The election laid bare a dual — and dueling — nation, politically speaking, jaggedly split down the middle on the presidency and torn over much else. It seems you can please only half of the people nearly all of the time.

Americans retained the fractious balance of power in re-electing President Barack Obama, a Republican House and a Democratic Senate, altogether serving as guarantors of the gridlock that voters say they despise. Slender percentages separated winner and loser from battleground to battleground, and people in exit polls said yea and nay in roughly equal measure to some of the big issues of the day.

Democracy doesn't care if you win big, only that you win. Tuesday was a day of decision as firmly as if Obama had run away with the race. Democrats are ebullient and, after a campaign notable for its raw smackdowns, words of conciliation are coming from leaders on both sides, starting with the plea from defeated Republican rival Mitt Romney that his crestfallen supporters pray for the president.

But after the most ideologically polarized election in years, Obama's assertion Wednesday morning that America is "more than a collection of red states and blue states" was more of an aspiration than a snapshot of where the country stands.

"It's going to take a while for this thing to heal," said Ron Bella, 59, a Cincinnati lawyer who lives in Alexandria, Ky. He is relieved Obama won, but some of his co-workers are in a "sour mood" about it.

"They feel like the vast majority of the country wanted Romney, and the East and the West coasts wanted Obama," he said. "I'm not sure exactly why that is, but there just seems to be such hatred for Obama out there."

Compromise was a popular notion in the hours after Obama's victory and an unavoidable one, given the reality of divided government. But the familiar contours of partisan Washington were also in evidence, especially the notion that compromise means you do things my way.

As Democratic Rep. Steve Israel of New York put it, "If you refuse to compromise, we are going to beat you." Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the election showed "if you are an extremist tea party Republican, you are going to lose."

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said pointedly that Republicans will meet Obama halfway "to the extent he wants to move to the political center" and propose solutions "that actually have a chance of passing."

Spain's Constitutional Court upheld the legality of the country's gay marriage law on Tuesday, rejecting an appeal contending that marriage in the Spanish constitution means only the union of a man and woman.

The county's top court voted 8-3 to dismiss the appeal of the conservative Popular Party filed shortly after Spain became the world's third country to approve gay marriage.

Spain's Parliament passed the gay marriage law in 2005 when it was Socialist-controlled, with Popular Party deputies opposed. The Popular Party took power late last year after the Socialists were ousted over their handling of the economy.

The gay marriage law angered the predominant Roman Catholic Church but opinion surveys showed most Spaniards backed it. Belgium and the Netherlands approved gay marriage laws before Spain.

Sometimes it feels like people throw around the term "only in San Francisco" with a little bit too much carelessness. Just because someone told you there's a 45-minute wait for brunch or three of your friends are all competing to become the mayor of the new Norwegian-inspired taco truck on Foursquare doesn't entirely justify the declaration that those things could exclusively happen here in town.

On the other hand, sometimes the phrase is actually warranted. Take what happened during Monday's hearing of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Neighborhood Services Committee in which officials discussed a ban on public nudity, for example.

If you assume the next sentence is going to run along the lines of, "someone took off all of their clothes," you would be correct.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR GRAPHIC VIDEO)

During the meeting, nudity activist Gypsy Taub stepped up to the podium and addressed the committee. "Nudity does not harm children," she said. "Have you ever seen a child cry because they saw a naked person? What do children do when they see naked people? They laugh. It makes them happy, it doesn't traumatize them. Nudity is natural and harmless. Our bodies are God's gift and God doesn't make mistakes. Attacking our right to be nude is an attack on sacredness, beauty, love freedom, art and creative self-expression."

Taub then removed her dress, revealing a nary an undergarment, and declared, "attacks on body freedom are unconstitutional and un-American."

She was quickly escorted out of the room by police officers while chanting, "Up with body freedom, down with Scott Wiener."

Naturally, Taub was greeted with a rousing round of applause--probably for a whole variety of reasons.

In the hallway outside the committee room, Taub was detained by police and eventually put her clothes back on. "Nudity does not harm anyone," she added. "It's people's actions and not people's bodies that harm people. Clothes have never stopped anyone from sexual harassment; they have not stopped anyone from raping; clothes have never stopped anyone form getting raped. It is nothing to do with clothes, it has to do with people's actions."

The San Francisco Chronicle notes that Taub had sent out press release to various media outlets announcing her intention to disrobe during the meeting.

Actress Cynthia Nixon has been a vocal advocate for LGBT rights, women's health and President Barack Obama, but on November 1st, she informed Florida voters that Miranda Hobbes, the character she played on the hit HBO series "Sex and the City" from 1998 to 2004, would have supported the president as well -- and that Miranda's best friends Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones and Charlotte York also wouldn't vote Romney on November 6th.

Nixon, 46, made this claim last week when she was down in Florida volunteering for the Obama campaign. In a radio interview with 102JamzOrlando, Nixon said that her fictional counterpart, attorney Miranda Hobbes, would most certainly share her own political leanings. "I think Miranda Hobbes would rather shoot herself in the head than vote for Mitt Romney,” Nixon said. “Mitt Romney is so terrible on women’s issues.”

She also spoke for the other three "Sex and the City" main characters:

    I know that there are women who support [Romney], and it’s hard for me to understand, but certainly Miranda nor Carrie nor Charlotte nor Samantha, none of those women would ever vote for Mitt Romney. They would do something terrible first before they would ever vote for Mitt Romney.

Nixon told a crowd at the Ybor City Obama field office that she decided to come campaign for Obama in Florida after hearing Michelle Obama give "an amazing speech" at a New York City fundraiser, CL Tampa Bay reported. She went on to explain why she is supporting the president, mentioning the the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Obamacare. She also discussed the importance this November has for her as a lesbian:

    You know, everybody used to say about Bill Clinton that he was the first African-American president, but I think that Barack Obama is the first gay president. My wife and I got married this May -- and I know it took him a little while to get there, but the fact that he came out fully for marriage equality for all Americans -- we've never had a president come anywhere close to that. And I know that if we can keep him in there for another four years, we're gonna see the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Traveler numbers increased by four percent year on year between January and August, according to official figures released by the World Tourism Organization on Monday.

Over the first eight months of the year, the WTO recorded an increase of 28 million tourists compared with last year's numbers. If the trend takes hold, the WTO predicts that the billion tourist threshold will be reached by the end of the year.

Compared with the first five months of the year, which saw an average increase in tourists hovering around 5%, June and July were a bit slower, with respective increases of 2.7% and 1.4%.

The surge was more pronounced in August (+4%), which is generally the most travel-friendly month of the year.

The best figures come from tourism towards the Asia-Pacific region (+7%) and Africa (+6%). Europe (+3%) and the Americas (+4%) also increased their numbers of visitors.

In the Middle East, tourism seems to be rebounding, although the numbers are still down year on year (-1%). Last year's tourist numbers for the region painted an even more pessimistic picture, with a 7 percent drop.

Barely-legal Justin Bieber is being initiated into adulthood with his very own sex doll.

Enter the "Just-in Beaver" blow-up sex doll made by Pipedream Products.

The plastic, bisexual boy toy, touted to be "Finally 18!" and "Ready to Rock Your World!," is modeled by a Bieber lookalike wearing a sideways hat and a boyish grin.

SCROLL FOR PHOTO

The "Girlfriend" singer celebrated his 18th birthday back in March, and now the sex toy industry is celebrating Bieber's manhood with a "love doll" in his likeness.

"Meet Just-In Beaver, the barely legal boy-toy who's waited 18 long years to stick his lil' dicky in something sticky!" reads Pipedream's description of the Bieber sex doll. "When he's not busy beating up paparazzi or beating off, he's up to his high-tops in hot Hollywood tail! But the Beave-ster doesn't have this effect just on women -- he turns straight men gay faster than you can peel his skinny jeans off! So what are you waiting for, inflate this lil’ pricks's ego even more and have your very own Beaver bash!"

Just-in Beaver is available for purchase on Amazon, with prices ranging from $20 to $138.

The doll follows the California-based company's "Finally Mylie," a sex doll made to resemble the now 19-year-old former Disney star, Miley Cyrus.

Bieber's kinky counterpart may not be available for long. Even though Bieber himself is not named in the product or product description, the teenybopper could sue for the company's use of his celebrity. "Considering the doll is unlicensed, chances are it won’t be available to the public for very long," ONTD notes.

In February, Bieber and his people handed a cease and desist order to RC3 for developing a mobile game app called "Joustin' Beaver," TMZ reported. The cartoon game features a beaver Bieber, dressed in a purple hoodie and rocking a mop of tousled hair, that gamers must defend from the "phot-hogs." The company rejected the demand, claiming its game is a parody and protected under the First Amendment.

While the sex doll may be marketed toward gay men, Bieber is already a hit with many lesbians -- or at least his once famous haircut is. The tumblr blog "Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber," which has been featured in NY magazine and GQ as well as on "TMZ" and "The Insider," was created more than two years ago by Dannielle Owens-Reid, "a biebian from South Carolina who loves Justin Bieber and the lesbians who look like him."

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Bob Dylan says he thinks President Barack Obama is going to win a landslide.

Dylan made the prediction Monday night midway through the song "Blowin' in the Wind" during a concert in the battleground state of Wisconsin.

Dylan spoke to the Madison audience as he was wrapping up his concert that came just hours after Obama appeared at a morning rally in the same city with rocker Bruce Springsteen.

Dylan made his comments during his encore when he said, "We tried to play good tonight since the president was here today."

He went on to say he thinks Obama will prevail Tuesday.

Dylan says, "Don't believe the media. I think it's going to be a landslide."

After his comments, Dylan completed the song to the roar of the crowd.

Turns out you can’t dress a blonde white girl up as a Native American and make her dance around tepees sending smoke signals into the air anymore without accusations of racial stereotyping. That’s what happened with No Doubt’s video for Looking Hot. They pulled down the video mere days after putting it up due to complaints. No Doubt posted this message on their website.

    As a multi-racial band our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration for other cultures. Our intention with our new video was never to offend, hurt or trivialize Native American people, their culture or their history.   Although we consulted with Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California, we realize now that we have offended people.  This is of great concern to us and we are removing the video immediately.  The music that inspired us when we started the band, and the community of friends, family, and fans that surrounds us was built upon respect, unity and inclusiveness.  We sincerely apologize to the Native American community and anyone else offended by this video.  Being hurtful to anyone is simply not who we are.

Gilbert Gottfried is the king of it. When I approached him a few years ago at the Friars Club about how more fans are bothering celebrities to get pictures on their phones, here's how the encounter went down. (This never made it to print. You'll probably see why.)

Mandy: "What do you think of people who ask to take pictures with celebrities? I mean I've done it with you."

Gilbert: "I beg your pardon. You've done it with me? I should've remembered!"

Mandy: "Every which way. But no. In the age of Facebook, people take pictures of celebrities and put it online like, 'Oh look it's me hanging out with my buddy; we hang out all the time.' So do you have advice for fans about how to approach you?"

Gilbert: "Well one day someone's going to ask to have their picture taken with me, and then I'll let you know."

Mandy: "Shut up."

Gilbert: "No, you shut up. You shut the fuck up. Fuck you. You shut up. Fuck you. Fuck you. You jerk."

(Hysterical laughter.)

Mandy: "OK, I will fuck myself, and I’ll shut up. You know I took a picture with you once, and you made me go to the back of Caroline's."

Gilbert: "I always feel like whenever anyone takes a picture of me, it’s like they’re hoping, 'Well, just in case he pulls out a gun and shoots people, like blows up a school building or something, I’ll have a picture of him that I can show, and then it’ll be worth something.'"

Mandy: "Well, you’re famous, come on."

Gilbert: "Yes, yes I am. I’m pretty famous."

I realize that some people think that there are certain things that shouldn't be joked about -- like a shooting spree, say -- but to me, potentially offensive humor about incredibly dark subjects is one of the most liberating things in the world. It de-claws the power of the awfulness of the subject matter, breaking down the fear and power and stigma.

So when I saw Gilbert recently, at the roast of Anthony Bourdain (where the lovely Bonnie McFarlane brought me as a guest), I asked if I could do a quickie interview for xoJane, and he, naturally, responded by saying how enormous his penis is. I turned my iPhone on, and captured him in his element.

Gilbert: "My penis is about 37 inches, and that's just in width."

Mandy: "How does that affect your comedy?"

Gilbert: "It affects it because it's harder and harder to climb up on stage. I usually need to put it in a wheelbarrow, and sometimes I have an entourage just to carry my penis."

When I told him that one of the main search terms that leads people to xoJane is "tiny penis," Gilbert's only advice for those men in bed was to make "lots and lots of money."

But my favorite tidbit he gave me was when I asked if he gave any sexual tips -- as someone so blessed with a 37-inch-wide cock -- in his very funny new book "Rubber Balls and Liquor," and Gilbert said, "Yes, I give advice on tweets to send out."

I was working full time (and then some) in advertising sales and had racked up $40,000-$50,000 in debt from student loans, car loans and credit cards, not to mention my mortgage. But it didn’t really worry me at the time -- I thought it was just how life worked.

image

Then I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

It was the last thing I was expecting. It never crossed my mind that I could get diagnosed with something like MS. In fact, when I was diagnosed, I was training for a bike ride to raise funds for MS research!

As I started learning more about the disease, it became clear to me that my excessive lifestyle -- spending too much, running around like crazy -- had contributed to my illness. So I started changing things. First my money, then my lifestyle.

Phase One: Money

First, I looked at our money situation. Our lifestyle simply wasn’t sustainable. I couldn’t figure out how my husband and I could both work full-time jobs and still live paycheck to paycheck. We had 401(k)s and were paying our expenses, but we also had a lot of debt.

Because we were working so much (my husband is a service director in the automotive industry), we had this mentality that we deserved to be rewarded. I was constantly spending on clothing and accessories; my husband and I would treat ourselves to dinners out and expensive vacations. Otherwise, why work so hard?

Sparked by my diagnosis, I made the decision to simplify my life, and paying down our debt was one of the first ways I did it. We stopped using credit cards and started saying no. Recently, we were invited on a European vacation with our family. In the past, we might have just charged it, but instead we stayed home.

We started chipping away at over $30,000 of student loans, car payments and credit card debt by paying off the smallest debt first, then used that momentum to keep paying the rest. My diagnosis means I do have significant medical costs, but we use a Health Savings Account to stay on top of that.

And our measures have paid off: As another benefit of living debt-free, I was able to leave my job in 2011 to concentrate on my writing, photography and business consulting.

Phase Two: Downsizing Our Possessions

Next, I started paring down my clothes. That effort was connected to my project of saving and paying down debt, since a lot of my money was going to clothing and accessories and gorgeous purses I thought I couldn’t live without.

I started Project 333 through my blog, which encourages participants to scale down their wardrobe to 33 items for three months at a time. I chose the threes because a) I live in a four-season state, so thought it made sense to plan three months at a time and b) I wanted to choose a number that was low enough to challenge me and blog readers, but not so low that it seemed too extreme.

With my own pursuit of Project 333 going so well for two years, I came across Dave Bruno’s 100 Thing Challenge, in which he challenged himself to pare down his possessions to only 100 things, to break free of American consumerism and prove that he could live with less.

I amended his rules to suit my own life (which he encourages) and decided to take part in the 100 Thing Challenge, myself. My version of the rules were:

As long as the total is 100, it’s okay to lose one thing and gain another–I can change my list any time.

If someone gives me a gift that I mean to keep, it must replace an existing item.

Underwear collectively counts as one item and so do another few groupings, like electronic chargers.

I would only reduce my personal items to 100 (clothing, makeup, accessories, gadgets), not household items.

I’ll continue to live within the parameters of Project 333, as I’ve been doing for two years.

If it’s too much, then I’ll modify it further or discontinue. Though after about four months, I still haven’t had to!

If you’re interested in which 100 things I chose to keep, you can see the complete list on my blog.

How Living With Less Changed My Family

People always ask how my family dealt with my paring down, and I answer that you don’t force your family to come on board -- they have to make that choice themselves.

My daughter is 17, and one of the best things that’s come from this is the open dialogue about money in our family. She will be heading off to college soon, and we’re being realistic about what we can and can’t afford, and what kind of grants and scholarships we might need. Student loans are a non-option (it took me almost two decades to pay off my student loans, and I don’t want that for her). With our new spending habits, my husband and I can put my daughter through school at a reasonably priced institution.

My daughter knows that I budget every two weeks, and if she wants or needs something within that time, she has to talk to me about fitting it into the budget. A lot is going to change for her as she becomes an adult, but hopefully we’ve instilled the lesson that you spend what you have, and no more. (Inspired? We have tips on setting up your own budget.)