As always, Ohio and Florida are where it’s at.

Yesterday Bill Clinton campaigned for Obama in Orlando at my alma mater, the University of Central Florida. “Hillary sent me!” More from his speech: Here’s why you ought to be for Barack Obama. Number one, he’s got the right philosophy. He knows you have to grow an economy from the ground up, not from the top down. Number two, he’s …

Rosie O’Donnell is trying to bring back the variety show, starting with a special on the night before Thanksgiving. NBC will air “Rosie’s Variety Show” as an hourlong live special the night before Thanksgiving, with an eye toward expansion to a full series order should viewers embrace the project. The special will feature celebrity guests, musical acts, comedy skits and …

How about a handheld detector for a slew of diseases, including HIV? Testing for diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis could soon be as simple as using a pregnancy testing kit. A team led by scientists at the University of Leeds has developed a biosensor technology that uses antibodies to detect biomarkers – molecules in the human body which …

Funny. But also worrying.

Ellen DeGeneres appeared on The Tonight Show on Tuesday to denounce Proposition 8. Go Ellen! (Via – Queerty)

Via Gothamist, go here for an interactive map of places hosting Biden/Palin debate watching parties tonight in NYC. If you wanna plug your own bar or destination, put it in the comments. I’m going to try to make to the Room Service event below.

Once more, with stealing. The Senate strongly endorsed the $700 billion economic bailout plan on Wednesday, leaving backers optimistic that the easy approval, coupled with an array of popular additions, would lead to House acceptance by Friday and end the legislative uncertainty that has rocked the markets. In stark contrast to the House rejection of the plan on Monday, a …

The NYPD has this portable conning tower thingy set up on Broadway & 42nd just south of Times Square. Mmmm, panopticony!

Do you have a “type”? If so, has it changed since you’ve gotten older?

Hair and makeup by Anita Bryant, costume by Amish Discount Outlets, four locations, closed Sundays.

Well, this is an odd bird. For most of the clip, Republicans Against 8 sing a love song to Ronald Reagan and Sarah Palin, but then close with a plea to vote against Prop 8. Talk about mixed messages.

John McCain has responded to a list of LGBT-related questions submitted by the Washington Blade. In his responses, McCain speaks fondly of such noted gay figures as former Rep. Jim Kolby (R-AZ), lesbian activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, and Mark Bingham, at whose funeral McCain spoke. Unfortunately, the submitted questions do not mention McCain chief of staff Mark Buse, …

Pam Spaulding: “You can’t say this ad by the 85,000-member National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association doesn’t go right to the point.” This ad will run this week to coincide with the vice presidential debate.

Independent candidate for the Canadian parliament David Popescu told a high school debate audience yesterday that he recommended that gays be executed. Canadian authorities are investigating and may charge Popescu with a hate crime. David Popescu was invited to participate in a federal candidates’ discussion at Sudbury Secondary School on Tuesday. He made the comment after a student asked his …

Amway billionaire Rich Devos, the owner of NBA team Orlando Magic, has donated $100K to support Florida’s Amendment 2, which would make gay marriage double-extra banned in Florida. Protesters have been appearing at outside Magic games at Orlando’s Amway Arena. Inside the Amway Arena, a voice over the public-address system announced that the next two people to buy upper-bowl tickets …

The parodies of the kids singing allegiance to Obama have already begun.

D’oh! I took down a just-posted story about the dissolution of Belgium as I had linked a story from September last year. I think it popped up in my news reader yesterday in a list of stories about European markets responding to the US banking meltdown. Here’s the more current story. The turbulence at Fortis, the Belgo-Dutch banking and insurance …