This Election Shall be Live Blogged

It's 8am Tuesday and I just got back from voting! I arrived at my polling place at 6:50am, and the line was already wrapped around the block. By 7, when the doors opened, there were probably a hundred or so more people behind me. Of course, all this calls for photos!

Where I started in line.

Where the line ended when the polls opened 10 minutes later (you can't see it!).

Made it around the first corner.

Made it around the second corner. Still a long way to go.

A good sign along the way (that's my neighborhood, y'all).

So close you can smell the democracy.

At the door!

All in all, for a line that absurdly long, the wait wasn't bad at all, and I even had time to come back home for a snack. Once again, if you haven't voted yet, today is your last chance. Go vote, and grant us peace.

Dona Nobis Pacem: Go Vote

Folks, the time is now. Tomorrow morning the polls will open for a truly momentous election. If you're an American citizen, you've registered to vote, and you haven't voted yet (in places where early voting is allowed), we implore you to get out tomorrow. Lines are expected to be long, and the weather may not be entirely cooperative, so dress warmly and dryly and bring a little reading material, or, better yet, chat up your fellow voters. Regardless of how you intend to vote in a given race or on a particular issue, the democratic process brings disparate people together every couple of years and asks for their opinion on the critical issues of the day. Take advantage of this unique form of fellowship to get to know a few new people. Challenge each other's assumptions and celebrate your commonalities.

I, for one, believe strongly that participatory forms of government are essential foundations for peace. This country isn't quite peaceful yet, and hasn't been for centuries, but we're further along than a lot of places. In the past year, we've seen tense elections in places like Bolivia, Paraguay, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Russia and even Canada. In some of those places, people died for their votes. In others, their votes were canceled out by corrupt authorities. In still others, people felt a real sense of liberation after all was said and done.

Tomorrow and later in the week we'll start to analyze how this election impacts issues of peace and social justice around this world. If I can swing it, we'll even get to hear from someone on the ground at the winning candidate's victory celebration.

But for now, your charge is simple: Go to your polling place, stand in line, and cast your ballot. And vote on everything, not just the next president. In my own neighborhood, the race for our representative on the school board could mean a lot for how justice expands through the local population. All these issues matter; that's why they're on the ballot. Go out and vote your conscience, and thereby grant us peace.

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EDIT: Persons in some corners are expressing concerns about voter suppression. If you experience trouble at the polls (e.g. your registration or ballot are challenged) and you think you need help, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) and they'll provide assistance, including on-site legal aid, if necessary.

Peaceniks Forum: The Election that Changes Everything that Ever Was

Perhaps that's a bit of an overstatement, but that seems to be the way most Americans are acting right now. So let's have a bit of discussion. What matters to you this time around? Why is this election so important? If you're one of our growing contingent of international visitors, what outcomes do you want to see from the U.S. election? Will anything good come of it for you?

Here at Practical Peaceniks, we've already weighed in on how we think McCain or Obama will promote peace in the world (or not). We've also touched on how some of the rhetoric surrounding the campaign has caused people like us who are dedicated to peace and social justice to cringe/want to spit venom. As virtually anyone has noticed by now, the campaign has only gotten more heated, especially as one side pulls ahead while the other seems to be spiraling downward. Is this a positive trend? Further, is a campaign process that has taken nearly two years and cost two billion dollars really good for this country, or any country?

For my own sake, I want to see a government for the people that brings an end to the degradation of civil liberties and demonstrates a renewed emphasis on expanding civil rights to all individuals in the United States (I use that construction intentionally). I want a government of the people that takes to heart the advice of Nobel Laureate, former Secretary of State, and fellow Tennesseean Cordell Hull, who said in 1945, "There is no greater responsibility resting upon peoples and governments everywhere than to make sure that enduring peace will this time -- at long last -- be established and maintained." Finally, I want to see a government by the people, that does not engage in unjust wars (with victims at home and abroad) and refuses to compromise our core values by torturing and illegally detaining individuals suspected of acting against us.

This election is important to me because I feel strongly that the country has been on a downward spiral. It's not just a matter of U.S. standing or influence in the world -- I don't really care about that. It's that within our own borders, we are a society that has lost the ability to value anything other than ourselves and our material wants. Too many Americans lack healthcare. Our schools need support, investment, and love. Our economy needs to be reconstructed so that injustices meted out by the privileged few don't get perpetuated when those same privileged few get bailed out while their victims get nothing. And looking abroad, this is a nation of remarkable power, and we should truly scrutinize whether we are using that power -- hard, soft, or whatever you want to call it -- in a responsible, compassionate way that still somehow manages to further our interests and keep us safe.

As for the electoral process, I tend to agree that it was wrong for Obama to break his promise to accept public financing in the general election. However, in so doing, he may well have uncovered a new approach to public financing. Having over 3 million donors and an average donation of just $85 may indicate that public interest in financing campaigns is growing, and we just need to rethink how the current public finance process works. The time this whole soiree has taken, though, is ludicrous. I've frankly stopped paying attention to the news for much of the past month simply because I was tired of it all. When the campaign process drags on for so long, we lose sight of issues and instead start deconstructing every syllable that comes out of someone's mouth. The 24-hour news cycle only exacerbates this problem. And only having two major candidates hurts too, I think. Maybe the Barr, McKinney and Nader campaigns have something to offer the country. If they do, we certainly haven't had a chance to hear about it. If they don't, we haven't even heard that either.

Consider this the opening salvo (definitely not a peaceful term) of your Practical Peaceniks election coverage this week. As always, we welcome your thoughts, and encourage you to join the conversation.

Peace Deals and Bombings in Somalia

In case it doesn't make headlines in the current media market, which is still saturated with talk of Obama, McCain and the Economy, I thought all our readers might be interested to know what's been going on in Somalia this week. On Sunday, warring parties in Somalia signed a Peace Deal. According to the UN, "The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) signed two accords today in neighbouring Djibouti after three days of talks backed by the UN and the wider international community."

Just four days later, a series of suicide attacks hit two towns in Somalia and killed at least 22 people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but many blamed a militant Islamist group called the Shabab. This setback in Somali peace highlights a serious problem when peace talks are conducted at the exclusion of spoilers. Not that I'm suggesting all terrorist groups in Somalia (or elsewhere for that matter) should be legitimized by being included in peace talks. But the result is all too often the same -- excluded groups overshadow the progress made at talks by perpetuating more violence. Indeed, in its report on the peace talks on October 27th, the New York Times highlighted the progress the talks had made with several militant groups, but also noted, "the most fearsome wing of Somalia’s Islamist insurgency, the Shabab, has shunned the peace talks and vowed to fight on." And fight on they have. Now nearly all the news stories on Somalia have returned to focus on the violence with very little mention of the progress that was made just days before.

Somalia has been entrenched in an intractable conflict for seventeen years. For a discussion of the situation and prospects for peace in Somalia, read a Q&A by Reuters.

The Trickle-Down of the Financial Crisis

Over the last several weeks, we have been hearing news about the financial crisis. First it was just in the United States and now it has circulated the globe with other markets going down. It is a scary time for the rich since a big part of their assets are in those investments that have now dried up, but it is also raising concern for global aid and how organizations' programs for the poor will be affected. With everyone penny-pinching, will aid to these organizations dry up, too? David Roodman of the Center for Global Development states "The contagions of freeze-up and slowdown will spread through many channels: trade, investment, migration, and more." After each previous financial crisis in a donor country since 1970, the country's aid has declined.

Sheila Sisulu, from the UN World Food Program, stated that "the voice for the hungry and poor has to be heard simultaneously alongside the crisis of the developed world, concerned about their stock portfolios." Kofi Annan predicted that because of the financial crisis, politicians will ignore poverty and that the aid pledges were and illusion. World Bank president, Robert Zoellick said that the financial crisis risks the efforts in place to help poor nations, and that high food and energy prices will push even more into poverty. Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, emphasized that "A hungry man is an angry man." As the number of impoverished grows, Guterres predicts more conflict.

Nowhere else can the affect on peace be seen more clear than by looking at the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In a blog from March 24, 2008 on www.bitterlemons.org, several Palestinians and Israelis wrote on this and made compelling arguments. One Israeli stated that the economic crisis will not change a thing since the conflict is political and not economic; and therefore, a better or worse economy does little for prospects for peace. A Palestinian, on the other hand, described a very different scenario, especially since Palestine is dependent on foreign aid; which comes in the form of the US dollar. Nonprofits earn their income in dollars, including universities, hospitals and countless aid organizations, and so nonprofit sector will be hit extremely hard by the financial crisis. Another Israeli thought the peace process would be weakened because attention will be diverted away from the Middle East peace process to the financial crisis alone.

Organizations that have been working in many countries all over the world depend on the charitable giving of international citizens, as well as by governments and large corporations. If this dries up, we could see a mass exit of aid organizations in places where important work is being done that is necessary for sustainable peace and development. The Middle East peace process is but one example of a situation that could go from bad to worse if aid agencies are no longer able to fund their efforts.

Nobel Peace Prize Announced

This past week, the Nobel committee has been busy doling out its annual prizes in chemistry, literature, physics, medicine, economics and, of course, peace. I can’t help but feel like this prize perhaps more than any other, lends legitimacy to peace as a serious and respected discipline. Unlike the other prizes, however, the peace prize is generally awarded to individuals or organizations for their ongoing work or overall contributions to peace rather than a single past achievement.

In recent years, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to former President Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, Mohammed Yunus, and former Vice President Al Gore, among others.

This year’s prize went to former President of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, for his work as a widely respected international mediator in places such as Namibia, Kosovo, Indonesia and Northern Ireland, among others. Some of his most important accomplishments include helping to bring independence to Namibia and a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Aceh province of Indonesia. See the New York Times article on his nomination for more.

According to Time, by awarding this year’s prize to President Ahtisaari, “the Norwegian prize committee is returning to its original mandate of honoring those who help in the resolution of conventional armed conflicts.”

While I agree that it is important to recognize the largely “behind the scenes” peacemaking through mediation, I also believe that awarding the prize to figures like Al Gore and Mohammed Yunus was an important step in broadening our understanding of peacemaking. By awarding the prize to environmental and economic peacemakers, the committee recognized the less traditional components of peace. Building peace is not just about addressing ongoing conflicts and bringing them to an end, it is also about recognizing the root causes of conflict and attempting to draw attention to them and prevent them before they cause more widespread conflict.

By drawing attention to global climate change, Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were contributing to peace through enhanced understanding of a significant threat to environmental stability. Through this prize, the committee recognized that significant environmental change has enormous potential to cause widespread conflict though massive population movements, depletion of resources, and competition for remaining scarce resources.

Similarly, by awarding the prize to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, the Nobel committee recognized that providing microcredit loans to the world’s poor is an enormously important way to address global poverty and reduce the economic causes of conflict.

So, while I applaud the Nobel committee for this years choice because it draws attention to the highly important role of conflict mediation, I disagree that the committee should stick to these “traditional” forms of peacemaking in future prizes. As a practical peacenik, I think it is invaluable to draw attention to less traditional forms of peacemaking and, perhaps even more importantly, to advancements that have the potential to prevent future conflict rather than focusing just on conflict resolution.

Pressure Cooker Palin

I am extremely concerned about the recent rallies Gov. Palin has been holding. The blatant bile and hate coming from the crowd and being fomented by Palin herself is absolutely despicable. Running negative campaigns is one thing but to tap into emotionally charged rhetoric knowing that it will raise the crowd's blood pressure is another.

She twists truth to incite hate. Telling crowds Obama pals around with terrorists is ridiculous. When Ayers was a terrorist Obama was 8 years old. Ayers is currently a professor a the University of Illinois.

I personally don't want a person anywhere near the White House that has the ability to stir such hateful feelings. Extremist speakers are pressure cookers that heat up negative emotions and unless controlled will explode and do more harm to society than good. Think of all the extremist speakers you can and tell me how many of them have actually made their societies better?

Global Affairs Monitor

Hi readers...I'm assuming that most people who visit this blog are interested in global affairs in one way or another. So wanted to introduce you to resource offered by World Savvy that might be of interest to you. This Spring we launched the Global Affairs Monitor, an online current affairs service which examines one global issue/region in depth per month. Each edition provides a synopsis of the issue or region, incorporating perspectives from more than 100 sources -- periodicals, websites, video, news, radio, and books. We also provide a Classroom Companion and Global Affairs Salon Guide to facilitate discussion in schools and living rooms throughout the community. All documents are archived, and updates are provided for each edition so that subscribers can follow future developments.

The Global Affairs Monitor is designed for teachers, but is a valuable service for the curious global citizen and educator in all of us, and should inspire conversation with peers, colleagues, families and friends. This is a tool to digest world news in a 24-news cycle, when staying informed and accessing multiple viewpoints can be challenging.

As an individual or school subscriber, you'll have access to nine editions online (August -November, January-June), the Global Affairs Salon Guide and Classroom Companion, and archived editions from previous months. Subscription rates are as follows:

Individuals/annual: $75 per year

Schools: $750/year (for up to 100 licenses)

You can preview the first two editions for free at http://monitor.worldsavvy.org/, examining Sudan and the Crisis in Darfur (May) and China: the Promise and Challenge of an Emerging Superpower (June), and subscribe for your annual membership today.

I hope you don't mind the plug, but I thought readers of this blog would find it quite relevant and interesting. Enjoy!