memeorandum: Did Climate Change Cause Hurricane Sandy? (Mark Fischetti/Scientific American …)

1:55 AM ET, October 31, 2012

Top Items:

How One Well-Connected Pseudonymous Twitter Spread Fake News About Hurricane Sandy — The twitter user @comfortablysmug is one of a handful of pseudonymous Manhattan professionals who keep their widely-followed Twitter voices separate from their careers. His bio describes him as “My Interests …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Moderate Voice, BuzzFeed FWD, BuzzFeed, Guardian, Forbes, Poynter, FishbowlDC, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, The Political Carnival, Making Light, Is Twitter Wrong?, BuzzFeed, Wonkette and NY Daily News, more at Mediagazer »

Hayes Brown / ThinkProgress:

Bush's FEMA Director During Katrina Criticizes Obama For Responding To Sandy Too Quickly — Former FEMA Director Michael Brown offered criticism of President Obama's early responses to Hurricane Sandy yesterday, including a dig at the administration's response to last month's attack in Libya.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, msnbc.com, Rumproast, Taylor Marsh, The Political Carnival, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Raw Story, Mother Jones, Colorlines, Commentary Magazine, Little Green Footballs and Balloon Juice

Sam Levin / The Latest Word:

Michael Brown, ex-FEMA head, has advice, criticism for Obama about Hurricane Sandy — Colorado is not facing any danger from Hurricane Sandy, but the effects of the storm can still be felt here, with the Obama and Romney camps canceling scheduled rallies. Today, we decided to check …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, msnbc.com, Addicting Info, Politico, The New Civil Rights Movement, CBS Denver, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos, Reuters, The Raw Story, New York Times, Runnin' Scared, The Hinterland Gazette, theGrio, Gothamist and CNN

BuzzFeed:

The Man Behind @ComfortablySmug, Hurricane Sandy's Worst Twitter Villain — He's a hedge fund analyst, Republican political consultant, and deliberate spreader of false information. — During the storm last night, user @comfortablysmug was the source of a load of frightening but false information …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, BuzzFeed FWD and Hullabaloo

Al Gore / Al's Journal:

Statement on Hurricane Sandy — This week, our nation has anxiously watched as Hurricane Sandy lashed the East Coast and caused widespread damage—affecting millions. Now more than ever, our neighbors need our help. Please consider donating or volunteering for your local aid organizations.

Discussion: The Hill, ABCNEWS, Politico, The Daily Caller, ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post, NewsBusters.org, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org blogs, Conservatives4Palin, Taylor Marsh and The Powers That Be

Lynne Peeples / The Huffington Post:

Hurricane Sandy Could Displace Rats, Spread Infectious Disease … REACT: — FOLLOW: — New York City, Video, Floods, Hurricane Sandy 2012, Hurricane Sandy New York, Hurricane Sandy Nyc, Infectious Diseases, Hurricanes, Rats, Green News — The 8-million-strong human population …

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog, New York Magazine and Firedoglake

Associated Press:

At least 48 dead, millions without power in Sandy's aftermath — Wreckage and power outages could take days or weeks to sort out. — NEW YORK - The misery of superstorm Sandy's devastation grew Tuesday as millions along the U.S. East Coast faced life without power or mass transit for days …

Discussion: Twitchy, Gothamist, Sister Toldjah, Guardian, Fox News Insider, Bloomberg, Pat Dollard, The Atlantic Online and Firedoglake

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed: Councilman Pushes For Charges Against Twitter User Who Spread Falsehoods

Stuef / BuzzFeed FWD:
Shashank Tripathi, Last Night's Twitter Villain @ComfortablySmug

Discussion: Mashable!, The New Republic, Poynter, BuzzFeed and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Fischetti / Scientific American Blog Network:
Did Climate Change Cause Hurricane Sandy?

Discussion: Dot Earth, The Atlantic Online, Newsy, Washington Examiner and FP Passport

Doug Powers / Michelle Malkin:
Shocker of the day: Al Gore blames Hurricane Sandy on man made climate change

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Doug Ross and The Hill

Stewart Bell / National Post:
Hurricane Sandy a ‘divine slap on the face of U.S. arrogance,’ Toronto Islamist website declares

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

John Nolte / BREITBART.COM:
POWER FAIL: WHITE HOUSE DIRECTS STORM VICTIMS TO ... THE INTERNET

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and New York Times

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org blogs:

MSNBC Ridicules Romney for Collecting Food and Supplies for Sandy Victims — This one is really hard to believe, even for the most biased so-called “news network” in the nation. — MSNBC on Tuesday totally trashed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for collecting food and supplies …

Discussion: Election 2012, American Power, Nice Deb, Pat Dollard, The Lonely Conservative and Weasel Zippers

Jed Lewison / Daily Kos:

Romney lines everybody up to give him stuff the Red Cross says it doesn't want — So here's what things looked like at the donation table at Mitt Romney's “storm relief” event before he arrived: — And here's things nearly an hour later when Mitt Romney finally arrived: — At least he didn't wash clean dishes.

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement, Talking Points Memo, CNN, Firedoglake, The Political Carnival, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Mahablog

Bill Cameron / wlsam.com:
LISTEN: What will Chicago do to help with Hurricane Sandy relief?

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard and Washington Examiner

BuzzFeed:
Bill Clinton: Maybe Mitt Romney Shouldn't Be Making Fun Of Global Warming

Discussion: About.com US Liberal Politics, Hot Air, Liberal Values, Washington Examiner and Politico

Sabrina Siddiqui / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney Refuses To Talk About FEMA After Hurricane Sandy Event

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard: Clinton: Romney Wrong to Hit Obama for Promising ‘to Turn Back the Seas’

Felicia Sonmez / Election 2012:
Romney Ohio campaign event turns into storm relief effort

Discussion: Taking Note, Weasel Zippers, New York Magazine, NewsBusters.org blogs, Addicting Info, Balloon Juice, The New Republic, The Raw Story, Jammie Wearing Fools and Washington Post

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The Morning Plum: Romney's Jeep-to-China lie earns brutal headlines in Ohio — As David Plouffe wrote in his memoir of Campaign 2008, the Obama team has long thought that one of the most effective ways to influence independents and undecided voters is via local media in key battleground states.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Addicting Info, New York Times, Economist's View, The Maddow Blog, msnbc.com, Mother Jones and Daily Kos

Detroit Free Press:
New Romney ad: Did Obama's rescue of GM create more jobs in China?

Discussion: Politico and The Raw Story

detroitnews.com:
Marchionne's letter on Jeep production in U.S.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA and The Maddow Blog

Tyrel Linkhorn / Toledo Blade:
Chrysler CEO to employees: Jeep will remain in U.S.

Discussion: Politico, NewsBusters.org and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:
Romney Camp Going Off The Fact Checking Rails In Ohio

Discussion: Associated Press, The Huffington Post, Dangerous Minds and msnbc.com

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Romney's astonishingly dishonest Jeep-to-China radio ad

Discussion: The Caucus, Politifact.com Truth …, Business Insider, PoliticusUSA, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Plain Dealer:
Flailing in Ohio, Romney rolls out Jeep ploy: editorial

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, The Reaction, Addicting Info, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, The Hinterland Gazette, The Political Carnival, Washington Examiner and Los Angeles Times

Paul Santos / The Walt Disney Company Press Releases:

DISNEY TO ACQUIRE LUCASFILM LTD. — An investor conference call will take place at approximately 4:30 p.m. EDT / 1:30 p.m. PDT today, October 30, 2012. Details for the call are listed in the release. — Global leader in high-quality family entertainment agrees to acquire world-renowned Lucasfilm Ltd …

Discussion: Forbes, Outside the Beltway, Engadget, New York Magazine, Guardian, Hot Air, Newsy and AllThingsD, more at Mediagazer »

ComingSoon.net:
Breaking: Disney to Acquire Lucasfilm, Star Wars Episode 7 Coming in 2015!

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and The Jawa Report

Michael Cieply / Media Decoder:
Disney Buying Lucasfilm for $4 Billion

Discussion: DealBook and Death and Taxes, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Race Narrows as Campaign Enters Its Final Week — COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Obama and Mitt Romney enter the closing week of the campaign in an exceedingly narrow race, according to the latest poll by The New York Times and CBS News, with more voters now viewing Mr. Romney as a stronger leader …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Caucus, Taegan Goddard's … and Politico

Jon Cohen / The Fix:
WaPo-ABC tracking poll: Popular vote > electoral college

Discussion: Business Insider and msnbc.com

Stephen Battaglio / TVGuide.com:

The Biz: President Barack Obama Reveals His Favorite TV Shows — As Election Day approaches, President Barack Obama agreed to share with us his favorite television series and provide insight into some of his other pop-culture habits. Check out Governor Mitt Romney's picks here.

Discussion: Politico and theGrio

Nicholas Ballasy / The Daily Caller:
Michelle Obama: 'I've had 10-year-olds who are on a phone bank' for Barack

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

Governor Romney After the (2006) Flood: Not Good — PHOTO BY JIM DAVIS/THE BOSTON GLOBE VIA GETTY IMAGES — Now that he's again decided to mention (obliquely) that he was our governor once, and we're all up here in the Commonwealth (God save it!) being awakened by the sweet sounds …

Discussion: Wonkette, Slog and Political News and Opinion …

Jason Cherkis / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney Vetoed Flood Prep Funding In 2004, Blamed For Subsequent Flooding

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Richard Dunham / Texas on the Potomac:

The Morning After: First storm-related anti-Obama attack ad appears — A friend of ours in northern Virginia received this flier delivered to her apartment's front door this morning: — The ad, attacking President Obama, declared, “WE'VE SEEN STORMS IN VIRGINIA, BUT NONE LIKE THIS...”

Discussion: BuzzFeed and Hullabaloo

Mickey Kaus / The Daily Caller:

The Birth Certificate 4-Step — It's a trap! The most paranoid scenario: I'm assuming the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the October employment statistics on schedule. The paranoia that would accompany a delay (this close to the election) would be too destructive, even if the delay was justifiable.

Discussion: Hot Air, Reuters and Newsy

Rich Lowry / National Review:

The President's Insulting Campaign — It is a mercy that the suffragettes aren't around to see President Barack Obama's campaign for the women's vote. It would make them weep in dismay. — Almost a hundred years after passage of the 19th Amendment, the president is making perhaps the most superficial …

Discussion: alicublog

Rich Beeson / mittromney.com:

Memo: Pennsylvania — Rendell: ‘Startling upset’ for Romney ‘a possibility’ in Pennsylvania — When Governor Ed Rendell made these comments last week, he was clearly sending a desperate call to Chicago for help in the Keystone State. At the time, his comments were met with derision …