Japi's Blog

Michelle Obama at the Convention

The first day of the Democratic National Convention had a little of everything...

• DNC Chairman Howard Dean opening the convention to a very small crowd (I guess attendees were still flying in)
• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaking
• Caroline Kennedy introducing her uncle, Ted Kennedy
• Ted Kennedy's inspirational speech
• a touching video voiced-over by Michelle Obama's Mother
• Michelle Obama introduced by her brother
• and a great speech by Michelle Obama

She was eloquent and had a real strong presence on the stage.  At the end of her speech, her daughters came out - then a beautiful exchange between them and Barack (via Satellite from Kanasa City).... just wonderful!

I can't wait to see the rest of the convention!

Obama Volunteer Corps at Habitat for Humanity

Obama Volunteer Corps worked this weekend to assemble walls for a future Habitat for Humanity home building project.

Here's a video of the work we did.

Last Speech by Dr. Markin Luther King Jr

40 years ago today Dr. Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis, TN.  He was a great American who has left a legacy of peaceful resistance against inequality and injustice which is still alive.

His final speech (see excerpt below) sounds prophetic as he mentions that he is not worried because he has been to the mountaintop.  He continues to state that he would prefer to live a long life, but that he's not concerned about that. 

It was a very sad day for the world to lose such an amazing and valiant human being.

Obama Volunteer Corps

Brad Pritchett of HopeActionChange.org has created a new group in Houston called Obama Volunteer Corps.  Its goal is to enhance the communities in and around Houston through work with Habitat for Humanity, The United Way and others.

Schipul sponsored and launched the Web site: http://www.obamavolunteercorps.org/

We have our first event this Saturday at the Habitat for Humanity Warehouse.  We will be building walls.... pretty cool!

Don't Push The River, It Flows By Itself

Ruby Sinreich was the facilitator for a session called "Don't Push the River, It Flows by Itself".  With an interesting name... the idea behind it is to allow social networks to flow and naturally evolve.

Use and organize networks by the power of the individual which can grow to a large wave of support for a particular cause or goal.

What makes a network effective:

1. Strong social ties -personal relationships, trust, awareness.
2. Common story - shared values, collective narrative, language and words that resonate (tagcouds).
3. Dense communication grid - online and offline: blogs, e-mail, IM, phone & SMS, face-to-face, twitter.
4. Sharing culture - Opensourcy: data, information, skills & expertise, money, space (meeting rooms).
5. Network awareness - feeling like a member, knowing what the network is for.

Some of the takeaways include:

1. A better understanding of the different social networking sites and how to use them
2. How social networking can impact the nonprofit world
3. Strategies on how to use this medium for outreach and advocacy

Ruby is a wonderful and confident speaker - she is very active in the social media universe which is obvious in the delivery of this content.

Lionly Love - just amazing

My daughter, Melissa, sent me this and I thought it was just too beautiful not to include it in my blog... as I make another detour from my political posts. 

This lady in Colombia rescued a malnourished lion and when she comes back to visit, the lion shows it's gratitude.  It's truly amazing!

Mustaches For Kids starts Thursday

I will be participating in a funny charity event starting this Thursday, November 15th... it's called Mustaches for Kids.  It's a mustache growing "competition" in which we receive pledges for growing a mustache in 4 weeks (Nov 15th - Dec 15th) - all the donations are given to Texas Children's Hospital.

Jason McElweenie of the Low End Theory and Canerican blog, has been organizing this for several months and it's finally time to start the growing season.

If you would like to donate any amount to my effort, please comment below and I will include you in my pledge sheet. 

And if you would like to purchase a t-shirt (see below), email Jason directly.