AMERICA NORTH

Let me explain my devoted interest in American politics which most people who know me already knew. This year, in particular, has highlighted the best and worst in humanity. We have seen a pandemic grip the planet, no one can escape it. Countries all over the world have dealt with this virus in different ways, some with positive results, others, not so much. By tradition or need, many countries have looked up to the US for leadership, be it in defending freedom and/or as an example on how a democracy works, on social issues, space exploration, science and technology but today, the US has failed on all fronts in the eyes of many nations.

 Before I get to the part why US politics has an effect on Canadians, first lets take a stroll down memory lane to why the US is in the condition it's in, it starts here....

then this...

then this happened

We also have this..

An impeached President

You cannot tell an American from a Canadian, or the other way round, if you do you may result in a discreet sigh or roll of the eyes; it’s just as much the same as confusing Australians with New Zealanders, or the Scottish with the English. While Americans and Canadians share a long border, a language and many cultural traits,there are essential differences though. We watch more American television than Canadian, more American news, music and like most of the world, we watch American movies..What happens in the US has a large impact on the world but more so to its neighbor to the north and to a lesser extent, Mexico.

In Canada, we have 4 major federal political parties and 1 federal separatist party, go figure.. we won't get into the separatist party thing, that's a whole other story...

All political parties with the exception of the Conservative Party of Canada, are progressive even the separatists, of course, they're French. To an extent that even most conservatives (red conservatives) are more liberal than blue conservatives here which would be more in line with Republicans in the US.  

In Canada, here too there are those who one could consider also far-right extremists, much smaller than in the US and don't have as much access to guns, they also ride the conservative ticket.

In Canada, Canadians care to who's in power in the US, be it Democrat  or Republican, it makes a difference. The Democrats are progressive and all progressives seem to share some of the same ideals thus more in line with Canadian values, yes we have had conservative governments too but as a whole, most Canadians are liberal minded and progressive thinking. Liberal or conservative, Canada has always been a Social Democracy. 

Go Justin!

  JustinTrudeau, son of former prime minister  PierreTrudeau and current Liberal MP representing Papineau an electoral division of Montreal is running for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Mr. Trudeau has yet to officially announce this but it's the worst kept secret in Ottawa and in the rest of Canada, he will though make it official on Oct.2.

 There are those who are comparing him to his father, unfair in my opinion, Justin is his own man facing a much different Canada than his father did.During his father's reign as prime minister or leader of the opposition, there was a calmer and a more respective House of Commons, where there were no attack ads full of half lies and compromised truths and worse, America style character destroying political ads..it was a different time, there was no Iran nuclear crisis, there was no European financial nightmares, no world banking problems and there hadn't been 9-11...and oh yeah, the Liberal Party was in good shape during Pierre's time.

 If you've followed Justin's political career thus far, you'd be impressed in what he has done, on his political side, to start his political tenure, Justin chose one of the least winnable ridings in the Montreal electoral district of Papineau and won, beating the incumbent member of Parliament. On the personal side, Justin is a respected happily married young man, father of two,very outspoken on social issues and uses his public status to promote various causes.The younger Trudeau, has one thing that strikes me the most, his unconditional love for Canada,... he is handsome, bright, a great speaker and of course son of one of the greatest Prime Ministers in Canadian history,..The media loves all these factors, fortunately or unfortunately for some, it can make you or break you. Our Canadian media will no doubt test Justin, on his part, Justin will have to convince the nation that he is in tuned with what the Canadian identity is or should be, not a facsimile of the US but a nation with its own vision at home and abroad and what the Liberal Party of Canada historically has represented, but bigger yet, this will energise the party in a time in history when it has been diminished to a 3rd status federal party. I can truly say, up to now the Liberal party of Canada have had nothing to look forward to, lost in its place as the true ruling party, no real leadership and drowning in its own political tears who have no one to blame but themselves for the stupid choices and lack of both leadership and good policies for the nation... it had up to now no vision to capture the imagination for a better, fairer and independent Canada.

 Justin will inherit a party in shambles, not a great start for any new leader specially in today's Liberal Party, but he has a vision and the makings of a modern day thinking man who could possibly have the support of 60% of the population,( mostly youth and elderly ) simply because he has the look and the substance.He would balance the support for both Palestine and Israel equally, the Liberal way, bring back Peace Keeping rather than go to war. He would be less dependant of the US, much like his father was, so much so that the CIA didn't like the senior Trudeau, when he was Prime Minister.

 A Liberal government lead by Justin Trudeau would not build more prisons, why, because its a no brainer, crime is at its lowest it has ever been historically, we can use those savings, for example, to better Canadians like lower tuitions for universities and create jobs, ect... Stephen Harper wants to spend billions of dollars on building more prisons that we don't need instead of building a "National Daycare Program" for working Canadians, that will never happen under his government, because it seems more important to adopt the American style prison system..making Canada a Police State by imposing more stupid laws on things that they should leave alone.

 Because of his age, Justin is very knowledgeable of today's youth who make up two thirds of the population that didn't bother to vote in the last couple of elections.The youth of Canada see today's politicians or at least those in power as, "status quo" thinking old men, conservatives who do not represent over 60% Canadians, many who are between 18 - 35....Remember less than 40% of Canadians voted in the last federal election.

 Justin Trudeau is 40, his father, Pierre Trudeau was 42 when he ran for leader of Liberal Party.Justin has been an MP for four years, never in government. His father was justice minister two years after being elected and was Prime Minister from April 20, 1968 – June 4,1979. Justin is a former high school teacher, has a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature from McGill University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia, his father, a lawyer earned his law degree at the Université de Montréal. Justin is young, his biggest challenge, to try to interest the youth in Canada in participating in the democratic political process and thus far, if his twitter account reflects, over 150,000 followers, mostly young people, is a promising start.He has grown up with today's younger voter, Justin knows what they know, he sees what they see, he has also seen the worst that politicians, in particular those in government have to offer and like his father, he wants a better Canada too.At present, we liberal minded compassionate Canadians are being governed by a right wing conservative lot..this makes no sense..the only explanation I have is that the 60% of Canadians who didn't vote in the last election must have been Liberals..and maybe now we liberal Canadians have a reason to vote again,... Could Justin Trudeau be the answer to bringing Canada together..we'll just have to see and give him a chance to prove himself...I do know one thing, the fruit falls close to the tree.

                                                                        *******

 I know I'm expecting too much of a  sharp turn to the left if Justin would ever form a government, which by the way he could as soon as the next federal election. We all know he will win his party`s leadership race, but if he governed  and wasn't hindered too much by the old Liberal guard, (which BTW has a multitude of experience in the finer details of governing), Justin could possibly bring forth a kinder, more independent and intelligent governance for Canada..this is my dream anyway. Go Justin!

D. Pereira

Justin Trudeau, April 14th, 2010

Personal reflections

A conversation with myself 

 I recently had a rather long and inspiring conversation with myself about the state of affairs going on within my present life as is, inspiring, because I found out a lot about myself and those around me. I am what people see, a simple yet opinionated person but only when challenged, I love music but do not own much of anything as in cds' or extensive music libraries, but I do have music. I love Art because Life is Art..Love history because we learn from it or we should..Love being happy rather than sad of course, trouble is there are very few happy times in my life, the happiest days being were when my kids were born.. and some of my sad times are when I think of them and their families on family occasions but at the present time I can't be with them, I hope they understand. My heart is always with them.To me family is everything!
I must and always acknowledge the fact that family is the most important thing in one's life.. if we deny our family we are only denying ourselves, for our family defies who we are..remember that we always hurt the ones we love the most..those we love the most are our family. There is such a thing as forgiveness..specially to those we love.

Stand up for something!

If I know nothing about a certain subject, I quickly declare my lack of knowledge of whatever it is... but if the conversation turns to a topic that I am very knowledgeable of, I will offer my own views and will challenge with passion anyone who disputes me.I am not a materialistic person, I own things that I need to survive in today's world ..I do own photography equipment, (nothing elaborate) and nothing else, nothing I own is new or in fashion..I don't follow the trends.I believe in God, I believe in social justice, freedom of speech and the right to live your life in a peaceful and legal fashion without society or government telling me what to do.I question governments or "the powers that be" because in my opinion "tptb" are only self serving to remain in power, with a few peanuts being thrown here and there to it's lower downs to keep them quiet.One must always question authority or you'll never be free.

Looking for Peace through our Youth

We always take life as it comes rather than go after something you desire, where is it written that we must do everything as it has been done before for such a long time dictated to the masses by the elite power dominating few..Youth today have an opportunity to change all that, we've seen it to some success in the "Arab Spring"..
The youth today are the most educated and plugged in, than in any other time in history..Youth will question what benefits the older generation have left them with and will decide, hopefully, not to repeat them.. they, the youth, will decide that there must be a better way to do things, what it's priorities ought to be as apposed to the old way of thinking... billions of dollars on warfare while their populations starve or freeze to death, I really hope that todays' youth can open their eyes and see the truth, Peace doesn't have to come at a cost...it must be achieved with love and not hatred in open discussions and friendly dialogue  not bullets and missiles.How many more innocent children must die in the name of war, a war dictated by men in comfortable self adoring livelihoods who themselves have children who are sent to safe domains so as not to suffer with the rest..How cruel can people be?...
Today we have no excuses as to say "we didn't know"...we can't say that no more, we have known before and we know it even better now in realtime.We who know what's going on should pressure those who can have influence in such troubled places such as Syria, where hundreds of children have died in a freedom fight against a repressive government, these young boys, some only 10 yrs old tortured and killed by   government troops because they were a threat to the state if they were to live and grow up.
I agree with many who say, we, the west cannot impose our style of democracy on other nations, but soon Syria will fall to the youth there also, it's only a matter of time, it could be quicker if the rest of the world got involved but it seems that more and more it will be the youth of Syria that will by itself overcome the Assad regime . The Syrian youth will bring a better and fairer form of  a democratic system that will suit their needs to co-exist with the rest of the world , it won't be an easy task and it will take time, for old generation will attempt to derail anything that threatens them with a loss of power and an end to the old ways they so embrace, but it will ultimately happen .The Syrians need our support, not meddling, just support.
I pray North Korea will be next.

On relationships

Well, here is a topic that can be tricky..I haven't been in a true relationship for about 20 years, not that I haven't had some flings here and there but a true relationship is a hard thing for me to find due to my circumstances and I'm ok with that to a point..it's no secret that everyone needs somebody, I feel that void many times.I see so many people in relationships that are so one sided that at times I'm glad I'm not in one.A true relationship should be a MUTUAL love, honesty, understanding, respecting of views, tastes and faults but mostly TRUST between two people.

On my photography

First and foremost I will not post anymore photos on Facebook, I don't like how they delete accounts at will just because someone flags a photo they do not like..I've had people tell me, "Oh you won't get as many "likes" if you post your photos outside or in other websites "..I don't really care.. Those who like to see the progression of my work will always follow my work.
I don't want to imitate anyone, so I do things slightly different, When other photographers criticize  my work,   it motivates me more... I don't use the same techniques as many photographers use, I could if I wanted but don't want to..I am in good company. I think.
My love of art has me so into creative photography but the ups and downs I've had to endure with certain aspects of  this art form has me questioning if I've had enough, I love the female form, if I were to paint, the female would be my first choice ..There is such beauty in a female, face, body, dedication  and attitude, it's hard to find those four complete attributes in a model, I was fortunate enough  to have had  worked with 4 or 5 such models, two of  them don't model any more..Because I'm still building a portfolio on a TF basis, I will put up with some BS but only some, I'm very tired of no-shows in both at shoots and follow-ups..I have a life and need to arrange it as such and having plans for one thing then at the last minute you find out that it's not happening ..now "I can't do what I could have done because I thought I was doing this" scenario!Very tired of it so much that I may stick to my own creative projects and using only reliable models so that I can sleep at night.I will be doing more pic-tales this year and as you will notice they will be getting better..

Just wanted to get some things out of my chest.

Pereira

The New NDP?

Photo courtesy of  Wikipedia.org

Welcome Thomas Mulcair to the wonderful world of being the new leader of the HRH Official Opposition.I'm not a big Mulcair fan but at this present time in Canadian politics, he was the best of the 7 other candidates the NDP has to offer and is best suited to lock horns with Stephen Harper, he is a good debater and is a political veteran and if he can control is anger, he could be a great asset to his party, unlike the late Jack Layton, Mulcair is no John Lennon, quite the opposite but he is a progressive centralist which the NDP is not noted to be to this extent.Mulcair will also be a pain in the side of the Liberals, being a liberal himself at one point, Mulcair will take some of the spotlight away from interim Liberal, Bob Rae who was getting quite a bit of that in the last sitting of the house, Mulcair likes the attention and seems to shine in it.As for support from the rest of Canadians, it's too early to gage, he does enjoy much support in Quebec which is not surprising since Quebec knows him very well as a former provincial Liberal minister and lets not forget that most of the NDP delegates who helped inject him into winning the leadership race were also from that province.Mr. Mulcair has a big job ahead of him, first and foremost to go head to head with the Prime Minister, unite the nation and bring the NDP credibility to form the next government. The downfall of having Mulcair as the NDP leader is that, out of the 7 candidates, he is the most likely to self destruct, that would be trouble for the party and could possibly be what Ed Broadbent could of been afraid of.