Atheist Group Sues Over ‘Ground Zero Cross’ At 9/11 Memorial
Reports the Associated Press via the Wall Street Journal:
NEW YORK — The installation of a cross-shaped steel beam at the Sept. 11 memorial at ground zero is unconstitutional, a national atheist group argued in a lawsuit filed Wednesday, asking a judge to order it removed or request that other religions and nonreligious views be equally represented at the site.
The museum is a public institution and should not reflect a specific religion, said the American Atheists, a nonprofit group aimed at safeguarding separation of church and state that filed the civil lawsuit in Manhattan State Supreme Court.
The cross was found amid the wreckage from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by a construction worker who said he stumbled onto a miracle. It was moved to the ground zero site last weekend from a temporary post after a blessing by a Catholic priest and is to become part of the permanent collection of the National…
NYC Advertisment Featuring Photoshopped 9/11 Firefighter Pulled
Jamie Schram writes in the New York Post:
An ad agency for a law firm specializing in 9/11 lawsuits said today it is pulling the controversial posters after it was revealed that the somber, soot-smeared FDNY firefighter holding an image of the charred remains of the World Trade Center was not actually at Ground Zero.
“We issue a sincere and deep apology to Firefighter [Robert] Keiley and this ad will not run again,” said John Barker, president of the Barker/DZP ad agency.
The Post reported today that Keiley — who joined New York’s Bravest only in 2004 — was working as a model when he posed for what he thought would be used for a run-of-the-mill fire-prevention ad.
He appeared in generic firefighter gear and gripped a helmet for the shot — not the photo of the destroyed Twin Towers that was “put” into his hands with Photoshop software for the Worby Groner Edelman…
‘The View’ Hosts Walk Out On Bill O’Reilly
‘The View’s’ Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar demonstrate how best to deal with Bill O’Reilly when you disagree: walk away. The Washington Post reports:
Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg made it clear on today’s “The View”: They are not fans of Bill O’Reilly. During his visit to their show today, the conversation turned to the Park51 community center. O’Reilly staunchly attacked President Obama for not commenting on the “appropriateness” of the location.
Continues at The Washington Post …
Quran Burning Story: This Is How The Media Embarrass Themselves
Jason Linkins writes on Huffington Post:
[Thursday] afternoon, the leader of a microscopic cult of idiots who announced plans to stage an “international” day of Quran burning in Gainesville, Florida held a press conference, for a rapt media which decided that his moronic plans were the single most important thing going on in America. At that press conference, in front of “9/11 Truther” signs, this cult leader lied to everyone who was watching, telling them that he was going to call off his 9/11 book burning festival because he had successfully reached a deal with the people behind the Park51 community center in Lower Manhattan, in which they would move their facility away from the site of the World Trade Center.
Not a word of this was true, but it was amazing, all the same — at one fell swoop, we had finally knit up the strands of a season of irrationality…
Body Parts of 9/11 Victims Map Used To Oppose ‘Ground Zero Mosque’
Photo from NY Post
Fox News often takes things a step too far, but to use a map of the distance where human remains were found as an argument against a mosque, is just uncalled for. Via RawStory:
Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has set what may be a new standard of shamelessness by marking the anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks with the publication of a map of human remains originally developed by the New York Fire Department in 2002.
“Here’s the chilling proof that Ground Zero stretches well beyond the boundaries of the World Trade Center site,” Murdoch’s New York Post boasted. “The map was obtained by The Post from sources after the Fire Department did not respond to requests to review it. It shows that remains were found just 348 feet to the south of the mosque site at 45 Park Place.”
An even more ominous version of the same map, with…
America’s Opinion On The Ground Zero “Mosk”
Wonkette discovered a novel way of gauging America’s opinion on the proposed mosque in Lower Manhattan: search on Openbook for the term “mosk,” and let the entertainment begin. (Openbook, of course, is a site which shows status updates of Facebook users too dumb to use any privacy settings.)
Taiwanese Animation Takes On The Ground Zero Mosque Controversy
Taiwan’s Next Media Animation presents another in their series of incredible CGI renderings of U.S. news events, this time doing an overview of recent Islamophobia in America, including the anti-ground-zero-mosque protests, proposed Koran-burnings in Florida, and (the highlight) Barack Obama as an evil crypto-Muslim.
Fox News, Rupert Murdoch and the ‘Terror Mosque’
Thanks to Andrew Lander for sending this little bit of Fox News hypocrisy our way, from Yahoo News:
The opponents of the proposed Cordoba Initiative Islamic center planned for Lower Manhattan are fond of suggesting, by way of lengthy and often confusing chains of causation and association, that its principal planner, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, is connected to terrorism. “The imam has been tied to some shady characters,” Fox Business Channel’s Eric Bolling recently said, “so should we worry that terror dollars could be funding the project?” Blogger Pamela Geller, who has become a regular talking head on cable-news channels to denounce the mosque, has noted Rauf’s involvement with a Malaysian peace group that funded the group that organized the Gaza flotilla under the headline, “Ground Zero Imam Rauf’s ‘Charity’ Funded Genocide Mission.”
On last night’s “Daily Show,” Jon Stewart skewered these antics as a “dangerous game of guilt by association you can play with almost anybody,” and proceeded to tie Fox News to al-Qaida…
What Else Is Built In The Shadow Of Ground Zero?
Is Lower Manhattan hallowed ground? The blog History Eraser Button presents photos of the other businesses and organizations located directly by the World Trade Center site, as near as the proposed “Ground Zero mosque” is slated to be.
New York First Responders Slam Obama On 9/11 Health Bill
An Environmental Protection Agency employee checks one of the many air sampling locations set up around the site of the World Trade Center.
They’re right, aren’t they? From the Daily News:
Ailing 9/11 responders slammed President Obama on Tuesday for sounding off on the Ground Zero mosque while keeping silent on a $7.2 billion health care bill.
“Why have you failed us? We thought you would be our champion” in pushing the legislation, John Feal wrote to Obama.
One of the thousands who worked at The Pile after the World Trade Center attacks, Feal heads the Fealgood Foundation supporting the responders.
The plight of the Ground Zero heroes, still suffering and dying from illnesses brought on by the toxic cloud over the twin towers’ ruins, has taken a backseat to the political posturing over the mosque, Feal said.
The mosque’s location “is not an issue for us,” he told Obama.
“It is disturbing that you have the…
The Daily Show on Obama’s “Wisdom” in the “Ground Zero Mosque” Media Circus
“Yes we can … but should we?” — Jon Stewart
Politics is often defined as the “art of the possible.” However it should also be defined as “you can’t please all the people all the time.” Especially the ones being idiots on the “ground zero mosque” media shitstorm.
Thankfully The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart (who recently George Lucas made a Stormtrooper) is on the money again about President Obama’s mixed public comments regarding this non-story.
I could not complete this post without mentioning the great Jon Oliver’s commentary:
“There is a difference, Jon, between what you can do and what you should do. You can build a Catholic Church next to a playground. Should you?”
New York Ad Depicting 9/11 Attacks Beside Mosque Approved
Where would a religious/racial influenced debate be without advertisement? You know the ad sends a powerful message when you have to sue MTA to get it approved. Is there really an argument against an Islamic temple being close to ground zero when Masjid Manhattan mosque already exists a couple of blocks from the proposed site? From AP News:
New York City’s transit agency has approved a bus advertisement that depicts a plane flying toward the World Trade Center’s towers as they burn along with a rendering of a proposed mosque near ground zero.
The ad was paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, an organization that opposes radical Islamic influence in the United States. The group’s executive director says she doesn’t find the ad offensive.
The group sued the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to demand it accept the ad, which was approved Monday.
MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz says the agency doesn’t endorse the ad’s views.
The…
Newt Gingrich Takes Saudi’s Lead On “Tolerance”
Newt Gingrich. Photo: Gage Skidmore (CC)
Aaron Cynic writes at Diatribe Media:
Newt Gingrich, like many other Americans on the far right, has a problem with Mosques, more specifically the planned Islamic community center near Ground Zero. This doesn’t come as a shock in the least, his reasoning (H/T Justin Elliott at Salon) is that there aren’t any churches in Saudi Arabia and also, New York already has Mosques, so we should take the Saudi’s lead on this one:
“There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over.
Those Islamists and their apologists who argue for “religious toleration” are arrogantly dishonest. They ignore the fact that more than 100 mosques already exist in New York City. Meanwhile, there are no…
Steven Spielberg Producing WTC Ground Zero Documentary
No prizes for guessing why they didn’t ask Dylan Avery (Loose Change or Ray Nowosielski (9/11: Press For Truth) to produce this film. From Variety:
Steven Spielberg is teaming with Science Channel on a documentary about the reconstruction of the former World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.
“Rebuilding Ground Zero” will air as a six-part doc to air on the Discovery net in 2011. Spielberg will act as exec producer and advisor for the project that was originated by architect Danny Foster and director Jonathan Hock.
Doc, shot in 3D and high def, will examine the partnership of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, politicians and various construction crews and engineers in putting the pieces together for a project of such a large magnitude.
In addition to the new 1,776-foot tower, site will also be the home of a park, museum and memorial dedicated to those who were killed during the…
