The Last Days of a Legacy

Excerpts from Kennedy's letter to Pope Benedict XVI

Shortly before he died from brain cancer, Sen. Ted Kennedy wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI. President Obama delivered the letter to the pontiff during his visit to the Vatican in July.

The following are excerpts from the letter as read by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick at Kennedy's private burial service Saturday in Arlington National Cemetery:

"Most Holy Father, I asked President Obama to personally hand-deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Catholic faith is to me, and I am so deeply grateful to him. I hope this letter finds you in good health.

I pray that you have all of God's blessings as you lead our Church and inspire our world during these challenging times. I am writing with deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines. I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago, and although I continue treatment the disease is taking its toll on me. I am 77 years old, and preparing for the next passage of life. I have been blessed to be part of a wonderful family. Both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained and nurtured, and provided solace to me in the darkest hours.

I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith I have tried to right my path. I want you to know Your Holiness that in my nearly 50 years of elective office, I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I have worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination, and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty, and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and been the focus of my work as a United States Senator.

I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic Your Holiness. And though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings of my faith. I continue to pray for God's blessings on you and on our Church, and would be most thankful for your prayers for me.

I also want you to know that even though I am ill, I am committed to do everything I can to achieve access to health care for everyone in my country. This has been the political cause of my life. I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health field, and I'll continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone".

Two weeks later, Kennedy received a response from the Vatican. McCarrick read the response in part, as follows:

"The Holy Father has read the letter which you entrusted to President Obama, who kindly presented it to him during their recent meeting. He was saddened to know of your illness, and asked me to assure you of his concern and his spiritual closeness. He is particularly grateful for your promise of prayers for him, for the needs of our universal church.

His Holiness prays that in the days ahead, you may be sustained in faith and hope, and granted the precious grace of joyful surrender to the will of God, our merciful father. He invokes upon you the consolation and peace promised by the risen savior to all who share in his sufferings, and trust in his promise of eternal life.

Commending you and the members of your family to the loving intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Father cordially imparts his apostolic blessing as a pledge of wisdom, comfort, and strength in the Lord."

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The Font War: Ikea Fans Fume over Verdana

Thumbing through his local Swedish newspaper, Göteborg resident Mattias Akerberg found himself troubled by a full-page advertisement for Ikea. It wasn't that the Grevbäck bookcases looked any less sturdy, or that the Bibbi Snur duvet covers were any less colorful, or even that the names given to each of the company's 9,500 products were any less whimsical. No, what bothered Akerberg was the typeface. "I thought that something had gone terribly wrong, but when I Twittered about it, people at their ad agency told me that this was actually the new Ikea font," he recalls. "I could hardly believe it was true."

Over its 60 years, Ikea has built a reputation as a purveyor of inexpensive but stylish home furnishings, selling everything from leather sofas to chrome toilet-bowl cleaners. Branding has been a large part of the Swedish chain's success — what urban dweller today, whether in Atlanta or Kuala Lumpur, doesn't recognize that bright blue warehouse, glowing like a beacon of fine living, at the side of the highway? And its signature typeface, a customized version of Futura, has long been an integral part of that brand. But with its 2010 catalogue now arriving in mailboxes, the supplier of headboards and coffee tables to the world's thrifty and trendy has switched to what it sees as a more functional typeface: Verdana. In the process, it has provoked an instantaneous global backlash, the kind that can only happen on the Internet.

"Ikea, stop the Verdana madness!" pleaded Tokyo's Oliver Reichenstein on Twitter. "Words can't describe my disgust," spat Ben Cristensen of Melbourne. "Horrific," lamented Christian Hughes in Dublin. The online forum Typophile closed its first post on the subject with the words, "It's a sad day." On Aug. 26, Romanian design consultant Marius Ursache started an online petition to get Ikea to change its mind. That night, Verdana was already a trending topic on Twitter, drawing more tweets than even Ted Kennedy.

All this outrage over a font? For some designers, it's an issue of propriety — Verdana, which was invented by Microsoft, was intended to be used on a screen, not on paper. "It has open, wide letterforms with lots of space between characters to aid legibility at small sizes on screen," explains Simon l'Anson, creative director at Made by Many, a London-based digital-consulting company. "It doesn't exhibit any elegance or visual rhythm when set at large sizes. It's like taking the family sedan off-road. It will sort of work, but ultimately gets bogged down.

Carolyn Fraser, a letterpress printer in Melbourne, Australia, adopts a different metaphor to explain the problem. "Verdana was designed for the limitations of the Web — it's dumbed down and overused. It's a bit like using Lego to build a skyscraper, when steel is clearly a superior choice."

Others seem mystified by the choice to eliminate one of the chain's key identifying features. "The former typeface definitely better reflected Ikea's design philosophy, giving it a very special, unique flavor that actually fit the company's style," says Vitaly Friedman, editor in chief of the online Smashing Magazine, which is dedicated to Web design. "With Verdana being used all across the Web, Ikea's image not only loses originality, but also credibility and the reputation that the company has built since the 1940s."

The main complaint that online protesters have, though, is that the newly adopted font is plain ugly. Especially when it's enlarged to, say, the size of a catalogue headline. Or worse yet, a billboard.

So why would Ikea make such a change? The very ubiquity of Verdana seems to be part of the font's appeal. Freely distributed by Microsoft, the typeface allows Ikea to use the same font in all countries and with many alphabets. "It's more efficient and cost-effective," says Ikea spokeswoman Monika Gocic. "Plus, it's a simple, modern-looking typeface."

"They went cheap, in other words," counters Bucharest designer Iancu Barbarasa, who blogged about the font change on his website. If he sounds somewhat bitter, there's a reason. With its attention to the curve of even a $9 lampshade, Ikea has become renowned for its understanding of good design. "Designers have always thought of Ikea as one of their own," Barbarasa notes. "So now, in a way, the design community feels betrayed."

Indeed, the desire to remind people — and corporations — that design matters is what spurred design consultant Ursache to start a petition asking Ikea to do away with the offensive Verdana typeface. "Look, I know this isn't world hunger," he says. "But if a company like Ikea can make this mistake, you have to wonder who is going to lead when it comes to design."

Ikea has yet to respond publicly to the tempest. "I think it's safe to say we were surprised by the response," admits spokeswoman Gocic. As of Aug. 27, Ursache's petition had garnered over 700 signatures. That may not seem like a lot, but then there weren't many protests at first to a certain beverage company's announcement in April 1985 that it would be changing its flagship product. Just three months later, however, New Coke was gone. And that was before Twitter.

How to Fall Asleep Faster

Proven tips to help you fall asleep sooner and stay asleep longer

If you are one of those people who find it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep, chances are you're not getting enough sleep every night. The following tips can help you stop tossing and turning and fall asleep faster:

• Get rhythm. Teach your body to fall asleep by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends. Sticking to a regular schedule helps you fall asleep by keeping you in sync with your own circadian rhythm, a kind of internal 24-hour body clock that is affected by light and dark. Getting some natural light every afternoon will also help you keep your rhythm and help you fall asleep.

• Exercise regularly and at the right time. Regular exercise can reduce tension and anxiety, which will help you fall asleep and improve the quality of your sleep, but be sure to finish exercising at least three hours before your bedtime.

• Don’t nap. Napping during the day may make it harder to fall asleep, or stay asleep.

• Watch what you eat and drink. Drinking caffeinated or alcoholic beverages late in the day are likely to make it harder to fall asleep when you’re ready. If you like a snack before bed, try a warm drink (without alcohol or caffeine) and a few crackers. Remember that hot chocolate has caffeine, too.

• Create a safe and comfortable sleeping environment. To help you fall asleep, your bedroom should be dark, with good ventilation, and as quiet as you can make it. For safety’s sake, make sure you have a good bedside lamp that is easy to reach, a telephone for emergencies, and working smoke alarms in your bedroom and all through the house.

• Follow your evening routine. Do the same things every night before you go to bed. Following a bedtime routine sends a silent signal to your brain and body that it is time to wind down and fall asleep.

• Your bed is for sleep or sex. Your bedroom is for sleeping or for romantic interludes. It’s not a media center, and not a home office. Avoid any distractions that make it harder to fall asleep.
• Give yourself 20 minutes to fall asleep. If you’re still awake 15 minutes after you turn out the light, get up and do something that will make you drowsy. Then go back to bed and try again.
• Don’t worry, get sleepy. To help yourself fall asleep faster, try not to let yourself worry or replay your day at bedtime. And don’t panic if you can't fall asleep, because any kind of mental fretting will only make it harder to fall asleep. Instead, play mental games designed to relax your mind, or do something, like reading, that will refocus your thoughts and make drowsy. For years I kept a boring book handy, which was almost guaranteed to help me fall asleep. It worked so well that a friend borrowed it and didn't give it back!

• Get professional help. If your inability to fall asleep starts to interfere with your ability to function normally, and persists for more than a couple of weeks, schedule an appointment with your doctor or a sleep specialist.

Getting enough sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your mental and physical health—at any age. So teach yourself to fall asleep, sleep well, and have sweet dreams.

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Ready for Lift Off
The space shuttle Discovery prepares to launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Behind Bars®: Zwack

Zwack has attracted fans across the globe to its bold, distinctive flavor over the last three centuries. The powerful taste of this herbal liqueur—tailor-made for those daring enough to find a taste as bold and independent as they are—is now available across the U.S. The secret recipe for Zwack was first developed by Jozef Zwack in 1790 for Emperor Joseph II of the mighty Austro-Hungarian empire and contains a blend of over 40 exotic herbs and spices. The herbal liqueur, which is called the "First Shot of Hungary", is still made by the Zwack family today, surviving six generations, two world wars and the communist invasion of Hungary in 1948. Now Zwack is available in the United States and with its strong taste and bold, full flavor, has an independent and authentic spirit that is both timeless and modern.

When You Don't Trust Your Boss

Workplaces are all about trust. It's one of those buzzwords you can't escape, along with "synergy," "teamwork" and "value add." There are even team building activities based on trust.

The problem with trust is that it's a loaded concept. How do you know when you trust someone? Are there levels of it or is it a black and white issue? Can you really establish trust by falling backwards and hoping Rick from accounting will, in fact, catch you?

That's for you to decide, but what isn't up for much debate is the importance of trust. Whether you work in a huge corporation or on a small team with three people, trust plays a role in your job. You want to know that no one's stealing your ideas, they're keeping their promises and you can rely on everyone else to do their jobs.

If you find that you can't trust a co-worker, you can discuss the issue face-to-face, and if need be, go to the boss to resolve the issue. But what if it's the boss that's the problem?

As with any situation, you need to step back and identify the problem. Firstly, determine why you don't trust your boss. Is it based on your own assumptions, beliefs and biases, which you have sought to prove true over time or is there some truly tangible data? Are you absolutely sure you are right? If so, you have to then decide whether it is a personal issue -- i.e. it is against or outside your own ethics and standards versus it is illegal, clearly against company policy, etc.

If the boss is operating outside of your personal standards but well within the company's policies and principles, think about your limits.

You have to make a decision on whether you can live with it. Are you going to build up resentment over time that is going to leak out of you and damage your own reputation? What tradeoffs are you willing to make?"

When it's not a Personal Issue

Other times, trust isn't subjective. For instance, if your boss is stealing from the company, there's not much of a gray area. If a boss can steal, he or she probably won't have many qualms about crossing into other unethical areas.

You are encouraged to report a boss who is undeniably stealing or violating a policy or law.

Often companies have an ethics hotline you can call or you can go to HR. Make sure you have details, including first-hand facts about your claim. Work hard to remove emotions from the story. Speak using first-hand data -- what you saw, experienced [and] heard."

Reporting a criminal boss doesn't always go as smoothly as you hope. It depends on how good your HR department is. Some of them have knee-jerk reactions to side with the senior person. In that case, they can go to your boss and tell them what you've said. However, that shouldn't preclude you from reporting him or her because you don't want to get in trouble for being silent while you knew what was going on.

Document as much as you can, then find the person you trust the most to report it to -- be it your boss's boss, HR or legal. Then be prepared that this may come back and bite you in the butt, big time, but that's life.

The Benefit of a Paper Trail

Documenting interaction with a boss isn't only necessary if you think he or she is explicitly breaking a law or policy. Documentation can help you with any unscrupulous boss -- say one who steals your ideas.

You're going to have to realize that you can't stop all of it. But you can stop some of it, by telling them ideas at the same time you copy someone else, or telling someone else first and then saying to your boss, 'Hey, I was talking to Joe about this and he thought you might be interested in hearing it.' That way they'll know they risk being caught and embarrassed if they try to steal those ideas.

And if things are more personal, such as not keeping your confidential conversations private, you need to think before you speak. It might sound counter intuitive to put the onus on you, but it's true. If the boss spreads information that is legally supposed to be confidential, that's one thing. But if you offer up fodder for gossip and hear it repeated, then you need to be careful what you say to him or her. Smith advises discretion for all employees, not just for those dealing with a sketchy boss.

When it comes to issues of trust, you need to focus on your well being. It might sound as if you're going against the concept of teamwork and cooperation, but it's not. At the end of the day, if the boss can easily damage your career, you need to take your career elsewhere.

If you've seen them betray a colleague, just beware, and start looking for a way to get out, be it a lateral move or a new job. [If] and when push comes to shove, your boss will most likely shove you -- under a bus (figuratively, hopefully).

Most Dominant NBA Players By Decade

1960s | Wilt Chamberlain & Bill Russell
In spending the decade matched up against each other, the two legendary big men redefined the sport. Chamberlain, a dominant scorer and rebounder, won three consecutive MVP awards from 1966-68. But his individual exploits translated into only a single title in the decade (1967), thanks to his chief rival, Russell, who led his Celtics to the championship every other year. An unrivaled defensive force and team leader, Russell won four MVPs in the '60s and five overall.

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Behind Bars®: Tanqueray

Charles Tanqueray began distilling his London Dry Gin in 1830, in Bloomsbury, London. He produced the finest London Dry Gin available at that time and set new standards in gin production. Today, Tanqueray gins are made with the expertise and passion of our master distiller, the keeper of Charles’s legacy.

Tanqueray London Dry Gin has won more awards for its taste than any other gin. Expertly composed with a classic blend of handcrafted and carefully selected botanicals, Tanqueray has an elegance and balance that sets it apart from the rest. Its bold taste, depth of flavor and crispness allows great taste to shine proudly through in cocktails.

Tanqueray No. TEN is an exquisitely smooth, luxurious gin, handcrafted from selected botanicals and fresh-cut citrus.

Tanqueray Rangpur is the new mixable gin distilled with rare Rangpur limes for a more subtle gin taste and smooth finish.

The Jeita Grotto

The Jeita Grotto is a compound of interconnected karstic limestone caves in Jeita, Lebanon located 18 kilometres (11 miles) north of Beirut in the Valley of Nahr al-Kalb. The complex consists of two separate caves.

The lower cave was inhabited in prehistoric times but rediscovered in 1836 by Reverend William Thomson; it can only be visited by boat since it channels an underground river which provides fresh drinking water for the inhabitants of Beirut.

The upper cave was discovered in 1958 by Lebanese speleologists. Located 60 meters (200 ft) above the lower cave, it has been accommodated with an access tunnel and a series of walkways to enable tourists safe visitation without disturbing the natural landscape. The upper cave houses the world's largest stalactite, composed of a series of chambers. The largest chamber has a maximum height of 120 meters (390 ft).

The Jeita Grotto, managed by the German, Beirut-based private firm MAPAS, is a candidate in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition. Jeita Grotto was selected as one of 28 finalists for the seven natural wonders of the world -- the only grotto/cave to be selected among the nominees. The New 7 Wonders Foundation is to announce the new wonders of nature in 2011.

History
The Jeita caves have been inhabited since prehistoric times. Ancient vestiges of a foundry were found in a one smaller cave nearby the Nahr al-Kalb river which suggests that this cave was used in prehistory to produce swords.

The modern discovery of the underground river of Jeita in 1836 is credited to Reverend William Thomson (an American missionary) who ventured some 50 meters (160 ft) into the cave.

Reaching the underground river, he fired a shot from his gun and the resulting echoes convinced him that he had found a cavern of major importance.

In 1873 W.J. Maxwell and H.G. Huxley, engineers with the Beirut Water Company, and their friend Reverend Daniel Bliss, president of the Syrian Protestant College (later the American University of Beirut) explored these caverns. In two expeditions carried out in 1873 and 1874 they penetrated 1,060 meters (3,500 ft) into the grotto which is the principal source of the Nahr el-Kalb that supplies Beirut with water. They were impeded by "Hell's Rapids" torrents which break onto razor sharp rocks. Dr. Bliss, Mr. Maxwell and the other engineers recorded their names and the year on "Maxwell's Column", a great limestone pillar some 625 meters (2,050 ft) from the entrance. About 200 meters (660 ft) further on, in the so-called "Pantheon", they wrote their names and details of the expedition on paper, sealed it in a bottle and placed it on top of a stalagmite. The lime-impregnated water has since covered the bottle with a thin white film, permanently fixing it to the stone.

Between 1892 and 1940 further expeditions were carried out by English, American and French explorers. Their expeditions brought them to a depth of 1,750 meters (5,700 ft).

Since the 1940s, Lebanese explorers, notably the members of the Speleo-Club of Lebanon (Lebanese Caving Club) founded in 1951 by the first Lebanese speleologist Lionel Ghorra, have pushed even deeper into the Jeita grotto. Their expeditions revealed a great underground system which is now known to an overall length of nearly 9 kilometers (5.6 miles).

In 1958 the lower caverns were opened to the public, meanwhile exploration was still underway mainly by the Lebanese Caving Club which led to the discovery of the elevated dry branch of the grotto later referred to as the upper galleries.

In 1962, the Spéléo Club contributed to a study of the upper galleries aiming to provide a tunnel course which was to be dug for touristic development purposes; this tunnel was begun in 1968.

In 1969, a concert with electronic music by the French composer Francois Bayle was held in the cave to celebrate the inauguration of the upper galleries. This event was organized by the Lebanese artist and sculptor Ghassan Klink. Other cultural events have taken place in this unusual surrounding, including a concert by the world acknowledged German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen in November 1969.

The caverns closed to the public due to the Lebanese civil war in 1978 both tunnels leading to the lower and upper galleries were used to store munitions, the outside buildings for military purposes. The caves reopened in 1995 and remain one of the country’s key natural attractions.

Geology
The Jeita grotto is located within the Lower-Middle Jurassic strata of Keserouan which has a stratigraphic thickness of 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) and consists of dolostone and micritic limestone. The Keserouan formation was exposed to air by a local uplift during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous. The Keserouan strata became karstified after its aerial exposure and then was buried during the Cretaceous. In the Neogene, upon the final uplift of Mount Lebanon, this early karstification phase was reactivated.

At the Nahr el Kalb valley, the impervious Upper Jurassic volcanic rocks and Lower Cretaceous sand slant almost vertically forming a hydrogeological barrier and forcing the outlet of the Jeita underground river to the surface. This barrier could be the reason for the westernmost, large cave chambers with heights exceeding 60 meters (200 ft). Karstification of the Keserouan limestone was further intensified by the steep topography of the area and the volume of precipitation over the Lebanon (more than 1200mm).

A ratio of total slope gradient of 1/100 is calculated between the entrance of the cave and its inland extremity. This shows its smooth flat course even though it is sometimes interrupted by several small cascades and rapids. From the west, the Jeita cave starts with large halls and meanders. Through some rapids, the dimension becomes narrower. Going forth, it is spacious with the Thompson’s cavern (250 metres (820 ft) long and 60 meters (200 ft) wide), Grand Chaos 500 meters (1,600 ft) long) and Mroueh’s Hall (200 meters (660 ft) long and 50 meters (160 ft) wide). The latter two are floored with collapsed blocks. The cave ends with a Y-shaped pattern, where, each branch ends with a siphon.

Description
The Jeita cave is situated at the center of the western flanks of the Lebanon mountains, its natural entrance is about 100 meters (330 ft) above sea level. It's located 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) east of the Mediterranean coastline and 18 kilometers (11 miles) north of Beirut. The Jeita caves are solutional karst caves which have formed over millions of years due to the dissolution of limestone. The limestone is dissolved by carbonic acid charged rain water and groundwater; when the limestone, which is originally water proof, contains cracks produced by tectonic forces the water oozes into the rock and starts to widen the cracks and solute caves inside the layers. Jeita is the longest cave complex in the Middle East; it sits at 300 meters (980 ft) above sea level and has a height difference of 305 meters (1,000 ft). Geologically, the caves provide a tunnel or escape route for the underground river, which is the principal source of Nahr-el-Kalb.

The Jeita grotto is the longest explored cave in Lebanon. After many years of exploration, speleologists have penetrated about 6,910 meters (22,700 ft) from the entry point of the lower grotto to the far end of the underground river and about 2,130 meters (7,000 ft) of the upper galleries.

Upper Cave
The Jeita upper cave has an overall length of 2,130 meters (7,000 ft) of which only 750 meters (2,500 ft) are accessible to visitors via a specially conceived walkway; access to the remainder of the cave was restricted to prevent ecological damage which may occur due to the flocking tourists. The upper cave contains a great concentration of a variety of crystallized formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, columns, mushrooms, ponds, curtains and draperies. The upper gallery is famous for its formations, lit by an effective lighting system. It is entered through a 117 meters (380 ft) long concrete tunnel. The part accessible by visitors has three huge chambers. The first is called White Chamber, the second Red Chamber, due to the color of the formations. White dripstones are pure calcite without defilement, the red color is given by iron oxide (rust) in small amounts. In Lebanon iron oxide has a red color instead of the brown beige color which is common in northern countries. The reason is a different chemical reaction caused by the high temperature which produces a different kind of iron oxide. The White Chamber is medium sized, but has the most impressive formations of the cave. The Red Chamber is up to 106 meters (350 ft) high, and 30 meters (98 ft) to 50 meters (160 ft) wide. The third chamber is the biggest of all three chambers and has a height of more than 120 meters (390 ft). The longest stalactite in the world is located in Jeita's White Chamber; it measures 8.2 meters (27 ft) long.

Lower Cave
The lower gallery which has an overall length of 6,200 meters (20,000 ft) is located 60 meters (200 ft) below the upper gallery. It is traversed by a smooth underwater river and a lake {the "Dark Lake"). The river is broken up by several small cataracts and rapids. The lower cave's "Thompson's Cavern", is a massive hall with impressive speleothems such as the Eagle Obelisk stalagmite. Other halls in the lower gallery include the Pantheon, Grand Chaos and Shangri-la. Visitors are transported in the lower gallery by electric boats for a distance of 500 meters (1,600 ft). In winter the lower level is closed, when the water level is too high.

Economic & Social Importance
Today, the Jeita Grotto is a popular recreational show cave and a major tourist attraction. It hosts approximately 300,000 visitors per year.

The Jeita grotto contributes heavily to the public life of the region. MAPAS, the firm which runs the grotto, is an important employer and provides full time jobs for around 115 local residents of Jeita (30% of which are female). In addition to employment, the Jeita caves contribute 5% of ticket fees to the local municipality, between 10 and 20% of general revenue to the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism, and an additional 10% of ticket fees along with the 10% VAT to the Lebanese Ministry of Finance.

Moreover, the Jeita cave emits a spring with a flow ranging from 1-2 m³/sec providing fresh drinking water for one-and-a-half million inhabitants of the capital, Beirut. However, water pollution, due to domestic and agricultural runoff, remains a serious concern as recent analysis detected an increasing presence of coliform.

Awards
In 2002, then French President Jacques Chirac, the United Nations World Tourism Organization and the World Bank accorded the top Sustainable Development in Tourism prize to MAPAS (the company that manages the site) at a summit dubbed “New Ties between Tourism and Culture” in Geneva.

In December 2003, on behalf of the Beirut-based private company MAPAS, Jeita received a prestigious award from the fifth Tourism Summits in Chamonix, France. "Les Sommets du Tourisme" recognized MAPAS’ efforts in restoring Lebanon’s important touristic sites.

The Jeita Grotto is a candidate for the New 7 Nature Wonders of Nature competition.

Other awards and certificates include:
- 2000 Certificate of Recognition from "Sukleen" - Lebanon for its sorting and recycling campaign
- 2000 Appreciation from the Arab Musical Association"
- 1998 "Best Tourism Project" from the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism
- 1997 International Environmental Award from the German Travel Association (DRV).

Other Names
The name of the cave changed several times since its discovery. Initially referred to as the Grottoes of Nahr el Kalb, it was subsequently known as Djaita, Jehita, and finally Jeita. Naher el Kalb is the name of the river that runs through the grottoes, while Jeita, meaning "roaring water" in Aramaic, is the town in which the cave's entrance is located. The transition from Grottoes of Nahr el Kalb to Jeita Grottoes occurred in 1927 as newspapers widely used the latter name.

Numismatics & Philately
In 1961, Jeita became a national symbol when Lebanese authorities issued a stamp featuring the lower cavern to promote national tourism. Mr. Maroun Hajj, the oarsman shown on the stamp, still leads boat tours forty years after the stamp was issued. The Jeita Grotto is also featured on the 1964 one Lira (Lebanese pound) verso.

Cartoon of the Week

The Luxury-Brand Effect

Things can't get much worse for many of the world's top luxury brands. This week Coach, the high-end handbag seller, announced that profits slumped 32% for the quarter. Same-store sales at Saks were down 23.2% in the first five months of this fiscal year. BMW's U.S. sales are off 28.9%. Bain & Company, the consulting firm, is forecasting a record 10% drop in the overall U.S. luxury market this year. According to Bain, luxury won't fully recover until 2012.

What can these brands do to battle this malaise? Maybe BMW should try selling ketchup or mayonnaise. It's not as ridiculous as it sounds: according to an upcoming study in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, recession-wracked shoppers are eager to embrace luxury brand names over a wide range of product categories, including those with little logical connection to the brand's core item. The authors attribute this phenomenon to the "promise of pleasure" — a brand like, say, Cartier evokes strong, positive emotional responses in consumers, and those good feelings can be easily transferred to stuff like furniture, cheese and even, yes, ketchup. "We were surprised with the results," says Vanessa Patrick, a marketing professor at the University of Houston and co-author of the study. "We didn't expect people to rate the luxury brand so high across such a wide range." So if the Ritz-Carlton sold chocolates, would consumers go for it? Says Patrick: "They could go there."

To test their hypothesis that a luxury name carries weight across the board, the authors conducted three experiments. In the first, undergraduate subjects in Georgia were shown advertisements for a northeastern brand they didn't know, Prince Spaghetti Sauce, to prevent any inherent bias in the responses. The ad told one group that the spaghetti sauce was "luxurious." For another group, the ad said that Prince offered "value for your money." Each group rated the "luxury" and "value" spaghetti sauces favorably. But when the researchers then asked subjects how they'd feel if the Prince brand was applied to six other products — ketchup, wine, cheese, tablecloths, dinnerware and dishwashers — the responses were shockingly divergent. In each case, the group that was told Prince spaghetti sauce was a luxury item rated Prince significantly higher than those who were told it was a value brand.

So Prince the cheapo spaghetti sauce is fine and functional for my dinner, but I won't get too excited about Prince dinnerware. Yet if luxury spaghetti sauce evokes a pleasurable response, why wouldn't I enjoy Prince tablecloths too? Pleasure is power. "You can get pleasure out of a can opener," says Henrik Hagtvedt, marketing professor at Boston College and the study's other co-author.

In the second experiment, two sets of subjects drank mango lassi, a mango and dairy drink served in Indian restaurants. Though the beverage was identical for both groups, researchers told one group that Mangola, the fictional brand name given to the drink, was a luxury product. They told the other group that Mangola was a value brand.

Again, each group gave Mangola similar ratings. Like in the first test, participants were then asked to evaluate Mangola brand extensions in unrelated products (furniture, hotels and cruises). Just like in the prior experiment, the luxury group scored each of these products significantly higher than the value group.

For the third experiment, the researchers used packaging to distinguish a discount set of silverware from luxury spoons. The silverware, dubbed Terrace, was identical, but a black velvet container signaled luxury, while a cardboard container signaled value. These results replicated those from the prior two studies. Participants ranked both sets of packages the same, but those who got velvet ranked the brand higher for two unrelated product categories, cheese and a restaurant.

The message for luxury-brand sellers, the researchers say, is to expand their brand portfolios to small extravagances. "The availability of Coach key chains or Gucci flip-flops allows consumers who are cutting back to re-experience the pleasure of consuming luxury without paying a fortune," says Patrick. During a downturn, it's easier to pay $10 for a nice bottle of ketchup than $60,000 for a sedan (although the ketchup doesn't handle as well).

This leads to crucial caveat: if a brand expands to another category, it had better retain its luxury claim. If Cartier is going to license its name on cheese, it had better be damn good cheese, and it had better sell this cheese at exclusive, upscale stores. When Bulgari licensed its name to a hotel, it chose a luxury hotel. Hermès has weathered the recession in part by expanding into premium, yet relatively more affordable, accessories and fragrances.

There's a danger in overdoing it, though. Pierre Cardin is the poster child for bad brand extension, according to the Harvard Business Review. "By 1988, it had granted more than 800 licenses in 94 countries, generating a $1 billion annual revenue stream — and profits plummeted," the authors wrote in a 2005 article called "How Not To Extend Your Luxury Brand." Once the Pierre Cardin name started appearing on weirdly unrelated products, such as baseball caps and cigarettes, its luxury status was lost.

Companies should extend their brands cautiously. "A luxury brand can extend itself across luxury channels," says Burt Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resources Group, a retail-consulting company. "It's a lot tougher to go into food." With all due respect to ketchup, it doesn't carry the same cachet as a spanking-new luxury car. No matter how fancy your ketchup, a commodity is a commodity, and in the product universe, commodities are price-driven. But in these times, brands should take risks beyond just slashing prices. And besides, who wouldn't be curious to at least try spaghetti sauce from Saks?

Most Dominant NBA Players By Decade

1950s | George Mikan
Mikan was the league's first dominant big man. He helped kick-start the Lakers' franchise, then in Minneapolis, with its first four league titles, including three in a row from 1952-54. Little wonder the Lakers' visits to New York at the time were billed as "George Mikan vs. Knicks" on the marquee at Madison Square Garden.

Ziad Rahbani

Ziad Rahbani, born 1956, is a Lebanese composer and writer for radio shows and theater. His compositions are well-known throughout the Arab world. He is the son of the Lebanese diva Fairuz and the famous composer Assi Rahbani.

Biography
Ziad Rahbani is the son of the Lebanese famous composer Assi Rahbani and Nuhad Haddad, the famous Lebanese female singer known as Fairuz. He composed many songs for his mother Fairuz, as well as other singers, and he has released his own music albums. Many of his musicals satirised the political situation in Lebanon during and after the civil war, often strongly critical of the traditional political establishment; others addressed more philosophical questions. He played the lead role in all his plays, and has generally been reluctant to allow the filming of his plays. Politically, Ziad Rahbani has a long standing relationship with Lebanese leftist movements, and is a self-declared communist. Being a Christian, his politics have meant that he has been at odds with some of his coreligionists. During the Lebanese civil war, Rahbani resided in mainly West Beirut.

Beginning Career
Rahbani's first known artistic work was "Sadiqi Allah" (My Friend God), a collection of writings between the years 1967 and 1968 when he was in his teens. In 1973, at 17, Rahbani composed his first music for Fairuz, his mother. Assi Rahbani, his father, was hospitalized and his mother Fairuz was to play the leading role in Al Mahatta by the Rahbani brothers. Mansour Rahbani, his uncle, who had written the lyrics of a song about Assi Rahbani's forced absence, gave Ziad Rahbani the task of composing its music. The song "Saalouni El Nass" (The People Asked Me) gained Rahbani recognition in the music world.

Theater Works Rahbani appeared for the first time on stage in Al Mahatta where he played the role of the detective. He also appeared later on in the Rahbani Brothers' Mays el Rim in the role of one of the policemen. Ziad Rahbani's first step into theatre was with the Bkennaya Theater in Sahriyyeh. He followed that with highly politicized string of plays. His theater works include: - Sahriyyeh (1973) - Nazl el Sourour (1974) - Bennesbe La Boukra Shou? (1978) - Film Ameriki Taweel (1980) - Shi fashel (1983) - Bikhsous el Karameh wel Cha3b el 3aneed (1993) - Lawla Fos7at el Amali (1994).

Music
Rahbani has written a large body of music for Fairuz, himself and others.

Music with Fairuz
After Fairuz's separation from her husband Assi Rahbani, Ziad Rahbani became her composer and wrote six albums for her. The albums were:
- Wahdon (1979)
- Maarefti Fik (1987)
- Kifak Inta (1991)
- Ila Assi (1995) a re-orchestration of Rahbani Brothers' songs
- Mich Kayen hayk Tkoun (1999)
- Beiteddine Concert 2000 (2001)
- Wala Kif (2001)

Music with Others Rahbani's work wasn't restricted to writing songs for Fairuz. Before, during and after the war, Rahbani released and co-released several albums like: Bi hal shakel, Abou Ali, Halleluja, Shareet Ghayr Houdoudi, Houdou Nesbi, Ana Mouch Kafer, Hakaya al Atfal, Bema Enno, Monodose (with singer Salma Mosfi) and Maaloumat Akidi (with singer Latifa). He has also written the music for singles performed by others like "Rafi2i Sobhi El Gizz", "Kifak", "Iza baddik" "Abban 3an Jidd". He has done some orchestrations for songs like "Madih el Zoll el Ali", "Ahmad el Zaatar" and "Moussakafoun noun". Rahbani has also mixed several albums such as Al ra2i el 3aam and Moussakafoun noun.

He has held concerts like the Oriental Jazz Concert in the BUC Irwin Hall, the Las Salinas Concert, the Forum de Beirut Concert, the Picadilly Concert, and "Mniha Concert" in Mont La Salle Ain Saadeh, the latter with his cousin Ghassan Rahbani. He is also performs live occasionally in pubs like "Medusa", "Mon Général" and the "Téatro".

Political Works Rahbani has also done many political shows on the radio like Ba3dna Taybeen Oulou Allah and El Akl Zeeneh and some music related shows. Since 2006, he has written a column for the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

Personal Life Rahbani was married to Dalal Karam and had a son named "Assi Jr." with her. The couple later divorced. Rahbani composed various songs about their relationship, including "Marba el Dalal" and "Bisaraha".