Let’s All Overreact!: The best policy, when faced with some danger of a terrorist attacks, is to abandon any commitment to civil liberties or, really, rational thought. Or at least, that seems to be the theory Metro officials are now operating under. In response to the news that a guy who wanted (but hadn’t actually gotten his hands on) some kind of explosive materials wound up working with FBI agents to plot an entirely imaginary attack on subway stations, Metro Transit Police want to implement random searches of bags within the system. Congratulations, terrorists! You win again. -4

Don’t Drink and Trick or Treat: Halloween always seemed like more of a holiday for kids, but maybe that’s just because we’re not the biggest fans of sexy [inappropriate noun] costumes. Enough adults observe, though, that police are mounting an aggressive crackdown on drunk driving over the weekend. One fact that’s far scarier than any flick Vincent Price ever appeared in: 58 percent of traffic fatalities during Halloween in 2008 were caused by drunk drivers. Boo! +2

Popcorn? Milk Duds? Cabernet?: Years ago, you used to be able to watch arthouse movies and hang out in the bar at Visions, the long-defunct theater in Dupont Circle (whose space on Florida Avenue NW still sits maddeningly untouched, taunting anyone who used to love the place). Well, happy days are here again—you’ll be able to do just that at West End Cinema, a new movie theater/bar set to open tomorrow night. Even better for nostalgia purposes: The theater will occupy the former home of the long-closed Inner Circle on M Street NW. Next project for D.C. film buffs: Reclaim the likes of the Biograph and the Key from CVS. +3

Bike (Ironically) to Rally: An update on an earlier Needle item—the Washington Area Bicyclists Association now says you should ride your bike there. Comedy Central, not generally known for its protest-organizing abilities, had failed to work with WABA to set up a bike valet station, and the National Park Service hasn’t seen fit to install much in the way of bike racks on the Mall. So it didn’t seem like there would be any place to lock a bike if you did ride there. On first glance, it still doesn’t seem like that fundamental problem has been solved, but hey! People have been riding their bikes to rallies and locking them to benches for years now. Surely even a bunch of faux protesters can manage that on a gorgeous fall day. +2

Yesterday’s Needle rating: 46 Today’s score: +3 Today’s Needle rating: 49