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Blogging for a Cause

May 28th, 2009 by Tamra
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Here’s an idea. The folks at Zemanta are donating $3000 to the five charitable causes most loved by the blogging community. Freedom of speech is a cause I believe in. As you know, Mike and I have lived in two countries that restrict freedom of speech and attempt to control their populations by censoring internet sites and intimidating bloggers. Just this week, an Egyptian blogger was ordered to pay heavy fines for reporting on environmental pollution (another cause I care about). Around the globe, people risk their freedom, their livelihoods, and sometimes their lives in order to speak about causes they believe in.

There are so many worthy causes, but I vote for Global Voices Advocacy, because it is one of the few groups that tracks online censorship and works with bloggers around the world on free speech issues. Global Voices Advocacy is run by Sami ben Gharbia, who is himself a blogger in exile.

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To my blogging friends, please, visit Global Voices Online to find out more about how to help Global Voices Advocacy win $3000. The deadline for action is June 6.

This blog post is part of Zemanta’s “Blogging For a Cause” campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

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Türkan Saylan

May 20th, 2009 by Tamra
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174/365We haven’t been in Turkey long enough to know much, so when we saw this house in Arnavutköy on Tuesday, I did a little bit of research. Türkan Saylan, who died of cancer on Monday, lived in this house on the main street in Arnavutköy. She was a doctor who devoted her career to eradicating leprosy in Turkey. In 1986, she was awarded the International Ghandi Prize for this work.

In 1989, she began to focus on literacy and education, especially for girls. She founded the Association for Supporting Contemporary Life, or ÇYDD, which provides scholarships and support for high school and college students throughout Turkey. During her final days, the ÇYDD and Saylan were investigated by the government as part of the Ergenekon plot to overthrow the government.

It is reported in some media that her final message was this: “I completed all of my appointments, I fulfilled all of my duties. Now I am ready to die.” According to other media, her final words were: “Send 100,000 girls to school.” Either way, she sounds like a remarkable lady who lived a generous life.

Symbolically, her funeral was held on Tuesday, May 19, a national holiday commemorating Mustafa Kemal Atatürk who launched launched Turkey’s War of Independence on May 19, 1919.

More information:

Doctor, Children’s Advocate, and Suspect

ÇYDD founder Türkan Saylan dies of cancer

Prominent Turkish academic Türkan Saylan, NGO head dies from cancer at 74

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Another Blog Change

May 13th, 2009 by Tamra
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For Mother’s Day, my son Clint gave me a new website for the Laughing Dove poems. How cool is that?! Check it out here along with a Mother’s Day poem from Clint. Laughing Dove Poetry

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News and Changes

May 6th, 2009 by Tamra
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Whew! NaPoWriMo is over, and I thank you all for your visits and comments. New poems will now return to their own page, Laughing Dove Poems. In fact there is a new poem there today.

I made some new poet friends during the month. Liz at Yips and Yowls is one whose poetry I really enjoyed. Her website, reflections on nature and culture, is a wonderful blend kreativ_blogger_award_copyof science, culture, and poetry. I am honored that she nominated me for a Kreativ Blogger Award. Isn’t that cool? I am now charged with identifying some things I love and passing on the good vibes to other creative bloggers. Seven is the recommended number, but I will settle for four. Following Liz’s advice, for those I award this to:  feel free to pass it on to others (or not) in any number you wish.  The recommended process is to link to and leave comments on those blogs for how to pass on the award.

Things I love: my grandsons, bookbinding, Radio Tarifa, the one-seed juniper tree.

Blogs I recommend:
Poets and Writers Picnic – poetry and picnics in good old Mountainair, NM.
Art Is the Handmaid of Human Good – good food, good knitting in Lowell, Mass.
Ann Marie’s Istanbul – a photo journal of life in Istanbul.
The Adventure of Tioga and George - a happy outlook on life on and off the road in Mexico.

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NaPoWriMo #30: leave a line, take a line

April 30th, 2009 by Tamra
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The final NaPoWriMo Read Write Poem prompt was to leave a line for an exquisite corpse and take a line as an inspiration for the final poem. I used Joanna’s line, a handful of feathers, for a modified Fibonacci poem using word instead of syllable counts for each line.

A Handful of Feathers

I
open
my hand
and the feathers
take to the air. Adrift,
they swirl like words searching for a poem.

NaPoWriMo #30

readwritepoem

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