LAS VEGAS — A 24-year-old Arab American from Michigan beat out 50 other women to take the 2010 Miss USA title last night.

Rima Fakih of Dearborn, Mich., won the pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip after strutting confidently in an orange and gold bikini, wearing a strapless white gown that resembled a wedding dress and saying health insurance should cover birth control pills.

When asked how she felt about winning the crown, she said, “Ask me after I’ve had a pizza.”

Fakih, a Lebanese immigrant, told pageant organizers her family celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths.

Rima Fakih – Miss USA 2010

Lots of users have deactivated their accounts permanently I still don’t know why! Is there any kind of threat if somebody knows my name or my birth date or the name of my pet and my fish and the amount of the virtual poker chips that I have?

Would it be a danger if anyone can view my restaurant city recipe, my Fashion bug co-op, or my splits in Friends Stocks?

I use some prevention methods to stay secure from rumors; one is to create a Facebook password that is different from all my other accounts, and two is not to use my credit card to purchase game credits but have an e-card instead that I can fund with the exact amount required for the purchase.

One last concern I might have, is the scam emails I receive. My email address could be retrieved from any other website and not only Facebook, I always have a “MARK AS JUNK” button that I can use.

Is it worth it to quit? Would you leave your wall unchecked every morning? What about the cows and the chicken coop?  Keep in mind that your terrier wouldn’t learn a new trick if for one day you miss his dog treat.

الانهيار الذي يسود سكان الجميزة الكلاس يخضّ شبابيك المطبخ والصالون خضّ كما يغوص في الأذن والأنف والعظام ويتناغم مع دقّات قلوبهم المتسارعة تارة والمتقطّعة تورةً

قصّة ابريق الزيت لم أفهما قبل اليوم. والى كل من احترق شوقاً لسماع كامل قصّة ابريق الزيت ها أنا اليوم أقصها عليكم ولتبقا أعينكم وذهونكم منفتحة حتى النهاية. سأعرض الموضوع بمنتهى البساطة وأعرض الحل بمنتهى السذاجة وأقبل بأي اعتراض آت من الأشخاص الذين لم يزوروا الجميّزة قط فقط

ملّاك الجمّيزة من أقدم الملّاك في لبنان وهم الوحيدون القادرون على بيع أو تأجير أو نقل ملكية أي مبنى الى أي شخص آخر.  شارع الجمّيزة الذي يبدأ من مطعم بول وينتهي بالكلوب 43 مقابل شركة كهرباء لبنان تزيّنه لوحتين زرقاويتي اللون, واحدة كتب عليها “شارع ذو طابع تراثي” وأخرى “منطقة سكنية

عندما أمرّ في هذا الشارع لا أرى الطابع التراثي ولا أرى منطقة سكنية وأقترح تلف اللوحتين أو نقلهما الى شارع أخر

الشارع يحوي على عدد كبير من البارات والمطاعم تابعة لأشخاص استأجروا الأماكن من الملّاك أكيد وليس منّي أو منّك. والضجّة التي يقوم بها أهالي الجمّيزة على شاشات التلفزيون و في بعبدا والمحاكم العليا أعلى بكثير من صوت الأر.ن.ب. والبوب ميوزك والدجاز والبلوز الصادرة من مطاعم الجمّيزة. لذلك أقترح الآتي

:اقتراحات تخصّ الملّاك

عدم تأجير ممتلكاتكم اذا بدكن تأجرو و تفو عليه

تأجير أو بيع ممتلكاتكم والصعود نحو الجبل (بقاع, فريّا, زغرتا…)للاستقرار وللاستمتاع بالهواء النقي والهدوء والاسترخاء

:اقتراحات تخصّ الدولة

قبل قبول أى شكوى سكّانيّة جمّيزية احرصوا جيداً على معرفة ان كان المدعي هو نفسه مالك المطعم الذي يصدر الأصوات المزعجة واطلبوا أوراق الملكية وأوراق الايجار وتحققوأ من الامضاء

فو استيراد التفاح والبطاطا من مصر والبلدان الأخرى. هيك اذا نفق تفاح ميروبا وبصلات البقاع بصير فينا نسكّر كم محل بالشمع الأحمر أو الأخضر أو حتى البنفسجي والغولدن

:اقتراحات تخص السهّيرة

اشربو بوعي, ما في لزوم تسكرو وتنطفو,  تعالو باحترام واخرجو باحترام, ارفعو رؤوسكم  عندما تأتون واخفضو أصواتكم وأنتم راحلون

قلبي على الجمّيزييّن وانمّا أيضاً على التكيلا وعلى الموظّفين

]]> http://www.anahon.com/2010/%d8%b3%d8%b7%d9%88%d8%ad-%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%aa-%d8%aa%d8%b4%d8%b1%d9%81-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89/feed/ 0 http://www.anahon.com/2010/intestines-of-a-brunette/ http://www.anahon.com/2010/intestines-of-a-brunette/#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 22:29:55 +0000 Amalia Hassoun http://www.anahon.com/?p=842 So do you wanna flirt with the waitress on our first date?

Fine, I’ll just right click on you > send to recycle bin. Then double click on recycle bin> empty contents. Then I can go home, have a cheese sandwich, a diet Pepsi, watch Prison Break, cry over my luck and straight to bed.

Attracting all kind of psychedelic over the past 10 years, I have set up my rules lately. You will be dumped as of your first mistake and I count:

-talking about your ex

-talking too much

-not talking at all

-flirting with my friends

-flirting with strangers

-flirting with neighbors

-cheating, lying, snoring, whining, mucking, frowning, cursing…. (Please email me to receive the full list)

Please note that the list is valid for all ages and nationalities. I will not accept any compromises from now on, either you pass the check list or you don’t.

Be aware of one thing: once a point is checked there is no coming back. You will receive a right click straight on your dumb head leading you to a partition that will later be formatted.

Now who is inviting me for dinner?

Amalia

A simple cup of coffee and a cigarette pull creativity out of a Lebanese brain. We are born with natural raw skills just like uranium. Once these skills are extracted and enriched, they will result in a “Shakira” or a “Salma Hayek”, or even better a “Tom and Jerry”.

Awarded seven Oscars, Joseph Barbera and William Hanna (creators of Tom and Jerry),  originally Lebanese  (no need to mention),  managed to run the MGM cartoon studios feeding children’s heart and mind as well as adults with laughter, hope and imagination. And the legend started over a cup of coffee on a lazy summer day.

That’s not all! Wherever you see an Einstein duplicate, be sure that he has some Lebanese root somewhere in his family tree. And I can bet you on that taking full responsibility of what I am saying reserving the right to appeal in case any lawsuit is filed!

You all watched Rambo, Terminator and basic instinct, but did you know that Mario Kassar the producer was Lebanese?  What about Carlos Ghosn the chairman of Nissan and Renault, the No1 most influential businessman internationally? Rony Saikaly the NBA player, General John Abizaid head of the Us army’s central command, Tony Chalhoub Emmy award winner, Charles Elachi director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Paul Anka, Mika, Massari, Keanu reeves, Carlos Slim Helu with a $60 billion wealth, originally Lebanese born in Mexico and reported by Forbes on March 2010 as the world’s richest man, overtaking Bill Gates by just a few million dollars! Joe Hachem and Joseph Mouawad the International Poker players, Michael Debakey the first heart surgeon, let’s not forget Gibran Khalil Gibran… and I can go on forever and ever.

Stop by for a cup of coffee, you might run into a genius Lebanese, a famous Lebanese or Haifa Wehbe!

Amalia

For 30 years I wait for the daisies on 21^st of March.

2010 brought the daisies early February which kept me shocked for a minute or two while I was walking my way home from the market.

The financial crisis who hit the entire world just touched our ski resorts including trainers, amateurs and all relevant shops and restaurants.  Waiting for snow, we got daisies!

It’s to be classified under severe weather changes though it is neither a Katrina nor a Rita but still it is a Daisy!

Amalia

It is a no-brainer that Hummus is 100% Lebanese.  Anyone dare to disagree?

Source: CNN

Lebanon set a record for the largest plate of hummus Saturday in the continuing gastronomic war with Israel over the regional delicacy.

The war has played out publicly for years with two sides outdoing each other for the title of world’s best or world’s largest hummus dish.

On Saturday, about 300 Lebanese chefs in the village of al-Fanar — about 8 km (5 miles) east of Beirut — lay claim to the latter title with a dish that weighed 11.5 tons. That’s 23,042 pounds or 10,452 kg.

The achievement more than doubled the previous record — set in January in the Arab-Israeli village of Abu Gosh.

The January dish weighed in at more than 4 tons — the same as four average family cars.

Local media said a Guinness Book of World Record representative certified the results Saturday.

The Lebanese chefs used 8 tons of boiled hummus, 2 tons of tahini, 2 tons of lemon juice and 154 lbs (70 kg) of olive oil for their dish, local media said.

Hummus, a regional delicacy, made of chickpeas, sesame paste and garlic, among other ingredients, is loved equally by Arabs, Jews and Christians living in the Middle East.

Yet, in spite of their shared appreciation, the origin of the dish is a source of heated debate with the Lebanese claiming ownership and Israelis denying that they have exclusive rights to the name.

Lebanon has been seeking approval from the European Union to register hummus as a national dish.

“What we have been trying to do is just what the Greeks have done with feta cheese,” said Fadi Abboud, president of The Association of Lebanese Industrialists, in January.

In 2002, the European Commission gave Greece a “protected designation of origin” right to the name “feta,” for the white sheep and goat’s milk cheese made there. Similar cheeses from outside the country must use terms like “Greek-style cheese”.

Abboud maintains that Israeli companies are depriving Lebanese companies of huge potential earnings by exporting hummus made using traditional Lebanese recipes.

The Israelis see things differently.

“Trying to make a copyright claim over hummus is like claiming for the rights to bread or wine,” said Shooky Galili, an Israeli whose blog, dedicated to all things hummus, bears the credo “give chickpeas a chance.”

“Hummus is a centuries old Arab dish — nobody owns it, it belongs to the region,” said Galili, who believes the rivalry is about control over the hummus market. Globally, the market is worth $1 billion, according to Abboud.

However, Galili is hopeful that the so-called “hummus war” will be beneficial for relations in the long run.

“If you enter any good hummus restaurant in this region, you will see Jews and Muslims, Palestinians and Israelis sitting at the same table, eating the same food. I think in the end this rivalry will show that we in the Middle East have far more in common than the things that divide us.”

I saw myself arriving at 9:30, and he didn’t even blink.

Arriving early/late/on time or not at all doesn’t seem to be a problem for anybody living in Beirut or passed through Beirut at least once in a life time. Elena, a Spanish writer who moved to Gemmayze 2 years ago for the love of Lebanon and who happens to be one of my dearest friends, has written a book during her stay that symbolizes our pros and synchronizes our cons.

In “Marina Di Beyrouth”, Elena writes “Le Liban n’est pas un pays pour les rendez-vous mais pour les rencontres”. And yes, she is right! Trying so hard to let me be on time, Elena surrendered after years of long waiting hours and classified me as a “desperate case”.

Personally, I never felt offended by being called “never on time”; I always had a backup reason that I chose from the following list:

Flat tire

Traffic

Broken heel

Broken nail

Oversleeping

Unexpected visitors

Nuclear bomb

On my last birthday, I decided that I need to change and lifestyle improvement is now a must. So I called a friend of mine and set a date on a Saturday at 6:00 pm. I arrived at 5:00pm so happy that I am improving and that I am a new person now who is compatible with international standards.

5:30pm: I ordered a coffee

5:50pm: I ordered another coffee

6:00pm: I ordered a club sandwich

6:30pm: I ordered a red wine

7:30pm: my friend called me and apologized using my backup reason number 1: Flat tire.

In conclusion she stood me up.

With all the Ice Watch and the Omorfia ads all over the highway billboards, I still dream of a super huge training center established in the middle of downtown with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education willing to give away free time management courses around the clock, in case someone is late for class.

(CNN) — When Olympic skier Chirine Njeim tells people she’s from Lebanon, they often laugh in disbelief.

Now at the Vancouver Winter Games, and competing alongside two other athletes from her home country, Njeim still has to convince people she’s telling the truth.

“A coach from another country asked me in the elevator the other day where I was from. I said, ‘Lebanon’ and he just started laughing,” Njeim, who is competing in the Ladies Giant Slalom Wednesday, told CNN.

“I think people think of Lebanon as a desert with sand and camels, but nobody thinks of it as a place that has snow … He was shocked. He just laughed at me … ” she said.

Little did that coach know, there has long been downhill skiing in Lebanon — and world-class ski resorts to boot.

“Skiing in Lebanon is very popular,” explained Ezzad Kraytem, Secretary General of Lebanon’s Olympic Committee. “The slopes are only 20 minutes away from the coast, so you can go to the beach and ski in the same day.”

That means there’s a clear view of the Mediterranean Sea from the slopes of Mount Lebanon on most days, according to Kraytem.

Lebanon currently boasts six resorts: The Cedars at Mount Makmel is the largest, while Farya Mzaar is the favored destination of the jet-set (it’s also where Njeim got her start aged three).

Two of the resorts are members-only private mountains. And an expensive seventh resort is in the works, according to Ronald Sayegh, of Ski Lebanon.

“The quality of the snow is one of the main reasons professional skiers love our slopes. Powdery on the surface and hard underneath,” explained Joanne Zarife, a manager at the five-star Intercontinental hotel at Mzaar.

Even though the slopes face north, preserving the snow, the region’s sunshine makes the air mild, even warm, she told CNN.

“The terraces at the bottom are constantly filled with apres-skiers enjoying a cold drink under the tanning sun,” said Zarife.

“Skiing is getting more and more popular, [there is] more international tourism,” said Sayegh. “More political stability draws more people here.”

A lot of expats living in the region come back to ski, Lebanese locally come, Europeans, Australians and South Africans … ” he said.

“A lot more people now know there’s beautiful skiing in Lebanon,” said Njeim.

Last year a record 50,000 people visited the country’s ski resorts, according to Tony Khoury, President of the Lebanese Ski Federation and Head of the Lebanese Olympic Delegation at Vancouver.

At more than 3,000 meters, the peaks of Lebanon’s tallest skiing mountains at The Cedars resort top the highest point of the Whistler Blackcomb resort (2,284 meters approximately), one of the main venues of the Vancouver Games.

Skiing only came to Lebanon in the 1930s though, brought by a student returning from Switzerland where he had developed a passion for the sport at school. In the 1950s, the sport’s appeal really opened up, after chairlifts arrived.

And today it’s not just downhill skiing that draws the crowds. From just ten snowboarders in 1991, today anywhere from 30 to 60 percent of visitors are riders, according to Ski Lebanon. Lebanon’s high, sunny plateaus also make it ideal for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, they say.

Exposed to the best of country’s ski scene an early age, Njeim was quickly hooked. As a child she would watch the sport on television and tell her friends that she wanted to race in the Olympics.

“People thought it was kind of hilarious,” Njeim recalled with fondness.