Gay City News interviews with Dave Noble, who left his post as public policy and government affairs director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, to join Obama's campaign. From the interview:

Asked specifically if Obama would reiterate his calls for action on key gay issues early in 2009, Noble was circumspect.

"I wouldn't speak for what bills he would push for in which months, and I believe there will be movement in Congress in the near future as well," he said. "With larger majorities, we will see a lot of progressive legislation on issues across the board."

. . . Obama, of course, is not a supporter of marriage for same-sex couples, but he has adopted an otherwise ambitious position that would give federal recognition to whatever legal rights and benefits couples enjoy in their home states. He also supports repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. In a nation that does not even have a fair employment law, that's a tall order.

. . . Even as Noble talks about all these issues in his drive to crank up the gay vote in two weeks, he acknowledges the cynicism that often undermines LGBT confidence in the political process.

"I think it makes sense for some LGBT voters to be concerned," he said. "The fact that we are just passing ten years since Matthew Shepard's murder without a hate crimes bill is discouraging to lots of LGBT voters."

He was quick to add, however, that at no time during that decade did Democrats hold both the presidency and Congress, which will certainly be the case if Obama is elected.

Read the full interview at Gay City News.

Via The Huffington Post:

The ATF says it has broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree.

In court records unsealed Monday, agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target an unnamed but predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads.

Updates forthcoming.

Slate has an interactive calculator to help you figure out just how important you really are:

With the election just a week away, both campaigns are making their final arguments to voters. The details differ, but the basic message is the same: This election is all about you. Far be it from us to shatter anyone's illusions.

In reality, this election is not about just any old average voter anymore—if it ever was in the first place. As the clock ticks down, both the Obama and McCain campaigns are making a final push to win over a very small slice of remaining swing voters.

Which raises the question: Are you a swing voter? Being undecided is not enough, in itself, for membership. In fact, very few Americans, at this late hour, still qualify for the club. Think you have what it takes? Slate's handy Swing Voter Calculator can help you figure out whether you make the cut.

So, head on over and see what kind of voter you really are.

Via Sport, a shirtless shot of Rafael Nadal, just in time for the Paris Masters. Nadal is assured of finishing the season as the number one player in the world no matter what happens between now and the end of the season.

And check out this week's Tennis Ad-in/Ad-Out by Jon Wertheim while you're at it.

Some NSFW shots (unrelated to the Sport photo shoot) of his famous nekkid butt after the jump.

Possible roles for David Axelrod in an Obama administration

A letter to the President-elect: "This is a sobering moment in American history. You begin with a good deal of popular support, but mandates must be replenished. I suggest you think of the Oval Office as a classroom, and explain to the American people what we need to accomplish and what it will require."

McCain out of ideas

McCain aides take a swipe at Palin: "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," this McCain adviser said. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

Obama responds to McCain's Meet The Press interview

Via The Huffington Post, In next month's issue of The Advocate, Denis Leary defends the use of the word "fag:"

"What gives you the right to use the 'F-word?' " demands interviewer Brandon Voss. "I also have a chapter called, 'We'd Hate You Even If You Weren't Black,' " Leary shoots back. "I don't believe in the power of words. My parents came from Ireland, where the [C-word] is literally a word your mother and father would use to describe the weather or the car: 'That [C-word]ing car won't start!' And I come from a Catholic background where the nuns were always telling you, 'Don't do this, don't say this,' so any time anyone tells me I shouldn't say something, my reaction is, 'Why not?' "

The Advocate also takes Leary to task over a 2006 Elle interview where he was asked to name a man he'd sleep with if his life depended on it. "I'd shoot myself in the head," Leary answered. He tells Voss, "I'd have to have my wife dress up as a man. I never met him, but I always really loved Paul Newman - not only as an actor, but also the way he carried himself . . . So I guess I'd have to dress my wife up as Paul Newman."

Via DoorQ:

I wanted to take a moment to provide some meta information about not just our election struggle, but the ongoing, and probably eternal, conflict between various interest groups. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt has some insights into the factors at the core of that struggle.

Haidt studies morality and emotion in the context of culture. He asks: Why did humans evolve to have morals -- and why did we all evolve to have such different morals, to the point that our moral differences may make us deadly enemies? It's a question with deep repercussions in war and peace -- and in modern politics, where reasoned discourse has been replaced by partisan anger and cries of "You just don't get it!" Haidt asks, "Can't we all disagree more constructively?" He suggests we might build a more civil and productive discourse by understanding the moral psychology of those we disagree with, and committing to a more civil political process. He's also active in the study of positive psychology and human flourishing.

In this video, taken from the endlessly fascinating TED series of lectures, Haidt studies the five moral values that form the basis of our political choices, whether we're left, right or center. In this eye-opening talk, he pinpoints the moral values that liberals and conservatives tend to honor most.

And Haidt is surprisingly funny.

Don Draper's Guide to Picking Up Women (The hot guy from Mad Men)
Jerry Lewis likes to call people "fags."

Barack Obama offers Jennifer Hudson some kind words

Zac Efron tops . . . whatever he wants. But in this case, the box office. When, exactly, did he stop being a boy and start looking like a man?

The father of molecular gastronomy gives an interview

SF streetcar to be dedicated to Harvey Milk

Saving you from drowning in a sea of passwords -- a picture

This week's Tennis Ad-in/Ad-out column by Jon Wertheim

Dan Savage hosts HUMP! - the annual amateur porn festival.

Judy Shepard, Matthew Shepard's mother, is honored with Cronkite award

I loved this article on the Antikythera machine, the 2000 year old computer.