Author Archives: Lina El Zein
But I haven’t met you yet
In this day and age, I’m often introduced to people via email. An email introduction from someone I know and respect holds a lot of weight, and on any given business day I’ll get a few random email introductions to new people.
There are lots of things you need to do right in an email introduction: have a great email subject line, introduce yourself quickly, make a clear request, blind cc: the person who introduced you (so that person doesn’t get all of the unnecessary replies), among others. The way you present yourself in that initial email leaves a lasting impression, so it’s important to think through your first interaction.
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Trying to manage dust while living in the UAE? Here are some pointers for you.
10 Reasons that makes attending an Antenatal class worth it!
Written by yours truly 🙂 let me know your thoughts
11 types of facebook commenters on Mia Khalifa’s photos
Lebanon’s “Bad” Restaurants: How The Ministry Of Health Messed Up
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares
Earlier today, minister of health Wael Abou Faour decided to go on a press conference and out high-profile restaurants and supermarkets across Lebanon that are, according to him, selling Lebanese costumers “bad products.”
I was sent the following pictures that detail what are “bad products,” incompatible as they supposedly are with the ministry’s standards:
This isn’t about naming and shaming the restaurants and supermarkets in question. Actually this is far from it. If you’re reading this expecting an angry blog post about Roadster or Hallab, then you’re very mistaken. What this will be is a rant about the utter lack of maturity and professionalism that the ministry has handled this with.
For starters Mr. Faour, what’s the point of a high profile press conference to name and shame restaurants without actually listing how those restaurants failed to meet the standards checked by the ministry? No, I’m not talking about what the “products” in…
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On Lebanon & Suicide Bombers…
I have seen my cousins, who live in Tripoli, turn from cool dudes whom I enjoyed a couple drink or two with them, into devout Muslims, with covered wives, mothers and children.
This did not happen now, it happened 10 years ago, and the build up for it started another 10 years prior to those 10 years, but nobody cared. Nobody cared that outside of Beirut, there is no work, no infrastructure, no affordable schools, no community teaching, no hobbies, no reading, no theatre, no music….NO MONEY. So people started turning more and more to God, and men of God started preaching, and people listened, and we in Beirut thought that Beirut was Lebanon. I remember how shocked I was when I first went deep in Dahieh in 2002 to visit a colleague “My God it is a different country” I kept repeating…you know what, it is true, many different countries, all following their Gods (their God happens to also be politically connected and could facilitate their life where they lived), and so, today, we are shocked to see that there are boys that are ready to blow themselves up because they think God is on their side.
And no, they have not felt the affection of their mothers, coz most of them come from a 15 child family, their moms are either busy popping another one, or cooking for an army of uncivilized children, who will never learn manners, nor will earn their baccalaureate. They have nothing to lose, that’s how desperate they are. They can’t even afford to get married or have sex, they don’t have the money to buy themselves a prostitute, and if they do, the bearded men will freak the bazonka out of them with hells fire that’s going to barbecue them over and over again, so they blow themselves up, and think that their virgins are waiting, my God, did somebody even tell them, that 70 virgins will be painful for the penis at the end, or is baby oil available there???
Excuse my sarcasms, but it is the pieces of shit that we have elected for the past 30 years that never cared about future generations, nor about paving an economic infrastructure for education, health, career planning…. Why do I love Rafic Harriri, and still do, because I lost my father when I was 9. He educated my sister all the way to her PHD, she helped with the finances until I got to my MBA, and because I believe he was trying to create an infrastructure for the future and wanted Lebanon to be on the map, the real one, not the ones we see on instagram or timeout. Lebanese men have been blowing themselves up since the 70s, to kill Israelis, to kill Christians, Muslims, Druze whatever, but they have always been blowing themselves up. So have a look at them, and deal with them, coz ignoring won’t solve it….
#justsaying …..
“Students are Turned on by Greatness & Bored by Mediocrity” – Albert Cullum
“Back to School” is a couple weeks away…this year it has a special impact on my family….two of my children have graduated from daycare, and off to school… this whole motherhood/schooling dilemma has took me back to school, to seek a higher degree in education in order to understand the best approach available…so far, no answers…. however, great teachers like our dean @AUD , Dr. Catherine Hill, introduced us to “greatness”, I could not find the movie on you tube, if anyone out there can share please leave a comment. I wish for my children teachers like Albert Cullum, I share below a reflective memo that I wrote about him. Continue reading
“Pi Slice at AstroLabs Workshop” Scale it Up!
By Lina El Zein.
On the beginnings of learning, Jiddu Krishnamurti said “do it or don’t do it but get on with it”.
It was a breath of fresh air to listen to the brilliant minds behind AstroLabs, a newly launched platform that aims at Scaling Online Startups in MENA. After their success with Namshi, co-founders Louis Lebbos and Muhammed Makki wanted to endeavor the startup bug throughout the middle east by exposing high potential entrepreneurs from across the Arab World to best practices for scaling their online businesses.
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Zane’s graduation
I couldn’t stop crying while looking at him….When I was his age, I loved this song…..
