Solidarity with Iraqi Elections
As most people are (hopefully) aware, Iraq recently finished voting in the first (relatively) free and fair election held there in decades. They are in a tenuous position between democracy and a return to some form of authoritarianism or anarchy, and I recently found an interesting way to help show support for the people there who are struggling for democracy over at Andrew Sullivan's blog:

A reader suggests the following as a spontaneous people-power act of solidarity with the voters in Iraq:

You have a pretty decent megaphone, I've got an idea for you and the rest of the blogosphere. Why not ask people to wear blue marker on their index fingers this week, as a sign of solidarity and a tip of the hat to the courage of the Iraqis today?

The blue marker is a reference to the indelible ink placed on voters fingers to prevent fraud by voting multiple times. I think this would be a great one day activity in Berkeley (Tuesday or Wednesday maybe), although it would require the backing of some groups on campus. I'll be e-mailing a link to this post to the CalDems and BCR, some ASUC officials, and if anyone else knows other groups who might support this, please pass on the word (the ROTC or some Arab/Muslim groups on campus?).

This event would:
a) help show solidarity with those struggling to achieve democracy
b) instill a sense of democratic activism that could promote voting by Berkeley students in future U.S. elections (I guess this could be considered a negative for conservative groups on campus)
c) play against type, showing that Berkeley isn't some America hating marxist outpost hoping for our efforts in Iraq to fail
d) and probably be good for some other reasons as well.

This would be something remarkably easy to organize, so hopefully someone or some group can step in to help make it happen. Additional thoughts here.
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