static Issues...anybody know why?

Carbon fiber brush and anti static sleeves work well for me.

Had a Zerostat back in the day.  It worked.

Exactly, been using carbon fibre brush for 23 years and zerostat gun for 15 years, never had an issue with static on many turntables with many cartridges. Very simple and very useful devices, normally i don't even need a gun, but in worst situation this device will solve the problem. 

Geoff, as regards the skating force, you are either joking or very wrong. What happens on a blank area of vinyl is not a lot different from what happens when the stylus is tracing a groove. Friction and lack of tangency. You can call the skating force a “centripetal force” if you want because in the loose sense of the term, it is. 

Lewm, you’ve been following the wrong monkeys. The force of friction impedes the inward motion of the stylus, it does produce it. Hel-loo!

geoffkait, are you ever inquisitive enough to research subjects that you don't quite understand? I suggest you put your student hat on and read about Newtonian Physics which you should have had in high school. While you are at it you can read about static electricity, why and how it is formed. All I am going to tell you at this point is that you are comically wrong on all accounts and that it seems impossible for any of us to straighten you out even with evidence from other sources. We obviously have a serious problem with our educational system. 
Cleeds, ..........naw, just a waste of time.