INVESTIGATIVE QUESTIONS The gripping testimony of the past week on the Hill, both about al Qaeda specifically and terrorist threats in general, has raised some uncomfortable questions for the government. Hopefully, those questions will lead to real change, and possibly some accountability. But, as this Post editorial notes, moving forward, "...of particular concern now, therefore, is how to augment domestic intelligence without compromising civil liberties -- and how to craft an agency capable of doing so effectively. Can the FBI be reformed, or is it hopelessly rooted in its crime-fighting traditions? Testimony before the joint committee this week that the bureau repeatedly played down al Qaeda's domestic capability before the attacks -- though without conducting a comprehensive assessment -- shows what a long way it has to go."

WORK FUN I first saw a preview for "Secretary" in New York this summer, and immediately added it to my very short list of fall releases I am excited to see. Excited is probably not the right word to use, is it? At any rate... salon.com pays it a visit.

THE DEATH OF ART Theresa Pollak, who founded Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts, died in her sleep at the age of 103 this week. While the school has lost some of its arts "oomph" in recent years, it remains one of the largest in the nation, and Pollak was a consistent voice for the arts throughout her life. "Many parents of my students wanted their children to do something pretty," she said in an interview in 2000. "I wanted them to do something strong."

THE BAGS HAVE BEEN PACKED Drop your house warming gifts off at floricane.com, the new home of Buttermilk & Molasses. A floricane, for those who have a yen to know, is: the flowering and fruiting stem of a bramble.

EMPTY BOTTLE WAS HALF EMPTY Rhett Miller unloads to New Times LA about his new solo release, and New Times LA unloads on him.

JULIA CHILDS SENT HER TO HELL When we last left Julie, she was an optimist. What miracles a week can work. Or wreak. But the eggs were so good.

WELCOME TO CHARM CITY Baltimore -- Not America's Sweetheart. So says City Paper. "Charm? A simulacrum of a mostly white Baltimore gone by and trumped up by kitsch-loving, mostly white newspaper columnists, most of whom didn't grow up here. Pleasant living? Save that shit for wistful memories of the clean, crab-heavy, skipjack-era Chesapeake. (Besides, they don't brew Natty Boh here no more, hon.)" (Follow the links on the left of this City Paper page to peruse their Best of Baltimore.)

BUYING ANOTHER VOWELL Baltimore's City Paper takes a look at Sarah Vowell's new collection of essays, "The Partly Cloudy Patriot," and declares her almost ready for prime time.

PROSECUTING WAR Dahlia Lithwick takes a look back to see whether we've been successful at prosecuting terrorism in the courtroom prior to last September 11. The answer is yes.˛

THE GET-UP KID She left. She saw. She liked the way Portland alphabetized their streets. And her archives are good.

WAR WITH IRAQ EVITE How will we know how many bottles of champagne to chill if you don't let us know you're coming?

THE LINES BLUR As my eye doctor says repeatedly, "This or this? This or this?" The distinction between "enemy combatant" and criminal is becoming less clear as time passes and more individuals are arrested in Pakistan, Germany and within the United States. Yet, the decisions about whether to proceed within the U.S. criminal court system, a military tribunal or through some international agency create important distinctions, ones which the Bush administration seems unwilling to make.

CURSES, FOILED AGAIN! Boris, call Natasha. It'll be interesting to see where this little turn of events takes things, but I'll be away and out of sight for a few days and will miss the excitement. You cats enjoy the twists and counter-turns.

BE AFRAID. Pat Buchanan, who is as strident and insane as they made them back in the day, takes Dick Cheney to task. Strange bedfellows, indeed.

BOOK FRENZY Two books in two weeks that have exceeded my expectations -- who'd've thunk it? "Angel Rock," by Australian novelist Darren Williams, is the latest: lyrical, well-paced and thick with character.

NOT QUITE THE BOMB Graphic novelist Warren Ellis kicks off a new feature at artbomb.com -- in a nutshell, whatever tickles his fancy at the moment is captured in the series of bits and bytes we know as a webpage. This go around he chats with Laurenn McCubbin, co-creator of the short story collection, XXXLiveNudeGirls.

POSTMODERN PROPAGANDA Yes, yes. I'm well aware that Postmodernism is dead, along with its red-headed stepchild, Irony. Nonetheless, here are some amusing revisions of classic World War (Ein und Zwei) propaganda posters, updated for a new era. My fav? "Carpooling: Bad for Big Oil. Bad for Detroit! Bad for America! One person per SUV is the rule!"

TJ AND THE PIRATES I first learned of this curious chapter of American history when I was seven, reading a tattered collection of Illustrated Classics comic books that my grandmother kept in her pantry. But for some reason, I have a strong, lingering memory of the pirates sending Thomas Jefferson a box with the severed head of an American sailor in it, and how that really set the old boy off.