memeorandum: ‘Polarbeargate’ Scientist To Head Back To Work (Nell Greenfieldboyce/NPR)

4:20 PM ET, August 27, 2011

Top Items:

Five dead as Hurricane Irene edges on Virginia — Boy killed when tree slams into home; surfer dies in huge waves off Florida — Below: — updated 2011-08-27T19:53:37 — Top developments: — Five people, including an 11-year-old boy and a surfer, were dead and the East Coast …

Discussion: Nation Now, Associated Press, Guardian, Scared Monkeys, PhotoBlog and Crooks and Liars

New York Times:

Hurricane Irene Hits, Raising Fears of Storm Surge — WILMINGTON, N.C. — After several anxious days of dire forecasts that forced much of the East Coast into unprecedented levels of lockdown, a weakened but still ferocious Hurricane Irene made landfall on Saturday morning along the southern coast of North Carolina.

Discussion: Metropolis, Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine, The Daily Dish and Gothamist, more at Mediagazer »

Solitary Watch:

Locked Up and Left Behind: Hurricane Irene and the Prisoners on New York's Rikers Island — “We are not evacuating Rikers Island,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a news conference this afternoon. Bloomberg annouced a host of extreme measures being taken by New York City in preparation …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, Focal Point, New York Magazine and TalkLeft

Kamalwallace / This Just In:

Live blog: Falling tree kills child; storm's death toll now 4 — Are you there? Share your story with iReport and be a part of CNN's coverage. — Hurricane Irene continues to crawl north after making landfall Saturday morning in North Carolina. The storm is expected to head up the East Coast …

Discussion: USA Today and CNN

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Louisiana Congressman: GOP ‘Sinful’ To Tie Disaster Aid To Spending Cuts

Discussion: theblogprof, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Monthly, The Confluence and ThinkProgress

Bob King / The Politico:
Was Hurricane Irene caused by global warming?

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Pundit Press, theblogprof, NewsBusters.org blogs, Taylor Marsh, The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, Althouse, Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, Pajamas Media, Informed Comment, Dot Earth, Conservatives4Palin, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller and Watts Up With That?

Catherine Herridge / Fox News:

State Department: Don't Invade Privacy of Cleric on CIA Kill List — While the New Mexico-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, is the first American on the CIA's kill or capture list, the U.S. State Department refuses to release documents about al-Awlaki citing his right to privacy.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, Weasel Zippers, americanthinker.com, Jihad Watch and Right Wing News

Ben Geman / The Hill:

Al Gore to Rick Perry: Climate scientists aren't motivated by money — Al Gore on Friday bashed the notion that climate scientists are manipulating data for financial gain, a charge levied by global warming skeptics, including GOP White House hopeful Rick Perry.

Discussion: Don Surber

Douglas Mackinnon / Investor's Business Daily:
Left And Right Going Nuclear On Rick Perry

Discussion: Washington Post, Campaign 2012, Patterico's Pontifications and New York Times

Robin Bravender / The Politico:
Gore: Eat less meat to fight warming

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, Sister Toldjah and The Lonely Conservative

Somini Sengupta / New York Times:

Man Accused of Stalking via Twitter Claims Free Speech — Even the Buddha of compassion might have been distressed to be on the receiving end of the diatribes that William Lawrence Cassidy is accused of posting on Twitter. — They certainly rattled Alyce Zeoli, a Buddhist leader based in Maryland.

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy and Outside the Beltway

Chris Geidner / Poliglot:

HRC's Solmonese to Step Down, Sources Say No Replacement Has Been Selected — On Friday night, Aug. 26, Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend reported that Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese will be stepping down in the coming months from his leadership role at the nation's largest …

Discussion: Pam's House Blend and AMERICAblog Gay

Pam Spaulding / Pam's House Blend:
BREAKING: Joe Solmonese to leave HRC in December; official announcement on Tuesday

Discussion: Washington Blade and Towleroad News #gay

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Harvey: “There's No Proof” LGBT People Exist — Mission America's Linda Harvey dedicated her weekend broadcast to criticizing the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, one of her favorite targets. Harvey was particularly perturbed by the GLSEN Sports Project, which works towards …

Discussion: Holy Bullies … and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Yahoo! News:

US official: Al-Qaida's No. 2 killed in Pakistan — WASHINGTON (AP) — Al-Qaida's second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, delivering another big blow to a terrorist group that the U.S. believes to be on the verge of defeat, U.S. officials said Saturday.

Discussion: The Hill and Weasel Zippers

First Read / msnbc.com:

Ron Paul: No FEMA response necessary — GILFORD, N.H. — After a lunch speech today, Ron Paul slammed the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, and said that no national response to Hurricane Irene is necessary. — “We should be like 1900; we should be like 1940, 1950, 1960,” Paul said.

Discussion: The Hill, Outside the Beltway, Salon and Wonkette

The Note:
Ron Paul: Who Needs FEMA Anyway?

Discussion: CNN, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog and Reuters

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Ron Paul rejects FEMA role in hurricane response

Discussion: The Hill, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Bryan Fischer / afa.net:

Defeating Darwin in four steps - so easy a caveman could do it — Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at “Focal Point” — Governor Perry's observation on the campaign trail that evolution is a theory with “gaps” has generated a tremendous amount of conversation and controversy.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Liberal Values and Pharyngula

Damien Gayle / Daily Mail:

Gaddafi 'seen in Zimbabwe on Mugabe's private jet' as Libya rebels march on dictator's home town — Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has fled Libya to Zimbabwe on a jet provided by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, it was claimed today, as rebels began the march on his home town.

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation and The Gateway Pundit

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

Obama offers 2012 election supporters change they can believe in — next term — Three years after storming the White House with the “fierce urgency of now,” President Obama has a new message for his reelection campaign: be patient, democracy is big and tough and messy.

Discussion: The Business Insider and Greg's Opinion