Obama in Town

I guess he's always "in town" since he works right around the corner, in the Senate, but last Friday, he was at George Mason University for a rally sponsored by Students for Barack Obama. I was invited to this event through Facebook, and since GMU is my alma mater, the political junkie in me just had more reason to spend my Friday standing up for a couple of hours so I can see Mr. Obama for about 20 minutes. Thankfully, he did make an appearance, and gave a moving speech about the way he grew up and how that has influenced his plans to run for president in order to take the country off the disastrous path it is on now. I won't go into much detail, because the speech is of course available for your viewing pleasure on YouTube.

But I would like to note something interesting about this event that will surely have an influence on the whole 2008 election process. The event, as I mentioned, was organized by SFBO, and the event was advertised primarily through a Facebook event page. If you don't know what Facebook is, well, there's not much hope for you. No really, it's a social networking site that began on the college level and has now expanded so that anyone can sign up. It's the 7th most visited site in the US, with more than 7.5 million users and 20,000 new members joining everyday. The fact that such a political event was organized through this website shows just how important new media will be in the upcoming elections. In the 2006 midterm elections, many candidates (or their staffers) created Facebook accounts, listing their political platforms, and other information that might attract young voters. Each Facebook account holder also had the opportunity to add certain "agenda items" that they considered important, such as "I support abortion" or "I oppose the war on Iraq". Your personal profile becomes a place for you to share your political opinions with friends and acquaintances, and a medium through which politicians can reach out to you. Candidates are also starting their own blogs in an attempt to tap into all forms of media to communicate with voters and potential supporters.

And of course, we all know the important role bloggers can play in reporting happenings, recording videos of events, and revealing information about candidates before the mainstream media can get to it. All it took was a YouTube video to bring down Republican Senator George Allen after the infamous macaca incident. In addition to recognizing the organizers of the rally, Senator Obama also recognized the creator of a Facebook group called "Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)". It's really amazing how important these tools will become in the next few months leading up to the primaries and the elections. We will just have to wait and see who takes advantage of them most, and who does so successfully.

Until then, here are some pics and clips from the event taken by yours truly. (No, I didn't jump on stage after he finished talking, or race to grab his hand and get his autograph, or follow him out to his motorcade. Others definitely did, I witnessed. He was definitely a celebrity, and he knew how to work that crowd.)



You can watch the full video of the event here, or check the short clips below taken by me.

Bone Chilling Cold

It's too cold to blog.

Current temperature in Washington, D.C. : 24 F, with windchill feels like 11 F
(-4 C, with windchill feels like -12 C)

I hope it snows tonight; it's definitely warmer when it snows.

Let It Snow!

Finally it feels like winter here in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. It has been an unbelievably warm winter, if you can even call it that, with temperatures fluctuating in the 50's even up to the warm 70's! We haven't had a snow flake since the winter season "officially" started. Usually we would have had a couple of snow days by mid-January, but this is really been a different kind of winter. It was so warm that the cherry blossom tree in front of our house started blooming in December, which is not supposed to happen until March! I'm not an expert on global warming to say that that's the reason behind this warm up, but it definitely makes you wonder. According to the National Climatic Data Center, 2006 was the warmest year on record in the US and the 6th warmest year globally.

In any case, 2007 has arrived...let it snow let it snow let it snow! (but not too much dear God, I hate shoveling, and we Washingtonians are big babies when it comes to just an inch!)


just a few days ago, the sun was setting on a warm afternoon. you can see the cherry blossom tree blooming.

and today...

(click to enlarge)

and I just felt like topping it off with this video; too bad you can't feel the cold :)

Holiday Lights Galore

In Northern Virginia and Washington D.C., every season is unique and beautiful in its own way. During the spring, we have cherry blossoms blooming all over D.C., and in the summer... well, it's just muggy in the summer. Then comes fall when the trees change colors making every street corner and neighborhood an amazing painting. And finally winter, where scenes of holiday lights mixed with occasional snow covering the barren trees makes the cold weather a little more bearable. The lights start going up after Thanksgiving and the malls start decking their halls and their parking lots.

Although I don't celebrate Christmas, I do enjoy driving around and checking out the lights decorating homes all over the place. Every year they get more elaborate, some a little too much for the eye to handle. But generally, they make the neighborhoods light up with joy.

My favorite things about this time of year: lights in the streets, red holiday cups from Starbucks, candy canes, pretty trees in the windows, sales after Christmas, funny Santa hats on the Metro, "the holiday cheer" (not available in all shopping centers), and a day or two off to wrap the season all up.

To everyone else who surely has more meaningful reasons for celebrating this holiday, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah! Eid Al-Adha is just around the corner too, and I wish it could be this time of year all the time so we can all celebrate together :)
Until then, enjoy these photos of lights around my neighborhood (sorry about the blurriness).





Check them all out on my Flickr.

Saturday: Protest Gaza Seige @ Dupont Circle

This Saturday December 2nd is the international day of action against the Gaza Siege. There will be peaceful protests held around the world in coordination with the main one being held in Tel Aviv. Check this website for information about events in your city, or organize one yourself. For those in the DC area, the protest will be held on Saturday at 12 noon in Dupont Circle. For more information on this protest, click here.

Saturday, December 2, 2006

12:00 noon

Rally at Dupont Circle

Speakers:

Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, (invited)

Former DC Delegate to the US House of Representatives

Dr. Mark Braverman,

Partners for Peace, and Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace

Huwaida Arraf,

Co-founder, International Solidarity Movement

Yonatan Shapira,

Israeli Refusenik, Co-founder, Combatants for Peace

Mai Abdul Rahman

American Palestinian Women’s Association, President and WIAMEP, member

Washington DC Rally Sponsored By:

Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace, the Coalition for Justice and Accountability, Save Gaza and the DC Anti-War Network (DAWN)

Dupont Circle, intersection of Massachusetts and Connecticut

Easily accessible through the Dupont Circle Metro stop on the Red Line

For more information or to sponsor, call 1-888-810-6202 or relamine@yahoo.com

Be there. It's the least we can do to speak out against the injustice being inflicted on Gazans.

Fall Colors

My favorite season in the US is Fall, or Autumn. How can it not be?! Feast your eyes on these amazing scenes. No need to drive hours or fly for them; just pull back my curtains and enjoy. Thank God for these little blessings, subhan'Allah.
Images around my home in Northern Virginia; the rest on my Flickr page.

amazing colors

my backyard

a foggy day in the neighborhood

leaf covered pathways

before

and after