About a month ago, Bambi discovered Mr. Rudy Ayoub’s talent, thanks to a dear reader, Mr. Fred Klein, as per the older post shown below.
Tonight, she felt like having fun before bed time. She thus searched Rudy’ new content and discovered two short videos she had not seen earlier. She will share them with you in this post, hoping this YouTube content would put a smile on your face.
As a reminder, “there seems to be a theme in Mr. Rudy Ayoub’s humour: the highly narcissistic dad who embarrasses the son in public or who insults him while also apparently caring for him (in addition to his image). There is also Clark, the friend, and Rudy’s dad who cannot remember his name. All these characters are played by Mr. Ayoub himself“.
Please keep on being creative, Mr. Ayoub. The world needs humour and lots of laughter!
Despite its aspirations for democracy, Bambi’s birth country is sadly known to be a land of impunity. Indeed, throughout its modern history, there has been many political assassinations, including the horrible 2005 killing of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (along with many innocent citizens). The country is currently highly divided and it remains without a President since November, 2022.
Perhaps because of the above, in addition to valuing tolerance and democracy everywhere, while having both love and respect for the USA, Bambi’s heart was sad when she heard about Mr. Trump assassination attempt. This would have been her exact reaction had the target of this failed crime been Mr. Biden or any other American politician. Indeed, as a reply to a reader on this blog to her post of best wishes on the 4h of July, she wrote: “Presidents come and Presidents go. Countries stay. All the best to the USA… and to our troubled world too”.
When we attempt to assassinate a politician, we assassinate his or her entire country, not just the individual in question, by targeting its most treasured value: democracy. Thank Goodness for him and for his family, Mr. Trump survived. Whether he will eventually become the next President of his country again or not, he surely showed courage in his spontaneous hand gesture of defiance after having been shot. Bambi’s understanding is that the shooter who was shot after his act, lost his own life. Will we ever know what happened? Did anyone encourage or exploit him or did he act on his own initiative, likely as a troubled person? Regardless, this (and any other) political violence is worrisome.
Bambi will stop her own thoughts here to leave you with a quick English translation of what she thinks is a thoughtful column by Mr. Richard Martineau, which was recently published in the Journal de Montréal (https://shorturl.at/Sbz60). As usual, thanks to Mr. Google Translate for his valuable assistance in the translation.
Healing, peace, unity, and love to ALL the Americans as well as to you, dear readers whether you are into American politics or not. Of course, Bambi’s wishes are independent of your own thoughts about this story or about any other one related to our troubled yet beautiful world; yes, beautiful despite its ugliness at times. Let’s know how to enjoy this external beauty and, perhaps more importantly, let’s be, remain, or learn to become full of inner beauty. The latter is what will keep shining at all times and especially in the darkness.
—
“Too bad he missed it”?
“Citizens of a country do not settle their disputes using weapons
Admit it, you heard this sentence the day before yesterday.
You may have even said it yourself. Or at least thought.
Telling yourself that if we could jump in a time machine and kill Hitler, Stalin and Mao in their cradle, or just before they took power, we would do it without a second’s hesitation.
For the good of humanity.
VERY BAD NEWS
This reaction is completely understandable.
Still, what happened in Pennsylvania is unacceptable, deplorable and worrying.
First, because even though he is a grotesque, odious and, yes, dangerous character, Trump is neither Hitler, nor Stalin, nor Mao.
Second, because we live in a democracy, and democracy implies that we respect the people’s choice, even if we believe that the people were wrong.
(After all, isn’t that what Trump is accused of? Accepting the people’s choice only if the people vote for him? Accepting the democratic process only if it brings him to power? Otherwise, contesting the results of the vote and cry about theft, conspiracy?)
And third, because this assassination attempt against a former president who is moving, thanks to the senility of his opponent, towards a second victory which risks being even more resounding than the first does not bode well.
When we tell you that the United States has never been so disunited, so divided, so close to a possible civil war, well, that’s it.
It’s exactly that.
Someone takes a gun and shoots a candidate.
Thanks to polarization.
Thanks also to social media, to echo chambers, and to extremism, which pushes, pushes, pushes, both left and right.
VICTORY ASSURED
And then there is another element.
Thanks to this assassination attempt, Trump probably just won his election.
He has now joined a small, select club that includes JFK, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln and Robert Kennedy.
Not to mention Ronald Reagan who also narrowly escaped death.
I am also sure that as you read these lines, people who “did their research” are saying that it was Trump himself who organized this set-up to ensure his victory.
If he was not the victim of a Deep State conspiracy or a group of pedophile Democrats.
The Big Orange always presented himself as the Savior. And the news has just proven him right.
What more could he ask for?
He rose to the rank of victim in a country that has never revered victims so much!
All this, for a little piece of ear sacrificed.
This is what we call a good “deal”.
THE 60S
This scene makes us recall the 1960s, when Americans stood up wondering who would be shot today.
Even if you hate Trump, this is bad news.
Citizens of a country do not settle their disputes using weapons.
Those who said “Too bad the shooter missed” are not part of the solution. But rather of the problem.
Like Ms. Maria Mourani whose column is translated below, Bambi is a strong believer in the principle of laws for ALL. In addition, she finds the designation and divisions of Canadians as “black” and “white” as being both ridiculous and insulting to “so-called” black or white people and to our collective intelligence, despite any good intention behind the policies established by our governments.
To begin with, there is no such thing as a homogeneous group of so-called black (or white) people. As she has mentioned many times on this blog and during former interviews, including the most recent one with Mr. Tart Vader (https://shorturl.at/lZsyW) , there are unfair or poor living conditions for this or that individual from this or that group (including the so-called white and silent majority). For instance, if you are the personal assistant or political advisor of Mr. Trudeau and you happen to have black skin, you are likely not living in the same socio-economic conditions as someone with the same hue of skin who is homeless or who is a refugee or an inmate, etc.
There are also cultural or ethno-linguistic differences among and within each group. We cannot call all Canadians with darker skin black (or white). A local (so-called white) québécois from Chicoutimi who speaks the French language and likely comes from French-Canadian culture is not like a (so-called white) Toronto-based Canadian who may or may have not been born in Ontario. There are rich and more privileged or poorer and more socio-economically disadvantaged individuals within in each group.
There are African Canadians who are of Haitian heritage. Others locals from Nova Scotia. There are adopted kids with black skins who may have been born in this or that country or who maybe come from just another nearby neighbourhood. Are all these people the same in terms of life opportunities?
With the differences in personalities or in current life circumstances or in early adversity, thankfully, we all can learn to exert personal agency on our own lives to become better versions of ourselves. Of course, we can also all go through crises in life or encounter temptations or sometimes find ourselves attracted to or stuck in certain toxic ways of living or in potentially bad relationships for us, etc.
Despite all these differences, or nuances, that are mentioned above (along with many others, which may have been omitted), Ms. Mourani is right when she writes that one thing must remain unchanged in a democracy: it is the concept of laws, including criminal ones, for ALL (even if we take into account mitigating, or maybe aggravating, factors on a case by case basis in court decisions).
Even if we want to fix an overrepresentation in jails, for the sake of fairness to all (including the overrepresented group itself), we must stick to the basic principle of a law for all. If we start changing the latter, even in the name of more equity, we risk becoming like those third world countries where connections to this or that powerful group could make the difference in determining who goes to jail or not.
Bambi is convinced that the scenario of favouritism mentioned above is not the intention of our government, but sadly this risk being the outcome of such unwise criminal policies in the long-term. Bambi is saying so, regardless of the group in question, of course.
This being said, Ms. Mourani expressed herself in clever and more elegant way than Bambi who will stop sharing her insights here. With the assistance of Mr. Google Translate, she will now translate Ms. Mourani’s column, which was published yesterday in the Journal de Montreal (https://shorturl.at/Ybv3Z). You may or may not agree with this expert and experienced politician. However, her text is surely worth reflecting upon.
—
“Last June, the Trudeau government’s Department of Justice produced a report on its Canadian strategy for justice for black people.
Although it starts from a good intention, namely to act on the overrepresentation of black people in the judicial and prison systems, this report includes several aberrant recommendations which de facto create a two-tier system.
On many points, the framework of this report is more akin to a political pamphlet from a group of activists than to a real analysis of the judicial and prison systems.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Justice seems to have adopted these 71 pages of wandering.
If certain recommendations are not bad in themselves and are obvious, such as offering training on racism against black people (and why not on racism quite simply) to professionals in the justice system, some on the sentencing is discriminatory and contravenes section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states that the law “is no exception and applies equally to all, and all are entitled to the same protection and equal benefit of the law, regardless of any discrimination.”
It is still ironic that a report concocted by a group made up mainly of racialized people results in discriminatory recommendations against other racialized people and the French and English Canadian majority.
Sentencing with variable geometry
In my column of May 18, 2022, I already denounced the excesses of the Trudeau government with its Bill C-5, the objective of which was to eliminate minimum sentences for several serious crimes.
The reason this government then gave was that the “excessive incarceration rate of Indigenous people, black Canadians and members of marginalized communities” required this type of measure.
One of the recommendations found in this report is therefore to “remove all mandatory minimum sentences provided for in the Criminal Code.”
Does this mean that there will no longer be a minimum sentence for murder?
Their demands do not stop there!
In the Criminal Code, there is a paragraph (718.2e) which requires the judge when determining the sentence to take into account circumstances specific to Aboriginal offenders, taking into account their colonial history and its consequences.
As a matter of fact, one of the recommendations is to add black people to this paragraph in the name of the segregation of which they were victims in Canada.
Let’s push the logic to the end. What’s good for the goose is goodfor the gander [translation of “Si c’est bon pour Pitou, cela doit aussi l’être pour Minou!“]! We would then have to add to this paragraph the long list of immigrant peoples who experienced segregation in Canada, notably the Italians, the Chinese, the Jews, the Vietnamese, etc., and to top it all off, the French Canadians who were dealt with…
Since we are remaking history, let’s do it big!
A single justice?
We live in an imperfect world and justice is much more a concept than a reality. Some have more power, more money, more connections. But one thing must persist in this jungle of the absurd: the LAW. And it must be the same for everyone.
From the 98.5 radio station, Bambi learned the following: “during his press review on Wednesday, host Louis Lacroix discusses various current issues, including the evacuation of Valérie Plante from the City of Montreal council on Tuesday. “Around fifteen pro-Palestinian demonstrators were invited to this council meeting. They chanted slogans like: ”Israel is bombing, Valérie is supplying the weapons”. The demonstrators have repeatedly accused [the governments] of Canada and Quebec as well as the administration of the City of Montreal of being complicit with the Israeli regime” (https://shorturl.at/pKYzb).
Thus, for security reasons, it was “decided to evacuate Valérie Plante as a safety measure. Subsequently, the demonstrators were escorted out of the building and the council was able to resume its activities” (https://shorturl.at/pKYzb).
We may accuse Ms. Valérie Plante of political incompetence, of neglect out of fear of extremists, of partisanship, or of being too ideological. We may easily recognize that both Québec and Canada are far from being optimal, but to accuse the latter of being complicit with Israel in its conflict with Hamas (or even with the Hezbollah), this is absurdity 101. Can we please collectively regain a bit of touch with the nuances of reality?
To conclude this post, Bambi will end with a famous Lebanese song by Fairuz called Mayor of the Mayors. If she may, she would like to offer it to both Mayor Plante and the activists.
This brief musical post is the most selfish one. Yes, it is meant for the pleasure of Bambi’s own ears and eyes before she goes to sleep. Of course, she is also writing these words while thinking of you, dear readers. Many of you happen to know Mr. Mike Massy who has been regularly featured on this blog.
For those of you who do not know him, Mr. Massy is a highly talented Lebanon-based artist with an impressive international career. For those of you who may not know him, “he is a Lebanese-born singer, songwriter, film score composer, arranger, pianist, actor and celebrity vocal coach whose musical register fluctuates between Arabic lyrical singing, the repertoire of world music and French songs. Of note, he played the role of “Jesus” in a French movie as well as a musical theatre entitled “Jesus de Nazareth à Jerusalem” created by Mr. Pascal Obispo and Mr. Christophe Barratier (https://shorturl.at/q8nyA). He speaks, writes, and sings incredibly well in many languages, including both Lebanese-Arabic and the standard Arabic language which he masters very well.
Below, Bambi will share a very brief YouTube video produced by him (in French and English) about his preparations for a new Arabic song with musicians in Brussels. She does not know about you, but Bambi cannot wait for this new song. Until then, she will share some of his older work in Spanish, French, and Arabic. This post will end with some of Mr. Mike Massy’s appearances in French TV shows (i.e., a montage of interviews). Bravo Mr. Massy; please keep singing!
Thanks to an article by Mr. Josie Desmarais published today in La Presse, Bambi learned the following facts: “For several months, a list of Jewish Montreal restaurants has been circulating on social networks, calling for them to be boycotted because of the “links” they allegedly have with Israel. Negative ratings, hate messages and calls for violence have since multiplied against restaurateurs. One of them found projectile impacts in the window of one of his restaurants” (https://shorturl.at/gQ7qY).
After reading this French article, she searched for English information about the topic to be able able to share it with you on this blog. She found and article in the Montreal City News entitled “Mile End restaurant targeted, owner believes it’s because of his Jewish heritage“, published two weeks ago (https://shorturl.at/yJgRM), and a video shared below. This place is located near Bambi’s old college.
If there is anything amazing about restaurants in Canada’s cities, it is the richness and the beauty of their diversity. For instance, in Toronto, we often come across fusion restaurants or multi-ethnic or cross-cultural restaurants. An example may be a Lebanese cuisine with Indonesian food at the same restaurant or a place serving both Korean and Mexican cuisines, etc. In Montreal, we have the choices of eating at the delicious Schwartz’ deli (https://shorturl.at/tJFiM). Yes, it is Jewish and delicious, or enjoying a mouthwatering Québec poutine (https://shorturl.at/KugSV) or a tasty Shawarma at the Lebanese Basha restaurant (https://shorturl.at/Ouocc).
The above example is now making Bambi recall how, when she was a student in Montreal working long hours at her lab located downtown, she used to call the Basha restaurant sometimes. She used to inquire about the daily homemade Lebanese meal to take back home with her. Kindly, and more than once, the owner told her on the phone: “oh sorry, we do not have it, but if you give me extra time, I can see what I can do”. Can you imagine the generosity and kindness of this service? This is the hospitality of Montreal restaurants, regardless of its type of food or place of birth of the owner.
Bearing the above in mind, why are we using conflicts at the other side of the planet as an excuse to intimidate restaurant owners and harm their businesses and reputations? The pandemic was not enough to affect small businesses and family-owned restaurants? Let them earn a living and let people eat wherever they want and whatever they wish.
You personally want to boycott a business for whatever noble reason, you are absolutely free. Go ahead, but please do not impose it on the rest of your fellow residents or harm family businesses. Bambi is saying so for all and any restaurant owner’s background: Malaysian, Russian, Iranian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Israeli or simply Jewish without any family ties to Israel. Who cares? What matters is the fun of eating out, the taste of food, the good times with friends, the costs, etc.
Let Montreal, Québec, and Canada remain what they have always been: a welcoming and loving place to live and dine in with peace. May open-mindedness find its way again to our society. May only love have the final word, regardless of any political view or conflict-related emotional scar or trigger.
Last week, in a large metropolitan Canadian city, Bambi and her spouse took a taxi whose sweet driver was of Algerian heritage. They chatted about the Maritimes and food, etc. Of course, the conversation naturally diverted to the lovely Arabic language and culture.
Bambi told this Algerian-Canadian fellow how much she likes an Algeria-born French singer called, Mr. Enrico Macias. She mentioned his beautiful song about Beirut where she was born. He shared the same feelings about him and told her about another Jewish-Algerian female singer. A diva whose name he could not recall. Bambi was curious since that chat. Today, she decided to act on her curiosity by taking the time to search the internet. This is how she discovered Ms. Alice Fitoussi.
From her Wikipedia page, she learned the following: “Ms. Alice Fitoussi is an Algerian Jewish singer, having lived all her life in Algeria, born May 9, 1916 in Bordj Bou Arreridj and died in 1978 in El Biar” (https://shorturl.at/swnia).
Of note, “her father, Rahmim Fitoussi is a renowned singer and violinist. It was from him that she learned to sing and recorded her first record at the age of thirteen, she was the only Jewish singer who performed al-Madih (Muslim religious song to the glory of the Prophet Muhammad). After independence, she decided to stay and live in Algeria, only going to France to spend the winter” (https://shorturl.at/swnia)”.
Bambi is grateful to this charming cab driver (to whom she said in French while leaving his car: “please Sir keep your beautiful smile on your face“): the chat with him was enriching and he made her discover singer Alice Fitoussi. Who knows? Maybe some of you already knew the latter, especially those of you are familiar with Arabic music in general or Algerian songs in particular.
Of note, Bambi tried to find el-Madih Muslim chant performed by Ms. Fitoussi to share it with you, but there was nothing on YouTube (unless she missed it). She will thus only share three Algerian traditional songs performed by this late singer and end with Mr. Enrico Macias’ eternal Beirut song.
Long live the mix of cultures. Long live arts, music, languages, and… may the memory of Ms. Fitoussi be eternal.
Bambi is thrilled! She just finished interviewing a highly accomplished guest, namely Montreal-based Mr. Patrick Georgevitch. She is eager to share this enriching chat with all of you in this post.
First of all, what can Bambi tell you about Patrick in only a few words? He began his professional journey with a degree in physiotherapy. He has since refined his academic and professional skills with numerous postgraduate certifications, particularly in mechanical and manual therapy.
Not only is Patrick a fitness expert, having become a personal trainer, fitness therapist, and a sports and strength conditioning specialist with various sub-certifications, but he also specializes in performance nutrition.
In addition to these impressive credentials, Patrick pursued a certification in hypnotherapy out of personal curiosity and studied professional photography.
After relocating to Canada, he registered as a kinesitherapist, took additional certifications in manual therapy, and earned a graduate degree in Entrepreneurship & Innovation from HEC Montréal. As of May 2024, Patrick is also a certified genetics-based program designer.
❤️❤️❤️
Following the informative interview entitled “Health Matters: Bambi’s chat with Pat” shared below and on Rima Azar’s personal website (https://shorturl.at/AOsNO), you may wish to watch three of Patrick’s brief yet highly educational Youtube videos entitled 360 with PAT (https://shorturl.at/Xhh1i).
Of note, Patrick’s videos are largely produced in English with some in French. Regardless of the language, they are outstanding. He is also active on other social media platforms, including Instagram (https://shorturl.at/niHUr) and Facebook (https://shorturl.at/lcqgu).
Thank you for your time, Patrick. Your generosity in sharing your scientific and clinical knowledge as well as your uplifting philosophical insights is much appreciated. Please keep up your multi-talent and impressive productivity!
This brief post is meant to honour the memory of Mr. Louis Armstrong, on the eve of his death anniversary, while sharing with you a magical moment from today’s early morning.
While driving on the Trans-Canada highway from the town of Sackville to the city of Moncton, Bambi was delighted to see a deer on the side of the road on the grass near the trees. It seemed to be carefully observing the cars. Was it cleverly waiting for the cars and trucks to pass before crossing the road?
Regardless of its intention, this animal was very cute. Bumping into a fellow deer on the side of the road (thankfully not in front of the car), was a pure magical moment for Bambi. Indeed, without much thought, she found herself waving hello to the wild animal while saying out loud: “Hello, deer“. Yes, we can act quite silly when we bump into a loved one unexpectedly.
Reflecting on her long day before going to sleep, Bambi cannot help not to think of her wild friend [or maybe relative :)?] who embellished it. What “a wonderful world” indeed, just like Mr. Armstrong’s timely song.
This brief post is meant to express the following wishes:
May everyone who will be celebrating the 4th of July tomorrow have peace of mind, be safe, and as joyful as possible.
May the year ahead be filled with hope and happiness.
May wisdom, unity, freedom, peace, and prosperity prevail not just in the United States of America, but also in the neighbouring Canada and the entire world, including the Middle East.
Happy 4th of July to all wherever they are at home and abroad ❤️!
