Today is Halloween, a holiday based on an ancient pagan ... uh, well, not really. Salon.com explains here.

Here's another scary article. Paul Krugman of the New York Times explains why "incompetence is exactly what the people in charge want."

Jonathan Alter discusses whether Paul Wellstone's death will influence this year's election in this Newsweek article.

Slate's William Saletan reports on the Arkansas Senate race in articles here and here.

The death of Senator Paul Wellstone is a tragedy for Minnesota and the nation. Here are Wellstone remembrances from E. J. Dionne, David Broder, Paul Krugman, and Joshua Micah Marshall, and a selection of editorials on Wellstone from Minnesota newspapers.

Eric Alterman's weblog Altercation has several Wellstone remembrances. Alterman also discusses the lie being spread by conservative pundits that Coleman was running a clean and respectful campaign against Wellstone. As anyone who watched Minnesota TV over the last few months knows, "Coleman’s campaign was based almost completely on destroying Wellstone."

Many conservatives rushed to praise Wellstone, even Jesse Helms. In this column, Slate's Timothy Noah discusses why conservatives will miss Wellstone.

Politics continues without Wellstone. It looks like Walter Mondale will replace him on the DFL ticket. For Republicans, its back to business as usual. They've chosen Newt Gingrich to throw out the first lie of the Mondale/Coleman campaign. Joshua Marshall explains the truth here.

The midterm elections are a few weeks away. Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, tracks all the Senate, House, and Gubernatorial races and makes predictions on a website called Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball Predictions.

Here are three articles about scientific research. First, this article from the New Scientist discusses Blu-Ray discs, which several electronics companies hope will replace DVD technology. Electronics companies are also researching SFFO technology, that one day may let you record, play back and erase five two-hour movies (4 gigabytes) on a three-centimetre disc. Finally, this Slate article discusses NASA's antigravity research.

Here's an article Malcolm Gladwell wrote for the New Yorker on auto safety. In the article he explains what a video of a gorilla at a basketball game and a torpedo factory have to do with auto safety. He also explains where American safety advocates went wrong.

The new book "Live from New York" is an oral history of "Saturday Night Live". Read Salon.com's review of the book here.

Here's an excerpt from the review:

"Writer Alan Zweibel on his job interview with Michaels back in the '70s: "He says, 'How much money do you need to live?' I said, 'Well, I'm making $2.75 an hour at the deli -- match it.'"

In 1900 the remains of an elaborate mechanical device were found in the wreckage of a Greek ship that sunk in the first century BC. This article from the Economist explains why scientists think the device was used to predict the positions of the sun, moon, and planets.

What's it like to backup a quarterback who hasn't missed a game since Sept. 27, 1992? Find out in this profile of Green Bay Packer quarterback Doug Pederson.