Today's Saturday Short is the trailer  for the documentary "Girl Rising", a film that shows us how education can change the lives of girls the world over.

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2013/03/saturday-short_23.html 

ART

Art, like a cleansing and purging of the soul, it can drain you of poison, toxins, negative thoughts and help you find release, relief, and hope.  Looking or creating, we become someone different, someone stronger and bolder.

Art is neither good nor bad, something to be scrutinized exploited, contained or blamed.  We are creators of our own…

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. – George Orwell.

Egypt may not be the country that first comes to mind when you combine the words "suppression" and "artistic freedom" - that honor most often goes to China - but as the documentary The Noise of Cairo (from Germany-based scenesfrom) shows, in the years preceding the Arab Spring, the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak used all the means available to stifle creative freedom, violently punishing artists who raised their voices in protest. . . .

Learn more about this wonderful new…

Wasting My Time:



It's late and I'm freezing.



I was given this sorry excuse for a blanket and expected to keep warm.



What are they thinking?



The blanket has more holes in it than a block of Swiss…

The upcoming election is going to be anything, but pretty. The candidates have been working overtime on finding fault with their opponents. There has been a lot of mud throwing and attacking of one’s character, that the candidates are forgetting about the real issues... the American people, their needs and what is best for our country.



I think as the candidates run for the presidency they make a lot of…

With the race to the White House at full speed, it made me start thinking what I would do if I were president of the United States of America. I see the president’s position as one of the most influential and powerful public figures in the world.



I think as the candidates run for the presidency they make a lot…

Today's post is about Chinese poet and Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo. Poet John Siddique recorded a reading of a poem by Liu for his wife. I've posted that wonderful reading, long with a list of resources, including links to a Nobel documentary.

As John says, ". . . while any writer is not free to write or be read, then no writer is free." We all owe it to ourselves to support writers' freedom.…

My bedspread had an indentation in it when I got home today. But you said you were gone all day. Noone else has a key to the house that is my home where you once lived. Your stuff is still packed in the boxes by the door. I thought, well, maybe you'd reconsidered. That you realized leaving me wouldn't solve anything, because the one you're running from lies in your skin. I guess it doesn't matter.…

Civil disobedience is on the rise. This can be a good thing, as is the case in Israel this summer. Israeli women are risking criminal prosecution by going to the beach. They are taking Palestinian women along to protest decades of dehumanization. Read the full story on my…

Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel doesn’t want to drive men mad. She does, however, want to be able to drive a car. No Saudi Arabia woman has the legal right to drive a car. Princess Ammerah is a vocal proponent of women’s rights.  Saudi women’s rights are severely restricted by American terms. Read Read what…

Monday Muse celebrates America's 235th birthday with a poem by John  Yau, "E Pluribus Unum".

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2011/07/monday-muse-celebrates-july-4.html

I'm late posting. We were without power for more than 20 hours.

I'm participating in today's One Shoot Sunday Picture Prompt Challenge. My contribution is a new poem titled "Red White and Blue":

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2011/07/red-white-and-blue-poem.html

The 4^th of July is drawing near, Independence Day. Not just a time for fun and fireworks, but also a day to remember those who serve so we may remain free. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. As I sit typing I am in a nice cool home. I have clean water to drink and plenty of food to eat. I’m not afraid to walk out my door in shorts or speak up in church. I can carry a weapon if I have the correct permit and no…

U.S. women talking to Afghan women is an idea far too long in coming. U.S. Marines are undertaking an experiment in Afghanistan. They are embracing the power of women’s work. A few women have been added to duty on the front lines. Read more about this on my…

Afgan expatriate Sonia Nassery Cole and her film "The Black Tulip" are the subject of today's post, which includes Cole's behind-the-scenes discussion of the film and the official trailer.

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2011/05/monday-muse-on-making-of-black-tulip.html