Author: Bambi

Through this post, Bambi would like to send positive vibes to Dr. Frances Widdowson ahead of her arbitration in less than a week from today!

As a reminder about her outrageously unfair case, which should worry all faculty members in Canada because they could literally be “next”, to re-cite the wise words of Dr. Jordan Peterson, you may wish to read the following link: https://bit.ly/3vY16la. Make sure you educate yourself on how her university administrators treated her on her final exam day. Disgusting, to say the least.

Although Dr. Widdowson tried hard to make her arbitration public, this is not happening because both her union and CAUT (Canadian Association of University Teachers) are opposed to it. Closed-door arbitrations are a major problem in academic freedom cases. Nevertheless, a lot of information related to her case has been made public over the past year. If more updates come out later on, perhaps Dr. Widdowson’s wish of helping people become more aware of what is happening in our universities will come true.

As they say knowledge is power… but knowledge needs action to truly be powerful.

Good luck, Dr. Widdowson for next week: Bambi wishes not only justice, but more importantly all the happiness that you deserve! Thank you for doing this for all of us!

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Thank you Mr. Adam Soos and Dr. Gad Saad for having interviewed Dr. Frances Widdowson!

Thank you, Dr. Frances Widdowson for having interviewed Bambi (Rima Azar) on your “Rational Space Disputations” platform!

Le Devoir: French CBC suggests to hosts and journalists to offer their apologies live in the event of unexpected mention of the “n-word” while programs’ reruns will be purged from offensive language that has no “editorial rationale”

To what extent are our unions still relevant?

They say a picture is worth 1000 words. Bearing the latter in mind, this post will only consist of the following: (1) three pictures, taken from the Lebanese media; and (2) Mr. Fady Bazzi’s French song about Beirut’s tragedy of August 4, 2020. The video is sub-titled in English and it starts with a couple of the shocking images that were all over the international news on this doomed day. For a reminder about the impact of the Beirut port surrealistic double blast, you may wish to read Bambi’s most recent post on this topic. For your convenience, it is shown at the end of the current post.

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Beirut 884 days after its double blast: Is there anything more cruel than total impunity?

What a deep and lovely song. Thank you, Mr. Kendji Girac!

For your convenience, an English translation follows the song (https://bit.ly/3X1F9gX).

The school of life

“I’ve lived everything that I know

I’ve shouted out my dreams to the stars

I’ve been given an unrivalled voice

Just for a few smiles in the street

I’ve told myself stories, I’ve performed songs for you

Songs that say the heart is right

To hold on to nothing but hope

Where school has no hallways

I haven’t had other professors

But this is where I’ve learned everything

I got my morals at the school of life

Maybe I’m a bit of a dreamer

I’ve done some stupid things

But I was always on time at the school of life

I flew to rejoin my class at the first ray of light

Right in the middle of a class that went until the night without any sleep

We had homework for class, to never believe in love

And the beautiful part of the story is that what we learn every day, I keep learning it every day

I haven’t had other professors

But this is where I’ve learned everything

I got my morals at the school of life

Maybe I’m a bit of a dreamer

I’ve done some stupid things

But I was always on time at the school of life

My life is beautiful

It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful

My life is beautiful

It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful

My life is beautiful

It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful

It’s life that taught me everything

My life is beautiful

It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful

My life is beautiful

It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful

My life is beautiful

It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful

It’s life that taught me everything

My kids will read what I fail at sometimes in books

Then I’ll tell them that, to be truly free

You have to start all over again

You have to start all over again

I haven’t had other professors

But this is where I’ve learned everything

I got my morals at the school of life

Maybe I’m a bit of a dreamer

I’ve done some stupid things

But I was always on time at the school of life

It, it’s beautiful

It, it’s beautiful

It, it’s beautiful

It, it’s beautiful

It, it’s beautiful

It, it’s beautiful

It, it’s beautiful

It, it’s beautiful“.

Bambi would like to thank the relative and the friend who shared with her a story from out of an American university called the Minnesota Hamline University (https://nyti.ms/3XeURVO).

From the article above and others online, we learn that a small group of so-called triggered students filed complaints to their university; after an art course ended, if Bambi understands well. One of the latter was a Black AND Muslim student; two hot identities at once. This was enough for the administrators of this university to fire Professor Erika López Prater for showing her students a piece of historic Islamic Art.

The explanation reported in the media is that in Islam you do not show any representation of the Prophet Mohamed. Everyone knows it, especially the victims of Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan in France. All those who know Islam very well and have the utmost respect for it, like Bambi, also know that the extremism of Islamism is harmful to Islam before having a negative impact on all the society.

Bearing the above in mind, Bambi could be perceived to be from a so-called deer-of-colour group and she has relatives who are Muslims, not just friends. Yet, she strongly denounces the insanity of firing of Professor Erika López Prater for simply doing her educational job. This includes teaching her students about pieces of historic Islamic arts. What happened to this professor smells like bullying by some individuals with a thin skin and like cowardice by those managing her institution.

Why are university administrators allowing this collective insanity to happen? From what are they afraid of, more precisely? The extreme left (i.e., wokeism) or the extreme Islamism or the meeting of the abusive and bullying forces of both? And how can you teach students without concrete examples? How can teachers keep doing their job while walking on eggshells out of fear of being cancelled… for just being educators? If this is not obscurantism, what is it then?

To conclude this post, Bambi would like to express her full solidarity with Professor Erika López Prater. She hopes she has a good legal representation to defend our right to academic freedom and to keep earning a living!

Bambi would like to take the time to celebrate life today. She will do so in two ways:

To begin with, she wishes Tony a Happy Birthday. She will always remember who taught her to ride a bike. This being said, she also has another more “traumatizing” childhood memory of a linguistic lesson. It is precisely about the awful meaning of the Lebanese expression “I will show you the stars at noon” :). Her great, and highly teasing, teacher was again you, Tony; with the complicity of your sisters. All of you against Bambi :). Anyhow, may you keep having your sense of humour in life and may you have a wonderful new year. Have fun today with you family and all your loved ones!

Last but not least, Bambi, the Sun shown above, and all the stars join forces to happily welcome the cutest, and most beautiful, “Baby Kate” among us and in her home now :)! Bravo to her mom and dad again; congratulations to her aunt, grand-parents, all the relatives on both sides of the family, and their close friends literally around the world. Everyone is likely enjoying the “Meghli” baby desert now. Mmm and, let’s not forget that in few months, time for another desert to celebrate Baby Kate’s first tooth. It is called “Sinayniyeh”!

To end this brief post on a musical note, here are two songs that fit all happy events with two words: “Mabrouk” [Congrats] and “Yalla, Nifrah” [Let’s rejoice]. This will be followed by a Happy Birthday song, especially tailored for you, Tony. Thanks to the anonymous person who shared it on YouTube!

Believe it or not? Today is the National Day of Bubble Bath!

Of course, you have to have running water in your place to be able to indulge in a bubble bath.

You also ideally need a bubble bath soap or even make your own, if you prefer.

Whether you will take a bubble bath before midnight or not, here are a few songs for you from Bambi; half of them are in French and the other half in English :)!

In the past, at different opportunities, Bambi has applauded several decent politicians. They have either verbally defended freedom of expression or acted as free leaders themselves. This includes Mr. Maxime Bernier (elected, then non-elected with the PPC), Ms. Jodie Willson-Raybould (removed from Cabinet, then independent), and Mr. Yves-François Blanchet (Bloc Québécois). Today, Bambi would like to thank and congratulate Mr. Poilievre for his excellent explanation of freedom of expression and for his clear as well as strong position, defending Dr. Jordan Peterson’s right to free speech!

While chatting with her dad, Bambi learned that Lebanon’s artists are sharing the pain of singer Georges Wassouf, his (former) spouse, and family who are mourning the sudden death of their son, Wadih, following a surgery (https://bit.ly/3Zi0DYD). May God know how to comfort their aching hearts and may his memory be eternal…

Bambi cannot help not to think of Ms. France Gall (1947-2018) today. May her memory be eternal…

Bambi keeps standing in full solidarity with Dr. Jordan Peterson, as shown in the earlier post below. Please take the time to listen to his daughter, Mikhaila. Just imagine that Dr. Peterson is your dad, uncle, psychologist, or… yourself. As for Mikhaila, imagine that she is your sister, cousin, best friend, or… yourself. What does it do to you? Do you see that this is done to intimidate us all, including yourself? Even if you cannot see it now, as Dr. Peterson said earlier, you’re next.

“The College of Psychologists, an organization set up by the government in the 1960’s to protect individuals is harassing my dad and has been for 4 years, because of his political opinions. He criticized the Trudeau government and they’re after him because of that and his tweet about Elliot Page and the sports illustrated obese cover model. They’re threatening to take his license for “causing harm” and actually have the power to take his license. I think complaining about the college for causing harm to my family is more than reasonable“.

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Bambi stands in full solidarity with Dr. Jordan Peterson!