TURKEY GIVES UP ON JOINING THE E.U.: “Ankara is demanding an official apology from Copenhagen for the twelve Muhammad drawings published last September in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Unless the Danish government of Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen distances itself from the cartoons (see them here, halfway down the page) and apologizes to Muslims worldwide, no bridge-building with the Islamic world is possible, said Namik Tan, the official spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry.”

This is a blow to the Turkish secular state, in more ways than one. It’s also ammunition, unfortunately, for those who argue that Islam is simply incompatible with the modern world. Of course, given the European tendency toward appeasement, maybe Turkey figures that this is the best way to be voted in.

UPDATE: A bit of happy news: The report above is apparently in error, though the details are unclear.

ONE MORE PHOTO from the Danish Embassy rally. Reader Jonathan G. Williams, who sent it, writes: “Yes, those things they’ve got are danishes. (Cherry, I think.)”

Mmm. Cherry.

And Mark Tapscott notes an email from Linda Seebach of the Rocky Mountain News:

UPDATE VI: Power of Blogs

Linda Seebach, veteran Rocky Mountain News editorial columnist, emails this note about the demonstration’s coverage in the Blogosphere compared to that of the mainstream media:

“It might be of interest to note that the first wire service story to cross our desks was from Cox News Service by way of the NYT News Service, and it moved at 3:22 p.m. our time (though it had been announced on the Cox budget nearly three hours earlier). By then it had been covered on a dozen blogsand I had had time to fashion an editorial out of Hitchens’ speech.”

It’s that whole Army of Davids thing. But you knew that by now.

Plus, reports are showing up in the Danish press. But Dr. Weevil notices a conspicuous absence.

And Chester has published a transcript of Hitchens’ speech.

BIKINIS OVER BURKAS: I’m cool with that.

ANDY BOWERS unveils a new podcasting experiment.

STEPHEN GREEN HAS POSTED more pictures from the Danish Embassy rally, which has also gotten coverage, and photos, at Wonkette.

And reader Patrick Rockefeller sends the photo at bottom below, which I liked, along with this report: “It was a decent sized crowd full of good people of divergent political persuasions who came together to support the Danes in their fight against violence and the reign of fear. Celebrity attendees included Chris Hitchens (the organizer), Bill Kristol, Andrew Sullivan and Clifford May. It’s nice to see we can still stack a roster for the defense of civilization.”

UPDATE: Two video clips are now posted at Vital Perspective.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Corsair has a report and many more photos.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Ian Schwartz has video of Christopher Hitchens speaking at the Embassy rally.

MORE: Mark Tapscott posts a full report.

So does James Joyner. And there’s more, including more photos (one of which is just below) here, from CrossingWallStreet.com. Andrew Sullivan has more photos, too.

And here are further reports from Grim and from the Washington, DC correspondent for David’s Medienkritik. I’m wearing a Medienkritik t-shirt right now! Finally, John Tabin notes that marchers came from as far as California.

READER KEITH GUARD sends these thoughts on Hybrid driver etiquette:

It occurred to me a couple of days ago that this may need to be said…

It is NOT OK, in a 55 MPH no-passing zone on a rural highway, with cars behind you, to drive at a slow enough speed to avoid engaging the gasoline engine.

As a hybrid driver, I thought you might be interested. But as an RX-8 driver, I doubt that you’re part of the problem.

I should hope not.

ANOTHER U.N. PEACEKEEPER SEX ABUSE SCANDAL STORY: They just keep appearing.

VITAL PERSPECTIVE has posted photos from the Danish Embassy march today. There are quite a few, but I thought that this one was the most emblematic.

We’re promised video later; I’ll let you know.

I hope that this event gets the attention it deserves; it would be a poor reflection on the press if the only way to get press coverage at an embassy involved setting fire to it.

We’ll see how that turns out.

UPDATE: Reader Brendan Murphy sends some more photographs. Still no video on Vital Perspectives, but I’ll post a note when they get it up.

THIS MILBLOG CONFERENCE LOOKS GOOD:

The 2006 Milblog Conference will take place in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 22, 2006. The conference is designed to bring milbloggers together for one full day of interesting discussion on topics associated with milblogging. We will explore the history of milblogs, as well as what the future may hold for this medium which the military community is using to tell their stories.

Austin Bay will emcee, and Andi of Andi’s World is the organizer.

LARRY SUMMERS: Faculty hated him, but students love him:

If Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers was worried about how the undergraduates would greet him Wednesday night at his first scheduled event since announcing his resignation, those fears quickly were put to rest.

He got a standing ovation after he walked in. He got a standing ovation before he left. A row of students with red letters painted on their chests spelled out “Larry.” . . .

The show of student loyalty has come as a surprise to many faculty members and administrators at Harvard, who grew to loathe Summers during a five-year tenure that brought a raw blast of politics to the 370-year-old institution.

It’s not surprising. Students have a much longer-term interest in Harvard’s reputational capital than do faculty. Thus they have more reason to support someone who wants to fix the place. But then there’s also this take:

“The Harvard student body looks more like America than the Harvard faculty,” he said. “That’s what’s happened.”

Obviously, Harvard needs to diversify its faculty.

ARE PUBLIC SCHOOLS INFESTED with moles for the homeschooling movement? Sometimes it seems like it.

IN THE MAIL: Charles Jones’ Boys of ’67: From Vietnam to Iraq, the Extraordinary Story of a Few Good Men. I’ve got a couple of colleagues who served in the Marines during that period. Maybe I’ll ask one to do a review.

THE COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG has a roundup on the attempted attack on Saudi oil facilities today.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON is back from Iraq with a report: “It is an odd war, because the side that I think is losing garners all the press, whether by blowing up the great golden dome of the Askariya shrine in Samarra, or blowing up an American each day. Yet we hear nothing of the other side that is ever so slowly, shrewdly undermining the enemy.”

A METHODIST Army of Davids?

NOBODY’S PERFECT: H&R Block gets its own taxes wrong.

DANISH EMBASSY REMINDER:

Please be outside the Embassy of Denmark, 3200 Whitehaven Street (off Massachusetts Avenue) between noon and 1 p.m. this Friday, Feb. 24. Quietness and calm are the necessities, plus cheerful conversation. Danish flags are good, or posters reading “Stand By Denmark” and any variation on this theme (such as “Buy Carlsberg/ Havarti/ Lego”) The response has been astonishing and I know that the Danes are appreciative. But they are an embassy and thus do not of course endorse or comment on any demonstration. Let us hope, however, to set a precedent for other cities and countries. Please pass on this message to friends and colleagues.

That’s from Christopher Hitchens. He’ll be there. If you’re in the DC area, consider joining him. And if you take pictures, send me some!

UPDATE: Reader Douglas Bass emails that there will be a similar demonstration in front of the Danish consulate in Minneapolis.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Via Lee Harris, another way to show support.

FIGHTING CANCER with exploding nanotubes.

It’s another triumph for an inanimate carbon rod!

GOOGLE, CISCO, YAHOO! MICROSOFT and Chinese Internet censorship: A video interview with Tom Lantos over at P.J. Media’s China Syndrome blog.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA VS. THE BLOGS: A close shave.

FREE SERVERS for bloggers.

MORE COUP RUMORS in the Philippines.

PATRIOT ACT MISSION CREEP:

If you thought al Qaeda or Iraqi insurgents were the major threats facing America, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) says you’re wrong. According to Dent, “The growing availability of methamphetamine is a form of terrorism unto itself.” Many of Dent’s colleagues apparently agree, so they’ve attached surveillance, “smuggling”, and “money laundering” provisions to the reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act. . . .

Ironically, some Democrats who objected to National Security Agency wiretaps in December actually championed provisions that step on privacy in the name of stopping meth. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D-Calif.), who voted for a filibuster after the revelation of the National Security Agency’s domestic spying program in December, co-sponsored the CMA and helped insert it into the PATRIOT Act conference report after failed attempts to pass it through other legislation. The new provisions were stalled with the filibuster and temporary PATRIOT extensions, but now appear to be poised for passage with the compromise bill.

Sigh. Well I told you so, a long time ago.

PUBLIUS looks at the politics of the Iraqi mosque bombings.

U.S. CARTOONISTS strike back.