Grégoire’s charming voice, incredible talent, and especially inspiring lyrics about one’s attitude in life are perhaps precisely what makes life beautiful, despite adversity. Many thanks to him for his new “beautiful” song!
If you do not understand French, you may wish to read the lyrics. Bambi will first share the French words, which will be followed by a quick translation into English.
“Bravo et merci”, Grégoire!
“La vie est belle” (by Grégoire)
“Non, surtout ne crois pas Que pour certains tout est facile C’est simplement qu’ils ne pensent pas Que c’est trop dur, trop difficile Bien sûr qu’il y a des matins
Où ils voudraient tout foutre en l’air C’est justement dans ces matins Qu’ils se répètent : je peux le faire
Non, surtout ne crois pas Qu’il y a des gens qui ont de la chance C’est simplement qu’ils ne veulent pas Voir le mauvais ni la malchance Bien sûr qu’ils traversent des orages Et des moments durs à survivre Mais ils préfèrent tourner la page Et continuer d’écrire le livre Et surtout de se dire Malgré le pire et le cruel Que le plus beau est à venir Et que la vie est belle Belle
Non, surtout ne crois pas Que certains ont une bonne étoile C’est simplement parce qu’ils y croient Et n’se perdent pas dans des dédales Ils ne se trouvent jamais d’excuses Et n’ont pas de boucs émissaires C’est simplement parce qu’ils refusent De rester un genou à terre Et qu’ils continuent de se dire Malgré le pire et le cruel Que le plus beau est à venir Et que la vie est belle Belle
Non, ne crois surtout pas Que pour certains tout est facile C’est simplement parce qu’ils ne pensent pas Que c’est trop dur et trop difficile Et qu’ils continuent de se dire Malgré le pire et le cruel Que le plus beau reste à venir Et que la vie est belle Oui la vie est belle Oui la vie est belle”.
Hyperinflation is making the country look worse than Venezuela. No, not a glorious comparison.
The Lebanese pound lost over 90% of its value over the
past year or 1.5 years.
Prices are increasing daily.
There is a shortage of medical supplies, medication
(even those produced locally), gas, electricity, etc.
Related to the above, today Bambi read this tweet by her own sister, journalist Roula Douglas:
Here is an English translation: “Seeing members of
the state’s security supervising citizens in gas stations, under cover but
holding their M16 (yes, assault rifles!) has revived, in my mind, images from
civil war”.
After reading this tweet, Bambi called her parents to
check on everyone.
Her mom described the same situation in more details. There
is an increase in power outages, a very long wait time in endless line-ups of
cars in front of gas stations. Citizens are starting to wait from as early as 5
AM. Gas price is expected to rise between Monday and Wednesday. The idea is to standardize
the price across the country to try to stabilize it. A measure that the country’s
officials are trying to take.
One must recall that Lebanon remains without a government
since the Beirut explosion of August 4, 2020.
Below, you can see Beirut on the right side (among the
highest cost of living AND lowest quality of life).
You may wish to compare it Vancouver. Even if inflation is likely coming to Canada (it is a matter of time…), check where the expensive Vancouver is ranked, still in a better position than many other cities/capitals of the world, including the more expensive New York, Tel Aviv (Israel), and European or other cities.
On a smaller scale in Atlantic Canada, we can imagine that what is happening in Lebanon, may be comparable to what we saw on the Trans-Canada highway the other day between the “borders” of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Lockdowns are tough. People need to earn their living.
Imagine this same situation, but across an entire bankrupt country… of course, with tires that are burning (in the Middle East, it is not hard to imagine!).
As Bambi’s dad replied when Bambi asked about any
solution, “Lebanon is a farm right now; it is not a country. It still does
not have a government. No financial reforms yet”.
Their elections are supposed to take place in a year.
A year is a long-time when we are desperate.
Indeed,
when people are starving and they need to feed their families, they can do anything
in life.
They
can steal or lose their tamper on gas pumps.
It is in
this economically tough context that Mr. Hannieh visited Beirut for a second
time.
Bambi is not overjoyed by this visit because her birth country is so fragile. It cannot afford shenanigans or political deals that could, at best, block peace in the region and, at worst, drag Lebanon (once again!) into an another war… of course in the noble name of resistance (to Israel).
The sadly
endless Israeli-Palestinian conflict lasted for over 70 years now. It has dragged
Lebanon into a very long civil war in 1975 that ended in 1990.
There has been a short yet intense war with Israel in July 2006 (it was a conflict between Iran and the United States, by proxy, that is between Hezbollah and Israel).
Of course,
there is also the Syrian civil war nearby (in which Hezbollah remains active,
after having gone to war behind the back of the government).
Does the country
of the Cedars need another armed conflict?
So, hands
off Lebanon, please.
Bambi is
sick and tired of violence.
Bambi is
not into ideologies (i.e. Islamism, Zionism, wokeism, or or anything else ending
with “ism”…).
Often in
life, ideologies go hand in hand with “corruption”, even when they start as “noble”
ideas.
Clearly, a
religious ideology, like Islamism (political Islam) or like Zionism, does not
seem to be into compromise, needed to one day reach a peace deal.
In order
to engage in peace, one needs genuine leaders with a will/vision for it, in addition
to courage… on both sides.
Peace
seems impossible today, sadly.
To conclude
this post, PLEASE leave Lebanon out of this historic conflict.
Do not let history repeat itself, even if some of the same ingredients of the past may sadly still be present today.
This is a
message from Bambi to Mr. Hannieh, to all his foreign allies (mainly Iran), to his
Lebanese allies (mainly the most powerful internal group mentioned above), and…
to the military powerful Israel.
Thank you
everyone for behaving with maturity and empathy for your own people, if at all realistically
possible! Bambi is convinced that the majority of all the innocent people on
all sides aspire for safety, peace, prosperity, and… love.
According to Global News (https://globalnews.ca/news/7976076/bill-c-36-online-hate-canada/),
“the bill would amend the Canadian
Human Rights Act to make it a “discriminatory practice” to communicate hate
speech through the internet where it is “likely to foment detestation or
vilification of an individual or group of individuals on the basis of a
prohibited ground of discrimination.”
Clearly, this bill can target citizens like Bambi who express
their opinions about this or that topic.
In the case of Bambi’s blog, a person or a group may claim they felt offended, emotionally triggered, or specifically “hated” while reading this or that post.
Some of us may have a thin skin… others bad faith. Yet others
may truly feel like they are being hated.
According to Bill 36, her blog would communicate so-called “hate speech” that can in the future be considered as “a discriminatory practice” (https://globalnews.ca/news/7976076/bill-c-36-online-hate-canada/). Since when do we discriminate against anyone by sharing our thoughts?
Similarly, Bill 36 can/will sadly be used against Bambi’s fellow citizens.
This makes Bambi think of “You are next”, to borrow
the brilliant title of Dr. Jordan Person’s interview.
The next person may be you… or Mr. Levant or his guest, called
Mr. Spencer Fernando (in the link above), whether you agree with their opinions
or not, whether you like OR “hate” them, online or in real life.
Instead of leaving alone citizens who think differently on
this or that issue, we are proposing a bill that can fine them… and silence
them.
Is this fair?
With such bill, will Canada remain democratic in the very long-term?
Plus, we are no longer talking here about our own beautiful criminal
laws or violations of our Charter.
We are not just condemning violence or defamation, as per our laws… We are rather promoting censorship.
We are doing it by using (or claiming to use) feelings. As Mr.
Levant explained it well, who has not loved or hated someone or something in his
life at one point or at another?
Stated differently, this bill has the potential of being highly
arbitrary and has the power to censor Canadians.
Bambi does not support it, even if it is presented to her as
an appealing candy called “anti-hate”.
Is this the kind of Canada you want to live in in 2, 5, 10,
or 25 years if this bill or similar ones become laws?
This is surely not where Bambi would like to see Canada in 5, 10, and 25 years from now.
With all due respect to these beautiful places, Bambi does
not want Canada to resemble Qatar, Dubai, Singapore… or China.
Yes, the above are all authoritarian places. So why are we
modelling them?
To conclude this post, Bambi urges you to re-consider Bill 36,
Dr. Lametti/Mr. Trudeau.
It is also her hope that our lawmakers, from the other parties
and the independent voices (i.e. Ms. Jody Wilson-Raybould) will have enough
lucidity and courage to say no to this bill, if they also see what Bambi is
seeing.
Before beginning this post, tragically and once again, Canadians heard devastating yet not surprising news today. Nothing could be said or added to what we are reading in both national and international media about the discovery of more (751 :(!) graves near a former residential school, this time in Saskatchewan.
If she may, Bambi would like to start this post by pausing to take the time to say a little prayer in her heart: May the memory of all these children be eternal… and more healing to the hearts of their family members, friends, communities, and to all of us.
Now, this being said, Bambi will put aside sadness, to end this Saint-Jean-Baptiste day on a French musical note… from Lebanon.
Well, she just heard the song below on her favourite American internet radio while working. Each day starts and ends, late in the evening, with the same full hour of French music. Cool!
Bambi hopes this cute song from her childhood (that she knows in Arabic) will bring a smile to your face, especially if you can understand its French lyrics. Mind you, the video clip is fun to watch.
The song is about Jeannot (= Jean, Johnny, or Hanna in Arabic) who is madly in love with a beautiful woman from his village. Yes, passion made Jeannot lose his mind. Hence the name of the song “Jeannot, le fou“!
In the original Arabic version, sub-titled in English (that you may have heard on this blog in the past), “Hanna” develops an addiction to alcohol as a result of his impossible love.
Bambi likes the song in both languages. Indeed, the melody is joyful (even if Johnny is unhappy). Plus, it is a cute way to end the Saint-Jean-Baptiste :). Enjoy!
Bambi cannot go to sleep without saying “Bonne Saint-Jean” to the “Belle Province”!
Bonne Saint-Jean-Baptiste also to all the French-Canadians across Canada!
Of course, Happy name day too to Bambi’s second cousin in Beirut (Hello Jean… or Jeannotti :)!
All this being said, below you can find a song that Bambi would like to offer to Québec today. Of course, it is Mr. Gilles Vigneault’s eternal “Gens du pays“. This beautiful song celebrates love, as we do on our loved ones’ birthdays.
Related to the above, Bambi is thinking now of her friend Marie-Eve. Do you see the beautiful fleur-de-lys on the cheek of the little boy (in the YouTube link below)? Well, Marie-Eve drew a fleur-de-lys on Bambi’s face once 🙂 before they attended the celebrations of Saint-Jean-Baptiste on the streets of Montreal. Needless to say that if there is one day in the year that is meant to feel like an immigrant deer proudly in love/harmony with Québec, it is June 24 :).
To conclude this post, although Bambi left Québec over 17 years ago, la “Belle Province” remains in her (i.e., even Fred gave her the title of “Ambassador of Québec” on this blog :)). Indeed, Québec will forever remain in Bambi’s heart and… in her spouse’s (beautiful) French Canadian accent :). Bonne Saint-Jean to him and to all those of you who highlight this day!
Many thanks to Ms. Christine Van Geyn who interviewed Dr. Faisal Bhabha, Bambi/Rima, and Mr. Jonathan Kay.
Bambi was able to witness the talent of Ms. Van Geyn in action (thanks to her efficient team too)!
She was very touched by the sad/unfair story of Dr. Bhabha… She is eager to devote a post to Dr. Faisal Bhababa (talent, story, etc.).
As for Mr. Jonathan Kay, one words remains on her mind and in her heart: MERCI/THANK YOU.
“Christine welcomes Journalist Jon Kay to a discussion with University Professors Faisal Bhabha and Rima Azar who share what happened after their comments were deemed controversial for their respected Universities.“
Yesterday, Bambi discovered the inspiring talent of host and clinical Psychologist Zac Rhodenizer, the Director of the Lethbridge Institute of Family Therapy and LifeSTAR Alberta!
Indeed, what an honour and pleasure to be interviewed by Zac (Rhodenizer). During this chat, Zac and Bambi/Rima tried to explore the psychology of what we call “cancel culture”.
Before sharing the link to their conversation, which was enriching for Bambi (and hopefully helpful to his audience), here is what the “Psychology of… Podcast” is all about: “Psychology is at play all around us. With your host and clinical Psychologist Zac Rhodenizer and his guests, we dive into fascinating topics where psychology plays a major role but is often overlooked, such as mountain climbing, pro wrestling, politics, eating, and much more!”
MANY thanks for this invitation and for your KIND support! Long life to the much needed “Psychology of… Podcast“. Please keep up your smart and compassionate work Zac Rhodenizer. Bambi is grateful… and Canada/the world need you!
As reported by the National Post, “two-thirds of Canadians say they do not live in a racist country“. Interesting finding, which indicates that Bambi and the majority of her fellow citizens share the same opinion about Canada :).
This being said, Bambi is curious to know why one out of three Canadians think otherwise. It would be perhaps informative to explore this result in further surveys. Anyhow, Bambi finds it sad to read that as many Canadians seem to believe that their country is racist.
For fun, to conclude this post, here is a song that Bambi would like to offer to Canada. It is by Lebanese diva Fairouz, singing for her “little house in Canada” (in Arabic)… from as far as Beirut, Lebanon.
A beautiful, moving, and classical French song, to begin with. Thanks to Mr. Claude Barzotti!
Because the song above may have been too serious/emotional, let’s sing a lighter song now, just meant to wish you a Happy (and hopefully sunny) Father’s day from the bottom of our hearts with MUCH LOVE!!
A picture taken a few months ago by Bambi’s mother-in-law!
