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…which means it’s Muslim Anger Day on BBC Online. Today it’s an apparent storm over Jack Straw’s comments about the face veil worn by some Muslim women. Right now it’s the main article on the website, with two sub-articles immediately underneath, plus a video clip and photo, then a link to “Have your say” in the right hand column, a link under Video & Audio news and a heading under Features, Views & Analysis. Forget 17,000 people told to flee the explosion at the chemical plant in the US: boring. Tonight’s PM on BBC Radio4 gave it impressive coverage, but something was clearly amiss because they had to get Melanie Philips on (columnist for the Daily Mail, author of the book Londonistan and regular Moral Mazist) to contribute to the debate — but even she was rather thrown when the presenter asked what they were doing (sitting in two parts of London and discussing the matter) when she insisted that communication is impossible when you cannot see the other person’s face. She stuttered: it was like a bolt from the blue. The Road to Damascus moment when she realised what telephones were. The programme ended with several letters from people tired of one-way Multiculturalism, of Muslims not respecting our culture, of how we respect their culture when we go to “their” countries (except when sunbathing on Egyptian and Turkish beaches) and so “they” should do the same, about how they have to take their shoes off when visiting mosques (and my house) etc. etc. No angry Muslims though. Even the one Muslim woman who wears the veil they had on the programme only sounded mildly peeved. Yes, it’s multiculturalism gone mad! Um, well it’s not. It’s an excessively hyped story which is already falling flat — and the only people talking about it are obsessive it’s-multiculturalism-gone-mad-ists and bored journalists, oh, and me. But that’s only because I’m looking forward to the next installment, same time next week. “Muslim anger about ban on parking on double-yellow lines – shock”.