ShortFormBlogOctober 30, 2011

allegation Today, Herman Cain got grilled by a Politico reporter who asked him about detailed sexual harassment allegations dating back to the 1990s: “Have you ever been accused, sir, in your life of harassment by a woman?”
response Cain denied the allegations, then as things got tense and the question was repeated, Cain asked the reporter: “Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?” Expect this to follow him throughout the week. source

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Meet Bryon Widner. He used to be a white supremacist. When Widner left the movement in 2006, he had a lot to work past to prove that he no longer believed the things he once did — much of it on his own face. “This wasn’t just a few tattoos,” noted plastic surgeon Dr. Bruce Shack. “This was an entire canvas.” Widner had to fight hard to get these tattoos removed and get on with his life, turning former enemies into allies and working with the Southern Poverty Law Center. An anonymous donor paid for the changes to his face (which were incredibly painful), but he paid an even bigger price for the changes to his life. After years of being an “enforcer” for the Vinlanders Social Club, a notable white supremacist group, he quit. He had to leave his Michigan home to get a sense of normalcy. He went for it — for his kids, and for his wife, and to get a second chance. Now, as you can see, the tattoos are gone. He suffers health issues (he has to stay out of the sun), but he says “it’s a small price to pay for being human again.” An impressive redemption story. (Editor’s note: This story has two parts.)

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Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region. If the plan is to divide Syria, that is to divide the whole region.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad • Discussing the situation in Syria, and in the process discouraging Western intervention in the region. While admitting that he expected pressure from the West, he tried in the process to paint a line between his country and other Arab Spring countries. “Syria is different in every respect from Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen. The history is different. The politics is different,” he noted. Think he’s right? source

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winners In the Des Moines Register’s influential Iowa primary poll, leading lights Herman Cain and Mitt Romney effectively tied (23 percent and 22 percent, respectively), and Ron Paul had a solid third-place finish in the poll.
losers Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll back in August, but the poll showed a massive decline in support — just eight percent. Her staff downplayed the results. Meanwhile, Rick Perry has an anemic seven percent. source

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22″ the amount of snow that fell in one Massachusetts town on Saturday — one of the highest points for the major storm
2.3M the number of people that lost power during the storm, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (oh no!)
three the number of deaths reported from the storm, including an 84-year-old hit by a tree that fell into his home source

» A Halloween surprise? For many people, the dramatic change in weather was surprising, to say the least. “This is absolutely a lot more snow than I expected to see today,” said New Jersey resident and driveway-shoveler Carole Shepherd. “I can’t believe it’s not even Halloween and it’s snowing already.” (Edit: We’re idiots, we put a single prime instead of a double prime on the first number. Our bad. Fixed.)

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30 Oct 2011 21:15