Bambi just discovered this moving song whilst working, thanks to her internet Mount Lebanon radio from Los Angeles.
Composed/sang by Mr. Ghassan Rahbani, the song commemorates the Armenian genocide (yes that same ugly historic tragedy that Turkey still refuses to acknowledge).
The song, which is entitled “We Live Here”, states in both Arabic and Armenian the following: “We will live here, we will die here; together we will build you up. We love the homeland with our heart and soul—we are the Armenians and we are Lebanon.”
Bravo to Mr. Rahbani for his linguistic skills (i.e., good pronunciation, it seems) in Armenian.
May peace and justice prevail in Armenia (+ Lebanon!) and throughout the world.
May the final word be to LOVE. Yes, love to everyone, including those with whom we do not agree with and even to those who behave like enemies (past, current… or future ones).
May past or current enemies become partners in humanity.
Here is the first song that Bambi dedicates to all her friends whose heart is aching for/with Armenia… all of you (= us), perhaps especially to you Diana.
To conclude this post on a lighter note, Bambi will now dedicate the second song called “Karoun Yerevan” (or “Spring in Yerevan“) to her multi-talented mother-in-law :).Bravo Bernadette for having learned this Armenian song in your younger years. Bambi is impressed, especially that it was taught to you by Mr. Charles Aznavour’s own sister!!
P.S: If you are curious about the link between Armenia and Québec-Canada? Well, Bernadette is a former professional ballet dancer! Her ballet professor was of Armenian origins…This is how Yerevan’s spring spread across the miles to enrich Montreal.
This post is not about Mr. Trump as there are too many
articles making fun of him or hating him, especially in our Canadian media. Mind
you, he makes the journalists’ job easier with his ill judgment and
narcissistic traits. This being said, even narcissists know how to work for the
best interests of their country. So, it is not up to Bambi to judge whether he
deserves a second mandate or not. This is the job of American voters ?.
Bambi just knows that she loves our neighbouring
country. She would like to keep seeing it existing, free, and as strong as
possible (especially after its tough times during the pandemic). She would like
to see it re-united and re-inventing itself (post-elections), whether Mr. Trump
or Mr. Biden wins.
Countries are larger than a President. Countries come
first and are above any man or woman serving as the President. Plus, if the USA
falls, we all fall with it so to speak (especially us in Canada, much smaller
and less influential at the world stage).
Should we worry about her authenticity as a
politician? Or should we worry about the wisdom of her political judgement?
We are not talking about any citizen here free to
endorse any movement, even the ones that could be communist, financed by we do
not know whom, and/or potentially violent (as we have seen in numerous cities).
We are talking about the potential future VP of the
USA (perhaps even the President if Mr. Biden wins and loses his life after, may
God forbid). Thus, is it wise to align herself with BLM like that, even if it
will allow her to gain a substantial number of votes now?
This is identity politics pushed to a dangerous level
of hypocrisy and risk to public safety.
Mr. Trump may be gross, weird, or just horrible, but
at least with him what you see is what you get. A lunatic man who can act
childish but whose Administration is working as hard as it can.
As far the Democrats are concerned, sadly they seem so
different from what they are supposed to be about (classical liberals). They
keep on playing a risky game called racial politics. How sad.
Thank goodness Bambi is not American. No voting
responsibility. This is a blessing when the choice is between two evils (for
different reasons). Sorry to be too direct (Trump style ?).
In its section entitled “Being black in Canada”,
the CBC is once again giving visibility to select students whose
statements are not representative of the majority of their peers (of all
colours, and especially of theirs).
The article in question is about the University of Windsor. It is entitled “Some students dissatisfied with UWindsor’s anti-Black racism initiatives”:
In this article, we read a statement by the former
President of this school’s student union, Mr. Jeremiah Bowers who is
co-developing, with Mr. Tolson-Murtty, “a task force that is representative
of the broad range of racialized communities on campus”.
Look at one of his statements, cited verbatim:
“We’re also bringing lived experiences. We’re bringing the trauma of
being a Black body in a world that doesn’t want us in an institution that wasn’t
built for us”.
Isn’t it sad when words as serious as “trauma” are
emptied of their meaning?
How can Mr. Bower, a former President of the University of Windsor’s student union, and current student in one of our great schools be “a Black body inworld that doesn’t want him”?
And what does he mean by “a Black body” by the
way?
Didn’t one of his national parties just elect Ms.
Annamie Paul who also has a black-skin like him (she also played the race/identity
card, mind you)? She told us in her victory speech that she is the “direct
descendant of slaves”, as a reminder.
Wasn’t our former Governor General of Haitian origins
(with a black-skin too)?
What about our numerous Québécois former and current Ministers, in the Party Québécois and the CAQ too? Of course also across all the other provincial parties, from the Liberals to Québec Solidaire?
What about Dr. Lewis who got many votes within her federal Conservative party (even if she did not win)? She did not play the race card, if Bambi is not mistaken.
Do we have much work to keep doing for true equality
of opportunities for all Canadians? SURE we do.
Is a mindset of acute victimitis a healthy and wise
way to a more just world? Bambi is not too sure.
Had Mr. Bowers been Indigenous perhaps we could have understood
his statement more in the Canadian context.
Had he been Jewish in a certain historic era at the University of Toronto (U of T), we would have understood more. It is not for nothing that York University was created by Jewish scholars who were not welcomed at U of T.
Had he or his parents been of Chinese origins, we would have understood too. Chinese Canadian citizens were not treated greatly either, as we know, even if we owe them much (e.g. building our railways and our economy). Did this group of Canadians fall for the acute victimitis trap (of our current times)? No, they did not. They simply worked hard and even harder than the rest of us to co-build our beautiful Canada.
When M. Bowers mentions the institutions that are not
built for him, what does he mean?
Perhaps he meant to denounce elitism or classism rather
than racism. Could it be? If so, Bambi agrees with him.
A good example would be our political elites (Bambi is
not sure that elitism is not always that much better than so-called populism, but
that’s a different story).
Anyhow, Bambi wishes him and his institution the best.
May we all remain lucid and wise, even when we think that we are making our
world a better place.
“Vielen Dank Herr Andreas Kindl für Ihre inspirierende Botschaft der Hoffnung für das libanesische Volk”. Sie wollen die Wahrheit über die Explosionskatastrophe vom 4. August, 2020, wissen.”
Yes, thank you Mr. Andreas Kindl for your inspiring message of hope to the Lebanese people. They want to know the truth about the tragic explosion of August 4, 2020.
If she may, Bambi would also take the opportunity of this post to send you her condolences for the loss of your colleague in the Beirut blast :(.
Your message about the unification of Berlin is moving, to say the least. The historic change that the people of Germany made for their country has been inspiring to the whole planet (particularly to Bambi)! To cite you, they did it with their strong will yet peacefully. You also explained well how the change is a continuous process (work still in progress).
Listening to your message below gave hope to Bambi (in addition to goose bumps), even if the resistance to change of the Lebanese political system has been sadly too strong since October 17, 2019. As you said, the tough situation culminated with the explosion of August 4th (of course, there is also the pandemic affecting your country, Bambi’s birth country, Canada, and the whole planet).
To conclude this post on a note of hope and love, Bambi would like to thank her sister Rania for sharing this video tonight. Rania, you went through a lot of adversity with your injured spouse and daughter. Bambi is blessed because you are all alive (so are our parents, despite the destruction). She is proud of you and she misses you. No tears in your eyes now whilst reading, she hopes… If so, please quickly add to them your beautiful smile :)!
اليوم قبل 30 عامًا ، توحدت ألمانيا، بعد سقوط جدار برلين، مرة أخرى. لقد أفسح النظام القديم المجال لبلد جديد – تغيير هائل لم يتوقعه أحد. #TDE2020 #germany30 سفير ألمانيا في لبنان أندرياس كيندل يتحدث عن التغيير رغم كل الصعاب. ماذا تعني لك الوحدة الألمانية؟ أضف رسالة الفيديو الخاصة بك!
Families of the ten firefighters killed in the Beirut
blast of August 4, 2020 organized a press conference to mark two months since
this tragedy.
Lawyer (or “Maître”) Imad Martinos attended this press conference, representing the head of the Beirut Bar Association (Mr. Melhem Khalaf).
Here are some of the pending questions and demands of the families, as reported by Naharnet.
Bambi allowed herself to highlight some of the key demands.
Is anyone listening in the *mafia-militia club* governing Lebanon?
– To have an emergency parliament session to lift immunity off
all ministers and politicians involved in this file.
– To declare “August 4 a national mourning day”.
– To question “all the” involved “ministers since 2014 to date and anyone linked to the “Hangar # 12” file as of the date of unloading the cargo in it”.
– To publish “all the reports submitted by international crews and foreign security agencies regarding the Beirut port blast”.
– To declassify “the investigation and briefing the families of the victims on all the developments that have not been disclosed to the public opinion“.
– To expand “the investigation to become an international investigation”.
– To clarify “the reasons behind the disappearance of all previous reports related to the dangerous substances that were stored inside Hangar # 12” and “behind silencing anyone who tried to tackle the file (resignations, sacking, death…)”.
– To unveil “the reason behind the total absence of the Beirut Port Fire Brigade, especially when the first fire erupted, around 40 minutes prior to the blast”.
– To unveil “the identity of the judge who ordered the unloading of the cargo from the ship into “Hangar # 12” and to clarify why he is yet to be identified and summoned to interrogation”.
– To clarify reports that “said members of a political party had entered the port’s premises in the first two days after the explosion and the reason behind their entry”.
Families of the ten firefighters killed in the tragedy of October 4, 2020 (this picture is taken from Naharnet)
Families of the victims of the Beirut blast on October 4, 2020 (this picture is taken from l’Orient le Jour)
Maybe they have been thinking about the threat from Iran? This is why they have been arming Azerbajian over the years?
Maybe because they get their oil from Azerbajian. So they do business of weapons with them in exchange? Does that make any sense?
The sad and frustrating irony is that Israel seems to be doing to Armenia what it complains about from other countries in the region. Why the hypocritical double-standard, Israel?
Both France and Canada must first start by condemning what is being done to Armenia by its neighbour with support from Turkey and its “neo-Sultan” (sending fighters). It would be a good start.
Then, they could pressure Israel to come to its senses, especially that is has had a relatively good relationship with Armenia. It also has even a better one with Russia.
Enough of armed conflicts. Enough of death. Enough of suffering.
Almost 200 innocent individuals died in
the Beirut surrealistic blast. Among them, little Isaac Oehlers, the youngest victim
of the surrealistic blast that also injured 6500+ people.
Why and for what did the 2-year-old Isaac lose his life?
Same for Lexou or Alexandra (4 year-old)?
Why did other kids lose their eyes?
Why did others lose their parents in front of their innocent eyes?
Why did some others see their parents losing their own eyes?
Where is the international investigation?
Will all these victims ever have answers to their questions?
Today marks two months after the surrealistic explosion (yes, it occurred on August 4, 2020).
Bambi decided to write this post,
after touring the international and local media about Beirut before going to
sleep.
This is how she came across a moving ABC interview with Isaac’s parents (Ms. Sarah Copeland and Mr. Craig Oehler). “After much consideration”, they decided to share their son’s cruel story.
In this post, Bambi would like to take
the time to pause and honour the memory of little Isaac. Her heart goes to his
parents. She sends them her virtual condolences, In her heart, she shares their
pain. She is particularly sad to know that their son died where she was born.
Beirut citizens will always remember Isaac. They have honoured him lately at a concert, with the other victims. They also remembered him on the port site, as you can see below. Isaac was also mentioned at the Paris concert by a Lebanese-Australian TV personality.
Below, you can watch the ABC interview,
if you wish.
Following it, you can see tweets from
Isaac’s mom, along with his beautiful smile.
Much love to Isaac’s mom and dad… and thanks to all those who tried to save his life.
First and foremost, Congratulations/Félicitations (+ “Mazal Tov”) to Ms. Annamie Paul for becoming the new Leader of the Green Party of Canada!
Not easy to fill the shoes a Ms. Elizabeth May. With all due respect to all the politicians of the world, the latter may be CUTEST/NICEST in terms of personality, according to Bambi’s non-expert citizen opinion… Not because she is a woman or of certain ethnolinguistic background or because of the large cross on her chest or her lifetime devotion to ecology (which is honourable) but simply because of one thing: Her personality. Period.
Ms. Paul may be as, or even more, competent than Ms. May. She may be as nice as well… or even nicer. Who knows? Of course, ideas/competence matter more than cuteness in politics! Ideas can contribute to improve our country or to destroy it.
Bambi’s comment is not about the potential of Ms. Paul as a leader of her party. It is about her as a symptom of our society than is rapidly moving in a dangerous direction. Bambi is saying this because of her civil war experiences and seeing her birth country currently suffering much from identity politics (it is sadly trapped in it!).
The difference with Canada is that the people of Lebanon want to free themselves from the chains of identity (or tribal) politics whereas Canadians seem to want to dive into this rhetoric, at least their political elites. Some use their own identity (or parts of their multiple identities) to advance careers, to score political points, or for virtue signalling.
By no means, Bambi is saying that these are the personal intentions of Ms. Paul. She may be the most genuine politician on earth. However, her words at her victory speech yesterday night spoke volumes about the symptomatology of the political syndrome of identity or racial politics (as per the video further below).
The first words that came out her mouth were that Canada made history since she is the direct descendant of slaves. Does that make her “holier” than someone also black but not descendant of ancestors who have been slaves? Does that make her more politically sound than the ideas of someone with another background or look?
La Presse highlighted yesterday that Ms. Paul is the first Jewish and black Canadian politician in Ottawa. GREAT and bravo but… what about her ideas as a politicians (who happens to be Jewish and black)? What about her vision for our country? This is what matters the MOST.
Ms. Paul called her riding by the name of an Indigenous tribe. Same as the rest of our politicians, most academics, and regular citizens. We hear them repeating sentences and reading names they do not know how to pronounce. Some seem highly genuine. Others do it because it needs to be done. Other go out of their way to write down land acknowledgement as agenda items of their meetings. They all want justice for Indigenous people. We all do! Bravo for that! But… is this going to bring any justice or are these yet other empty words that sound like a mantra more than anything else? Plus, how do indigenous people perceive this ritual? Do they tenderly smile or laugh? Do they care? I do not know how Mr. Carol Dubé feel except the pain of having lost his beloved Joyce? He wants justice for her… perhaps not just folklore to all of us.
Why not do something more meaningful like changing the laws or concretely helping solve problems in Indigenous people’s lives? What about political transparency? Are some of their reserves or nations suffering from problems of corruption like mini-Lebanon here and there within Canada? If so, what is the solution?
Since we are at it, can’t we demand justice and get justice without denying ourselves and our current geography and history?
Plus, why do people feel the need to always repeat the latest fashionable thing or to show how illuminated, more than others who have the same good intentions but do not repeat the blahblahblah?
Make no mistake, Bambi is saying all this, and she is aware that other Green Party candidates may have also played on other parts of their own identities to seduce voters and get to the top.
Remember, Bambi said Ms. Paul is likely a Canadian symptom. She is surely not the problem.
This being said, she may be well equipped to truly be part of the solution. For that, Bambi thanks her for her devotion to politics and for her hard work. Same for her team and party. Again, Bambi congratulates her and wishes her all the best!
As a potential voter, Bambi is interested in ideas ONLY. Ms. Paul may be black or Jewish. Bambi does not care, even if she may rely to both since she is supposedly BIPOC too (the funny acronym again :)) AND Semite herself.
Indeed, before the next elections, Bambi will look at the whole picture of the economy/environment, and internal/external Canadian affairs. Even socialism or capitalism does not matter for Bambi as much as political wisdom potentially underlying both (same for silliness that can also underlie both). Same for potential for corruption (instrumental or intellectual/moral that does definitely underlie both).
After listening to Ms. Paul, Bambi started part of her citizen homework yesterday night by reading the updated platform of the Green party. There are some GREAT ideas (thank you) whilst other ideas seemed unrealistic, despite the good intentions. Of course, Bambi will keep touring all the platforms of all parties to keep herself educated before any elections, whether much later or sooner.
Until then, best wishes to Canada, regardless of the political parties holding the power or being in power!
Bambi would like to thank her Dear friend Aline for sharing this beautiful video of Mr. Anthony Ojeill singing for the beautiful yet wounded Lebanon.
She will allow herself to dedicate this song to her childhood friend Joëlle. Today is her birthday. Happy birthday Dearest Jojo :)!! Have a good day!
If she may, Bambi would like to also dedicate this song to your mom Joëlle , our French teacher (“Tante Madame Nicole“, as silly Bambi used to call her in the classroom :)). She has taught us to love the beautiful language of Molière… Well, she will likely also be moved by this talent singing for our beloved Lebanon.
Joëlle’s birthday has also historically fell on the first day of school in Beirut (at the end of the longer summer). This is the day she and Bambi has met for the first time at age 3. They have been friends ever since.
Bambi has a thought today, on this October 4, to all the Beirut kids who are not able to start their academic year because of the destruction of their schools and city by the surrealistic blast of August 4th, 2020.
For Bambi, this brings back memories of two school years fully missed during civil war. Yet, we managed to catch up and learn, swallowing 4-5 chapters of mathematics or physics at once. Do you remember Joëlle?! We had a beautiful childhood despite all this. Thank you for being a big part of it! Happy Birthday again!!
It is Bambi’s hope that Lebanon’s kids and families stop going through adversity and suffering. It is about time to have their beautiful and peaceful country back…
Red blood cells (taken from the Mayo Clinic website)
Sickle cell disease or anemia is a group of disorders,
which is an inherited red blood cell disorder in which there are insufficient
healthy (normally shaped) red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout our body (https://mayocl.in/2Gdue1R).
The abnormally shaped red blood cells can shorten life expectancy due to possible strokes, organ damage, and lung disease.
Patients can suffer from symptoms such as anemia, pain
episodes (joints, etc.), common infections, swelling of feet/hands, delayed
growth/puberty, vision issues, etc.
Sickle cell disease, which is due to a genetic
mutation, is most common people whose ancestors come from much of the
Sub-Saharan Africa as well as Mediterranean countries (e.g., Greece, Turkey,
Italy, etc.), Arabian Peninsula, India, South and Central Americas, and parts
of the Caribbean.
This being said, this post is about a CBC
article/radio segment entitled “ER a ‘last resort’ for
sickle cell patients who face racism when seeking care, says advocate” (https://bit.ly/3jtxSmu). The underlying
message here is that our healthcare system is systemically racist (i.e., stigmatizing)
against sickle cell patients because they are black. It features one patient
and advocate (see below). It is based on her own story (of visits to the ER
during the pandemic) but it generalizes it to the whole 5000 Canadians living
with sickle cell disease.
Ms. Weikle’s CBC article cites a systematic
review on the health-related stigma of patients with sickle cell disease to
support her statement that “stigma and racism are well known”: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6186193/
Systematic reviews are considered the “gold standard” of evidence in the medical literature. However, this systematic review is published in a low-impact journal and has many limitations. For instance, the review includes 27 studies located in different parts of the world, including Nigeria, Jamaica, and Brazil, in addition to the United States (none in Canada). How can we expect the experiences of patients living in Africa or South America to be comparable to those of patients living in other countries (i.e., USA) and to be generalizable to Toronto, Canada? The included studies are about patients who are both youth and adults. Again, their experiences and the impact of any stigma is not comparable between adults and adolescents/youth.
Of note, Toronto is the largest most cosmopolitan (i.e., diverse) Canadian city. Thus, healthcare providers likely more frequently encounter patients with sickle cell diseases or similar conditions (e.g., thalassemia). Healthcare providers are also likely more diverse than in smaller Canadian villages. Some may be from Africa, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Italy, Greece, Saudi Arabia, etc. Thus, more familiar with similar conditions, as described below.
Related to the above point, if she may, Bambi will share her own story here (she does not mind). She has been a patient in four different provinces (Québec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, NB). In each of these jurisdictions, she experienced excellent and sensitive care concerning what falsely appears to be a trait for a red blood condition called thalassemia (mentioned above).
Thalassemia, which is also inherited (passed from
parents to children through genes) is due to the body’s inability to make
enough of protein called hemoglobin, which is a key part of red blood cells. Traits
for thalassemia are more common in Canadians from Mediterranean countries, like
Lebanon, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Palestine, Israel, Syria, etc. Some Canadians
from Africa as well some parts of Asia and the Middle East (not a Mediterranean
country) may also have traits.
Anyhow, no worries, Bambi does not have thalassemia. Mind you, she would have known that since childhood, as blood transfusions would have been needed. She does not even have any thalassemia traits, the false appearance, so to speak.
Indeed, in almost every province she did blood work
for different reasons, even when results are normal, her blood seems to appear slightly
different (less “red” and with differently shaped red blood cells). Sometimes,
it was assumed that she had anemia, but after iron supplementation, no change
in her hemoglobin levels would occur. Almost every time, she would receive a
call, after lab work, telling her that, given her genetic ancestry, she may
wish to be tested for thalassemia traits (the milder form). Well, in Ontario,
her family physician went over and beyond herself to solve this mystery. She
even asked her if she can ask her mother to send her an example of her own blood
work results from abroad. She even ordered a full molecular genetic testing. It
turned out that Bambi truly has nothing, despite her weird red blood cells.
Bambi likes to joke, repeating that she has this form of red blood cells in
solidarity with her former fellow Mediterranean citizens ? (In Greek, “thalassa” and “haema”
mean sea and blood respectively; hence the name of the health condition of
thalassemia common in Mediterranean countries).
OK, you may perhaps think: Oh well, Bambi’s experience
was more positive because she is not black. She will sarcastically reply: Maybe,
but remember, she is supposed to be a BIPOC deer ?.
The latter is that funny acronym that makes Bambi smile each time because she
refuses to be reduced to a label (even it can make her a “holier” deer, so to
speak). As a reminder, this term means “Black, Indigenous, and People of
Colour”. Mind you, if you think that her story is unique, she will share that
her Torontonian friends with traits for thalassemia also had the same positive
experiences as her.
Does that remove anything from the experience of the
patient and advocate featured in the study, Ms. Serena Thompson. Of course not!
Bambi wishes her ALL the best (hopefully no more pain!!) whilst thanking her for
bringing awareness about sickle cell disease.
To conclude this post, please let us keep our critical
sense alive… She does not know about you, but Bambi finds it worrisome and is
highly disturbed by the infiltration of racial ideologies in our medicine.
