Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Hurricane Sandy has already slammed Cuba, and now appears likely to affect the East coast of the United States. Reports indicate the storm has a 90 percent chance of “smacking the Northeast and mid-Atlantic early next week with gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain and maybe even snow.”
* Syria: “The Syrian Army announced on Thursday that it would cease military operations from Friday to Monday to mark the most important Muslim holiday of the year.”
* Housing recovery: “Sales of new homes jumped in September to their highest level in more than two years, the latest sign that the housing market is on firmer ground after a bruising five-year downturn.”
* Voter ID: “The state Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of Tennessee’s voter-photo identification law Thursday afternoon but also ordered that new photo library cards issued by the Memphis Public Library be accepted for voting by otherwise qualified, registered voters” (thanks to P.A. for the tip).
* The terrorist kill list: “Over the past two years, the Obama administration has been secretly developing a new blueprint for pursuing terrorists, a next-generation targeting list called the ‘disposition matrix.’”
* Especially in light of Richard Mourdock’s rape comments, Democrats are keeping the focus on women’s health as a central 2012 issue. John McCain, meanwhile, has inexplicably decided to accept Mourdock’s apology, despite the fact that Mourdock never apologized.
* On a related note, former Mississippi governor and RNC chair Haley Barbour characterized Mourdock’s comments as “kinda crazy.” * Ohio: “U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice on Thursday refused to restore two members of an Ohio county elections board who were fired by Secretary of State Jon Husted after they attempted to establish weekend early voting hours against his orders.” * Jonathan Bernstein gets this absolutely right: “Putting aside the present spin: why, indeed, should we ever talk about momentum? In fact, in thinking about elections, the idea of momentum is useless.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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