Category: Sackville’s Memorial park

Thanks to Ms. Roula Douglas (journalist) for re-tweeting this informative yet not surprising article in the New York Times about the unprecedented LOW level of immoral behaviour of Lebanon’s officials.

The article is signed by Mr. Ben Hubbard with contributing reporting by Ms. Hwaida Saad and Mr. Kareem Chehayeb.

Please take a look at that tweet in question at the very end of this post. Mr. Hubbard’s words are very strong.The picture he chose to share is even more powerful.

How can Lebanese officials get to sleep at night?!

The irony is that many of them resigned following the blast… Yet, they are still working (or at least getting paid) as members of the caretaker government (except the latest PM who perhaps had the decency of resigning for good after having tried to form a government, but they made him fail and made Mr. Macron’s initiative fail?).

Anyhow, if you can understand anything in Lebanese politics, you deserve an award for your intellectual achievement. Bambi does not even try to make sense of all the shenanigans. She just knows about the following key milestones of 2019-2020: First, the financial/economic crash (October 17, 2019), followed by the Beirut surrealistic blast August 4, 2020) and its devastating impact. Of course, there is also the coronavirus pandemic (since February, 2020) and its economic toll, which occurred on top of the crash of the banking sector that has been already paralyzing Lebanon’s economy. Add to this the geopolitical fragility of this tiny Mediterranean country along with political malice, which is in turn completely paralyzing democratic processes (no new government since August, 2020… and a complete takeover by Iran, through Hezbollah et al., which is toxicly and shamelessly aligned with Iran’s ideology/military interests in the region over Lebanon’s interests).

The end result of all the above is “a catastrophe” to borrow the words of one of Bambi’s friends.

To give you an example of the economic catastrophe of all the crises mentioned above, including the destroyed port/large part of the capital, an imported jar of Nutella (that many kids adore eating) used to be affordable to their parents. With the hyperinflation, its price became worth US$19 only seven months ago (according to Lebanese media, namely 961). It is now the equivalent of US$50, according to the friend cited above. Can you imagine? To give you an idea, here you can get the same product at just CAD$4.67, at least from Walmart in Moncton. Yes, it is on sale, if you happen to still enjoy eating it like Bambi.

This being said, Bambi will end this post with the article of Mr. Hubbard (to see it, please right click on the picture. You may have to open it in a separate tab). Thanks to him and his team of contributing reporters. As for the people of Lebanon, Bambi would like to send them all a virtual heart, praying that they will start their rising journey as soon as they hit the rock bottom!

Beirut Explosion Investigation Arrests

The university shown in the link below is a Canadian one, a country that prides itself on being multicultural. Yet, it is increasingly, advertising academic positions meant for people of a certain colour only. Does that make any sense. Isn’t this the ultimate example of racism? It is in Bambi’s own mind, even if she is a so-called “BIPOC” deer (yes, again, this funny acronym she is supposed to fit in as a deer that is “black, indigenous, and people of colour”).

This ad is calling for scholars who are or identify as black only.

It is not calling for experts in “black studies” (whatever that means, history, literature, or culture, etc.).

It is literally stating the following:

“This is a targeted search for Black scholars and is open to candidates who identify as Black from around the world. MSVU encourages applications from all qualified candidates, including women, persons of any sexual orientations and gender identities and/or expressions, persons with disabilities, and other equity-deserving groups”:

https://bit.ly/37AXES4

Bambi wonders if her own colour hue, as a deer, is part of other equity-deserving groups” … or would suffice to identify as one of it?

With all due you respect, Bambi is asking this question, but she would be insulted and turned off by this ad. She would never ever accept to be hired under it. In her mind, merit and only merit should be the criterion.

To explain this to Lebanese readers or those who know this context well, she will say that it is the equivalent of the stupid quotas of Lebanon that made Bambi escape Beirut: This position open for a Christian Catholic only. That one for a Shia Muslim only. The other for a Sunni Muslim or for Druze, etc.

It is disgusting, to say the least.

If this is social justice, as this university claims it to be, sorry, Bambi does not want it.

Please, wake up Canada!!

The picture below moved Bambi’s heart this morning. She will describe why in the following paragraphs.

Those kids are from the devastated neighbourhoods of Beirut.

One, they survived, hopefully, along with their parents.

Second, look at the beautiful look, or rather exchange of eye contact, of the little boy with Santa Claus. We can even appreciate his shy smile hidden behind his mask.

In that look, we see amusement, some joy, and especially a glimpse of hope.

Hope in the goodness of men (and women… let’s not forget Santa’s spouse :)) in our world.

Hope in brighter days for his country that has been described a couple of days ago by a French politician, called Mr. Le Drian, as follows: “Lebanon’s collapse is like the Titanic’s sinking, only without the music…“

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-crisis-france-idUSKBN28N0RX

Mind you, the same idea of the Titanic was the title of two beautiful yet moving poems (written in French) by Mr. Georges Abu Arraj, one of Bambi’s good friends in Beirut. He shared those poems with his friends on his social media channels. Ironically, he wrote the first on August 1st, 2020 (3 days before the doomed explosion) and the second a few days after. Bambi would have been honoured to ask for his permission to share them with you, but she would have not been able to capture all his talent in the translation.

Anyhow to come back to France, the first politician in the world (before Lebanon’s own corrupt politicians!) who went to comfort Beirutis immediately following the surrealistic port blast was supposed to re-visit the country for the third time on Christmas eve. Sadly, he had to cancel his trip because he has been diagnosed with Covid-19. Bambi would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Macron for all what he has been doing to support the Lebanese people and economy. Same for the UK Ambassador in Beirut who resigned recently, publishing a moving letter to the Lebanese people yesterday. Same for our own Mr. Champagne who travelled to Beirut as well. Same for all the friends of Lebanon and stability in our world. Last but not least, Bambi would like to again thank each Canadian citizen who kindly and generously supported her birth country in one way or in another.

The tragedy of Lebanon is that the whole world is in such a disastrous economic state now because of the coronavirus pandemic. This does not help neither its case nor its large number of its citizens who have been leaving it. To give you an idea, it seems that in October only, about 400 physicians left Lebanon (as per the Lebanese and international media).

To conclude this post, may the hope of hope that we see in this cute boy’s eyes prevail in Lebanon. This kid and all his peers deserve safety, happiness, love, and prosperity. Most importantly, they deserve to dance on a solid boat that will keep sailing and moving forward… not sinking like the Titanic, with or without music!

In Bambi’s 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. 

Bambi recalls very well having once bumped into an acquaintance who was born in the same birth country as her. This lady shared with her and with Bambi’s spouse that she did not see them lately because she was busy at work and she had an abortion. She said it in a very natural way. They replied to her in the same natural way that they hope she is feeling well and made plans to see her later.

After this encounter, Bambi recalls having told her spouse: “See, I told you, abortion is only a hot topic in the Americas. Imagine, in South America for instance, you can go to jail for having had a “spontaneous abortion” (medical term for a miscarriage).

Can you imagine?! Had Bambi been living there, with three recurrent miscarriages, Bambi would have spent the rest of her life behind bars!

Anyhow, why is Bambi talking about choices and abortions here, it is because of this CBC article from which we learned that our provincial government “blunts opposition abortion motion, removes references to Clinic 554”:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/higgs-government-negates-opposition-abortion-motion-1.5846194

The question for Bambi is not why this political move/decision. It is rather, why does a man as pragmatic and logical as Mr. Higgs, (shamelessly) pander to radicals (religious or not?) who want to impose their anti-choice views on others?

Perhaps he needs their votes to keep his majority government?

Perhaps he wants to thank them for their votes because he has a majority government?

Of course, regardless of his own motivation, our province is free to manage its health decisions as it wishes. Perhaps this is easier with a majority government, along with distorted political moves like what they did. Our MLA, Ms. Megan Mitton, is right on denouncing the latter. Thank you.

Last but not least, did we think about access to abortions at hospitals in terms of travel costs, risks of losing one’s job, risks of car accidents in the winter term, etc. Why BOTH of these hospitals offering abortion services are in Moncton and not one in Moncton and another one elsewhere (Fredericton or Saint John, etc.)? This point was well raised by Minister Jill Green, thanks to her too.

A few months ago, our federal government created a banking program meant for “black entrepreneurs” only (http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/150.nsf/eng/home).

Now, they are creating a housing program for “black Canadians”… as if there are different types of Canadian citizens.

Why don’t our politicians see the danger of what they are doing to us? They are dividing us by the shades of our skin colour. Does that makes any sense? Perhaps to you, but surely not to Bambi ( https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/government-of-canada-announces-housing-support-for-black-canadian-families-826778853.html).

You would think that if you need help with housing, it is because you are in financially difficult circumstances, period.

Indeed, you can be black, blue, green, red, or white and yet you can be either rich or poor. You can be short or fat, ugly or a king/queen of beauty and yet, you can find yourself in the upper socio-economic status (SES) or in the lower SES.

Plus, how is our government going to test citizens for their eligibility to such programs? Will they start performing a skin test for the shades of its colour :)?

Bambi seems to be joking, but she does not find all these programs funny anymore. She rather finds them insulting to the Canadian citizen she is and to the immigrant who chose Canada as her final home, precisely because Canada does not resort to such stupidities like in other countries.

Now, if you think that the obsession of our society with “systemic racism” is slowing down, you are wrong. First, check how our government calls deer like Bambi. It calls them: “racialized“. Can you imagine the insult underlying this term? Bambi sees herself as a citizen rather. She may have a certain ethno-linguistic background, as an old immigrant (which we all are. Some of us across generations and generations). Yet she is Canadian. Period.

She sees Canada as ONE country, and not as a postnational hotel with tribes of “racialized groups”. She refuses to fall into this trap of “each tribe calling itself a nation“, to cite Mr. Gibran Khalil Gibran about Lebanon. She is too patriotic on one hand and too lucid on the other. She saw how her tiny birth country was divided and sub-divided… until it has weakened. This is why is is being easily taken over by regional entities (Iran et al.).

To come back to our Canada, it is going crazy with all these racial obsessions. Enough, please.

If you still not believe Bambi, look how our government now seems to be slowly but surely imposing those views even in its main health funding agency. Instead of keeping its focus on science and merit ONLY, it is now bringing those ideologies into the equation. Can you imagine? It seems to want to prove that these agencies are filled with the so-called systemic racism. Our Canadian Institutes of Health Research is composed of 13 virtual institutes that fund medical research (e.g, Cancer research; Infection and immunity; Neurosciences mental health, addictions; Institute of Child, youth, and human development; Indigenous people’s heath; Genetics; Women and gender, etc.). It is far from being perfect and it can do better for sure. However, it does what it is supposed to be doing: funding excellence in health research across the country and allowing Canadian researchers to compete and collaborate among each other and internationally. We excel in may areas around the world (e.g. Maternal and child health, such as research on premature birth or in health issues related to aging, to give a couple of examples).

https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/52258.html

Bambi recently accepted an invitation to participate in a research project (as a participant). One of the demographic questions was about her ethnic background. Well, the list was LONG and rather funny with its categories and sub-categories… Well, she skipped the list to its end and chose “Other”. Next to it she wrote: “A proud Canadian :)”.

To come back to our government, and to conclude this post, Bambi urges Mr. Trudeau et al. to pause to think about the direction they are taking us into, as a country. Despite their good intentions, the outcomes of such racial policies (in 5, 10, 25 or 50-100 years) can be VERY ugly for Canada. Indeed, at one point, too much of a good thing (wanting equity at all costs to the point of seeing problems where they aren’t, etc.) can become a bad thing. Please wake up… Thank you.

Bambi is grateful to God because her mom and dad survived the Beirut port explosion.

In all honesty, even four months later, she still cannot understand how they were not even injured every time she looks at the picture of their destroyed place. Deep inside, she is convinced that is because it was not their time to go… as simple as that.

In life, we come to the world without even asking for it and we usually go not knowing when it ill be the time to start this one-way, luggage-free, trip (in Bambi’s mind, this is the best trip in a lifetime as she does not need to pack for it :)).

Seriously now, Bambi’s parents are still repairing their apartment, slowly but surely. Sadly, other neighbours were not as lucky. Many lost their lives on the streets, in their places, and in the nearby hospital. Some survived but lost they loved ones. Yet many more were badly injured whilst being homeless.

Well, out of respect for those neighbours who are grieving, Bambi’s parents decided not to decorate their balcony with their annual Christmas lights and red decoration. They just decorated their living room with their beautiful Christmas tree.

Today, Bambi, received a moving picture from them, along with a cute WhatsApp call to tell her about a Christmas tree that is uniting Canada, Acadie, and Lebanon :). At first, Bambi did not understand her dad’s comment. She thought they were watching a TV show or movie about Atlantic Canada. Well, it turned out that the small flags of Canada, Lebanon, and even Acadie, are in their own tree in Beirut, Lebanon! They kindly told Bambi the following: “Because you are not coming this Christmas to visit us from far away, we are honouring your country” (and their beloved second one too :)!).

Without further due, you can see this picture below (Bambi asked for the permission to share it).

Thank you mom and dad for honouring Canada and for having brought your family to safety to it during civil war. Without your move, Bambi would have not been able to call Canada home.

May your Christmas decoration bring you comfort, mom and dad.

May the Christmas spirit always shine in your hearts… and hopefully in those in charge of your country.

Bambi misses you. She hopes/trusts she will see you ASAP when that tiny yet mean virus gives our world a break!

First, here is Mr. Yves-François Blanchet’s tweet, including his Bloc Québecois (BQ) party’s statement:

If you do not understand French, here is a quick translation of the tweet above: “I am not that interested by the motivation of the Leader of the Conservative party to suggest that residential schools may have had another intention than the acculturation of the Indigenous people. Nevertheless, I wish that the real history, even if it is troubling, be admitted, known, and taught“.

Now, below, you can read the official statement of the BQ, as published in French first, followed by a quick translation into English for you.

Thank you Mr. Blanchet for your wise and straightforward words.

Bambi was curious to see the reaction of Ms. Jody Wilson-Raybould. As of 10:23 PM, there was no reaction on her Twitter account. Bambi will allow herself to say the following: Thank you Ms. Jody Wilson-Raybould for not playing politics over either mere stupidity (or malice?!) of your peers. As usual, you remain focused on the crying issues of your fellow Indigenous people, without any virtue signalling or pandering. Thank you for your authenticity, which is rare in politics!

Le Bloc Québécois s’inquiète des propos du chef conservateur sur les pensionnats autochtones

“Le Bloc Québécois s’inquiète des propos du chef conservateur sur les pensionnats autochtones

Shawinigan, le 16 décembre 2020 – Le Bloc Québécois s’inquiète des propos tenus par le chef conservateur, Erin O’Toole, devant des militants de son parti. La lecture historique que fait le chef du PCC est erronée. Yves-François Blanchet souligne qu’on ne peut pas ainsi confondre une volonté d’éducation des enfants autochtones et génocide culturel.

Le chef du Bloc Québécois prend toutefois acte de l’admission d’erreur du chef conservateur. Il considère qu’il faut plutôt saisir l’occasion et, au contraire, enseigner l’histoire réelle de la relation entre les Autochtones et le Canada qui, pendant des décennies, avait pour intention de faire disparaître un ensemble de cultures riches et diversifiées en assimilant les enfants autochtones dans un réseau de pensionnats administrés par le clergé.“

“The Bloc Québécois worries about the Conservative leader’s comments on residential schools

Shawinigan, December 16, 2020 – The Bloc Québécois is concerned about remarks made by Conservative leader Erin O’Toole in front of his party activists. The historical reading of the CCP leader is wrong. Yves-François Blanchet emphasizes that we cannot thus confuse a desire to educate Indigenous children with cultural genocide.

The leader of the Bloc Québécois, however, takes note of the Conservative leader’s admission of error. He considers that one must rather seize the opportunity to, on the contrary, teach the real history of the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada, which for decades intended to wipe out a set of rich and diverse cultures by assimilating Indigenous children into a network of clergy-run boarding schools.“

Bambi would like to begin this post by congratulating the winners Biden-Harris.

She is officially congratulating them, even if deep inside she remains skeptical about the voting process of this election (as an observer from far). She is saying so, not because of Mr. Trump’s legal battle or some American States’ suits. It is rather because these elections have world-wide high stakes. As Bambi’s spouse has always said: “In politics, things are often not what they seem to be”.

So, could Mr. Trump be perhaps right about systemic cheating, even if he is a narcissistic President? Or is he a lunatic freak who does not know how to acknowledge loss?

Anyhow, with all due respect to all the lawyers of the world (she is in love with one of them ?), she does not trust them much, as politicians. She wonders sometimes whether other professionals may not be more trustworthy as public servants (the latter thought has even influenced her own vote in the past).

Related to the law profession, let’s focus on Ms. Harris now (ie., a lawyer who is married to another attorney, by the way). Here is what is puzzling for Bambi about this politician: In 2019, she told American citizens that “she believes the women” accusing Mr. Biden of rape/sexual harassment. A few months following this statement, in 2020, she told them that she “believes in Joe” whilst endorsing his campaign.

In which statement was Ms. Harris authentic?

In the first or in the second?

What has changed in Mr. Biden from 2019 to 2020? Chances are he is still the same man (either innocent/wrongly accused or guilty/responsible of his acts).

Chances are Ms. Harris too, the same woman who is playing the game of politics. In Bambi’s non-expert citizen opinion, she may be an arriviste… but all the media of the world are only putting the accent on her being a woman or a “coloured” woman.   

At one point, Ms. Harris endorsed the BLM movement and that too was far from being authentic or wise, at least in Bambi’s own mind. Mind you, interestingly, the authenticity of this endorsement was later questioned by one of the co-founders of this movement. BLM supporters reported feeling “used” by Biden-Harris, to use their own words. Bambi is citing and agrees with them, even if she is not fond of this group herself. Perhaps this is called “pandering” to groups of interests? Sadly, this is a Canadian speciality in politics. For instance, check how both Mr. Trudeau and one of his ministers, along with Mr. O’Toole, Chief of the Opposition, all made a statement about the 84^th birthday of Mr. Agha Khan. The question is not about the goodness of this man full of philanthropy and beautiful universal values, such as pluralism (he is an Imam for a world minority Shia Muslim group called, the Ismaili: https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2020/12/13/statement-prime-minister-birthday-his-highness-aga-khan).

The question is why should we appear like losing all self-respect when it comes to people or countries with power (i.e., money)? Can’ we be respectful of philanthropists and visionary leaders, without going out of our way in what looks more like pandering?

To come back to Ms. Harris, Bambi was curious lately. She searched her Twitter account. She read that she describes herself as “She/Her”. Bambi could not help not to wonder: Is she being authentic in her description? If so, good for her for being assertive. In other terms, does she believe all this? Or is she rather a compulsive compliant with societal trends? Or, even worse, is she an arriviste who knows how to say the “right” (politically correct) thing, without conviction?

Only time will tell Bambi if her intuition about this politician is right or wrong.

For now, she will say the following: Between Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris, Bambi trusts Mr. Biden more.

Between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, she does not trust anyone of them, even if she may have more sympathy for Mr. Biden.

Yet, she thinks that Mr. Trump’s elections would have been better news for her birth country, than a Biden-Harris team with the same establishment of earlier years. Why is she saying so? Well, in her mind, if Mr. Biden is a continuation of Mr. Obama’s legacy, this is not promising for tiny Lebanon (Mr. Obama said all the beautiful things in the world, but the actions were rather useless). Sadly, Lebanon is under the total grip of Iran… to the point that it is increasingly isolated by Arab countries (ironically, many of the latter are now closer to Tel Aviv than to Beirut).

The question that matters the most to Bambi is the following: Will Mr. Biden (and/or Ms. Harris) offer Lebanon to Iran on a silver platter?

Or will it be Mr. Macron/the Europeans who will be the ones responsible for such a deal?

Of course, all this would not be possible had MANY corrupt Lebanese politicians (along with some connected citizens) not been blindly cheering for or benefiting from the alliance with Iran?

If she may, Bambi would like to post a comment by a sarcastic reader of the CBC of an article entitled “Higgs facing carbon-tax squeeze from Ottawa“. The article title is referring to Mr. Trudeau’s announcement of a $170/tonne carbon tax by 2030 (on Canadian oil (i.e., Alberta). If Bambi understands well, this carbon tax does not apply to imported foreign oil though (e.g. from Saudi Arabia). How fair is that to the citizens of Alberta?

First, although Bambi did not read that article in details, she could not help not to think: Oh well, only Mr. Higgs is facing this squeeze? Not every single citizen will do so, especially in our tough economic times? Bambi is asking because the title of this article seems to insinuate that, minus our NB Premier, we are all lovers of taxes. How could we not be fond of taxes when when they have appealing name? We would be bad citizens otherwise.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/higgs-facing-carbon-squeeze-1.5841001

Second, below you can read the funny comment that comes from a citizen called Mr. Dave Shimla. Bambi could not help not to laugh when she read it, with all due respect to our federal government’s green (or so-called green?) policies:

“I love carbon tax, I’ve noticed a lot less carbon in the air since I’ve been paying it. Thank you government for this additional tax on almost everything I buy. When can I expect to pay a covid tax? or are you combining it with the carbon tax? ”

To conclude this post, entertaining our sense of humour as citizens is our best medicine. At least sense of humour is still tax-free :). Thank goodness!

Ms. Kinda Khatib is just 20 years old.

Her first sin: She believed in a new Lebanon where she can live in peace, study, find a job, love, and be free. Like MOST of the Lebanese population, she was active in the revolt and took the streets to demand justice when the financial crash occurred on October 17, 2019.

Her second, and perhaps most fatal, sin was to tweet making fun of the President of Lebanon, Mr. Michel Aoun and the Hezbollah (the two are close allies). Her tweets are still available and Bambi was able to read and watch. She also tweeted a picture showing how the Hezbollah returned the remains of an Israeli solider to his family, from Syria if Bambi understood well. She wrote in Arabic: When is the turn of the hundreds of Lebanese people jailed in Syrian prisons to also return home?

In Lebanon, you cannot criticize those truly in charge (the groups of the two allies above). You can criticize anyone else (or all of them together), but not point to those excesses or abuses. If you do so, you are a traitor.

For now, it is prison with hard labour. Tomorrow, what would it be? Executions like in Iran (with the poor journalist called Mr. Zam. May he rest in peace… https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-ruhollah-zam-1.5839054):

Bambi does not know Ms. Kinda Khatib, but she was moved by her story when she was first jailed in April (hence this earlier post shown below).

Today, a coward judge accused her of collaboration with the “Zionist” enemy, as per two articles, one in the Naharnet (further below) and the other in Hezbollah’s own Al Manar:

https://english.almanar.com.lb/1221717

By doing so, they would scare her and scare others through her.

The truth of the matter is that citizens are too lucid to be fooled.

So, Hezbollah, you may perhaps have an interest in questioning your methods and listening to the voices of young people. They are telling you something: They want a change. They want to live in dignity and safety. They want to love and live in peace. Is it too much to ask for?

As for Mr. Aoun, with all due respect to his position, he is neither a king nor a saint. He is a politician. As a politician of his senior age, he must have a thick skin by now. So, enough of deception and stupidity for God’s sake!

To conclude this post, Bambi will end with a little prayer: May Mr. Biden (assuming he is now officially the President of the USA) end up surprising Bambi by being both lucid and courageous when it comes to Iran ( https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/14/iran-says-rejoin-nuclear-deal-within-hour-us ). Lebanon’s fate, including Kinda and many younger and older people, is hanging on it!

Thank you.

Kinda El Khatib, a young Lebanese activist, is accused of «collaboration with *the Israeli enemy* and violation of the bill on boycotting Israel»