DON'T FORGET TO VOTE (Linketies)

[moominmuppet]

Written last night before I got distracted:
Well, I'm home. Everyone's out at various halloween parties, but I'm being my usual homebody self. The pets are _so_ happy to have someone home again! It weird them out massively when we're all gone at once; it's a thoroughly uncommon experience. Plan for the evening is catching the rest of the rally footage (I had to leave for work partway through, and we can't stream video there), playing some Ticket To Ride online, and maybe doing some more linketies for as long as I feel like it (it's my obsessive side -- I hate not having cleared my folders by the end of the day).
_____
So Grafton and Caleb got home soon after I started this, and it got set aside. I do have to mention, though, that Liv rocks! I did an actual happy dance last night in front of the cupboard when I saw she'd been grocery shopping.

Happy Halloween: Giant Spiderweb! -- Soooo awesome, but really, really not for the phobic. Poking around also led to this interesting article from 2009 about the discovery of the largest species of orb-weaver to date

This Day in History: Welles Scares Nation (has autostarting audio)

The Creepy Scientific Explanation Behind Ghost Sightings

The Superpowers of Candy
Trick or Treat! 5 ways candy can improve your mood, brainpower, and health.

Another year, and an additional statue in the Cleveland Transformers Halloween Display.

Halloween Post: The "Bloody Mary" illusion

Night of the Living Wonks
Toward an international relations theory of zombies.

The tea party is failing to woo young voters despite a loose structure that could make it easier for those under 30 to achieve leadership roles, analysts and political activists say as the grass-roots movement prepares to flex its muscles in midterm elections.

The packages “originated in Yemen,” the President said, one sent with UPS and the other with FedEx, and were directed to “Jewish places of worship” in Chicago.

Inside the Wisconsin Right's Voter-Suppression Scheme

Bigger than Beck? Huge crowd attends Restore Sanity rally

Economy, Abortion, God drive debate in Brazil vote

Auction to raise money for psych care for Grace

The Real Center of American Politics: A Reflection on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert

The Grand Old Plot Against the Tea Party

The Rally to Restore Sanity: Nonpartisan, but political

It may not have had the biting edge of its hosts' late-night comedy shows, but Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's rally drew a huge crowd that went crazy for sanity. Howard Kurtz reports. PLUS: Watch the rally's 7 best moments!

GOP Leaders Tell Obama: There Will Be ‘No Compromise’

Millionaire Spends Big Bucks Defeating DA Who Investigated Sexual Abuse at His Shady Nursing Home

Catholic Condoms? Swiss Clergy Defy Diocese, Pass Out Protection

Irish Customs Seized More Than 1,000 Abortion Medicines in 2009

Federal Judge Denies Ohio Election Law Challenge From Susan B. Anthony List

Ariz. Medicaid Cuts Include Women's Preventive Care Visits

Many Women Who Request Tubal Ligation Opt Out Because of Cost, Study Says

Obama Sex Education Grants Draw Strong Reaction From Both Sides

5 Fictional Stories You Were Taught in History Class

6 Things From History Everyone Pictures Incorrectly

For Dr. Tiller: Bring Only Love

5 Myths About the Catholic Vote And How to Counter Them

IRS Fears Women May "Abuse" Tax Credits for Breastfeeding Supplies

Mainstreaming Extremism: More GOP Candidates More Extreme than Ever

Turning Health Care Providers into Prosecutors: Mexico’s Warnings for US Women

New Mother's (False) Positive Drug Test Leads to Baby's Removal...Poppy-Seed Bagel the Culprit

Could A Case Of Attempted Coercion Change the Face Of Abortion For Good?

Bisexual AZ Rep Kyrsten Sinema honored by Time Magazine

Shielded from Public Scrutiny, Immigration Judges Ignore Due Process

Harnessing Your Marilyn Monroe Neurons

Obama on Marriage: "Attitudes Evolve, Including Mine"

College students can buy, sell class notes on website created by Kent State University graduate

Writer Arundhati Roy threatened with arrest for ‘sedition’; English PEN speaks out

Tea Party Poll Observers Accused Of Intimidation At Early Voting Sites

UNITED NATIONS — The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted Tuesday for a resolution calling on the United States to end its five-decade old embargo of Cuba.
The 19th straight annual condemnation of the embargo was supported by 187 countries, with only the United States and Israel against and three smaller US allies abstaining.

Foreigners victims, perpetrators of sekuhara
Japan sees progress on sexual harassment, but stories suggest it still has a long way to go

Obama, Jon Stewart and Change (it really was a pretty awesome interview)

99 Problems But a Cape Ain't One: Conservatives Attack Islamic Superheroes -- This sounds pretty awesome!

Tiny catapult for throwing pies at bees

Texas Supreme Court Cites The Wisdom Of Spock On Star Trek

Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner dies

People abroad hurt by Canadian mining can now complain to new federal office

USGS revises estimate of size of Alaska's oil reserves to 90% LESS than previously thought

Raising Girls in Princess Culture
Does it really affect girls’ gender roles?

Inspired by Balmford, Phylo (originally named “Phylomon” but changed for copyright reasons) is a trading card game featuring actual animals with their common and Latin names and characteristics. I’ve just barely scratched the surface in exploring the site, but their approach is a “non-commercial-open-access-open-source-because-basically-this-is-good-for-you-your-children-and-your-planet” vision.

Omar khadr's Canadian Lawyer" The Americans have made up new rules in the Laws of War

Tony Perkins: Gay Teens Resort to "Depression or Suicide" Because They Know They're "Abnormal"

Homophobia kills [might be triggering re. homophobic attacks]

White Feminist Fandom And Why I'm Over It

Roll Call celebrating exceptional LGBTQ characters in comics -- Not a new post, but fun nonetheless.

Brazil elects first woman president

Russia's hungry bears dig up graves

Debate on closing of Huron Hospital trauma center focuses on speed, extent of care for East Side residents

Pumpkin Skull

Siberian "Ghost" Cities Scare

NASA trapped Mars Rover finds evidence of subsurface water

Skepchick Quickies 10.29

A Smirk Too Far: Halloweening The Ordinary

Comments

[findingthegirl.livejournal.com]

In terms of fluff Halloween pieces, Phil Plait from Bad Astronomy wrote an essay about the scientific possibility of zombies. I was amused. :) http://blastr.com/2010/10/scientist-explains-the-tr.php

[forestfire.livejournal.com]

I read the article and the IRS did not state or imply that women would abuse adding breast feeding expenditures to items that could be purchased from a before tax health care account. The IRS said it was a slippery slope to allow a nutritional supplement/food item to qualify. It's certainly reasonable for the author to disagree, but she simply mischaracterizes the argument to make it offensive and absurd.