Her words sound beautiful, even when they seem less convincing or… empty.
Indeed, the reality on the ground seems to be completely the opposite, especially as per the images from Kabul or stories from the Middle-East.
Perhaps China and/or other players are becoming more dominant globally?
Surely and sadly, Islamism (political Islam) is on the rise too.
It would not be surprising to even see ISIS (Al Qaida)-like forces becoming stronger again, not just the Taliban in Afghanistan. Such forces (historically backed by Saudi Arabia) may get into (a classical) competition with the other Islamist forces in the region (backed by Iran). Who knows? Some countries may perhaps be backing these two sides of the same coin of fundamentalism at the same time.
Although Bambi may be wrong, Islamist forces may find their legitimacy in their shared hate for Israel (in their competition with the Jewish religious counterpart over Jerusalem, which everyone calls “holy” ). How can you solve a deep conflict if it has an ideological component to it? How did the Europeans end their religious wars? What can we learn from them? Will the endless cycle of violence (in large part in the name of religion) ever stop in the Middle East? When will we see “resistances” (to occupations, actual or former ones) not calling themselves a religious-based name (e.g., Hezbollah means the party of God)?
Anyhow, in and beyond the Middle East, Bambi is afraid that the dictators of our world will become more authoritarian and the religious extremists even more radical. All this while the USA (+ Canada and, by extension, the Western world) is as weak as ever because it is being divided into tribes, obsessed with race/racism (i.e., wokism) or by other identity-based modern forms of sectarianism. In contrast, as the most cynical among us would say that, the Taliban (as awful as they are for women!) are historically and notoriously efficient at defending their land/ interests… regardless of the occupier.
Bambi cannot go to bed without highlighting the birthday of her childhood friend Nayla, even if she did it in a group at the beginning of this month :).
First and foremost, once again thank God because Ms. Nayla Awad and her family survived the surrealistic Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020!
Second, Ms. Awad kindly accepted to be interviewed by Bambi twice before escaping Lebanon. She generously and candidly described the trauma of the explosion and life with hyperinflation (+ multiple crises), as you can see further below. Thanks to her for enriching this blog with her lucid insights.
At the moment of the explosion, Ms. Awad and her family had the dilemma of escaping immediately (like MANY people did!) OR to take the risk of staying until the end of their children’s school year. They took the decision to stay. The extra year may have helped, but it surely was VERY tough on many levels, to say the least. Thankfully, the family made it safely to Québec, Canada a couple of weeks ago.
Bambi is proud of you Nayla (+ Rony!) for having managed to survive the unbearable financial/economic crisis and for bringing your beautiful two children to safety. It is surely NOT easy to leave one’s life, careers, and loved ones behind. Not easy to migrate in life neither for the first nor for the second time, especially at an older age and during a pandemic.
Bambi will not take much of your time Nayla today. She just wants to say that she loves you and that she wants to offer you two songs: One meant to say Happy Birthday :)!! The second is a classical one by Mr. Enrico Macias about the generosity of “the Northerners“… Enjoy and welcome!
Everyone deserves to rest in life, especially Mr. Trudeau.
We also can benefit from a break too– perhaps still with a Liberal government ?.
Good luck to Ms. Nabila Ben Yousssef running with the Bloc Québécois (BQ)!
By the way, good luck to Ms. Ensaf Haidar also running with the BQ! Fingers crossed for Mr. Raif Badawi, her spouse, that Bambi has supported several times on this post.
Ms. Ensaf Haidar.
Indeed, In one of these older posts shown further below, Bambi wrote:
“A big thanks to the Bloc
Québécois, and especially to Mr. Yves-François Blanchet (for
this motion) and all our good Canadian lawmakers, including Mr. Trudeau himself
(for his vote).
However, for unknown reasons, we are hearing now that our PM is refusing
to execute this injunction. This is apparently strange because Mr. Trudeau is a
good-hearted man/father who likely enjoys his image of defender of oppressed
people and minorities… and here he has a case of true oppression.”
To conclude this post, and of note, both of these strong women (one originally from Tunisia and the other from Saudi Arabia) support Québec’s values, including secularism. Not surprising given that they come from a part of the world where they know what (religious) fundamentalism can do to societies… and to their loved ones!
Fuel is badly needed to run hospitals, bakeries, factories, airports, schools, people’s private houses, etc. Gas is very badly needed in Lebanon to be able to cook (ovens there are not electrical like in Canada).
The multiple crises of Lebanon have been piling up since October 17, 2019.
Today, they are unbearable to the point that Canadian and international media are describing this country in their titles as “hell on earth“, “the sinking drunken boat“, etc.
Here is Mr. Herbert’s explanation of the current development in English:
Some people have circulated petitions demanding to put Lebanon under the UN supervision more than once, including now and following the surrealistic Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020.
Of note, some have even started petitions asking France to re-colonize Lebanon because the latter did not succeed in governing itself. Bambi recently heard others saying: “France or the UK. Anyone of you, please HELP“. Can you imagine how desperate people are?
May Lebanon’s deep financial and economic issues finally begin to be addressed. It is about time.
May common sense, accountability, sustainability, safety and peace (+ love!) prevail.
The internet is filled with tragic news from abroad, domestic politicians’ platitudes, and the rise of radicalism worldwide. Sometimes, it is refreshing, if not salutary, to take a break from the sad news to search for fun songs from our (happy) childhood.
First, are you familiar with this battery? Bambi’s dad may be laughing now as he sells this product in his store in Beirut (if he hasn’t run out of it yet and if he has electricity to be able to read this post 🙁 ):
Well, every Lebanese person of Bambi’s generation is surely familiar with the TV ad asking: “What is your battery?” The good answer is of course “Rayovac“!
After watching this ad, Bambi unsuccessfully tried to find another one on AF7, a cleaning product. She could not. She can still sing this add even after over 31 years, but, no worries please, she will spare your ears :).
Let’s now move to more fun songs. If you are from Canada, you may be familiar with “Belle et Sébastien“. Belle is a CUTE large dog that you can find on Radio-Canada‘s website:
Here is the Lebanese version of Belle et Sébastien‘s song for fun:
If you are like Bambi, you may have also enjoyed singing as a child Goldorak‘s song! It was famous in Québec in the lates 1970s. Here is the French-Canadian version followed by the Lebanese-Arabic version of Grendizer (also known as Grandizer): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grendizer:
Oh Goldorak OR Grendizer, if only you can go to Lebanon now to help it!
To conclude, here is a final character, Captain Tusabasa (called Majid in Arabic in the first video, followed by the original Japanese version (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Tsubasa). Bambi had wished this Captain existed for real to save 17-year old Zaki Anwari :(. The latter lost his life while trying to escape the Taliban at Kabul airport. May his memory be eternal… Here is a song to honour him!
Thanks to the Voice of America , Bambi discovered the inspiring story of these American sisters who are originally from Lebanon. She thought of sharing it with you as an example of creativity, entrepreneurship, hard work, and social generosity (https://www.voanews.com/episode/how-sisters-lebanon-became-us-millionaires-4779181): “Sisters Rosy and Donna Khalife arrived in the U.S. with their family in the mid-1980s after fleeing conflict in Lebanon. After graduating from college, they started a box subscription service to encourage kids to put down gadgets and engage in the real world. Before long, the small company was worth millions. Maxim Moskalkov has the story” (Camera: Mike Maisuradze).
Bravo and Best Wishes to them for their future business projects!
Why is this Head of the Hezbollah insulting the intelligence of the Lebanese people once again? Indeed, a couple of days ago, and according to local media, he stated that he had nothing to do with the fuel crisis. He added that it was up to the Lebanese state to protect its border (from illegally smuggling fuel to the neighbouring Syria).
His statement would have made perfect sense had his militia not been the force preventing the Lebanese army and/or UN from protecting all the borders of his tiny beautiful yet colonized country.
His statement would have also made sense had he not been the force that sends missiles across borders to a military powerful neighbouring country (as it pleases or upon demands from Iran?). He does so knowing that this neighbour (and former occupier) would not hesitate one second to respond in an “unmeasured” way to protect its own people.
The situation in Lebanon is VERY worrisome, day after day.
Bambi is speechless. The only word that comes to her mind is “shame”.
Yes, shame on the French CBC (or Radio-Canada) for mistreating Ms. Nadeau. You will understand why Bambi is saying so after reading this journalist’s straightforward, dignified, and moving letter published this evening in the Soleil :
No to censorship. No to this cancel craziness of our collectively insane times. Enough!
No one deserves such absurd treatment, especially not Ms. Pascale Nadeau. She is a TV monument. She is professional. She is principled. She is talented yet humble. She is rigorous yet compassionate.
This post will begin by a quick translation of her open letter that she wrote in French (shown below following the English version).
Bambi will allow herself to add a couple of brief comments (she can’t help it!) within the English translated text. However, before doing so, Bambi would like to thank Ms. Nadeau’s union, Mr. Marc-André Lemieux from the Journal de Montreal as well as Mr. Richard Martinau and Benoit Dutrizac from QUB Radio for supporting their colleague. It is also moving to see the outpouring support of the public and to read Ms. Nadeau’s tweet:
Ms. Pascale Nadeau is telling her followers that she reads each message. Yes, she reads their messages one by one. For the first time of her life, she is speechless. All this affection, all this esteem of her work, of her journey… It is very, very emotional! Thank you.
Pascale Nadeau
Former new anchor person at Radio-Canada
“Why I leave Radio-Canada [French CBC]
POINT OF VIEW /I’ve been working in television in Québec for 38 years. I have had the good fortune to work in almost all of the major networks. But it was at Radio-Canada that I chose to build my career. I entered it 33 years ago and against all odds, I have always been faithful to the institution.
For 38 years, I have been practising my profession with passion, rigour and pride. At the time, I managed to make my way through a man’s world. I had to fight so often! And I still do.Failing to gain recognition from my leadership, I humbly believe I can say that I have earned yours and your affection on top of that, which is an invaluable gift.
Today I could decide to shut up and ride the wave of love that has swept over me since Radio-Canada [French CBC] announced my departure and thus avoid a certainly scathing response from the CBC. But it’s in my nature to tell the truth. So here it is.
I didn’t think I would end my career so quickly, I still had many good years to offer and I certainly didn’t believe I would end it this way, through the back door.
A year ago, my employer, without any warning [classical in censorship sagas, it seems…] and without even asking to speak to me, allowed an anonymous tip-off against me. An anonymous denunciation made on behalf of a third person and which turned out to be a collection of false allegations or cited completely out of context.
We are not talking about harassment or denigration here, far from it! But from remarks made in the course of my work and my duties.
I bowed – what else could I do? – to this investigation. This was not the first time the firm hired for Radio-Canada was investigating and was responding directly to Human Resources.
Unfortunately, I cannot tell you here, in detail, how humiliating, and painful the process was for me, because, supported by my union in a strong grievance, everything will soon be brought to arbitration and will then become public. Until then, we are all bound by confidentiality.
What I can tell you, on the other hand, is that the outcome of this long investigation in which I was not allowed to read its full report (just two small extracts of it) concluded to nothing but unsubstantiated or “partially founded” allegations.
Which ones? I still do not know.
No matter. With a hand-signed letter, a harsh and hurtful letter, the director of information Luce Julien suspended me for a month, without pay [Bambi is shocked to know that your former boss deprived millions of Canadians from watching you provide them with the news for a whole month!], repeating several times “not to have a choice”. Why?
The future will tell.
I am not perfect. I have character and it can happen that I have moments of impatience. I am a whole, frank, passionate, sincere and honest person. With me, we always have the right time. And then, I hate injustice and lies. Now, this is precisely what I was faced with.
Having the privilege of being an anchor person requires a lot of rigour. I am therefore very demanding of myself, and I certainly also demand it from the people on my team. They know it and know me.
Those who come in replacement maybe less. But I am not a case in point. I do not know of a news anchor person who acts otherwise in managing a team. In this business, there is no room for error, you have to be vigilant. And especially on weekends, with less experienced resources. Working with the next generation is stimulating but it also has its challenges.
A newsroom is like a volcano. There are quiet times and times that are more stressful and intense. It’s part of the job. This is what makes it so exciting. But the important thing is that, no matter what day, difficult or not, I have always made a point of thanking my work team.
A newsroom is also a microcosm of our society, a crowded place. How could I exercise my 38-year career in so many newsrooms, without any blemish on my record, without any warning from my bosses and come to this humiliating and unfair sanction?
For now, management is hiding behind its obligation to act according to the labour law.
It’s easy … After 33 years, most of which has been being one of the important faces of the news at Radio-Canada [Again, French CBC], I haven’t had any phone calls from my management to wonder if there was any substance to the truth in these false allegations.
For some time now, Radio-Canada has embarked on a total “disciplinary drift”. It’s not me saying it, but my union, in its July 2 newsletter. There are many cases of employees who, like me, “have a long and impeccable track record, people who are highly appreciated internally and who find themselves sanctioned, or even fired, in cases where the alleged facts do not deserve. not at all that sledgehammer between the two eyes. Cases often associated with ageism ”.
Strangely, the union also notes that the bosses, accused of harassment by employees, do miraculously well when faced with these same investigations. “Mock investigations”, writes the union [it is called double standards].
And that’s what made me sick.
Not the death of my parents, behind which the CBC hid to explain my absence [her parents are the late/great Ms. France Nadeau and Mr. Pierre Nadeau!].
This explanation made me deeply uncomfortable and I would like to apologize on their behalf. Yes, I lost my parents, one after another, after taking care of them as the sole caregiver for several years. It was difficult. But how many thousands of families have lost a loved one in the past year and a half, in conditions so much harsher and more heartbreaking than mine? I had the chance, me, to accompany them until the end.
With this investigation, Radio-Canada attacked my integrity. By sanctioning me in this way, on the basis of an anonymous denunciation made on behalf of a third person and on the basis of an investigation which did not reach any frank conclusion, it trampled on its own principles of ethics and journalistic rigour that it continues to proudly wave as a standard.
To return to work, I only asked for a simple excuse and the removal of this stain from my file. Nothing more. But Radio-Canada does not apologize.
I am a woman of principle, proud and honest [this is why you win awards and everyone loves you!]. We tackled that and at the same time, we soiled my name, which I proudly wear, and that of my parents, who helped, among other things, to give Radio-Canada its reputation [Indeed, shame on the CBC!]”.
«Pourquoi je quitte Radio-Canada
Pascale Nadeau
Ex cheffe d’antenne à Radio-Canada
POINT DE VUE / Cela fait 38 ans que je fais de la télévision au Québec. J’ai eu la chance de travailler dans presque tous les grands réseaux. Mais c’est à Radio-Canada que j’ai choisi de faire ma carrière. J’y suis entrée il y a 33 ans et contre vents et marées, j’ai toujours été fidèle à l’institution.
Depuis 38 ans, j’exerce mon métier avec
passion, rigueur et fierté. À l’époque, j’ai réussi à me frayer un chemin dans
un monde d’hommes. J’ai eu à me battre si souvent! Et je le fais encore.
À défaut d’obtenir la reconnaissance de ma
direction, je crois humblement pouvoir dire que j’ai gagné la vôtre et votre
affection de surcroît, ce qui est un cadeau inestimable.
Je pourrais aujourd’hui décider de me taire
et surfer sur cette vague d’amour qui déferle sur moi depuis l’annonce faite
par Radio-Canada de mon départ et m’éviter ainsi une réplique certainement
cinglante de la SRC. Mais il est dans ma nature de dire la vérité. Alors la
voici.
Je ne pensais pas mettre fin à ma carrière
si vite, j’avais encore de belles années à offrir et je ne croyais surtout pas
la terminer de cette façon, par la porte d’en arrière.
Il y a un an, mon employeur, sans aucun avertissement
et sans même demander à me parler, a accueilli une dénonciation anonyme à mon
endroit. Une dénonciation anonyme faite au nom d’une tierce personne et qui
s’est avérée être un ramassis d’allégations mensongères ou citées totalement
hors contexte.
Nous ne parlons pas ici de harcèlement ou de
dénigrement, loin de là! Mais de remarques faites dans le cadre de mon travail
et de mes fonctions.
Je me suis pliée – que pouvais-je faire
d’autre? – à cette investigation. La firme engagée n’en était pas à sa première
enquête pour Radio-Canada et elle répondait directement aux Ressources
humaines.
Je ne peux malheureusement pas vous dire ici,
dans le détail, à quel point la démarche me fut humiliante, douloureuse et
pénible, car, appuyée de mon syndicat dans un grief costaud, le tout sera
bientôt porté en arbitrage et deviendra alors public. D’ici là, nous sommes
tous tenus à la confidentialité.
Ce que je peux vous dire, par contre, est que
le résultat de cette longue enquête, dont on ne m’a jamais laissé lire le
rapport, si ce n’est que deux petits extraits, n’a conclu à rien si ce n’est
qu’à des allégations non fondées ou « partiellement fondées ».
Lesquelles? Je ne sais toujours pas.
Peu importe. Forte d’une lettre signée de sa
main, une lettre dure et blessante, la directrice de l’information Luce Julien
m’a suspendue un mois, sans salaire, répétant à plusieurs reprises « ne pas
avoir le choix ». Pourquoi?
L’avenir le dira.
Je ne suis pas parfaite. J’ai du caractère
et il peut m’arriver d’avoir des moments d’impatience. Je suis une personne
entière, franche, passionnée, sincère et intègre. Avec moi, on a toujours
l’heure juste. Et puis, j’ai horreur de l’injustice et du mensonge. Or, voilà
justement à quoi j’étais confrontée.
Avoir le privilège d’être chef d’antenne
demande beaucoup de rigueur. Je suis donc très exigeante envers moi, je le suis
aussi certainement envers les gens de mon équipe. Ils le savent et me
connaissent.
Ceux qui viennent en remplacement peut-être
moins. Mais je ne suis pas un cas d’espèce. Je ne connais pas un ou une cheffe
d’antenne qui agisse autrement. Dans ce métier, il n’y a pas de place à
l’erreur, il faut être vigilant. Et particulièrement le week-end, avec des
ressources moins expérimentées. Travailler avec la relève est stimulant mais
elle comporte aussi ses défis.
Une salle des nouvelles, c’est comme un
volcan. Il y a des périodes calmes et des périodes plus stressantes et
intenses. Cela fait partie du métier. C’est ce qui le rend si passionnant. Mais
l’important est que, peu importe la journée, difficile ou pas, je me suis
toujours fait un devoir de remercier mon équipe de travail.
Une salle de nouvelles, c’est aussi un
microcosme de notre société, un endroit de haute promiscuité. Comment ai-je pu
exercer mes 38 ans de carrière dans autant de salles de nouvelles, sans aucune
tache à mon dossier, sans aucun avertissement de mes patrons et en arriver à
cette sanction humiliante et injuste?
Pour l’instant, la direction se cache
derrière son obligation d’agir en fonction de la loi du travail.
C’est facile… Après 33 ans, dont la
majeure partie aura été d’être l’un des visages importants de l’information à
Radio-Canada, je n’ai eu droit à aucun coup de téléphone de ma direction pour
me demander s’il y avait un fond de vérité dans ces allégations mensongères.
Depuis un certain temps, Radio-Canada s’est
lancée dans une totale “dérive disciplinaire”. Ce n’est pas moi qui
le dis mais mon syndicat, dans son infolettre du 2 juillet dernier. Il dénombre
de nombreux cas d’employés qui, comme moi, « ont une longue et impeccable
feuille de route, des gens très appréciés à l’interne et qui se retrouvent
sanctionnés, voire même congédiés, dans des cas où les faits reprochés ne
méritent pas du tout ce coup de massue entre les deux yeux. Des cas souvent
associés à de l’âgisme ».
Étrangement, le syndicat remarque aussi que
les patrons, accusés de harcèlement par les employés, s’en tirent
miraculeusement bien lorsque confrontés à ces mêmes enquêtes. Des « simulacres
d’enquêtes », écrit le syndicat.
Et c’est ce qui m’a rendue malade.
Pas le décès de mes parents, derrière
laquelle la SRC s’est cachée pour expliquer mon absence. Cette explication m’a
d’ailleurs mise profondément mal à l’aise et je tiens à m’excuser en leur nom.
Oui, j’ai perdu mes parents, l’un après l’autre, après avoir pris soin d’eux
comme seule aidante naturelle pendant plusieurs années. Cela fut difficile.
Mais combien de milliers de familles ont perdu un être cher dans la dernière
année et demie, dans des conditions tellement plus dures et déchirantes que la
mienne? J’ai eu la chance, moi, de les accompagner jusqu’à la fin.
Avec cette enquête, Radio-Canada s’est
attaquée à mon intégrité. En me sanctionnant de la sorte, sur la base d’une
dénonciation anonyme faite au nom d’une tierce personne et sur la base d’une
enquête qui ne parvenait à aucune conclusion franche, elle a piétiné ses
propres principes d’éthique et de rigueur journalistique qu’elle continue de
brandir fièrement comme étendard.
Je ne demandais pour revenir au travail
qu’une simple excuse et le retrait de cette tache à mon dossier. Rien de plus.
Mais Radio-Canada ne s’excuse pas.
Je suis une femme de principe, fière et intègre. On s’est attaqué à cela et du même coup, on a sali mon nom, que je porte fièrement, et celui de mes parents, qui ont contribué, entre autres, à donner à Radio-Canada ses lettres de noblesse.”
