David Ignatius,"From Venice, A Lesson on Empire," Washington Post, 20 September, reviews a recent conference of conservative historians who thought Venice might be a good model for American Empire. Thanks to Dave Merkowitz for the tip.

Cambridge UP's Orlando is a searchable archive of 20,000 listings on 1000 women writers in the British Isles. The pricing structure ranges from $2,950 for institutions to $105 for individuals per annum. Miriam Burstein may want to give the free 30-day trial a look.

Rob MacDougall,"King Crank," Old is the New New, 20 September, lets us know what Rob's been up to in the Archives of Useless Research; and Tim Burke's"Failure and Knowledge," Easily Distracted, 20 September, makes the case for the publication of negative findings. I s'pose if it's both negative and useless you may want to put it in a drawer somewhere.

Peter Steinfels,"Be Not Afraid," American Prospect, 12 September, reviews five recent books on the religious right.

Ken Silverstein,"Six Questions for Dr. Emile A. Nakhleh on the CIA and the Iraq War," Harpers, 20 September, gets some answers from the recently retired Director of the CIA's Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program. Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.

Finally, at Siris, Brandon Watson suggests that Christopher Hitchens'"Papal Bull," Slate, 18 September, is both negative and useless; and Benedict XVI gets the Jon Stewart treatment. Thanks to Kevin Drum for the tip.