In 1990 I was in third grade.  There are two things I remember about third grade: meeting my best friend, Lou Sussman, and refusing to say the pledge of allegiance. 

I remember the day my third grade teacher asking me to step out into the hall with her after the pledge and asking me why I hadn’t recited it with the rest of the class.  I remember explaining to her that I couldn’t pledge

4362:  The number of US troops killed in Iraq

 918:  The number of US troops killed in Afghanistan

 2266:  The number of US Veterans that died in 2008 due to being uninusured

 8,436 - 28,028: The estimated number of civilians killed in Afghanistan as a direct result of US military action

94,008 - 102,547: The estimated number of civilian deaths in Iraq due to violence

To refer back to the Cornel West quote from my last post, it's not easy to be a war president under "the pressure of peace."  As NATO moves to commit more troops to Afghanistan, Obama is still weighing his options on adding more US troops to the Afghan war effort .  Either way, the pressure of peace and the pressure of war are dividing opponents and supporters of Obama around the world and

"I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this

I've dedicated myself to being a total nerd this election night.  I am leaving work early, heading to a local watering hole with lots of election coverage, and free wifi and I'm going to be participating in the play by play.  I won't be flooding The Weave with my posts but you can follow along on my brief thoughts on Twitter (don't worry it is free). 

I got back a little less than a week ago from visiting my parents.  I was home for a wedding and my sister was in town, hot off the Obama campaign trail.  I would say the campaign was about 80% of what we talked about the entire time we were together.  My sister took a month off of work to volunteer for Obama outside of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County.  Her stories of canvassing in a battleground state made me decide it was time to put some physical energy of my own into the Obama campaign.  So upon return to Seattle I looked up how I could help in the GOTV (get out the vote) drive leading up to election day. 

2008 has been hailed as the year of the youth vote as Barack Obama has mobilized new and young voters in droves across the nation. The election messages of this election campaign have varied greatly both in their content, delivery, and strategy. Notably the Obama campaign, has brought innovation and historic change to the election process this election year. From Obama's ability to raise million of dollars while not taking money from lobbyists or special interest groups, to his ability to mobilize the youth vote, and his ability to launch the largest ground campaign presidential campaigning has ever seen.

I am not a sports fan by any stretch of the imagination.  A sunday football game or a major league baseball game is so far from my version of a good time, it's not even funny.  But every once and a while sports move me.  

I certainly don't ever read sports news either.  But this past weekend my eye was drawn to an article teaser while reading an election article on the BBC website. 

Race, whether we are comfortable with it or not, has played a strong but silent role in this years election.  It has been the uncomfortable elephant in the room since the beginning of the primaries.  From our silent worrying about whether or not this country could really elect a black man down to our silent fears of assassination.