la bendicion de los animales / the blessing of the animals

ayer girlontape fue a una iglesia muy especial: el dia de san antonio abate, protector de los animales domésticos, en un pueblo cerca de roma, la gente lleva a sus animales a la iglesia…. 

mi caballo Killing Hawk (Halcòn Matador) nos llevo a todos: los que están y los que no, los que siguen en argentina y los de una amiga en uruguay! 

on the day of st. anthony the protector of domestic animals, people in canale monterano village near rome take their non-human loved ones to church. 

Killing Hawk my horse for the day took me and all my loved ones - those at home, those still in argentina, and those who are no longer with us - safely there and back…

girlontape + killing hawk, happy together

la vuelta / going home

the god of small things

ph: Muzaffar Salman / Reuters

"a Free Syrian Army fighter feeds a stray cat in Aleppo" 

"Taking a photo is actually an attempt to capture the feeling a specific scene creates so that when you see that image you can recall the feeling and share it with your close ones. As such, photography is about feelings, rather than images."

-Muzaffar Salman 

super interesting interview with the photographer here

the personal is political part 2

my American sisters voted my man Barack Obama back into the White House, plus all the would-be and have-been Republican rapists got voted out of office, I'm happy, hope you're happy too and remember: Equality Is Relaxing

 

srebrenica i do rebel

I’ve been writing about Srebrenica for my day job at the news agency, and crying. Today is the 17^th anniversary of the slaughter, and several hundred newly identified bodies were laid to rest... New York Rabbi Arthur Schneier was there. Schneier survived the camps, but his family did not. 

He said, ''I did not rebel against God or against humanity because of my experiences.'' 
"Islam is submission," says my friend the Pakistani princess.
"Pride is a deadly sin," say the Christians. 

Just before I left Argentina, I went to a shrink. I said, "You live among vicious people too long, you get dirty inside. Please Doc... help me get this dirt off my shoulder."

Hate spoils the survivors. It's like acid, radiation - you get exposed, you start to rot. And all the religions transmit coded messages to help us overcome, evolve.

Well Doc like the Rabbi was a holy man. He debriefed me enough so I could make it back to my home galaxy more or less in one piece... but it takes a bigger woman than me to overcome. So yes I'm still a sinner... Srebrenica I do rebel.

admiration inspiration love pride LOVE

courtesy occupy wall st.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

memoria

Non c’è stato uomo in Italia che ha accumulato nella sua vita più sconfitte di Falcone: bocciato come consigliere istruttore, bocciato come procuratore di Palermo, bocciato come candidato al CSM e sarebbe stato bocciato anche come procuratore nazionale antimafia se non fosse stato ucciso. Eppure ogni anno si celebra l’esistenza di Giovanni come fosse stata premiata da pubblici riconoscimenti o apprezzata nella sua eccellenza. Un altro paradosso. Non c’è stato uomo la cui fiducia e amicizia non sia stata tradita con più determinazione e malignità.

Ilda Boccassini, via Roberto Saviano


"E' inutile - pensò il capitano - tentare di incastrare un uomo come costui: non ci saranno mai prove sufficienti, il silenzio degli onesti e dei disonesti lo proteggerà sempre. Qui bisognerebbe sorprendere la gente nel covo dell'inadempienza fiscale, come in America..." 


Leonardo Sciascia, Il giorno della civetta

innocence as world heritage: an interview with ilaria borrelli

children at the muslim village in koh kong, cambodia, where we shot some scenes - ph: stefania fumo

Stef interviewed Ilaria about her new film Talking To The Trees, in which a Western woman has to face the fact that her husband is a child sex tourist. Here is a part of that interview.

Tell us about Cambodia. What struck you the most? What did you learn?

Cambodians are a very sweet, very gentle people and maybe this is why it’s so easy to lure children there into prostitution and in general, to lure people into illicit activities. I’ve thought a lot about this sweetness of theirs, which as Westerners we find so pleasing. Sadly, guilelessness and simplicity can also be a misfortune. You have to learn to defend yourself in life; to be conscious of the horrors that human beings are capable of.

It would be nice if the stronger, more industrialized countries could realize that this openness and naiveté that still survives in some places in the world should be protected on a global level. I’m thinking of the Tibetans, the Burmese, and the Nuba, in Sudan. All of them populations that are being slaughtered, purely for economic gain.

But once we’ve wiped out every last sweet and peace-loving people on earth, that innocence, that cleansing example, will be lost to us forever. We will no longer be able to reconnect with the more beautiful and spiritual part of ourselves. The only ones left will be the cynical, ruthless, materialistic cultures, and we will all be sentenced to becoming more and more monstrous. (SF)

la india veda la viviseccion / india bans vivisection

source: geapress

dear henry! we miss you down here in marienbad

henri at marienbad, from zoe
 for my dearly beloved

compartir, crear conciencia

NOTICIA dolorosa e INDIGNANTE
El Ingeniero Martín OSCOS Director General de Ganadería y Agricultura del Ministerio de Producción de Río Negro ha puesto precio por cada cabeza de
puma $500 / U$S 125.

Hay dos métodos de caza: uno es con la colocación
de trampas metálicas, que son provistas por el Ministerio de Producción;
y otro es siguiendo el rastro con perros, hasta hallar al puma en su madriguera
y eliminarlo con un rifle.

ESCRIBILE Y DECILE LO QUE PENSÁS AL RESPECTO
tperezbalda@hidrocarburos.rionegro.gov.ar

Compartir, crear conciencia. Gracias.

girlAgitprop

via strong intelligent women choosing equality & freedom instead of religion
and the corollary, in the words of Italian comedian Daniele Luttazzi:

"The Pope has advised young people to practice chastity.
If it works with them, he'll try it on priests next."

in praise of the worth of women

artist painting a musician's portrait, by marguerite gerard (1761-1837) 

"I say that everything men can understand, women can too; and where a man’s intellect can penetrate, so along with it can a woman’s.

If you study ancient and modern history -- although men have always been very sparing in their praise of women -- you will find that there have been women who waged wars and won glorious victories, governed great kingdoms with the greatest prudence and justice, and done all that men have done.

As for learning, cannot you recall reading of many women who knew philosophy, of others who have been consummate poets, others who prosecuted, accused and defended before judges with the greatest eloquence?

Who does not realize that without women we can get no pleasure or satisfaction out of life, which but for them would be more uncouth and savage than that of wild beasts?

If we really consider the truth, we shall also recognize that in our understanding of great issues, far from distracting us they awaken our minds, and in warfare they make men fearless and bold beyond measure."

baldassarre castiglione, the book of the courtier, 1508

no al voto di scambio

via roberto saviano

jafar panahi, berlinale, solidarity

what is a hero?

from moveon.org

what a difference a year made

november 2010: girlontape celebrates ruby, the moroccan mata hari.
we all thought for sure this was the stake that would drive through the vampire's heart once and for all... but no, it survived.

november 2011: girlontape celebrates la fin du régime.
but it's a bittersweet feeling, because now the cayman and his cohorts are done plundering our once thriving, ravishing country, there's really not much left to do except follow the rest of the brain drain outta here.

OK, Jeremy

"We need to use the social media to create a new economy and a new society for the world. That’s your job. That’s the mission of the blogs all over the world. I would say spread the narrative – spread the story. October 15 is an example."


from Jeremy Rifkin's interview with the web observer after his speech at Rome's Teatro Valle, which opened in 1727, and which has been occupied by artists since June 14

the Teatro Valle float at Occupy Rome, Oct. 15

"The locus of control over energy production and distribution is beginning to tilt from giant fossil fuel based centralized energy companies to millions of small producers, who are generating their own renewable energies in their dwellings and trading surpluses in info-energy commons.


The new era will bring with it a reorganization of power relationships across every level of society.


While the fossil fuel-based First and Second Industrial Revolutions scaled vertically and favored centralized, top-down organizational structures operating in markets, the Third Industrial Revolution is organized nodally, scales laterally, and favors distributed and collaborative business practices that work most effectively in networks.


The "democratization of energy" has profound implications for how we orchestrate the entirety of human life in the coming century. We are entering the era of "Distributed Capitalism."


The adversarial relationship between sellers and buyers is replaced by a collaborative relationship between suppliers and users. Self-interest is subsumed by shared interest.


The new focus on transparency over secrecy is based on the premise that adding value to the network doesn't depreciate ones own stock, but, rather, appreciates everyone's holdings as equal nodes in a common endeavor."


Excerpt from Rifkin's latest book, The Third Industrial Revolution, reproduced from The Huffington Post

Occupy Rome, Oct. 15

brilliant agitprop from my beloved former galaxy:

valentina victrix

Ever since writing my screenplay about Caterina Sforza, the 15th century warrior countess who was admired by poets, soldiers, kings and Machiavelli himself, I've found images of sword-wielding women compelling. 

This is a picture of fencing gold medalist Valentina Vezzali, who just won her sixth world championship in Catania, Italy. 

We love Valentina because she shows us of an aspect of fierce womanhood we don't see enough of - and because she loves dogs: last summer she appeared in a PSA urging people not to abandon their pets during the holidays.

tam tam

A rendere pubblici questi dati sono stati i Radicali che da tempo svolgono una campagna di trasparenza denominata Parlamento WikiLeaks.

Per la prima volta viene tolto il segreto su quanto costa ai contribuenti l'assistenza sanitaria integrativa dei deputati, erogata da un'assistenza privata finanziata da Montecitorio. 

La Camera assicura un rimborso sanitario privato non solo ai 630 onorevoli, ma anche a 1109 loro familiari compresi (per volontà dell'ex presidente della Camera Pier Ferdinando Casini) i conviventi more uxorio.

Nel 2010, i deputati e i loro parenti hanno speso in tutto €10.117.000 

spese odontoiatriche: €3.092.000

ricoveri e interventi in cliniche private: €3.000.000

fisioterapia: €976.000  

visite varie: €698.000 

occhiali: €488.000 

psicoterapia: €257.000  

vene varicose: €28.138 

visite omeopatiche: €3.636 

I deputati si sono anche fatti curare in strutture del servizio sanitario nazionale, chiedendo il rimborso all'assistenza integrativa del Parlamento per €153.000 di ticket.

Ma non tutti i numeri sull'assistenza sanitaria privata dei deputati sono stati desegretati. 

"Abbiamo chiesto - dice la deputata Radicale Rita Bernardini - quanti e quali importi sono stati spesi per alcune prestazioni previste dal fondo di solidarietà sanitaria come ad esempio balneoterapia, shiatsuterapia, massaggio sportivo, elettroscultura e chirurgia plastica. Ma questi conti i Questori della Camera non ce li hanno voluti dare". 

Secondo l'Espresso, recentemente il Parlamento ha votato all'UNANIMITA' e senza astenuti un aumento di stipendio per i parlamentari di 1.135 euro al mese.

La mozione è stata camuffata in modo tale da non risultare nei verbali ufficiali.

STIPENDIO €19.150 AL MESE

STIPENDIO BASE €9.980 al mese

STIPENDIO PORTABORSE €4.030 al mese (generalmente parente o familiare)

RIMBORSO SPESE AFFITTO €2.900 al mese

INDENNITA' DI CARICA da €335 - 6.455 TUTTI ESENTASSE

TELEFONO CELLULARE gratis

TESSERA DEL CINEMA gratis

TESSERA TEATRO gratis

TESSERA AUTOBUS - METROPOLITANA gratis

FRANCOBOLLI gratis

VIAGGI AEREO NAZIONALI gratis

CIRCOLAZIONE AUTOSTRADE gratis

PISCINE E PALESTRE gratis

FS gratis

AEREO DI STATO gratis

AMBASCIATE gratis

CLINICHE gratis

ASSICURAZIONE INFORTUNI gratis

ASSICURAZIONE MORTE gratis

AUTO BLU CON AUTISTA gratis

RISTORANTE gratis 

Hanno diritto alla pensione dopo 35 mesi in parlamento mentre obbligano i cittadini a 35 anni di contributi (41 anni per il pubbico impiego)

Rimborso spese elettorali (in violazione alla legge sul finanziamento ai partiti): €103.000

La sola camera dei deputati costa al cittadino €2.215 al MINUTO

Si sta promuovendo un referendum per l' abolizione dei privilegi di tutti i parlamentari... queste informazioni possono  essere lette solo attraverso Internet in quanto quasi tutti i massmedia rifiutano di portarle a conoscenza degli italiani... fate circolare.