Do you enjoy watching, and even feeding, birds like Bambi’s parents in Beirut and like many Maritimers? Thankfully, in New Brunswick, we are blessed with colourful birds. Indeed, this morning Bambi saw a superb red one. Unfortunately, she did not have enough time for a picture. The other day she saw three, one yellow, one partly blue, and the other looked like a little zebra. It was the first time she sees the latter.
This being said, as a pure coincidence, she now came across the latest beautiful song of Mr. Nicola Ciconne. Guess what? It is entitled “Comme un oiseau” [“Like a Bird”].
For your convenience, a quick translation of its lyrics will follow the melody, with a slight adaptation by Bambi (https://bit.ly/3Brgj0P) with the assistance of her faithful friend, Mr. Google Translate.
As for your lovely birds, please keep singing, flying, and being free. Thank you for making us happier just by watching you, whether we live in Sackville, Beirut, or anywhere else on our beautiful planet.
The Atlantic Canadian province of New Brunswick (NB) is very beautiful. If you do not believe Bambi, check Gina’s pictures, which are featured in this post. They were taken at Pokeshaw Beach (https://bit.ly/3M781An) and in the Caraquet fishing port (https://bit.ly/42Z8FH3). Following these pictures, please meet a cute beaver. He may have been washed out by the tides after the destruction of its dam on a river. Thankfully, the most talented and compassionate Gina saved this animal, which was dehydrated and weak. Bravo to her!
To celebrate the beauty of our province, with its landscapes and wildlife, the current post will end with melodies about the sea in French (with Mr. Enrico Macias), Lebanese-Arabic (with Mr. Marwan Khoury), and English (a kids’ song).
Thank you/Merci Gina for making us dream of the forthcoming summer :)!
Pokeshaw Beach in NB, Canada. A picture taken by Gina.
Pokeshaw Beach in NB, Canada. A picture taken by Gina.
Pokeshaw Beach in NB, Canada. A picture taken by Gina.
Caraquet fishing port in NB, Canada. A picture taken by Gina.
Shh, please do not wake him up. The rescued beaver is resting! This picture and the following ones were all taken by Gina.
To our mothers (whether on earth or in heaven), godmothers [a wink to Bambi’s aunty Nadia in heaven ❤️], grand-mothers, aunts (a heavenly wink to Renée and Salwa), mothers-in-law, mothers of friends, all the mother figures in all their roles, whatever and whoever they are, sisters, friends, readers of this blog and fellow citizens who are either mothers or have taken care of AND inspired younger siblings or generations (hello Roula 🙂 ❤️!). The latter may include mothers-to-be (if they will want to, of course, and if life will cooperate)… To all of you, Bambi will say: This is your weekend, tomorrow is your day, enjoy it, and THANK you everyday!
As you can guess, this post will end in music. First, Mr. Kendi Girac’s melody is a must. His French song, entitled “Les Yeux de la Mama” [Mama’s Eyes] is sub-titled in English and Arabic. The second melody is the same song by Kids United, which is sub-titled in French only. The third song is Mr. Michael Bublé’s Mother; yes in English. As for the last piece, it is especially dedicated to you mom with MUCH love ❤️, with the voice of your own little Bambi (when she was a child). It is in standard Arabic. Do not worry, it is not a song, thankfully for your ears :)! It is just a poem about a little boy who misses his late mom. Bambi knows that you love this poem and it was shared on this blog in the past, thanks to a gift from her dad ❤️ (post shown further below).
Bambi has several earlier posts about the ordeal of Biologist and Professor Rod Cumberland, all shown further below. She has also been honoured to concretely support him twice.
Professor Cumberland is one of the most decent scientists of our province. He is not afraid of speaking up his mind and sharing his scientific expertise and findings. This is called a professor with integrity in the dictionary of Bambi. But, a Judge from our province “called Cumberland “an individual of strong convictions and not someone who can easily embrace the points of view of others when such views do not align precisely with his own.” With all due respect, what does the latter mean precisely?
And what do claims about sexism or racism or any other “ism” mean in the context of a shocking yet not surprising cancellation of a scientific career?
One thing is sure in Bambi’s mind: Professor Rod Cumberland is anything but what is reported about him in the CBC article entitled “Forestry college instructor wasn’t fired for views on glyphosate, judge rules“ (https://bit.ly/3I0BDOD): “The Judge also added: A forestry college instructor was fired because he was a “disruptive and destructive force” and not because of his views of the herbicide glyphosate, a New Brunswick judge has ruled“.
To conclude this post, Professor Cumberland deserves our utmost respect. Indeed, he is one of the MOST COURAGEOUS citizens of our beautiful province, in addition to being a man filled with goodness and beautiful values. He also deserves 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).
This post is a simple little musical treat, selfishly for Bambi’s own ears before heading to sleep, and then for you :). Actually, she does not know if you are familiar with a French song entitled “L’amour existe encore” [“Love Still Exists“]. What a beautiful melody by Mr. Luc Plamondon (Québec, Canada) and Mr. Riccardo Cocciante (Italy). It has been made famous by Ms. Céline Dion in 1991.
If you wish, you can first listen to Dion’s original version, subtitled in English (in addition to French), for your convenience. This will be followed by two performances. The first is the superb Italian adaptation of this song by Mr. Nicola Ciccone (Québec, Canada). The second is by Mr. Kendji Girac in the original language (France) . The post will end with a quick English translation of the lyrics, which was found online.
To these GREAT artists, Bambi feels like saying bravo for your inspiring talent. As for each one of you, dear readers of this blog, you will be wished a good night (or morning, if you will read this post then). May love, with a small as well as a big L, always exist and have the final word in our world. May it be louder than cannons. May it be more powerful than both hate and indifference.
This morning, Bambi came across Mr. Victor Hugo’s beautiful saying from Les Misérables, which goes like this: “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise“.
Tonight, she does not want to go to sleep, at the end of this long day, without sharing Mr. Gérard Lenorman eternal song about “Happy people“. It is sub-titled in both French and English, for your convenience.
Yes, even the happiest people find themselves navigating “the darkest night“; at times, they may even forget that the sun will end up rising, as it always does. Mr. Lenorman’s song is for them and for you, whether you consider yourself a happy person, regardless of your reasons for the latter.
To conclude this brief musical post, our times may seem to be collectively insane (at least from the point of view of deer). They can be quite harsh too, perhaps on some of us more than on others. The unknown can be frightening, especially if we lose sight of the hope of the rising sun. Yet, despite any fear, most of us keep sleeping, smiling, dreaming, hoping for the best, and aspiring to keep ourselves as well as our loved ones happy. If we are struggling to function in our daily lives, we can always reach out for help. Happiness is a skill, which can be learned… Thankfully.
Thank you, Mr. Jonathan Kay for publicly sharing how some of our top Canadian universities are now recruiting members into one of their key committees. Instead of focusing on research merit or teaching expertise, see below for yourself what they are doing, along with Mr. Kay’s thoughtful comments and questions.
With all due respect, Bambi does not know if she should cry or laugh after reading such level of human, intellectual, and social decay. Contrary to any stated or unstated noble motivation, this could be considered as a potential insult to the intellect of the new potential member.
To conclude this brief post, one song comes to Bambi’s mind. It is Mr. Charlie Chaplin’s “Nonsense Song” from Modern Times. Aren’t our collectively insane times sad in addition to being absurd?
Bambi has been silent for over 24 hours, reflecting about topics she wants to write about. She has several posts visualized in mind; some of them are like half written :).
For now, she just wants to say hello to you, wish you a beautiful week on this Tuesday morning, and share the following “Heal the World” performance by Kids United. She came across it yesterday night before sleep. It is a little musical treat and a ray of hope in a world torn by increased divisiveness, conflicts, and even raging wars.
May music replace cannons, may reason and love prevail, may peace and economic prosperity win, may humility, honesty, and courage in governance replace arrogance, mediocrity, carelessness and/or dictatorships. May we all know how to truly make our world a better place for all.
Bambi is a wild animal. She surely has compassion for her fellow animals.
Sadly, a calf was badly injured in a road accident in Dorchester on December 30, 2020 (https://bit.ly/3pk3lz8). As a good farmer, Mr. Carter had to finish the suffering of his bleeding calf by killing it on the spot.
Does anyone think farmers enjoy losing one of their precious calves or cows; even if he accidentally may have forgotten an extra pin in the tail gate (https://bit.ly/3pk)? Bambi is saying so thinking of both the emotional and financial levels here? Not even talking about the good man who had this unfortunate accident.
Anyhow, as far as she is concerned, among the several people she voted for in our latest municipal elections, Mr. Carter was one of them. She wanted to support him after the first article in the media informing us of the complaints about his sad incident to the “Canadian Food Inspection Agency” (https://bit.ly/3nCR2O5). Although he got many votes, he was not elected.
To conclude this post, Bambi would like to thank the CFIA for removing the $6000 penalty against Mr. Carter.
Bambi just came across an article published today in the Journal de Montréal authored by Mr. Louis Deschênes (https://bit.ly/42dp1eW). It is entitled “Détester Martineau et Bock-Côté est devenu un critère d’embauche” [Hating Martineau and Bock-Côté has become a hiring criterion].
Following a quick English translation, thanks to Bambi’s faithful internet friend called Mr. Google Translate, Bambi will share a BEAUTIFUL older French-Canadian song about the meaning of love by Mr. Bruno Pelletier. It is called Do Love [“Aime” in French]. If you are interested, an English translation will follow the song. How sad that those Estrie older workers and/or younger students forgot how to keep social love alive in their hearts in addition to respecting freedom of expression in their country.
Of note, Québec has always been historically leaning to the left. Sadly, this beautiful left, or healthy socialism, seems to have been forgotten. Bambi misses it. Unfortunately, this politically socially relevant, needed and beautiful let has been hijacked by a radical wokeism, which insists on dividing us, pitting us against each other, cancelling us (if we criticize its excesses or question its ideological orthodoxies), hijacking our institutions, and turning our times into collectively insane ones with much political correctness and intellectual intolerance of the opinions of others. When will we wake up to defend the principle of freedom of expression for ALL once and for all?
“The publication to boost the job offer as a communication officer of the organization Solidarité populaire Estrie makes our columnists react.
Hating columnists Richard Martineau and Mathieu Bock-Côté has become a hiring criterion for a non-profit organization in Estrie, which is looking for a communications agent.
“Do you grind your teeth reading Richard Martineau and Mathieu Bock-Côté? This offer is for you!” we read this week on the Facebook page of Solidarité populaire Estrie (SPE), in a message targeting the popular columnists of the Journal.
The publication made to promote the job offer of the organization “for the collective defense of rights” has since been deleted, then replaced by a new one that did not mention the columnists.
“I am now a hiring criterion!” quipped Mathieu Bock-Côté (MBC) by posting the screenshot of the message on his Twitter account.
Hate message
Contacted by the Journal de Montréal, he saw in this publication a hateful message, “even a ritual to vomit on two people who have become targets because of their opinion pieces”.
“If you want to get into the business you have to tap on these two, it’s the entry Pinata. If you hit Martineau and Bock-Côté, you’re part of the club,” he notes.
He also associates these behaviors with the movement of the Quebec left. “It’s very woke. […] It is almost a sign of virtue to insult us. And they took the audacity further by making this hatred against us a hiring criterion.
According to the information collected on its website, the SPE organization was set up in 1986 to promote and defend the economic, social and cultural interests of the people of Estrie with the aim of achieving greater social justice.
Unions and students
The list of member groups is mainly made up of union and student associations as well as community groups in Estrie.
Initially, Mathieu Bock-Côté believed that it was a voluntary association made up of “a few cranks”, before realizing that there were serious organizations behind the SPE.
“We should ask each of these organizations if they endorse these comments,” he said.
For his part, Richard Martineau also finds it disturbing that obtaining a job depends on the allegiances or opinions of a candidate. For him, it’s like going back to the 50s.
“If you were a communist, you were barred from certain jobs and there if you like certain columnists you cannot have the job […] I understand the irony of the matter, they are looking for people from the left, but I find that rather inappropriate. I’m not sure that the governments that fund these kinds of organizations would be very happy with that, ”concludes Martineau.
Here are some important associations in the list of member groups of the Solidaritépopulaire Estrie organization:
AÉCS-Student Association of the Cégep de Sherbrooke
AGEFLESH-General Student Association of the Faculty of Letters
Amnesty International-Sherbrooke
Regional Council -FTQ Estrie
CSD-Central of Democratic Trade Unions
CCSNE-Central Council of National Unions of Estrie
CSQ-Central Trade Unions of Quebec
FEUS-UdeS Student Federation
REMDUS-Grouping of master’s, diploma and doctoral students at UdeS
SCCCUS- Syndicate of UdeS lecturers
SEE-Estrie Education Union – CSQ
SEIC-FTQ/Canada Employment and Immigration Union – FTQ
SFPQ-Union of Public and Parapublic Employees of Quebec
SPECS- Union of teaching staff of the Cégep de Sherbrooke
CSRS-CSQ SPTA/CSRS technical and administrative staff union“.
