In case you have been lucky enough to avoid the seemingly incessant local political ads that seem to be everywhere right now, tomorrow, November 3rd, is Election Day. If you want to make sure you’re informed about your local candidates, you can start here to view the list of candidates.

Of course, the biggest kerfuffle has been around Mayor Bloomberg and his decision to seek a third term. He got the city law changed so that he could run for a third term, which had previously been disallowed. His challenger, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, graciously neglected to mention that whole thing in his political ads. No attack ads from anyone!

According to Reuters, Bloomberg is currently leading in the polls, but this is NYC, people. You never know what could happen. You could all write me in as mayor for a surprise upset. I can’t wait to see that reported on NY1.

To find your polling place, go to the NYC Board of Elections Poll Site Locator and plug in your info. Polls are open from 6 AM to 9 PM.

Tonight in Union Square at 7 PM there will be a rally for the support of the Iranian people. As you may have seen on the news, since the recent presidential election in Iran, in which incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad purportedly won, there have been protests and riots throughout Iran alleging election fraud. The rioting and subsequent military crackdown on the people of Iran, as well as the attempts at internet censorship that have plagued Iranians trying to get word out about what they are going through, has motivated people throughout the world to support them. Tonight, along with the rally in Union Square, there will be rallies in DC, Philly, Portland, Iowa City, and Irvine, CA.

More info on the protest rally here. If you’re not on Facebook, the info is: tonight, Union Square, 7-9 PM. Flyers for printing can be downloaded here. The organizers are asking that those attending stay on the sidewalks on the south side of Union Square and not in the actual park, and that they bring candles to remember those who have been killed or injured in Iran during the past week.

It will be interesting to see if the proposed boycott of Israeli products goes through at the Park Slope Food Co-Op. Read this article in CrownHeights.info for the full story. New York City’s largest and longest-established food co-op is frequented by various segments of the population, both Jewish and non-Jewish. And among Jews, shoppers run the gamut from Orthodox and Hasidic to Reform and even non-observant secular Jews.

It is not unusual for the co-op to take a political stand, reflecting the tradition of the community in which it is situated. This latest proposal would be in protest of Israel’s recent activities in Gaza.

A local Brooklyn rabbi believes that the proposal will not pass but, if it does, it will seriously impact the co-op’s membership.

As of now it’s a mystery why Caroline Kennedy has suddenly and shockingly dropped her bid for the US Senate seat from New York, given up by Hillary Clinton upon her appointment as US Secretary of State.

The frontrunner, once again, is Andrew Cuomo, presently NY State Attorney General, and member of another political dynasty. But there are other candidates for the job, including Manhattan Representative Carolyn Maloney, and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi. One thing is for sure: Governor Paterson has some strong candidates, and promises to announce his decision by the weekend. And I sure hope he does because without Kennedy in the equation, we can stop all the speculation — “Is she qualified/not qualified?”, and all the talk of Camelot, and the continuity of a Kennedy in the Senate, yadda yadda. New York can finally get down to business, fill the seat, and work with our new administration to BEGIN the process of fixing things

One of the longest fought battles over time is that between cops and citizens. We are always afraid of them, even if we haven’t done anything wrong.

A long while ago I was pulled over by a bunch of cops who accused me out right of having taped buildings and other NYC landmarks with the intent to terrorize. That skirmish was followed up by a visit to my house from 2 extremely burly cops part of the anti-terrorism squad of New York City.

Your tax dollars at work.

Recently, three officers were indicted in a Subway brutality case. These officers sodomized a 24 year old man on the subway.

Powerful police officers will do nearly anything to get their way. Their doubts are often unfounded, their abuse of power is rampant and their racial profiling an every day reality.

The worst part is that even with this indictment this behavior will continue. I’m suggesting that there be an advanced course given to all police officers in training on quick-judgments, anti-substance abuse and medtiation and yoga. Hey, if it could work for prisoners, I’m sure that their aggressive counterparts could benefit from the same.

All I want is some responsible police officers who are not just a glorified fraternity with pistols.

Photo by Nathan Bullock

Last week marked a historic election and true milestone for this country. But while so many people celebrated, looking with hope to the future, the country suffered a hit to civil rights more reflective of its past. Proposition 8 (a ban on gay marriage) passed in California, along with other anti-gay rights measures in Florida and Arkansas. Last night, I joined a protest against prop 8 here in New York.

Since many people, including myself, invested so much energy into the presidential election, opposition to proposition 8 did not receive its needed support until too late. Now that it passed, protests have erupted all over the country. Last night, New York City joined the list of protesting cities. Gathering in front of a Mormon church (one of the biggest promoters of the proposition), a large crowd came together with signs and chants to peacefully show their opposition to the gay marriage ban. (more…)

So now that Barack Obama has been elected President, let’s help him out and show our support for his plan of healthcare for all!

Attend HealthCare NOW’s rally and march calling for a national Single-Payer health care system. At the rally there will be a Phone-A-Thon supporting HR 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act. Let’s get it passed.

One Nation, One Plan!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
4:00PM – 5:00PM Rally
Corner 42nd & 7th Ave
5:00PM March to GHI 34th St & 9th Ave

It’s official here in NYC. New York has spoken! We have helped elect the Democratic nominee Barack Obama to be the 44th President of the United States!

Photo from cnn.com

I went to vote right before work at a local Astoria school. The line was out the door – much longer than previous elections (though this is my first time voting there in a presidential election). But I was happy to see everything was well organized. All voters were directed to separate lines for their district and then separate lines for signing and voting. I felt so anxious as I waited, but I was happy looking around at all the people who came out to vote. When I got in that booth and pulled those levers (I love that we use levers!), I had a good feeling.

So brave those lines and vote! Remember “bad officials are elected by good people who don’t vote.”

As you already know, today is election day. I’m sure you’ve been reminded already, but as you can see from my previous post about registering to vote, I like to remind people about this stuff. So, here’s the deal:

You can use either the NYC Board of Elections poll location finder page to find your polling location, or use the Google Maps voting location link. I’ve found the Google version to be mostly accurate, except that it can’t map the address of my polling place (I think this is because the address is formatted incorrectly, but I still was able to figure it out).

After you’ve voted, you can get free stuff! Starbucks, Ben & Jerry’s, Krispy Kreme and Babeland are all giving away free stuff today. At Starbucks, you can get a cup of coffee; at B&J’s, a free scoop of ice cream; at Krispy Kreme, a free star-shaped doughnut; and at Babeland, a free sex toy. After all that you’ll be all hopped up on caffeine and sugar and uh, other things, so you can stay up late watching election results.

Don’t worry about long lines at your polling place, either, as it’s sure to be an entertaining wait with all the kooky characters that live in our fine city. But don’t expect an “I Voted!” sticker. Apparently most, if not all, NYC polling places aren’t giving them out. If you really want one, you can print one for yourself.