First here, here is the exchange sub-titled in English:

Here are English articles reporting the story:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52151722

https://www.dailysabah.com/world/who-slams-racist-calls-by-french-medical-experts-to-use-africa-as-covid-19-vaccine-testing-ground/news

Here is a French article:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/04/06/afrique-et-vaccin-loms-fustige-des-propos-racistes-et-une-mentalite-coloniale

Why are we encouraging people to be that easily triggered?

This can be a dangerous political and public health game.

We are in 2020 and, thankfully, our Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) have strict ethical guidelines, even when expedited during pandemics!

The WHO does not have anything more urgent to do in life than to please African corrupt leaders by playing this game of political correctness?

The words of these French experts have been taken out of context and clearly misunderstood. Perhaps they should have not apologized?

Lebanon has been a French colony. Thankfully, France behaved well there, better than in Algeria, for sure… and, perhaps even in Algeria, French colonial behaviour was better than by other countries (e.g., Belgium) in Africa.

I bet Lebanon would be honoured to be an additional site to this ongoing study in several countries, if the principal investigators think of offering it this opportunity.

Please, let’s get over stupidity for once, at least during a pandemic, to think more scientifically and rationally (not with our tribal emotions).

Let’s look at the amazing work related to COVID-19, to AIDS, or to Ebola. All this great work in Africa has been done by our own great Canadian men and women (e.g., Mr. Stephen Lewis, Dr. Michel Yao, Dr. Joanne Liu, Dr. Jane Phillpott, etc.).

Are these names cited above all racist?

Why would the French experts be racist then? They simply speak their mind in a more direct way. This is the beauty of their culture.

What is this obsession with racism?

Even Bambi was accused of being racist in our town, mind you ?; hence this blog (as per its ABOUT section).

Talking about racism, here is the level of intellectual poverty and culture of victimization we are at in the West today, including Canada ☹:

https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/black-people-already-struggle-to-breathe-in-canada-ignoring-us-during-this-covid-19-crisis-will-only-make-it-worse/

No further comment about the article above, as it would be a waste of Bambi’s time.

 

As you can see below, the testing results of stranded passengers who arrived to Beirut yesterday are all out and the global results are shared with the public (all negative). This applies to airplane passengers from Lagos, Abidjan, etc.

https://www.moph.gov.lb/en/Pages/127/27599/#/en/Pages/127/29413/lab-results-of-passengers-from-abidjan

Plus, Lebanon urgently requested quotation for PPE from interested suppliers, with a deadline of 3 days ONLY:

In English:

https://www.moph.gov.lb/en/Pages/127/27599/

In Arabic:

https://www.moph.gov.lb/ar/Pages/127/27599/

Lebanon has lots of issues, from corruption/poverty to regional/domestic instability or… internal matters, like other countries. People who visit Lebanon often joke about its somehow cute (yet functional :)!) chaos.

However, one thing is sure: this place is historically used to crisis management. It seemed to have learned fast how to deal with a Covid-19 pandemic. This does not mean that things may not become a catastrophe like other places (or worse?!). Perhaps the peak of the curve has not been reached yet? Not everyone is respecting the physical distancing measures, although most are (bravo). Most are terrified by the coronavirus. Fear-related stress is good for survival. At the same time, people there find ways to entertain themselves with silly songs about the virus or about them in these times, etc. Of course, they also have public health safety cute songs. Bambi enjoys listening to them on an internet radio, broadcasting from LA, whilst working :). They have even created daily variety shows between folks located in the LA, Dubai, and Beirut, called “Stay at home“.

To conclude this post, Lebanon seems to be working as efficiently as possible in the circumstances. Bravo and… please keep it up!

How come all the countries of the world, from New Zealand to others… to tiny bankrupt Lebanon were thorough with their travellers returning home? And we have not?

Look at Lebanon, even if you will not understand the language!

https://www.mtv.com.lb/?utm_source=KwikPlayer&utm_medium=KwikShare&utm_campaign=KwikMotion

English text here:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-lebanon-expats/lebanese-stranded-abroad-by-coronavirus-outbreak-return-home-idUSKBN21N0DU

The Lebanese government developed a QUICK plan to bring over 21, 000 citizens stuck abroad (some lost their jobs in Africa or Saudi Arabia… etc. Others from Europe, will be brought back in the next couple of days). One man sadly died in Ghana.

A Lebanese airliner paid for people’s tickets (the government is considering paying students’ tickets who will come soon).

See the video link above. Look at the thorough medical testing upon arrival to the airport.

Immediately after testing, travellers were taken to hotels to be quarantined, until the test results. First night for free. Then, if no place to go to (no homes), they can stay longer at excellent rates. However, they STRICTLY do not have the right to leave the hotel for 24 hours until their test comes back negative!

They were provided with meals in their rooms. Public health teams were awaiting them at the airport to take all the needed information.

Look at the gloves and masks everyone is wearing and full protection to medical teams.

Bravo to Lebanon for being that “covidwise”!! It is reassuring for Bambi to watch.

Why aren’t we as thorough in Canada, by the way?

One may even wonder if this is the product of an orchestrated paid campaign by our government ??

Or does this stem from journalists themselves, so eager to get their cheque from the government during this crisis that they lost any remaining critical sense to that point?

Or could they be too keen to reassure us to the point of contributing to deceiving us?

If we keep hearing it, we will start believing it…

Are we in Canada or in Syria where they keep praising their Mr. Assad’s government even in pandemics?

Bambi finds it worrisome when all the media of a given country seem to go in the same direction… and when they aren’t, we do not give them permission to daily PM press conferences (i.e. Rebel news of Mr. Ezra Levant, it seems).

We may or may not agree with Mr. Levant all the time on all the topics (isn’t this normal in life?). However, at least, we know one thing about him: He does not receive a penny from the federal government. That could explain why his journalism may be more independent.

Anyhow, here is a non-exhaustive list of mainstream media praising Ms. Hajdu:

Globe and Mail, the National Pos, Global news, CTV news (watch the same exact title, likely picked up from a press release from the government, according to Bambi who may of course be wrong):

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-patty-hajdu-brings-anthropology-public-health-experience-to/

Hajdu brings anthropology, public health experience to COVID-19 fight

Coronavirus: Hajdu brings public health experience, anthropology to pandemic fight

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/hajdu-brings-anthropology-public-health-experience-to-covid-19-fight-1.4883208

Interestingly, only the Toronto Sun has two articles criticizing her rather… mmm maybe they will not get their bailout then?

GOLDSTEIN: Patty Hajdu’s China Syndrome

MALCOLM: Why is Canada’s health minister backing up China’s lies?

One local Ontario newspaper published a letter the Editor, written by Ms. Hajdu’s own mom. Perhaps not the most elegant piece written by a parent about her daughter. This text tells Bambi two things: 1. Their parental relationship does not seem to be that joyful or healthy (this is not our business though!) and 2. Either the mother or the daughter, or perhaps both of them, are lying (dishonesty may become our problem one day; how come no journalist picked that up?).

Here is the Letter to the Editor in question, found online. Bambi was not able to find the original article cited herein: https://www.chroniclejournal.com/news/local/hajdu-faced-life-s-trauma/article_6d89f81a-0fbb-11e8-80a5-fb7e4dd7d930.html:

https://unwatch.org/china-joins-u-n-human-rights-panel-will-help-pick-experts-on-free-speech-health-arbitrary-detention/

As described above, “by joining the UNHRC panel, China will be able to influence the selection of at least 17 UN human rights mandate-holders over the next year, known as special procedures [sic], who investigate, monitor, and publicly report on either specific country situations, or on thematic issues in all parts of the world, such as freedom of speech and religion”.

Talking about freedom of religion, in 2019, the UN appointed Saudi Arabia to the same panel. Isn’t that another UN-joke?

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/Group2019.aspx

Does all this make any sense? Bambi bets that Mr. Raif Badawi ‘s family in Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada) was not that impressed by that choice at the time ☹.

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/imprisoned-saudi-blogger-raif-badawi-begins-hunger-strike-1.4727238

Luckily, Saudi Arabia has shown a few promising social changes in recent years. This is not enough for sure, but it is a start that should be commended.

To come back to China, without punishing it for being a dictatorship (especially that we depend too much on it), we must neither reward it nor sell our souls to it. Between the two extremes, there must be a political middle ground. Isn’t it, Mr. Trudeau and “team of leaders”, namely Ms. Hajdu?

If not, without intending to, we would be insulting both the Chinese people striving for more freedom and the intelligence of Canadians.

Ms. Hajdu, our federal health Minister, said in response to a question from a reporter asking “… whether the WHO’s data could be relied upon if China’s isn’t accurate”:

 “Your question is feeding into conspiracy theories that many people have been perpetuating on the Internet”.

If this is not intimidation to reporters, what is it? Mr. Lorrie Goldstein may be right on this one:

GOLDSTEIN: Patty Hajdu’s China Syndrome

In an apparent response to a similar question by a reporter last Wednesday, Mr. Trudeau said:

“…”.

With all due respect to our PM, the “…” above is his usual beautiful yet empty blahblahblah.

You may wish to fill the dots with whatever words you like. Words that sound politically correct, perhaps “inclusive”, socially or… even globally acceptable. Regardless of your choice of words, Bambi bets they will likely not provide any real answer (yes, regardless of the question).

This is a rather classical Trudeau communication style, at least in politics. It was like that pre-pandemic. It will continue to be so post-pandemic (for those who will survive to witness).

His minority government will likely continue to throw money at us, now more than ever… from our own taxes, taking it from one pocket to the other. Of course, regardless, it is nice for us to have a government that has the willingness to support citizens in this awful economic crisis. Bambi remains a grateful “deer”, just like her fellow “human” Canadian citizens.

This being said, despite people’s incredible capacity to learn, Bambi is convinced that what would predict human behaviour the best in life remains perhaps simple (no need for fancy statistical modelling to estimate it): In general, if she may generalize to all human beings including Mr. Trudeau, past behaviour tends to the best predictor of future behaviour.

In other terms, what we have seen from Mr. Trudeau in past crises, in the pre-pandemic era, will likely be his approach during a pandemic. If we are seeing a promising difference now, we should always remember the wise French saying that goes like this: “Chassez le naturel, il revient au galop”. In English, it means: “what is bred in the bone will come out in the flesh”.

Of course, this saying applies to anyone, including former Drama teachers, despite their better skills in hiding what would be “bred in the bone”.  

Today, Mr. Trudeau’s tweet account shows part of his daily speech, saying to healthcare providers: “…… Know that we are there for you. Our government will continue to work hard to ensure you have the personal protective equipment you need”.

Beautiful words that sound reassuring. Go Canada go!

However, the reality on the ground may not seem to be that efficient, especially in a world of harsh competition for medical supplies sold by China.

Talking about China, the latter is doing good business nowadays after its own tragedy, followed by OURS here/around the world. Perhaps this tragedy has been significantly delayed after the Chinese authorities tried to hide the pandemic from their own people and from the rest of us (through the WHO). Anyhow, what is done is done…

Bearing this comment in mind, before presenting a translation of the Journal de Montréal (March 4, 2020)’s article below, Bambi thinks the following: Perhaps Canada must first act FAST to bring equipment and deal with quality testing/check upon arrival at our end. This would perhaps help remove Canadian self-barriers to efficacy.

This being said, here is the original article (in French) followed by a quick translation:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/04/03/masques-bloques-en-chine-par-le-canada

“Masks blocked in China … by Canada [Masques bloqués en Chine… par le Canada]

The 300,000 products are intended for hospitals.

“A Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu entrepreneur who ordered nearly 300,000 masks from China in the hope of supplying Québec health workers is furious that Canadian authorities are blocking his cargo transport on the pretext that he does not have not the required permit.

“This is a complete disappointment for me,” said Dominique Plouffe, the owner of Marine Service Canada. I do not make a penny with that, I buy them and I sell them at cost, I really do that to help. “

Talking to one of his suppliers, the businessman realized about a week ago that it was possible for him to order thousands of masks and receive them quickly. Seeing the crying need, he made calls to offer assistance to the provincial government.

Many orders

A lady from the Montérégie Integrated Health and Social Services Centre [“Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de la Montérégie-Centre”] finally confirmed to him that she would buy 100,000 equipment from him. Then, organizations in his region also ordered them to make donations in healthcare system.

However, the situation became complex when the Americans began to buy masks, destined for other countries, directly on the tarmac of Chinese airports.

To make sure he received his order, Mr. Plouffe found a Québec-based transport company, which is located in China, that agreed to bring the masks directly to a Canadian cargo plane.

No certificate, no masks.

The products were to arrive in the country Friday morning, but Canadian authorities would block the process on the pretext that Mr. Plouffe does not hold the certificate of importer of medical equipment.

“We are now filling out a 15-page-long form which we will send to the government, which will analyze our request within three to five working days. If we pass the test, we will end up having our masks, but the deadlines are ridiculous when there is a need here, “he said, deploring this unnecessary bureaucracy in times of crisis.

Dominique Plouffe has already received numerous requests to order more, particularly from certain hospitals and residences for the elderly.”

What an inspiring interview with Dr. De Civita by Ms. Isil from “Unique Careers, Unique Lives“! If you are looking for a wise use of your time during this COVID-19 pandemic, Bambi highly recommends the podcast below.

For Bambi, listening to this podcast was clearly more informative, inspiring, and surely less frustrating than some daily press conferences. It was therapeutic, in comparison :). Seriously, Bambi made up her mind. As of tomorrow, she will stop listening to press conferences from Ottawa in order to keep feeling zen whilst working. She will keep listening to NB press conferences. They do have a nicer effect on her deer’s body :).

To come back to Dr. Mirella De Civita, thank you for sharing your wisdom combined to your knowledge and life experiences, both joyful and tragic. Your words are filled with authenticity combined with practical intelligence. Bambi liked how you talked about the merit of being flexible in life to allow ourselves the freedom of more choices. She smiled to the example from your childhood :).

As usual, perhaps even more than ever, Bambi has learned so much from you.

Please be SAFE, you and your family, and keep up the great work!

Prototype Yourself with Dr. Mirella De Civita

By definition, a pandemic is “global” (a word likely so appealing to both Hadju and her boss ?), to which she added that it will require a global response.

Well, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH), “a pandemic is an epidemic of disease, or other health condition, that occurs over a widespread area (multiple countries or continents) and usually affects a sizeable part of the population” (https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv-aids/glossary/545/pandemic).

Perhaps later stages of a pandemic would likely require even more coordinated global efforts (i.e., when we get to a vaccine stage, etc.). This being said, one must consult data of other countries and from the World Health Organization (WHO) at all times, that is before, during early and throughout a pandemic, as well as after it ends.

However, one must know how to look at data with a critical eye and a grain of salt.

Obviously, not one of Ms. Hajdu’s strengths as she literally said:

“There is no indication that the data that came out of China in terms of the infection rate and their death rate was falsified in any way” – Health Minister Hajdu

Again, more ideology than science. Luckily there is Dr. Tam in the Public Health Canada team ?.

Now more seriously, Ms. Hajdu recognized the following: “Canada likely did not stockpile enough masks, other protective equipment”(https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-likely-did-not-stockpile-enough-masks-other-protective-equipment-health-minister-1.4877856).

Plus, Canada sent medical equipment to China earlier on…

http://bambisafkar.ca/index.php/2020/03/23/canada-china-sometimes-too-much-generosity-can-literally-kill/

So, whose fault is that? Trudeau, Hajdu, or a predecessor?

Who should resign over this public health negligence, after the pandemic is over?

Who is putting his people first here, the PM of Canada or the President of the USA?

Bambi is not particularly fond of Mr. Trump with his often silly or vulgar language… however, after waking up, he seems to be using his power to ensure a production of medical equipment for his own people. Should we blame him for that? He is thinking of America before any other nation, even his neighbours… oups, quite the opposite of what Mr. Trudeau did actually.

If we extrapolate from nations to individuals, in a survival mode, we think of ourselves (and our families) first before our neighbours. If we care too much for others, we may die.

Bambi hopes Canadians will remember this when they will be called to vote again in the future. In her case, she does not need to remember anything.

Because of Mr. Trudeau, she did not vote Liberal in the last election… as she has always done.

Bambi will start with Ms. Catherine McKenna who describes herself on her Twitter account as: “Mom. Swimmer. Climate advocate. Ottawa Centre MP/Députée. Minister of Infrastructure and Communities/Ministre de l’Infrastructure et des Collectivités”.

It seems that she is organizing online courses to kids called “Climate Change 101”. We can see her in short videos even (April 1, 2020) and read: “Get ready for round 2 of homeschooling with a Climate 101 class tomorrow on Facebook Live at 1 PM. Come along and LEARN on this fantastic voyage. Get your questions ready! / Préparez vos questions!”.

Why doesn’t she use her time like her peers (e.g., Mr. François-Phillipe Champagne who seems to have worked tirelessly to bring stranded Canadians back home; or her peer from the Green party, Ms. Elizabeth May, who also seems to have pushed on this file, at least as per her Twitter account, along with her party-related ideas and this is expected. Thank you both)?

Perhaps climate change is really the new religion of our current times? And Ms. McKenna is a true believer? At least, we can give her a credit for her “authenticity”. One can wonder though the following: Why is she doing so to our kids with our own tax money? Plus, is she working as seriously on her governmental files?

This being said, below is a translation of Mr. Dumont’s article. A topic that Ms. McKenna should have been expert in, given her role of former Minister of Environment (oups sorry of “Minister of Environment and Climate Change”, with the name change).

“The barrel at the bottom of the barrel [le baril au fond du baril], published in the Journal de Montréal on April 3, 2020.

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/04/03/le-baril-au-fond-du-baril

“You saw the price of oil go down at the pump. It is tempting for the consumer to applaud this respite. Some would even say that this is a consolation in this coronavirus crisis. In fact, behind the pump, an economic catastrophe for Canada is looming.

Please understand one thing: a lot of what you spend on a litre of gas is made up of taxes, including fixed taxes. For the price at the pump to drop below 80 cents, the barrel really has to be cheap.

And that’s the case. Western Canadian Select, Western Canadian oil closed last week at $ 7.20. This is an 80% drop since mid-February, when it was selling for around $ 38. This week, he temporarily received $ 5!

Before the crisis

Do I have to remind you that in recent years, when Canadian oil was trading between $ 40 and $ 50 a barrel, people in Western Canada were crying for help? Because Canadian oil was landlocked, its price remained around twenty dollars below the main comparable on the world market.

The Alberta government complained of considerable losses, estimated at $ 20 billion annually. Losses to the economy in general, but also a shortfall for governments that derive significant oil revenues. Can you imagine the losses with a barrel under $ 10?

Collective unrealism

Because oil has a bad reputation, we quickly forget its importance in the Canadian economy. What does such a ridiculously low-price mean? Falling revenues for the federal government, sharply declining revenues in three provinces that contribute to equalization, a fall in the Canadian dollar and a collapse of private investment in the country.

This is in addition to the other woes that plague the Canadian economy. As elsewhere in the world, sectors such as tourism and air transport have stalled. Containment measures also bring about a paralysis of the economy, the costs of which are barely measurable.

The economic crisis and the health crisis will be followed by an unimaginable public finance crisis. Those who were worried about the Trudeau government’s $ 30 billion annual deficit are better off clinging to their seats. The Parliamentary Budget Officer announced last week a probable deficit of 113 billion. And the government has announced tens of billions of additional measures since then.

Everything indicates that the travel industry is not about to recover, and general economic activity is likely to slow down for some time. So, the price of oil will stay low and the consequences for our economy will continue.

I can already hear the easy answer: Canada must get out of its dependence on oil. In the land of unicorns, it is done overnight. In reality, it takes years. For now, the crisis is a painful reminder of the importance of oil in our real economy”.