Yesterday was Blog Action Day; the subject was poverty. One of our commenters, Nicole LaMarco, who blogs at Your Writing Career also blogs at Loving Liberty. Her entry there yesterday was called: 20,000 People Died Yesterday.
When I read that entry I realize I’ve never been hungry and probably won’t ever be no matter what I might say if my lunch is delayed.
Like Nicole I regularly donate stuff I don’t use. Sometimes I do it formally, like to Goodwill, sometimes I put it on the street where it’s always picked up by people who can use it.
And as she suggests, we …read more

Earlier this month Jim Welch who writes Jim’s 2.0 Blog wrote a post called: How many banned books have you read?
Starting with rumors that Republican VP Candidate Sarah Palin asked her local librarian about book censorship, he moves to some fascinating lists. First is the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books. According to the site:
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
I don’t know why I haven’t blogged every anniversary about 911 – it may be that the resulting attacks on our Constitution and our Bill of Rights have discouraged me from it. I did, however, post in 2006
As it happens today I’m actually writing a bit about Martin Seligman who developed the theory of Learned Helplessness. He found that how we are in the world as individuals has much more to do with the way we explain things to ourselves, particularly negative things, than you might expect. We are also influenced by how others explain those same things to …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Even if you’re a liberal you may not be familiar with Amy Goodman, originator of Democracy Now. By any measure she’s a reporter, a journalist and so are members of her organization. They regularly report political news on the radio, in print and on the web.
In spite of her unquestionable credentials as a legitimate reporter, Goodman and members of her staff were arrested at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul Minnesota. The arrests, in which some of the arresting officers slammed some against a wall even though they wore proper and easily identifiable press badges and credentials. In …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
I was looking for a quote about writing books I could use. At Wisdom Quotes / Writing/Writers Quotes I found this:
The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.
It’s by Albert Camus – and a google search on the quote reveals something like 88,000 entries… it’s quoted a lot it seems.
So writers, how do we keep civilization from destroying itself?
Post your thoughts, please.
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for those who want to get a book written.

Later this morning I’ll listen to National Public Radio’s reading of the United States’ 20th reading of our Declaration of Independence. I’ll probably be moved to tears again, both in joy at what was created for us and in sadness at how we seem to be losing it with little complaint. I invite you to read and / or listen closely.
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands, which have connected them with another, and to assume, …read more

Graeme Neill, who blogs for UK-based theBookseller.com has a post today called: Author Sinha in hunger strike
The story is about Idera Sinha, author of novels the Animal’s People and The Death of Mr.Love, who began a hunger strike on 10th June in an attempt to bring American industrial company Dow Chemical to court in India to face criminal and civil charges relating to the tragedy because of a major chemical spill by that company in Bhopal, India back in 1984.
Arghhh… I’d forgotten all about the spill caused by an American company and might have assumed, if asked, that somehow the …read more

As conservative commentators (I’m not thinking quit that nicely) continue to insist all mainstream media has a “liberal bias,” media as we know it has been and continues to be consolidated at what I consider an alarming rate. Under the guise of the mythical free market and deregulation, newspapers are now owned by corporations far from the communities they claim to serve, radio stations and the public airwaves they use are owned by single organizations like Clear Channel. News, because it must be profitable, has become entertainment with little effort to inform. As a result, our democracy is literally at …read more

Daniel Horgan who not only writes for USA Today and other newspapers, but reads this blog, has written a great article called: Dr Seuss’ Lorax’s plea: Stop cutting trees! He’s also got some pages over at Hub. I’m looking forward to his blog!
This is a great example of what I think of as writer’s power – the ability of freelance writers to influence readers. Of course, this is an example of the kind of influence I personally totally approve of and, in fact, believe we should have more of. Actually, I believe I should do more of it.
So, writers, what …read more

Today, mother’s day has become a commercial venture, replete with over priced and unsustainable cut flowers, mountains of cards printed on non-recycled paper and questionable gifts. But it wasn’t started that way.
Mother’s Day creator Julia Ward Howe, who also wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” wrote the following proclamation, in part as a response to the bloody Civil War in the United States:
Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether
our baptism be that of water or of fears!
Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant
agencies. Our husbands shall not come to …read more