Yes, it is June 3rd again… Time flies from year to year.
Bambi cannot go to sleep before wishing her sister (Rania) and nephew (Michael) a double Happy Birthday :). May each one of them have a wonderful new year!
To honour them both, Bambi will re-share their double birthday post from last year where you can see their artistic/entrepreneurial talent and rewarding corporate banker career journey as well as wisdom.
In addition, this year, she will allow herself to “steal” two videos of personalized birthday songs from YouTube. How could she not be delinquent when the songs seem to be meant for the Ranias and Michaels of our world? Even if these names are common, Bambi’s sister and nephew are unique in so many beautiful ways. She misses them both beyond words.
Happy birthday Rania! Happy Birthday Mickey!
Rania’s personalized song:
Michael’s personalized song:
Rania’s and Michael’s common song:
To conclude on a joyful note, here is the kid song that Bambi initially found for you. Yes, even if you may feel wiser today (while aging :)), you have been adorable babies like this cute one:
First, Bambi would like to thank her cousin Christiane for sending her the picture below, likely widely shared on social media. It dates from 1963 and it informs us that Lebanon was one of the four most prosperous countries of the world back then, after Switzerland, West Germany, and the United States:
Look at the contrast with today’s situation (Wion short news documentary)!
This economic fiasco is likely the outcome of the mindset/actions of endemic corruption in public service with impunity, along with an absence of a clever long-term vision of prosperity for the country (of course, there has also been a destructive 15-year civil war, in addition to regional challenges… and now a pandemic).
Bambi has always wondered which is worse in life: financial OR moral corruption? Although she is convinced that the latter is worse, the tragedy of Lebanon is that the latter is also likely responsible for the inaction of its political so-called leaders now.
Bambi is saying the above while recognizing the complex competing interests of foreign forces in this tiny, bankrupt yet always beautiful and dignified country. If over the years, the political elite had put Lebanon’s interests first, perhaps this fiasco could have been prevented, mitigated, or… at least confronted by now.
To conclude this post on a musical note, here is a moving song, entitled “J’ai quitté mon pays” [“I left my homeland“] by Mr. Enrico Macias from Bambi to Lebanon and the people of Lebanon… with love:
Again, the CBC, in its section called “Being black
in Canada”, seems to be pushing for a certain political agenda in our
country and now province. You can read and hear videos here:
The three folks being interviewed will also be featured in two follow-up
articles. They are as follows: Mr. Matthew
Martin (President of BLM, Saint John & musician), Mr. Neil Clements
(lawyer), and Dr. Timothy Christie, Philosophy, Medical Ethics and Epidemiology.
The same article calls to defund the police whilst also arguing (as per Dr. Christie’s words, it seems) that “making racism a crime would better protect Black people by allowing them to report racism to the police, who would then be able to investigate, collect evidence, subpoena witnesses and see that charges are laid.”
First, do you see the contradiction like Bambi?
Are these just talking points or do these men realize
what they are saying?
Second, are they, perhaps along with the CBC, serious in asking for the criminalization of racism? And what about false accusations of racism? Concretely speaking, this means that Bambi’s censorship saga is not only an attempt to silence her, but eventually, it can also make her go to jail ?. Does Dr. Christie and the CBC reporter realize the pandora’s box of abuses that can happen when anyone in our world can be called racist for having a different opinion… yes, including deer.
If you happen not to see the contradiction and the potential slippery slope of such demand, perhaps like Bambi, you can just find it hard to understand the mission of BLM (in the About section of its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/249620259466028/). It reads as follows:
“The platform upon
which black communities across Saint John and New Brunswick can actively
dismantle all forms of anti-black racism, liberate blackness, recognize black
excellence, support black healing, affirm black existence, to create freedom to
love and self- determine and to help offer education to those who seek it”.
Bambi read this mission several times and she struggles to understand it. She even thought at one point of offering editing services. For instance, what does “liberate blackness” mean? What is “blackness”, by the way? And why does it need to be liberated? And how to do we “create freedom to love and self-determine”?
In Bambi’s dictionary of tolerance, we surely do not create freedom by revoking the freedom of, or by contributing to censoring, those who think differently; perhaps even those who may agree with the demand for justice, but not with the means to achieve it…
Since the remains of 215 children were discovered at a former residential school in British Columbia :(.
Of course, Mr. Trudeau is also deeply sad like all of us, as a father, as a human being, and as… our Prime Minister.
Today, Ms. Jody Wilson-Raybould challenged Mr. Trudeau with the following question:
Perhaps Mr. Trudeau will use the national grieving time
of reflection OR discussion (as wisely demanded by Mr. Jagmeet Singh, from NDP)
to move forward with his “concrete actions”. Could it be?
In the meantime, he seems to forget about our Canadian
context. Yes, he appears to insist on considering us as a Northern extension of
the United States.
Why is Bambi saying so? Because Mr. Trudeau insists once again on creating those identity-based programs for so-called “Black Canadians” entrepreneurs”? The federal government loan with allow the latter to access loans of up to $250K.
What kind of message is this program giving to those entrepreneurs? You cannot compete on your own to start your business because of your skin colour/hue?
As a result, you need the government to become dependent on in order to succeed your business.
Plus, on which discrimination-related banking services data is this program based on? Are our banks that awful in providing services to their customers?
In other terms, why are we resorting to publicly-funded identity-based programs?
What if we take this logic of identity (or sectarian)-based programs further in the future? What and whom will be next? Today, it is this target group. Tomorrow it will be whom? The Arab-Canadians? The Muslims? The Jews? Is this a wise approach in life?
Bambi may be wrong, but this approach to entrepreneurship seems to be counter-productive to the mindset of entrepreneurs. The latter usually take financial risks in aiming to succeed in their profit. They push themselves forward to serve their clients. They compete with other entrepreneurs, as needed. They likely do not need to be taken by the hand (by governments) to that extent, like little children.
Plus, will our bankers now have to apply a skin hue test to their clients to help them set up a business? Why don’t they just simply apply the same criteria with
all their potential clients, that is asking them entrepreneurial questions like
a solid business plan, a guarantee for reimbursement, or the potential of
success of their business idea in 2, 5 or 10 years?
To conclude this post, instead of creating such expensive and likely not much needed programs (even if they sound politically correct), why not focus our energy and public funds on solving the concrete social and health problems of our fellow Indigenous citizens, especially on some reserves? For instance, there is a crying need for an improved access to water, to mental health and other health-related services, and… perhaps even to a form of compensation for the families of the victims (or survivors?) of residential schools? Or maybe even to trauma-related healing programs, etc.?
Bill 96 is a reform of bill 101. It is about the protection
of the French language.
In Québec, bill 96 is very welcome, even when it is perceived
by many, including experts like Emeritus Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
Charles Castonguay, as being possibly not strong enough. For instance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1BqAzgpG3A),
it may not address key questions like the funding of English-speaking colleges
in Montreal by the government or the issue of the high number of immigrants to
Québec who do not speak French before their arrival to Canada or those who do
not benefit much from Francization efforts.
Bearing all this in mind, we learn from a CBC article by Mr. Jonathan Montpetit (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/bloc-quebecois-motion-bill-96-1.6041350) that a Bloc Québécois (BQ) “seeking support for Quebec’s proposed constitutional amendments failed to pass unanimously in the House of Commons… In order to pass without debate, the motion needed to face no vocal opposition from MPs. Former Liberal justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, now an independent MP, yelled out a “nay” after the motion was read out”.
Bambi thinks very highly of Ms. Jody Wilson-Raybould because she is a principled politician.
She also has the utmost respect for Mr. Blanchet
because of his loyalty to Québec.
Ms. Wilson-Raybould is right: Québec has never signed the Constitution of 1982. Indeed, it was imposed on it ever since. It is even used against it in court and in the public opinion in the English media (e.g., bill 101 on the French language, bill 21 on secularism, etc.).
Rightly, citizens of the rest of Canada may find it odd to see Québec seeking constitutional amendments without ever having endorsed the Constitution that the Canadian government repatriated from Great Britain ( entrenching our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms within it).
As for Mr. Legault’s provincial government, Mr. Blanchet’s BQ federal party, and most importantly Québec’s people, they have shown a renewal of their vibrant and inspiring patriotism… within Canada. Isn’t this political attitude worth celebrating, even it may look or be partisan in the eyes of Ms. Wilson-Raybould?
We keep hearing bad news out of Lebanon and… from around the world, including us in Canada.
We hear and read about stories of increased radicalism or intolerance.
We hear about political and financial deadlocks.
We hear about potential lack of medical supplies or power.
We hear military verbal threats and some there may hear scary sounds.
However, in the middle of this instability, there is beauty…
Bambi would like to thank her dad for sharing a picture of Rashaya or Rashaya El Wadi.
What a beautiful way of starting a Saturday morning with this picture.
Yes, we can travel through a picture. We can remember childhood trips. We can imagine future trips. We can simply appreciate without ever visiting.
First, please let Bambi share her dad’s picture (signed by Mr. P. Elie Korkomaz). Then, she will share a short video of this village of about 6000 citizens (almost like Sackville, NB during the school year; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashaya).
A picture of Rashaya (Lebanon) signed by Mr. P. Elie Korkomaz
To conclude this post on a musical note, here is a song dedicated not just to this beautiful Rashaya village, but by extension to the whole country. Well, while searching for the original eternal version of this song by Dalida (entitled “my country is beautiful” and meant for Egypt), Bambi came across this talented Lebanese singer, along with her fellow musicians. Her name is Ms. Lina Sleibi. Thank you for this song (with English sub-titles)!
Bambi’s parents form a cute couple (no, Bambi is not biased ?). They are still in love after 55 years of marriage… and seven years of earlier love!
Bambi’s mom and dad are known for their integrity and big hearts. Together, they went through the ups and downs of life. They managed to raise their children during civil war. They experienced harsh family losses. Yet, they never felt sorry for themselves or made others feel guilty for their losses. They courageously moved on with their lives, always looking forward and being grateful.
They brought their daughters to the safety of Canada. Eventually, they returned to their beloved birth country while remaining very attached to their Canada. If you do not believe Bambi, you can visit them and see the two flags on their balcony. Symbolically, both flags survived the heavy destruction of the surrealistic Beirut port blast… contrary to their balcony curtains, heavy wood blinds, glass doors, and more destruction inside their apartment and on the other side of its balconies.
Yes, Bambi’s mom and dad went through adversity with an inspiring dignity and… always with/in love: from wars to illnesses, pandemics to surrealistic explosions, and now to a financial crash, resulting in hyperinflation.
Bambi thanks you, mom and dad, for teaching her the following precious lesson: Love, based on respect and trust, is the essence and… richness of life!
To conclude this post on a musical note meant to honour your inspiring love, here are a few songs that Bambi would like to offer you today for fun before going to sleep (morning at your end):
1. Of course, let’s start with “Mabrouk” ?, this Lebanese song for happy events, including weddings and anniversaries!
2. Mr. Jacques Brel’s beautiful love song (with English sub-titles):
3. Mr. Enrico Macias’ charming love song. You both appreciate his incredible talent. Mom, you had the chance to attend his concert in Montreal and dad, if you wish, you can imagine that you are singing this song to mom today ?. As for Bambi, one of her pleasures in life is to listen to his music on Middle East Airlines flying her from Europe to Beirut!
4. Mr. Daniel Lavoie’s moving song entitled “ils s’aiment…” (they are in love…). Mom, like Bambi, you love this incredibly talented artist!
5. Ms. Ginette Reno with her eternal “L’Essentiel…” (with English sub-titles). Bambi’s sisters also appreciate this great song by this great lady (diva!):
6. Ms. Céline Dion’s deeply moving song entitled “L’amour existe encore“…:
7. For fun, here is Mr. Nicola Ciconne singing Céline’s earlier song in Italian! Dad, you can understand it.. and perhaps try to sing too, if mom blocks her ears ?. Bambi thinks highly of this Canadian artist. She also feels blessed because she crossed paths with him in graduate school. What a kind and deep human being! Bambi will always remember how he used to kindly ask about her family in Lebanon each time he would drop by her office and see the picture of her family members on the wall.
8. Last but not least, Bambi will conclude with a joyful Egyptian love song (sub-titled in English) that she happens to adore, as you and all her friends in Moncton know ?:
Happy 55th wedding anniversary, Dearest mom and dad! ENJOY spending time with your daughters (OK minus Bambi… but she is participating from far away through this post ?!). Bambi loves you all so much!!
Bambi already posted on this topic in the past (see the bottom of this post).
Today, she happily listened to Dr. Gad Saad (from Concordia University in Montreal, Québec) informing us in details about this rather odd program.
If you think Bambi is exaggerating, just listen to Dr. Saad’s thoughtful words and then read about the program in question (link provided below). You may prefer to read about it first and then take the time to listen to Dr. Gad Saad.
After giving this topic some thoughts, do you genuinely think such program will contribute to making our world a fair place?
Will it genuinely bring justice?
Do we repair a former injustice (to any social group) by creating a new one (to another group)?
Will this create more harmony in society?
Will it encourage young adults to become more critical thinkers, compassionate and peaceful citizens?
Perhaps Bambi is missing something here? From her second life in a war-torn country (like Dr. Saad actually…) where she witnessed with he own eyes the tragic ravages of identity-based politics, she can lucidly see (and even smell!) a red flag.
Clearly in her mind, initiatives, like this one, do not just seem silly. They have the potential to perhaps be socially unhealthy (or even psycho-socially harmful?). In the longer term, they may even contribute to creating the opposite of what is being claimed, by bringing more social (i.e., racial) tensions and thus divisions in a society. Is this what this university really wants? Likely not… So, why is it endorsing and promoting such programs?
To conclude this post, Bambi would like to thank Dr. Saad for his video. In her humble opinion, despite any good intentions of behalf of this respectable university and/or the passionate developers of this program, the end result may simply be… a social tragedy waiting to happen.
Every now and then, Bambi takes the time to enjoy a
little pleasure in life: Replying to Mr. Nasrallah’s speeches she reads about
in the media ?.
She will do so in the current post and her comments are in bold.
Mr. Nasrallah is the Chief/Leader (or Secretary General) of the Hezbollah in Lebanon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideology_of_Hezbollah). In Canada, the Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization. In Lebanon, this heavily armed pro-Iranian organization has a political and a military wing. Concerning the latter, Hezbollah is the only militia that did not disarm at the end of civil war in 1990. The rationale back then was: Its much needed resistance role (against the Israeli occupation, which lasted 22 years and ended in 2000).
Further below, you will see a screenshot of the speech text in question, published in Naharnet yesterday. First, here is the article in question(http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/281711). The title of the article refers to the political deadlock in Lebanon—no government formed since the Beirut explosion nine months ago.
Again, at the end of this post, you can see a screenshot of this speech, as taken from Naharnet.
“Nasrallah:
We in Hizbullah are ready to help Speaker Nabih Berri in his efforts.”
Bambi: What
does this mean? And, if Bambi understands this well, is it surprising?
“Nasrallah:
Let the PM-designate hold several meetings with the President until a result is
reached.”
Bambi: No comment. Bambi does not understand this statement.
“Nasrallah:
The governmental crisis is domestic.”
Bambi: Yes and no… please see below.
“Nasrallah:
Let the PM-designate form a government in agreement with the President and this
is the only realistic solution.”
Bambi: It is very hard to understand the complex internal politics of Lebanon. Indeed, Bambi left her birth country three decades ago and it was already VERY complicated to get back then, especially during a bloody civil war. She just knows that internally there is a mafia-like type of governance (corruption), that seems to be either ignoring or hiding behind or… even flirting with your militia (Hezbollah’s weapons). Externally, there are ALL the interests of many countries. Based on the latter, governments in Beirut may or may not be formed. Sadly, everyone forgets about democracy processes/elections and the voices of the citizens of Lebanon…
“Nasrallah
to Israelis: Do not miscalculate and do not bet on the difficult situations in
Lebanon, because this will not matter when the equation is preserving Lebanon’s
security and dignity.”
Bambi: OK, here you make sense (yes it is possible..). Thank you.
“Nasrallah:
The Lebanese resistance is in its best situation and it has never been
stronger.”
Bambi: Are
you reassuring us, Mr. Nasrallah? What about the Lebanese Army (which is supposed
to be the only armed forces… like in any respectable country)? Are they strong
enough still? The soldiers have not been able to eat meat for almost a year due
to the financial crisis/hyperinflation.
“Nasrallah:
I tell the Israelis not to commit any foolishness and not to make any wrong
calculations regarding Lebanon… The rules of engagement still stand.”
Bambi: OK, Bambi thanks you for this warning. She also reminds you to tell yourself the same. You are a smart man, Mr. Nasrallah and you know that neither you nor the innocent Lebanese people (taken hostage in all this regional craziness) can afford another war.
Nasrallah:
The ‘Sword of Jerusalem’ battle dealt a blow to the course of normalization and
all those who have normalized the ties, and after this battle, the ‘Deal of the
Century’ fell and vanished.
Bambi: At this particular moment in history, Bambi misses the American external policy, under Mr. Trump, MINUS the latter’s unbalanced (unilateral) approach to Jerusalem, for sure… She is saying so because that policy did not appear to be biased toward Iran, which has almost full hegemony over tiny and bankrupt Lebanon (through Mr. Nasrallah’s forces). Bambi hopes that Mr. Blinken, Mr. Biden, and Ms. Kamala Harris will show us that they are reasonable in their approaches in the Middle East, despite their different approach toward Iran. She thanks them and thanks everyone working hard to help find solutions and… ensure brighter days for all.
“Nasrallah:
Any attack on Jerusalem or the holy sites will lead to a regional war.”
Bambi: Is this a threat, Mr. Nasrallah? Please do not drag Lebanon into wars anymore. Please also do not drag other nearby countries into war… Wars of others… or wars of some. War is not what people wish for themselves and for their loved ones. People want to live in dignity, prosperity, and with peace of mind. They want their loved ones to remain nearby. Why should innocent Middle-Eastern people, generation after generation, be condemned to become refugees or immigrants elsewhere? Anyhow, Bambi is not sure if we threaten in life when we are in a position of weakness… or when we know that the external forces are sadly currently aligned to allow us to resort to such intense language?
“Nasrallah:
When the matter is related to Jerusalem and its Muslim and Christian holy
sites, it will not remain limited to the resistance in Palestine.”
Bambi: Please
Mr. Nasrallah, do not speak in the name of all Muslims and do not pretend to
speak in the name of Christians. Plus, if we follow your logic of apparent spirituality,
don’t the Jewish holy sites matter too?
“Nasrallah:
The biggest mistake by the enemy is that neither Netanyahu nor his generals nor
his security agencies estimated that Gaza would take such a historic and great
decision.”
Bambi: No comment. Bambi does not care about neither Mr. Netanyahu nor the powerful armed forces in Gaza. She cares about the vulnerable Palestinians taken hostage between these two military forces. She also cares about the innocent people outside of Gaza, on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides (and any side in life!), also the target of violence.
“Nasrallah:
The leaders of the Palestinian resistance and the commanders of its military
wings excelled in the latest battle.”
Bambi: Is
this what matters, Mr. Nasrallah? What about all the innocent people who lost
their lives, including many children?
“Nasrallah:
From now on, we will celebrate two great victories in May — that of May 25,
2000 and that of May 21, 2021 in Gaza.”
Bambi: When will the innocent civilians caught in the middle of wars finally celebrate peace of mind, prosperity in life, and… business, friendship, or… even love with all?
Taken from Naharnet, article published on May 25, 2021
This morning, Bambi’s parents asked her about the beautiful spring season at her end, in Atlantic Canada. She then asked them about the beautiful pink trees near them, that is in Beirut, Lebanon. Her dad immediately surprised her with a beautiful picture of such a tree in Byblos, a historic (5000+ years BC) Mediterranean city located North of the capital Beirut. Byblos is related to the history/diffusion of the Phoenician alphabet. It is also known as Jbeil in Arabic.
Bambi would like to begin by thanking her dad for inspiring this post simply meant to share this publicly available artistic picture with you :).
First, here is the picture in question!
A spring scene in Byblos, Lebanon taken from Ashraf_nas.
Finally, just to conclude this post on a musical note, here is the talented Ms. Hiba Tawaji paying tribute to the eternal Dalida at the Byblos International Festival (July, 2016) with her unique intepretation of “Mourir sur scène”. Bravo for your talent, Ms. Tawaji and thank you for honouring Dalida!
