Author: Bambi

Yesterday before sleep, as a break from the news of senseless violence abroad, Bambi listened partly to Christmas melodies and partly to Mr. Patrick Norman’s beautiful songs. Bambi likes them all and her favourite is “Quand on est en amour” [When We Are in Love].

This French-Canadian song is apparently about romantic love. Indeed, it describes how the heart becomes lighter when we are in love (despite a history of love disappointments). Yet, love is love. So, the song would also apply to love of others, fellow humans or pets, in the simplest, broadest, and most unconditional sense of the term.

To conclude this musical post, this song will be offered to a friend in Ontario whose second name is “habibi” and he knows why, to dearest Jacinthe on her birthday ❤️, and to this blog’s dear readers, especially to those who have the courage, civility, and at times humility, to open their hearts to others’ humanity… well, this brings back to love :)!

“Alors, vive l’amour sous toutes ses formes et… merci cher Monsieur Norman”!

The Abraham Accords (2022) were a piece of good news that preceded the current round of DARK times of the Middle East. Think of it, these historic accords resulted in the United Arab Emirates and Israel building economic ties. This key step toward peace and development, instead of continuous hatred and destruction, was the clever work of the former administration of Mr. Trump (i.e., Mr. Jared Kushner, a young American businessman-investor). Why is Bambi saying so? Because she is fed up of wars and she strongly believes in the following: reason to solve conflicts (not ghosting or boycotting), business mindset, development, openness, collaborations, peace (live and let live), and even eventually love among both individuals and nations.

Bearing the above in mind, it is with much sadness that Bambi learned about the assassination of Mr. Zvi Kogan, a young ultra-orthodox rabbi who operated Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery in Dubai (https://tinyurl.com/mrxetvhh). May his soul rest in peace and memory be eternal. May the same G-D/God/Allah support his family. May love, not just peace, prevail in the Middle East and in the entire world.

When words completely escape us…

From self-hostage by financially, morally, and military corrupt warlords.

To a hostage of a decaying sectarian system, despite its inspiring aspirations for democracy and fairness.

To a harsh battleground for the world’s powerful states and for destructive ideologies.

When will tiny yet resilient Lebanon finally become a sovereign state?

The world lost Mr. Charles Dumont today at age 95 ( https://shorturl.at/fi6I7). What a highly talented French singer-songwriter. May his soul rest in peace… and long live his BEAUTIFUL song, “Non, je ne regrette rien” [No Regrets]!

As older or newer immigrants, we leave Lebanon yet it does not leave us.

From crisis to crisis, from war to war, from tragedy to tragedy, it follows us.

It is constantly in our hearts and prayers, even when we take an emotional distance.

How will Lebanon survive the current absurd yet CRUEL war of others on it? When and how will the latter end?

Will a settlement to end war in the Middle East be at the expense of Lebanon?

So many questions awaiting answers.

In the meantime, the shelling is intensifying and the people of the land of the Cedars cannot take it anymore.

It is Bambi’s hope that the spirit of the Lebanese anthem, entitled “All For The Homeland” [Kuluna Lil Watan in Arabic], will prevail when the cannons will fall silent and the skies of Lebanon will be free from drones and military airplanes.

Below is a quick translation of a thoughtful column by Mr. Mario Dumont published today in the Journal de Montréal (https://shorturl.at/sCkxe). It is about the difficulty to access the health care system. Thank you Mr. Google Translate for assisting Bambi in translating it to her dear readers.

“It’s free. Thus, the price is not in bucks, but in hours of waiting.

The CSN [this refers to the “Confédération des syndicats nationaux” or Federation of National Trade Unions] commissioned a survey of Quebeckers on the health care system. No surprise, the mood is neither one of rejoicing nor great optimism. For decades, the population has been aging, needs have increased while the system has become more entrenched. As a result, it is not always easy to be cared for.

This survey provided fundamental data to fully understand what is happening. Many Quebeckers reported that they are depriving themselves of health care because of waiting and the difficulty of finding access. Last year, this was the case for 43% of the population!

Why is this number so important? Because it is not the result of chance. Canada has chosen to offer free health care. It is forbidden to charge for services in the public network, it is not even legal to set up a co-payment in the emergency. Few countries have made this choice. We understand why when we see our results.

Free of charge

The economic theory is simple and clear: when a good or service is free, demand naturally explodes. Forget the balance between supply and demand when the price is zero. We must therefore find other ways to restrict demand. In most cases, this obstacle is waiting.

In communist countries, the government set the price of bread at a level that made it accessible to everyone. Nice principle of equality, but in practice you had to wait hours to get a piece of bread and there was none left for the last ones in the line…

This is a bit like what happens in health. The length of the wait and the complexity of accessing services put a damper on the demand for services and thus make it possible to keep costs under control. In other words, the 43% who deprive themselves of service is not an accident, it is by design in the so-called free and universal Canadian health system.

Ultimately, everything must have a price. In the case of health care in Canada, past governments made the choice that the price could not be financial. The price would therefore become time. To wait for.

Do I have time?

There were fears that people without money would be poorly cared for. We decided that money would no longer be a factor. The new factor in obtaining care will be to devote time.

What was overlooked was that the burden had just been shifted onto the backs of people who don’t have time. Self-employed people, small business owners, farmers, everyone who can’t waste a full day to go see a doctor for five minutes.

These busy people become the uncared for. Unfortunately, it turns out that these people are also the government’s cash cow. It is on their shoulders (especially their taxes) that our entire beautiful social system rests.

Are we surprised that some of them go to the private sector?“

This morning, upon opening her eyes, Bambi watched a surreal video shared by her sister. As you can see with your own eyes, an airplane of Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA or Air Liban) landed in Beirut at the same time of the nearby intense Israeli shelling.

This post is meant to pay tribute to the highly professional team of the Lebanese airline company. Related to the latter, a couple of weeks ago, Bambi listened to a news interview with a passenger returning to Beirut from Doha at the time of airstrikes around the airport. This passenger who happened to be a journalist spoke highly about the legendary calm of the MEA crew and the excellence of their service. Despite the intense shelling, for MEA, it was business as usual with the smiling faces of its crew members. Indeed, the airplane landed safely to the soothing voice of Fairuz. Bravo to the pilot/co-pilot (et al.).

Much love and healing to Beirut with Ms. Hiba Tawaji’s BEAUTIFUL voice. May God protect all the travellers and residents of the Lebanese capital. May reason and peace prevail not only in Beirut, but also in each village of tiny and traumatized Lebanon as well as in all of its aching neighbourhood. Enough of senseless wars in the region. Enough of death, destruction, and displacement in Lebanon. ENOUGH!

Domestic violence involves an imbalance of power between partners. It often includes recurrent episodes of control, resulting in harmful violent behaviours (https://shorturl.at/XO2gB). The latter could be physical, verbal, sexual, and/or emotional.

Domestic violence can occur to anyone in all types of couple relationships, whether intimate or not. These relationships may be heterosexual or homosexual. Last but not least, domestic violence can be experienced by men too. However, it mostly affects women, regardless of their age, socio-economic status, culture, and/or income (https://shorturl.at/XO2gB).

The above being said, Bambi was touched by Mr. Claudio Capeo’s new song devoted to the theme of domestic violence. Following the YouTube video, you can find an English translation of its French lyrics. Thanks to Mr. Google Translate for his assistance.

Lyrics of the song “T’en aller” [Time to Go] by Claudio Capéo

He tells you that he loves you and that you are beautiful

He caresses you with rose thorns

He promises you the moon and promises you honey

He tells you it’s your fault when he explodes

He hurts you, he hurts you

But love to death is nothing normal

He knows he’s wrong, he knows you’re hurt

But love to death

Swings all his letters to the wind

Regrets every time

All is calm before the storm

But you have to go

And leave his arms of hell

You have to leave the boat drunk

You need to talk about it

And raise words so that we can help you

Before the worst happens to you

But you have to go

But you have to go

Where did the love go? Where did the charm go?

What do you do when you’ve become his thing?

What to say when the pillow has become a weapon?

When your freedom is a closed door?

When words are strong and words are hard

When love to death becomes a sure hit

And all the gold in the world is not armour

When love is wrong

Swing all these letters to the wind

Regrets every time

You think about the promises he made to you

But you have to go and leave these arms of hell

You have to leave the boat drunk, you have to talk about it

And raise words so that we can help you before the worst happens to you

But you have to go

But you have to go

During the day the wind rises and the horizon is clear

There will be traces left but you will finally be freed

But you have to go and leave these arms of hell

You have to leave the boat drunk, you have to talk about it

And raise words so that we can help you before the worst happens to you

But you have to go

But you have to go”.