Happy Year 2010 / Feliz Año 2010

Peace and Love for all

/
Amor y Paz para todos

War is over if you want it / La guerra se termina si vos lo queres

Christmas in Peace... Imagine
Navidad con Paz... Imaginate

.

Y.O.

Love you darling

Urbanity

International Day of Climate Action

Tomorrow October 24, join people all over the world to take a stand for a safe climate future.
Read the Invitation»
And search for actions near you»

Blog Action Day 2009: Ostriches on the terrace/avestruces en la terraza

I love to watch ostriches on the skyscrapers of Buenos Aires. Some years ago during springtime a female ostrich layed a couple of eggs on a notebook that a writer forgot on a building terrace and a male ostrich decided to nest them right there.

Nobody knows exactly how the birds reached the eleven floor´s terrace of that first building.
My husband says that the bats must have lifted them all the way up. He´s usually right when it comes to immigrants and cooperation.
My mother thinks that they passed by the neighborhood following some gypsies and stayed because they were tired of all the walking.
My brother feels that they came because they wanted to teach their kids to see the world from the urban perspective.
I think it has to be the changes in the Pampa´s lands that brought them here. They´re constantly pushed out of the fertile grasslands that once seemed endless and now they live on most of our buildings.

I love to watch the ones on the terrace across the street from my window...

When the weather is nice some tenants wash their clothes on the terraces. Sometimes one of them forgets a bar of soap and the ostriches come and eat it so that they can talk in bubbles language.

Sometimes the ostriches dance frantically tapping on the roofing tiles jumping and opening their wings. The neighbors don´t like that because think that they´re having tantrums but it´s just their way to call the butterflies.
Ostriches know that butterflies always bring stories and fruits from other lands.

I have to say that these birds are very respectful audiences. When the butterflies come they sit in circles and listen (or eat) without interrupting or making noises.
Some tales are so delicious and some fruits are so funny that the ostriches laugh in bubbles, clap with their toes and take the butterflies for rides on their backs through the roof gardens.

But sometimes the stories and the fruits are scary. Then the ostriches teach their charitos the correct way to hide their heads inside a bucket or a flowerpot.
I saw them many times telling their offspring in bubbles language that it works, that they learned this ancient technique of avoiding problems from us.
The charitos always look at their parents suspiciously. The rule never makes any sense to them but they generally obey like good kids.

Yesterday it was unusually hot for Spring and I saw something different.
A rebel charito was asking the butterflies if it was true that all humans worldwide hide like that to solve the mess they bring to the weather.
The butterflies must have been angry or something because they turned in spirals up and down moving the air so strongly that the explanation uncombed the charito and... judging by the expression on his face the answer must have been very very complicated.

The insects bubbling was too small to read from the distance and they seem to know a lot.
Next time I´ll use my dad´s binoculars.
I bet that the little rebel is going to demand more answers...




Me encanta observar a los avestruces en las azoteas de Buenos Aires.
Una primavera hace algunos años una avestruz puso un par de huevos sobre un anotador que un escritor dejó olvidado en una terraza y un macho decidió anidarlos ahí mismo.
Nadie sabe exactamente cómo pudieron subir los pájaros esos once pisos hasta la terraza de aquel primer edificio.
Mi marido dice que seguramente debieron ser los muciélagos que los ayudaron a subir. Generalmente él sabe bien de lo que habla en cuanto a inmigrantes y a cooperación.
Mi madre piensa que pasaban por el barrio siguiendo a unos gitanos y que se quedaron porque estaban cansados de tanto andar.
Mi hermano siente que vinieron porque querían enseñarle a sus hijos a ver el mundo desde una perspectiva urbana.
Yo creo que los trajeron los cambios en la Pampa. Están siempre corridos fuera de los fértiles campos naturales que alguna vez parecían interminables y ahora viven en la mayoría de nuestros edificios.

Me encanta observar a los que viven en la terraza de enfrente de mi ventana...
Cuando el tiempo está lindo algunos inquilinos lavan su ropa en la terraza. A veces algunos se olvidan algún jabón y los avestruces vienen y se lo comen para poder hablar en idioma de burbujas.
A veces los avestruces bailan frenéticamente pateando las tejas saltando y batiendo sus alas.
A los vecinos no les gusta porque piensan que los avestruces tienen rabietas pero es solamente porque están llamando a las mariposas.
Los avestruces saben que las mariposas siempre traen historias y frutas de otras partes.
Debo decir que estas aves forman audiencias muy respetuosas. Cuando las mariposas vienen se sientan en círculos a escuchar (o a comer) sin interrumpir ni hacer ruidos molestos.
Algunos cuentos son tan deliciosos y algunas frutas son tan graciosas que los aveztruces se ríen en burbujas, aplauden con sus patas y llevan a las mariposas a dar paseos por los jardines de las terrazas.
Pero a veces las historias y las frutas dan miedo. Entonces los avestruces les enseñan a sus charitos la manera correcta de esconder la cabeza en un balde o una maceta.
Los he visto muchas veces diciéndoles a sus crias en lenguaje de burbujas que eso funciona, que han aprendido de nosotros esa antigua técnica de cómo evitar problemas.
Pero los charitos siempre los miran con cierta sospecha. La regla nunca tiene mucho sentido para ellos pero generalmente la obedecen porque son buenos chicos.

Ayer estuvo increíblemente caluroso para ser primavera y observé algo diferente.
Un charito medio rebelde estaba preguntándole a las mariposas si era cierto que todos los humanos del mundo se escondían así para resolver los líos que ellos mismos hacían con el clima.
Las mariposas debieron estar enojadas o algo así porque se retorcían en espirales subiendo y bajando, moviendo el aire con tanta fuerza para explicarle, que despeinaron al charito y... por la cara que puso, la respuesta debe haber sido muy pero muy complicada.

Las burbujas de los insectos eran demasiado chiquitas para leerlas de lejos y parece que saben un montón.
La próxima vez voy a usar los binoculares de mi viejo.
Apuesto a que el rebeldito va a exigir más respuestas...

Join us

Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.
This year´s theme: Climate Change.
Join us on Oct 15, 2009 at:

Blog Action Day es un evento sin fines de lucro que une a blogers, podcasters y videocasters del mundo en un mismo tema, apuntando a llamar la atención en el mismo y disparar una discusión global.
El tema este año: Cambio Climático
Unite a nosotros el 15 de Oct de 2009

The woman who thinks like a cow

You´re beautiful

IMAS - Immigrant Mutual Aid Society

IMAS GETTING-YOUR-DNI SEMINAR

Tuesday, September 22, 7pm

areatres, Malabia 1720, Palermo Soho, Buenos Aires

Collaboration on living-skills for immigrants in Argentina

The Immigrant Mutual Aid Society will hold its first seminar on September 22, 2009 at areatres, Malabia 1720 (behind Starbucks), Palermo Soho, Buenos Aires.

This first seminar, conducted by Argentine immigration lawyer, Solange Verón, will begin at 7:00pm and will deal with DNI and legal residency with an emphasis on citizens of countries outside Argentina's Patria Grande.

Ms. Verón is a graduate of the University of Law at UBA and currently performs politics and government studies in a joint degree program with UN de San Martín and Georgetown University of Washington, DC. She has worked with city and national government for 10 years.

The presentation will focus on obtaining legal residency in the most general terms and will be conducted in English. After the presentation the audience will be encouraged to participate in a question and answer session regarding their legal residency experiences and plans. No questions regarding DNI will be considered too general.

Future seminars concerning DNI and legal residency are planned with specific emphasis on the various stages of the process. All instruction will be directed toward both do-it-yourself efforts and those represented by legal counsel.

IMAS is grateful for the generous support of areatres in providing its flexible workplace solutions and work environments for this seminar. (www.areatresworkplace.com)

IMAS is a non-profit, self-help immigrant mutual aid net in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Providing open-source collaboration on living-skills, personal help, and instruction to those making Argentina their home; IMAS seeks to fill an English language void among similar societies in Argentina's great history as a magnet for those seeking a better life. (www.immigrantmutualaid.com.ar)

Contact IMAS at:

info@immigrantmutualaid.com.ar

IMAS is a non-profit, self-help immigrant mutual aid net in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Providing open-source collaboration on living-skills, personal help, and instruction to those making Argentina their home; IMAS seeks to fill an English language void among similar societies in Argentina's great history as a magnet for those seeking a better life. (www.immigrantmutualaid.com.ar)

SEMINARIO IMAS: COMO OBTENER SU DNI

Martes, Septiembre 22, 19 hs
areatres, Malabia 1720, Palermo Soho, Buenos Aires

Colaboración para inmigrantes en Argentina

La red Immigrant Mutual Aid Society llevará a cabo su primer seminario el día 22 de Septiembre del corriente en areatres, Malabia 1720, en el barrio de Palermo de la ciudad de Buenos Aires.

Este primer seminario será conducido por la abogada argentina especialista en inmigración, Dra. Solange Verón, comenzará a las 19 hs y tratará acerca de cómo obtener DNI y residencia legal, en esta ocasión, con énfasis en la situación de ciudadanos de países más allá de Sudamérica.

La Dra. Verón es graduada de la Facultad de Derecho de la UBA, actualmente especializándose en política y gobierno en el programa conjunto de la Universidad de San Martín y Georgetown University of Washington, DC; habiendo a su vez trabajado por más de 10 años en posiciones a nivel gubernamental tanto en la ciudad como a nivel nacional.

Esta presentación se enfocará en la obtención de residencia legal en general y se llevará a cabo en inglés. Luego de la misma, la audiencia podrá participar en una sesión de preguntas y respuestas en lo referente a sus experiencias y planes en cuanto a su residencia legal. Serán consideradas todas las preguntas relacionadas con la obtención de documento nacional de identidad.

Asimismo se han previsto futuros seminarios para cada etapa del proceso de obtención de residencia legal. Las sugerencias estarán orientadas tanto en el sentido del hágalo-usted-mismo como para aquellos casos que requieran representación legal.

IMAS agradece profundamente el generoso aporte de areatres al proveer su espacio de trabajo flexible, así como sus soluciones y ambiente de trabajo totalmente novedosos para este seminario. (www.areatresworkplace.com)

IMAS es una red de mutua ayuda y sin fines de lucro para la comunidad de inmigrantes angloparlantes en Argentina, que provee colaboraciones abiertas en experiencias y conocimientos cotidianos, ayuda personal y guía para aquellos que eligieron Argentina como su nuevo hogar. IMAS busca crear un espacio para la comunidad angloparlante en el ámbito de las organizaciones de ayuda mutua, dentro de las ya establecidas históricamente por otras comunidades en Argentina. (www.immigrantmutualaid.com.ar)

Contacto IMAS:
info@immigrantmutualaid.com.ar

IMAS es una red de ayuda mutua, sin fines de lucro en Buenos Aires, Argentina. Provee colaboraciones abiertas en experiencias y conocimientos cotidianos, ayuda personal y guía para aquellos que eligieron Argentina como su nuevo hogar. IMAS busca crear un espacio para la comunidad angloparlante en el ámbito de las organizaciones de ayuda mutua, dentro de las ya establecidas históricamente por otras comunidades en Argentina. (www.immigrantmutualaid.com.ar)

Margot and the posts

- Are you concerned Negrita?
- Hi 99, a little... remember my friend Margarita?
- I have the feeling I´ve met her once. Isn´t she 2008 milk cow National prize winner?
- Right. Margarita was able to give 28 liters of milk per day when milked with tango music.

- What a cow!
- Yeah... and all the bulls in the ranch were dying for her. When she was present the rest of us were invisible to our males...
- I didn´t know cows could be jealous.
- Oh no! Of course we can be jealous but none of us were jealous of Margarita. We were proud of her and everybody wanted to be her friend and give milk with her charm.
- Why do you speak in past tense?
- Way too much applause and posts finally got into her soul. After so much of those posts watching she became obsessed with both applause and posts.
- So?
- After a while the posts around the tambo became boring for her. She was also aware that Argentina´s dairy industry is sinking and she decided that since a champion like her was so badly paid here she should take off to conquer other pastures.

- What did she do?
- She traveled the world and tried everything that had to do with posts. Everything that had to do with applause. Everything that had to do with tango music.

- So she must be happy, I told the cow that was still looking concerned
- I´m not so sure... I have just received a postcard form her. She´s in Paris. She´s working with children and she´s listening to tango music 24 hours a day but she says that she´ll come back because she doesn´t like the weather. I don´t believe it.
- Why not?
- For one, milk cows don´t like children because children don´t like milk.

- I liked milk when I was a kid.

- That was chocolate milk, 99, sighed the cow, also I noticed in the photo that she looks dry and sad. She bleached some spots of her hair and she´s not attracting bulls any more.
- Maybe the music still makes her happy and she really doesn´t like the weather...
- I don´t think so. Tango 24 hours a day? Come on, gimme a break! said Negrita a little pissed. Be serious 99, who cares about the weather in Paris? They don´t have palm trees like in Buenos Aires but it´s still a great place to live in. We´re talking Paris!
- And you´re concern about her coming back because tambos are closing and she might end in a slaughter house?

- No!

- Sorry, I don´t get it Negrita
- Look at this, said the cow unrolling the postcard and showing it to me, You know nothing about tango, do you 99?

- Not much...

- She changed her name to Margot for Christ sake!, she added, “Ya no sos mi Margarita, ahora te dicen Margot” Does it ring any bells? It´s about her soul. You´ve learned nothing today, and she left really pissed at me.

I don´t understand cows at all and I still don´t have a clue of what she was saying. I´ll ask her again next time when she´s in a better mood.

Or maybe I better check some tango lyrics before doing so.

Argentina: no milk today, no dairy tomorrow

Breaking News -ENG
Industria Láctea -- Protestas -SP

The bottle stands for lorn, a symbol of the dawn
No milk today, it seems a common sight
But people passing by don't know the reason why
...
How could they know just what this message means
The end of my hopes, the end of all my dreams
...
No milk today, it wasn't always so
The company was gay, we'd turn night into day
But all that's left is a place dark and lonely
...
No milk today, it wasn't always so
The company was gay, we'd turn night into day
...
How could they know just what this message means
The end of my hopes, the end of all my dreams
...

The cat in the hat

"kids can see a moral coming a mile off" Dr. Seuss

Feliz 9 de Julio

Día de la Independencia Argentina

Hug a swine

Eternauta

Gobernar es cuidar
Pagina/12 REP al pie/bottom

The stylish heifers

- Hey there 99!
- Hola Negrita! How’s the herd doing?
- Oh well... the heifers are complaining about skirts..., said the cow
- What?- See, yesterday when you came late at night they saw you in your Jackie dress and this morning they were all excited because they say they don’t want to walk around naked... they’re so young, she sighed
- Negrita, I don´t want to lecture them on harmonious relationship with nature or the surroundings but they are Aberdeen Angus cows for Christ sake!
- I know, you know, but they don´t and they do not like being told how to think. Their own decisions respond to the needs of the moment because they are young. You´re aware that we cows like routines and a standardized way of doing things and now they all want black dresses... just like yours, she explained.
- Men... I don´t have that much money... maybe for some black mini-skirts, will that make the heifers happy?

- I think so. They’re also proud of their big bellies and long legs. That’ll do. Do you think the gaucho will help them dress up before dawn every day?, she said while blinking.

- I hope you´re only making a theoretical speculation. You know he has difficulties in dealing with cows' emotions. Remember how hard I had worked with him against his instinct for animal abuse? And how tough it was for him to understand that under no circumstance I would allow the herd to be mistreated?
- Yeah, I remember when you told him about rapport, empathy, compassion and he laughed at you... , burped Negrita
- ... But he did understand when I compared your feelings with his own emotional reality and how often gauchos are ignored or looked down or abused... Remember I told him about our hero Temple Grandin and the animal welfare movement? I think he got that.
- No 99, he did not. He got it when you threatened to fire him if you ever knew that only one of us was beaten. Sorry, but asking him to help the heifers to dress up won’t work... besides the girls don’t trust him much...

- So? How can we make everybody happy? I´m confused Negrita.

- I have an idea! Why don´t you buy yourself a nice black catsuit and walk around the pastures as if that were the newest fashion look? That way I assure you the heifers will feel that their natural black leather outfit looks even better than yours.

- It´s a great idea Negrita!

- Now, what are we going to do with the perdices, 99? They want to have their hair long and curly like you.

- That´s it Negrita! I´n not going to walk around the pastures in a black catsuit with feathers on my head. No way! Is everybody spoiled in this estancia or what?! Get out of here with your ideas!, I shouted.
- 99 you seem to be specially irritable this morning. Too quick to take offense this morning. I´m out of here.
- ...gulp... sorry my friend, it happens to be my birthday. But she couln´t hear me, she was already gone.

Te quiero en mi paraíso

Tus manos son mi caricia
mis acordes cotidianos
te quiero porque tus manos
trabajan por la justicia

Si te quiero es porque sos
mi amor mi cómplice y todo
y en la calle codo a codo
somos mucho más que dos

tus ojos son mi conjuro
contra la mala jornada
te quiero por tu mirada
que mira y siembra futuro

tu boca que es tuya y mía
tu boca no se equivoca
te quiero porque tu boca
sabe gritar rebeldía

si te quiero es porque sos
mi amor mi cómplice y todo
y en la calle codo a codo
somos mucho más que dos

y por tu rostro sincero
y tu paso vagabundo
y tu llanto por el mundo
porque sos pueblo te quiero

y porque amor no es aureola
ni cándida moraleja
y porque somos pareja
que sabe que no está sola

te quiero en mi paraíso
es decir que en mi país
la gente viva feliz
aunque no tenga permiso

si te quiero es porque sos
mi amor mi cómplice y todo
y en la calle codo a codo
somos mucho más que dos.

Mario Benedetti

I see you too

Cuando camino por la calle
y del brazo vas conmigo,
me vuelves loca,
y cuando siento el sonido de tu risa
que me envuelve de alegría,
me vuelves loca.

Me vuelves loca
cuando empiezo a ver que el día
se comienza a despedir
porque al llegar a nuestro cuarto,
la de cosas tan hermosas
que me empiezas a decir,
me vuelves loca.

Cuando me pides por favor,
que nuestra lámpara se apague,
me vuelves loca,
cuando transmites el calor
que hay en tus manos en las mías,
me vuelves loca.

Data

Argentina de luto por el Padre de la Democracia

Gracias Dr. Alfonsín por enseñarme valores democráticos que siempre seguirán conmigo.
1. Dos mensajes para el futuro

2. Anoche/Last night

Claro que lo recordamos... yo lo honro cada día

Nunca Más (Never Again)

Nunca Más (en Español)

Never Again (in English)

Cow Urine Soda

Ley de bosques YA!

con la complicidad del Gobierno de Salta,

Vacaciones

Aquarela

En los mapas del cielo, el sol siempre es amarillo
y la lluvia o las nubes no pueden velar tanto brillo
ni los árboles nunca podrán ocultar el camino,
de la luz hacia el bosque profundo de nuestro destino.
Esa hierba tan verde, se ve como un manto lejano,
que no puede escapar, que se puede alcanzar, sólo con volar.
Siete mares he surcado, siete mares color azul,
yo soy nave, voy navegando, y mi vela eres tú...
Bajo el agua veo peces de colores,
van donde quieren, no los mandas tú...
Por el cielo, va cruzando, por el cielo color azul,
un avión que vuela alto, diez mil metros de altitud,
desde tierra lo saludan con las manos,
se va alejando, no se dónde va, no se dónde va...
Sobre un tramo de vía, cruzando un paisaje de ensueño,
en un tren que me lleva de nuevo a ser muy pequeño,
de una América a otra, tan sólo es cuestión de un segundo,
basta con desearlo y podrás recorrer todo el mundo...
Un muchacho que trepa, que trepa en lo alto de un muro,
si se siente seguro, verá su futuro con claridad...
Y el futuro, es una nave, que por el cielo volará,
a Saturno, después a Marte, nadie sabe dónde llegará,
si le ves venir, si te trae amores, no te los robes sin apurar.
Aprovecha, los mejores, que después no volverán.
La esperanza, jamás se pierde, los malos tiempos pasarán,
piensa que el futuro es una acuarela y tu vida un lienzo,
que colorear, que colorear...
En los mapas del cielo el sol siempre es amarillo (tú lo pintarás)
y la lluvia o las nubes no pueden velar tanto brillo (tú lo pintarás)
basta aún desearlo y podrá recorrer todo el mundo (tú lo pintarás)

Gracias a la vida

Mercedes Sosa - Thanks to life (Violeta Parra)

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me two beams of light, that when opened,
Can perfectly distinguish black from white
And in the sky above, her starry backdrop,
And from within the multitude
The one that I love.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me an ear that, in all of its width
Records— night and day—crickets and canaries,
Hammers and turbines and bricks and storms,
And the tender voice of my beloved.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me sound and the alphabet.
With them the words that I think and declare:
"Mother," "Friend," "Brother" and the light shining.
The route of the soul from which comes love.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me the ability to walk with my tired feet.
With them I have traversed cities and puddles
Valleys and deserts, mountains and plains.
And your house, your street and your patio.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me a heart, that causes my frame to shudder,
When I see the fruit of the human brain,
When I see good so far from bad,
When I see within the clarity of your eyes...

Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me laughter and it gave me longing.
With them I distinguish happiness and pain—
The two materials from which my songs are formed,
And your song, as well, which is the same song.
And everyone's song, which is my very song.

Thanks to life

The Progressive Ticket

THE PROGRESSIVE TICKET

for Democrats Abroad Argentina

Chairman: Mike Skowronek
Vice- Chair: Deby Novitz
Secretary: Marta Motta
Treasurer: Frank Almeida
Counsel: Matthew Johnson

Please support these truly progressive people with your vote before January 31st.

If you´re not already a member you can join at

http://www.democratsabroad.org/user/register