Merry Samhain, everyone.

Since yesterday was Halloween, it's proper to start out with a car that got a costume makeover. In a different sort of costume, there's apparently a powered tetrapodal robot wandering about near Harajuku station. If games are more your style, perhaps Tombstone Hold 'Em is your game.

We must crash down from that high eventually, though, as we find that the "abstinence" message is being hawked to ages 12-29. Yeah. 29-year old women are still being told "Don't have kids until you're married." Which means, don't have sex at all, of course! Because while abstinence may be the only 100% sure method of pregnancy prevention, what we've got right now, used properly, will make that chance rather small. If, instead, the Administration would do the sane thing and realize that girls and women are going to have sex and put the money into proper education programs, rather than sticking their fingers in their ears and yelling loudly "AB-STI-NENCE!", the goals of reducing the rates of abortions and pregnancies out of wedlock would probably be achieved. On the political front, it looks like a series of coincidences, and there's likely no legal wrongdoing, but it looks a lot like Karl Rove is putting the government to work on re-electing Republicans. To tip farther away from fair and balanced, here's the top ten ways to tell the world you hate George Bush.

Let's go visit the colonies. I suspect, somehow, that I'm going to be stuck on Io until my loans are paid off. In other science, stem cell work has yielded a miniature liver, which in a few years, may create tissue able to be transplanted, and then wholesale replacement possibilities.

Today, I did much for class, and then helped a friend celebrate her 21st birthday. She was fairly well loaded up by the end of the night, and so we helped her get home, as well. (She went as Carmen Sandiego, which was a fantastic costume.) And now, since I have class in the morning, I'm going to bed. I was going to pontificate a bit tonight, but I'll do it tomorrow, instead.

All done with midweek.

Today was fun - I had a fire alarm go off in class today, so I packed everything in my bag and milled about a bit outside. It was close enough to the end of class that the teacher just dismissed us rather than trying to get us to go back to class. After that, I did work, spent about 90 minutes complaining and listening to complaints and some praise about the graduate school, while munching plenty of pizza. Then there was the convention meeting - things appear to be moving according to actual plot. So far, anyway. I've got a lot of things to do tomorrow for the organization to make sure this continues smoothly. I really think things are still going to go according to plan for me - although not all my projects are over and done yet.

This entry's the parade of links - there's another that will follow. And no, it's not a NaNoWriMo declaration. I do enough words just maintaining this and writing my assignments.

Mr. Neil Gaiman, a man of awards and literary talent, requests that all of us creative types remember to make out a creative will to ensure that one's property, both physical and intellectual, is passed on according to one's wishes without the worry of court. Consult ye a lawyer, or follow procedure, and make things for yourself, just in case.

Something of interest to sharpsight and anyone else interested in nanocomputing or nanoconstruction - it's possible to sort nanotubes by size and conductivity. So now it may be possible to separate out batches of tubes for specific purposes. We may get closer to starting to build nanomachines and nanocomputers through having an ample, creatable supply of nanomaterial.

Coffee may help you reduce Type II diabetes risk. They're not sure how much you need to drink to get it, though - so there should be more research if this looks promising. Maybe they should add some glowing mushrooms to the mix and see what happens? Assuming, of course, that those bioluminescent fungi are safe for consumption. (Glowing coffee? Perfect for Halloween.)

Politics is always close to opinions. Thus, this opinion screams that politicians, specifically Republicans, have a deficiency in their political selves: They can't handle the truth. Other opinions keep Masons and Prince Hall groups from recognizing each other in certain states, because some people don't feel there's virtue in drawing together two groups who do the same work, but are separated only by race, and the second organization brought about because of older decisions.

In other opinions, watch the fur fly on the comment thread to this reaction to the abstinence for 20-29 article linked yesterday. Words and material flies without care or concern for, well, almost anything. It's a bit of a mob, with a few identified Bush-type conservatives getting swarmed by a significant crew of people who want them to prove their accusations with something other than their own character.

The following story is, to the best of our knowledge, an untruth. Charlie's Short Hallowe'en Story, however, can still send chills up someone's spine... or get them to laugh out loud. Something more genuinely scary: The thirteen Scariest People in America, according to AlterNet. They may not have mentioned the chief of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, who Think Progress accuses of running the Senate Coverup Committee for the White House, steadfastly ignoring, delaying, and running interference on things that would be better-suited for the public to know about and discuss, and believing fully in the President's desires to strip the rights of the citizens.

An archaeology crew may be excavating Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. That's cool. Jukebox dissonance through track selection is something to disrupt the pub atmosphere and subject the patrons to something other than the usual jukebox background noise. Also, point and laugh at the Speed Hump sign, and wonder whether or not there are people who claim pride in being the speediest humpers. If that doesn't work, try this advertisement to be ready for zombie hordes.

Anyway, getting to the actual thing I was going to talk about tonight.