Top Items:

Do We Really Need a National Weather Service? — As Hurricane Irene bears down on the East Coast, news stations bombard our televisions with constant updates from the National Hurricane Center. — While Americans ought to prepare for the coming storm, federal dollars need not subsidize their preparations.
Discussion:
americanthinker.com, Don Surber, Guardian, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog, NY Daily News, The Strata-Sphere, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, distributorcap NY, This Just In, ThinkProgress, Watts Up With That?, The Democratic Daily, AMERICAblog News, Yahoo! News and Associated Press
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Seeing Irene as Harbinger of a Change in Climate — The scale of Hurricane Irene, which could cause more extensive damage along the Eastern Seaboard than any storm in decades, is reviving an old question: are hurricanes getting worse because of human-induced climate change?
Discussion:
GigaOM, The Other McCain, News Desk, The Strata-Sphere, RedState, Transterrestrial Musings, LewRockwell.com Blog, Climate Central and Green

A Hurricane of Hype — Irene fell far short of the media's dire warnings even before it was downgraded. Howard Kurtz on the scaremongering by television and local officials.


Right Wing Tries New Tactic To Soften Bush's Katrina Debacle: Say Obama's Leadership On Irene Is Just For Show
Discussion:
Nation Now, msnbc.com, The Impolitic and Wonkette

Obama on Irene aftermath: ‘This is not over’
Discussion:
Hot Air, msnbc.com, Nation Now, Guardian, This Just In, The Volokh Conspiracy and The Moderate Voice

Biden Golfed in Hours Preceding Hurricane
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Scared Monkeys

Get Real: Hurricane Irene Should Be Renamed “Hurricane Hype”
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Associated Press, ThinkProgress and Towleroad News #gay

Obama's illegal uncle arrested; ‘Uncle Omar’ hits cop car, tries to call White House — A number of media outlets have already reported that an illegal immigrant from Kenya by the name of Onyango Obama, 67, was arrested last week on Wednesday after he rammed his SUV into a police car in Framingham, Massachusetts.
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Deval Patrick laments ‘tragedy,’ fails to take action — My guess is that Hurricane Irene is going to kill a lot fewer Americans in Massachusetts this year than illegal aliens are. But don't tell that to Gov. Deval Patrick — he doesn't want to talk about dead Americans and the drunk Ecuadorians who killed them.

One day climate change skeptics will be seen in the same negative light as racists, at least so says former Vice President Al Gore. — In an interview with former advertising executive and Climate Reality Project collaborator Alex Bogusky broadcasted on UStream on Friday …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Sister Toldjah, The Democratic Daily, Wizbang, nation.foxnews.com, Pajamas Media and blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Powell Not Sold on Obama in '12 — ABC News' Rick Klein (@rickklein) reports: — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who famously crossed party lines to vote for President Obama in 2008, said today that he's not necessarily supporting the president for reelection in 2012.
Discussion:
CNN, Michelle Malkin and Scared Monkeys
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Reporter Gives Update Covered In Sea Foam — MYFOXNY.COM - A local news reporter from Washington, D.C. ended up getting covered in what is probably the remnants of raw sewage as he delivered live hurricane reports from Ocean City, Md. — WTTG-TV reporter Tucker Barnes was providing live updates …
Discussion:
Tim Blair, Mediaite, Gothamist, Towleroad News #gay, Gawker and Midnight Blue Says


Ground Zero imam gives Scotland his recipe for successful multiculturalism — AMERICA'S most controversial imam - the man at the centre of the storm over plans for the “Ground Zero Mosque” in New York last year - flew into Edinburgh yesterday to tell the Festival of Spirituality and Peace …
Discussion:
Jihad Watch, Weasel Zippers and Atlas Shrugs

Perry calls Social Security ‘monstrous lie’ — OTTUMWA, Iowa - Riding high in the polls, Gov. Rick Perry rode into Iowa on Saturday with tough talk on President Obama, the economy and foreign policy and a declaration that Social Security is not only a Ponzi scheme but a “monstrous lie” for younger people.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Power Line, The Hill, Crooks and Liars, Viking Pundit and ThinkProgress


The Fall This Summer — DID insects hire a new publicist for the summer of 2011? Or have I scrambled the question, and should I be asking if they lost the publicist who had shielded them until now? — Either way, seemingly everywhere I turned, I was being told to eat them.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Do you support two states for two peoples? — I think that you have to first of all support the modern-day state of Israel. I think you have to support Israel post the '67 borders. Now, I am not going to sit here and dictate to Israel what their polices should be, but my perspective …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress