FLORIDA

Claims by Michele Bachmann and Glenn Beck that last week's earthquake and hurricane were merely attempts by God to get our attention aren't funny. Nevertheless, Bachmann says her quote was only made in jest. Some of us aren't laughing, however.

Hurricane Irene and the earthquake that recently rumbled through Washington, D.C. were God's way of telling Washington to reduce spending, according to GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann.

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann told Florida voters on Sunday that Hurricane Irene and the recent earthquake were manifestations of God's desire to cut back government spending.

Stetson Kennedy, who managed to infiltrate the highly secretive Ku Klux Klan 60 years ago and expose its workings and secrets, died on Saturday. He was 94 and had been in hospice care at a hospital near St. Augustine, Fla.

With the Republican campaign for the White House taking shape, hundreds of Tea Party activists kicked off a national bus tour on Saturday, aiming to rally their base and new recruits to the conservative political cause.

Hurricane Irene battered New York with heavy winds and driving rain on Sunday, knocking out power and flooding some of Lower Manhattan's deserted streets even as it lost some of its power.

Hurricane Irene battered New York with heavy winds and driving rain on Sunday, shutting down the U.S. financial capital and most populous city, halting mass transit and causing massive power blackouts as it churned slowly northward along the eastern seaboard.

Hurricane Irene battered New York with ferocious winds and driving rain on Sunday, shutting down the U.S. financial capital and most populous city, halting mass transit and causing massive power blackouts as it churned slowly northward along the eastern seaboard.

At least three people have been killed in North Carolina by Category-1 hurricane Irene, which has also knocked out power to more than 227,000 homes and businesses, suffering from 85 mph winds.

Just hours after making landfall in North Carolina, with a path projected up the U.S. East Coast ravaging through high-population areas including New York, Hurricane Irene 2011 holds the potential for being one of the costliest storms ever. Already New York is in an unprecedented shutdown in anticipation of the storm, and while economic loss for business closings ahead of a storm isn't used as a formal hurricane damage calculation the impact is indicative of what's to come from Irene

Hurricane season for the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico runs from June 1 through November 30

Safety fears over the possible impact of Hurricane Irene have forced the National Football League (NFL) and other North American sporting bodies to reschedule or cancel events for this weekend.

At least 90,000 residents on North Carolina’s coast are without power, including a hospital in Morehead City.

AntiGravity Yoga is a form combining traditional yoga, poses with aerial arts, pilates and dance. This technique is the first in a new genre known as suspension fitness.

A number of Major League Baseball games have been postponed over the weekend as Hurricane Irene moves ominously over the east cost of the United States, it was announced on Friday.

Major petroleum pipelines in the United States began partial shutdowns Friday, the result of terminals supplied by those pipelines closing ahead of Hurricane Irene's arrival.

Amazon, hurricane Web sites have various books on the subject.

Hurricane Irene promises to ruin everyone's weekend plans, to say the least, and the storm has already started by delaying Sunday's Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial event, pushing the event to September or October.

Thousands of flights have been cancelled as airlines scramble to come up with a plan ahead of Hurricane Irene's expected hit along the East Coast.

As Hurricane Irene continues to roar up the East Coast headed in the direction for New York City; New Yorker's embrace the calm before the storm and have taken to Twitter to share tips and express mixed feelings towards the severity of the looming threat.

Hurricane season for the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico runs from June 1 through November 30.