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October 08, 2012 | | IT’S REAL When a neurosurgeon found himself in a coma, he experienced things he never thought possible—a journey to the afterlife. Dr. Eben Alexander tells his story in Newsweek. POWER Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez won reelection by a generous margin Sunday, according to the National Electoral Council. With 90 percent of the country’s votes counted, Chávez held 54.4 percent of the vote, compared with 44.9 percent for challenger Henrique Capriles. “Viva Venezuela, viva the people of Bolívar, viva Oct. 7,” Chávez said to socialist supporters in an appearance Sunday night outside Venezuela’s presidential palace. About 80 percent of eligible voters are thought to have turned out for the election, keeping Chávez in power despite a flagging economy, rising crime, and an increasingly divided electorate. SEE YA After the president’s debate performance, lifelong Democrat Buzz Bissinger has made a difficult decision: he’s given up on Barack Obama. Even if his own wife doesn’t approve. RESCUE ME The denizens of Tinseltown know this: one bad performance can end a career. As the Obama campaign races to retool after the president’s bland debate showing last week, the candidate visited Los Angeles on Sunday to rally entertainment-industry donors. Obama held a two-hour closed-door meet-and-greet at DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg’s home, then spoke to 6,000 supporters at Los Angeles’s Nokia Theatre. “Everything we fought so hard for in 2008 is on the line in 2012,” Obama told attendees at the event, which also featured Stevie Wonder and Jennifer Hudson. “And I need your help to finish what we started.” DEBT A permanent fund established to defend against the spread of the European debt crisis will launch Monday, according to euro-zone officials. The €500 billion (about $653 billion) European Stability Mechanism was put in place by finance ministers to help return equilibrium to the 17-nation common currency. Officials have their eye on Spain, the latest front in the battle against spreading debt, as the fund launches. In July, €100 billion was set aside, and the country is expected to ask for about half that amount in coming months to help recapitalize Spain’s banks. | | 
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