IT’S CROWDED DOWN THERE: Honduras under the bus.

JOSHUA MURAVCHIK: If democracy and human rights are high values, then all societies are not morally equal. This thought cuts sharply against Obama’s multicultural sensibilities. A while back, I talked with Muravchik about his new book, The Next Founders: Voices of Democracy in the Middle East, on PJTV. You can see the interview here.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Attorney attacks charges against UT student in Palin e-mail case.

MORE CRUSHING OF DISSENT. I remember when protest was patriotic! Seems like it was just a little while ago . . . .

WHAT WOULD JOHN GALT DO? Calling for a consumption strike. I suspect the economy will take care of that on its own . . . .

OHIO POLITICS: Finger-Pointing in Cuyahoga County: “Which makes sense if you think about it. Because Cuyuhoga County doesn’t have a history of political corruption or anything.”

GALLUP: More Americans See Democratic Party as “Too Liberal”. Hmm. Why would that be?

FARHAD MANJOO likes Firefox 3.5.

FROM THE “GET A LIFE” DEPARTMENT: When Envy Is On The Menu.

As she and her husband continued on the progression of their Tour menu, she observed something happening at a nearby table that upset her.

A gray mat was delivered; the guest unrolled it, and Alinea’s chef de cuisine walked into the small dining room with trays of mise en place. He plated the same soft shell crab dish she had eaten two courses before on the table surface while the diners he was chatting with smiled and took photos of the event. He finished and returned to the bustling kitchen. She began to cry, got up from the table, and briskly walked to the bathroom. They cut their meal short and left soon thereafter.

Plus this: “Alinea’s food by nature is tedious, experimental and exploratory, and I mean that from the side of the guest and the staff that prepares and serves it.” Like I said. . . .

GREEN ROMANCE.

WHAT WAS YOUR WORST JOB EVER? Mine was probably working daytime shifts in the ticket office at the Smoky Mountain Passion Play in high school. I had been in the cast the year before — playing an apostle and understudying Simon of Cyrene and the “thief on the left” — but went to the ticket office because I literally made more money than Jesus, they presumably being influenced by the admonition about the kine that tread the grain. It wasn’t really that bad, just very dull, and you had to clean the restrooms to get ready for the evening’s show.

UPDATE: You don’t know how lucky you are, boys. “These people have no conception of what bad jobs are. And the frightening thing is that they may find out before the reign of The One, who many of them voted for, is over, because he seems to think that state planning, as occurs in the extreme there, should reign over the market.”

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: Pelosi, a vision in white — but not green.

HMM: Should Yale Lose its Tax Exemption Because of its Opposition to the Solomon Amendment?

I WAS NEVER THAT INTO STARGATE SG-1, but even after the deep discount this seems kind of expensive for a boxed set. Though on a per-hour-of-entertainment basis, I guess it’s pretty cheap. Less than a dollar an hour!

UPDATE: Reader William Hughes writes: “You do realize that Stargate was a 10-year series? A total of 214 episodes… Yes, I’ve seen every episode, and yes, I already have the series on DVD. :)”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Another reader emails:

So, I live in China most of the time, and DVDs are as expensive as they are legal. (Five to ten RMB per DVD depending on quality, quantity, and how much of a sucker they think you are)

I’d expect to pay fifty or sixty bucks for the full-blown SG-1 54 disk package, a bit less than half the price on Amazon. Usually, the US-China price ratio is closer to ten to one than two to one… making this a pretty good deal. The other option in China, sometimes, is one season per disk. The quality is what you’d expect, but if you just want to catch up on story lines, it’s an economical alternative. If you can find it.

Bargain prices there.

TALK RADIO IS the new terrorism. I remember when dissent was the highest form of patriotism! Just a few months ago, in fact . . . .

CITY-SCALE Climate Engineering. Well, dammit, if I can’t have my flying car, I’d at least like a domed city or two. I mean, it’s the 21st Century for crying out loud. . .

BANANA DEMOCRATS.

KATRINA PEARSON invites Janeane Garafolo to a Tea Party.

BAMBOO: The next big cash crop? Given the effort it takes to keep a patch from taking over your entire lawn, it should do well . . . .

HMM: June Federal Receipts: The Dive Continues, As Does Media Near Silence. John Galt was unavailable for comment.

UPDATE: Hmm. “It’s interesting that while the economy was booming under Bush, the MSM kept telling us we were in a recession. Now, when we really are in dire financial straits, the MSM is silent. It’s almost as if they have an agenda or something…”