The University of Minnesota has been included in a 2001 book on America’s so-called “Public-Ivy Universities”. This university’s modern motto: is Driven to discover.

Recently a clinical social worker, called Ms. Cristina Combs, lectured the University of Minnesota’s students on “how to recover from whiteness”.

Her twelve-step recovery program is described in the link below:

https://tennesseestar.com/2020/10/15/university-of-minnesota-lecture-features-12-step-recovery-program-for-whiteness/

Bambi will not spend much time on this post as her time is more valuable to her than reading about society’s blind adherence to our collectively stupid times. However, in her non-expert citizen’s opinion, she cannot help not to wonder if she should laugh or cry to such program’s title and content. Indeed, she finds it sad to see our North American universities diving lower and lower in the waters of our collectively stupid times.

Who is pushing those ideological agendas on these American universities?

Why are smart people allowing themselves to fall into the trap of sectarianism (radical yet superficial one)?

Why are we teaching all this to young men and women?

Aren’t we worried about the toxic effects of such programs, despite any noble intention of the teacher or her alma mater institution?

Perhaps they just want to think they are doing something noble.  

Perhaps they are only aspiring to be the wokest of the woke.  

Perhaps they just want to feel that they fit in their collectively stupid times.

Regardless of their motivation, they may have forgotten the basics: Universities are supposed to be a lighthouse of critical thinking in a society. The latter is perhaps more urgently needed in uncertain and dark times.

The question that begs itself is the following: When will academic and other public institutions wake up and start fast swimming to the surface… to breath the fresh air of intellectual independence again?

 

The other day, in Nova Scotia, we saw images of a van (of NS’ Mikmaw fishermen) being burnt by another group of fishermen. This was SHOCKING to watch. Luckily, no one was injured!! We also heard about someone peeing in another person’s car. How sad. How insulting. Yak! https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mi-kmaw-lobster-fishery-unrest-1.5761468

Bambi will not enter into the details about this conflict, as this is not the topic of this post.

She just knows that there is a good Lebanese saying that goes like that: When we resort to violence, we lose our right (assuming we were right or mostly right). So, clearly NO to violence!! After condemning it, of course, the conflict needs to be wisely and properly addressed (not with a temporary band-aid).

In Baalbeck, Lebanon, a personal dispute degenerated into shelling. Yes, shelling! The Lebanese Army had to intervene to calm the situation. Who of us uses shelling in his personal disputes? Do you do that yourself? Bambi does not, she can assure you of it.

https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1236824

Without minimizing the violence described above, perhaps the # 1 of senseless and barbaric violence came from Paris today (no, not Lebanon; the terrorist in question was not even of Lebanese origins, thank Goodness… he was from Chechnya, it seems).

What is the story about? A school teacher was decapitated by a man because he showed kids cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a course on free expression or something:

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20201016-france-opens-terror-probe-after-fatal-stabbing-in-paris-suburb

Clearly, this man is an Islamist and clearly a terrorist. Cleary, France has a serious issue with domestic Islamist terrorism.

Mr. Macron was recently right when calling a spade a spade. Is the Muslim religion the problem? NO. Does the Muslim religion have a problem? YES, big time.  Does France have a problem with Islamism? Of course, it does. Is it just France’s problem for not having succeeded in integrating its youth from the suburbs? No, not only. Not mainly. Immigrants and their children have a responsibility toward their country too. This is something that is often forgotten in Canada by social justice activists.

Of course, things are more complex than that when, in addition to adversity, there is criminality involved. Add to this a blind religiosity and someone feeling rejected by society, the person will become an easy target for Islamist radicalism/criminality (like cult members).   

Everyone knows that Mr. Macron was right. It is not because Mr. Erdogan (Turkey) is intimidating France that Islam is not “in crisis”. Sadly, Mr. Erdogan instrumentalizes radicalized people or groups. He uses them without any respect or love. Eventually, he will get rid of them in one way or another. For now, they serve his megalomania (as neo-Sultan).

To come back to the tragedy in Paris?

As Bambi’s sarcastic spouse used to say: “Paris has become the Beirut of Europe” (in contrast with “Beirut that was the Paris of the Middle East”).

Many French people have immigrated to Canada because of terror attacks in their beautiful country. Bambi recalls a chat about this sad topic with a young traveller on a flight from London to Canada where there has been a false alarm of an attack (perhaps 2-3 years ago).  

Jewish French people have been terrorized over the past years. Many have immigrated even to the Middle East, imagine. Whom are they terrorized by, do you think?

This being said, Muslims do not like to see Prophet Mohammed (bless his name) drawn. It is not part of their religion. Freedom of expression is perceived as being an intimidation instead of and expression of freedom of thoughts or arts, etc. In Judaism, the word G-d is written instead of God because the name of God should not be written (out of respect). Perhaps this is the same idea as in Islam.

However, the problem of those French terrorists is INTOLERANCE. You do not like taking a look at those cartoons. Fine, do not. You cannot impose on others (who may not even believe in God) not to resort to drawing or arts or even cartoons. You may sue the person. You may yell at the person….but to cut his/her throat?!! Come on!

This story is traumatizing to the kids, to witnesses, to the police officers, to the family of the victim and the one of the criminal who was shot, and to the whole Parisian/French population… and by proxy all of us. Many friends of Bambi have relatives in Paris. Bambi herself has two relatives. We all worry about violence in Paris. We refuse it too, like French authorities and population. We do not want to worry about our loved ones there too, in addition to the Middle East. Leave Europe safe please. Enough is enough.

Bambi knows what she is talking about in this post. When someone in Denmark drew the Prophet Mohamed once, a group of criminals went crazy in Beirut and intimidated innocent people. They even burned the Danish embassy at the corner of her sister’s place. She was with her on the phone (from Toronto, if she recalls well) whilst they were hiding from the shooting in the air down their balcony. These people who came from God knows where even destroyed religious (Christian) symbols and cars of people. Why do innocent Beirutis have to suffer because a certain Danish cartoonist drew the Prophet Mohamed? How is that their problem?

To conclude this post, when Bambi escaped to Canada with her family, she brought with her 5 books (when they rushed fast from the Canadian embassy in Cyprus to Beirut to pack fast and fly out…). One of these books was the bible (a gift from the priest of the Saint-George church). Another book was the Quran (Muslim holy book her parents brought to her from Cairo). The other was a book that was considered controversial then to someone who believes in Jesus; we can perhaps draw an analogy with the cartoons of the Prophet that could bother Muslims? It is the French translation of the Greek The last Temptation of Christ of Mr. Nikos Kazantzakis. The two other books are irrelevant for this post but now that memories are coming back to her mind, she will say that one was her dad’s German grammar book (he was her first teacher before she went to the Goethe Institute). The last one may make her childhood friends smile. It is called “Ben est amoureux d’Anna”. No clue why she brought that book and not another one… perhaps because it was about love ? and she was 17 or… to be more practical, it was small/thin and fits in her luggage.

On a more serious note, violence goes both ways and all ways…. Violence breeds violence.

Take for example what happened in Toronto lately, we do not know the facts about the why and the how, etc. However, why did an innocent man have to be killed in front of his mosque the other day? Why should Ms. Bebe Zafis be mourning the loss of her dad now?! What a heart-breaking story ☹ (as per the below article/interview).

Violence is tragic and unacceptable, regardless of the country.   

‘The hate needs to stop’: Daughter of man killed outside Toronto mosque speaks out

Tomorrow is October 17, 2020… Yes, a year has passed since Lebanon’s protests began. So many tragic events happened to this country (and to the world with the pandemic).

First, here is Reuters‘ article entitled “A year on, Lebanon’s protests have faded and life has got worse“.

https://ca.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-crisis-protests-idCAKBN2711EZ

Second, here is Ms. Talia Lahoud that Bambi discovered a year ago. She always sings in her building. Here she is singing on August 15, 2020. Bambi has wondered if her building was near her parents in Beirut. Perhaps not in the end. Thankfully, assuming this is her building, it is still standing apparently undamaged.

Anyhow, Lebanon’s talented youth will keep speaking up or singing.

They will keep dreaming of better days for their country and a better world for all.

Bambi feels like adding the following: One day, their Lebanon will stand on its feet again. Yes, it will! It will be a truly independent country, open to the world, and filled with life, peace, accountability, democracy, prosperity, health, and love. No more corruption, no more lies, no more political sectarianism, clientelism, and… a mafia-club from the civil war era governing it (with/without a government) . No more unprotected ammonium nitrate, illegal yet imposed and glorified weapons, or just silly fireworks… and of course no more “untalented” welders.

OK, Bambi will shut up! Time to listen to Ms. Lahoud now…

Below you can read a beautiful Editorial text co-signed by Ms. Nayla De Freige (Chairperson) and Mr. Michel Helou (Executive Director). This text is copied and pasted from the following link (for your convenience). What is interesting is that we can also read their text in French and Arabic. Bravo!:

https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1236596/launching-lorient-today-independent-journalism-at-a-critical-juncture-for-lebanon.html

“Mabrouk”/Congratulations to L’OLJ!!! OK, this includes her own sister too, namely the talented journalist/Editor, L’Orient des Campus, Ms. Roula Douglas… and no, of course, Bambi is not biased at all :)!

——

“Journalism matters for Lebanon, now more than ever. Driven by this burning conviction, we are proudly announcing the launch of L’Orient Today, accessible now at www.lorient.today.            

After nearly a century of telling the news in French, we’ve decided to open up and expand into English with this sister publication to L’Orient-Le Jour, while keeping at the forefront our historic values: defending freedom, openness and tolerance; demanding transparency and accountability; promoting equality and human rights; caring for society’s weakest; and strengthening the ties between Lebanon, its diaspora and the world.

Our country is going through historic changes that could jeopardize its mere existence. A year ago, Lebanon was rocked by major protests, the thawra, against a failed elite. The people unleashed their discontent as Lebanon’s dying economic system began its collapse. Shedding partisan identities, citizens took to the streets in a powerful rebuke against the sectarian order. This long-awaited reawakening created an immense need for credible journalism for Lebanese at home and abroad, who clung to their smartphone screens trying to follow and understand the situation. This ongoing economic downfall and the tragedy of the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion has pushed thousands of citizens to emigrate and thrown an already fragile media ecosystem into turmoil, reducing the diversity of sources to the bare — and insufficient — minimum.

Today we are lacking information, points of view and critical but constructive thinking to help figure out how to tackle the challenges the country is facing. In this exceptional environment, L’Orient Today will provide hard-hitting coverage of politics, society and the economy, but will also go beyond that, aiming to tell readers what is driving the news. Our journalistic goal will not be achieved solely by covering facts made public, but also by uncovering realities that matter for the public good. Holding power to account will be one of our most vital tasks, buttressed by our staunch commitment to fact-checking and verification, and embodied in our slogan: “Speak truth to power.” News will be the core of our work, yet opinion will be crucial too, and so we intend to offer expert insight and a variety of perspectives to our readers.

L’Orient Today will abide by a fundamental rule that applies to the entire OLJ group: editorial independence and the full empowerment of the newsroom. Although we feel the need to expand our offerings and spread our values through this new medium, launching an English language edition obviously does not affect our historical attachment to French, which we’ve been writing in for the last 96 years and will keep doing for as long as L’Orient-Le Jour exists.

The quest for a nation

More fundamentally, our project draws its inspiration from what has always been a priority for our founding fathers: the quest to understand and define the essence of Lebanon, as a nation. Michel Chiha, considered the founder of Le Jour and the father of the Lebanese constitution, dedicated an important part of his life to this quest. He viewed it as a relentless “effort to find out what we are, and to explain it in the light of what we were at one time,” an effort necessary to ensure “the relative stability of our country throughout the vicissitudes of our history which has been extraordinarily eventful.”

In a powerful editorial published in 1949, Georges Naccache, founder of L’Orient, asserted: “A State is not the sum of two incapacities — and two negations will never make a nation.” What was true 70 years ago remains the same today, and after the widespread rejection of the current system should come the time to build anew. Hence our core project: to investigate the failure of the Lebanese system and reflect on how to create a better country for all its citizens. Chiha would conclude best: “Perhaps the time has come to bring oneself up to the level of one’s dreams.”

An outstanding team, integrated in a wider newsroom

In order to meet this challenge, we’ve put together a unique team as — simply put — journalism is a people’s business. Benjamin Redd, a former reporter and editor at Executive Magazine and The Daily Star, will serve as our managing editor. His professional achievements, deep knowledge of Lebanon and leadership skills have convinced us he was the right person with which to build this venture. Around Ben, we are setting up a newsroom of 10 journalists that will rapidly grow to answer the need and that will be fully integrated into our other newsrooms, in order to draw on the expertise of our 60+ journalists in total, no matter their language. L’Orient Today becomes the latest addition to a media group with L’Orient-Le Jour, the French-language daily, as flagship, led by Emilie Sueur and Elie Fayad, as well as Le Commerce du Levant, our economic publication, led by Sahar al Attar. They will all work hand in hand.

Safeguarding a century-old institution from financial trouble and political peril

It’s also important to acknowledge the role played by our shareholders. Four families — Eddé, Choueiri, Pharaon and Rizk — own a large majority of L’Orient-Le Jour’s capital, and have ensured the survival and development of the group by ongoing financial support in harsh times. This has allowed us to reject any kind of political financing. Conceived as an NGO-like structure, L’Orient-Le Jour has not paid any dividend (since at least 1990) — a pledge that our late chairman, Michel Eddé, would hammer at every board meeting throughout the 29 years that he stood at the helm of the newspaper. Besides, L’Orient-Le Jour’s shareholders have always kept the rule of editorial independence at heart. When asked by then-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri why his newspaper was persistently attacking the government to which he belonged, Eddé would respond: “I’m sorry Abu Bahaa, they are journalists, not employees.”

Yet, no matter how benevolent our shareholders are, true independence will only come from our readers. Hence our emphasis on building a unique relationship with our audience, essential to developing a robust digital subscription model, as we learned from L’Orient-Le Jour’s transformation experience. Through that business model, we are aiming to make L’Orient Today self-sufficient within five years. By relying mainly on subscribers, we are tying our financial performance to our editorial success. We expect the diaspora to account for an important share of subscribers, and will openly seek to cement the bridges between those who have left and their homeland.

L’Orient-Le Jour’s long-term goal is to write a new chapter in the Middle Eastern media landscape. At a time where most of the news outlets are either politically controlled or facing financial difficulties, our objective is to build a media group that is both independent and sustainable. As ambitious as this might be, we feel this is something we owe to Beirut, given what our capital used to stand for in the Arab press.

There is no doubt that the image we will paint of Lebanon in the coming years will be mostly grim. We pledge nonetheless to try to give you hope about Lebanon’s future. Read us — we’ve lifted the paywall for a start — share your feedback and, if you enjoy our work, subscribe to join our community. Lebanon needs journalism, and journalism needs you.”

Nayla De Freige is the chairperson of L’Orient-Le Jour

Michel Helou is the executive director of L’Orient-Le Jour

“Nicole “Coco” Melki, age 74, of Fishers, Indiana passed away on Monday, October 12, 2020. Nicole was born on January 10, 1946 to the late Georges and Odette (Chidiac) Manoli in Beirut, Lebanon.

Preceded in death by her husband Robert and her sister Michelle, Nicole is survived by her two sons Georges and Serge Melki with his wife Viviane, daughter Joëlle Melki and her sister Paula Manoli.

Nicole grew up in Lebanon, got married at a very young age of 17 to Robert. When the war broke out in 1975, like every head of the family at the time, Robert had to leave the country to work in the Gulf in order to provide for his wife and three kids at the time aged 7,5, and 3.

With the help of her mom, Nicole brought up the kids during the war and worked as an Elementary school teacher for 30 years. In 2002, her son Serge moved her to the United States to take better care of her health.

She became a US Citizen in July 2010 and made the local news because she was crying profusely during the swear-in ceremony and was the only person in the room from Lebanon. For the next 10 years, she has been very active with the International Women Indiana (https://indianaiwi.org/) and joined their Writer’s group where she entertained the audience with her lighthearted, simple stories that she wrote.

In addition, she was very famous for her cooking demonstration events and made the news again with the Indy Star when a reporter was present at one of the events.

She was loved by everyone she touched and exhumed kindness and gentle positivity with a constant smile on her face despite her health ordeals and pains that very few were aware off.

She will be in our heart and mind forever. A truly unforgettable mother and woman”.

The above is taken from:

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/indianapolis-in/nicole-melki-9731415

In addition to pictures and videos, shared by her family and MANY friends, we learn the following:

A funeral service for Nicole will be held Sunday, October 18, 2020 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Feeney-Hornak Keystone Mortuary, 2126 E. 71st St, Indianapolis, Indiana 46220. A livestreaming of the service will be on the Feeney-Hornak Keystone Facebook page.

Contributions in Nicole’s memory may be made to St. Vincent Foundation, https://give.stvincent.org/.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.feeneyhornakkeystone.com for the Melki family.

• FAMILY
• Georges Manoli, Father (deceased)
• Odette (Chidiac) Manoli, Mother (deceased)
• Georges Melki, Son
• Serge Melki (Viviane), Son
• Joelle Melki, Daughter

“Lebanon, Israel held ‘productive’ border talks – U.S. and UN statement“.

https://www.reuters.com/article/lebanon-israel-talks-usa-int/lebanon-israel-held-productive-border-talks-us-and-un-statement-idUSKBN26Z1NP

Lebanon is going through its worse economic crisis since last October 17, 2019.

Yes, soon it will be a full year since the Lebanese revolution against the corruption of its whole political elite (all of them, including those who think they are morally superior to other peers).

This is when the crash of the Ponzi scheme abruptly took place, pushing the Lebanese people into the streets. Bambi has posted on the latter many times. As a reminder, this type of fraudulent investing scam has promised high rates of return, with low risk, to investors. How sad to see the Lebanese citizens victims of this fraud caused by the duo of their own government/central bank. As explained to Bambi by her good friend George, all Ponzi schemes ends up eventually by collapsing (i.e., as it becomes more and more difficult to recruit new investors and/or when MANY investors ask to cash out at once).

Of course, there has been many events since the collapse or crash of the Lebanese Ponzi scheme, including the covid-19 pandemic with its further impact on a collapsing economy and, of course, the Beirut explosion of August 4th, 2020. In turn, the latter tragedy put even more toll on the economy as well as on the moral of the Lebanese people.

Now, to come back to the story behind this post, it is about two countries in a state of war and boycott for decades. It is touchy because one country occupied the other for a long time. In turn, the other country is being hijacked by a militia that decides the fate of war and peace with this country post-liberation.

Today, it seems that everyone is aligned on what matters the most here: the economy. Indeed, the Lebanese government as well as the Israeli government, and of course the Hezbollah (or Hezbollah/Amal) are all on the same page. If Hezbollah did not accept in the first place, today’s first talk would have never taken place, after a decade of failing negotiations about this dispute (or no will to negotiate?). For sure, Hezbollah is proud and wants to remind everyone that this is not part of any peace (or normalization) negotiation. Israel is also careful in its language.

Mind you, even if this is not peace (and we all get it!), this is the closest it can get to something that resembles common sense/peace. Bravo to all the players involved and thanks to the hosting UN and the mediating USA!

Of course, if those talks to solve the maritime borders’ “technical” issue are eventually fruitful (in weeks or months), it is win-win situation for all. Indeed, both countries have been badly impacted by covid-19 (like the whole planet, including us in Canada). However, everyone knows about the tragic situation in Lebanon. The latter badly needs both reforms and a sustainable economy. Yes, for that, it definitely needs natural gas in order not to be too dependent on other countries. More specifically, Lebanon badly needs electricity for its economic growth (and to pay its huge public debt). If Bambi understands well, natural gas is now the main energy source for electricity production in Israel (also used in industry but to a much lesser extent). They are now self-sufficient and they even provide Jordan and Egypt with natural gas. Lebanon has a lot to win from these talks. Good luck!

To conclude this post, it is Bambi’s hope that those who govern Lebanon will begin to fix corruption, to seriously punish it, to reform sector after sector, file after file (and ideally to considering retiring from political life to allow new blood, unrelated to civil war, into the political system). The people of Lebanon are beyond desperate for any positive change, even a small OR possibly large one (it is unclear yet how much natural gas is present).

In Bambi’s non-expert citizen’s opinion, this is a good development in the Middle East. If Lebanon has natural gas like the rest of its neighbours, she hopes that no one will steal its richness, neither internal nor external forces. This richness should benefit the Lebanese citizens and bring some hope for a more dignified future for their country!

Bambi is still speechless since this morning.

“Tante Madame Nicole”, you left too soon/too fast, and perhaps there is comfort in the latter.

Madame Nicole Melki was Bambi’s French teacher in Lebanon. She is the mother of her childhood friend Joëlle (+ her loving brothers, Serge and George) and the mother-in-law of Viviane.

Her funny title/name “tante Madame Nicole” comes from Bambi’s silly mouth as a child. She loves her dearly like family, hence the “aunty” (or “tante” part). The “Madame” is for the utmost respect to the teacher in her. Bambi owes her her love of the beautiful French language with its brilliantly conceived grammar. As for “Nicole” part, it is simply because this is whom she has been to all of us. A wonderful, loving, smart, tender, ethical, incredibly funny, successfully sarcastic , and unique Nicole that EVERYONE loves!! She has been both a mother and a lifetime friend to her children (and even friends, or rather “cousins”, of her children).

She has even been an inspiring cooking teacher to Bambi’s spouse. We owe her many tips, including his successful trick of “riz wa dijej” that is presented as a cake of rice, chicken, minced beef, and roasted almonds. OK, Bambi is using the royal we here Nicole, but only to make you smile from heaven. As you have teased her lately: “Well, if Louis cooks ALL this, what does Bambi do in life 🙂 :)”?! Bambi had to explain that, at least, she cleans the house :). Well, Bambi is happy she recently impressed you (+ her mom and herself!) with her 2-week-cooking for her spouse when he was in quarantine last month. Yes, there is hope Nicole, even for clearly untalented cooking students.

What breaks Bambi’s heart is how you were dreaming of coming to visit Sackville and she has dreamed to go see you in Indianapolis, as you know. Sadly, we did not have the time. The pandemic surprised us and your stroke was even faster. Between her tears (and smiles), Bambi would like to offer you a song (of course in French!). She thinks you may like it. She hopes it may bring a second of comfort to your children in the Unites States and in Beirut. She can only share one drop of their ocean of grief journey.

Bambi’s family will never forget our moments of escape to Cyprus to the Canadian embassy, and earlier, so many times in boats of different shapes and speed. We spent unforgettable times together. Bambi also had the honour to see you in Beirut during her visits over the last 30 years before you immigrated yourself.

Sadly, your heart died saddened to what happened to your Beirut, including your neighbourhood [where Joujou (= George) lives] and the school you devoted your career to]. Please rest in peace and… when you will be in peace, send both Lebanon and the USA your hope for more peaceful, healthy, and prosperous days.

Love transcends death. As the song goes, “juste un au revoir… pas un adieu“. May your memory be eternal!

—

With all my loyal love to you and a big hug to you Joëlle “habibi”, along with her DEAR Serge and George who are the best children and brothers than anyone could dream of.

Bambi.

Can’t we build a better tomorrow without destroying yesterday?

Can’t we want strong social and mental health programs without insulting our police?

Can’t we see that we are all one—the politicians, people, and our police?

Can’t we be patriotic and self-critical toward our country/people?

Can’t we be so-called feminists without hating men?

Can’t we be males, or whatever else, and honouring women?

Can’t we be to the left without hating the right?

Can we be to the right of the left, without making fun of the latter and without being diabolized by it?

Can we see the merit, and potential excesses, of BOTH the left and the right?

Can’t we be ecological whilst still loving our energy sector?

Can we love our energy sector whilst being green(er)?

Can’t we want justice for all without self-flagellation?

Can’t we enjoy our diversity whilst valuing our unity?

Can’t we remember to value intellectual diversity as much as we value (or pretend to value) other diversities?

Can we be for social justice without virtual signalling?

Can’t we aspire for social (and/or gender) justice without denying biology?

Can’t we be respectful and honour our Indigenous fellow citizens without repeating land acknowledgements?

Can we be Indigenous, demanding better laws and environments for our kids, without denigrating Canada?

Can we have faith in God whilst doubting that we may be wrong or being atheist whilst doubting that we may be missing something?

Can’t we be passionate about the climate and earth whilst wondering if our proposed solutions are not worse than the problem?

Can we be globalist whilst seeing the logic of sovereigntists?

Can’t we dislike globalism whilst keeping in mind that nothing is all black and white in life?

Can’t we (i.e., OK the Americans) support Mr. Biden without hating Mr. Donald Trump (even if the high narcissism of the latter does not help)?

Can’t we (i.e., OK the Americans) vote for Trump without making fun of Mr. Biden?

Can we be pro-choice whilst accepting that others may be pro-life?

Can we be pro-life without wanting to impose our views on those who are pro-choice?

Can’t we be against both abortions and death penalty whilst respecting pro- or any choices of others?

Can’t we be for justice and against discrimination to anyone without endorsing radical groups?

Can we respect Islam whilst also seeing the danger of radical Islamism?

Can’t we respect our enemies even when we do not agree with them… or when we are busy hating them?

Can’t we acknowledge that we may be wrong even when (mostly) right?

Can’t we accept that others are not betraying us just because they think differently?

Can’t we value the lives of people with a black skin whilst preferring to think that all lives matter, including the lives of the former?

Are we allowed to reject radical movements (BLM, etc.) without being accused of being racist?

Can’t we see that both ANTIFA and (truly) far-right groups are the side of a same coin called intolerance?

Can’t we be lefties without thinking that those to the right are morons or supremacists?

Can’t we like right-wing politics whilst acknowledging the value of left-wing perspectives?

Can’t we be pro-immigration whilst questioning mass immigration?

Can’t we be socialists without hating capitalism?

Can’t we be capitalists whilst remaining people-oriented and seeing the merit of some socialism?

Why should we always see the glass half-full OR half-empty respectively and strictly?

 Can we think that we are right without becoming dogmatic?

Can’t we denounce dogmatism in our opponents as much as in ourselves?

Can we love our beautiful Canada even if it is not perfect?

And now… can we work together to make both Canada and the world a better place?

Today is our Canadian Thanksgiving…. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The pandemic will be history one day and everyone will be re-united with loved ones again. Bambi hopes your family and friends (+ you!) will all be safe until then.

Bambi grew up watching American TV series (one of her favourite ones was “Little house on the prairie” (some may have known it as “Little house: a new beginning” :)).

She recalls scenes of Thanksgiving with family reunions in a happy town. She does not remember if it was during that time where she got too excited to see a snake about to bite the mother of the family. She only knows that she wanted to protect her, with her screams (to attract her attention to danger). Well, silly young Bambi stood up whilst shouting and somehow hit her teeth with the furniture. Well, she had bloody gums in this TV-related injury. What matters is that that mother ended up being safe :).

Anyhow, Thanksgiving may be perhaps more significant to Americans than to us (at least from a religious point of view? Or is this just Bambi’s perception since her childhood in Beirut?).

Mind you, the American Thanksgiving is celebrated in November (same as Brazil and elsewhere) and ours in October. As Bambi’s spouse said: Wise Canadians, as it is surely before the snow… Well, not always let’s say (Bambi heard that it snowed in Antigonish, NS the other day :)).

Yes, Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and/or cultural traditions, but it is also a secular celebration of the harvest and other blessings of the (past) year. The idea is beautiful. It is all about gratitude, after the hard labour. It is of course also about lovingly coming together as a family to eat and have fun!

The past year has been tough in one way or another. For some of us, tougher economically speaking. For others, perhaps the pandemic made business busier.

All countries suffered for sure (the consequences will hit hard later), but some perhaps more so.

Yesterday, Bambi read about farmers losing their olive trees to forest fires in Lebanon (thanks to the Lebanese Army for completely extinguishing the fire. Contrary to last year, no one was hurt). VERY sad still, especially in the incredibly harsh economic crisis. Olive harvest season starts in the fall, if Bambi is not mistaken, just before winter (olive trees carry olives every two years). BOTH olives and olive oil are an integral part of the delicious Lebanese cuisine!

Anyhow, to conclude this post, Bambi is grateful for all the goodness in our world and for our human capacity to be/remain hopeful in times of uncertainty or adversity.

Yes, she is mainly thankful for hope in the world (in addition to thanking God for so many blessings in her life, including the protection of her loved ones in Beirut).

She also thanks everyone who kindly reached out to her to inquire about her family. They consolidated her hope in humanity. In turn, she shared with her family stories about these gestures of kindness, hoping to contribute to keeping their hope alive. Bambi admires her parents’ courage, wisdom in coping, and hope against all odds.

Hope is sometimes all what is left for us after losses or following moments of doubt or despair. Hope for survival now. Hope for a better tomorrow. Hope to grow/keep growing and become wiser. Hope for peace. Hope for prosperity. Hope for love in our hearts and around the world.

If you thought Bambi is being too philosophical today, well let’s conclude this serious post with the following cute songs in both languages, about “thank you/merci” :).

Thank you Mr. Champagne (= Canada) for urging Turkey “to stay out of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict” ( https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nagorno-karabakh-canada-turkey-champagne-1.5758068 ).

Thanks for “clearly” encouraging Turkey as well as other nations “to deescalate the conflict and encourage close ally Azerbaijan to take part in peace talks” (https://www.reuters.com/article/armenia-azerbaijan-canada-int-idUSKBN26U2ES).

Why do nations engage in wars when, at the end of the day, they always have to come back to diplomacy to end armed conflicts?

Why do they let negotiations get out of control?

Can’t we all learn to be be wiser/more efficient in trying to solve (or prevent) our conflicts through negotiations and logic?

Why do we have to impose violence on innocent populations across the world?

Why don’t we give verbal communication a more serious chance to work in the first place?

Violence is absurd.

Bloodshed sadly leads to more bloodshed.

Best wishes to all the influential countries coming together soon to help stop this bloodshed (safe travels Mr. Champagne :)).

Bambi is with peace and love…Today, she saw herself in the foreign policy line of our Trudeau government [with which she does not always necessarily agree with its approach to other (internal) matters].

Thank you/Merci Canada for allowing Bambi and her friends (who also love peace and love) to see a light of hope. Bambi is particularly happy to see Turkey (+ other powers) being told: Enough is enough… It was about time.