AIDS Housing Goes Blobal: Satellite conference at IAC to address housing, poverty

I like seeing groups working to bring themselves together for change

If you plan on attending the International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Mexico City in August, don't miss the "International Summit on Poverty, Homelessness and HIV/AIDS" satellite session: This first-of-its-kind meeting will create a strategy for addressing homelessness and poverty as significant barriers to fighting the AIDS epidemic.


The two-hour summit is organized by the National AIDS Housing Coalition, Housing Works and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network, with committee members from Thailand, China, Kenya, South Africa, the U.S. and Canada. Participants will work together to develop and present to the IAC a declaration demanding adequate housing as a fundamental human right and an essential element of effective HIV prevention and health care.

View AIDS 2008 fact sheet here.

Click to learn about a proposed National AIDS Strategy

Make a Difference -- Talk to People about the War on Drugs

In 2002, the rate was 1 in 142, now it is 1 out of 99. Our incarceration rate has skyrocketed in the past few years and is now the highest in the world. See more from this article written by CBS and AP.

Below is an embedded video from the IDPI - Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative and Common Sense Drug Policy, two groups that are working together to make a difference in the wasteful complex and ineffective "War on Drugs". The other video can be seen at this link or you can e-mail info@cdsp.org for more information.



They want to get the word out about this initiative and ask community organizers to take these steps:

1) Get free copies of Clergy Speak Out Against The War On Drugs and the ACLU’s new Marijuana, It’s Time for a Conversation, featuring Rick Steves
-Copies of Clergy Speak Out Against The War On Drugs are available by contacting info@csdp.org

2) Organize a local meeting, watch the DVDs, and then…

3) Have a one-hour discussion, and invite local policy makers and media to a follow-up meeting to address your concerns.

If you read Fast Company, your a good person....

but, if you join people this decade (before 2010) to convert your energy preference from oil to bio-diesel, we can change our countries political politics. The first step is for citizens to increase the demand for a diesel engine. In an article from Fast Company's November magazine a transfer from our current 86-93 octane back to diesel (I believe this was the primary oil used in the 60's and 70's) we can cut our emissions by 90 percent and our gas mileage will increase 40%.

In a single stroke, that would improve the nation's mileage by as much as 40%, and, because diesel fuel is already widely available, drivers could take that step with a minimum of disruption. What's more, given that many diesel engines can also run homegrown biodiesel, a mass conversion to diesel would help kick-start that market.

Here is another quote from the article "Motorhead Messiah" disuccing the implications of a shift to deisel fuel:

"...if we converted merely one-third of America's passenger cars and light trucks to diesel, we'd reduce our oil consumption by up to 1.4 million barrels of oil per day--precisely the amount we import from Saudi Arabia."

Once we convert back to diesel engines, then we can consider using bio-diesel.



I thought this trailer was great. If you are interested in helping me organize a showing at a local theater please send me an e-mail.

I think these would be some great first steps in reducing our reliance on foreign oil and saving money by increasing our gas mileage.

Make a Difference : Buy a child a laptop and get one for your family.

One Laptop per Child begins its kickoff program where US citizens can purchase a laptop for $399 and the Organization will donate 1 laptop to a child in a developing country.



Nicholas Negroponte, Chairman of the program has this as the purpose of the organization:

"The OLPC Foundation's mission is to stimulate local grassroots initiatives designed to enhance and sustain over time the effectiveness of laptops as learning tools for children living in lesser-developed countries."

Here is a link that takes you directly to the hardware specifications of the 1LPC laptop.

I think this is a great idea with a lot of potential, but I also think that we need more programs focused on increasing our populations access to affordable computers. A lot of youth and families cannot afford current prices and this type of product would be beneficial for ensuring their access to good computers and the web.

Attention non-profit grant writers: Use this 1LPC program to get affordable laptops for your school or youth program. Use half of the laptops to get affordable laptops for your program and then the other laptops are already donated for you and you can use it in your pr that your group donated through the program. You might even go as far as, starting a web-based "pen pal" program with the children who recieve the laptops.

Mass production for the laptops is already underway and the program may have a rival sooner than they hope.

Don't forget me when I'm gone...

Dear 11 daily readers, I appologize for my absence over the last two weeks. My laptop crashed at home and I was sick with a viral infection, hindering my ability to get to a functioning computer. I am all better now and looking to kick into full gear.

Make sure you check out this site and my blog for the iptv site to keep up on some current campaigns. If you want to take part in working with me I would love to hear from you.

I think that I am going to shy away from my progressive roots for this year's presidential ticket. I like the ideas proposed by Unity 08 and I think this is a more effective use of my desire to be involved in presidential elections. It is also an idea that I think is crucial to helping our country move beyond our individual differences and start working together to find common ground and Make a Difference.

As more develops, I hope you will take notice.

Make a Difference: [Realize] The Outsized Power of Young People to Change The World

Everyone wants to know how they can make a difference. You make a difference by being in the mindset of making a difference. If you believe you can change the world around you, then the best thing you can do is go out and do it. I am very big on values. When I talk with people we usually have a discussion of theories and values. What are your theories about how our world works? What values do you live by? They are different for everyone, but the more in tune people get with these questions they better they are at being leaders and being people. I searched the site for a while because I was intrigued by the post and found this post about Values in the 21st Century. I said Yes, Yes those are good. So here they are:

1.Reduce, Recycle, Reuse
2.The Individual is more important than the corporation
3.Those who make the mess, should clean it up.
4.Collaboration between people is more important than government efforts. And more effective.
5.You can make an impact. To magnify your impact, collaborate with others.
6.Don’t blindly trust your leaders.
7.Don’t blindly believe the media.

These are values that I can rally around, and these are values that can Make a Difference. What are yours? How would you change the world?



Here is the Digg.com write up of the original post:

Individuals can change the world, and for us to change the course that society is on it will be individuals that will have to lead the changes. It’s only individual people who have the ability to change the world when it comes to environmental issues.

read more | digg story

"Make a Difference" Donate Life Straw

I was watching the news this evening and I watched the story about the state of the drinking water in India. I did a little research and found two articles that talk about the growing water crisis and a discussion about water that should belong to the commons. During my research and witnessing of the news I remembered the LifeStraw, a device made by Vestergaard Frandsen that actually filters water as people use the device.

If you have some extra cash, you should look into contacting the Rotary Club of Menorca Spain in the title link.

One criticism of the news article and the problem of drinking water is that the Asia LifeStraw office is in New Dehli India! Why doesn't India embrace a product that has been proven effective to help with its water crisis?

Anyway, the LifeStraw seems like a good little gadget to help drinking water isssues in developing countries.

Make a Difference-- Buddy Walk for a cause!!

You don't always have to give money to make a difference, in fact volunteering and actively working give a much better immediate "return on investment" than sending an organization a check. The National Down Syndrome Society is havings its annual Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome Awareness. Northwest ohio will have its Buddy Walk on October 7th at the Lucas County Rec. Center at 11a.m.

As an advocate for persons with developmental disabilities, I am aware of the struggle to stop hurtful language and limit stigma for these individuals. The link has contact information and more info about the Buddy Walk.

Making a Difference- The Parable of the Starfish

So I saw this on a new site I stumbled upon today called madhukarshukla's blog, entitled Social Entrepreneurship and some perspective on making a difference.

The Animal Rescue Klub is not sure who wrote it. This is the one reference to the story in wikipedia.

And our friends at Pitts Aldrich and Associates who advocate for the Make a Difference parable with all of their clients.


The title link has the parable on a scenic background of the beach. It is a good perspective on making a difference.