Plus: Using an optical illusion as a "speed bump"
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, shown at a recent news conference, says that he finds a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Quran "distastful," but he supports the pastor's first-amendment right to do so.New York City's mayor and the top American commander in Afghanistan took different stances on the plan of a small Florida church to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he found the plan "distasteful," but said the pastor had the right to do it, according to the New York Daily News.
"In a strange way, I'm here to defend his right to do that. I happen to think that it is distasteful," Bloomberg said Tuesday.
"The First Amendment protects everybody, and you can't say that we're going to apply the First Amendment to only those cases where we are in agreement," he added.
Meanwhile Gen. David H. Petraeus, top American commander in Afghanistan, said the move could put U.S. troops in greater danger.
From a story in the New York Times:
Burning copies of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, “would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan — and around the world — to inflame public opinion and incite violence,” the commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus said in an e-mail message to The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Echoing remarks the general made in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Tuesday, he said: “It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort. It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."
» Washington Post: US officials, religious leaders condemn plans to burn Korans on 9/11
What else is going on:
Los Angeles Times: More than a million people take to the streets in France to protest proposal to raise retirement age from 60 to 62.
Wall Street Journal: House Republican says Obama's infrastructure plan will get a fight
Newsweek: Will Rahm Emanuel run for mayor of Chicago?
Discover: West Vancouver's newest "speed bumps" are paintings on the pavement that give the optical illusion that a child is in the street. (Note the comments, where many readers wonder if this could actually be very dangerous). Click the video below, from the website Preventable.ca, to get an idea of the effect.