MARK STEYN WONDERS IF IT’S THE DEATH OF MULTICULTURALISM: It’s not dead yet, but it was coughing up blood last night . . . .

And yes, that’s two Monty Python references in one.

THE NEW YORK TIMES is getting pounded by readers for the liberties taken with Phil Carter’s oped, made worse by the rather unpersuasive explanation offered by the Public Editor.

UPDATE: “Whose side are you on?” An exercise in contrast.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Mediacrity has more on the Times’ pounding.

HEH.

CARNIVAL-O-RAMA: The Carnival of the Capitalists is up. So is the Carnival of Cars. And so is this week’s especially long and interesting Carnival of Cordite!

UPDATE: Oh, and there’s the Carnival of New Jersey bloggers, and the latest Hillbilly Carnival, too!

BJORN STAERK: “So in the interest of cross-Atlantic understanding, I thought I’d give a view into what happens when Islam and terrorism is discussed openly among Norwegians. It might surprise you. ”

UPDATE: Tigerhawk writes on Al Qaeda’s philosophical roots.

A STRONG ANTITERROR SPEECH from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh:

Every time terrorists strike anywhere all of us who believe in democracy and the rule of law must stand together and affirm our firm commitment to fight this scourge resolutely and unitedly. I sincerely hope that all of those who cherish and value open and free societies will join hands in the war against terrorism wherever it is fought. I wish the people of London well. I pray that their lives will soon return to normal and they can resume their celebrations for having been chosen the venue for the 2012 Olympics.

And, like Blair and Howard the other day, he sounds as if he’s read Jim Bennett’s book:

Today, with the balance and perspective offered by the passage of time and the benefit of hindsight, it is possible for an Indian Prime Minister to assert that India’s experience with Britain had its beneficial consequences too. Our notions of the rule of law, of a Constitutional government, of a free press, of a professional civil service, of modern universities and research laboratories have all been fashioned in the crucible where an age old civilisation met the dominant Empire of the day. . . .

It used to be said that the sun never sets on the British Empire. I am afraid we were partly responsible for sending that adage out of fashion!

But, if there is one phenomenon on which the sun cannot set, it is the world of the English speaking people, in which the people of Indian origin are the single largest component.

Of all the legacies of the Raj, none is more important than the English language and the modern school system. That is, if you leave out cricket!

As The Economist recently noted, India is moving much closer to the United States these days — and vice versa. I guess they’ve all read Jim Bennett’s book.

JEFF GOLDSTEIN has thoughts on why rhetoric matters. He expands further in this comment: “I am not blaming ‘the Left’ en masse. But I am blaming those who are actively out to make political hay out of whatever the latest manufactured, ginned up outrage. And I think it’s time we started to forcefully push back against a political and media culture that is at least tangentially responsible for creating terrorists and their sympathizers based on false premises.”

EGYPTIANS AND TOURISTS PROTEST TERRORISM at Sharm El Sheikh. Gateway Pundit has a report, with photos.

Karim Elsahy reports that the Cairo antiterror protest went well, too, and says he’ll have photos soon.

UPDATE: Here they are.

And check out Karim’s new organization Pray4Peace.

ANOTHER UPDATE: A much longer report on the Cairo protest here.

AT HIS NEWLY-REDESIGNED BLOG (finally!) Hugh Hewitt delivers a righteous Fisking to Rep. Tom Tancredo’s latest “nuking Mecca” piece.

UPDATE: Speaking of long-needed blog Extreme Makeovers, check out Jeff Jarvis’s new digs.

ORIANA, NOT ARIANNA: Indeed.

BELLICOSE WOMEN IN IRAQ: But I think it may be an example of spreading American culture . . . :

Pickup? Check. Gun? Check. Babe? Triple-check.

Heh. No wonder the French hate this.

UPDATE: Hey, maybe this is a trend!

JOE GANDELMAN: “No where can you see the dilemmas facing government officials and security officials in the ongoing war against terror clearer than in London where police have apologized for the tragic killing an innocent Brazilian man suspected of being a suicide bomber — but underlined the fact that suspected suicide bombers will be shot in the head.”

He rounds up quite a few other posts on the same subject.

UPDATE: Ann Althouse sees a silver lining:

Is it not true that yesterday’s sad mistake has already solved the problem it represents? In fact, a further good has been created: as ordinary persons change their behavior and drop the bulky clothing and unnecessary running, the real terrorists will stand out more. Indeed, if anyone ever behaves like Jean Charles de Menezes again, the presumption that he is a terrorist will be so overwhelmingly strong that the police really must kill him.

Actually, in light of the bizarre behavior in this episode several readers speculate that this was a case of “suicide by cop.” I have no idea.

MEG KREIKEMEIER writes in the Chicago Tribune: “One of the outcomes of the 2004 election was a change in Democrats’ rhetoric about Republicans. . . . For so long, Democrats have criticized Republicans as the party of the rich, and they still do when discussing tax cuts, budget deficits and Social Security. However, Republicans have now become the party of dishonest slackers who don’t contribute to the federal government and yet make demands of it.”

UPDATE: Reader Barry Johnson emails:

She effectively outlines facts about government revenues to completely discredit Larry O’Donnell’s theory that blue states may secede because they are subsidizing red states.

But the other side of the equation is the government’s spending patterns. Since Social Security is the highest federal expenditure, and Medicare is the third largest, it only makes sense that the feds spend more where there are more retirees. Can the red states help it if the Americans who have enjoyed our country the longest choose to retire in Florida, Arizona, and other red states?

It’s true that not that many people retire to Massachusetts.

TIM LAMBERT CONTINUES his Javert-like pursuit of John Lott.

UPDATE: Some find it titillating. It takes all kinds, I guess.

I’VE PUBLISHED EMAILS FROM 1ST LT DAVID LUCAS before, but now he’s got an oped in the News-Sentinel that’s worth reading. Excerpt:

“Let’s support our troops. Bring them home.” Please don’t ever say those words again. Nothing is so disheartening to our troops who are in harm’s way than to hear our own citizens say things like that.

I know that the war my men and I fought is a totally different war than the one I see being reported by almost the entire media. There are a few exceptions to this, but they are generally overwhelmed by the massive anti-war/anti-Bush crowd. . . .

I will wrap this up by saying that you are entitled to your beliefs, and you should believe in whatever you want, but don’t pretend to know what you are talking about just because you have watched 30 minutes of CNN the night before. Go and talk to the people who have been there — not the people who make assumptions from a TV studio — and then form your opinion based on facts.

Don’t pretend to support troops by trying to undercut their efforts at the same time. Just go to bed at night and pray for their safety and thank God that they are there to protect you and your family, no matter your beliefs.

Read the whole thing. And here’s a report on Lucas’s Bronze Star.

UPDATE: Of course, some people don’t even pretend to support the troops:

Not even 24-hours after Private First Class Tim Hines’s wife and family said goodbye at his funeral, American flags that had adorned their Fairfield yard were piled beneath a car and burned. . . .

As firefighters brought the fire under control they discovered a pile of around 20 American flags underneath the car.

Neighbors say Hines’ wife’s family had flags line their front yard and on the porch.

Those were taken as well as flags in neighboring yards.

Not nice at all.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More here.

THE NEW YORK TIMES reports on Knoxville’s Suttree Stagger, an event combining literature and alcohol, both in prodigious quantities.

IN THE VERDICT, PAUL NEWMAN VISITED FUNERALS to hand out his business card and try to boost his flagging career. Apparently, he’s not the only one to try this approach: “The family of a Marine who was killed in Iraq is furious with Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll for showing up uninvited at his funeral this week, handing out her business card and then saying ‘our government’ is against the war.”

UPDATE: More here: “Cruella DeVille is alive and well and the Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania.”

I’M OBVIOUSLY UNDERVALUING MYSELF:

Last week Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. agreed to pay $580 million for Intermix Media, owner of the popular community website Myspace.com which had 17.7 million visitors in June. The announcement came just days after News Corp. formed its Fox Interactive Media unit.

Hmm. InstaPundit had about a quarter that many visitors (and June isn’t even that great a month.) Does that make it worth $145 million?

All offers in that range will be seriously considered.

KARIM ELSAHY is trying to organize an antiterror protest in Cairo. If you’re there, send me some pics.

WENT TO CHILHOWEE PARK to see Doug Weinstein’s band “The Verdicts” (yes, there are a lot of lawyers in it) play at the Gazebo. They did a bunch of excellent Steely Dan and Eric Clapton covers (the auto-show crowd liked the latter better than the former, but both were good) and managed to stay unwilted despite the near-100-degree heat.

Young lovers were meeting, and a good time was had by all. Alas, the Insta-Wife and Insta-Daughter came along under false pretenses — we somehow had the idea that the auto show involved new cars rather than beautifully maintained old ones, and they wanted to check out potential replacements for the aging Passat wagon. (The Nissan Murano and Honda Odyssey are favored contenders at the moment).

Since the Passat is paid for, and I like it, I’m perfectly happy to put that decision off for a while, so I guess I’m happy that they wound up looking at ’59 Corvettes instead.

AN ANTI-TERROR RALLY BY MUSLIMS in Antelope Valley, California.

You know, if these people had blown something up, they’d be getting more press. Which suggests that if the press wants to help eliminate terrorism, it should adjust its priorities.

UPDATE: Here’s a report of an antiterror protest in Iraq, too. The same point applies.

ANOTHER UPDATE: There’s more anti-terror protest action in Denmark.

WAKE UP WITH FREEDOM FIGHTERS! That’s the slogan of Contra Café, made from coffee grown by former anti-Sandinista guerrillas. Story here. (“Retailing for $10 a pound on its website www.contracafe.com, the company pays the farmers $1.50 a pound — more than market rates and more than what’s known as fair-trade, or socially responsible, prices.”)

I wonder if their t-shirts will start competing with Ché shirts on college campuses?

UPDATE: Reader Austin Pauls emails:

If Contra shirts start competing with Ché shirts on campus (not likely, but I might still buy one), at least those who wear the Contra shirts will know what they’re representing. 85% of kids that wear Ché shirts don’t know who he was, only that wearing that shirt symbolizes that they are “rebellious”.

He has more on his blog.

ANOTHER UPDATE: More here.

SPACE BLOGS GET RESULTS!

I’VE BEEN ASKED TO REVIEW Richard Davis’ rather timely book, Electing Justice: Fixing The Supreme Court Nomination Process. I don’t want to give anything away, but I think it’s a measure of how messy things have gotten that a proposal to elect Supreme Court justices seems plausible now.

EGYPTIAN BLOGGER BIG PHARAOH has more on the terrorist bombings in Sharm-el-Sheikh.

Meanwhile, Robert Mayer emails:

Just an observation. Most bombings, even going back to 9/11, seem targeted directly at tourism. Especially in the Middle East, though. Tourism is one of the easiest industries for a country to develop, and development leads to outside influence, liberalization, and reform. It looks like the terrorists are heading off capitalism right where it’s taking off.

Yes. It’s part of their overall plan to keep their own people poor and ignorant.

UPDATE: Sean Fitzpatrick auditions for a job with the BBC:

I didn’t know Egypt had troops in Iraq. Otherwise, why would the terrorists target them?

Heh. Why, indeed?

ANOTHER UPDATE: John Pilger’s sentiments are predictable.

MORE: Here’s an analysis by Dan Darling that’s worth reading.

And Austin Bay asks: “When will George Galloway and Teddy Kennedy admit Al Qaeda is at war with Arabs and Muslims as well as ‘the West?'”

STILL MORE: Don’t miss Noah Shachtman’s bomb-blogging from Iraq: “[T]he networks aren’t very good at conveying the subtle shades of danger in a place like this. Either they lead, big, with a new act of carnage – or they bury the news from here at the end of the broadcast. That leaves the impression that all of Iraq is in flames, all of the time. Which is just plain wrong.”

And there’s more Egyptian blogging here. And scroll up from that post for updates.