AP Standards Center issues staff advisory on covering New York City mosque  —  Associated Press Deputy Managing Editor for Standards and Production Tom Kent sent the following note to the staff about covering the New York City mosque story:  —  Colleagues,

New Dem message: ‘Improve’ health care, don't talk cost  —  Key White House allies are dramatically shifting their attempts to defend health care legislation, abandoning claims that it will reduce costs and deficit and instead stressing a promise to “improve it.”

Obama's energy meltdown  —  The decision by congressional Democrats to not try to pass a major energy bill in this Congress, while receiving a modest amount of media attention, actually constitutes one of the sharpest rebukes to a sitting president in recent memory.

Media: Maybe Obama Should Go To Church More Publicly So People Know He's Christian  —  Today, Pew put out a poll showing that 18 percent of the American public believes President Obama is a Muslim.  That number includes 31 percent of Republicans.  Only 34 percent of the adult public says Obama …

Appeasing the Bond Gods  —  As I look at what passes for responsible economic policy these days, there's an analogy that keeps passing through my mind.  I know it's over the top, but here it is anyway: the policy elite — central bankers, finance ministers, politicians who pose as defenders …

‘Ground Zero’ Imam: ‘I Am a Jew, I Have Always Been One’  —  The right-wing campaign against the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” includes vicious personal attacks on the Muslim cleric who leads the Cordoba Initiative, the organization behind the plan.  I know Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf …

Why I back a mosque compromise  —  The builders want to build it as a healing gesture, but healing is impossible without dialogue  —  First of all, I am not going to back off.  The reaction did surprise me because most of the negative reaction had to do with defending the constitutional rights of the builders of the center.

The Most Sexist Ad, Well, Ever  —  In an act of shockingly retro, sexist stupidity, a local unit of the Republican Party of Minnesota has broadcast a new reason you should vote Republican: GOP women are hot, and Democratic women are not.  —  The group has made a web video contrasting photos of attractive …

The Deal  —  Bob Somerby is following the latest Social Security chatter and hopes that Paul Krugman can explain how the trust fund works in an understandable way: … Well, hell, I'll take a crack at it.  Here's the simple version.  —  In 1983, when we last reformed Social Security …

The Most Lethal Weapon the United States Returns in ‘Early Warning’  —  Thanks to all of you, my new novel, Early Warning, is in stores today, as well as on Kindle.  It's the sequel to last year's thriller, Hostile Intent, which went to No. 1 on Kindle upon its debut, sat high …

The right stuff  —  Indiana's governor is a likeable wonk.  Can he save the Republicans from themselves and provide a pragmatic alternative to Barack Obama?  —  CLAY COUNTY  —  THE governor does not like to keep people waiting.  On a recent morning this small man leapt out of a trooper's Toyota …

U.S. Persuades Israel That Iran's Nuclear Threat Is Not Imminent  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, citing evidence of continued troubles inside Iran's nuclear program, has persuaded Israel that it would take roughly a year — and perhaps longer — for Iran to complete …

Clemens indicted on obstruction of Congress charges  —  (CNN) — Retired baseball star Roger Clemens says he's looking forward to fighting perjury and other charges brought against him Thursday and again denied he ever used performance-enhancing drugs.  —  A federal grand jury in Washington …

Dems hit at Bush in new cable ad  —  Democrats again used former President George W. Bush as a foe in their latest TV ad campaign, driving home the point Republicans would restore policies that helped create the economic downturn.  —  The Democratic National Committee (DNC) …

Google Founders Sergey Brin And Larry Page Get Feature Film Treatment  —  EXCLUSIVE: The founders of Facebook aren't the only game-changing geeks poised to have their story told on a movie screen.  Michael London's Groundswell Productions has teamed with producer John Morris to acquire movie rights …

GOP Senate candidate yanks video showing smoldering 9/11 site  —  This one is ugly.  —  GOP Senate candidate Roy Blunt's campaign has pulled down a Web video displaying the smoldering remains of the 9/11 attacks alongside audio of his Democratic opponent saying the location of the Islamic center should be up to New Yorkers to decide.

Shot fired at Al Franken's condo  —  Minneapolis and Capitol Hill police are investigating a shot that was fired at the condo of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.).  —  Nobody was home at the time of the incident, which was not reported until after the senator and his wife returned home to Minneapolis …

Hip-Hop Mogul: If You Blame Muslims For 9-11, Blame Christians For 1st WTC Bombing!  —  I did not know Ramzi Yousef, Mahmud Abouhalima, Mohammad Salameh, Nidal Ayyad, Abdul Rahman Yasin and Ahmad Ajaj were Christian names?  Must have been converts prior to 1993.