Hasta La Gadget!

No offense, but the fashion world will always win Halloween.

The spooky holiday is kind of like Christmas for everyone in fashion — there’s no limitations or rules on what you can or cannot wear. The more creative the better, and it seems like everyone gets a little more inventive each year. Lauren Conrad revealed an unsurprisingly Pinterest-perfect outfit on her blog earlier this week and it doesn’t get more DIY than that.

And you bet the Kardashian crew was in on the Halloween fun — Kim dressed up as Anna Wintour and North West as Andre Leon Talley, alongside a Grace Coddington and Karl Lagerfeld. If you ask us, it doesn’t get much better than that. There’s no room for procrastination or laziness with these people; from nail art to elaborate makeup and accessories, they always do it right.

So scroll down and start planning for next year!

A photo posted by Heidi Klum (@heidiklum) on Oct 10, 2014 at 11:43pm PDT

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Oct 10, 2014 at 5:40pm PDT

A photo posted by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:10pm PDT

A photo posted by Derek Blasberg (@derekblasberg) on Oct 10, 2014 at 9:54am PDT

A photo posted by bat_gio (@bat_gio) on Oct 10, 2014 at 11:23pm PDT

A photo posted by Hannah Concannon (@dressupbox) on Oct 10, 2014 at 8:37pm PDT

A photo posted by @nicolerichie on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:06am PDT

A photo posted by Cailli & Sam Beckerman (@beckermanblog) on Oct 10, 2014 at 10:21pm PDT

A photo posted by Leila Peterson (@dearleila) on Oct 10, 2014 at 6:36am PDT

A photo posted by Eva Chen (@evachen212) on Oct 10, 2014 at 9:48pm PDT

A photo posted by Chiara Ferragni (@chiaraferragni) on Oct 10, 2014 at 8:34pm PDT

A photo posted by alessandraambrosio (@alessandraambrosio) on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:38pm PDT

A photo posted by Kelly Osbourne (@kellyosbourne) on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:04pm PDT

A photo posted by Chanel Iman (@chaneliman) on Oct 10, 2014 at 6:29pm PDT

A photo posted by Marc Jacobs Intl (@marcjacobsintl) on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:00am PDT

A photo posted by @clarapaget on Oct 10, 2014 at 6:31pm PDT

A photo posted by Kourtney Kardashian (@kourtneykardash) on Oct 10, 2014 at 9:13pm PDT

A photo posted by Bryanboy (@bryanboycom) on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:06am PDT

A photo posted by Erica Gannett (@ericagannett) on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:26am PDT

A photo posted by Neiman Marcus (@neimanmarcus) on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:38am PDT

A photo posted by Denni Elias (@dennielias) on Oct 10, 2014 at 8:02am PDT

A photo posted by Aimee Song (@songofstyle) on Oct 10, 2014 at 9:02am PDT

A photo posted by Heidi Klum (@heidiklum) on Oct 10, 2014 at 8:05am PDT

Kasey Nalls, having just put in a 4 p.m. – 2 a.m. overnight shift, steals a few winks before she’s back up at 6 a.m. She pushes aside her own fatigue to rouse her two kids – 10 and 14 – from their beds, get them fed and off to school.

She typically works about 70 hours a week, including 30 hours of overtime, so she can afford the essentials — rent, gas and groceries — and the extras — Catholic school tuition for her daughter, a PlayStation 4 for her son.

So, how is she going to find time to show up for Tuesday’s midterm elections? The Merrillville, Indiana working mom simply says “I’m going to vote. But with so much on my plate, my time is limited. I work overtime so I can give my kids what they need and deserve. Any time I have off, I spend with my kids or running errands to keep my household afloat.”

Kasey is part of a coveted female swing-voter demographic in this year’s midterms. Yet with just a few days remaining until Election Day, are working moms too weary juggling demands of work and family to give Democrats the margin of votes needed to hold a Senate majority?

Wherever you call home – maybe it’s Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Colorado, Iowa or Kansas- all tight battlegrounds in the race for the Senate – the worries of working moms are the same.

My child is sick, but I can’t afford to take off from work.

I want to attend my son’s soccer game, but I need overtime hours to get by.

Christmas is around the corner. Can I stretch my minimum-wage paycheck to buy gifts this year?

These weighty, deeply personal concerns are front and center for far too many of the 25.2 million U.S. moms who work outside the home. The good news is working moms – by their sheer numbers – have the power to elect candidates who know their struggles and will do something about them.

Moms just need to show up and vote.

Working moms are the new normal

Today, women make up almost half of U.S. workers and a record 4 in 10 households with children under the age of 18 include a mom who is the sole or primary breadwinner, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.

Moreover, out of almost 11 million low-income working families in 2012, more than 4 million were headed by working moms – with 65 percent led by African American moms, reports State Policy and Low-Income Working Mothers: Investing for a Better Economic Future.

Most of these women work jobs without health insurance or paid medical and maternity leave. Living on the edge of the economy, they have little patience for congressional gridlock or political left jabs and right hooks.

They’re too busy balancing work schedules, long commutes, doctor’s appointments, school activities, homework and making sure everyone is fed.

This may explain a recent poll of Walmart moms that found many moms can’t recall much about the candidates running for Senate or even why Senate control matters. Instead, they’re asking how does politics work for me? Why should I vote?

Moms, your vote counts because you vote with your children and family at heart.

Showing up at the polls or staying home can make the difference between electing a candidate who shares your priorities and sending one to Washington who doesn’t.

Take Georgia’s razor-tight Senate race. Raising the minimum wage, access to preschool education and ensuring women earn equal pay for equal work dominate the race between Democratic Senate hopeful Michelle Nunn and Republican challenger David Perdue.

In North Carolina, Democratic Senator Kay Hagan and Republican contender Thom Tillis illustrate the sharp political and policy divide around abortion rights, state education funding and federal Medicaid expansion.

And in Louisiana, economically anxious moms are holding Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu and Republican challenger Rep. Bill Cassidy accountable for their positions on lowering college student loan rates, increasing stagnant wages and ongoing Hurricane Katrina disaster relief.

I, too, am a mom and a full-time worker. And like millions of moms across America, I wake up every day striving to create a better future for my family. Yes, sometimes motherhood feels like the toughest job you’ll ever love. And often, there’s just not enough hours in the day. But I’m voting on Election Day because what happens in Washington matters – from the schools our kids attend to the wages we earn to the health and well-being of our families.

Moms, let’s make our voices heard. Vote.

Proving that it will always have what it takes to compete with the likes of Neiman Marcus when it comes to obscene gift ideas , Hammacher Schlemmer has revealed this beauty for the 2014 holiday season: a $100,000 life-size replica of a 40-foot long T-rex skeleton that stands 15-feet tall. Good luck hiding that under the tree.

Read more…

In the early 1970s my family and I lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. At that time the Delta Queen–the famous, luxurious riverboat that traveled the Mississippi and other rivers especially in the South–was still taking cruises from St. Paul to New Orleans and back, stopping at many places in between. When the Delta Queen came to St. Paul, many people of the city went down to the boat docks to visit her. If you desired, you could go aboard for a short visit to see the interior of the famed riverboat, which was comprised of four decks and eighty-seven staterooms that accommodated 174 passengers. The accommodations ranged from luxurious suites to rooms so small that there was hardly room enough for a single bed. The dining room had large chandeliers, and white linens adorned the tables.

In 1970, I took our four children to see the Delta Queen. As we approached we could hear the old, unique thirty-two note steam calliope playing. As we and the other visitors boarded, we were greeted at the top of the loading ramp by the flamboyant captain himself, dressed in his ornate uniform. Once aboard the main deck, the polished brass rails and door handles caught one’s attention. Next was the wide staircase that led to the second of four decks, where the staterooms and dining room were located. It was a wonderful experience for the children and me.

As we were leaving, I overheard a conversation between the captain and one of the boarding passengers who had never been on the Delta Queen. He and his wife were booked for a round-trip to New Orleans and back. As they were greeted by the captain, the husband said, “Captain, I suppose you know every sandbar in the river.” “No, I don’t,” replied the captain. “Oh, you don’t?” said the boarding passenger, with a note of alarm in his voice. “No, I always felt it was a waste of time to worry about the sandbars,” said the old, knowledgeable captain who had charted the course of the riverboat for several decades. “A waste of time?” questioned the passenger. “Yes, a waste of time,” said the captain. “You see, I never spend any time paddling around in the shallow waters. I head straight for the deeps.”

Such words of wisdom that old captain did speak! Far too many of us spend our time paddling around in the shallow things of life instead of heading straight for the deeps–the profound, the significant. We get tangled up on the sandbars of the shallow waters of life, dissipating our energies on the trivial. This is especially relevant now as people throughout the United States are preparing to vote in the election of this coming Tuesday, November 4.

Too many of us have become tangled up on political sandbars, leaving us to paddle around in the shallow waters of radio and TV advertisements for our knowledge of political candidates and propositions. Instead, for our own good and the good of our country, we need to go directly to the deeps–directly to learning in depth what the candidates stand for, what they have done in the past, and what they themselves say they want to accomplish if elected. And those propositions–many of them are worded in such a way that the initial impression is the exact opposite of what they are all about. When we are voting on bond-issues, temporary tax increases, changes to our state constitution, and what have you, we need to make certain that we know exactly what we are voting for.

As a parish minister for many years, I always emphasized to the congregations I served the religious person’s responsibility to be interested in politics and to vote. But I also took the position that it was not appropriate for the church to become involved in political campaigns nor for its clergy to endorse specific candidates or political parties from the pulpit or during church services or activities. What the clergy did on his/her own was a personal matter, but it should be made absolutely clear that he/she was not acting in the capacity of the minister. Although I am now retired and do not serve as the minister of a particular congregation, I firmly hold to those same beliefs.

I came to those views by studying the wide implications of the Gospel of Mark, verse 12:17, where Jesus is quoted as saying: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (RSV) Note, Jesus is not merely making a suggestion here, but he is making a definite statement of what we are expected to do. He is making it quite clear that there are certain obligations all of us have to the government, and that we should meet those obligations. At the same time, however, he is saying that our obligations to the government do not infringe upon our obligations or God, and we are obliged to honor those obligations as well.

And that brings us to codes and regulations of the Internal Revenue Service. Going to the official IRS Web site, we find a regulation prohibiting the participation of not-for-profit organizations, including “Churches & Religious Organizations,” in political campaigns. The section of the IRS code I refer to is titled, “The Restriction of Political Campaign Intervention by Section 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organizations.”

The code itself reads as follows: “Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.”

That pretty clear, isn’t it?

So this Saturday and Sunday, I encourage all members of the clergy to emphasize to their congregations their obligation to vote in the election this coming Tuesday, November 4. At the same time, I encourage churches and their clergy not to campaign during their services or other activities. And let us all go to the deep waters of understanding the issues and the candidates before going to the polls.

(RNS) As aging Holocaust survivors gathered at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to celebrate its 20th anniversary last year, a question hung in the air:

How will the world remember the Holocaust — the Nazis’ systematic murder of 6 million Jews — when the last survivors are gone?

It’s a question Joshua M. Greene, the writer and producer of “Memory After Belsen,” grapples with in his new documentary that will premiere at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York on Nov. 20 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.

“The further we get away from the actual events of history, the more difficult it will be to stimulate interest, the more difficult it will be to avoid the Holocaust fading into ancient lore,” said Greene.

That concern is echoed by Jews and Holocaust educators around the world.

“There is nothing that can truly replace the impact of meeting with someone who has gone through this experience,” said Elizabeth Gelman, executive director of the Florida Holocaust Museum. “We see that everyday here. Junior high school kids and high school kids come in, wiggling and poking each other. It’s just an excuse to get out of school. And then when they sit down, and a survivor starts talking, they are laser focused.”

At its New York premiere, the 76-minute film will be screened in its entirety. But Greene and director Shiva Kumar made “Memory After Belsen” so that it can also be watched in segments, to make it easier for high school and college teachers to show it in parts to classes on the Holocaust that may stretch over days or weeks.

Greene and Kumar make the point with Memory After Belsen, but also with footage taken by Allied troops who liberated the camps and clips from popular movies, that film can capture Holocaust memories.

They also shows how artists, writers, musicians and museum curators have documented and interpreted the Holocaust for future generations.

But Greene and Kumar seem most intrigued by one particular way to preserve memory — through the grandchildren of the survivors.

The film follows Robyn Thaler Hickey, whose grandmother was the lone member of her family to survive the Bergen-Belsen death camp. Hickey’s journey to the camp, now a memorial, begins with her plane ride to Germany. Wearing jeans, hipster glasses and a ponytail, she snaps pictures of the land below with her smartphone, wondering in a voiceover about the place where her grandmother’s family lies in mass graves.

And she wonders about her responsibility to get her personal history right.

“If I have kids one day, what story am I going to tell them?” she asks. “And what if I got it wrong. It would be really upsetting if I got it wrong.”

Holocaust educator Tracy Garrison-Feinberg explains, at the end of the film, why everyone — Jewish or not — should ask Hickey’s question.

“I’m an African-American Southerner. I’m a Catholic . . . this is not my history,” she said, putting those last words in quotes with her fingers. But “we are capable of great evil and we are capable of great goodness and grace,” she continued. “Ultimately it’s my history, because it’s human history.”

Her answer raises a further question tackled by the film: Should the Holocaust be taught as a unique or universal experience? Does it stand alone, or with other genocides?

Greene, whose own grandmother was one of two members of her family to survive the Holocaust — the others died at Auschwitz — said he believes the Holocaust teaches universal lessons.

But the risk of universalizing the Holocaust “is to strip it from its particular horror” and perhaps fail to understand its breadth and scope, said Greene who teaches religion at Hofstra University on Long Island.

Let’s not broaden it too much, he warned, “in the name of some abstract concept such as ‘man’s inhumanity to man.’”