BALANCING LADY JUSTICE'S SCALES Hurrah for Slate senior editor Dahlia Lithwick for her very smart, slightly long commentary on where the line can best be drawn between arresting everyone and ignoring everything in our battle against terror. Her argument is fairly simple: this is neither solely a criminal matter, nor is it entirely a war. And if it is the best of both worlds (or the worst), how do you balance them? She asks: "So, if we are neither at peace nor at war, what are we doing to stop these terrorists? It's the imaginative and conceptual failure of both the government and the public that has led us to this swampy middle ground where the state avails itself of the worst of both worlds. The rhetoric of war has allowed the Bush administration to cherry-pick among the tools and rules from the arsenals of both the criminal-law and war machines. In declaring this "war," the president and John Ashcroft have seized the executive authority of wartime and used it mainly to distort the domestic legal mechanisms of peacetime.""

STILL STATING THE OBVIOUS Robert Wright continues his nine-part Slate.com series on his view of terrorism. The series is his attempt to stop whining and start explaining. Presumably, by chapter nine he will get into some sort of solutions kick. At any rate, in Episode Two ("The Angry Song") we hear Wright posit some obvious conclusions: there are more angry people in the world, and it takes fewer angry people to kill more unangry people than it used to. BUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT Wright delves into some prescriptives here, as he points out that angry people who can kill more with less are a foreign policy issue, and there are foreign policy solutions (or partial solutions) that can be employed to nibble away at the problem. AND WHAT ABOUT ISLAM? Installment four has Wright turning to scholar Bernard Lewis, which is a shame since Lewis is bright and knowledgeable, but misses some large points in his treatises on the Arab world. But Wright gets closer to Mecca when he talks about the role technology is playing, and should continue to play, in beating down the hatches of repression.

REMEMBERING WHY The Valley Advocate suddenly rules my roost, even if I don't buy my panini in Hartford. Here's why. Boycott the media next Wednesday, they say. Because, "if you just sit back and let the talking heads and the faceless talkers and the opinion columnists "put it all in perspective" for you, you'll end up with no perspective at all. The sheer volume of it will overwhelm you. It'll all start to swirl around in your head. You'll begin having trouble picking out your own thoughts in the clamor and cacophony. And in the end, you might not have any thoughts of your own left at all. Or none, at any rate, that aren't so impure, so caked with media mud that they're largely unsalvageable. More likely, you'll end up with a head full of other people's ideas, the bulk of which won't be worth the airwaves and the paper it took to get them there. " Do what matters, and remember by being thoughtfully alive.

SPINART TIDAL WAVE spinART Records is deluging the world with good music this month: a CD with 9 unreleased Pixies' tracks, two new Frank Black discs that are supposed to be stellar, and a new Pere Ubu release.

PETER MAASS AGREES: We already have an American idol at the Lincoln Memorial.

THE LIFE OF A REGISTERED CITIZEN Apparently, the deep content at washingtonpost.com requires you to register, which I did many years ago. As a result, I bounce around the site without little boxes screaming at me to give up my personal data. My point? I link to the Post often, usually because a specific writer or subject catches my eye. If you want detail behind my summary blurb, you'll probably have to register at their site. Sorry for the inconvenience. Fact of life in 2002. I'd just enter fake data and let their little cookie sit on your hard drive with all the rest. Microsoft already sells the data to the government.

GO AHEAD AND DRIP HOT GLUE IN MY EYE Every now and again, I start to feel reasonably good about the balanced role of popular culture in our society. Then I read things like this: "American Idol winner to sing National Anthem for 9/11 Memorial Service in D.C." As the Washington Post points out: "At the place where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I have a dream" speech, where Marian Anderson was invited by the FDR administration to sing "America" after the Daughters of the American Revolution snubbed her for being black, the "American Idol" winner" will make her appearance. What rubbish. And I say that knowing full well that everyone involved probably has generally good intentions (coupled with a drive to commercialize their new "product").

TANGLED UP IN WEB WRITING The Morning News tackles everyone's favorite subject: What's the deal with writing for the Web? What works, and why? Is there any way to truly represent three-dimensional objects using a series of points? Um, wait. That's another subject. Anyhoo, a nice roundtable discussion, even if I don't have my own copyeditor.

WHAT'S REALLY DIFFERENT David Ignatius shows his smarts today in plain English. What changed after September 11? Look no further than the way America views firemen and financial tycoons today.

HERE COMES THE JUDGE A curious and informing profile of Federal District Judge Robert Doumar, who is grappling with the Administration over the detention of American-born Yaser Hamdi. Here's a sampling: Nor did the [government's] statement indicate how long the alleged Taliban volunteer might be held without access to counsel. "How long does it take to question a man?" Doumar wondered. "A year? Two years? Ten years? A lifetime? How long?" "The present detention is lawful," the government lawyer said. "If they sat him in boiling oil," Doumar asked, "would that be lawful?" Doumar, who is of Syrian descent, is also part of the family that runs Doumar's, a Norfolk diner and institution that lays claim for founding the ice cream cone. This is more of a personality piece than anything else, but it adds perspective to one of the more challenging aspects of the current judicial situation.

CHANNELING BABS Dana Milbank puts forth his assessment of Bush, which is summed up by a Bush supporter who once told him, "You have your daddy's eyes and your momma's mouth." It's interesting to view the President through the lens of his mother, especially when most of the world has focused on similarities between him and Poppy.

IT SHOULDN'T BE SATIRE But, alas, it is. Flak Magazine's piece reacting to the August announcement by "The Organization for Better Living" that the first car of every MTA train in New York City is the "singles car" is primarily amusing because it was first out of the gate. Or at least first across my screen.

WE ALL WIN BY LOSING Howard Kurtz pulls together myriad summaries of why the Bush Administration would win politically if the Democrats retake the House and hold onto a majority in the Senate. The main theme is that Bush could blame the Democrats for war, terrorism, economic calamity and the plague of locusts. I read a good counter-argument last week that suggested the Democrats could win politically by letting the Republicans retain control of the House. Now that I agree with. Hold the Senate, choke on the House and get a majority of the gobernatorial gavels.

ON GERMAN ELECTIONS Naumann's second installment leading up to German national elections later this month. Here's a primer for you: The Social Democrats are left-of-center, the Christian Democrats are right-of-center, and the Greens are left of the Social Democrats. Schroder (sorry, I can't find my umlaut) is SDU, and his challenger, Stoiber, is Christan Democrat. The best line in Naumann's piece today: "[Stoiber's] attempt to out-soccer Schröder, however, took a bad turn recently, when he kicked a hard ball into the face of an innocent elderly bystander, a loyal lady, whose glasses broke under the impact, yet who excused the hapless player, while blood streamed from her nose: she would vote for Stoiber nevertheless. How German is that?"

THE WRIGHT SOLUTION Slate's Robert Wright has been hounded for his ongoing nit-picking about the way the Bush Administration is dealing with terrorism. He's finally decided to do something about it. More specifically, he's decided to spend the next several weeks outlining his specific ideas and solutions, which will prove to be an interesting exercise on his part. I will comment on and link to his most promising reports. Today, he gets to the point. Tomorrow, he tackles radical Islamism.Ë?

SULLIVAN VS. ANDERSON: THE BLOG DEBATE Not so much a debate as a friendly exchange, but Andrew Sullivan and Kurt Anderson present a smart exchange of letters on the weblog world. If you're in a rush, skim Sul livan and skip to Anderson, who I think hits the real point: weblogs at their worst are self-serving, dim, flashy and unsubstantial, but at their best they either display the real-time workings of bright minds or a whimsical meandering through a curious perspective, and for either of these two reasons are worth their weight in virtual salt.…›

THE IRAQ DEBATE James Webb, assistant secretary of defense and Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, chimes in today with a new set of questions and arguments about the possibility of an attack on Iraq. Among Webb's more cogent points is this: The single greatest military victory ever achieved by the United States was the result of diplomacy, strategy and military detente (with a healthy dose of economics and culture). And Germany's calculated mistake of assuming it could defeat France in 42 days led to World War One and the deaths of millions. Webb offers good reason to believe a modified Cold War approach to Iraq might be better than the march on Bagdhad strategem.

WHEN MOSQUITOS BITE Today's lead editorial in the Post ponders al Qaeda, and asks one of the more important questions of the day: What is the administration's "strategy for neutralizing al Qaeda's reemerging tentacles"? With an appropriate nod to the fact that the last year has had proven successes, the Post looks ahead. Evidence suggests that al Qaeda is reforming in northern (Kurdish) Iraq, in parts of Iran, in Sudan. As the Post states, "it may be that aggressive covert action is underway in Iran, Sudan and elsewhere. What is visible uncomfortably resembles the pre-9/11 U.S. approach to al Qaeda in Afghanistan -- sporadic and ineffectual measures that avoided a head-on confrontation with the sheltering regime." Let's hope in the coming weeks and months, the administration doesn't distract itself too much in other arenas.

PHOTOLISCIOUS If you suddenly see ten photos on my weblog one morning, it'll be because I've seen a topic I like at photojunkie.com, which is holding it's 100K Photocontest this month. Every three days, a new theme will be announced. Participants have three days to post 10 pictures on their weblog. And so on.

THE MAGIC STICK I stumbled across this little tidbit at Boing Boing and couldn't stop rolling my eyes. Contrast these two reviews of the new Harry Potter Nimbus 2000 Broom, which vibrates and has special sound effects. Reviewer 1: "When my 12 year old daughter asked for this for her birthday, I kind of wondered if she was too old for it, but she seems to LOVE it. Her friends love it too! They play for hours in her bedroom with this great toy... My oldest daughter (17) really likes it too!" Reviewer 3: "The broomstick has cute sound effects and ***VIBRATES*** when they put it between their legs to fly. Come on---what were the creators of this toy thinking? She'll keep playing with the Nimbus 2000, but with the batteries removed. "

BURNING MAN 2002 Take a peek at the photos if you're interested. If you have to ask, move on to the next link.

YOUR AMERICANA FIX Tom Tomorrow spent the weekend in Vermont at the Shelburne Museum to admire the museum's exhibition on Airstream-style trailers. He has all the links at his weblog, as well as gallons of his savvy strip, "This Modern World."

SMALL CELEBRATIONS Five months and 2,500 visitors is not too stellar. Considering that my first real weblog posts in April (at the bottom of the linked page) and my most current in September both cite Sullivan, Arkin and Iraq, I can at least chalk one up for consistency.

WHITHER GERMANY? Die Zeit Chief Editor Michael Naumann has introduced perhaps one of the more fascinating weblogs I've seen yet. In conjunction with opendemocracy.net, Naumann will be posting daily for the next three weeks leading into what is shaping up to be one of the most momentous European elections in a decade. Or longer. Naumann is blessed with a storehouse of experience, knowledge and insight. More importantly, he writes well and makes sense, even when the election he's covering doesn't.

BOPPING BLUE RABBITS Heather's guest rabbit Judith let loose this month with more facts and figures than you need to help put to rest the conflict between the "Rabbit" Foo Foo-ers and the "Bunny" Foo-Foo-ers. It's all part of harruumph.com's rabbit rabbit exercise.

TODAY'S MOMENT OF LAUGHTER I don't know why I never got the memo. But once it arrived, it made me laugh aloud.

THE RIGHTS OF WAR William Arkin, columnist of Dot.Mil, continues his fine string of writing on the state of the war and the state of the world. In this, he posits two thoughts. One is how the nature of the conflict America has draped itself in (I say draped, since we did have a choice between declaring the September attacks to be criminal, rather than declarations of war, and most of our responses would have been very different) has put the Administration in a bit of a box. The second has to do with the fact that the box has become a source of fascination for the Bush Administration. Arkin makes an excellent point when he says that "the war against terrorism is not the core United States national interest... If we hope to secure our pride and economy, and our way of life, we need to recognize a year after Sept. 11 that we are not doing very well at convincing the world that we are good friends and good neighbors. All we are doing is leading with our chin, taunting tomorrow's warrior to find the next World Trade Center disaster." The Administration needs to enlarge its view of the world, ask what our true interests are and put large tactical activity like Afghanistan or Iraq or al Qaeda into a truer national context.

AURAL The Morning News -- after a long paragraph that just babbles on about "alternative band signs with major label" nonsense -- gets to the business of reviewing the new major label release by And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. It sounds groovy, rocking and relaxing, which is as good as rock gets. Even with a piano.

GET NERVOUS Nervousness.org is the home of Nervous Industries, which is a collaborative space seeking to combine web community conversation and connectivity with land-based mail to distribute art and esoterica. Really. That's the best I could come up with before I ran out of breath. When I have time, I'll design some arty matchbooks or something, but for now: click, read the welcome and "What are objects" section, and decide if you want to wade in. Lots of interesting, arty tidbits floating in this space.

WHO IS BUSH? The decidedly liberal American Political Science Association gathered in Boston recently, and one of their struggles was to get a handle on the Bush Administration. Their perspectives ran the gamut.

A NEW VIEW Or an old one, depending on whether you've been paying attention. Andrew Sullivan, who once in a blue moon strikes a good chord with me, has selected Michael Ledeen's "The War Against the Terror Masters" as his Book Club selection, and allows Ledeen the opportunity to introduce the book on Sullivan's site. Ledeen, who has covered terrorism since the mid-80s, tosses out a few cogent thoughts here -- enough that I'll probably pick up his book. His targets are pretty solid: Iraq, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia are the four states with their fingers in the network, he says. And his argument that tyranny is the common denominator of those countries, not religion or ethnicity, resonates with my perspective.

COVERING THE COVER-UPS Flak Magazine takes a peek at a new collection of essays, "Into the Buzzsaw: Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of the Free Press," and if you have a penchant for distrusting the government, big business or the corporate media... well, this might not be a book you want to read. Flak focuses on TWA Flight 800, which crashed off the coast of Long Island in the late 1990s. According to more than a handful of journalists who covered the crash, many signs point to an accidental missile firing by the U.S. Navy as being the cause. Flak makes the government handling and the media need for speed seem sad at best.

THE HILL IS ALIVE With the sound of lie detector tests. And that's not a good thing, says the editorial board of the Washington Post. As the FBI continues its investigation of the Senate and House intelligence committees -- searching for the leakers of secret NSA intercepts -- the Post wonders whether the short-term gain is worth the long-term cost.

FADING FUNDAMENTALISM? Fareed Zakaria's opinion piece in the Post this morning uses Sherlock Holmes to reach an interesting conclusion. The relative silence -- and even the deteriorating status -- of Islamism in the past year is significant. Zakaria reminds readers that the status of fundamentalist Islam does not correspond with the status of al Qaeda, nor does it diminish the regional bubbles of demographics and economics in the Middle East. But it is an explosion that many feared would erupt last year, and in fact one that has been perculating in some countries for years. What will be important to see is whether Islamism is being defused, or whether it's simply taking a breather.