Author: Bambi

Bambi loves serendipity in life. Today, she accidentally discovered a talented Paris-based singer-song-writer, called Ms. Chloé Stafler, on Youtube.

Ms. Stafler seems to be artistically gifted in so many ways. Indeed, she has a beautiful voice, interprets classical French songs in a unique way, composes her own melodies, translates famous English songs into French, and she sings the latter with a personal touch.

Bravo to Ms. Chloé Stafler and may she have a long musical career!

Bambi is grateful to her friend Frank for sharing this powerful video. She watched it before closing her eyes to sleep yesterday night. Today, she wants to share it with you.

Thanks to the NYT Opinion producers… and shame on ALL those responsible for the misery of the Lebanese population.

Before leaving you with this moving video, here is a quick dramatic update from Lebanon: The Lebanese currency was trading today “at almost 90,000 to the dollar, compared to 60,000 in late January”, as per France 24 and confirmed by Bambi’s dad (https://bit.ly/3KIMzTa).

From the article above, and earlier ones by L’Orient Le Jour/Today, Bambi learned that Lebanese supermarkets will now mark prices in dollars.

As a reminder, the World Bank considered that “Lebanon food price inflation reached 332 percent year on year in June 2022, the worst in the world” (https://bit.ly/3KIMzT). Of note, at that time “black market traders in Lebanon” were “selling the US Dollar for 28,300 LBP and buying it for 28,400 LBP“, according to 961 (https://bit.ly/3kDmVEM).

What is next for Lebanon? And had you been in Ms. Sali Hafiz’ shoes, what would you have done for your sister who needed a critical treatment for her brain cancer?!

Today, Mr. Richard Martineau published a sarcastically funny yet highly thoughtful article in the Journal de Montréal. Bambi does not want to go to bed without sharing its quick English translation, thanks to the assistance of Mr. Google Translate (https://bit.ly/3ZbucKV). Food for thought… Of course, if you still care to think (ideally critically think), not just blindly conform.

—

“When it comes to sexuality, I’m open.

The only thing I ask is that relationships take place between consenting adults.

If these conditions are met, mix and swing your company, as Jean-Pierre Ferland [A French-Canadian artist] sings.

Unlike our institutions and more and more companies, which want to know who their employees are sleeping with, I believe that what happens in bedrooms (or living rooms, kitchens and furnace rooms, why not) is no one’s business other than those who walk around bare buttocks.

Or with no underpants.

CAN I HAVE A SMALL COFFEE?

But a guy may be open, but there are things that are, if not difficult to swallow, at least difficult to understand.

Like all new gender names. I admit, I get lost.

I feel like a guy getting out of prison after 20 years and walking into a Starbucks to get a coffee.

I look at the menu, and I don’t understand anything.

A mocha what?

A Frappuccino who?

And what is that, pumpkin chai with almond milk?

Can I just have a coffee, please?

How were they sold back in the day?

A black, hot liquid poured into a Styrofoam glass?

It does not exist anymore?

That’s exactly how I feel (and you probably do too) with gender [les genres, in French].

Before, there was man and woman.

Now it’s like the cereal row at the Metro. You have to read the back of the box to know what you’re eating.

GENDER, you know

Here, I have a friend who sent me a screenshot of the College of Physicians website.

When a College member wants to renew their membership, they are asked if they are:

– Feminine

– Male

– Agender

– Non-conforming to a gender

– Gender fluid

– Non-binary

– Transmasculine

– Transfeminine

– Two-spirited

– Bigender

– Cisgender

– Multiple gender

– Other.

As I tell you, I am open.

Your body, your sex, your gender – perfect!

I just want to understand…

What’s the difference between “Gender Non-Conforming”, “Gender Multiple”, “Gender Fluid”, “Agender” and “Non-Binary”?

It’s not all the same thing, is it?

Looks like the Sico paint catalog. There’s ‘White’, ‘White Igloo’, ‘Mushroom Moss’, ‘Cotton Oil’, ‘Pina Colada’, ‘Fleur de Sel’ and ‘Pale Birch’.

I fixed each colour for 15 minutes, but I didn’t see any difference.

These are seven kinds of white.

One is white, and the other is… white.

But as far as I am concerned, in the College of Physicians’ list of gender, the one that intrigues me the most is “Other”.

Are there really people who do not find themselves in ANY of the categories offered? Wow!

What are they? Trigender? Flexigender?

As far as I am concerned, if you know someone who is “Other”, please introduce them to me, I want to know what they look like!

LONG LIVE THE LABELS!

It’s still weird, isn’t it?

The wokes keep telling us they hate labels. However, they release a new label every two weeks!

It’s a gender…“

—

P.S: If you read this post until its end and you are not “triggered” by its content, bravo to you. This means you may have perhaps learned to build a thick skin, which is an asset in life. If you are too offended, perhaps you want to re-consider visiting this blog. Regardless of your final decision, Bambi welcomes you while wishing you all the best in your life… and bedroom too.

Bambi truly lives on a different planet, but she just discovered this musical performance now, thanks to her Lebanese-American radio. The Arabic and English parts both have English sub-titles. She hopes you will enjoy the song as much as she did. May love, in all its forms and shapes, with a big and a small L, always have the final word in our world.

Dearest Brittany:

You are a not just a reliable friend in good, and as it turned out, in very bad times too.

You are literally Bambi’s family in NB and she loves you so much.

Thank you for your authenticity and for your courage.

Thank you for your critical thinking and for what you stand for.

Thank you for being an inspiration to Bambi when it comes to motherhood and what an adorable family you have [of humans and pets too :)]!

Thanks also for being “family” to Bambi’s family in Canada… and even abroad.

All this being said, now is the time for your birthday music, which is being offered to you, along with Bambi’s wishes for a wonderful day and a great year ahead.

First, you will hear a personalized song, thanks to the “Happy Birthday to You Channel“. Second, you will hear Mr. Kendji Girac singing “Besame Mucho“… just for you :).

Happy birthday! Have a lovely day ❤️!

Thank you, Dr. Frédéric Bastien for this shocking yet sadly not surprising article published yesterday in the Journal de Montréal (https://bit.ly/3IV0Uuf). Below is a quick English translation for you, thanks to Mr. Google Translate for assisting Bambi in this task.

—

“The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCMC) is an increasingly influential Islamist organization. Amira Elghawaby, for example, the controversial commissioner against “Islamophobia”, who took office this week, worked for the NCMC for five years.

Stephen Brown, its president, compared Bill 21 to anti-black racism. The organization is challenging this legislation with grants from English-Canadian cities. This is illegal according to a lawsuit against Toronto supported by the Justice for Quebec organization that I chair.

Meanwhile, Brown spoke at a convention in Toronto last December that was sponsored by the CNMC, among others. Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the NDP, was also there. The presence of extremist speakers speaks volumes about the NCMC values.

Terrorist conspiracy

There is Imam Siraj Wahhaj. In the past, he compared homosexuality to a disease and attacked the fact that, in Toronto, moderate Muslims wanted to create a mosque open to gays (which has since been done). This had to be refused even if the law allowed it. “We will not let them establish this mosque […] we will fight against them, these homosexuals will have to block access to their mosque”.

Wahhaj also rose to fame following the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. The US government named him as one of the potential “co-conspirators” of this attack, which the person concerned (who has not not been charged) denies.

Adam al-Kawthari is another example. He defends the cutting of the hand in case of theft. I reassure you however, he then defended himself by saying that this should apply only in Islamic countries, as if this practice thus became less barbaric!

In a book published a few years ago, he also explains that a man can beat his wife, but not hard, I assure you, and only if certain conditions are met! Which? If “she commits physical or verbal abuse or if she violates the rules of Islam”.

Al-Qaeda

What else can we say about Ustadh Yahya Rhodus? In 2004, while undergoing religious training in Yemen, this American convert to Islam was interviewed by the Australian television channel ABC. He refused to condemn Al-Qaeda on the pretext that he was not sufficiently informed on the subject. Three years earlier, this terrorist group had nevertheless claimed responsibility for the assassination of almost 3,000 of Mr. Rhodus’ fellow citizens during the September 11 attacks.

Let us also mention Mufti Hussain Kamani, of the Qalam Institute. This organization has produced a manual which enjoins Muslims in particular to be clean and pure so as not to “look like Jews”. Kamani further said that in the Islamic religion people who commit adultery or have sex outside marriage should be stoned to death.

It should be noted here that Ottawa is subsidizing the NCMC for a total of $635,423 for the period from 2018 to 2024. Part of this money is supposed to be used to promote multiculturalism, to fight against racism, against “Islamophobia” … and against hate! Along with all this, the feds are going to challenge Bill 21 in the Supreme Court.

This is Canada. On the one hand, we finance Québec bashing, anti-Semitism, misogyny and homophobia. On the other hand, Québec secularism is being attacked in court”.

Happy Birthday, Ms. Hélène Ségara!

You have been the Ambassador of Rêves [Dreams in English] whose mission is to fulfill the dreams of very seriously ill French kids and youth (https://bit.ly/3lWxhQg).

With your duos with the late yet eternal Mr. Joe Dassin, you have made both older and younger people, around the world, dream of romance and beautiful North American seasons.

For all the above, in addition to your other artistic and social contributions (https://bit.ly/3ItzIS5), Bambi wants to thank you while wishing you a magical year ahead.

Born in Beirut on February 25 (1949), Mr. Amin Maalouf is a Franco-Lebanese writer (https://bit.ly/3Zm6VWb) who received the prestigious Prix Goncourt (1993) for his “Le Rocher de Tanios” and was later (2011) elected to the French Academy. What a pride for both Lebanon and France!

Like readers around the world, Bambi is a fan of Mr. Maalouf. Thus, using his own words, her post is a tribute to his incredible talent. The selected citations found online are filled with a much needed wisdom in today’s society, which seems to be too obsessed with identity characteristics (skin colour, gender, religion, etc.). The original French citations appear first, followed by an English translation in bold characters.

To conclude, Bambi will allow herself to offer this inspiring writer Mr. Yves Duteil’s famous song about the beauty of the French language, as spoken all the way from France to North America, in addition to a musical performance of Happy Birthday.

Thank you, dear Mr. Maalouf, for your productivity. Happy Birthday! Joyeux Anniversaire à vous! “Akbel el Mieh” in your and in Bambi’s mother tongue!

—

“Moitié français, donc, et moitié libanais ? Pas du tout! L’identité ne se compartimente pas, elle ne se répartit ni par moitiés, ni par tiers, ni par plages cloisonnées. Je n’ai pas plusieurs identités, j’en ai une seule, faite de tous les éléments qui l’ont façonnée, selon un ‘dosage’ particulier qui n’est jamais le même d’une personne à l’autre”.

“Half French, then, and half Lebanese? No way! Identity is not compartmentalized, it is not divided into halves, thirds, or partitioned areas. I don’t have several identities, I only have one, made up of all the elements that have shaped it, according to a particular ‘dosage’ that is never the same from one person to another”.

“L’identité n’est pas donnée une fois pour toutes, elle se construit et se transforme tout au long de l’existence”.

“Identity is not given once and for all, it is constructed and transformed throughout life”.

“N’hésitez jamais à partir loin, au-delà de toutes les mers, toutes les frontières, tous les pays, toutes les croyances”.

“Never hesitate to go far away, beyond all seas, all frontiers, all countries, all beliefs”.

“Le fait d’être à la fois arabe et chrétien est une situation fort spécifique, très minoritaire, et pas toujours facile à assumer.”

“The fact of being both Arab and Christian is a very specific situation, very minority, and not always easy to assume.”

“Les médias reflètent ce que disent les gens, les gens reflètent ce que disent les médias. Ne va-t-on jamais se lasser de cet abrutissant jeu de miroirs ?”

“The media reflects what people say, people reflect what the media says. Are we ever going to get tired of this mind-numbing game of mirrors?”

“C’est notre regard qui enferme souvent les autres dans leurs plus étroites appartenances, et c’est notre regard aussi qui peut les libérer.”

“It is our gaze that often locks others into their narrowest affiliations, and it is our gaze that can also liberate them”.

«L’amour se nourrit de patience autant que de désir».

“Love feeds on patience as much as on desire”.

Bambi is still speechless since yesterday evening.

She sends her grieving heart to Glenn’s family, friends, and colleagues.

Perhaps eventually after finding a picture somewhere, she will try to manage to find words to honour Glenn’s memory and to thank him.

For now, Bambi will just tell him that Mr. Maé’s song makes her think of him because he was one of the kindest people she has met.

Indeed, some people are present in our lives for years in a unique way. We learn something from them. We spend precious times with them, whenever life allows it, and they remotely yet socially keep enriching us.

Excluding recent exchanged Christmas postcards, thanks to Louis’ historic annual tradition, the last email Bambi received from Glenn was in March 2021. Honoured by his gift-surprise to her spouse/her (ie., a mailed book), she wrote to thank him. He kindly replied fast. She felt happiness and pride when she noticed his professional signature, at the end of the email, about his new position. Like all of us, his colleagues must be shocked now. Condolences to everyone, especially those who saw him and paid tribute to him last, without knowing that life would be that cruel (Peter).

Regardless of life cruelty, death reminds us that we are all heading there. It is just a question of timing. May Glenn Brown’s memory be eternal and may his family members find the courage to face their shock and long sorrow journey.

Bambi will stop here, ending this post with the song in question. It is in French. For your convenience, an English translation of its beautiful lyrics follows it.

The People (taken from: https://bit.ly/41j9ZVb)

“There are Travellers

There are people who travel

People who stay

And people passing through

There are people who [glide by/drift] 1

And those at rock bottom

People who sleep

And Jean d’Ormessons

There are winter people

And there are divergents

People who hope

And people from Abidjan

And people of the North, people of the South

Sweet lives

And hard lives

And there are happy people

Sad souls who sleep outside

And there are happy people

And others who handle gold

There are aristocrats

And there are workers

There are kind people, police officers

Junkies and delinquents

People who cry, people who laugh

Teddy Riners and Carla Brunis

There are Jean Valijeans

Who swallow down their sorrow (2)

Yes, people who cause grief

People who love and who come together

Different people who we resemble

And there are happy people

Sad souls who sleep outside

And there are happy people

And others who handle gold

There are night owls

And early birds

People who get bored

Modelling agents

There are people who get on your nerves

And people who [calm them] (3)

People who dream

Of the lives of others

There are fickle people

And there are reliable people

Disappointing people and remarkable people

People of the East

People of the West

People who go

Others who stay

And there are happy people

Sad souls who sleep outside

And there are happy people

And others who handle gold

And disgruntled people, disgraceful people*

Mad people, shopkeepers

There are down-to-earth people, people who are alone

Lucky people and humble people

There are lovers, leaders

People who brave it

And brave people

There are gay people and sergeants

And amongst all that

And amongst all that, us two

And amongst all that, us two

Amongst all that, us two

Amongst all that, us two

And amongst all that, us two“.

In this post, Bambi will leave you with a quick English translation of Dr. Bock-Côté’s article, which was published yesterday in the Journal de Montréal (https://bit.ly/3IQ3WQA). Look at the sad, ridiculously absurd, and intellectually impoverished low level of censorship in today’s society… of course in the name of an inclusive society.

In recent years, publishing houses have increasingly hired so-called “sensitivity readers”.

Their function is to revise the texts of the authors to ensure that they do not contain “hurtful” remarks for “minorities”. Or at least, for activists claiming to speak on their behalf.

They are censors whose function is to conform the manuscripts they receive to the standards of multiculturalist and neo-feminist ideology. We will ensure that they become “inclusive”.

Charlie

It was only a matter of time for this logic of censorship to take the next step, looking not only at books to come, but at those from the past.

This is what has just happened to the works of Roald Dahl, the author of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, and of all the universe that we know.

The time had come to reissue his works. But the censorship of our time got involved. And we have thus witnessed their rewriting to erase expressions and words supposed to shock our contemporaries.

Call it a form of literary hygienism.

Feminism takes hold: a woman who, in the first edition, was a cashier or a secretary now becomes a top scientist or business executive. I would like it to become so in a future book, but in this one, such was not the case.

Likewise, in the new version, an obnoxious old woman is no longer said to be “old harpies as they always have itchy bellies”.

This passage is simply crossed out.

A reference to Joseph Conrad, considered too masculine and colonialist, is replaced by a reference to Jane Austen.

But it goes further. Dahl talks for a moment about a little fat boy. In the original version, he wrote that he had to go on a diet.

In the short story, this passage has been erased.

As for the “big brown mouse”, it simply becomes the “brown mouse”. Stop fatphobia!

I could multiply the examples.

The work no longer counts. It needs to be bleached.

As for the author, his book is nothing more than material to be reworked by militant rewriters.

This enterprise of purifying a literary work is part of a purge. But it is also a question of making it lose its own vocation to put it at the service of the dominant ideology.

This destroys literature.

Who will be the next victims of literary correctness? Balzac? Flaubert?

Censorship

In the days of our great-grandparents, we talked about edifying literature, supposed to make us good Christians. Literature was the support of morality. Morally prohibited books were blacklisted.

In the USSR, art was subject to the demands of what was called socialist realism. It was about putting art at the service of revolution and communism. Artists who did not comply with this requirement were perceived as dissidents.

Today, culture must serve the promotion of “diversity”. Nothing will escape the empire of political correctness.

Keep your old editions, my friends. One day they will be worth a lot”.