As per one of his recent tweets, he wants to “build back better”. Lebanon can benefit from such language whatever it means (does he know what he means or is he repeating what Mr. Biden says?).
He seems to be fond of sectarianism (when he can exploit it) that his government calls anti-racism. He would fit well in Lebanon.
He is out of touch with his people. Again, he would fit well in Lebanon.
He is an expert in ethics transgressions. This is a significant baby step in the direction of the moral/financial corruption of the Lebanese politicians.
He came up with Bill 36 to silence citizens (for their so-called “hate” online speech). He would fit well in Lebanon.
He is telling us he is green… They need genuine green elected officials in Lebanon.
He bought a pipeline… They are having fuel tank explosions there. He could contribute to public safety.
He has close ties (and perhaps some loyalty) to China. He could help Lebanon in its negotiations with China. The latter could invest in Lebanon or bail it out.
He wants to be or wants us to think that he is a feminist. God knows how much Lebanon would benefit from more equality between men and women… even if it is far from being Afghanistan under the Taliban (Bambi’s heart goes to Afghani women!).
First, here are two pictures from this Akkar region of Lebanon where the tragedy took place:
A picture taken from Wikipedia
A picture found on the internet with the clouds in the background. Thanks to the photographer whomever he/she is
The explosion took place In this piece of heaven where many live under the line of poverty. In addition, they are suffering from the consequences of corruption like the rest of their fellow citizens. Bambi’s heart goes to the grieving families (some parents lost 2 kids! Other families lost four members at the same time, can you imagine!?). Bambi is also thinking of her friends originally from this beautiful area of Lebanon. Some lost friends or know injured people. Thankfully, their own families are safe and sound.
This being said, we do not know precisely the triggering factor of the explosion. We just know that the army was helping citizens at the moment. Indeed, the Lebanese army confiscated fuel stolen and stored by mafia networks across the country. Some of these illegals operation are overseen by politicians, imagine. Corruption is across political parties!
Anyhow, the Lebanese soldiers were kindly distributing the confiscated material for free to residents when the tragedy took place killing 28+ people and seriously injuring hundred others.
About 22 teams of the Lebanese Red Cross, along with other rescuers, rushed to the scene to transport the injured to hospitals. Remember, the Lebanese healthcare sector, is “agonizing” to use the word of one administrator at a Beirut hospital. It is lacking medical supplies and fuel to be able to keep running.
Was the fuel crisis in Lebanon a consequence of the economic crisis? Or was it an artificially orchestrated crisis by those benefiting from the corruption (by hiding fuel to smuggle it into Syria to sell it three times its price. In other terms, abusing the state fuel subsidies system of Lebanon). This is the real issue here, regardless of the triggering factor that remains under investigation.
Journalist Roula Azar Douglas is sadly telling us that some citizens remain too influenced by sectarian considerations
A picture taken from An Nahar
A picture taken from An Nahar. These four young men are members of the same family. They all died in the explosion :(. Bambi’s heart goes to their parents and loved ones
Journalist Roula Douglas is demanding to dissolve the Parliament (i.e. new elections)!
To conclude this post on a musical note, one song comes to Bambi’s mind. It is about the fragility of life by Mr. Luc de Larochelière… Life is fragile by nature. However, in today’s Lebanon, not only life is too fragile. Death is trivial and cheap, contrary to all other aspects of people’s lives…
First, Bambi will start by wishing a “Bonne Quinzou” to her friends and readers celebrating this big day!
Acadians are inspiring in so many ways: Their resilience, solidarity, pride, joie de vivre, big heart, and… championship of the French culture in North America!
Here are two songs for you Acadie!
Second, today is also a big day that is off (OK, tomorrow Monday rather) in many countries around the world, including Lebanon. It is the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus. For those who do not know it, Mary is well respected in both Christianity and Islam.
This being said, Bambi would like to pause now (yes, she stopped typing) to close her eyes, thinking of two countries she loves dearly, Haiti and Lebanon, which are going through adversity. Some of you may perhaps recall that Bambi has honoured Haiti once on this blog in a post about national anthems (i.e., the Haitian one is beautiful).
This being said, the most recent tragic news from Haiti is that there has been a 7.2 earthquake. Sadly, about 300+ people died and hundreds are injured:
Of note, the people of Haiti have been going through harsh times lately following the political assassination of their President Moise. Clearly, they did not need another crisis or trauma/grief. Bambi sends them her heart, along with a prayer that goes with the theme of this day: the Ave Maria interpreted by the inspiring Mr. Andrea Bocelli.
Finally, after this spiritual note, Bambi will conclude this post on August 15 on a much lighter note. Today happens to be the birthday of her dear childhood friend, Fadi. Happy Birthday and much love from both Bambi and her spouse. Have a fun day with your lovely family! Of course, there is a song for you and it is a joyful one. Bambi hopes your wisdom (stemming from your older age :)) will allow you to guess what it is [“bravo ya shater” 🙂 ]!
Last but not least , here is the AUBMC’s appeal in both English and Arabic.
Can someone save Lebanon from itself, please!?!
For immediate release
Beirut: 14-8-2021
AUBMC appeals for urgent supply of fuel
before
forced shutdown this Monday
The
American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) is facing imminent
disaster due to the threat of a forced shutdown starting the morning of this
coming Monday August 16, as a result of fuel shortages. This means that
ventilators and other lifesaving medical devices will cease to operate. Forty
adult patients and fifteen children living on respirators will die immediately.
One hundred and eighty people suffering from renal failure will die poisoned
after a few days without dialysis. Hundreds of cancer patients, adults and
children, will die in subsequent weeks and very few months without proper
treatment.
AUBMC
is making an urgent appeal to the Lebanese government, the United Nations (UN)
and its agencies the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and to all agencies and organizations able to help,
urging them to supply the medical center with enough fuel before it is forced
to shut down in less than 48 hrs.
This
comes at a time when AUBMC is facing crises at all levels: shortage in drugs
and medications, shortage in medical supplies, and the more recent scandalous
electricity cuts and impossibility of electricity production with no meaningful
fuel deliveries for days.
The
American University of Beirut (AUB) has been rationing electricity and fuel
across campus for weeks but is running out of both and will not be able to
continue to supply its medical center.
The
AUB and AUBMC administration considers the Lebanese Government and officials in
the Lebanese state fully responsible for this crisis and unfolding humanitarian
catastrophe, and for any incident of harm or death resulting from the inability
to offer medical care at AUBMC as well as other hospitals and medical services
providers in Lebanon who are facing the same reality.
When
lives are lost because of a fully preventable lack of electricity and fuel,
with family members watching and knowing that the fuel is already present in
adequate supply within the country, it will be a moment of infamy, a moment
unlike any that Lebanon has experienced since World War I and the famine which
cost a third of the population of Mount Lebanon their lives. The AUBMC
administration insists that all those in positions of responsibility
immediately put aside all their disputes and work together to prevent this
imminent disaster. A disaster no one deserves. Least of all the Lebanese and
other inhabitants of this nation, whose unwarranted suffering does not deserve
to be crowned with needless, pointless, irreversible tragedy.
Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut bases its
educational philosophy, standards, and practices on the American liberal arts
model of higher education. A teaching-centered research university, AUB has
more than 900 full-time faculty members and a student body of about 9,500
students. AUB currently offers more than 140 programs leading to bachelor’s,
master’s, MD, and PhD degrees. It provides medical education and training to
students from throughout the region at its Medical Center that includes a
full-service 365-bed hospital.
Stay up to date on AUB news and events. Follow us on:
يناشد امداده بالوقود بصورة عاجلة قبل الإغلاق
القسري يوم الاثنين
يواجه المركز الطبي في الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت (AUBMC) كارثة وشيكة قد تسبب الإغلاق القسري المحتمل
اعتبارًا من صباح يوم الاثنين 16 آب القادم، نتيجة انقطاع الوقود. ما يعني أن
أجهزة التنفس الاصطناعي وغيرها من الأجهزة الطبية المنقذة للحياة ستتوقف عن العمل.
سيموت على الفور أربعون مريضًا بالغًا وخمسة عشر طفلاً يعيشون على أجهزة التنفس.
مئة وثمانون شخصًا يعانون من الفشل الكلوي سيموتون بالتسمم بعد أيام قليلة من دون
غسيل الكلى. وسيموت المئات من مرضى السرطان، البالغين منهم والأطفال، في الأسابيع
والأشهر القليلة اللاحقة من دون علاج مناسب.
يوجه المركز الطبي في الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت نداءً عاجلاً إلى الحكومة
اللبنانية والأمم المتحدة ووكالاتها من منظمة الصحة العالمية ومنظمة الأمم المتحدة
للطفولة (اليونيسف)، وإلى جميع الوكالات والمنظمات القادرة على المساعدة، ويناشدهم
لتزويد المركز الطبي بالوقود الكافي قبل أن يضطر إلى الإغلاق في غضون أقل من 48
ساعة.
يأتي ذلك في وقت يواجه فيه المركز الطبي في الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت
أزمات على جميع المستويات: نقص في الأدوية، ونقص في المستلزمات الطبية، وانقطاع
التيار الكهربائي الفاضح في الآونة الأخيرة واستحالة إنتاج الكهرباء مع عدم وجود
إمدادات وقود مجدية لأيام.
تقوم الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت (AUB) بتقنين استهلاك الكهرباء والوقود في جميع
أنحاء حرمها الجامعي منذ أسابيع، إلا أنها على وشك أن تنفذ من كليهما ولن تكون
قادرة على الاستمرار في إمداد الطاقة لمركزها الطبي.
تحمّل إدارة الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت ومركزها الطبي، الحكومة اللبنانية
والمسؤولين في الدولة اللبنانية، المسؤولية الكاملة عن هذه الأزمة والكارثة
الإنسانية، وعن أي حادثة ضرر أو وفاة ناجمة عن عدم أمكانية تقديم الرعاية الطبية
في المركز الطبي في الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت بالإضافة إلى غيره من المستشفيات
ومقدمي الرعاية الصحية في لبنان الذين يواجهون الواقع نفسه.
عندما تُفقد الأرواح بسبب نقص في الكهرباء والوقود، أمام أعين أفراد الأسر
وعلما بأن الوقود موجود بالفعل وبكميات كافية داخل البلد، ستكون هذه لحظة عار.
لحظة لم يشهد مثلها لبنان منذ الحرب العالمية الأولى والمجاعة التي كلفت ثلث سكان
جبل لبنان حياتهم. تصر إدارة المركز الطبي في الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت على أن
يقوم جميع من هم في مواقع المسؤولية، وعلى الفور، بتنحية كل نزاعاتهم جانباً،
والعمل معًا لمنع هذه الكارثة الوشيكة. كارثة لا يستحقها أحد، وبالأخص كل اللبنانيين
وغيرهم من سكان هذه الأمة، الذين لا تستحق معاناتهم غير المبررة أن تتوج بمأساة لا
داعي لها ولا طائل من ورائها ولا عودة منها.
***
لمزيد من المعلومات، الرجاء
الاتصال بمكتب الإعلام في الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت:
تأسست الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت في العام 1866وترتكز
فلسفتها التعليمية ومعاييرها وممارساتها على النموذج الأميركي الليبرالي للتعليم
العالي. والجامعة الأمريكية في بيروت هي جامعة بحثية أساسها التعليم. وهيئتها
التعليمية تضم أكثر من تسعمئة أستاذ متفرّغ، أما جسمها الطلابي فيشكّل من حوالي تسعة آلاف وخمسمئة طالب. وتقدم الجامعة الأمريكية في بيروت
حاليا أكثر من مئة وأربعين برنامجاً للحصول على شهادات البكالوريوس والماجستير والدكتوراه. وهي توفّر
التعليم والتدريب الطبيين للطلاب من جميع أنحاء المنطقة في مركزها الطبي الذي يضم مستشفى كامل الخدمات يضم أكثر من ثلاثمئة
وستون سريراً.
للاطلاع على أخبار وأحداث الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت:
Bambi does not know if you know or appreciate Mr. Charles Aznavour.
Below, you can listen to his amazing song, called “Emmenez-moi“, sub-titled in English [“Take me” is the name of his English version].
Some songs are eternal.
For sure, Aznavour’s deep and beautiful songs will live eternally.
Mr. Charles Aznavour was adored in Lebanon that he visited so many times during his long career.
If she may, Bambi would like to dedicate his song “Emmenez-moi” to the people of Lebanon who may be dreaming of “escaping” the daily hell they live in. Some of them can leave. Many already did and will continue to migrate. Others will stay. Some will willingly stay. Yet many others will not leave just because they have no other choice.
Luckily, there is music, poetry, and imagination in life.
Imagination allows people to dream finding dignity and safety at home or abroad.
Imagination also allows people to dream/imagine a new and still affordable Lebanon.
Imagine a country with a government and without endless impunity.
Imagine hospitals that do not risk closure, one after the other, due to power outages.
Imagine a country with accessible food and fuel.
Imagine a place where residents, especially more senior or vulnerable ones, can imagine a visit to the hospital to heal, and not as a one-way trip to eternity.
Capitals and cities where you do not have to walk up to 10-12 different pharmacies, in the heat and in a pandemic, to find your medication.
Cities where residents can take elevators to their apartments without the risk of being stuck in them.
Capitals where people can stay in cool indoors in unbearably humid summer days.
Villages and cities where people can use their land phones to talk to loved ones abroad and their ovens to cook.
Countries where manufactures can still run because they have access to the much needed fuel.
And the list goes on…. but Bambi will spare you more blahblahblah. She will just remind you that after all we are in 2021… not in the stone age!
To conclude this post on a lighter and musical note, thank you Mr. Aznavour for your TALENT! Had you been still alive, you would have been shocked to see Lebanon in such bad shape…
The CDC is the world-renowned Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. If Bambi is not mistaken, the CDC is a
federal American agency that is partly funded by public money and partly by
private foundations like the Bloomberg Family
Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the CDC
Foundation (a charity, which receives private funding.
Now, the CBC is our Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (mind
you, Bambi heard someone say once “Communist” instead of “Canadian” ?). For the record, CBC is funded by the public, that
is by your tax money and Bambi’s.
Governmental agencies (in both the
USA and Canada) and private companies alike (e.g. Ben& Jerry ice cream,
etc.) constantly endorse political correctness causes and language.
Recently, the CDC used the term “pregnant people” instead of “pregnant women” (similar idea as “chestfeeding” instead of “breastfeeding”):
After reading all this and reflecting
about it, Bambi was curious to see how this “pregnant people” would sound
in Arabic. It would sound like this:
“الناس الحوامل
Al Naas Alhhawamil“
And “pregnant women” would sound like that:
“Alnisa’ alhawamil
النساء الحوامل”
The two words, women and people, sound similar, almost with the same exact letters. However, such new language would be insulting to women as it dilutes them in the patriarchal societies of the Arab world (currently, not just of the past). At least, leave Arabic-speaking women the language to refer to their beautiful biological function of bearing and giving life.
You may and we may wonder why some medical scientists and journalists are introducing this new language.
Like with the use of pronouns, the stated reason of this new language can be said to be noble as it aspires to respect the diversity of gender. MANY people are genuinely concerned to be welcoming to all in their society. Bravo. Some, however, do not know why they would write pronouns after their name, Perhaps to fit in? Perhaps to conform? Perhaps to show to what extent they are socially conformists?
To come back to the new language in
relation to reproduction, the underlying stated idea is to sound inclusive to
transgender parents. The latter remain a minority in the population, one must
add.
However, make no mistake, it is not because transgender parents are a minority in the population that they do not deserve our utmost respect and compassion, like anyone else (and perhaps more so due to their social vulnerability). No one should discriminate against anyone in life. Respecting people’s choices and people’s individuality is the best antidote to all forms of injustice in life.
Sadly, the effect of the new ideologies and their new terms on the whole society is that, once again (like with the story of the pronouns), language is used to control people by keeping them on edge, always wondering what to say and what not to say or write in order not to offend others. Do you also see the absurdity and anti-freedom nature of political correctness like Bambi?
To conclude this post, we may embrace this new term. We may laugh or just smile when we hear it. Regardless, one thing is clear in Bambi’s mind, there is a difference between respecting a minority and excluding half of the population of the world, women… ironically in the name of so-called inclusion.
Bambi would like to begin by thanking her friend Charles for sharing this story.
Who is Rafael Zaki? For those who did not follow his story, he is a Manitoba medical student of Egyptian origins who expressed personal views on his Facebook page that were pro-life and pro-right of owning a gun in the United States.
His university claimed having received complaints about his social media and expelled him from university. It did so because of his “conscientious and religious-based beliefs”, to use his own words, as reported by Mr. Dylan Tyser from the National Post:
You can read the details about his story in the article above, if you wish. Bambi will just comment on the following points:
Abortion is a hot topic in North and South America, contrary to other parts of the world (e.g., Lebanon)., as explained in an earlier post (shown at this end of this one) in which she wrote that in her mind, “the choice of having children or not in life clearly belongs to the woman only… or first and foremost if there is a couple’s partner in the equation”.
This being said, for having grown up during a bloody civil war, Bambi is not fond of weapons. However, she can understand the importance of the topic of legal firearms for a large number of our American neighbours. Mind you, the latter is also important for our Canadian hunters, farmers, trappers, ranchers, target or recreational shooters, as well as collectors.
Keeping this in mind, Mr. Rafael Zaki, whose parents escaped to Canada from Egypt to find safety (being Orthodox Coptic) will now be able to graduate from medical school in 2022. Good for him!
As patients, we can simply avoid consulting him for our future abortions. We can seek the help of another colleague to get an abortion. It is called having a choice in life… and Bambi is pro-choice.
Mr. Zaki (the future Dr. Zaki, if he succeeds the rest of his program) deserves our respect for having had the courage to be true to his personal beliefs. Despite his youth, he did not fall in the trap of repeating what others say just to fit in, out of conformity, that is without a genuine conviction.
Without having read his essay, Bambi finds that Mr. Zaki may have expressed his opinion in a harsh or judgmental way (i.e., using words like murderous, etc.). Regardless and even if it seems odd for a physician-to-be to use such strong words, it is his right as a Canadian citizen to express such an opinion. Perhaps he simply meant to say that he does not even feel comfortable to refer patients to another colleague? And the onus is on the patient to find that physician? Could it be?
Anyhow, it is also Bambi’s right to clearly have an opposite opinion that is for women’s choice (wanting or not wanting children, resorting to an abortion or not, etc.).
Talking about life and death, in Bambi’s mind, she is clearly against death penalty in life to all, even to monsters like the Hitlers or Maos of our world or to other creatures, called human beings, living the Middle East.
The above comment may contrast with recent sentiments expressed by many citizens in Bambi’s birth country, following the surrealistic Beirut port explosion. The people of Lebanon are too fed up of those governing them (even without a government) that they are drawing scenes referring to capital punishment of political leaders on Beirut’s public walls. Of note, capital punishment is theoretically a legal option in Lebanon, even if no execution has been carried out for almost 20 years now (i.e., before the last one(s), many years passed without any execution).
To come back to Mr. Zaki, and of note, the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship (SAFS) has supported Mr. Zaki in the past. If you wish, you can read the SAFS President (Dr. Mark Mercer)’s letter about Mr. Rafael Zaki’s case here:
To conclude this post, today’s court ruling, is the SAFS victory too, not just Mr. Zaki’s victory. Most importantly, it is our collective victory, all of us, in Canada. Each time freedom survives its attacks in our country, we ALL win with it!
Thank you and bravo Mr. Mark Hachem for tackling “some Arab stereotypes” and, as you added, for sharing “some positive things about Arabs you might not see in mainstream media“.
Since Bambi discovered you, thanks to a friend from PEI and a cousin abroad, she follows your work, from time to time, to entertain herself at the end of a busy day.
Following the video on being Arab, you can watch (or re-watch, if you wish) Mark Hachem on “You know you are dating a Lebanese man when…” .
Mr. George Orwell’s words are thoughtful in all languages.
First, Bambi just read a French translation of one of his quotes, shared by Beirut-based journalist Roula Douglas. Thanks to her:
Second, here are Mr. Orwell’s original words in English:
“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. ”
Bambi is not interested in pointing to any political discourse in particular, although it is not hard to guess if we read the latest international and Lebanese headlines.
Keeping Mr. Orwell’s words in mind, impunity is still prevailing in Lebanon, despite national and international investigations or tribunals and regardless of the crime.
Talking about crimes or criminal negligence, guess what comes to Bambi’s mind again? The surrealistic Beirut port explosion. Among its 219 victims, you may recall “Lexou” (or Alexandra), the daughter of Mr. Paul Naggear and Ms. Tracy Awad-Naggear from Canada who, “rather than return to Canada, they stayed for a better Lebanon“, according to the Globe and Mail (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-beiruts-port-explosion-killed-their-daughter-but-rather-than-return-to/):
Alexandra (“Lexou”) Naggear. A picture taken from the IrishSun
Well, Lexou’s grand-father, Mr. Michel Awad (Tracey’s dad) and her best friend, Ms. Mayssa Jallad, wrote a song after the blast:
Bambi can only imagine one drop of the ocean of sorrow of Mr. Awad who lost his granddaughter. What can she say about Lexou’s parents?! And Isaac Ohlers’ mother and father? Bissan’s and Elias’ parents and all the relatives and friends of the other 200+ victims, younger and older? And what about the 6000+ injured people (some still undergoing surgeries!) and their fellow residents who survived… even if a piece of them died on that doomed August 4, 2020?
Indeed, to use the words of Lexou’s dad tweeted in Arabic: “A year ago, your heart stopped beating and ours stopped with it…“
While waiting for justice, as we (endlessly) wait for Godot, may the music of these two artists help many hearts heal, starting with theirs. Bambi thanks them for sharing their moving English song called “Shout“.
