Voting from Istanbul

I've had my absentee ballot request form filled-out, signed, dated and in its addressed envelope for over a month now. I even went to the post office once (before I bought said envelope where I found out that they do not sell envelopes - guess the Turkish postal system isn't as capitalist minded as the US postal system) and then tried another time (lines were ridiculously long as the vast majority of Turks pay their utility bills at the post office - online bill paying is just taking off here).

So, I'd basically given up my hopes of voting in the primary elections. Then, I heard from a fellow teacher about an organization called Democrats Abroad. According to their website, DA is "the overseas branch of the Democratic Party." They are in over 100 countries. In 1976, DA became a "full Democratic state committee" meaning that they have voting rights in the Democratic National Convention.

For the 2008 election season, DA held a global primary. You could vote on-line (awesome!), by mail, or in person. The election, which took place in the beginning of February, is followed by a global caucus and the selection of delegates to send to the National Convention.

Last weekend I went to a nearby hotel where my passport was checked by the DA Turkey Committee members. Then I completed a registration form and voted!

They announced the results the other day:

32 - Barack Obama
18 - Hillary Clinton
4 - Uncommitted

(This does not include the on-line results which will be announced next week). The totals from all Democrats Abroad countries will be calculated. Because the delegate race between Obama and Hillary is quite close, many websites have started treating the DA Abroad primary like a primary from an actual state.

So, the future looks like this. Calculate vote totals --> regional convention --> global convention --> Democratic National Convention.

Pretty awesome that Americans living abroad are finally being given a chance to have their voices heard!

One of my students said that he thought everyone in the world should be able to vote for the U.S. President because "it effects us all." Interesting idea. Any thoughts about that?

Here I go again...

I haven’t been writing lately, at least on my blog. Not since December 2007!

After spending some time wondering why, I decided it was because I just wrote about my life. In all actuality, my life here is quite normal and at times, boring.

So, I’ve decided to take a slightly different approach and not just write about my life, but other things that interest me - politics, cultures, different articles I stumble upon on the lovely Internets!, links to interesting things. Writing about these things will not make me feel compelled to write such long posts.

Instead, I will post short, interesting things and hopefully I will do so more frequently. And I hope to encourage discussion by encouraging comments. Comments also encourage me to write more since I know that someone is reading. Post anonymously, I don’t care, just write something!

So, on to my interesting finds of the day. As many of you know, I have a slight Internet obsession. Mainly reading political and social commentary with some more nerdy stuff thrown in occasionally. I have a daily round of blogs and other websites that I read which often provide links to interesting stuff. We’ve been talking about “The Web” in my Elementary Business English class and it’s rather shocking to me that these 4 women don’t seem to find the Internet a) interesting or b) necessary because to me it is both of those and way more. I hear about something or read about something and immediately I want to find out more.

Side note: if you disagree with what I say, great! I’m not here to be preachy or try to make you think like I do, because I value debate and alternate opinions. Please feel free to voice them here.

This picture is quite powerful I think. Living in a Muslim country is a wonderful experience. I have learned so much and I am grateful for every second of it. The blind discrimination and prejudice by many Americans is only due to ignorance and unfounded fear. I’ve been here for 13 months and not one time have I met someone who I thought was a “terrorist.” Not one time did I fear for my life. Not one time did I feel uncomfortable because of religion. Instead, I found the complete opposite. I found a country of warm, hospitable people who are willing to bend over backwards to help you, who want to educate you about Islam, who are confused and scared because much of the world doesn’t understand them and their peaceful religion.

Of course, there are Muslim terrorists. But there are also Christian terrorists and Jewish terrorists and so on.

Asking for the world to live in peace is too much to ask I have learned. But I won’t stop educating myself and learning more and being tolerant. And I encourage you to do the same (ok I’m being a little preachy).

Onwards....to this article - a very interesting piece which explains that Google is going to OUTSPEND the US government on the environment in the fiscal year 2009. I always use Google as an example in my classes (creative company culture, flexible work environment, unique perks) and here I have another example - the social responsibility of a private-sector company outweighing (and outspending) the responsibility of the public-sector.

This leads me to a few questions. What can we do to further encourage the private-sector to develop environmentally-friendly products? What role should the government play with regard to the environment? Can we trust that governmental policy is actually going to benefit the environment and not merely for political and/or economical gains?

Ok! That was fun. I managed to combine a bit of my work life, my regular life, and 2 interesting issues into 1 post. And it wound up being a long post. Now I’m just waiting for the comments to keep me motivated...Sadie - that means you! And thanks to Tracy for the photo!