Month: July 2020

Bravo! What a concert! Further below, you can find video links.

First, Bambi would like to thank all those who kindly informed her about this event.

Second, here is a quick historic description of this famous International Lebanese Festival, which exists since 1956 (its activities suspended for 22 years in the Lebanese Civil War): http://www.baalbeck.org.lb/history/

Third, the Baalbeck Festival offered this concert this afternoon (9 PM Lebanon time), which was broadcasted on all the Lebanese and regional TV stations whilst being live-streamed on social media. The purpose of the latter was to spread a message of “cultural resilience, unity and hope“, to use the words of the festival President, Ms. Nayla De Freige.

The concert, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the “Greater Lebanon” in 1920 (two decades before today’s modern country), was overseen by Mr. Harout Fazlian, the artistic director/conductor. The concert featured the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, the choirs of Notre Dame and Antonine Universities, as well as the music group Qolo Atiqo. The musicians and singers offered their services for free in a joint effort to revive Lebanon’s cultural sector.

As the Baalbeck festival’s president De Freige explained to Arab News, “the festival committee worked with the minister of health to guarantee the necessary physical distancing to protect the 150 participants on the stage. They will be standing 1.5 meters apart, in the middle of the Temple of Bacchus, where there are usually 700 spectators” (https://www.arabnews.com/node/1699656/world).

Bambi is lucky because she had the opportunity to visit the Temple of Bacchus (part of the Baalbeck temple complex) where the concert took place.

Indeed, thanks to her dad, she visited this magnificent temple, which was likely commissioned by Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (r. AD 138-161). She was 20 years old at the time. It was her first trip from Canada back to Lebanon where she spent two beautiful months, discovering her birth country for the first time (she left it at age 17, four months before the end of war).

At the time they visited this beautiful region, an Israeli air raid had just happened there. Not an optimal timing for tourism ?. Anyhow, at one point, the two deer stopped the car to videotape and take pictures of a beautiful valley, surrounded by a chain of mountains. Bambi recalls how a militia young man came to talk to them, wanting to confiscate their cameras, as they arrived a few moments post-raid. Her dad told him that he brought his daughter, visiting from Canada, all the way from Beirut to show her this beauty. It would be a shame not to take any picture/video. Well, the guy replied: “Wow Canada, I love this country… OK I will say welcome to your daughter. I will not confiscate anything but please do not tape here” (pointing to a certain direction), “just from here to there” (pointing to another direction). “Please, do not put us in more danger”. Bambi and her dad thanked him, following the instructions ?.

On this funny touristic memory, Bambi will stop now. She is eager to share the concert link, hoping that you will enjoy all this talent. Well done Lebanon!

The first video is very short. The second video presents the full concert, starting at 13:06 minutes, first with the Lebanese national anthem. Enjoy!

Bambi would like to thank her sister Rania for sharing this moving short film.

She has watched it twice, crying each time. Thank you Ms. De Lourdes Haddad.

From this film about Lebanon, Bambi understands a lesson that would apply to each beautiful country of the world and its political class (including us in Canada): Do NOT take your country for granted. Love it, respect it, serve it, preserve it (i.e., its beauty, unity, security, freedom, peace, collective heritage, public assets and peoples’ private savings, etc.). In other terms, despite all the good intentions, please make sure you do not fall into the trap of Lebanonizing your country: Learn to avoid corruption as well as external forces of destruction… But, perhaps more importantly, say no to self-destruction!

Isn’t it contradictory when Mr. Trudeau informs us that his cabinet will retreat to discuss “concrete actions to fight racism” and his statement is posted on a webpage with a banner image of him walking with RCMP men/women in red surge whom he accuses of “systemic racism”?

https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/07/03/prime-minister-hold-virtual-cabinet-retreat

Another contradiction (if they matter anymore) is when he took the knee at an anti-police parade in Ottawa whilst being surrounded by police officers protecting him?

Here is yet another contradiction: According to the latest electoral campaign of our prime minister, which took place in October 2019 (website updated in 2020: https://www2.liberal.ca/our-platform/, “Canada is one of the most diverse and welcoming countries in the world – a place where people can be themselves, find comfort in community, and build better lives for themselves and their families”.

One cannot help but to wonder what went wrong under Mr. Trudeau’s leadership for us to fall down from the status of “one of the most welcoming countries” in the world to one where “systemic racism” is omnipresent ??

Mr. Trudeau has lately accused all our institutions of “systemic racism”, including the RCMP:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-systemic-racism-lucki-trudeau-1.5607622

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/systemic-racism-exists-in-all-institutions-including-rcmp-trudeau-1.4979878

Does Mr. Trudeau know what he is getting us into by: (1) endorsing fashionable ideologies and (2) blindly linking them to his father’s policy of “multiculturalism”, without even re-visiting the latter to see what is still good about it or what could be re-considered?

At the speed of the direction Canada seems to be heading to, one can wonder whether our government would eventually come up with a new tax to help fight racism?? The latter may sound like a silly joke to you. However, Bambi would not be surprised if this could happen one day. She bets that English Canadians may swallow it, as they did with the carbon tax. If they choke on such a new tax, they could be accused of racism. Who knows? JOKE again ?.

Every year, Ms. Joëlle Melki sends her Canada Day best wishes to Bambi.

Every year, three days later, Bambi sends her USA Day best wishes to Joëlle.

It has been their summer tradition for many years now :).

After the USA Day (thinking of Rita too), July 14 is France Day (Bambi reaches out to their common friend, Ms. Nina Tavitian :)).

This year, Ms. Joëlle Melki surprised Bambi by singing the first part of “O Canada” for her… in French! Amazing singing (even if Joëlle does not agree :)).

Bambi promised to “try” to do the same. Why did she do so? OK, she found a way out of this since she sings more like a frog than a deer, she will let others pay tribute to the USA on her behalf.

Since you love kids Joëlle , Bambi found the following video for you. She hopes you will like it!

Following this video, Bambi will introduce her friend to you. You will notice that the 4th of July means the world to her, to the point of running a marathon in Fishers, Indiana, to celebrate it. Yes, she has done so every year! Sadly, not this summer of 2020 because of covid-19 :(. There will be next year(s) “inchallah” as they say in Lebanon (if God is willing). Do not be too disappointed Joëlle!

OK, from where to start? Joëlle and Bambi met for the first time in 1975. They were three years old (Bambi is 3 months older)! It was on their first day of school (“Petit jardin”, as they call it in Lebanon). Since then, they have been friends through good and bad times, that is through a civil war, through escape trips to Cyprus (to the Canadian embassy, in the case of Bambi, and Joëlle had lived on this island for a while), and of course through immigration to North America.

From child development and studies on our memory, we know that it is usually hard to retrieve memories before age 3. Despite this, Bambi recalls the first day of civil war (she was 2.9 months old)… Perhaps because it was a marking day? Or… who knows? Maybe she remembers it though her family’s own narrative? Regardless, she will always remember how she met her friend Joëlle :).The latter came to school with a cast around her broken leg. The cast must have attracted Bambi’s attention. Bambi recalls having asked her why she had that white thing on her leg :). A few days later, their teacher allowed all the friends to come and draw nice things on Joëlle’s cast, including Bambi.

A few years later, both of them became the students of Ms. Nicole Melki (Joëlle’s own mom!). Bambi used to call her “tante (for aunty), madame (for Ms.) Nicole” in the classroom :). How silly! They still laugh about this after all those years. Madame Nicole was the best French teacher you can ever have! Bambi is blessed to have learned the beautiful grammar of Molière’ language, thanks to “Madame Nicole”.

Well, like her mother (and thanks to her), Joëlle grew up with wonderful values of integrity, respect, care, compassion, love, and loyalty to friends and family. She has been a scout. She has been a red cross volunteer during civil war, at first with Bambi. Then, following the immigration of the latter.

She has been a student in Lebanon, Cyprus, and the USA. She learned Greek, in addition to English, French, Arabic, and the American sign language (certified ASL).

After college degrees (Saint Louis and Harrison) and a university degree (University of Indianapolis) where she excelled in her performance, she worked in the area of Kindergarten/Preschool Education and Teaching. She was even self-employed.

Kids have always adored Joëlle. This means all those she has inspired in Lebanon, Cyprus, and in the USA. They say that children know when they are genuinely being loved. Bambi agrees. It is both moving and inspiring to see Joëlle in an educational relationship with younger ones!

Following this, Ms. Joëlle Melki went for a health degree. She successfully became a healthcare provider, working in cardiology at the IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis and at a medical clinic!

In addition to all her former certification with the Lebanese red cross, she is certified in CPR First Aid from the American Heart Association.

Ms. Joëlle Melki is pragmatic and down to earth. She is devoted to patient care. Bambi is inspired by her friend! Here is a quote from her, reflecting her passion, devotion, and authenticity: “I like to make people feel better by showing them I care, I listen and see a smile on their faces.  My goal is to pursue my education and have better skills, more knowledge for a better and more accurate patient’s care. For me caring and healing others, is more a passion than a job.”

At the beginning of this pandemic, Joëlle did not stay at home. How could she? She had patients to take care of and healing processes to nurture in others!

Now if all the above was not enough to convince you that Joëlle is Bambi’s hero, look at the following pictures. They show her year after year, running for her beloved “America”! Check her beautiful jump when she arrives at the final destination :)!

Happy fourth of July, my Dear friend! Bambi loves you and wishes your (adoptive) country healthy, peaceful, and prosperous days!

She wishes us the same in Canada… and, of course, the same to our country of birth!

This is where Ali, a 61-year-old man, took his life today on Hamra street in Beirut ☹. His name is written on the ground. He died with a piece of note in his pocket, stating that he has no criminal record. He also wrote the words of a famous song by Mr. Ziad Rahabani: “I’m not a blasphemer but hunger is blasphemy“… We can see that some people have paid tribute with flowers.

The sign carried by the sad man sitting on the ground refers to how the country is about to fall down. He played on the words… the original Lebanese expression is that “the country (el Balad) is on the hand of a Jinni (or genie)”. Usually, it is a very dangerous position to be at in mythology (and of course in real life!). The Jinni is a magical creature, in ancient myths/legends of the Middle East, known to have a free will. This unknown man deleted the word jinni and replaced with jinn. He probably meant to say: Many magical creatures are competing to decide the fate of tiny bankrupt Lebanon… Lebanon is about to fall off these hands!

The second suicide occurred in a private home in the city of Sidon, south of Beirut.

A protest occurred at the end of this sad day. People had signs that read:  “He did not commit suicide, he was killed in cold blood“, blaming the “the political class” for their “responsibility“.

Bambi’s heart goes to Lebanon and to its people. They are fed up… Yet, against all odds, they keep their notorious sense of humour, with stickers, circulating on WhatsApp, showing Jesus in Lebanon jumping off the cross and it is written in Arabic: “Khalass (= Enough), I cannot take it anymore!”.

 Let’s conclude this post with a story from the city of Tripoli, a few kilometres north of Beirut. There, people got so poor that they are borrowing money to buy bread. Can you imagine? For them, “meat is a dream”, as per Reuters Canada:

https://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN2441ZN

Same for the Lebanese army, as mentioned in an earlier post by Bambi:

France 24: “Food insecurity hits middle class amid Lebanon’s economic crisis”

First, here is Mr. Richard Martineau’s sarcastic article published today in the Journal de Montréal:

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/07/02/son-altesse-justin

Second, here is a quick translation in English:

“So, did you celebrate Canada Day, my friends?

Did you eat well, drink well, and have a taut belly?

Perfect!

Because, like the cicada which has been singing all summer, the time has now come to pay.

THE GOOSE THAT LAYS GOLDEN EGGS

As you know, for the past few months, Justin Trudeau has been literally laying gold bars.

You tap him on the nose and pull his right ear, and cocorico!, it brings you a billion dollars from no one knows where.

This is how, in recent weeks, our PM has distributed more than $170 billion in aid programs of all kinds.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen: 17, followed by ten zeros.

One hundred and seventy billion dollars which is added to the bottomless hole that our PM dug with a seed, from November 2015 to March 2020, while pangolin stew was not yet known by gastronomes around the world and that the country’s economy was going great!

If this continues, Santa Claus will have to look for another job …

But what do you want: that’s the Trudeau recipe.

One day, you cry, the next day, you distribute gifts. One day, you cry, the next day, you distribute gifts.

This is an old Magic Tom trick: while you put your right hand on your heart, taxpayers (who have their eyes full of water) do not see that you are putting your left hand in their wallets.

And all of this is done while Parliament has not been sitting since mid-March.

Not bad for a minority government, right?

No vote, no budget, no economic update, no debate!

Democracy will wait, Super Justin has a virus to fight!

PAY VOLUNTEERS

‘Sir’ Justin’s latest gift: a $ 900 million program to pay young people who volunteer.

No, no, I didn’t make a typo: the Government of Canada is going to PAY young people for VOLUNTEERING.

What is next? Send ribs to vegans?

And who will manage this wonderful, fabulous program straight out of Father Justin’s big red pocket (which means: from our own little pocket)?

The government? Of course not, come on! What an idea!

It will be the WE charity.

Whose main ambassador is – drum roll – Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau!

And of which one of the most illustrious speakers is – get out the trumpets – Justin Trudeau!

But all this is only coincidence, chance, synchrony, concordance, luck, vein, occurrence.

Above all, see NO link!

And how much will this CARITATIVE organization be PAID for its fine services?

Nineteen million five hundred thousand dollars.

YOUR money.

All this, without a call for tenders, without a debate in the chamber, without a vote.

What do you want, there is a virus…

What can the democratic process do against bats?

FESTIVAL DAYS

So, I hope you enjoyed your fireworks yesterday, your flags (because, no, Canadians haven’t forgotten them) and your beautiful big beaver tails. [Mr. Martineau is referring here to the “mistake” that made the organizers of the concert forget to display a single Québec flag on the scene. Oups…]

Because you are going to pay.

In tabarnak [A French Québec swear], as Plume [singer] would say (but not Pierre Lapointe)” [The latter is another singer who was performing at the Québec National Day, called Saint Jean, last week. It seems that he may have censored this word from the famous song about patriotic love to Québec, as a nation.]

End of Mr. Martineau’s article.

———

This is an addendum by Bambi:

The world is upside down these days.

In Canada and the in USA (perhaps in the UK too or elsewhere in Europe?), we see citizens, including journalists, ashamed of their own country’s flag and of their collective heritage. They insist on condemning it, or on literally erasing it from their collective memory (e.g., destruction of statues and monuments, etc.), using the limited lens of the present moment.  

Well, in contrast to all this, especially to the flag issue, Bambi just heard a Lebanese internet radio reporting trendy social media messages, calling for a peaceful march to the American embassy in Beirut out of solidarity/gratitude with the USA (American Ambassador in Lebanon whom Hezbollah tried to silence in the form of media interview ban). A judge involved in a weird judgment that was not applied, it seems, even resigned over this scandal. This story is a past one luckily, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-crisis-usa/us-envoy-in-lebanon-says-page-turned-after-interview-ban-idUSKBN24022]. Lebanese citizens who have decided to march are being invited to do so peacefully, carrying the American flag as well as the Lebanese flag. Their gesture is meant to say: thank you to the USA for supporting Lebanon (e.g., traditionally training and donating to its army; lately grants to help students, etc.).   

In turn, the above story seems contradictory to what happened two Christmas periods ago. Bambi was visiting Beirut at the time. There has been a large demonstration near the American embassy, this time to denounce Mr. Trump’s unilateral declaration about Jerusalem (as the undivided capital of Israel). Buses of people brought demonstrators to the site. The demonstration was supposed to be peaceful. It was called by the Lebanese Communist Party, if Bambi recalls well. Well, some people started to destroy the municipality Christmas’ decoration and people’s properties (it was sad to watch on TV ☹). As soon as the Party in question saw this happening, it ordered its members and sympathizers to leave the scene of the demonstration immediately, denouncing this senseless violence in the media.

Bambi remembers having thought highly of that party then. She googled it out of curiosity. It seems to be fighting for real causes like supporting workers’ unions, etc. What a contrast with our radical left, which contradicts itself constantly and which is more about destroying society than building bridges to assemble people… Why? She has wondered ever since. Are Lebanese people deeper thinkers, those to the left and those to the right or those who do not care about neither? Or do they have REAL problems, hence the utility of an extreme socialist party. No need to invent fashionable causes to feel good about social justice in the world. In the Middle East, the reality is in your face! Anyhow, the Lebanese society has many dynamic political parties, including this one with 5000 members only (for a population of 3-4 million or so).  

To conclude this post, back to Mr. Trudeau now, Mr. Martineau called him a King today… Mmm, so did Mr. Blanchet on June 18 when he called for the parliament to return. He said in a funny tone: “I know Canada is a monarchy, but I didn’t know it had an actual king, someone who decides everything and makes a show of it on a daily basis and does not answer to a parliament. It does look like a monarchy…” , as per the National Post (https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/bloc-leader-blasts-king-trudeau-while-calling-for-parliament-to-return).

For fun, Bambi did a quick tour of the tweets of our political leaders, searching for those who would sound the most normal versus those who would be  “illuminated”, lecturing us on systemic racism or unconscious bias in our hearts as well as in our institutions.

Well, the good news for Mr. Trudeau is that, in a video, he seemed rather reasonable today. He only mentioned racism once, without attaching to it the word “systemic”. He even told us that we are good people and our country is a nice one.

The NDP video by its leader, Mr. Jagmeet Singh, seemed OK. Same for the Conservative party. Mr. Blanchet, from the BQ, made a rather sarcastic tweet to highlight the moving day in Québec (leases end on June 30^th). In all his other tweets, we could see his usual reasonable side.

The most extreme/weirdest tweet came from the Green Party of Canada (by Ms. Elizabeth May). See for yourself:

Ironically, this contrasted with the tweet of Independent MP, Ms. Jody Wilson-Raybould who sounds definitely more patriotic than her other peers:

Of course, Bambi was curious. She also checked the tweet of Mr. Maxime Bernier (who lost his seat as an MP in 2019). Here is his thoughtful message:

Then, Bambi thought to herself the following: Interesting all this. Let see now the tweets of Mr. Dominic Leblanc and Mr. Stéphane Dion about Canada Day. Both are with the Liberal Party of Canada (like Mr.Trudeau).

Mr. Dominic Leblanc did not surprise Bambi because she considers him to be smarter than our PM. His message was reasonable, making much sense about Elections Canada on Canada Day (100 years already of this institution), followed by a normal, nice video.

Mr. Stéphane Dion, a Classical Liberal, had a wonderful message in German ( cool ?), English, and French (he is now the Ambassador of Canada for the EU and in Germany; likely a move by the unwise Mr. Trudeau to push him away from us). Bambi knows Mr. Dion very well for having been her MP whilst living in Québec for 15 years. A politician respected by all his constituents, especially the Lebanese community of Saint-Laurent in Montreal.

So, based on the little tour above, there is some hope left for common sense and patriotism to prevail, at least for this year. This, despite SAD trigger warnings of some media about our beautiful Canadian flag (who receive bailout money from our federal government):

Luckily, for Canadians, their provincial and territorial politicians are more reasonable than the fashionable federal politicians.

See for yourself below.

Thank you Mr. Higgs, Mr. David Coon (in both languages. Wow ?)!), and Mr. François Legault (thanks for having a thought for francophones outside of Québec)!

What a sad contrast with some of our francophone or so-called francophile elite (at all governmental levels) who do not seem to care as much as you do (no need to name anyone here; it is easy to guess).  

Yesterday, the Lebanese pound (or Lira) hit 9000 to the US dollar.

 No more meat to Lebanese soldiers, as prices skyrocket:

https://news.yahoo.com/lebanon-army-scraps-meat-meals-prices-skyrocket-134238911.html

Bambi’s sister shared a message from her bank stating that customers can only have a limit of $50 for international point of sale (POS) whilst ATM withdrawals are not allowed.

As you can also see in this France 24 video, Lebanon’s situation is VERY worrisome.

The “O Canada” was first sung in the French language in 1880 (music composed by Mr. Calixa Lavallée).

One hundred years later (on July 1st, 1980), it was proclaimed to be Canada’s national anthem.

Bambi loves singing our national anthem in both languages. Well, today more than ever ?.

Here is the French version:

Here is the English version, as performed in 2008 by Zach, a talented (and cute ?!) young Canadian:

Here is our NB Premier (Mr. Blaine Higgs)’s Canada Day message:

https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/news/news_release.2020.06.0380.html

Like Premier Higgs, Bambi is grateful to be Canadian.

Here is how our town of Sackville is celebrating Canada Day 2020:

Sackville Celebrates Canada Day Virtually

To conclude this post, Happy Canada Day to everyone, especially to Bambi’s friend, Ms. Diana Akilian, who recently took the oath of Canadian citizenship online ?!

O Canada: Ms. Diana Akilian took the oath of citizenship virtually, a first in Canadian history. Bravo for officially becoming a Canadian citizen!