Bambi's Thoughts
Here is a thoughtful article by Mr. Michael Karam (The Spectator, July 23, 2020):
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/is-it-too-late-to-save-lebanon
Once again, here is a sarcastic article by Mr. Richard Martineau (Journal de Montréal):
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/07/22/la-business-de-la-charite
This piece was published before the latest update from Ottawa about the WE Charity’s unfolding saga: (1). Mr. Trudeau will finally testify in front of the Ethics Committee and (2). Mr. Morneau (Canada’s Minister of Finance) wrote a cheque in payment to the WE Charity of $41,366 today (before his testimony). He said that he “forgot” to pay this bill to cover some of the costs of a family vacation with the WE Charity (https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/morneau-repays-we-charity-41-000-for-travel-expenses-1.1468963). As reported by Mr. Lilley in the Toronto Sun, “it was also unclear if the expenses were related to a trip his wife and daughter took with WE to Kenya the summer of 2017, one the family took to Ecuador around Christmas 2017, or both” (https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-we-fiasco-shows-trudeau-government-adrift).
OK, keeping this in mind, here is quick translation of Mr. Martineau’s article:
“To be successful in business, you must be able to seize all the opportunities available to you.
Guess what people want before they know it themselves.
Anticipate the waves, the fashions.
GOOD CONSCIOUSNESS TO SELL!
Is COVID starting to take its toll? Make masks!
Veggie fashion got the wind in its sails? Make fake meat with plants or turkey-shaped tofu blocks for Christmas!
Is crime on the rise? Hire guard dogs and security systems!
You have to guess what products and services people will be ready to buy in two or three months.
It could be Internet series, electric taxis or the digital radio.
In recent years, there has been a boom in the charity industry.
You will tell me: but what do charities sell?
Simple: good conscience.
Modern man, you see, has a bad conscience. He watches TV, reads the newspapers, and feels guilty.
To have money, to be healthy, to screw up the environment, to exploit the third world, to be sexist, racist, homophobic, grossophobic, transphobic, etc.
There are plenty of opportunities to feel guilty.
Before, when we had a bad conscience, we went to see the priest. One “Hail Mary” and two “Our Father”, and suddenly we had our conscience.
The confessional was a kind of car wash for the soul. Ten minutes, and the job was done.
You came out cleansed, shining. Ready to sin again.
Today there are charities.
You feel bad? Privileged? Guilty?
A check, and you can finally sleep easy.
The squeegees even offer drive-thru, if you don’t have time to write a check for the United Way.
A little two, a smile, and you feel like you’ve saved, if not the world, at least your soul.
THEY GOT IT!
Of course, there are a lot of people of good faith in the charity. People with their hearts in the right place.
But there are also opportunists. Who smelled the good deal.
Instead of getting into green tea or CrossFit, they got into the charity business.
Which brings us to WE, our friend Justin’s favorite charity.
Do you remember, “I give contracts to your mother, brother and wife, and you give me $43.5 million”?
The WE Charity owns $50 million in real estate.
Fifty million!
And wait, that’s not all, this “charitable” organization has two components: a non-profit component and a for-profit component.
According to the National Post, which keeps releasing juicy scoops on this organization, a lot of money goes between the nonprofit (that is, your donations) and the profit (their pockets).
This is called “being in business”.
Some of Justin’s friends got richer thanks to the marijuana legalization. The bosses of WE, on the other hand, are riding the wave of compassion-show and the culture of apology.
Two great legacies of our PM.”
There has been very critical news out of Lebanon in the past few months, and especially lately, due to its financial crisis (followed by the covid-19 pandemic).
Well, today, Bambi would like to share a rather beautiful, inspiring, and promising Lebanese story featured on the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) website, as you can see below. It is the story of perseverance and success of Ms. Doumouh Al Bakkar, “making history by officiating several men’s games after becoming one of the leading referees of women’s football in Lebanon“:
In English:
https://www.fifa.com/womens-football/news/al-bakkar-writes-new-history-in-lebanon
In French:
https://fr.fifa.com/womens-football/news/bakkar-ecrit-l-histoire-avec-son-sifflet
In Arabic:
http://lebanesefootballassociation.com/bakkar/
On the FIFA Twitter account :)):
If you are passionate about soccer like Bambi (and over 99.99% of Lebanon :)), you can read the details of her journey and aspirations for further success above in the language of your choice. Bravo to her and all the best!!
Bambi’s nephews are skilled soccer players. They may know Ms. Al Bakkar better than her :). Yet, she is eager to share this post with them… Mind you, believe it or not, Bambi herself used to play soccer on Beirut streets with the boys of her neighbourhood (as a child/teen). No clue how they trusted her to be part of their elite team, despite her clumsiness :)! She even acted as the goalkeeper.
Of course, before each game, they had to quickly clean the debris of shells and bombs from their building entrance, street, or nearby public garden (depending on the location of the game, which depended on the safety risk :)). The ideal scenario was to play in the public garden, especially when it allowed them to discover beautiful Roman mosaics or columns (as you can see below). What a nice neighborhood and what a fun childhood despite the absurdity of war!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuit_Garden_(Beirut)
At one point, it takes such a scary advertisement to make people remember protection, theirs and that of others. Bravo to Québec.
The ad below makes Bambi think of other fear-inducing prevention advertisements, namely those of drinking and driving or those about child drowning.
Today, Québec had 180 new cases of covid-19. As it has been mentioned on QUB radio in a conversation between Mr. Vincent Dessureault and Ms. Sophie Durocher, “it is the summer and it is sunny, true. People are thrilled to go out or to party (privately or in bars, etc.). However, we should not forget that we are still in the middle of a pandemic. A simple gesture of common sense can help save lives… If not, it can at least prevent a boring two-week quarantine in the middle of the summer!”
First, here is the latest decision of the Associated Press (AP) featured in an article by Mr. David Bauder entitled “AP says it will capitalize Black but not white“:
https://apnews.com/7e36c00c5af0436abc09e051261fff1f
Second, here is a rather sarcastic video by Dr. Gad Saad, commenting on the above article and sharing his idea of adding “boring” and “Noble” adjectives ? to all this, of course “boring” is for the so-called white and “Noble” is for the so-called black:
Let’s start this post with a SAD story from Lebanon ☹ and end it with a happier one from Québec.
Both stories are very inspiring. Both stories are about serving patients and one’s society.
Serving in one way or another… Devoting one’s career, or just vacation, to care for patients and to help them heal.
It is heart-breaking to read about this young Lebanese physician, Dr. Louay Ismail (32 years-old only…), who died of the complications of covid-19 (severe pneumonia). Bambi read this story first on Naharnet and, of course, she consulted her favourite journalist’s Twitter account, Ms. Roula Douglas (OK, as you may know by now, in addition to being a great journalist, she is Bambi’s sister).
Ms. Douglas shared tribute of Dr. Louay Ismail by his colleagues. Thanks to him for his devotion to patient care throughout his young career, in his country’s tough conditions, and literally until his last breath. A very compassionate physician and kind colleague, it seems. May he rest in peace. May his family learn to find peace in their grief journey.
Following the Naharnet’s screenshot of Dr. Ismail’s picture and a short article below, Bambi will share a quick translation of an article published in the Journal de Montréal by Ms. Frédérique Giguère and entitled “A chief of police with patients suffering from covid-19”:
“A Laurentian police chief who used his own vacation days to help seniors with Covid-19 will remember his experience all his life, where he encountered suffering and illness, but above all, recognition.
“One day, a 93-year-old lady whom I saw regularly asked me to come and make her rosary with her,” says Francis Lanouette, who has been managing the Intermunicipal Police Board Thérèse-De Blainville (RIPTDB) since 2015. She is very religious, so it was really an intense and important moment and it did him a lot of good. I was really challenged and I felt fortunate to be able to give back like that. “
Personal initiative
As soon as he felt his team was ready to take on covid-19, the 48-year-old father answered the Prime Minister [or Premier] François Legault’s call by applying to become a service aide for the elderly.
He was therefore assigned at the beginning of June to the Days Inn hotel in Blainville, which had been transformed into a shelter for seniors suffering from covid-19 in order to avoid too great a spread in their CHSLD [residential and long-term care centre].
“It was important to me that it remains a personal initiative, so I took a month of my vacation to go,” humbly describes the one who even paid all his salary to the Red Cross and Moisson Laurentides.
Mental Health
It was with a heart swelling with gratitude and overflowing with admiration for the health workers that Francis Lanouette ended his assignment at the beginning of July to resume his duties as Chief of Police.
Although he had worked with people with mental health problems in the past as a police officer, he found himself at times completely deprived of resources.
“I have seen the expertise of patient attendants and nurses put to the test,” he says. I saw them grasp the needs of patients so quickly, I was truly impressed with their dedication. “
Francis Lanouette’s citizens’ initiative is also perfectly anchored in the community shift he has advocated since taking office at the RIPTDB [his police station].
“I didn’t do it for others, but it is certain that if it inspires people here, it’s good! “
The experience even took on a family resemblance with the Lanouettes, since the chief of police’s son, a nursing student, also contributed.
“We talked to each other and I asked him if he would be willing to do it if I did it too, and that’s how it all started,” he recalls. My 18-year-old son went to help near Laval.”
Preventive routine
In order to reassure and protect the rest of his family, the chief and his son followed a preventive routine when arriving from work.
“We changed for the first time when we left and we put our clothes of the day in drain bags. Once at home, we took off our clothes once more in the garage and put everything in the washer. Finally, we showered before going to see others.”
None of this has cooled the fervor of Francis Lanouette, who has already informed the public health of his region that he would be delighted to put on his visor and his jacket again if a second wave struck”.
First, the Bloc Québécois fully supports its leader, the 31 MPs. Easy to do in the case of an anonymous FB post on an anonymous site (apparently not hosted in Canada?), which is logically and apparently defamatory.
Second, Mr. Blanchet did an outstanding press conference. You can begin hearing him at 12:43 minutes of the following video, in French followed by questions in both languages (answers in French).
Mr. Blanchet is right. In Québec and in Canada, we are lucky to live in a country that has a rule of of law.
At one point during his press conference, he invited us to close our eyes and imagine for one second that we are in his shoes. Indeed, what an awful situation to find oneself in. How unfair, to say the least.
As his peers described him in their statement cited above, Mr. Blanchet is a decent man of integrity. Indeed, we can see, hear, and feel this in his verbal and non-verbal communication during this press conference (and throughout his career).
Bambi has been following the performance of this politician for a while now. He is true to himself. His positions in the parliament and his tweets are all aligned in the direction of integrity. Québeckers are lucky to have his bloc and we, in the rest of Canada, are also benefiting. Thank you Mr. Blanchet and please keep up!
To the other politicians or public figures, make no mistake… As Ms. Denise Bombardier concluded her article recently published in the Journal de Montréal: “Who is next?”. Today, it is about Mr. Blanchet. Tomorrow it may be the turn of someone else.
It is morally wrong and it is surely not courageous to use anonymous sexual harassment or other direct or indirect allegations (racism or whatever else) as a weapon to destroy someone’s reputation, honour, and career.
Bambi will always stand up for ANYONE wrongly accused of sexual or other misconduct, whether she likes him or not, whether she shares his opinions or not.
This has nothing to do with her support for the REAL victims. As Mr. Blanchet said, our society is facing a challenge: to defend the real victims without creating new victims of defamation. Well said.
Today, standing up for Mr. Blanchet is very easy because this story does not make any sense. On top of that, and likely related to this saga, Mr. Blanchet is doing a great job (citizens do appreciate him; it shows in surveys).
Bambi thinks highly of this politician, today more than ever!
Bambi would like to thank her cousin Paul for sharing the short song below.
It features a talented unknown young voice giving hope to her fellow citizens!
The melody is well known. As for the lyrics, Bambi tried to translate them from Arabic as follows:
Even if “the economic crisis in Lebanon has turned the country into a failed state“, is it true that “there is light at the end of the tunnel“, to use the words of the Lebanese current Economy and Trade Minister?
It is hard to see that light of hope when we hear sad stories from Beirut each day. The latest is about the American University of Beirut- Medical Centre (AUBMC; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_University_of_Beirut) laying off over 500 staff (some local Lebanese media reported a total of 850 employees).
Is Lebanon (already) a “failed” state, at least economically speaking?
If so, how do so-called “failed states” recover eventually?
It seems logical to think that the political elite of a “failed state” must start by taking responsibility for their state’s failures, instead of blaming external forces or challenges.
Only such mindset can lead to a national reform plan. The latter (or anything that seriously looks like it) is what is expected by the IMF or any other foreign investor.
Of course, Lebanon’s road to recovery will be a very long process that will require a genuine commitment to that reform plan, along with citizen’s patience (if at all possible, despite what has been done to them!).
Without this commitment, there is NO “light at the end of the tunnel”…
If you recall, Bambi’s latest post about Mr. Trudeau was to congratulate him for his “national order of the cedar” award ?:
Yesterday, Bambi was amused to read Mr. Richard Martineau’s funny article in the Journal de Montréal. The latter is one of the rare media where we can still read columnists with diverse opinions, along the political spectrum (e.g., federalists, sovereignists , “Trudeauist” even, ecological, etc.) Some may be more on a so-called right or conservative side (i.e., at least economically). This being said, one must keep in mind that Québeckers have historically been on the socialist (or left) side of politics like in France… so their right side is not that “right”, even if we hear otherwise in the media. This is either a misconception due to ignorance of Québec… or a pure lie ?.
Anyhow, it is the diversity of opinions that makes Bambi enjoy reading this newspaper. It reminds her of one from her childhood in Beirut, called An Nahar. The latter has been notoriously known for this diversity of opinion (she hopes this is still the case after 30 years away). We learn from each article, especially from those with different perspectives. We get a sense of the truth by reading all sides. During a civil war, such intellectual diversity is refreshing!
Bearing this in mind, before presenting a quick translation of Mr. Martineau’s article, here are some of the latest news about the We Charity saga:
“WE Charity listed real estate holdings worth $43.7M in 2018”.
“Trudeau government was willing to pay WE Charity up to $43.5M to run student volunteer grant program”. Wow. Bambi doesn’t know many charities who can afford all this, even if this organization may have argued that this helps them in saving money on space location.
Just for fun, Bambi did a quick search of our federal government’s website. She read all the letters of mandate of our federal ministers, including the “Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth”, cited above:
All the letters of mandate include a reminder to our Ministers about the Conflict of Interest Act. This is a standardized format. It means that Mr. Morneau must have received this reminder as well ?.
“As Minister, you must ensure that you are aware of and fully compliant with the Conflict of Interest Act and Treasury Board policies and guidelines. You will be provided with a copy of Open and Accountable Government to assist you as you undertake your responsibilities. I ask that you carefully read it, including elements that have been added to strengthen it, and ensure that your staff does so as well. I expect that in staffing your offices you will hire people who reflect the diversity of Canada, and that you will uphold principles of gender equality, disability equality, pay equity and inclusion.”
Since it is Mr. Trudeau’s second mandate (the letter is signed by him) and given his history of three ethical deviations thus far, he should have been more familiar with this Conflict of Interest Act ?.
Anyhow, here is another opinion piece about the We Charity:
As Mr. Chris Selley wrote: “similar ethics scandals might require resignations elsewhere but this is Canada“…. Mind you, it happens in Lebanon too ? or ☹ (not a good analogy for us these days!):
One may wonder why Minister Bardish Chagger has provided the information above. Is the idea of her party to eventually terminate he mandate, pay a $500 fine, and keep the head (our PM) et al.? It remains a possibility. Let’s wait and see…
Yesterday, the Deputy Minister told us the following:
“Clearly our government made a mistake… the entire cabinet bears responsibility for the WE Charity controversy…” :
Mr. Trudeau is lucky to have an articulate DP to help him look better in the middle of ethical scandals. Nevertheless, despite her good words, we want answers and clarifications. We want answers to the Ethics committee, not to friendly journalists (perhaps her former colleagues?).
This being said, here is a quick translation of Mr. Martineau’s piece ?:
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/opinions/richard-martineau
“What is happening in Ottawa right now is extremely important.
We will finally know if Justin Trudeau is a human being like you and me or a superhero.
THE TEFLON MAN
Indeed, if our Prime Minister goes through this scandal which is growing day by day, it proves beyond a doubt that he is a superhero with extraordinary powers.
The Teflon Man.
A creature from space that nothing sticks to.
He is blamed by the Ethics Commissioner for using public funds to pay for a little relaxation trip on the private island of his buddy, his Highness the Aga Khan?
He comes out intact!
He is blamed by the Ethics Commissioner a second time for pressuring the Minister of Justice to help SNC-Lavalin avoid a criminal trial?
He got away without a scratch!
If he comes out of this third scandal, I swear to you, I will buy a white outfit, I will shave my head and I will enter the Order of St. Justin.
I will spend the rest of my life praising the glory of our Prime Minister.
A CHUM IS A CHUM!
For those who were too busy with the witch hunt that is currently rampant on social networks to follow what was happening in Ottawa (Who soaked his willie in a drink? Who bit whom? Who will lose his job just because his name appeared on an anonymous list?), let’s remember the facts.
[Mr. Martineau is referring to all the sexual harassment accusations on social media, especially in the artistic community; Disclaimer: English is neither the first nor the second language of Bambi. She just learned the word “willie”, yes at her adult middle-age ?. It seems to be the most accurate translation of the term “didine” in French].
Justin – who is never short of ideas when it comes to healing his image as a saint, especially if it involves public money – has a flash: he is going to create a program to encourage young people to do volunteering … by paying them!
And to manage this 900 million program, he chooses … the charity WE!
Organization that will be paid … 19.5 million for its services!
Organization whose main ambassador is … his wife!
Organization that paid handsomely … for his mother, brother and wife to give talks!
Organization that received … 1.18 million from the federal government to organize a Canada Day event in 2017!
Event that featured … the mother of PM!
Mother of PM who received … $ 312,000 from WE in the past four years!
WE who never ceases to praise the greatness and the generosity of … Justin Trudeau in its ads!
As Raoul Duguay said: “Everything is in everything! “
“MY APOLOGIES!”
Every day we learn new crisp details about this scandal.
And what did Justin Trudeau do to calm the media?
He apologized!
Our PM knew WE paid family members … but he didn’t know HOW much he paid them!
Wow.
That’s an excuse, my friends.
It’s as if a singer took the pants down and said, “I didn’t know I was putting my willie [now Bambi has learned this term] in a glass of gin, I thought I was putting it in a glass of scotch! “
I’m telling you: if Justin gets out, I walk barefoot behind him.”
