Was Hurricane Irene caused by global warming?  —  Hurricane Irene hadn't even made landfall in the United States before some people figured out what to blame it on.  —  “Irene's got a middle name, and it's Global Warming,” environmental activist Bill McKibben wrote Thursday night in The Daily Beast.

ESPN Moves to Silence Golf Analyst Who Criticized Obama *UPDATED: ESPN Ignores Political Tweets of Other Personalities *UPDATE: More Cherry-Picking  —  A note for future prospective ESPN employees: You can only cheerlead Obama at ESPN.  I'm not joking.  —  Case in point: The network's golf analyst …

President Rick Perry?  —  A few weeks ago it was possible to believe that Mitt Romney would win the New Hampshire primary and cruise easily to the Republican nomination.  It's harder to see that now.  —  There have been a slew of polls showing Gov. Rick Perry of Texas surging to double-digit national leads.

The Near- and Longer-Term Prospects for the U.S. Economy  —  Good morning.  As always, thanks are due to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City for organizing this conference.  This year's topic, long-term economic growth, is indeed pertinent—as has so often been the case at this symposium in past years.

Ron Paul: Who Needs FEMA Anyway?  —  ABC News' Jason Volack reports:  —  With Hurricane Irene bearing down on the East Coast and taking direct aim at America's biggest city, who needs the Federal Emergency Management Agency anyway?  —  At least that's the question that presidential candidate …

Republican Politician Naked, Bending Over on Gay Sex Site  —  Puerto Rico's Anthony Weiner is much more thrilling than ours: Last week, images from Puerto Rican senator and GOP cheerleader Roberto Arango's alleged profile on gay hook-up app Grindr surfaced.  When a Puerto Rican TV show confronted him …

Guitar Frets: Environmental Enforcement Leaves Musicians in Fear  —  Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars.  The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement …

Bachmann says she'd consider minimum wage changes  —  JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla.—Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Friday she wouldn't rule out changes to the federal minimum wage as a way to lower the cost of doing business and lure corporations back to the United States.

Gore: Eat less meat to fight warming  —  Al Gore wants society to ditch meat-heavy diets and go organic to combat global warming.  —  “Industrial agriculture is a part of the problem,” Gore said Friday during an interview with FearLess Revolution founder Alex Bogusky.

Indiana College Bans “Too Violent” National Anthem  —  First it banned the words, now the whole song  —  The National Anthem is a tradition at sporting events, but it is banned at Goshen College.  —  Tiny Goshen College in Indiana has banned the “The Star Spangled Banner …

Seeds of Discontent for Bachmann in Iowa; Told to Cut the ‘Barack Obama Rock Star Crap’  —  Not two weeks removed from cheers surrounding her momentous victory at the Iowa GOP's Straw Poll, there is a growing chorus of criticism about the way Rep. Michele Bachmann has been conducting her campaign in the Hawkeye State.

U.S. Offers Key Support to Canadian Pipeline  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration gave a crucial green light on Friday to a proposed 1,711-mile pipeline that would carry heavy oil from Canada across the Great Plains to terminals in Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast, saying the project …

Martin Luther King a drum major?  If you say so.  —  The memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. has been a little controversial — but not for the right reason.  Someone, somewhere along the line, made a decision that makes King look like something he was not: an arrogant jerk.