To conclude, here are earlier posts about the event.
THANK you Mika et al.!
Here is Mika’s “I love Beirut concert” for you!
Author: Bambi
Mika “loves Beirut” where he was born: Don’t forget his live-stream benefit concert tomorrow!
Below you can find an earlier post by Bambi on this concert. Again, many thanks to Mika! Thanks also to all his guests and peers!
Have you heard anything more absurd than a pledge called “Canadian Investor Statement on Diversity & Inclusion”?
Canadians are losing their mind, it seems to Bambi these days.
Why is she saying so? Well, they are literally obsessed with what they call “diversity & inclusion” and with “systemic racism“.
This obsession does not seem to be really about making sure that our society is welcoming to all. It seems to be increasingly more about imposing a rigid imported ideology on our brains and in our lives, controlling the boards of our companies, our choices of investment, the operations in schools we send our kids too, etc.
When will all this stop? This has become a dangerous game.
Bambi recently read articles in the media about how bad medicine in Canada is because of racism :). Other articles are about systemic racism on university campuses, in the judicial system, and literally even on the streets of “white Ottawa” . Who calls the capital of a country like that? Only the real racists would think of such a label.
If we are that BAD as a country, why is our federal government keen on supporting the distressed Lebanese people since the Beirut explosion of August 4, 2020:
https://www.cicnews.com/2020/09/new-immigration-measures-to-support-lebanon-0915797.html#gs.gga4wu
Why would we be bringing traumatized potential immigrants to a horrible country filled with structural racism and not diverse enough to be welcoming to them? Shouldn’t we pause immigration to fix our DEEP societal issues?
The ultimate cult-like Diversity & Inclusion fashion Bambi has seen is a pledge called the “Canadian Investor Statement on Diversity & Inclusion“:
https://riacanada.formstack.com/forms/canadian_investor_statement_on_di
This statement starts with the following words: “We, the undersigned institutional investors, acknowledge the existence of systemic racism and its impacts on Black and Indigenous communities and People of Colour in Canada and globally.
We furthermore acknowledge the existence of inequities and discrimination with respect to factors including, but not limited to gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, culture and socio-economic status.”
How can we take this group seriously when they apply their diagnosis of systemic racism to both Canada and globally.
You want systemic racism, go to some Arab or Muslim countries of the Middle East or… go to China and see how it treats its Muslim minority.
You want discrimination against women, go to some countries of the Middle East.
You want killing of gays, go to Iran or to other Islamic countries, perhaps to Saudi Arabia?
You want religious stupidity similar to what you are imposing on us in Canada now (with this dangerous racial or identity politics), go to Lebanon. Trust Bambi, sectarianism is a VERY dangerous game. It has lead to a 15-year civil war in 1975.
Please give Bambi a break from ideology.
We are far from being perfect, for sure. There are racist people anywhere and everywhere (it is part of human nature). It is surely not to the extent of justifying our collective stupidity and the resulting proposed solutions.
Indeed, we need to be mindful. The solution may be much worse than the problem. As an analogy, we can think of some extreme/unrealistic solutions proposed by some in their “fight” against climate change.
Talking about climate change, funny how this new obsession with systemic racism seems to have replaced the obsession with the changing climate. In both concepts of climate change and systemic racism, there is an element of truth. In both, it is hard to measure. In both, we see ideologies more than science. In both, we have heard stories of people silenced for not having blindly endorsed or questioned the methods (e.g., BLM, etc.). What a shame because both problems of racism and climate deserve our utmost serious attention!
According to ideologists, Bambi would be a person of so-called colour (BIPOC to use a fashionable acronym). However, in Bambi’s mind she is just a deer. Not any deer. A Canadian deer who thinks that it is time to question this collective insanity and remember to focus on what unites us, as a country, instead of what divides us.
Indeed, we are all Canadians, ideally united through a shared love for our country. Canada should come first and remain ABOVE any specific community we may belong to. PLEASE LET’S NOT LEBANONIZE OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY.
Bambi sometimes wonders if the best thing about a serious issue, like our concern to be the most welcoming possible, is simply to leave things as they are without forcing any unneeded (and absurd) change.
Just let us live… and please relax and live yourself too. Life is not just beautiful but also short.
Bambi may be wrong but, in her non-expert citizen opinion, if we push the concept (now it is an ideology or almost an orthodoxy) of “Diversity & Inclusion” too much, we risk excluding those who do not think like us, even those from so-called diverse groups mentioned above. Is this what we really want for our society? To impose diversity in a very reduced manner (e.g., skin colour) AND at all costs, even to the point of sacrificing the diversity of opinions and voices in a society?
He may have a nasty character, he may call some countries “shitholes”, he may be vulgar with women… but let’s admit it: Today, he succeeded in making history in the Middle East
https://apnews.com/7544b322a254ebea1693e387d83d9d8b
As mentioned in the article above, Israel and two Arab countries, UAE and Bahrein, signed “historic diplomatic pacts”.
Even if the media is usually mostly biased against Mr. Trump, always making fun of him (there is material, one must say…), President Trump did something good for humanity today: PEACE.
Some may say ok but the timing is meant to help making him good before elections. Well, bravo for his administration for being smart enough to arrange the timing of the announcement now, to work to his advantage.
Some write: Well, the UAE already had ties with Israel but secretly. Well, this relationship is now out of the closet. It takes much courage to do so in the Middle East… A HUGE taboo has been broken today (as everyone usually hates Israel).
Those deals will change the course of history at so many levels. Bambi can think of research collaborations that could benefit generations of trainees across sectors. We can think of business deals that would generate prosperity to all the countries involved. On the security front, it may help coordination among them, for sure. It will perhaps impress Iran enough to stop its destructive influence in the region. Who knows, one day, Iran may be invited to make peace with the United States. Hopefully, all this will translate on the ground with better days for all the innocent populations in Iran itself, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, Irak, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and in Israel.
Bambi is writing all this, without forgetting the injustice triggered by the creation of the State of Israel, to the poor Palestinians… and, by extension, to all of us in the Arab world. especially the neighbouring Lebanon in which the original conflict has spilled over. This being said, we are in a new era now, time for peace. Time to move forward in life.
The reality is that the Palestinians also have corruption like Lebanese politicians. They also have an Islamist party that is being instrumentalized by Iran (just like in Lebanon). The leader of this party, called Hamas, went to Beirut recently to meet with Mr. Nasrallah (Hezbollah). He also met with folks in the Palestinian camps.
Whether Israel or Palestine (or Hezbollah or Iran), all these entities have often given Bambi the impression of validating their own existence with the hate of the other entity. They cannot exist without hating the other, in other terms. Well, today, we can perhaps allow ourselves to dream peace, even if it will not be comprehensive and as just as we would have liked it to be at one point in time (land for peace… now it is peace for prosperity).
Can we just call it peace for the sake of peace? As human beings, we have the right to live in a peaceful country. We have the right to be able to say: Enough of wars, enough of hate, no?
It is Bambi’s hope that Palestine will stop boycotting the Trump administration and will consider direct negotiations of peace with Israel. The latter must show respect to the Palestinians by stopping any new colonization and surely annexation (the latter seems to be the case now, bravo).
Who knows? One day, we may see the two states of Israel and Palestine living in peace next to each other. Bambi would love (have loved?) to see Jerusalem as the capital of both states. Not from a religious perspective. She does not care about that, despite the faith in her heart. It is more from a citizen’s rights perspective. Period.
One day, Bambi’s nephews and nieces will hopefully live long enough to see a sovereign and prosperous Lebanon living in peace with all its neighbours, namely both Syria and Israel, while being in peace with both Iran and all the Arab countries. Of course, also having enriching diplomatic relations with all the European countries, the USA, and with all the countries of the world (including China). In Lebanon, they call this concept, “positive neutrality”. Only the latter can guarantee safety to tiny yet beautiful Lebanon.
To conclude this post, it takes much courage to extend your hand to your former enemy. Bravo for doing it for the sake of the children of “Abraham” (as per the name of the peace deals)… and the children who are not related to Abraham.
As we say in Arabic and in Hebrew: Mabrouk & Mazal Tov.
Mr. Macron, can France temporarily re-colonize Lebanon, that has failed its citizens and… the international community!?
Mr. Macron gave the Lebanese brainless and corrupt political leaders two weeks to form a government. They failed to do so.
They stole public funds. They resorted to a historical banking fraud.
They allowed terror to hijack their beautiful country from within in the name of imported ideologies serving the interests of foreign powers.
They forgot that they are supposed to represent and serve the Lebanese citizens.
Of course, like the rest of the world, their country had the coronavirus to cope with.
Since September 1st, 2020, they are now fighting for the remaining melting pieces of the cake of power… For instance, the Hezbollah and their allied Amal movement insist on keeping the Ministry of Finances. They called it “theirs” since 2014. Can you imagine the arrogance of their demands?
Other political leaders are probably demanding other governmental Ministries.
Welcome to Lebanon, where forming a government takes months of bargaining. Such a long process may be the case of other respectable countries like Belgium, if Bambi is not mistaken. However, the difference is that in this and other European countries people respect the rule of law. Yes, they also must have corruption here and there, like us in Canada, but surely not to epidemic levels like tiny bankrupt Lebanon.
This being said, Lebanon is the country of miracles where anything is possible. A new government may see the light tomorrow, next month or in December 2020 when Mr. Macron will return to Lebanon for the third time since the surrealistic explosion of August 4th, 2020. This may hopefully bring stability and/or the trust of investors again. However, what is the point of changing the faces of politicians, if it is without any SIGNIFICANT change?
The Lebanese people have been demanding a change of their failed political system since October 17, 2020 (financial crisis).
They have asked for new elections sine then.
They want an international investigation to the Beirut explosion. Yesterday, the Beirut Bar Association demanded the latter again. So did Amnesty International, twice not just once!
Lebanese people had wished to see a fair outcome to the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon for the killing of Mr. Hariri and many innocent citizens. This tribunal took years and was partly financed by Lebanon (i.e., tax payers’ money). What did it achieve? It just showed that the UN is incapable of delivering justice. What a shame… as we are talking about a UN in which Lebanon is a proud founding member.
To come back to you Mr. Macron, of course you are also thinking of France’s best interests in Lebanon and the region (Bambi hopes you are, as this means you are a decent President of your country…). Regardless, you have proved that you care deeply and genuinely about the Lebanese people. You shared their grief. You showed compassion to their suffering, you listened to their anger, you gave them your respect, time, and attention. This in addition to all the aid on the ground and the generous donations directly to the people, as Canada cleverly did.
They say in the media that France and the USA have different approaches to solving problems as complex as Lebanon’s saga. In their respective ways, at least, both are trying to do something good for that doomed Middle East.
For a change, it would be nice to see all the people of this part of the world living in peace. Peace of mind, to begin with. Peace, trust, and hopefully love one day… yes love among citizens of a same country and among nations. Is this too much to ask for in 2020?
Until then, Mr. Macron may think that Bambi is out of her mind as she is asking him for the favour of re-colonizing her birth country. How can she say so in a world where the Western civilization is accusing itself of being a monster (deserving to vanish) for having had a colonial past. Funny how we think so whilst totally ignoring those civilizations that are currently colonizing brains and entire countries. We do not hold them to the same standards.
Mind you, Bambi is highly patriotic in life. Yes, she loves Canada whilst having a deep tenderness for her birth country Lebanon. It breaks her heart to see the latter struggling for its democracy and survival. In other terms, Bambi honours where she has chosen to take root whilst always remembering where she originally comes from.
Despite her dignified feelings (or because of them actually), she is kindly asking if you can consider her request… just in case Lebanon “succeeds” in (fully?) earning the title of a “failed state” .
A cry from the heart: Mr. Ghassan Rahbani’s moving song for Lebanon!
Why is our publicly-funded CBC again dividing us into “blacks” and “whites”?
The CBC news documentary below wants us to believe that anti-black racism is so bad in our schools and in our society, at least in two Canadian provinces (i.e., Ontario and Nova Scotia).
Things are presented as being too bad to the point that parents of “black” school-aged Canadians are taking charge of race and history courses.
Yes, extremely bad that we are now incorporating a black history course into science, maths, and even into physical education.
One of these days, Canadian people will start getting upset by all this victimhood discourse. This could fuel racism (for real).
Would you be surprised when his happens? Bambi won’t be.
Mr. Maka Kotto: “Fighting racism with discrimation?” [“Combattre le racisme par la discrimination?”]
Below is a thoughtful article by Mr. Maka Kotto published in the Journal de Montréal:
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/09/14/combattre-le-racisme-par-la-discrimination
Bambi shares the exact same opinion as Mr. Kotto. Indeed, she does not like the idea of a program meant to support “black” entrepreneurs. Mind you, she would say the same about any future program that would claim to be bringing justice to any part of her complex identity (Lebanese roots, Arab origins, Middle-Eastern, genetically linked to the Phoenicians, remotely associated with Byzantine, short Canadian women, left-handed Sackvilians, etc.).
Programs like this one are somehow insulting as they carry an underlying message: you, members of this or that group, you cannot make it based on merit, like the rest of us. You have to be treated differently. Is this fair to the so-called target group? Is it fair to the rest of the population (all the potential hard-working Canadian entrepreneurs)?
Bambi is asking the above questions, regardless of any noble intentions of our PM. She does not know about you but she is personally disappointed by the vision of our PM for Canada. She thought she has left her birth country 30 years ago, precisely because of clientelism :(. As Mr. Kotto wrote, all this “without even going at the bottom of the debate surrounding racism before such an announcement“.
It is Bambi’s hope that Mr. Trudeau et al. will hear his perspective, even if they have already announced the program in question. Perhaps they would realize what they are doing to our society before they engage in further similar decisions.
Enough of Bambi’s blahblahblah. Here is a quick translation of Mr. Kotto’s article for you. Following it, you will see earlier posts on the same topic.
“Prime Minister Trudeau has just announced the creation of a program to specifically support “black” entrepreneurs. He particularly justifies this by the fact that the lack of access to capital is an obstacle to the economic success of members of “black communities” in Canada.
This $ 221 million program in partnership with banks will provide up to $ 250,000 in loans to “black” entrepreneurs. In addition, it will facilitate their access to training and advice in financial planning and business management.
Systemic racism in financial institutions?
If I understood Prime Minister Trudeau correctly, there is systemic racism in Canada’s financial institutions. A revelation for me because I have not experienced it personally. I bank at Desjardins.
I do take note, however, that the problem exists in Canada, in reference to PM Trudeau’s announcement.
I declare my interest
I am “black” by the force of an obscure convention that my ancestors never signed. So, as a citizen labeled “Black,” I should selfishly clap, shut up and vote for Justin Trudeau in the impending federal election to make sure this new fund tailored for me will survive!
And to hell with the basic debate on racism and discrimination!
A poisoned gift?
Trudeau says the goal of the program is to help “thousands of black business owners and entrepreneurs across the country recover from the crisis and grow their businesses.”
And he adds: “The pandemic has brought to light the inequalities that disproportionately affect black communities in Canada as well as the need to revive our economy so as to offer all Canadians an equal chance to succeed.”
Why only “black” communities? Faced with financial institutions, don’t “White”, “Green”, “Pink”, “Red”, “Yellow”, “Brown” and other enigmatic skin colors entrepreneurs face the same challenges as “Blacks”?
In our democratic life, the dominant reading instruments bear names. They are called: sensation, perception, emotion, impression, intuition. He and Mr. Trudeau’s advisers should know that. It’s elementary.
There is reason to fear tensions and backlash vis-à-vis “blacks” in relation to this discriminatory response against racism. The capacity of the population, as a whole, to instinctively appreciate the order of things it imposes seems to me very weak.
Address the root causes of the “disease of racism”; not just the symptoms, that’s what I would have expected. In total transparency, it would first have been necessary to publicly do the work of pedagogy by going to the bottom of the debate surrounding racism before such an announcement.”
It is nice of his colleague to defend him, but this Dean should have not apologized as he did not do anything wrong
We learn from a CBC article entitled “Laurentian University professor concerned about ‘cancel culture’ in academia” the following:
“Laurentian University professor in Sudbury, Ont. has signed a petition to have her colleague reinstated after what she calls ‘a clumsy and badly written’ Tweet.
In June, David Lesbarrères used the hashtag #ALLLIVESMATTERS in a tweet.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/laurentian-university-cancel-culture-tweet-racism-1.5720609
It is VERY nice of his colleague to defend him. Bravo to her.
However, in Bambi’s non-expert citizen’s opinion, we should NEVER ever apologize to the mob.
Dr. Lesbarrères did not do anything wrong. His words were not “clumsy” or “badly written” in Twitter. Actually, Bambi agrees with him: All lives matter indeed! She would say the same for Lebanon, for Canada, for the US, for the whole world… If we think otherwise, we are actually being the narrow-minded ones, even if our intentions may be noble, wanting justice to one particular group.
It is the totalitarian mob that should perhaps be apologizing for silencing people who think differently, instead of showing tolerance and common sense.
This story reminds Bambi of an earlier post about a similar saga. She will end this post with it, asking the following question: When will this insanity stop?
—–
Thanks to the “National”, Bambi is finally able to introduce you to her new love: Beirut’s pelican!
If you recall, Bambi showed you pictures of this pelican, called Ovi she now learned (see the end of this post, as a reminder).
Below, you can watch a short video featuring him with his good friend Mr. Al Aoud, the café/restaurant’s owner.
https://players.brightcove.net/5367332862001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6190283017001
The video above, subtitled in English, comes from The National (https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/in-beirut-a-rescued-pelican-becomes-symbol-of-hope-in-crisis-stricken-lebanon-1.1077035#14). It was impossible to embed it within this post but at least Bambi was able to retrieve it :)!
Ovi is a daily customer of “Abou Mounir restaurant” on the “Corniche” of Beirut, facing the beautiful Mediterranean sea. As a reminder, he has been rescued by fishermen and is taken care of by Mr. Al Aoud. The latter calls him beautiful names like “Beautiful” “Good boy“. He speaks to him in English, French, and Arabic.
Bambi likes how one customer, Mr. Bazzi, described the situation. As reported in the article above, he quoted a song by famed Syrian-Egyptian singer Farid Al Atrash”, saying “life is beautiful if we understand it”. He added “Life is birds, animals, fish, trees, the sea, and the river. That’s life. And we have to understand it to live…”
To conclude this post, Bambi will share a “secret” (sorry Roula for not keeping it to herself but she is sure you do not mind): Well, this is the first time in life when both sisters are in love with the same adorable pelican :). Ms. Roula Douglas (journalist who re-tweeted the Bloomberg journalist who made the pelican famous) lives near him and Bambi follows his news from far away… She would be happy to know that Roula will meet him in person one day. Who knows? She may decide to take her laptop and go work at that restaurant one of these days (perhaps now, perhaps post-pandemic?).
As Roula wisely said, and Mr. Bazzi would not be surprised to hear, “there is always something moving when we see a sort of ongoing communication between a human being, like the café owner, and any living being from another species, like Ovi. Roula even added that “although quite different, Ovi made her think of Kayla, her dog“. Needless to say that Bambi also adores Kayla, not just Ovi!
