Author: Bambi

The clip below was directed by Ms. Marjane Satrapi and the music arranged by Mr. Benjamin Biolay. Bravo to these French/French-speaking artists for their efforts in singing a Farsi song, which became the anthem of the current revolt.

To honour Mr. Shervin Hajjipour and the revolt of the Iranian population, Bambi would like to re-post his original “Barayeh”. This song was taken from an older post shown further below. It is followed by an English adaptation by Ms. Rana Mansour. The link of the latter was kindly shared by Azi yesterday in her comment on Bambi’s post, which also shown at the end of the current one.

Because of his song, the Iranian regime arrested Mr. Hajjipour. He went missing for days. If you are curious about his fate like Bambi has been since her post about him, below you can read Azi’s comment from this morning. She kindly shared with us online information about the end of Mr. Shervin Hajjipour’s ordeal in jail. Thanks Azi!

Azi wrote yesterday night:

“from Wikipedia:
“On 29 September 2022 Hajipour was arrested for the song “Baraye”.[23][24][25] He was forced to remove the song from his social media platforms[26] by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s security agents shortly after his arrest.[27][28] Tasnim News Agency, affiliated to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, posted an edited version of the video clip, with images showing the Islamic republic’s achievements instead of the original ones.[29]

On 4 October 2022, Hajipour was released on bail “so that his case can go through the legal process,” according to Mohammad Karimi, prosecutor of the northern province of Mazandaran.[30][31]

During Hajipour’s arrest many social media users were taking steps to nominate his “Baraye” song to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the Grammy Awards category “Best Song For Social Change”,[32] which is a new category.[33]”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shervin_Hajipour

Bambi replied early this morning:

” MANY thanks Azi for this update!! Bambi worried about him since her last post and sent him positive vibes in her heart. She supports those social media users nominating Hajipour’s “Baraye” song to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the Grammy Awards Category: Best Song For Social Change!”

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Iran: Where is Mr. Shervin Hajipoor? He was arrested after releasing his powerful song “Baraye”!

Bambi’s new discovery: A love song she wants to dedicate to all the courageous Iranian women!

Bambi discovered this Persian song while working yesterday, thanks to her Lebanese-American internet radio. The language (without understanding it) and the music are beautiful. The lyrics are translated into English the video below.

If she may, she would like to offer this love song, with its peaceful melody, to all the INSPIRING Iranian women who have been tirelessly fighting for their freedom of choice in life. Choice of wearing a hijab or not. Choice of being observant or not. They are giving us a life lesson. Are we listening? Specifically the feminists of Canada who have largely remained publicly silent about what is unfolding in this country. We lately heard from our Prime Minister in demonstrations here in Canada. If Mr. Trudeau’s words are sincere, and especially being translated into supportive actions, for the courageous Iranian population, they are more than welcome. Bravo and thanks to him/his government.

May LOVE (like in this song), whether with a small or big L, always have the final word in our world. Yes, a healthy and inspiring love, which is based on the respect for the individual’s human dignity. Talking about love, and to conclude this post, Bambi would like to also dedicate this Evan Band song entitled Aljenab (in Farsi) to the wonderful Salome who is celebrating her birthday today ❤️. May she be having fun now! And how about also offering it to someone else also celebrating today? He will recognize himself :). Plus, time flies, we are already in the busy month of November in which Bambi daily highlights a loved one’s birthday (at times, two on the same day), including her own mom!

Bambi just read that Mr. John McGale is no longer with us. He died suddenly yesterday night at age 66, in a car accident. What a LOSS to all his loved ones and to the music world in our country, especially Offenbach.

Who knows? Maybe Mr. McGale is hanging out now in heaven with his late friend, the unique Mr. Jerry Boulet (https://bit.ly/3gOCyXy)? To honour him, Bambi will post a few of his songs, some with his peers from Offenbach, including Mr. Boulet.

Thanks to him for his great talent and work ethics. Indeed, he was highly respected by his fellow artists. May his memory be eternal…

First and foremost, thanks to the Warktimes for keeping us informed (https://bit.ly/3SVLRSN). Mr. Wark’s recent article is about a highly promising candidate for Tantramar Mayor:

Remember her name. It is Ms. Bonnie Swift, P.Eng., MBA,CPA,CMA.

Ms. Swift is a candidate in addition to the the incumbent Sackville Mayor, Mr. Shawn Mesheau, and the incumbent Sackville deputy Mayor, Mr. Andrew Black.

Bambi was so happy to read Ms. Bonnie Swift platform (https://bit.ly/3DVr9P3). It is impressive to say the least. Yes, it is rigorous, practical, and oriented toward open governance and problem-solving. Ms. Swift reports being “a firm believer in Parkinson’s Law. It is all about efficiency. It is the concept that work expands with the time allotted. That extra time costs money. You get can more done when given less time and money to complete a project“.

Most importantly, her platform shows both responsibility and accountability. For example, she seems committed to ending secrecy and reports believing “that the press should have adequate access to information“. Of note, she is “vehemently against cancel culture“. She does not seem to be afraid of naming a spade a spade. For example, her platform clearly states that “it is pure meanness in the guise of virtue but there is no virtue in cancelling someone’s paycheck or medical benefits because of something they said that you deemed inappropriate“. Thanks to Ms. Swift for being not only pragmatic, but also principled and honest. Bambi was particular happy to read that, like her, she believes in the diversity of thoughts and freedom of expression. Our towns, provinces, country, and perhaps entire world need to re-embrace this value or principle. Yes, we badly need a change of this toxic culture of the urge to censor or silence politicians and citizens when we do not agree with their expressed opinion. We need to feel free, respected, and heard, as citizens. Enough of self-censorship out of fear of being cancelled. Enough of political correctness. Let’s just simply speak our mind, to better communicate, in order to facilitate collaboration and solve problems.

Recently, Bambi bumped into Ms. Swift for the first time of her life, although they both live in the same small little town. She discovered a charismatic and smart woman. She seems to be a natural leader (a commander type of personality, we learn from her platform). She is highly educated, trained, and skilled. She is both a civil engineer and an accomplished entrepreneur. She also has substantial experience in successfully managing large teams and leading them toward the success of their projects.

Of note, Ms. Swift is an environmental scientist. Environmental issues, including climate change, are important to her. The Warktimes article and her platform show us her critical sense when it comes to these matters.

Also importantly, Ms. Swift is attached to local history and culture. She is active as a volunteer on this front. Bravo and thanks to her because an attachment to our local culture gives us a shared sense of belonging to and pride in our communities. As for local history, it provides us with a connection with previous generations and a sense of continuity with future generations. Is there anything more grounded than that in life?

To conclude this post, Bambi would like to wish Ms. Swift best wishes! Thank you for running for Mayor and for sharing your inspiring ideas with us, the citizens of Tantramar. In addition to being a high calibre candidate, you are giving us hope.

Bambi’s heart is deeply sad after reading this BBC article about Lebanon (https://bbc.in/3gWHREh). Indeed, her birth country has failed itself and its citizens, despite any leftover good intentions, or unknown efforts, to solve its multiple crises.

As per the BBC, Ms. Higgins’s organization, UNICEF, has warned the Lebanese authorities of the risk of a cholera outbreak for the past year. Yes, poor Lebanon was dealing with a Covid-19 pandemic like the entire planet, in addition to the preceding crash of its banking sector under the weight of corruption (and mismanagement of public funds?).

Lebanon has been struggling to rise above its economic tragic situation. Is this an excuse for not preventing problems whether health-related (cholera) or safety-related (Beirut blast)? Bambi is saying this, even if more than once of this blog, she has saluted the Ministry of Public Health work over the past couple of years (regardless of who is in charge of it).

If she may, Bambi would like to echo the thoughtful and powerful words of Mr. Mohamad Akl (a cholera patient cited in the BBC article): “There is a Nobel prize for peace? Lebanon deserves the Nobel prize for failure. All of our politicians are corrupt. It’s no surprise we got to this situation.” To conclude this post, once again, Mawtini [my country] comes to her mind. It is interpreted below by Ms. Talia Lahoud. It is subtitled in English.

How sad to see destructive behaviour in action, as shown in the videos below from out of Europe.

The world is already sensitive to environmental issues. So why are these young people acting in an non-strategic and violent way? Won’t they lose their allies like that?

And, beyond vandalism, what solutions are they proposing?

Bambi discovered this lovely song yesterday evening. It played again on her internet radio today. Well, she cannot stop singing it and she feels the urge to share it with you. She hopes you will enjoy it too :)!

How sad to see words being emptied of their real meaning again and again.

Why don’t we respect the Indigeneous people/tragedy more by using more precise words? Don’t they/their suffering deserve such linguistic rigour?

A “cultural genocide” is HORRIBLE in itself. Does it need to be made even more horrible by calling it “a genocide“?

And would calling “a cultural genocide” a “genocide” change the SAD reality of systemic assimilation? Most importantly, how will it better serve the Indigeneous cause and bring justice, healing, and concrete solutions (not just words)?

Bambi is writing the above, title and post, after reading a CBC article informing us of the following (https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/house-motion-recognize-genocide-1.6632450): “Members of Parliament gave unanimous consent Thursday in favour of a motion calling on the federal government to recognize Canada’s residential schools as genocide. Leah Gazan, the NDP member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre, introduced the motion following Question Period Thursday afternoon. Gazan brought forward a similar motion in June last year, but it did not receive unanimous consent.”

You may or may not agree with MP Gazan. Bambi does not… and no, she is not encouraging colonization by writing so. She is just asking for linguistic accuracy.

This post will raise one question, as per its title: Why should shelters for women, victims of domestic violence, be segregated by religion now in Winnipeg, Canada? Is this a good thing in our societies in general and for these women in particular?

Bambi will spare you her questions and thoughts, hoping this post and the video below will encourage you to think and make your own opinion.

To end this post on a musical note, and out of solidarity for ALL victims of domestic violence, in Canada and abroad, Bambi will end this post with two beautiful songs: The first, entitled “Khalas” [“Enough” in Arabic] by Ms. Karol Sakr (subtitled in English) and the other, entitled “Chanson pour Marie” [“A song for Mary” in English] by Mr. Nicolas Ciccone (subtitled in French).

First and foremost, bravo to Lebanon for working on the demarcation of its maritime borders with Israel (deal signed today), Syria (delays on this front), and Cyprus (likely an easier one) in order to facilitate gas extraction in the future (https://bit.ly/3U53LU6).

Bravo to both neighbouring countries for putting their respective economy first, not ideologies or, may God forbid, any future war(s).

Bravo also to the Hezbollah for endorsing this deal, even if Bambi has mixed feelings here. Indeed, deep inside, she cannot help not to wonder what guarantees did the US and France give to this group (or indirectly to Iran) in return.

This being said, a big bravo to the US Biden Administration (i.e. Mr. Hochstein) for making this deal possible. This is a big diplomatic achievement, even there was no official signature in the same place (or on the same page even!), no pictures, and no champagne or sparkling wine cocktails.

To conclude this post, best wishes to both Lebanon and Israel, and especially to the Lebanese people. They BADLY need an economic miracle to get them out of their country’s fiasco. Best wishes also to Europe, which would eventually benefit from the promising gas to survive its colder days. All in all, this is most likely the happiest news of the day… AFTER Bente’s birthday, of course 🙂 (as per the earlier post shown below).

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An earlier post on this topic:

A historic deal between Lebanon and Israel over maritime border!

“Gelukkige verjaardag” [Happy Birthday] to Bente!