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,

Growing Number of Americans Say Obama is a Muslim  —  Religion, Politics and the President  —  OVERVIEW  —  A substantial and growing number of Americans say that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while the proportion saying he is a Christian has declined.  More than a year and a half into his presidency …

‘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 …

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 …

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.

Weekly Jobless Claims Post Surprise Jump, Hit 500,000  —  New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly climbed to a nine-month high last week, yet another setback to the frail economic recovery.  —  Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 500,000 …

Clemens to Be Indicted for Perjury in Doping Testimony  —  Federal authorities have decided to indict Roger Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, according to two people briefed on the matter.  —  An announcement is expected later today.

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.”

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 …

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 …

How To Lose A Guy In 75 Days  —  Two years after his coattails helped sweep two dozen Democrats into office, President Obama is proving more a boon to Republicans than to Democrats during the midterm elections.  His poll numbers are so morose that Democrats are planning ways to avoid his shadow …

You'll Get Served  —  The West Wing is on notice.  —  If Republicans win the House this fall, Rep. Darrell Issa will wield the majority's sharpest investigative tool: the subpoena pen.  —  “Cabinet officers, assistant secretaries, directors — I will be able to take on everybody …

Video discussion with Gov. Howard Dean  —  Howard Dean spoke to me this afternoon for roughly 20 minutes regarding his remarks on a New York City radio station yesterday concerning the proposed Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan, as well as the response he wrote, published today on Salon, to my criticisms.

The Decline of Private Health Insurance  —  I'm not very interested in the underlying dispute between Scott Winship and Mike Konczal, but I did think this Winship chart about health insurance was interesting:  —  I emailed Winship to ask him what this data looks like if we examine the under-65 crowd.

Rand Paul and Jack Conway locked in tie at 41, new cn|  2 Poll shows  —  Democratic U.S. Senate candidate appears to have picked up some undecided voters over the last two weeks and is in a dead heat with Republican candidate Rand Paul, the latest cn|  2 Poll shows.

Skip the lecture on Israel's ‘risks for peace’  —  In the intifada that began in 2000, Palestinian terrorism killed more than 1,000 Israelis.  As a portion of U.S. population, that would be 42,000, approaching the toll of America's eight years in Vietnam.  During the onslaught …

Poll: Majority of N.J. voters approve of Gov. Chris Christie's job performance  —  TRENTON — After his stampedes on budget cuts and property tax caps, the payoff for Gov. Chris Christie is a bounce in his approval rating, according to a poll released today.

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.