The new season is here!

For me the return of autumn has always been the opportunity to make some kind of cleaning household in my personal effects to fully start the new season and be better open to opportunities and discoveries.

But since I am living in a building with multiple dwellings, I must live at the same rhythm than my neighbors with whom I share more closely the everyday life than if I was living in a country house. For some, the annual cleaning is not seasonal and it takes place throughout the year.

So, each week I'm always surprised by the incredible amounts of objects that are found in bins or common areas of the building or lay on the bench near the elevator in the garage.

Sometimes furniture or electronics, books, and often clothes and new shoes that have never been worn by their owners. And since I do not live a low-cost housing, you imagine the "quality" of abandoned objects.

My latest discovery was 6 large cardboard boxes with inside hundreds of music CDs with cover. Not just any! Entire collection of original records by Charles Aznavour (reissued on CD), 5 or 6 Celine Dion, Joe Dassin, Françoise Hardy, Pavarotti and numerous recordings of classical concerts or operas. I picked up Aznavour and Hardy, and I left the rest of the CD for my other neighbors...

I, however, questioned myself at length if not with sadness, about the fate of the CDs. Why the owner had abandoned it for scrap? Was he dead? Had he changed his musical tastes! Was there lack ofspace? Had he moved? The boxes contained a full life of a person and his love of music.

I will never know because the next day the boxes were gone ...

I too often abandon objects on the bench in the garage. Books that I read, magazines that I do not want to keep, decorative objects that I want no more. Is the tradition in large apartment buildings that we leave things near the elevator in the parking lot to benefit its neighbors.

But if there is a question to ask: Why did we originally purchased the product that we abandon? Why put so much effort to collect full sets of discs and abandon them the next morning?

Life is a passage like the seasons, nothing lasts. I guess that we must accept this reality and not worry about seeing all these material things abandoned, if not lower our own efforts to own and collect things.

A wise man once said: "We will not bring our possessions in paradise. Sometimes we do not even keep then for a full season ..."

Have a nice autumn!

Bernard Bujold

PS Thanks to the neighbor who gave me his Monte Cristo cigars. He did not want them any more...
www.LeStudio1.com

Link Cigars Montecristo Havana

Investigative Journalism - (Part two)

The search for truth would be directly linked to the pursuit of happiness!

LeStudio1.com has received several responses to his recent editorial commenting on the financial frauds and on the investigative journalism. Content of the comments demonstrate beyond any doubt that there is an interrelationship between the two subjects of unhappiness and lies!

Most human misery would be connected to lie because the discovery of truth should help to eliminate the existence of evil. A fraudster who is discovered cannot cheat anymore, nor the murderer cannot kill once unmasked.
But it often difficult to find the source of crime before the act. That is why the work of investigative journalists and policemans becomes useful because their efforts help to discover the sources of misery by revealing the truth.
According to several correspondents with LeStudio1.com, lying is generally the work of someone close to us, a work colleague, neighbor, relative or spouse who sometimes wants to divorce. Recent discoveries surrounding Bernard Madoff and Earl Jones are believed to be isolated cases but to read your comments, such person is present in the daily life of every person to a greater or lesser extent. Often, and this is the beginning of misery, falsehood engenders evil, betrayal and violence.

But there is a paradox in your thoughts because if ignorance of the truth is the source of human misery, total knowledge of the truth would cause greater troubles again! This is one of the comments from several of you: "Every truth is not good to say and it is best to keep some things for yourself ..." Thus, according to some, if we knew all the real feelings of those around us, society would be impossible because it would be too many conflicts and even more disagreements and wars.

Basically we are all individualistic and the only person who you truly is us ... The problem (accident, illness, financial losses) of other even comforts us a bit because we believe that fate is more generous to us than to the victims. Fully discovering the selfishness of others, each would become even more suspicious of him and this would be the danger of revealing the truth. ...

Finally, another comment that comes from readers is about forgiveness. When we have discovered the errors of our surroundings, it is better to forgive than to revenge.

I think it is possible and even desirable to forget a misfortune and the person who is responsible, but human forgiveness is very difficult because it is equivalent to love those who hurt us.

Thank you for your comments and I will confide that for my part, I always try to forget the past, live the present moment and continue to lead myself strongly in the future. But my search for truth never cease!

A star of Quebec television, Josélito Michaud, host on Radio-Canada of a program about life, death and departures. He always ask the same final question to his guests: What do you see written on your tombstone?

On mine I would like to be read the following sentence: "He sought the truth and he led the fight to the end ..."

Bernard Bujold
www.LeStudio1.com

Link to Editorial on Forgiveness

Picture 1: Policemans and Earl Jones

Picture 2: Bernard Bujold - Editor of LeStudio1.com

Municipal politics in Montreal

The former Justice John Gomery (77 years) loves the attention from the public and he sometimes plays the rock star ....

He began his stardom at hearings on the federal sponsorship in 2004 when he was communicating directly with media representatives, which is generally not the way judges do. His work as chairman of the Commission of Inquiry was very effective because it helped clean up a system of government sponsorship poorly managed, which had no place but the Commission would have gained credibility if the judge had been a little more humble and rear stage rather than before the microphones and cameras of the media.

Since he is retired, the former magistrate has not lost his taste for the limelight and I was not surprised to see him on television offering a visit on his little farm to a journalist in decoration.
However I was astounded when he said, as would have done a historical figure: "You see, it was before this window that I sat down to write the report of the Committee on sponsorship ..."

Now he hope to inspire another major cleaning but this time in the Montreal municipal politics. To do this, he participates in as Director of Finance of the election campaign for mayor of Montreal and he joined one of the parties in contention. He says that he want to make more democratic the process of financing municipal politics. His goal is very laudable, except that when one learns that his daughter is a candidate for the party in question, one tends to conclude that he wants to draw public attention and help her daughter with his notoriety. I would like to congratulate Judge Gomery for his excellent work and initiatives, but I cannot because his pride makes me doubt of his real intention...

What are my predictions for the next municipal election in Montreal?

With the crisis of festivals ... who knows how will escape the current Mayor Gérald Tremblay. But the Grand Prix F1 should be confirmed by September for the next season. If this issue occurs, Mayor Tremblay will profit from a high profile in the media ...

In my opinion, none of the opponents to the mayor of Montreal would be better than Tremblay if they were in office. One option would have been the return of the former mayor Pierre Bourque, but he refused to came back . Too bad because it was a great mayor!

The result on 1 November 2009!

Bernard Bujold

www.LeStudio1.com

Lien Hôtel de ville de Montréal

The real Bill Clinton

The former president of the United States Bill Clinton is the star of the hour! He is almost as popular as Barack Obama and a lot more than his own wife Hillary, who he is continually shading!

His popularity is not surprising in itself because politicians are often better appreciated once they leave office. But beyond that reaction, who is really Bill Clinton?

Anyone who has read his autobiography (memoirs) remembers the introduction where Bill said that he is not as good as claimed by his best friends, nor all bad as its worst enemies are saying ...

The real Bill Clinton is an American guy who likes to seduce and has above all a capacity for resilience above the average. This is a feature for which he is well aware of, as his friends even nicknamed him Humpty Dumpty in his debut in politics for his ability to always bounce back after a failure or to an obstacle.

The real Bill Clinton, despite his image of lightness, is also deeply spiritual. He is always very sensitive to the misery of others and considers that everyone has his personal story, made up of joys and woes, and that this history is responsible for the qualities and faults of a person. One should never judge but try to understand the actions and behavior of others!

Clinton has a great passion for music, especially saxophone. However, he preferred politics because he realized one day that he was a good sax player but not a great one! For against, it found that he had a talent for convincing others of his ideas. He abandoned his dream of becoming a musician to fully realize the talent he possessed. He became the 42nd President of the United States!

With hindsight, his path is somewhat unique and we realize now that the economy was better under his leadership than during the mandate of other presidents.

He left the presidency with heavy personal debts and an image tarnished by the Lewinsky scandal, but with hard work he managed to recover and restore his reputation while earning a financial fortune. The path and the courage of Bill Clinton is admirable and we commend him for his contribution to world history and modern American politics.

I met him twice to photograph him (see LeStudio1.com site) and each time I was impressed by the simplicity of his character despite its great importance. LeStudio1.com award him a mention in The Best in 2009 for his contribution to improving the world of politics.
Bernard Bujold - www.LeStudio1.com/LesMeilleurs2009

Link Photos Bill Clinton by Bernard Bujold

Link Fondation Bill Clinton

Photo 1: Bill Clinton and Kim Jon-il

Photo 2: Bill Clinton (Photo by Bernard Bujold)

The value of money - Financial scandals

The many financial scandals give rise to all sorts of debates about the value of money in society and its importance in life. Some of the recent victims of fraud have suggested that the court punish the perpetrators severely as they would for the perpetrator of a crime of murder! Other victims, more lenient, suggested over the radio that we should send fraudsters to work in municipal arenas to wash toilets, and as audience, the victims on the spot who observe ... (this treatment is similar to that applied to prisoners in Iran - see Internet The New York Times)

For victims of financial loss, being without money is obviously a very serious, dramatic and difficult to live. But this situation is not comparable to the gravity of being the victim of a murderer.

The first reason is that the victim of a murder has not decided to submit to his killer as the victims of fraud has accepted on his own to entrust his assets (money) to the fraudster. The victim could have refused the offer but hoped to make a profit and took the risk. Responsibility for the failure is for this reason, shared between the fraudster and the defrauded and punishment of the guilty cannot be the same as for murder.

Also, if I may give advice to victims of fraud, in order to encourage and offer my compassion, one should ask himself the following question: "If you had to be the victim of a tragedy and that the destiny will allow us to choose, which would be better? The loss of all its property, or death by a violent crime or an incurable disease? "

We must never lose sight that something bad as a material lost will be reduced in importance within a few months and that life will require us to address new priorities. But the victim of death or severe illness has no longer any hope of returning!

Resilience is a human gift and I admire the people who are able to resume their lives in hand after a serious failure or a dramatic event. Unfortunately, not all are able to do so but it is the only logical and constructive action. Not to be resilient to life's events is equivalent to being a living dead.

Faced with obstacles and the setbacks of life there is no other option but to stand up and continue on the path of everyday life. As long as there is life, there is hope, even without money!

Bernard Bujold

Note: At the rate that discoveries of frauds is going, very soon it will be the exception to the rule of not being a victim ... Better begin to mentally prepare ourself!
www.LeStudio1.com
Link article Prisonners in Iran - The New York Times
Link article Société générale - Jérôme Kerviel
Photo 1: Jérôme Kerviel - Société Générale
Photo 2: Vicent Lacroix, Eal Jones et Bernard Madoff

Investigative Journalism - (Part one)

Investigative Journalism is an art and websites like TMZ.com and journalists such as Ian Halperin and Perez Hilton are examples of stars in the world of investigative journalism. Their respective success is also proof that there is an appeal from the public for this kind of work.

It is not easy to do investigative journalism and one becomes essentially a kind of detective who has to play tricks to discover and obtain secret information. Sometimes it even go to the point of infiltration to be able to know the truth.

I did not often made investigative journalism for publication in the media, although any form of journalism is in itself an investigation. However, I have often used the technique of the investigator, especially when I was the executive assistant to Pierre Péladeau. A good manager should always "know" everything about his playground and, in this sense he is like an investigative journalist or a detective. The following personal anecdote illustrates that it is sometimes very useful to have the talent of a cop…

I was hired in April 2001 as press officer at the National Assembly of Quebec by a minister in the government of Bernard Landry and, after being welcomed by the team of the Minister in question, in the middle of afternoon of the first day, the chief of staff calls me into her office saying it was urgent ... She did not went around the bush, someone had contacted the office and told her that she had to get rid of me or it would be very rough for the minister as they would do harm to him in the media. Who was this person? The chief of staff obviously did not want to say anything, but she confided to me that it was someone from Montreal and that I should look in the "large family" around Quebecor.

It was a shock to me. I got this job after having negotiated it during interviews, I was greeted by the staff of the Minister, I was presented to officials of the Ministry and other press officer in the Landry government and now, only a few hours after my appointment, I am told that I must leave because the Government was threatened!

I asked the Chief of Staff to discuss this situation with the Prime Minister Bernard Landry and I was convinced that he would defend me because he knew me as the one who have often served as an intermediary between him and Pierre Péladeau. Landry said he always had great respect and esteem for Péladeau, which for its part, as my former boss, had always enjoyed my job efficiency and he never hesitated to declare it publicly. My second surprise of the day was to learn, a few minutes later, that Bernard Landry wanted in no way interfere with this issue!

I had to return to Montreal and resign myself to make my own personal investigation if I wanted to get to the bottom of this story. It was not easy but I managed to trace the chain of events and I was able to identify who had asked for my dismissal.

I owe a lot of my success as a "detective" in this case to a friend, a retired policeman and former close colleague of Jacques Duchesneau, Chief of Police in Montreal (1994 to 1998). My retired friend has helped in my research by teaching me various police special technics that I did not know, to discover truth. Initially, I suspected a certain individual and our investigation revealed otherwise.

Unfortunately for me, I did not have the financial resources to prosecute the guilty. I had to console me in the hope that one day, "the life" will settle the account of this person who was attacking my reputation ! I have not confronted the guilty, nor revealed to him that I knew that he was the author of false rumors about me because I wanted to wait until the right time to do so when he would expect the least! A lawyer friend negotiated the payment of my "short" day work and I have forgotten the event, at least until the day when I will take my revenge ....

If I retain a conclusion is that the truth is rarely the one that we see at first glance. René Lévesque, a great journalist before becoming Prime Minister of Quebec, often said: "The first truth is not always the good one ..." The investigative journalism tells us that the image projected onto the public is often like at the theater. The reality is behind the curtains. That is why I greatly admire the investigative journalists!

Bernard Bujold
www.LeStudio1.com
Lien site TMZ
Lien site Ian Halperin
Lien site Perez Hilton
Photo 1: Carte d'identité Bernard Bujold - Assemblée nationale
Photo 2: Édifice de l'Assemblée nationale à Québec