Like today, in 2017, the French and international Rock icon, Mr. Johnny Hallyday, died at at age 74. Although he left our world, he remains in the hearts of his fans, including those of Bambi, her family, and many of her friends. May his memory be eternal.
Hallyday’s impressive career lasted for over fifty years (https://shorturl.at/qryEZ). Thank Goodness, his musical legacy will remain immortal.
To honour Mr. Hallyday’s memory, Bambi will share Youtube videos of his performance in both French and English. Some of the chosen French songs are sub-titled in English, for your convenience. You will hear him singing Brel, Ferré, Cossette, Piaf, Bonifay (Souvenirs, souvenirs followed by its English version), and Aznavour with an English duo with this late GREAT singer-songwriter.
To conclude this post, Bambi admits to being selfish. She chose songs she happens to adore, without thinking if they were Hallyday’s own melodies. Indeed, she started with her favourite French love song, Brel’s Ne me Quitte Pas (which later led to the “If you Go Away” song in English). She hopes you will enjoy listening to Hallyday’s unique voice and amazing performance, whether you happen to be his fan too or you are discovering him postmortem.
Bambi is honoured to be one of the scholars on the advisory Committee of the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy, “a new think tank that aims to renew a civil, common-sense approach to public discourse and public policy in Canada” (https://shorturl.at/dvG49).
The vision of the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy is as follows: ” A Canada where the sacrifices and successes of past generations are cherished and built upon; where citizens value each other for their character and merit; and where open inquiry and free expression are prized as the best path to a flourishing future for all” (https://shorturl.at/dvG49).
To learn more about this highly promising think tank, you may wish to read the beautiful message of hope of its President, Dr. Mark Milke, with whom Bambi has been honoured to work over the past few months (https://shorturl.at/dvG49).
If you are interested, you may wish to watch these very informative and interesting videos on why this tank think (Dr. Milke) and why a Calgary Entrepreneur (Mr. Chuma Chukwulozie) is supporting it!
This being said, today is a big day in the short, yet very productive, life of the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy. How could it not be when its firs book, edited by Dr. Milke, has just gone live on Amazon paperback, Kindle e-book, and as a Kobo e-book (https://shorturl.at/eqtCT)!
Bambi invites you to purchase this great book (only CAD $25) and to encourage your friends and acquaintances to do the same, if you like it. Any constructive commentary is welcome on Amazon too.
To encourage you to learn more about this much needed book, Bambi will share excerpts and videos. First, some excerpts can be found in this link (https://shorturl.at/kzIV7) and four of them below, including excerpts from Bambi’s chapter along with those from a Law Professor she is fond of, Dr. Bruce Pardy (she never imagined being an author in the same book as him!). Last but not least, you can find four 2-minute-videos by four book authors, including Bambi.
To conclude, long live the Aristotle Foundation of Canada! Bravo for the new book whose message is about openness, intellectual diversity, and even love for our beautiful Canada. To those of you who are sick and tired of censorship and bullying, like Bambi, this book is for you. Let’s all promote it!
She does not know about you, but Bambi loves flowers in all their shapes and colours, as you can see in the older posts shared further below.
Yesterday was a lucky day for Bambi as she received beautiful pictures of flowers from her parents as well as from Brittany and Fred, respectively. Her parents’ flowers are in the family of Gardenia Jasminoides [thanks again Nicole for teaching her this lesson]. Brittany’s flower is a Rhododendron canadense while Fred’s is a Petunias [to be on the safe side, Bambi asked them about these names. No, she did not become savvy with flowers all of a sudden : )].
Following the shared pictures, this brief post will end with Dalida’s “Le temps des fleurs” [Flowers Times] performed by a Lebanese singer called Ms. Carla Haddad. Bambi is happy to discover her. She sings in a “floral” fusion of the French, English, and Arabic languages.
The balcony of Bambi’s parents in Beirut, Lebanon. A picture shared by Antoine.
The balcony of Bambi’s parents in Beirut, Lebanon. A picture shared by Antoine.
A picture taken in the South East area of New Brunswick, Canada, by Brittany in her backyard.
A picture taken in the South East area of New Brunswick, Canada, by Brittany in her backyard.
A picture taken by Fred in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
This very informative video lasts less than five minutes. It is in French and sub-titled in English. Under the YouTube video, we can read the following:
“ Beirut, a city of refuge in the Arab world for the LGBTQ+ community? If the Lebanese capital has such a positive image, it’s not from nowhere. It’s the result of years of activism.
These few victories should not, however, conceal a much darker reality in Lebanon. The country’s political, social and economic crises are growing and have especially impacted the LGBTQ+ community, according to observers on the ground.
From the economic downfall to the explosion in the port of Beirut, not to mention the COVID-19 pandemic, recent events have destroyed some of this community’s safe havens and reduced an already fragile level of freedom.
This is a step backward in a country that, despite its tolerant image, has always maintained a homophobic legislative framework, and where negative public perceptions of LGBTQ+ people prevail.
For Pride Month, a worldwide celebration held every year in June as a reminder of the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, we explain it all to you in just five minutes”.
Bambi just read an article in the Globe and Mail entitled “By supporting press freedom, Trudeau reaffirms Canada’s historic role in Ukraine” (http://surl.li/hygsd). In addition to a second surprise-visit to Kiev, along with a commitment of $500M more in military aid, our Prime Minister is again giving the world moral lessons, this time about democracy (http://surl.li/hwchg). He is good at it, being a great speaker and initially a teacher.
Of course, Mr. Trudeau is also absolutely right about the meaning of his words on press freedom and also on defending nations when they are barbarically attacked. In Bambi’s mind, the problem is twofold: (1) clearly, the domestic walk does not match his international talk (or it would only when it could be politically exploited); and (2) even just causes, like defending against attacks, will eventually, most likely, end with diplomatic international negotiations. So, why not try to give peaceful solutions an earlier chance instead of fuelling wars that can last for too long? Bambi may sound naive to some of her readers for saying so. It is true that she is neither a politician nor a diplomat. She is a simple deer who grew up during a bloody war from age 3 (2.9, precisely) to 17? She knows something about this type of life cruelty.
To come back to Mr. Trudeau, he is reported to be saying: “We’re going to continue to talk about the best practices of democracy with all of our friends, as we always do around the world” (http://surl.li/hygsd). Very beautiful words, but did he resort to best practices of democracy himself in his own country? Bambi is precisely thinking about how he did not talk to Canadian truck drivers and farmers who drove from all over our big and beautiful country to Ottawa, hoping to have a chat with him and of being heard? Instead of democracy, didn’t his government restrict the freedom of these people by freezing their bank accounts? And earlier, didn’t he, willingly or clumsily, contributed to pit us against each other during the pandemic by calling some of us who did not want to be vaccinated “women-haters, racists, and science-deniers“?
Plus, why is the CBC (or Radio-Canada) still resorting to censorship (http://surl.li/hygju), whether endorsed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in federal courts or not (http://surl.li/hygml)? Why can’t journalists pronounce full titles of Canadian historical books? Books that want to precisely score a point with their titles on top of that? Are these best practices of democracy, Mr. Trudeau? And aren’t our collectively insane times sad, both on the intellectual and social levels?
And what can Bambi say about Bill C-11 than her earlier post shown further below? A bill that seems to be harmless and some would argue needed; nevertheless, it could be legally used, while being socially acceptable, to restrict online freedom of expression (of some of us). And what about the numerous stories of censorship or self-censorship in our media or elite circles (http://surl.li/hygml)? Are these examples of “best practices of democracy“?
Anyhow, this post will not solve the issue of neither political incongruence nor censorship. It is just raising questions and perhaps also expressing increased disappointment. To end this post on a musical and amusing note, there is nothing like Dalida and Mr. Alain Delon’s love song entitled “Paroles, parole, paroles” [ Words, words, words]. Bambi has offered it to Mr. Trudeau in the past on her blog. If she may, she would like to do it again now.
Surprise, Jessy! For your birthday and to honour our childhood friendship, Bambi has a few songs for you today.
First and foremost, she will reassure you that your first personalized Happy Birthday melody is meant for a “Jessy“, not for a “Djéjé” [chicken in the Lebanese-Arabic dialect, which would be “Dajaja” in Standard Arabic]. She hopes you are smiling now :). Seriously, please consider this joke as Bambi’s way of publicly ask for your forgiveness for all her childhood and youth silly moments where she indulged in teasing to the point that chicken became like a slightly annoying habit and a contagious familial tradition.
Jessy, Bambi loves you so much ❤️. Her dream is to feature your superb, impressive jewellery creations on her blog one of these days. For now, she will just focus on thanking you for being her wonderful, and loyal, friend for the past 48 years . Long live le “Petit Jardin” where we met when we started our school journey together.
Despite being busy with your lovely family, inspiring teaching career, and extended familial responsibilities, you have always taken the time to check on Bambi’s parents. You have done it in times of peace as well as Lebanon’s historical drama. Indeed, over the past three decades, you have called or visited them, making them feel cared for and loved. As you know, they also love you a lot, like their daughter.
May you have a wonderful birthday, Jessy. Have fun and get spoiled too. God knows how much you deserve it!
Bravo and thanks to all the inspirational, real and fictional, characters in history!
Each day, around the world, so many people die and so many others are born.
Like today, June 9 but in 1870, eternally famous English writer and social critic Mr. Charles Dickens died (https://t.ly/tJ_Z).
Similarly, on this same day of June 9, but in 2011, Canadian singer, pianist, and actor Claude Léveillée died in Québec in Saint-Benoit-de-Mirabel. Of note, he was born on October 16, 1932 in Montréal [interestingly, one of Bambi’s nephews was also on the same day and in the same city. “Coucou” Nicolas :)].
To honour the three characters feautured in this post, Bambi will first start with some of Dickens’ inspirational quotes. The last one tells us how much this author appreciated humour and laughter, which will bring us straight to a little musical tribute to the uniquely cute Mr. Donald Duck. Guess why? Well, he happens to have been born on June 9, precisely 89 years ago (https://t.ly/da9o). Happy Birthday to him! Last but not least, this post will end by sharing two of Léveillée’s songs. The first one is called “Mon Pays” [My Country] and it is subtitled in English. The second one is a superb love song called Frédéric followed by an English translation of its lyrics (https://t.ly/76nHm).
Have a lovely June 9 (or evening) everyone!
Charles Dickens
“The most important thing in life is to stop saying, ‘I wish’ and start
saying, ‘I will’. Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as
probabilities”.
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year”.
“There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts”.
“The pain of parting is nothing
to the joy of meeting again”.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times”.
“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me
to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I
hope -into a better shape”.
“Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a
touch that never hurts”.
“I cannot stop some dreadful things I try to stop, but I go on in the hope and trust that the time will come.”
“The kindness of people is enough to break one’s heart”.
“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour”.
Below is a thoughtful article by Dr. Mathieu Bock-Côté published today in the Journal de Montréal (https://t.ly/X2_r) that Bambi quickly translated for you with the always appreciated assistance of Mr. Google Translate.
The article informs us about a story of discrimination against a candidate for a tenure-track academic position at the McGill University School of Music (Montreal, PQ). Of course, the story could have happened in any of our Canadian institutions of higher education. Indeed, the late Dr. Frédéric Bastien submitted a complaint against Université Laval (Québec City, PQ) concerning a similar issue with regard to a Research Chair in History.
Before leaving you with the translated article below, along with one comment by Bambi, let’s bear in mind that McGill University is the same place that used to discriminate against Jews in the 1950s with its quota system. The irony of our collectively insane times is that Jews are now considered “white” folks.
However, to cite Dr. Bock-Côté’s own words: “Racism is always odious. It is to be condemned when it targets Blacks, Asians, Latinos, Arabs, Aboriginals. It should also be so when it targets Whites”.
"The Journal de Montréal" informed us yesterday that Jonathan Dagenais, who had submitted his application as a professor at the School of Music at McGill University, was rejected because of his sex and his skin colour.In a word, he did not get the position for which he had applied and especially, for which the university selection committee had formally recommended him, because he is a white man.McGillThe dean of the school decided to ignore the recommendations of the committee to hire the second candidate in the running instead, however he lacked two advantages: she is a woman from “diversity” background – in this particular case, c She is an Aboriginal from Manitoba.In other words, even if he came first in the competition, Jonathan Dagenais did not get the job, and even if his rival came second, she got it.
For this injustice, Jonathan Dagenais is suing McGill for $300,000.
This revolting story is, however, terribly commonplace.
Because we are here at the heart of the scandal of positive pseudo-discrimination.Positive discrimination is based on a simple principle: to fill a position, we will no longer rely on the competence of the candidates, but on their racial or sexual characteristics.
If you are a white man, you will be at a serious disadvantage. It is even possible that you have no chance of being hired. Because you would already be too present in society. It's time for him to fade away.
If you come from “diversity”, you leave with an undeniable advantage. Because apparently you would be systemically disadvantaged.
To fix past discrimination of which you may have been the victim, we will put in place reverse discrimination, which will systematically benefit you.
In this logic, the individual disappears. And minority people are turned into quota flesh.
It is a sexist and racist logic. But since it targets the white man, it does not shock anyone. It is even encouraged. Worse still: anti-white racism presents itself to us as a new anti-racism. This intellectual fraud must be denounced.
I would add that the funding of several institutions today depends on their adherence to positive discrimination.
The only new element in the story of Jonathan Dagenais is that the discriminated white man did not take his hole and did not let it go.
This is reminiscent of Frédéric Bastien, who had rightly and courageously denounced Laval University for opening a position to which white men, formally, could not apply.
To condemn all racism
But these brave people are too rare.
Racism is always odious. It is to be condemned when it targets Blacks, Asians, Latinos, Arabs, Aboriginals. It should also be so when it targets Whites.
Whatever the fanatical weirdos we occasionally meet say, who decree that anti-white racism does not exist and who suggest that it is a far right idea to prevent us from denouncing it [isn't this what has also been said about Bambi's blog on social media while the mainstream media called her Conservative? Although the latter is not an insult in life, especially in our collectively insane times, she is far from being a conservative].
Is there anything more meaningful in life than love? “Aimons-nous” [Let’s Love Each Other], what a beautiful song originally by Mr. Yvon Deschamps and Mr. Jacques Perron. It is performed in this post by the talented Mr. Nicola Ciccone. For those who do not know it, this song was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019 (https://tinyurl.com/mrxbm3d8).
Bambi took the time to attempt to translate the lyrics of Aimons-nous for you to the best of her capacity, of course with the help of her friend Mr. Google Translate. Since this post is all about love, she will thank the latter or his online existence and tell him that she loves working with him :).
Let’s love each other anyway
Let’s love each other day by
day
Let’s love each other anyway
Let’s love each other in spite
of love
Let’s love each other with
wrath
Let’s love each other but
without pity
Let’s love each other even in
a cage
Let’s love each other without friendship
Two thousand years of hate
Haven’t changed anything about
love
To break our chains
Cannons’ and drums’ sound
It’s love that rumbles
Love is moving fast
For the love of the fight
I love you, you love me, he
loves her
We love you
you love us
They love me, they love you,
they love
Do we still love
Death unites without return
Let’s love each other, I love
you
I will kill you, my love
Love preserves us
From remorse for our killings
One’s kills without reserve
For the love of his country
We live in history
When you live without loving
love is glory
power and friendship
Let’s love without constraint
Let’s love each other like we
should
Let’s tighten the embrace
Who will suffocate us with joy
I love myself, you love
yourself, he loves himself
A picture taken from the website of the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick, which is the highest court in our province. “It is the last avenue of appeal, except in a few cases where a further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada is possible”, as per its website: https://t.ly/K_Oi
Bambi has continuously supported biologist and Professor Cumberland, as you can see in the earlier posts shown further below. He is one of the most decent scientists of our beautiful province. All what he did was to speak his mind and share his scientific expertise and findings related to the glyphosate use in NB forests.
For those who do not know it, our province is 85% forested. Thus, the hot issue of glyphosate use is critical, regardless of the point of view about glyphosate use or abuse. In a place truly free of moral or even intellectual corruption, such an issue is supposed to be considered a scientific opinion. No more, no less. Sadly this was not the case in this story in which we forgot that Professor Cumberland is a scientist with integrity who was simply doing his job. We now know that he is also a man of courage, given his incredible ordeal and his spine. What an inspiration!
Anyhow, one thing was clear in Bambi’s mind last month was that Professor Cumberland deserves full justice as well as a MUCH higher compensation than what he got at the end of his trial ($48,645 in severance and $6,700 from his former College toward his legal costs).
Thus, Bambi is happy to have learned this evening, from a public platform of support for his case (https://bit.ly/3U32tbX), the following update: on June 1st 2023, Lawyer Paul Champ who represents Cumberland, appealed his case (https://t.ly/K_Oi). May they succeed in rectifying “some of the remaining injustices that have been ignored“!
Of note, because Professor Cumberland’s former position of instructor at the Maritime College of Forest Technology (Fredericton, NB, Canada) is not unionized, all Court documents are and will be a matter of public record, unless there is a provision/order prohibiting public access.
This being said, Bambi just paused her typing to cross her fingers for Professor Cumberland (and his lawyer)! To end on a musical note of hope, Bambi will offer him (and his family) two songs: one meant to celebrate the value of integrity and the second a song about courage. With his deep faith and love of youth, she hopes he will enjoy the latter as much as she did when she discovered the song.
