Postcard of the Week

Qanat Bakish - Lebanon

Stop Yourself from Making Egregious Email Errors

Composing an e-mail is kind of like making out: Everyone assumes they know what they're doing, but in reality plenty of people could use some pointers. We're all pretty much constantly sending missives around the web. In 2009, worldwide e-mail traffic amounted to 247 billion messages per day, according to market research firm Radicati. But practice doesn't make perfect, and myriad senders are horrifying recipients every day. Here are three big e-mail mistakes you're probably making. (Sorry, we can't do anything about your iguana-like kissing skills. Drag.)


Egregious e-mail error: Recklessly BCC'ing and forwarding
E-mail entry forms are not that complicated. We all understand how BCC (blind carbon copy) and Forward work. Why, then, do so many people persist in using them incorrectly -- awkwardly fumbling about in the internet ether?
Use BCC when you're e-mailing a gazillion people and you don't want to junk up their inboxes with the recipient list, and/or you don't need everyone to see everyone else on the list.
For example, if you're sending a mass e-mail to let your networking contacts know you're on the lookout for a new job, it wouldn't really be good form to give everybody the e-mail address of that big-shot VP your parents know. Also use BCC if you're giving a whole list of people bad news (e.g., that they didn't get a gig).
Last year, Twitter published the e-mails of scads of rejected job applicants. Awkwardness and tail-between-the-legs sheepishness ensued.
Do not use BCC to secretly let someone know an e-mail exchange is going down. You run the risk that the idiot will fail to notice he wasn't candidly CC'ed, in which case he can hit reply-all, blow your cover and create a situation so awkward, it rivals that walk of shame where you ran into your boss in the same clothes you wore to work the day before -- only backward.
The smarter way to loop a buddy in (say, you want to clue a co-worker in on a client's latest display of stunning idiocy): Reply to the client, then forward the whole exchange to your colleague. Just bear in mind that said recipient is going to read everything in the convo up until that point.
It's easy to be like, "Oh, we're talking about meeting up at Samson's, I'll forward this last one to Samson," forgetting that Samson is going to read six e-mails into your and Julie's personal e-mail exchange, where she reveals that last night's episode of "Friday Night Lights" really spoke to her about her and Jude's relationship problems.


Egregious e-mail error: Being a thankless jerk
In interoffice e-mails, especially, the purpose of an exchange is almost always to demand or supply information. In the give-and-take, you must remember the magic words your mom drilled into your head until you were huddled terrified in the corner, simpering into your Apple Jacks: please and thank you.
When you request something via e-mail and get back what you need, it's easy to think, "Oh, I won't clutter up his tremblingly overstuffed inbox with a pointless note of gratitude."
But if you say thanks as soon as you get the info, you won't throw off his e-mail-checking routine. Just try to respond quickly -- if it's been more than 20 minutes, skip the gratuitous gratitude and tack the thanks on to the next e-mail volley. ("I appreciate your sending me those survey results last week. I'd like to set up a meeting to discuss...")
If you're the one providing the info, don't just paste it into the body of an e-mail and hit send without salutations or a sign-off. That just makes it sound like you're pissed off to have to help.
"Here you go, thanks" takes three seconds to type, and prevents resentment from brewing in the bowels of your coworkers. Leave that to pay cuts, the hellish drone of fluorescent lights and increasingly bizarre money-saving schemes.


Egregious e-mail error: Playing fascist dictator
Show of hands: How many of you under-30s have ever received the following e-mail from a higher-up?


"???"


It's typically a response to your e-mail or a forward of something someone else said, right? And yeah, it feels like a nauseating shot of Wild Turkey and makes you momentarily hate your boss, right?
Now imagine sending that same e-mail to your boss: She sends a note giving you a completely unrealistic new deadline, say, and you just hit Reply and give that question mark three jabs. Ridiculous, right?
My friend even had a higher-up pepper a message with comic book-style cuss words: "There's no way I'm calling another #&$% meeting..." Classy.
The rule here is simple: Address your employee the same way you'd address your boss. Unless you're still a two-finger typist, "I'm not clear why this hasn't been taken care of. Can you please send me a status report? Thanks," is not an onerous message to compose.
If you're especially bad at judging how your e-mails come across, there's ToneCheck, a (slightly silly) plug-in that flags harsh phrases. If you can prevent your workers from feeling like Bazooka gum on the bottom of your shoe, surprise! -- they'll actually want to impress you. Kissing ass is a whole lot easier to master than the other kind.
The thing I see is just the general lack of sense and tact when using email. Email is not a text message you're sending to your buddy to see if he wants to hook up for a beer. Email is a primary business communication tool and, well, if you want to look like a "tool" then just fire off a few stupid emails with poor grammar and lots of misspelled words. When you are preparing to write or send that email, remember that it is never, ever going to go away, and you will be judged by the tone and quality of your written words, which will surely be taken out of context when reviewed by some random 3rd party in the future.


I've seen coworkers fired over emails. It's that serious, especially if you work for a public entity that is required to keep every correspondence for years.


Biggest problem though, you can't fix stupid.


I love it when folks make mistakes and say "Well, I'm not a computer savvy"... Reading and thinking have been around much longer than computers!

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What is Causing My High Cholesterol?

So, you went to your healthcare provider for your regular physical, and have found out that your cholesterol levels are too high. While being diagnosed with high cholesterol can be a little overwhelming at first, the good news is that you can do plenty of things to treat it. First, take an inventory of your life. Do you remember whether or not your mother, father, or sibling was diagnosed with high cholesterol? Perhaps it may have something to do with your doughnut run on the way to work every morning. Once you have identified any potential problems below, you can begin to change them -- and your cholesterol.


1. You have several risk factors for high cholesterol
Several risk factors could place you at risk for having high cholesterol, including your age, your lifestyle, and your genes. Of course, you can't control certain circumstances in your life, such as your age or family history. But you would be surprised how many risk factors you can change in your life. The following articles address things that could place you at risk for having high cholesterol. Do any of those risks look familiar to you?


2. Your diet is poor
Did you know that the type of food you consume can also play a large role in raising your cholesterol levels? It's true. We live in a fast-paced world full of fast food and quick meals. Unfortunately, these foods are high in fat and not very nutritious. Your diet should have a mixture of nutritious foods, including vegetables, fruits, and other foods that are high in fiber and low in saturated and trans fats. Knowing the foods to avoid, as well as checking food labels, can help you avoid high-fat foods that are not as heart healthy.


3. You don't get enough exercise
Exercise can play an important role in your health. Of course, it can keep your waist trim, and strengthen muscles. But it also has other added benefits including lowering your cholesterol. Research studies have shown that moderate exercise can boost your heart health, and it doesn't take much time out of your day to do it. Additionally, you can do many types of exercise to satisfy this requirement such as yoga, weight-bearing exercises, and aerobic exercise. 


4. You have certain, uncontrolled medical conditions
Many conditions such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, or thyroid disease could also cause your cholesterol levels to be high. Many of these conditions require lifestyle changes and medication to get these conditions under control. The good news is that by controlling these conditions, you may be able to lower your high cholesterol levels, too.


5. You take certain medications
Medications are designed to help you treat many conditions. Unfortunately, some side effects are associated with them. Surprisingly enough, some of the medications you take may be causing your cholesterol levels to be high. Knowing which meds can increase you cholesterol levels can help you plan ahead and watch your cholesterol more closely. Your healthcare provider can also change your medication if your cholesterol gets out of hand. Of course, you can take some measures to help lower it, including:


6. You smoke
Smoking -- it's certainly a bad habit, but it can also become a deadly one. Smoking affects all aspects of your health including your cholesterol and heart health. Quitting smoking does not happen overnight and can be difficult. But there are many healthy advantages to doing so. By quitting smoking now, you can offset some of the damage that smoking can do to your heart -- and the rest of your body.

Said Akl

Said Akl, born July 4, 1912 is a prominent Lebanese poet, writer and ideologue. He was born in Zahle, Lebanon, and is considered one of the most important modern Lebanese poets.
He is best known for his radical Lebanese Nationalistic sentiments; in 1972, he helped to found the “Lebanese Renewal Party” which was proposed by May Murr, the renowned historian of ancient Lebanon. This party was a non-sectarian party that adhered to Lebanese Nationalism. During the Lebanese Civil War, Akl served as the spiritual leader of the radical Lebanese Nationalist movement Guardians of the Cedars.


Early Life
Said Akl was born to a Maronite Catholic family in the city of Zahle. After losing his father at the age of 15, he had to drop out of school and later worked as a teacher and then journalist. He then studied theology, literature and Islamic history, becoming a university instructor and subsequently lecturing in many Lebanese universities and policy institutes.


Ideology
During his early years, Said Akl was an adherent of the Syrian Social Nationalist party led by Antun Saadeh, eventually being expelled by the later due to irreconcilable ideological disputes.
Said Akl adopted a powerful doctrine of the authentic millennial character of Lebanon resonating with an exalted sense of Lebanese dignity. His admiration to the Lebanese history and culture was marked by strong enmity towards the Arab language and culture according to Aharon Amir. This view is crystallized by Akl once stating “I would cut off my right hand just not to be an Arab”. In 1968 he stated that literary Arabic would vanish from Lebanon.
For him Lebanon is the cradle of culture and the inheritor of the Oriental civilization, well before the arrival of the Arabs on the historical stage.
He emphasized the Phoenician legacy of the Lebanese people and promoted the use of the Lebanese dialect written in a modified Latin alphabet, that had been influenced by the Phoenician alphabet, rather than the Arabic one.
In a magazine he published during the '70s he offered a prize in each issue to whoever authored the best essay in Lebanese Arabic. Since then the Said Akl awards had been granted to many Lebanese intellectuals and artists.


Works
Said Akl has tens of writings ranging from theatrical plays, epics and poetry. His first published work was released in 1935, a theatrical play written in Arabic. His other works are written in either Lebanese Arabic, literary Arabic, or French.

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Faqra - Lebanon

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When Worlds Collide: Soccer vs. Politics

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death... I assure you it is much, much more important than that."


As Bill Shankly, the legendary former manager of English club Liverpool, pointed out shortly before he passed away in 1981, the significance of the beautiful game can never be underestimated -- and that doesn't just apply to fans of the sport, either.
Soccer can affect lives on a national and international scale, inspiring revolutions and causing wars as well as having the capability to create peace and lift entire nations.
The "Football War" between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969 is perhaps the most famous example of the sport's wider implications. The two Central American nations famously came to blows following their qualification match for the 1970 World Cup.
But this wasn't the first time, and definitely won't be the last, that the worlds of football and politics collide with remarkable results.


1. Mussolini manipulates the "Man in Black," 1934
"Il Duce" was determined to use this World Cup on home soil to showcase his fascist Italy. Mussolini had his own trophy created for the event -- the Coppa Del Duce -- which was six times the size of the Jules Rimet, and to this day allegations remain the tournament was fixed so that only Italy would collect it.
According to the BBC's "World Cup Stories" book by Chris Hunt, there were suggestions that the Italian dictator himself picked the referees. In the semifinal against Austria, Mussolini's Azzurri team won 2-1, but after the game their opponents complained the game was fixed.
"The referee even played for them," said Austrian striker Josef Bican. "When I passed for the ball out to the right wing, one of our players, Cicek, ran for it and the referee headed it back to the Italians. It was unbelievable."


2. Austrian star humiliates Nazis, 1938
Austria had one of the game's greatest sides in the 1930s, but when the Nazis annexed their neighbors, the nation's "Wunderteam" were forced to withdraw from the World Cup and merge with Germany.
Star striker Matthias Sindelar so opposed his nation's loss of independence that he refused to play for Germany. He pleaded old age, but Germany's manager Sepp Herberger would later recall: "I almost had the impression that discomfort and rejection, linked to the political developments, had prompted his refusal."
During a so-called "Reconciliation Game" to mark the merging of the two sides, Sindelar made his feelings quite clear in a 2-0 win for Austria. According to German historian Nils Havemann's book "Fussball unterm Hakenkreuz," the center-forward scored his beloved country's first and then, when the second goal went in, he danced in celebration in front of Nazi officials.
In 1939, Sindelar and his girlfriend were killed in his apartment by a gas leak. Controversy still reigns over whether it was murder or suicide -- or just an accident.


3. Algerians play for independence, 1958
Halfway through Algeria's War of Independence, the French national team called up a handful of Algerians playing in the French soccer league for the World Cup in Sweden.
Given the chance of glory, fame and fortune, the players chose national identity instead. Rather than attend a pre-tournament friendly against Switzerland, they decided to flee France, gather at the headquarters of the Front Liberation National in Tunisia and launch an "illegal" national team, risking arrest for desertion in the process.
Rachid Maflouki had won the French championship with Saint Etienne before getting the call from Les Bleus, but decided there were more important matters at stake than his personal success.
"I didn't hesitate," he told Ian Hawkey, author of "Feet of the Chameleon."
"Okay, I would have to give up my club. And yes, I was thinking about the World Cup, but what did that count for in comparison with my country's independence?"


4. Zaire players crack under Presidential pressure, 1974
It's remembered as one of the World Cup's funniest moments, but the truth is much darker. Already 3-0 down and facing a Brazilian free-kick, Zaire's right-back Ilunga Mwepu seemingly forgot the rules of the game, charged at the ball and hoofed it away before the whistle had even been blown.
The Leopards, the first sub-Saharan African nation to reach the finals, had already been humiliated 9-0 by Yugoslavia before losing 2-0 to Scotland, and were told by President Mobutu's henchmen that if they lost to Brazil by more than three goals they wouldn't be allowed to return home.
"Do you think I'd deliberately make myself look like an idiot? You have to remember we were playing for our lives," he said in the book "Death or Glory, the Dark History of the World Cup" by Jon Spurling.
Mwepu's act of "madness," it turns out, was in fact a very sane attempt to waste time.


5. The German nation divided, 1974
East Germany versus West at the 1974 World Cup was perhaps the most politically-charged match of all time. After the Second World War, the divided nation had become the main arena for the Cold War, and this fixture in Hamburg represented a head-to-head between the two ideologies.
Although the game was actually the last in the group and it had become clear that both teams would qualify from the group stage, that did not diminish the tension surrounding the clash.
With home advantage, European champions West Germany were favorites but it was the East German Jurgen Sparwasser who scored the only goal of the game.
East Germany heralded their triumph, but the victory was rendered a little hollow after they were knocked out in the next round and their bitter rivals went on to win the tournament.


6. Argentine junta swaps grain for glory, 1978
Argentina's junta, which had seized power just a couple of years earlier, was determined to use the World Cup it was hosting as propaganda for the regime.
According to a 1986 article by journalist Maria Laura Avignolo of Britain's Sunday Times, and supported by David Yallop in his book "How They Stole the Game," the junta used bribery and intimidation to help win the cup.
In the group stages, Argentina needed to beat Peru by four goals in their last game to progress. General Jorge Videla made a timely pre-match visit to the Peruvian dressing-room to talk to the players about "Latin American unity" before the host nation rattled six past a side that had previously held eventual finalists Holland to a goalless draw.
Avignolo claimed that in the weeks following the Peru game, an impromptu cargo of 35,000 tonnes of wheat left Argentina for Lima and that the military regime issued an interest-free loan of $50 million to the Peruvian government.


7. Iran's football revolution, 1998
They may have been two of the least significant footballing sides at France '98, but nevertheless this fixture caught the world's imagination because Iran and the United States had been at loggerheads since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Although political relations were strained, the clash of civilizations never quite happened on the pitch. Instead, both sides showed the utmost respect, swapping flowers, gifts and photographs before the kick-off.
The Iranians won 2-1, but, celebrations back home had a destabilizing effect as hundreds of thousands of young people, including women, partied in the streets in defiance of government warnings.
"In my neighborhood everybody goes out into the streets," one young Iranian told the BBC's Jim Muir. "It's a good excuse for boys and girls to mix, and in a way it's political, because it's a demand for social change."


8. Germany enjoys "Partyotism," 2006
The tournament slogan "A time to make friends" pretty much said it all. The organizers of Germany 2006 set out to woo the world, and in the process the country learned to love themselves.
A combination of a flawless summer and coach Jurgen Klinsmann's flee-flowing football injected a feel-good factor back into the national psyche, and Germans realized they could enjoy patriotism again -- or as the local media billed it, "partyotism."
"In the space of one month, Klinsmann managed to bring together a society ashamed of displays of nationalism and still divided along East-West lines, turning Germany into a nation of face-painting, flag-waving patriots," Hunt said in his "World Cup Stories" book.
"Never mind the final," Britain's The Times newspaper wrote. "Germans are the real World Cup winners."


9. The Koreas refuse to play nicely, 2008
North and South Korea both successfully managed to qualify for South Africa 2010, but there were plenty of bad-tempered squabbles along the way.
The bickering got so bad that world governing body FIFA eventually had to intervene after North Korea announced it would not let the South play its national anthem or wave its flag on their territory.
So determined were the North Koreans that they were even prepared to play their "home" game abroad. In the end, the fixture took place in Shanghai, where the North Korean coach complained that their rivals had poisoned their food.
In a statement about the match, the North's football association said: "It was beyond all doubt that the incident was a product of a deliberate act perpetrated by adulterated foodstuff as [the players] could not get up all of a sudden just before the match."
According to a report by the BBC, the South's soccer federation -- Korea Football Association -- said a sports doctor had examined the North Korean players and found no serious problem.


10. Football diplomacy between old enemies, 2008-09
Serious sport is war minus the shooting, remarked English author George Orwell. So it was refreshing last year when Armenia and Turkey used the beautiful game to make peace.
The leaders of the two countries met up to watch a World Cup qualifier between their nations after almost a century of bitterness following the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Turks during World War One.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul attended the initial game in Armenia in 2008, which the hosts lost 2-0, and his counterpart Serzh Sarkisian agreed to join him for the return fixture the following year for further thawing of diplomatic relations.
No doubt the fact that neither side had a chance of qualifying for South Africa helped keep things civil.

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The Life & Death of Nicolas G. Hayek

Nicolas George Hayek (19 February 1928, Beirut – 28 June 2010, Biel) was a Swiss-Lebanese entrepreneur, co-founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Swatch Group, with principal Headquarters in Biel. Hayek was born to a Lebanese mother and Lebanese American father, both from well-regarded Greek-Orthodox Christian Lebanese families with deep roots in Lebanon's Northern Governorate of El-Koura. His father was a dentist.


Hayek originally headed a business consulting firm, who was called on by a group of Swiss bankers to oversee a liquidation of Swiss watch manufacturing firms ASUAG and SSIH, who were encountering stiff competition from Japanese watch manufacturers. Hayek believed that the Swiss watch manufacturing industry could remain competitive with a restructuring and a focus on different business areas. After having engineered and implemented the reorganization of the ASUAG and SSIH watch companies for more than four years, finally bringing about their merger, Hayek, with a group of Swiss investors, took over a majority shareholding in the new group in 1985. He became Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer in 1986.


Hayek played a decisive role in the recovery of the Swatch Group with its watch brands Swatch, Blancpain, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Pierre Balmain, Calvin Klein, Flik Flak, Breguet and Lanco. The strategies he developed in the early 1980s led to the success of the entire Swiss watch industry and regained its leading position worldwide since 1984.


Hayek was awarded the title of Doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the Faculty of Beni Culturali of the University of Bologna (Italy) in June 1998, after being awarded doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) in 1996.


Nicolas G. Hayek was also the founder, Chairman of the Board and C.E.O. of Hayek Engineering Inc. with headquarters in Zurich.


Hayek is also credited with having a fundamental role in the creation of the Smart Car, a small European car created for inner city use by Mercedes Benz. Original names for the car revolved around the Swatch name — and even today aspects of the car such as its interchangeable body panels are clearly linked with the Swatch philosophy of individuality.


In 2003, his son, Nick Hayek, Jr. became the CEO of the Swatch Group. Hayek remained however chairman of the board of the Swatch Group to his death.


In 2007, Hayek was rated the world's 273rd richest person with an estimated wealth of US$3.2 billion.


Hayek died unexpectedly on 28 June 2010 of cardiac arrest during work at the Swatch Group headquarters in Biel. The death of Mr Hayek, 82, robs Switzerland of one of its most inventive business leaders. “We owe Mr Hayek a lot,” said Doris Leuthard, the Swiss president.