events
that is within our vision, but this is not always possible so what
other clubs do
or say is strictly their own responsibility or opinion.