Halloween Party

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The most ghoulish thing about the Halloween party at Villa Park, an Irish club in the Baghdad suburb of Mansour, was the ironic status of the "guests" -- all 200 or so of the partygoers who drank and danced until the early morning were "guest" hostages of the Iraqi government.Otherwise, it was as good a Halloween party as you were likely to find anywhere -- outrageous costumes and even an excellent Irish rock group, formed by a group of Irish hostages.The 8,000 Western, Soviet and Japanese hostages in Iraq -- "guests" as the Iraqis insist on calling them -- are perhaps the most bizarre players in the strange drama unfolding in the Middle East.

A day after voting for a $492 billion deficit reduction plan that would cut spending and raise taxes, Representative Tom McMillen, D-Md.-4th, came home yesterday to face those who would have to live with it.And most of them said they would rather live without it.Ed Ehatt, a county worker from Glen Burnie, approached the congressman at a volunteer fire department fund-raiser in Anne Arundel County. He didn't like the new taxes on liquor, cigarettes and gasoline."I don't agree with your vote on the budget," Mr. Ehatt declared.

Adults who want to raise their Halloween spirits have plenty of options this year. The downtown office crowd, for instance, can get a jump on things by watching the carved pumpkins contest '' slated for Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. at Charles Plaza at Charles and Saratoga streets.The dinner-time crowd along restaurant row in Mount Vernon may want to consider Gampy's special menu Wednesday night. It features a Black Cat special (actually blackened catfish), which co-owner Don Friedman insists is a recipe handed down by a great-grandmother who was burned at the stake.