Calling Party

I went to a voter call party... We used multiple pages of numbers from Moveon.org and called people in Tampa, Florida to ask if they could volunteer this Saturday or Sunday. We got a lot of answering machines but the people who actually answered their phone had all already voted (for Obama) except for one woman who said that she was having trouble voting because of the long lines. Unfortunately, I was the only one who got people to agree to volunteer...luck of the numbers I guess.

Check out this resource from PBS' Now.

Oh My

http://www.rickeypac.org/

Little Mosque on the Prairie

Can you believe some people are still saying that Obama is a Muslim? If they didn't equate Muslims with terrorists then this might not matter so much to them. Little Mosque on the Prairie is a television show making a real difference in how people see their Muslim neighbors. I have often wondered why we can't have television like this popular sitcom here in the United States... I hear, however, that an American version is in the works. Hopefully it will not lose it's intelligence and originality in translation.



It has an ongoing storyline and I think you can watch the show from episode I on Muxlim.com.


Rayyan, one of the primary characters on the show, is described on the CBC website as a "headscarf-wearing, forward-thinking, Muslim, feminist doctor. She's like a young, good looking Maude. Rayyan embraced her faith in university and is much more devout than her parents. She often prays she's adopted." Except for that last sentence, it's a very good description of her character. And her parents do often get in trouble with her for doing non-Muslim things like playing the lottery (gambling).

Will Your Vote Count?

Talk of the Nation will investigate whether our votes will be counted this time around. Listen in today at 2pm Eastern time on your local NPR radio station.

Tumult builds over alleged ‘Lose your home, lose your vote’ scheme

Botswana's former President Festus Mogae has won a $5m (£2.8m) prize to encourage good governance in Africa.

Click on the title of this post to find out more...A reminder to keep Botswana on my travel list. Not all African governments are corrupt, as one might be apt to think watching the limited coverage of Africa in the national media (whose stories are limited to the aids and violence that plague too many countries in the continent).

Ohio Decides to Make a Change

Yesterday was the last day for one stop registration and early voting (at polling place or by mail) in Ohio. So, I called several voters there in the morning and encouraged them to take advantage of the opportunity. One woman hung up the phone as soon as I said I was calling on behalf of Barack Obama but everyone else (whose number was still in service) said they were planning to vote for Barack Obama, though not early. I could usually tell before I asked if they would be able to commit to voting early. Almost everyone was taking precious time out of their workday or family life to talk to me and I really appreciate their generosity in doing so. One woman was feeding her daughter while she was talking to me. Another guy on his way to work said, when I asked him who he was planning to vote for, "No way am I voting for that old guy." I lived in Cleveland, Ohio for a couple of years when I was very young and I very much hope that this group of voters is representative of how Ohio will vote this time around. If Obama can win over the working class families of Ohio and get them to get out there and vote then I think he really does have a chance at winning this election.