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.

A New York Hurricane Could Be a Multibillion-Dollar Catastrophe  —  Time to think about the unthinkable.  What if a major hurricane were to pass close to New York City, as several forecasting models now suggest that Hurricane Irene might?  —  Apart from the potential loss of life …

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.

Source: Pataki decides against White House run  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former New York Gov. George Pataki will not run for the Republican presidential nomination, a source close to him told CNN.  —  Pataki, who had been flirting with a White House bid for months, was scheduled to appear …

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 …

ESPN ‘reminds’ Azinger to lay off tweets about President Obama  —  UPDATE: ESPN is coming down on Paul Azinger for mocking President Barack Obama on Twitter.  The golf analyst tweeted Friday that the Commander-in-chief plays more golf than he does — and that Azinger has created more jobs this month than Obama has.

When bad governors try bad ideas  —  Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) came up with an idea he considered pretty clever.  First, he told Floridians that people on welfare were more likely to be drug addicts.  What did Scott base this on?  Nothing in particular — he seemed to just make it up — but Scott was quite fond of the argument.

Fear, Inc.  —  The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America  —  Anti-Muslim graffiti defaces a Shi'ite mosque at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan.  —  SOURCE: Getty Images/Bill Pugliano  —  Download individual chapters of the report (pdf):

About Jonathan Alter  —  You Think Obama's Been a Bad President?  Prove It: Jonathan Alter  —  Tell me again why Barack Obama has been such a bad president?  I'm not talking here about him as a tactician and communicator.  We can agree that he has played some bad poker with Congress.

Giant rat killed by pitchfork in Marcy Houses is believed to be Gambian pouched rat  —  It sounds like an urban legend: giant mutant-looking rats roaming a city housing project.  —  Only there's a picture.  —  A photo making the rounds shows Housing Authority worker Jose Rivera minutes …

Why Far-Off Canadian Tar Sands Have Become A Make-Or-Break Issue For Obama With Enviros  —  For six days and counting now, hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the White House to demand President Obama intervene and stop the construction of an oil pipeline that will span the breadth …

Gadafy daughter who ‘died’ in 1986 alive  —  The adopted daughter of Muammar Gadafy, whom he claimed died as an infant in the 1986 US bombing of his Tripoli compound, appears to be alive and worked as a doctor in the Libyan capital, documents discovered by The Irish Times indicate.

Horror scenes at Tripoli hospital  —  The BBC's Wyre Davies says staff in one Tripoli hospital fled the fighting leaving patients to die  —  More than 200 decomposing bodies have been found abandoned at a hospital in a district of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, that has seen fierce fighting.