Naming tropical storms has been common practice for decades, in no small part because it helps meteorologists raise awareness and helps the media and the public keep track. Popular culture might give other names to extraordinarily powerful or inconvenient storms -- tropical or not -- such as 1991's "Perfect Storm," which had Hurricane Grace as one of its ingredients, and the 2010 "Snowmageddon." But rare is the storm that gets a name three days before it's even formed. This is the case with "Frankenstorm," the name that news reports and social media gave to a superstorm that could happen if Hurricane Sandy -- churning Friday a couple hundred miles off Florida's east coast -- merges with a strong cold front from the west next week. Such a storm could sit over New England for days, making untold trouble for millions.
US-optics-politics-in-america
The images -- on TV, YouTube, our social networks -- have become so familiar that we take them for granted. We're treated to scenes of Barack Obama with a group of middle Americans at a cozy restaurant table, then with an African-American woman in an office. Or we see clips from a rally, the president surrounded by faces of all ages and hues. It's much the same with Mitt Romney: A quartet of white male engineers pore over plans, then an African-American woman talks with a colleague. We see shots of factory workers, then a burst of flags as the candidate heads for the stage. Or we get farms, children and a colorful audience at a speech.
POLITICS
POL-Weekly-Addresses
In his second-to-last weekly address before Election Day, President Barack Obama touted newly enacted consumer protection measures and criticized congressional Republicans for their opposition to the measures.
POL-Pro-Romney-Brochure
Voters in several battleground states may open their newspapers and find Mitt Romney's biography this weekend.
POL-Obama-Explains-Comment
President Barack Obama took heat this week for calling his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, a "bullsh***ter" while speaking with a writer from Rolling Stone magazine, but the president on Friday said he didn't use the comment until the interview had finished.
POL-Bin-Laden-Movie-Controversy
The filmmakers who made a TV movie about the successful raid that killed Osama bin Laden, which is scheduled to air on the National Geographic Channel just two days before Election Day, rejected suggestions that the timing of the release is political.
FEATURES
FEA-halloween-ethnic-costumes
They're familiar characters in the debate over controversial Halloween costumes: suicide bombers, geishas, gangsta rappers, rednecks and sexy nurses. Such costumes regularly draw allegations of racism, sexism or insensitivity. But where do fully-clothed folk legends fit in?
FEA-omaha-girl-characters
While most children Stella Ehrhart's age are thinking about what they're going to be for Halloween, this 8-year-old from Nebraska is thinking about who she's going to be each day of the week.
MED-BRCA-Gene-iReporters
When Erin Molenhouse went in for a physical this year, a nurse practitioner urged her to get tested for the BRCA gene mutation. It was a difficult moment for the 37-year-old mother. "Why would I want to know that I am going to get cancer?" she remembers thinking. Her mother died of the disease when Molenhouse was 22.
