memeorandum: A mosque that wrecks bridges (Christopher Caldwell/Financial Times)

2:45 AM ET, August 8, 2010

Top Items:

Neda Bolourchi / Washington Post:

A Muslim victim of 9/11: ‘Build your mosque somewhere else’ — I have no grave site to visit, no place to bring my mother her favorite yellow flowers, no spot where I can hold my weary heart close to her. All I have is Ground Zero. — I watched as terrorists slammed United Flight 175 …

Discussion: sisu, Guardian, Jihad Watch, Time and Weasel Zippers

Newsweek:

Fareed Zakaria's Letter to the ADL — Five years ago, the ADL honored me with its Hubert Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize. I was delighted and moved to have been chosen for it in good measure because of the high esteem in which I hold the ADL. I have always been impressed by the fact …

Discussion: The Mahablog, NO QUARTER, Israel Matzav, Mediaite, Gothamist, Taylor Marsh, Think Progress and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

David Montalvo / Crain's New York Business:
Museum of Tolerance backer: No to WTC mosque

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, Raw Story, The Reality-Based Community, TalkLeft and Think Progress

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Zakaria Returns ADL Prize

Discussion: Jihad Watch and Paul Krugman

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
ADL: If mosque-builders really wanted to promote reconcilation, they'd move

Discussion: The Huffington Post, ADL, Media Decoder, Gothamist, Mediaite and Washington Monthly

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:

Krugman Is Wrong on Ryan and the CBO — Last night, a few of us were discussing Paul Krugman's apparent erroneous belief that Paul Ryan should have gotten the CBO to score the revenue side of his plan, but didn't because he was attempting to put one over on the American people.

Discussion: Mother Jones and Paul Krugman

Paul Ryan / JSOnline:

Krugman's detour on ‘Roadmap’ to solvency — Despite watching European welfare states collapse under the weight of their own debt, those running Washington are leading us down precisely the same path. With the debt surpassing $13 trillion, we can no longer avoid having a serious discussion …

Discussion: Hot Air

Voice of America:

8 Westerners on Medical Team Killed in Afghanistan — An international Christian charity said Saturday that militants killed part of its 12-member medical team, including six Americans, one German, one Briton and two Afghan interpreters, in a remote area of northern Afghanistan.

Discussion: The Long War Journal and Christianity Today

Patrik Jonsson / Christian Science Monitor:
International Assistance Mission slayings: part of Taliban war strategy

Discussion: National Review and The Jawa Report

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Feliz Cumpleaños, and Adiós — Her critics used to paint her as a scary Marxist. Now they cast her as a spoiled princess. — During the campaign, she was caricatured on the cover of The New Yorker as a fist-bumping, gun-toting Black Panther.

Discussion: Big Journalism, Balloon Juice and Media Matters for America

Kevin Carey / The Quick and the Ed:

UC.world — It's often hard to predict the future. But not always. For example, I'm certain that in 2050, barring global catastrophe, there will be a place called “the University of California, Berkeley” where exceptionally bright student will come to live and study.

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community and Matthew Yglesias

Adambink / Prop 8 Trial Tracker:

In Atlanta, a two-faced NOM: songs of unity while trashing same-sex families — We arrived here in Atlanta curious about what direction NOM would go today. Our arrival came on the heels of NOM refusing to allow us or openly affectionate same-sex couples into their rally in St. Louis …

Discussion: Joe. My. God., Truth Wins Out and AMERICAblog Gay

Christopher Caldwell / Financial Times:

A mosque that wrecks bridges — Urban planning votes do not usually garner widespread attention in the US. But this week, when New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission okayed the demolition of a 19th-century coat factory on Park Place, the story made front pages.

Discussion: The New Republic and xpostfactoid

Edmund S. Phelps / New York Times:

The Economy Needs a Bit of Ingenuity — THE steps being taken by government officials to help the economy are based on a faulty premise. The diagnosis is that the economy is “constrained” by a deficiency of aggregate demand, the total demand for American goods and services.

Discussion: The Glittering Eye, EconLog and Economist's View

Pat G. / Think Progress:

Dodd: It's Not Worth A Fight To Get Elizabeth Warren Confirmed As CFPB Director — When it first looked like Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren might stand a serious chance of getting appointed at the first director of the newly-created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau …

Discussion: The Confluence and The Political Carnival

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

Watergate Becomes Sore Point at Nixon Library — YORBA LINDA, Calif. — The sign at the entrance to the largest exhibition room devoted to a single subject at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum reads “Watergate.” But on Friday, the exhibit was nearly empty, dominated by a 30-foot blank slate …

Discussion: A plain blog about politics, Gawker and Balloon Juice