GONE FISHIN' I'll be back August 1. We'll have a fish fry. I'll invite the Rumsfelds.

THE GATEKEEPERS As we ramble on about Americans spying on Americans, it doesn't hurt to think of better ways to ensure that we maintain (or, God forbid) bolster democracy and freedom even as we put measures in place to minimize the risks inherent in having open borders. The Village Voice suggests 10 ways to do this.

RADIO FREE ARABIA The Voice of America has gone lite. Moving from the AM to the FM band, dumping long-format interviews in favor of hip Arabic pop, the U.S.-run radio station's Middle East station is becoming a hit with the kids. And it's joining a slew of stations seeking to influence the region with native language music and news.

THE MUSLIM THREAT A lengthy piece in the Partisan Review explores some of the solid reasons why Europe has more to fear from Muslim Fundamentalism than the United States does. And why Europe has mostly itself to blame for this.

THE SLIDING SCALES IN AFRICA The U.N. Human Rights Development report measures "life expectancy at birth, adult literacy, combined primary and secondary school education and gross domestic product (GDP) to calculate the 'human development index' for individual nations. The report also considers factors such as human freedom, dignity and the role of people in shaping development," says allafrica.com. Almost every African nation is on the 173-country list of least developed nations. It should be alarming, but not surprising. And it should provoke action, not a shrug.

LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION This editorial in Lebanon's Daily Star has to make you wonder if the U.S. knows how to think strategically about its friendships in the world. In this piece, I almost hear the voice of Uncle Sam's mother saying, "If Israel jumps off a bridge, are you going to as well?" It may well be that the current Administration doesn't care about the negative effects of our close alignment with Israel creates in the broader Arab world, or that it believes those effects can be off-balanced by other activities. But there is clear evidence that a strong link exists for Arabs between the actions of Israel and the United States. There is not so much evidence that it matters to the Bush team.

PERPLEXED BY THE PRINCE In this commentary in Lebanon's Daily Star, Fahed Fanek wonders what Jordan's Prince Hassan's motives were in meeting with Iraqi dissidents in London earlier this month.

A NEW FIND Fleeingrabbit.com is a new stumbling block on my periodic web-wanderings. Peruse a few days of content. Don't do headstands in the pool.

RISKY BUSINESS David Ignatius, who splits his time as a columnist between the two most explosive areas of the world -- Middle East and Wall Street -- wonders whether the new business regulations being passed by Congress are really a good thing. His point? The regulations regulate risk, and while risk is what got the Enrons of the world into this muddle, it's also what got the Ciscos and Microsofts and Southwest Airlines into the market over the past 15 years. He points to the risk-averse culture that almost strangled the CIA since the late 1970s.

HEY CUPCAKES I took the day off. Check back on Friday for frenzied bursts of thought-provoking information and their friendly companions, the links. Then I'm off for vacation, and will return next Wednesday with a noggin' full of culture, a stomach full of food, and ready to quit my day job.

AH, MY CHESAPEAKE No, it's nothing like your Waterloo. Today's Post piece on the Chesapeake Bay takes a look at the artists who have nestled into its tributaries and river nooks. It's the water, and it's the people who work on it, and it's the poetry that the two create, quite by accident.

PERFECT WRITING I get excited when I find writing that just feels perfect, that oozes life, that flows with a natural rhythm borne of exuberance. Donna Tartt's homage to her friend and mentor Willie Morris, the lively Mississippi writer, is that sort of writing. Simply lovely stuff.

LET US KNOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN Or at least Umberto Eco, my Italian god-genius of literary analysis. In this brief essay, Eco says that there is an art to writing (well, sure) and that it involves stretching the canvas -- using language strategically, emphasizing thoughtful repitition and rhythm. Amen.

SANER MINDS Scott Ritter was chief weapons inspector for the U.N. in Iraq in the 1990s, and raises some clear arguments for questioning the validity of launching a war on Iraq. How odd that with all the candid and open indications that the U.S. is preparing to go to war as early as this fall against another nation, no one has actually asked for concrete evidence that Iraq is anything more than another thug state (like so many of our allies around the world). I'm on the fence about the threat Iraq poses, but I'm not on the fence about the importance of evidence, the seriousness of war, or the many possible outcomes (most of which begin with the word "destabilization") that a regime change in Iraq could create.

UNDERSTATED Always a gentle visit.

THE WRONG WAR The war on global population took several steps back this week when the Bush Administration withheld $34 million (12 percent of the agency's budget) for ideological reasons. The sad fact of the matter is that the Bush Administration's arguments for not providing funding were refuted by its own State Department (not a new story there). And women and families in the poorest parts of the world will continue to suffer the consequences of our good intentions being subsumed by our bad decision.

THIS MAKES ME CRABBY I can handle the idea of surimi. I can even enjoy eating it in the right context. I just can't stand the fact that people have the gall to market it as a crab substitute. If I've ever cooked for you, you understand why it makes me gnash my teeth. At least now I understand surimi better; I still don't have to enjoy it.

SWINGING NOT ALLOWED Well, young Steven Olson (age seven) now owns the patent for swinging (yes, the sort of swinging normal seven-year-olds do). Well, a patent for a type of swinging. Regardless, the plain and simple fact that I have to apply for a swinging license from the seven-year-old inventor of a method of swinging on a swing... it just disturbs me.

ASK ALICE The Toronto Globe & Mail gives a nice, spot-on review of Neil Gaiman's new, creepy children's book, "Coraline." Designed to make small children tremble, which makes it the perfect Halloween gift. Assuming you actually hand out presents instead of candy.

SKIN, FORKS I was steered toward the Cooper-Hewitt by a friend who'd seen their new exhibit on skin (Skin: Surface, Substance, and Design) and then got completely fidgety and happy to see that they have a retrospective on Russel Wright, one of my fav industrial designers. It'll be nice to see these in person.

ONE AXIS Get over the postmod background messaging about a reporter named Pepe Escobar writing for a publication called Asia Times, and take a minute to peruse his multi-part series on Iran. Escobar spent part of May and June reporting on the shifting cultural, political and religious sands that are Iran. Good introduction to Iran for those who'd like to wiggle their toes in it.

WOWED BY THE RUT Jeanne Marie Laskas went to China to adopt a child and squeezed belief out of thin air. And now she's home and everything is different, simply because she is.

OUT THERE When Peter Carlson emerges from the ether to pen a story, I usually pay attention -- he's got style and he gets the offbeat topics. Like this gem, where he digs into the mysterious UFO sightings of 1952 with unidentified flying objects buzzing the White House and that decade's version of Donald Rumsfeld sandbagging the press interest with one long-winded press conference. Hot air, indeed.