Celebrities in Halloween costumes. That's all. ?uestlove, who dressed up as Ashley "B" Todd's big, black, fictional attacker, gets my vote for best costume.

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Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

A black woman is suing J.C. Penney for racial discrimination after she went to one of their hair salons in California to get her hair dyed and was told that they "don't do African American hair." The woman is suing J.C. Penney for racial discrimination, but the chain's rep said, "Our salon receptionist felt that we did not have the technical proficiency… to perform the service you required. She may not however have expressed this to you in a way that was not offensive. For this I again apologize. Because customer service is … so important to our company, we would rather not attempt the service if we cannot perform it as required."

Your thoughts?

Ghouls and goblins, candy corn, jack-o-lanterns, and, yes, racial and ethnic insensitivity — they're all features of this unique, random holiday we call Halloween. The costumes and candy are all good, but that racist part is really ruining the fun. But doesn't it always?

At this point, anyone who claims not to know that it's not okay to dress up in blackface is either lying to themselves or everyone else. That doesn't mean that we won't see tons of that sort of thing all over the country — but primarily on college campuses — tonight.

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Now that Lil Wayne's "Mrs. Officer" has reached its saturation point on the radio, there's a brand new video for the song! Seems backwards, doesn't it? On second thought, it's probably perfect timing for Halloween, since a "sexy police officer" in stilettos and booty shorts is featured prominently. Mariah Carey has already filed the idea away for next year. And while it might look like Weezy is also sporting a special costume in the video, that's actually just how he looks. Really.

Nick and Mariah, those two crazy kids, hosted a Halloween party at Marquee in New York City last night. They were firefighters and rolled up to the party in a fire truck just in case people didn't get it. To be more specific, Mariah was actually a "sexy firefighter." Of course. Inside they changed into milk and cookies costumes. Nick was milk; Mariah was "sexy cookies."

Persistence is the key in politics, and if you imply something enough times, it will eventually stick. So how about that Barack-Obama-is-a-terrorist thing? We all know it's working — maybe not enough to swing the election, but it's definitely working. And evidence of it shows up where you'd least expect it. An alert reporter at the Los Angeles Times noticed that Amazon.com had placed an Obama Halloween face mask on its "terrorist costume"* page. The work of a rogue, far-right content manager, perhaps? Amazon has since removed the $49.95 mask from the page, but not before the LAT managed to get a screen shot. I fear Halloween is going to be especially offensive this year.

*There's a whole category for terrorist costumes? What is a terrorist costume?

Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

You have a week — have you decided on a Halloween costume yet, or did you stop doing that back in the seventh grade?

Last Halloween, a costume party at the Dept. of Homeland Security went horribly awry and resulted in the suspension of one Homeland Security Department employee and put Julie Myers, who was acting head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the time, in very hot water.

The issue? The anonymous employee showed up in a prison uniform, dreadlocks and blackface. He then proceeded to win the best costume contest, which was judged by Myers. Apparently, she realized "immediately following the party" that the costume was "inappropriate," and had all photos of her, the costume contest winner, and the party destroyed. Not so, says CNN!

Now, the head of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, who is black, has seen them. He's not very happy.

Myers who is now the official head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told members of Congress at her confirmation hearings late last year that the photos were gone. At least one senator says her confirmation might have gone forward in a "different way" had they been able to see the photos during the hearings.

• Vivica Fox sucked it up and turned herself in to the authorities. [People]

• Karith Foster, Don Imus' new black female sidekick, tries to put sellout accusations to rest. [SB]

• U.S. News & World Report says, "Sometimes Halloween Costumes Aren't Funny; They're Racially Insensitive." There's a more succinct way to put that. [USN]

• On top of everything else Barry Bonds has done, he's now pitting black and white fans against each other. There should be a federal investigation! Oh… [ESPN]

• Banning nooses doesn't ban racism. [LADN]

People in Staten Island and Gwinnett County, Ga., are seething over police treatment of two 14-year-old trick-or-treaters.

Staten Island cops thought an appropriate punishment for a (black) kid caught throwing eggs would be to leave drive him to a deserted marsh, make him strip down to his boxers and socks, take the rest of his clothes, and leave him there. Calling Al Sharpton!

In Georgia, cops tasered a 14-year-old girl (race unknown, but I'd hazard a guess) who was already in handcuffs. Granted, she tried to punch a police officer before she was in handcuffs. But what was she going to do afterward?

Since I had you guys vote for the most popular blackface Halloween costume, the least I could do was search Flickr for some real life examples. While there were a few Michael Vicks – check one out after the jump — I found this one to be the most egregious. According to the Flickr site, this guy is supposed to be Zwarte Piete (Black Pete), who, to make a long story short, is Santa Claus' black assistant in Dutch folklore. Considering the fact that this guy had the nerve to tag his photo "blackface," I'm pretty sure he knew what he was doing.

More fun with ignorant blackface costumes Flickr after the jump.

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Who is this dashing celebrity — so modest, so unassuming, so self-assured that he has the courage to show up to a star-studded celebrity event with his face completely covered? If that glimpse of his jumpoff the ever-present Cassie right behind him doesn't give it away instantly, I'll offer you another hint. The "modest and unassuming" thing was a total lie.

The dramatic reveal, plus lots more celeb costumes from last night's parties, after the jump.

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Let's be real. A football player is probably the easiest sort of black person a white person can impersonate, since a helmet over the face can at least partially obscure one's skin color. I guess that would be too easy — or too hard, I can't figure out which.

The readers of Stereohyped have spoken, or at least voted, and you officially predict that Michael Vick will be the most popular inspiration for blackface enthusiasts this Halloween. You also felt that a nappy-headed ho look would be popular.

Some of you wrote in your ideas, which include:

Barack Obama — How could I forget about him! All you need is shoe polish and a suit.

Barry Bonds — How could I forget about him? All you need is shoe polish and 'roid rage.

A Rasta with dreadlocks — Eh. I wasn't so sure about that when I saw it. But 'lo and behold, a band of University of Illinois students were photographed dressed as the Jamaican bobsled team. I'm pretty sure none of them were Rastas, but they hail from the same geographic region.

Check out the results from Stereohyped's Halloween Poll after the jump.

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Halloween is supposed to be a holiday for the kids, who get to dress up like their favorite Disney characters and troll the neighborhood for sweets. But a lot of adults consider Halloween as a chance to expose the side of you that you keep hidden the other 364 days of the year. Most women use Halloween as an excuse to dress like a total slut and get away with it. But for the completely ignorant and/or racist, Halloween is blackface time. Every year, in the days following Halloween, some frat boy at some college gets in trouble for impersonating a black person. And they never learn!

So I put together a little poll to see what you guys think will be the most popular costume among the blackface set. O.J. Simpson's an old favorite that I'm sure will be resurrected after his recent legal snafu. The Michael Vick craze has already begun. Jay-Z and Beyonce are the perfect costumes for the most popular couple in school. Plus, if the girl is blond, she doesn't even have to wear a wig. And the Jena Six and Rutgers basketball team? Those two are only for the truly daring. But I'm sure America's privileged college boys are up for the challenge.

Minorities will be less likely to trick or treat this year, according to a new survey.

The survey found that 73 percent of whites versus 56 percent of minorities said their children will trick-or-treat on Wednesday.

That disparity in the survey is similar to the difference in how people view the safety of their neighborhoods, according to the poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos. Lower-income people and minorities are more likely to worry that it might not be safe to send their children out on Halloween night.

Although it seems like mostly the white kids will be getting candy, I know that a lot of schools and community centers hold Halloween parties to provide a safe environment (and candy) for kids. Plus, it's my understanding that even parents who live in the safest of neighborhoods aren't really into the traditional trick-or-treat thing anymore because of safety concerns. Is it slowly becoming obsolete?