"Oh, yeah, he's going to win. It's guaranteed," said Packers safety Darren Sharper, a Kerry supporter. "I don't have to vote now. Don't even have to go to the polls. Saved me a trip on Tuesday."

I'm encouraged to learn that Randy Kuhl has finally come out firmly in favor of the right to privacy, at least the privacy of elected officials with guns and marital problems.

I'm looking forward to his offering similar support for the privacy of women who must choose how to respond to an unwanted pregnancy, as well as the privacy of all of us at risk from the excesses of the Patriot Act. Or is he only concerned with his own privacy?

Thursday's rally in Madison, at which supporters were urged to walk across town and vote immediately, followed a similar event last month when Leonardo DiCaprio, the actor, appeared on the University of Wisconsin campus and exhorted the audience to follow him onto three buses that would take them to vote.

In Florida, such events have become a staple of the final month of campaigning.

"It's certainly altered our campaigning," said Matthew Miller, Florida spokesman for the Kerry campaign, citing special "early voting rallies" both Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards have held. The rallies often end with offers of a free bus ride to the polling site.

William R. Scherer, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer working for the Republicans, said his party had no need for such stunts. "We don't need to bus," he said. "Most of our people have cars."

ALCOHOL'S SPECIAL INTEREST CONTRIBUTIONS CLOUD KUHL'S JUDGEMENT.

As a state legislator in Albany, Randy Kuhl repeatedly voted against tougher drunk driving laws, thereby making our roads more dangerous. In fact, in 1995 alone, Randy Kuhl voted four times against legislation to curb drunk driving.

Randy Kuhl's voting record on drunk driving is so reprehensible, he was the only legislator in the 61-member state senate to receive an "F" from Remove Intoxicated Drivers, a state-wide anti-drunk driving organization. Only one member of the senate received a grade of "D," and all other senators scored a grade of "C" or better.

In 1995, Randy Kuhl:

* was one of only two state senators who voted against a bill that limits a repeat DWI offender's ability to plea bargain (S. 357).
* was one of only three senators who opposed a bill prohibiting adjournments in contemplation of dismissal for Driving While Intoxicated (S. 356).
* was the only senator who voted against requiring the Department of Motor Vehicles to compile a statewide database on drunk driving information (S. 355).
* was one of only three senators who opposed a bill mandating additional penalties for a Driving While Intoxicated offense if a person under the age of sixteen was in the car (S. 364).

He allegedly told [his girlfriend], "You'll never live to see the election."

Palm Beach Sheriff's Office deputies said they had to use a Taser – an electronic stun gun – to subdue him. They described him as enraged and said he was holding [his girlfriend] captive. He was armed with a screwdriver and threatening to stab her in the neck.

A silver Cadillac "swerved off the road and drove up the sidewalk" heading "straight towards Ms. Harris," according to the police arrest report.

After police tried to contact [the driver], he came to to the Sarasota Police station where, according to a police report, he admitted trying to "intimidate" a group of Harris supporters.

"I was exercising my political expression," Seltzer told police, according to the report.

"I view the definition of marriage difference from legal arrangements that enable people to have rights. And I strongly believe that marriage ought to be defined as between, a union between a man and a woman. Now, having said that, states ought to be able to have the right to pass … laws that enable people to you know, be able to have rights, like others."

“Civil unions are a government endorsement of homosexuality,” fumed Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute.

“Here’s the truth, civil unions are homosexual marriage by another name,” said Randy Thomasson, executive director of the Campaign for California Families.

Here's the deal. Standard bank cards use the F2F (Aiken biphase) modulation scheme, in which flux reversals encoded in the . . . eh, too much information. Let's just say that when you swipe the card through the reader, the magnetized particles in its stripe generate a signal with "ticks" in it at intervals that the machine is able to interpret as digital ones or zeros. A scratch or other defect in the magnetic stripe can cause a spike (i.e., brief fluctuation) in the signal that a too-sensitive reader will interpret as a tick, meaning that the encoded data will fail the parity check (the numbers won't add up right) and the card won't work. Wrapping the card in plastic increases the distance between the read head and the magnetic stripe, thus reducing the strength and crispness of the signal and smoothing out anomalous fluctuations. Behold, the card works.

In early 2000, writing about Bush in these pages, I said that he seemed to want to become President very badly, but that he did not seem to want to do a lot once in office. Boy, was I wrong! If the voters give Bush a second term, he would, it seems, govern with the goal of a Franklin Roosevelt-level transformation—in the opposite direction, of course—of the relation of citizen to state and of the United States to the rest of the world. He would pursue ends that are now outside what most people conceive of as the compass points of the debate, by means that are more aggressive than we are accustomed to. And he couldn’t possibly win by a smaller margin than last time, so he couldn’t possibly avoid the conclusion that he had been given a more expansive mandate.

The unsavory practice of one politician smearing another probably is as old as voting itself. In this relatively new experiment in democracy called the United States, negative campaigning always has been an integral part of politics.

Through the decades, observers of American politics surely must have asked rhetorical questions such as, "Are voters dumb enough to fall for that?" Given the ongoing popularity of "smear" tactics, one could honestly answer, "Yes."

Potential character defects should be considered in any political race. Does this long-standing state senator have violent tendencies? Is he stable? A violent or unstable person wouldn't be suited for such high office. Then again, in divorce cases incidents are often overblown, exaggerated or even inaccurately portrayed in order to help one ex-spouse and hurt another.

So, before voters step into the polling places Nov. 2, they need to digest the body of information regarding each race, even if they must hold their noses while doing so. That includes serious allegations about Kuhl's past behavior, the possible implication of people affiliated with the Barend campaign, the credibility of such information and its relevance to the ability of a person to represent the 29th District in the House of Representatives.

"I'm not saying that (what happened to Kuhl) is OK, but I'm saying that you have to give up a piece of yourself to represent the people. Your life is pretty much showcased, but at the same time, I recognize that my personal actions and the way I behave in society are up for scrutiny."

Since we had to do something about all those sex toy samples cluttering up the office at Fleshbot Central, today we're debuting an occasional feature where we'll be giving some of them to eminent members of the blogging community and having them report back on their experiences. This week, the indefatigable (and very brave) Toby of Vividblurry goes head-to-head with Falcon's "Signature Collection" Jeremy Penn Supercock ... and lives to tell the tale.

In a world where lust can be bought in a pill and skin is the marketing tool du jour, being David Jay cannot be easy. At the age of 22 he has never had sex. He has never experienced sexual attraction towards another person and does not believe it will ever happen.

...

Until recently these people felt isolated, never suspecting others felt the same. But now, thanks in great part to an online forum founded by Jay, they are finding each other and identifying themselves with a common label. They call themselves asexual, and are coming out to parents and loved ones, declaring their asexuality to be as valid an orientation as being straight or gay.

They are printing T-shirts and pamphlets, and discussing the concept of “A-pride” and what it means to be “A-sexy”. They are, essentially, announcing to the world that they are not broken or defective, or sexually dysfunctional. Instead they have a bona fide sexual identity that must no longer be ignored.

New York State and Local Retirement System will treat Canadian marriages of same-sex couples the same as any other marriage for purposes of retirement benefits and obligations.

...

The decision was made by New York State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, whose office has jurisdiction over the retirement system. It was communicated in a letter from the Comptroller to Mark Daigneault, a state employee who wrote in September asking how getting married in Canada would affect retirement benefits for him, his same-sex partner and their two children.

...

"New York State law is clear; marriages validly executed in other jurisdictions must be respected in this state," said Alphonso David, Staff Attorney with Lambda Legal.

"We're all God's children, Bob, and I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was. She's being who she was born as. I think if you talk to anybody, it's not a choice."

"Now, you know, I did have a chance to assess John Kerry once more and now the only thing I could conclude: This is not a good man. Of course, I am speaking as a mom, and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man. What a cheap and tawdry political trick."

"She's overreacted to this and treated it as if it's shameful to have this discussion. I think that's a very sad state of affairs. I think that it indicates a certain degree of shame with respect to her daughter's sexual preferences. It makes me really sad that that's Lynne's response."

"You saw a man who will say and do anything in order to get elected. And I am not speaking just as a father here, though I am a pretty angry father, but as a citizen."

"I love my daughters. They love their daughter. I was trying to say something positive about the way strong families deal with this issue."

New York Republican state senator John “Randy” Kuhl, who is vying for a spot in the U.S. House of Representatives, once brandished two shotguns and threatened to shoot his wife at a dinner party, according to divorce records acquired by RAW STORY.

Kuhl engaged in “cruel and inhuman treatment and other such conduct as may render it unsafe and improper for the plaintiff to cohabit with the defendant,” the divorce court’s finding of fact stated. According to the documents, he solicited other women, humiliated his ex-wife and refused to seek treatment for his drinking.

Kuhl’s divorce records document manifold emotional abuse towards his ex-wife, mostly under the influence of alcohol. They show that the senator had a history of drinking to excess and repeatedly refused to seek counseling for his condition.

The most serious charge leveled by Kuhl’s ex-wife was that he wielded two shotguns during a dinner party and threatened to shoot her.

“In or about 1994, while the parties were hosting a dinner party at their home, the defendant took out two shotguns and threatened to shoot plaintiff,” the record says.

The remaining allegations are of soliciting other women, abuse, humiliation and refusing to seek treatment for his drinking.

The lounge occupies the space formerly known as Enuwan Cocktail and Oyster Bar, next door to the gimme! coffee shop in the middle of an emerging trendy micro-neighborhood.

"We love the neighborhood," said Houghtaling.

"Being next door to gimme! coffee, it's an ideal location," Sauter said. "Our theme is any friend of gimme! is a friend of ours. They hang out on our steps during the day, and we hope they'll come back at night."

Once up the steps and inside the door, customers are greeted with a metro melange of brushed aluminum walls, blues, purples and blacks, and a well-stocked bar with beers and wines in reserve.

"We wanted something you'd find in the city, we wanted to have a metro, sleek urban look," said Sauter.

Media Matters for America, a watchdog group, has written a letter to Sinclair asking the company to cancel reported plans to air the film between now and the Nov. 2 election, the group said in a statement.

"Sinclair's plan to air anti-Kerry propaganda before the election is an abuse of the public airwaves for what appears to be partisan political purposes," Media Matters CEO David Brock said in the letter.

The letter warned Sinclair that its plan could constitute a violation of broadcast regulations requiring equal time for political candidates, as well as the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.

During a humorous moment, Nader asked the crowd how many smoked marijuana. When nearly two-thirds of the crowd raised their hands, he used the opportunity to attack what he called a drug war that resembled "Medievalism"

"You do not send alcoholics to jail," he said. "You do not send nicotine addicts to jail. You should not send nonviolent drug addicts to jail either."

1) Withdraw $80 from your bank account via ATM. This is the symbolic average daily contribution of gay people to the economy.

2) Call in sick or use a personal/vacation day. If you own a business, consider closing for the day to honor the goal.

3) Do not purchase or buy ANYTHING.

4) Do not use your cell phone for the entire day. We are planning on GLBT citizens to disappear for the day so that our fellow citizens feel the loss of our presence in their lives.

MODERATOR: Next question goes to you, Mr. Vice President. I want to read something you said four years ago at this very setting: Freedom means freedom for everybody. You said it again recently when you were asked about legalizing same-sex unions and you used your family experience as a context for your remarks. Can you describe, then your administration’s support for a constitutional ban on same-sex unions?

CHENEY: Gwen, you’re right. Four years ago in this debate the subject came up and I said then, and believe today, that freedom does mean freedom for everybody. People ought to be free to choose any arrangement they want. It’s really no one else’s business.

/Clip/

That would be my preference.

/Clip/

And the fact is that the president felt that it was important to make it clear that that that’s the wrong way to go, as far as he’s concerned. Now, he sets policy for this administration and I support the president.

MODERATOR: Senator Edwards, 90 seconds.

EDWARDS: [L]et me say, first, that I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can’t have anything but respect for the fact that they’re willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It’s a wonderful thing. And there are millions of parents like that who love their children, who want their children to be happy.

/Clip/

MODERATOR: New question but same subject. As the vice president mentioned, John Kerry comes from the state of Massachusetts, which has taken as big a step as any state in the union to legalize gay marriage. Yet both you and Senator Kerry say you oppose it. Are you trying to have it both ways?

EDWARDS: No. I think we’ve both said the same thing all along. We both believe that, this goes to the end of what I just talked about, we both believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. But we also believe that gay and lesbians and gay and lesbian couples, those who have been in long-term relationships deserve to be treated respectfully. They deserve to have benefits. For example, a gay couple now has a very difficult time one visiting the other when they’re in the hospital. Or, for example, if heaven forbid one of them were to pass away they have trouble even arranging the funeral. Those are not the kinds of things that John Kerry and I believe in.

/Clip/

MODERATOR: Mr. Vice President, you have 90 seconds.

CHENEY: Well, Gwen, let me simply thank the senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter. I appreciate that very much.

EDWARDS: You’re welcome.

MODERATOR: That’s it?

CHENEY: That’s it.

Among all coffee drinkers, President Bush and Senator John Kerry are tied at 44 percent. But among black-coffee drinkers, Bush leads 48 percent to 42 percent. Kerry takes the cream-and-sugar crowd by a margin of 50 percent to 36 percent.

How do we know this? Someone actually researched it, believe it or not, at 7-Eleven, which sells a lot of coffee.

The research, conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland, was released to coincide with the convenience store chain’s second quadrennial Presidential Coffee Cup Poll, which lets customers cast their “votes” by buying their coffee in 20-ounce cups bearing the name of either Bush or Kerry. Plain cups are available for undecided voters, third-party candidate supporters or those who want to keep their preference to themselves.

In a season of silly, product-driven “polls” by American companies, at least 7-Eleven can claim one of the largest sample sizes. In 2000, the “poll” drew some 6 million “votes” and was remarkably accurate, with Bush edging out Al Gore by one percentage point. The current contest continues through Nov. 1.

This is where the F.B. triumphs over the F.W.B. An F.B. can grab an Amstel and the leftover lo mein out of your fridge, but there’s no going out for drinks or dinner or hanging out with mutual friends. (Hopefully there are no mutual friends.) F.B.’s know that snuggling should be reserved for couples in relationships and teddy bears in fabric-softener commercials. There is an implicit "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy and no date-y scenarios. Unlike with F.W.B.’s, you’re never privy to the other person’s extracurricular activities and, thus, not upset by them. The F.B. knows that when an F.W.B. sees their "friend" about to "benefit" from someone else, gauntlets will be thrown, usually along with a drink.