Election/Win

Arriving to USA ,participating in two events close to each other was an interesting timing. Here is my impressions of the elections and Halloween. I upload as well the street fights.....In war as in war....

 

 

Thanks for your impressions.

Thanks, please read preface.

2008 has become quite a year worldwide, Pnina, and the US election will rank among the top. The event must have been an eyeopener for you and this picture says it all.

You are right about this year ,that is not ended yet.... Please read what I wrote to Gordon B. in the next photo.

 

I was not born yesterday, Michael , I'm glad about the result, It is a cross point in American politics, and I hope a lesson to the world, which racism, hatred and wars are so comon. I was astonished, still, of the harsh, writing on buttons I saw in the streets. I know what politics are, but personally I did not like the attitude and the language.

 

Look at this: just recently .... www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/11/swastika_painte.html

 

I'm not naive Michael , but lets hope at least, it will bring some more global changes.

 

Thanks.

The link you pointed to, Pnina, it happens in Montreal too. In fact there was a case of Molotov cocktail bombing of a synagogue by a teenager; he was arrested and on trial for hate crimes. What the world needs is a little more acceptance of individual differences.

It is only about 60 years after II WW. I have a lot more examples and documents than this link. It seems that the world did not learn anything. It is painful .

Original image, I like it, great idea.

 

Alberto

Pnina...I hate to be cynical...but I don't think after all these centuries of predjudace and greed, that people are going to learn or change. I think that much of the problem with the human condition has to do with the genetics of human nature.

Hi Pnina, There is meaning in this photo......perhaps he will get us on the right track now, but greed will keep raising it's ugly head and fight this good man every step of the way..... Jim

I was thumbing through Photographer Karsh's Portfolio book. While he was photographing Albert Einstein at Princeton, he asked Einstein if he was optimistic about the human condition to which he replied; "Optimistic? no". he continued that if we were not harmonious, there will be a terrible occurrence of a size un-imanageable. Karsh then proceeded to ask him if we needed help from a higher force to which he replied in the negative and that we should look to ourselves.

And what did they reveal? I like the nearly monochrome screen in contrast to the bright specks of luminosity. It's an optimistic seeming image, but you know I'm a cynic.

Hope spring eternal. In my lifetime, I have forced myself to part with prejudices. I am sure my poor parents are rolling over in their graves. The only person I can totally change is myself. Hopefully, if we each influence another towards a gentler and more tolerant world, some good will come. I look at the people on PN and get to see parts of the world I would never be able to travel to. I get to speak to people who,in any other circumstance, I would not come in contact with. So, we begin here, with our impressions of the world, and pass good kind words and feelings freely. Aren't we the lucky ones?

Also I love Obama!...Ciaomau! (...Ciao=Bye and mau=my name, Maurizio, so...Ciaomau!)

Alberto, Thanks for your feedback.

 

Marjorie, you are right in the basics, but I try to find hope, it is very hard mentally otherwise...I was taking care( with my group of women)of refugees from Darfur that arrived here, with babies and only their clothes to their bodies, I saw the suffering close enough.

 

Jim and Tony, again , both of you are right, we have to look into ourselves, I try very hard to see the "half full glass", and there are nice people as well on this planet, that are the hope for some change.

 

Dave, I know your cynicism.... But, you are the human evidence that contrast it....

 

Margaret, yes, we are the lucky ones,We are able to see and meet the nice, skilled and good people around, it does not close our eyes to see the horrors. This photo of smiles and handshake is my looking at the " half full glass" ;-))

This is quite an original presentation of Obama's vistory, Pnina: his smile and the sparkling in the dark are so promising.

Outstanding commentary; very effective mix of B&W and color. That really underscores the drama in the scene you've portrayed.

 

Regarding the election . . . When the campaign started, I was strongly in favor of Hillary Clinton. However, reading Barack Obama's speech on racsim changed my mind. I have not felt as much hope for the United States since the appearance of a previous (and unsuccessful) presidential nominee - George McGovern. I am convinced that Obama has the ability, the heart, and the chutzpah to heal the divisions in this country. And, like yourself and our colleagues who have posted comments on your photo, I pray that he will help to create a climate in the world in which we all can sit under our fig trees and be unafraid.

 

AM YISRAEL CHAI !!!!

 

michael

 

PS Thanks for your comments.

Well documented,Pnina. Nice viewpoint. I like the attachment as well.

I tried to get a shot like this, but didn't. You did.

 

 

I'm glad you were around during this momentous time. It's so interesting to hear the various impressions of what this means, universally and personally.

I like the city lights sparkling over this fabulous event. My smile looked like his the morning after the elections. : )

Pnina, the things that gained a following 60 years ago and more recent continue to be followed today and back then for reasons not quite clear. However, I suspect it is from people wanting to belong to a larger group and not feeling comfortable with their individual feelings - granted most people wound up perpetuating hatred from things they pick up from their surroundings growing up. I think it is also due in large part to the fear of independent thought and standing alone in a crowd when the crowd is doing something that wrong.

 

While this election was monumental in several ways, the largest I believe is the statement people made clear that they are tired of the way things have been governed for a long time. The frustration with the warmongering Bush administration was so strong, that most people voted against McCain because of his ties to Bush and for Obama's promise of change more so than either candidate's platform.

 

This was revealed to me in listening to a series of street interviews where a reporter asked different people on the street who they were voting for and when they answered, he then asked if they supported that candidate for his platform (he then read the platform for the opposing candidate and the individual would agree). For instance and Obama supporter was asked if they supported Obama for his support for pro life and his plan to leave troops in Iraq for as long as it takes and his choice of Sara Palin as his vice presidential nominee - McCain supporters were asked if they were excited about McCain's plans to pull troops from Iraq as soon as he was in office and his pro-choice stance and for selecting Joe Biden as his running mate. It was funny but sad to hear these people agree enthusiastically that these were some of the main reasons they were voting for that candidate!

 

It's kind of like an election for governor we had here in Louisiana years ago; an ex-klu klux klan leader was running against a known white collar criminal. We didn't want to vote for the criminal but voting for him was better than voting for the Klan leader.

 

Racism is a nasty thing and what is worse is the people that use it for personal gain and perpetuate it. The media is famous for sensationalizing events when a black is victimized by a white perpetrator and interviewing blacks that exclaim racism was the root. Yet rarely report on a white person victimized by a black perpetrator and if/when it is reported, racism against whites is never emphasized. Then you have black leaders that raise claims of racism in order to capitalize and gain notoriety for themselves and perpetuate racism to further their careers. I grew up and live in a city where blacks and whites play and work together. Does hatred between these two races exist? Yes, but it is smaller groups on each side more than the stereotyping of each entire race that the media would have the populace believe.

 

What gets me is the amount of attention the United States gets for having "racism" between whites and blacks. Yet the extreme racism and religious differences that exists in countries that actually have lived in civil war and strife for decades is seldom touted as the horrible thing that it is. It's funny/odd how people just say "oh, that is how it is in (insert country), they have been fighting since the beginning of time..."

 

It is an unbelievably amazing time of opportunity and enlightenment yet at the same time, it is also and unbelievably crazy and sad state of affairs that also exist.

 

Kirk

Paula, thanks, it was a special time for a visit !

 

Michael, thanks for expressing your point of view, interesting are the changes of attitude I heard from so many people I have met. I really hope he will be a change , in his future action.

Thanks as well for your photo evaluation.

 

Cherlyn, thanks for liking both, it is two sides of the same coin.....

 

Jeff thanks, it is easier to see things as an outsider....I really was glad for the special timing. I was walking with one of this buttons on my Jacket.... that my Chicago cousin gave me.... So in a way I was part of his election campaign....;-))

 

Donna, I think that many were smiling after.... Lets hope, the expectation of his function and policy are very great. I wish him luck.Thanks

 

KIRK, we wrote simultaneously, and I read your comment twice to understand what you have had to say..

Racism , and discrimination in any form, are a great terrible phenomenon that brought so much hatred to our world.,and have affected so many people, that paid with their life and suffering.( Holocaust, Congo, Darfur, to name a few). American slavery History is well known,, racism, anti-semitism still exist! also in America and what is called the "free" world,so the change is

" Crossing the a Rubicon"( a point of no return). It does not imply that racism will disappear from our life though, but it maybe a first step to understand that people has the right for equality, freedom, and freedom of choice.

 

I understood the antagonism toward Bush.Living in the Middle East, I know how hard Iraq is for the American population( btw, can you imagine how hard it is for my country,fighting for its existence from the day it was founded?....) and I understand the "wind of change", that many longed for and votedfor.

(It is a sad reality that the extremist are leading the role in many places in the world).

 

The future will tell, if our hopes will realized themseves. A heavy load.

 

Kirk, I very much appreciate your extensive point of view! Thanks a lot.

I pray that Obama will reconsider and use judgement regarding Iraq ,I fear if we leave to soon before the government can stand on its own that we will see a repeat of 1974 -1980 after we left vietnam ....I beleive the stability and safety of all the world revolves around a stabile middle east ....But how to do so .....With hatred between so many for so many different reasons .....how can any have a chance at finding a true settlement ? I believe just like the clumsy idiot who wanders into a china store and breaks a display , We intervened ...So We Owe it to those who stood up bravely and voted in their country for freedom and have stood up and joined the police or military or government services to help thier nation .......How can we In the US simply abandon those who stood up >?

..............................................

We can only hope that now that the election is over Obama will consider the ramifications of early withdrawel and do what must be done to Help the people of Iraq complete thier journey towards a free and open democracy !

....the two photo you present are really representative of two aspects of these kind of election....

 

- this first one on the importance of media and image...impact of TV on the street people....

 

- the second one the street guerilla that proponents and opponents ceate with flags, badges, pin's, etc...

 

Strong and important subjects nicely presented...the image can open quite a debate...

"Every picture tells a Story, Don't It".... this is a good, warm "feel good", & thought provoking Image, Pnina.... I welcome all the Change in my LIfe.... and had the opportunity to attend several "Big Blue Bashes" for Obama that were hosted and supported by Happy Citizens, local muscians and artists in Seaside Florida...Change....the Glass is Always Half Full... Blessings to you and Yours

 

Let's hope he is still smiling 4 yrs. from now & looking forward to completing the programs he couldn't get to in the first 4 years. After all, he is inheriting a very heavy burden, one which will take more than 4 yrs. to lift. It'll be interesting to compare this shot to a similar shot 4 years from now if only to see if the sparkle is still in his eyes & how much the job has aged him. I, like you, am not an American citizen, but he will influence my future as well as yours. I'm hoping it will be a positive influence. Best, LM.