Dr. Mathieu Bock-Côté: Racial discrimination is permitted, and even encouraged, if it targets white men! [“La discrimination raciale est permise, et même encouragée, si elle vise les hommes blancs!”]

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.


McGill

The 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]. 

How about if we love each other?

Love is the very essence of life

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

We love ourselves

You like yourself

They love each other

will love each other.

Professor Cumberland: bravo for appealing the court judgment to rectify the remaining injustices!

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.

Thank you, Mr. Rowan Atkinson, for defending freedom of expression!

Bambi adores Mr. Bean, except when she behaves like him :).

Seriously now, bravo to him for the clever and inspiring speech, which reminds us of the basics of a democratic society: freedom of expression.

Think of it, this talented man rarely speaks and to open his mouth now, means much.

The Silver Swan, Bambi’s latest musical discovery, along with a tribute to Mr. Jean Ferrat

Bambi does not want the weekend to end without sharing her latest musical discovery with you. It is called “The Silver Swan“.

According to its YouTube page, The Silver Swan is a group of creative and highly dynamic musicians, singer, and technicians all based in a beautiful region of France, the Drôme-Ardèche. This professional group offers musical performances to social events. It is enriched by a wide range of musical influences, both French and international (soul, rock, folk, funk, jazz, and instrumental music).

Because the Ardèche was the beautiful place of residence of the late and uniquely talented Singer Jean Ferrat (originally “Jean Tenenbaum”, https://shorturl.at/CDF17) for many decades, Bambi will use this post to honour his legacy with his unforgettable and moving songs, most subtitled in English. May his memory be eternal.

The above being said, Bambi hopes you all had a beautiful Sunday. May the week ahead be enriching for each one of you!

Rania & Michael: happy double birthday!

Make a wish, Rania and Mickey!

Rania is Bambi’s sister. Michael is her nephew. Both of them share the same date for their birthday celebrations. Isn’t it amazing when the aunt and her nephew highlight their birthday together? This very brief post will be strictly musical. In addition to their personalized Happy Birthday songs embedded below, each of them will be offered a dance-related song or music: the first song (subtitled in English), which is for Rania, is all about enjoying oneself at a party. It is performed by Ms. Nancy Ajram in the Lebanese dialect of the Arabic language. The second instrumental piece, which is meant for Michael, is the Zorba’s Greek Dance and it is performed by Mr. André Rieu et al. May Rania and Michael have much fun today in Beirut and Dubai respectively. Bambi loves them both beyond words ❤️❤️!

Positive thinking for the June month: Thanks Roula Douglas!

Think positive, be kind to yourself and others, and make the best out of each day!

Thank you journalist and sister Roula Douglas for spreading positive thinking and kindness on Twitter. Planting the seeds of a positive mindset, for ourselves and for others, is part of daily life’s simple pleasures. Indeed, this can create a contagious sense of beauty and hopefully of personal, familial, and social well-being. Examples of the calendar shared by Roula include the following: “being grateful, writing a gratitude letter to thank someone, appreciating green spaces around you, doing something healthy that will make you feel good about yourself, and/or sharing a friendly smile with people you see…”.

May you all have a lovely month of June where we will officially welcome the summer season. During this month, some of us will celebrate our birthdays [remember to become wiser Rania and Michael :)!]. Some may go on vacation or have guests over. Others will be busy with work or with other life projects and hobbies. Of course, there will be stress and maybe sadly even distress for some. Of note, it is in chronic stress times that we need to be even kinder with ourselves while taking good care (e.g., more consciously eating healthy food, getting the sleep we need following a stressful encounter, listening to our body, respecting our limits, reaching out to a good supportive friend or family member if we need it, and remembering to include pleasure in our daily life, etc.).

To conclude this brief post, following Ms. Azar-Douglas’ public message on her social media, Bambi will leave you with an English kids’ song about being positive (sub-titled in English), hoping you will enjoy it as much as she did.

A tribute to a late uncle on his birthday

Today is June 1st. Bambi does not need a chronological date on a calendar to think of and honour her uncle. However, today, she would like to pause, reflect, send her virtual yet concrete love to Fatma (aunt) and Laila (cousin), and dedicate this brief post to her maternal uncle Nicolas… May his memory be eternal.

It is no secret to anyone that Bambi loves Germany and the German language. She has all the reasons of the world for that. Partly thanks to her dad, partly to her uncle (of course, without forgetting soccer). She grew up in Beirut with the “German dream“, which may have sustained her during the fifteen years of civil war. Her family and her used to travel after heavy rounds of shelling to visit her “German” uncle [or “Khallo”] who left his birth country at age 18. They would escape to a peaceful place in the old continent, spend a few weeks, and come back filled with energy and ready for the next rounds of violence.

Khallo Nicolas was an inspiring man filled with intelligence, work ethics, incredible skills and multi-talent, along with a big heart. He was a fantastic German teacher to Bambi too; her own dad was her first teacher in the shelter, motivating her to run to the Goethe Institute of Beirut immediately following the ceasefire to register herself in her first course. She was 15 years old at that time. To come back to her Khallo Nicolas, whenever she would ask about the meaning of a word. He used to ask: “Bambi, do you want a short or long answer?” Bambi would always reply” “both, please“. The short answer was helpful. The long answer made her understand the etymology and rich histories of those beautiful German words. Interesting stories about the context of each word. Is there a better way to learn and remember foreign words?

In addition to the above, there are so many ways to describe her uncle to you. An open-minded man who travelled the world and embraced different cultures, languages, and religions. He lived in different places like Beirut, München, Cairo, Bejing, etc. In addition to a solid career, he was (and is from wherever he may be) a WONDERFUL dad and a spouse (in addition to his uncle’s hat). Of course, he was also a great baker of rhubarb cakes. Up until now, every time Bambi eats this desert in Canada, she thinks of her uncle.

Bambi is aware that this post cannot pay justice to the richness of her uncle’s character, his legacy, and all what he represented to her over the years, along with his beloved adoptive country. It is just a little pause, a little wink, her way of showing his (and her) family and the world that he is vividly present in her mind and heart. Thanks to him for having opened his house and heart to Bambi’s family when escaping war, for the wonderful times visiting them in Montreal, and for the continuous inspiration to her as well as to the rest of his nephews/nieces. Even if life was cruel when he died, his talented and lovely daughter could not have a better father than him (in so many regards, she has a lot of him in her. Bless her brain and heart ❤️; bravo also to her devoted and talented mom ❤️). As for Bambi, she sometimes wonders what her uncle would have thought about the narrow mindedness of our collectively insane times (with the past saga of her blog), had he still been with us . Given his free spirit, critical thinking, and open-mindedness, he would have surely not been impressed.

Mr. Nicola Ciccone: thank you for your heart touching performance of “Halleluia”

Bambi cannot go to sleep without sharing Ciccone’s beautiful performance of Mr. Leonard Cohen’s masterpiece, Halleluia. She hopes you will all enjoy it while offering it specifically to Bernadette who loves this song. Bravo Mr. Nicola Ciccone for your talent. Please keep singing and uplifting us in French, English, and Italian!

Kids United: would you like to sing for your life with their “Chante” [Sing, with English sub-titles]?

Sing for your life and for your loved ones’ lives!

Bambi offered Mr. Michel Fugain’s joyful “Chante” song to Doudou, her brother-in-law for his birthday last April, as per the post shown further below. Today, she came across the same song on YouTube, but with English sub-titles. She would like to offer this same song first to Doudou’s entire family now. Yes to everyone (including Dino, the cutest kitten), but ESPECIALLY to his lovely and inspiring wife, Roula ❤️ :). Last but not least, she will also dedicate the song to each one of you, dear readers. She wishes you all a nice day (or evening?). May the latter be filled with simple pleasures and, of course, with hope for more beautiful days ahead!