In a world filled with senseless violence and intolerance, thankfully there will always be room for music, songs for love, and prayers. Ms. Giulia Falcone’s pure voice, refreshing talent, and remarkable sensitivity, at a young age and in in all languages, are inspiring to say the least. Of note, her last song combines Italian with French. Bambi is happy she discovered Ms. Falcone and could not wait to share with you her talent. She thanks her for existing and urges her to keep singing to make our world a better place!
Bambi had a lot on her mind lately. As a result, her memory got a little birthday confusion. Indeed, she wrote in an earlier post dedicated to her cousins that Rana’s birthday was on February 4th, instead of the 6th. Thankfully, she just corrected this little mistake.
Before realizing the above though, and very early this morning, she wrote to both Rana and Karen [in the middle of her sleep :)] to say sorry for having missed their birthdays. How funny this moment was when her sister made her realize that their joint birthday is only tomorrow at their end in Lebanon, which is now at her end in Atlantic Canada.
Well, regardless of the precise day of this special month, she trusts that both Rana and Karen will forgive her for having made them slightly order :). At the end of the day, what matters is the expression of affection and the good wishes. Indeed, Bambi’s heart is filled with love for them. She considers herself blessed to have seen them both a month ago.
This being said, now is the time to conclude their post. In doing so, Bambi will address Karen first by saying the following: your aunt loves you beyond words and is proud of the wonderful woman you became. As for you Rana, your cousin who loves you a lot is inspired by you in so many ways, including your care for your parents (in addition to your cooking talent). Have fun both of you while singing for life, as per Mr. Michel Fugain’s song by Kids United (subtitled in English)!
In this brief musical post, and with much love, Bambi’s heart goes to her sister, and her colleagues too, as well as to her dear friends currently grieving a recently deceased loved one, including her own friend/family friend. Many of them are readers of this blog and they will recognize themselves. They may be reading now from as far as Lebanon or as close as Atlantic Canada (Sackville, Moncton, and Dieppe), and the USA. May the memory of their loved ones be eternal. Peace to their hearts and souls with every passing day and night.
Bambi is blessed to have wonderful cousins whose love is greater than space and time. Khalil and Rana are brother and sister. They are two of Bambi’s many wonderful cousins. They are so sweet and funny too. Today happens to be Khalil’s birthday, which will be followed by Rana’s in four days only [OK not the same year :)]. May they always remember how much they both mean, not just to Bambi, but also to her spouse and to all family members who live in almost every continent. May their new year be filled with love, laughter, and lots of good times!
Bécassine is a French sequence of cartoons (or a comic strip) and its female heroine. She stood the test of time since she appeared for the first time on February 2, 1905 (http://tinyurl.com/mrn9zkte)
For those who do not know her well, Bécassine is a Breton housemaid. In just a few minutes (Atlantic time), that is on February 2nd, this forever young character will turn 119. How can Bambi coldly go to bed before highlighting this exciting historical event? She will do so by offering Bécassine three songs chosen with much care and gratitude for the happy childhood memories. The first song features Ms. Chantal Goya with her cousin Bécassine :). The second melody is Tri Martolod, which means three sailors in Breton, with the talented Ms. Nolwenn Leroy [Bambi adores this song]. As for the third melody, of course it is Happy Birthday in French.
Long live Bécassine! Joyeux Anniversaire chère Madame Bécassine :)!
No clue what the title of this post means, but Lebanon deserves the best!
Bambi just read in L’Orient Today the following: “The United States has revised its travel advisory for Lebanon from Level Four (“Do Not Travel”) to Level Three (“Reconsider Travel”), according to the State Department’s official website. The change suggests a cautious but slightly more optimistic assessment of safety conditions for American travelers considering a visit to Lebanon” (http://tinyurl.com/yvu92sf7).
The article cited above, which calls this change a nuanced approach, also informs us of the following American updated recommendation: “Travelers are urged to reconsider plans due to serious security risks under the newly assigned Level Three advisory. However, certain regions, including southern Lebanon, the border with Syria, and refugee camps, remain under a Level Four advisory, where Americans are strongly advised against all travel“.
Of note, the new American lowered advisory level is now different from the Canadian most recent Lebanon travel advice of “Avoid all travels” (at the time of preparing this post), which was updated last on “January 9, 2024 09:21 ET” (http://tinyurl.com/bc39pk3w).
Whether the American “Reconsider Travel” warning means anything or not, anyone familiar with Lebanon knows how volatile this country remains. Of course, a volatile situation is one thing and the charm of the place is another thing. May everyone there, residents or tourists, be safe and sound. May Lebanon’s beauty shine again!
Bambi cannot go to sleep without sharing with you what she discovered earlier today: a beautifully moving performance of a deeply sad love song, which was composed by French artist Léo Ferré (1970) following a recent breakup. Thank you Mr. Robin Motheron for your talent and sensitivity. Please keep singing!
Like Dr. Joseph Facal, Bambi strongly believes that merit must remain the criterion for selection of Canada’s researchers if we want to keep the level of research and teaching high. Therefore, the current post will translate Facal’s column, which was recently published in the Journal de Montréal because it addressed this topic in a clever way (https://shorturl.at/fqJT6). As usual, Bambi thanks her loyal friend, Mr. Google Translate, for his assistance.
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“I did my undergraduate studies at UQAM a long time ago.
I have excellent memories of it. I made friends for life there.
Since then, I have contributed to its annual fundraising campaign, even though what happens there often annoys me.
This is over until further notice.
Forget that!
Remember the outcry when we learned that Laval University wanted to hire professors while formally excluding white men.
It was difficult to explain to us that it was to comply with the requirements of the federal government which subsidized the positions in question. A true explanation, but insufficient.
I hope you don’t imagine that this outcry put an end to the practice.
The Faculty of Political Science and Law at UQAM has just launched a competition to hire two professors as part of the Canada Research Chairs Program.
The competition will be reserved for people in four categories: women, Indigenous people, visible minorities and disabled people.
UQAM could have chosen not to open this type of position subject to federal requirements. Rather, it does so with enthusiasm, presenting these requirements as imperative and unavoidable.
In short, white men without disabilities, forget it, you are excluded from the start.
In the federal document which sets out the criteria for granting these specific positions, it is explained in particular that people from visible minorities are “people, other than Indigenous people, who are not of the white race or who do not have white”.
Obviously, there are all kinds of human skin tones, like the colour palettes at Sico.
A candidate’s membership in one category or another will be done by self-identification.
The questionnaire to complete asks:
“Do you identify as a person from a racialized minority?”
“Do you identify as an Indigenous person?”
“Do you identify as a woman or as a person from a gender minority?”
Is UQAM reluctantly complying with federal requirements? No way.
In its action plan, it states: “[…] UQAM must be exemplary in its desire to have in its ranks a cohort of professors holding a Canada Research Chair (CRC) who reflect the diversity of our society. More than taking targeted measures, UQAM must now act at the structural level and adopt systemic and lasting changes.”
In short, we believe in it thoroughly.
Gear
UQAM is laughing at us by adding that it will not compromise on quality since it reduces the pool of applicants from the outset.
Any institution that acts in this way is therefore caught in a perverse spiral.
As soon as we modify the hiring criteria to favour a category, we are inevitably led to modify the criteria to then evaluate performance, since the objective of diversity takes precedence over that of merit.
And this is how we are dragging our universities down“.
