30 Good Minutes – Melissa Rogers – Free Exercise for All

Lowe’s pulls TV ads – and gives a Christmas gift to Target et al | Wajahat Ali | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk. The decision by Lowe’s, behemoth chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores, to pull its advertising from TLC’s reality TV show “All-American Muslim,” ceded to the bigotry, fear-mongering and paranoia of a deluded minority whose divisive ideology poisons America’s cherished history of inclusiveness and pluralism.

American Islam – The Chronicle Review – The Chronicle of Higher Education. Here’s what I know. These three men, all converts, appeal to young American Muslims. They appeal, in large part, because they were born and raised in this country and have a vision for Islam that is unmistakably American. Though they’ve all spent time studying in Muslim-majority countries—Imam Zaid and Sheik Hamza were away for years—their focus remains on building a Muslim community that looks and feels, in every way possible, American.

Maybe I’m more aware of this now that I have kids, but do politicians always sound like kids’ cartoons? In the movie Beauty and the Beast, the character Gaston says “you’re either with us or against us.” Sarah Palin sounds like the squirrel from Higglytown Heroes, ya betcha. And of course, Barack Obama channels Bob the Builder with “Yes we can.” Election 2008, kids shows