An astute reader sent this a few days ago: How an Egyptian student came to study 1950s America and left determined to wage holy war. It's from The Smithsonian, which isn't exactly known for multi-cultural intolerance. It's pretty good.
Funny story: About ten years ago, a family member received an invitation to donate and subscribe to The Smithsonian. He scrawled on the postcard, "I wouldn't give you leftwing nuts a dime," then mailed it back (a pre-paid card, he wanted to cost them an extra 20 cents for the postage). About two months later, he started receiving The Smithsonian and dunning letters, claiming he subscribed and he better pay or they'd turn him over to a credit collection agency. He asked me what he should do. I told him that The Smithsonian needed to go into their databank and retrieve the postcard in order to have any proof of contract. He told them to produce the postcard and, if appropriate, he'd pay in full. They said they'd retrieve the postcard and send him a copy as proof. Miracles of miracles, he never heard from them again.
I would've loved to have seen the look on their bill collector's face when the office boy brought in that postcard.
