THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

... IN ELIZABETHTOWN, which opened the 41st Chicago International Film Festival. The movie started late, after Roger Ebert interviewed Susan Sarandon and director Cameron Crowe, so this will be a brief, general, spoiler-free review. If you want a more trad review, check Michael Wilmington.

Elizabethtown is very much a Cameron Crowe movie in the mold of Say Anything or Almost Famous, though I don't think it's as good as either. I reserve the right to revise that opinion, as the stately Chicago Theater is not well-wired for movie sound and sound -- particularly music -- is as important to this movie in its way as it was in a different way to Almost Famous. The structure of the film seems a bit flawed, as I think Crowe is trying to tell two similarly themed stories and did not get them to quite fit together, and was unable to intertwine separate stories as he did with Singles. I think this contributes to the sense that the film runs long, even though he just trimmed about 12 minutes out of it in the past week or so (and that sense may have been amplified by the late start tonght).

Orlando Bloom does a creditable job with a new type of role for him (though Crowe seems to have directed him to do a bit of John Cusack-esque staring in wonder in a way that was too obvious for my taste). Kirsten Dunst was surprisingly good, in the sense that when I am not watching a movie she's in, I can explain why I don't care for her or even find her attractive, but I am always surprised by the degree to which I've liked her in a few things as I'm watching them. The rest of the cast is fine, though they aren't given much to do (with the exception of Sarandon, who gets a couple of funny moments and o­ne really good scene). And Crowe delivers plenty of moments that are alternately funny and touching in the way that Crowe seems to have down when he doesn't slide into "You had me at hello." If Almost Famous is largely about Crowe's relationship with his mother, Elizabethtown may be largely about his relationship to his father. Note that I changed prepositions in that last sentence and you may understand the ways in which I think Crowe muddles a bit with this o­ne by comparison. Indeed, there's a scene where Bloom's character discusses how well he knows his father that would explain this also.

This brief blurb probably comes off as more negative than I would intend it to sound if I had more time to write. I enjoyed Elizabethtown and have every intention of visiting again. Indeed, anyone who knows my fondness for making mix CDs, particularly for road trips, will emerge from this movie knowing that this is my kind of movie. Next Friday, everyone can find out if it's their kind of movie; some of you may like it even more than I did.

MY MORNING JACKET tells Paste magazine that the sound of the band's new record and appearing in Elizabethtown is just the band doing its own thing. It seems that most critics are digging the Z album.

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE: Having just linked to Metacritic, I would be remiss if I did not notice that BSS's self-titled sophomore album is also garnering wide acclaim.

LESLIE FEIST: The part-time BSS member tells the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix that she's content to slowly build a career: "Every o­nce in a while I'm talking to my grandma about (touring) and she says, 'Aren't you tired?' and I say, 'C'mon, were you tired during the Depression?'"

BRIAN WILSON: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution engages in some checkbook journalism by shelling out that hundred bucks for hurricane relief to get a call from the legendary songwriter. In fact, they did it four times. Brian managed to promote his upcoming Christmas album.

SELLING OUT is not so stigmatizing these days. However, in Paste magazine, Montreal's Wolf Parade declares it will not put a song o­n The O.C.

THE SECOND COMING? The Jesus and Mary Chain (who picked up where your precious Echo left off) acrimoniously split in 1998, but Jim and William Reid are contributing to the sides of a new split single. Younger sister Linda Reid is also involved.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer's band Babyshambles axed from an Icelandic music festival in the wake of the scandals swirling around him and sometimes galpal Moss. Meanwhile, the shamed supermodel will be arrested o­n suspicion of supplying cocaine when she returns to Britain, according to London's ever-reliable Sun.

NATALIE MERCHANT lists her "Music You Should Hear" at Amazon, featuring distinctive vocalists from Tom Waits to Mahalia Jackson.

MIXTAPES: Now, the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do's and don'ts. Stereogum points you to very big, intentional and funny don'ts.

HALLOWEEN MIX: There's a horror compilation killing music at WFMU's coincidentally-named Beware of the Blog.

THE NEW THEMATIC is a blog killing offbeat music from the 1960's.

ERIC CLAPTON will play until he dies, because he lives large. That's very bluesy.

VAN HALEN might be the next band to recruit a new singer through a reality TV show, according to the gossip e-mailer popbitch.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: I just stumbled across a review of last week's concert in Chicago, where she tossed the set list to play a Louisiana-themed show.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Is it just me, or was the New York Post implying something about Holmes' pregnancy? Will the pregnancy affect their plans for a November wedding? I can think of two reasons why the date won't move. BTW, when Holmes signed up with Cruise, do you think she knew that Scientology are not o­nly against drugs, but also insist o­n "silent birth" because they believe it's traumatic for babies to hear their mothers groan or cry? Happy Labor Day, Katie!

MADONNA: No Rock and Roll Fun thinks Madge doesn't know her audience. She's trying to interest Oprah in Kabbalah. And it turns out that hubby Guy Ritchie isn't a fan of her work.

BRITNEY SPEARS is reportedly upset that her husband Cletus isn't any more interested in fatherhood than he was when he walked out o­n the pregnant Shar Jackson to hook up with the pop tart.

RENEE ZELLWEGER personally stopped by the New York Post to set the record straight about her friendship with Damien Rice and her love of the Red Sox. Other celebs might learn something from her direct approach.

HARRY POTTER is probably not gay. NTTAWWT.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL had no inhibitions about acting out the gay sex scenes in forthcoming movie Brokeback Mountain: "As soon as I read the script I wanted to do it." I have no doubt of that.

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, Sean Penn, Kirsten Dunst and Britney Spears are among those outed as bad tippers.

JESSICA ALBA: William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman made her cry. Just imagine what they'll do to her o­nce they find out Alba has outed them as her acting teachers.

SHIRLEY MacLAINE would have liked to work with Marlon Brando; they talk about it all the time.

ROSIE O'DONNELL has a Flickr account. I would recommend viewing it by turning your back to the screen, holding up a piece of cardboard with a pinhole poked into it and viewing the light coming from the pinhole o­n another piece of paper.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AS JOHNNY ROTTEN? Nnnnnnoooooooo!

WAYNE MANOR was reportedly gutted by fire, which would have been a case of life imitatating Batman Begins. Happily, later reports correct the record.

WATCHING OPRAH may be hazardous to your health, if any further evidence was necessary.

ALBERT BROOKS' Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World has been accepted in the Dubai Film Festival and will debut there in December.

GEORGE CLOONEY'S Good Night and Good Luck, about Edward R. Murrow's confrontation with Sen. Joe McCarthy, opens in limited release today and scores extremely well o­n the Tomatometer. However, at Slate, Jack Shafer has a well-sourced two-part article detailing how divorced from reality the movie is.

IRAQ: Michael Yon delivers another dispatch, primarily about the progress of the Iraqi police in Mosul, that is by turns illuminating, funny and heart-rending. Bill Roggio rounds up Operations River Gates and Iron Fist, as well as Operation Saratoga in north-central Iraq. And media outlets from the AP and Reuters to the BBC and Sky News seem to be using photos and videos staged by insurgents for propaganda purposes. Nice.

ESPIONAGE UPDATE: The New York Tiimes clarifies that the FBI agent accused of passing classified info to government officials in the Philippines, allegedly removed material from FBI computers; investigators have yet to determine whether material had been taken from the vice president's office.

"HONOR" KILLING: An Oxford student fell in love with a 19-year-old and made her pregnant, so her father, Chomir Ali, allegedly ordered her brother, Mohammed Mujibar Rahman, to kill the student, who was found with 46 stab wounds, mainly to the chest.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE OIL: Knight-Ridder notices the the enormous oil sands deposits in the north of Canada's remote Alberta province. Regular readers here already knew this.

NANOTECH: The book Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines is available for free o­nline.

ROBOT HUMMER GETS POLE in a government-sponsored race across the Mojave Desert that will pit 23 robots against o­ne another.

ROBOT FISH due to be unveiled at the London Aquarium, but you can see them now.

BEER COASTER signals bartender for refills.

ANONYMOUS BLOGGER wins a round in the Delaware Supreme Court, heightening protection for the right to speak anonymously.

SHARK NICOLE logs more than 12,000 miles swimming from Africa to Australia and back, the first proof of a link between the two continents' shark populations.

SUPER-KOALA habitat threatened down under, raising the question of why they don't use their super-powers to stop the threat.

FAKE DOG TESTICLES win the Ig Nobel Prize for medicine.

FRIDAY TIMEWASTER: Helicopter! What, did you think I forgot?

MICK JAGGER'S GIRLFRIEND has been nicknamed the "new Yoko Ono" for to get them to tidy up their appearance and live a healthier lifestyle o­n their world tour. Jerry Hall is enjoying a good gloat. To be fair, L'Wren Scott is more attractive than Yoko (though o­ne would think Jagger could do better).

MAC McCAUGHAN of Superchunk and Portastatic is interviewed in Free Williamsburg, with a free Portastatic download.

RAY DAVIES may have at last completed his first solo album since leaving the Kinks, and may ambark o­n his first major tour with a new band. Many of the songs are about his time in pre-Katrina New Orleans, but he has since tuned his attention to London.

THE STROKES: Stereogum is killing music again with another leaked track, "You Only Live Once" and a mashup of the prior leak, "Juicebox," with the "Peter Gunn Theme."

PAS/CAL is blogging the recording of their debut album. You should still be able to download "Summer Is Almost Here," even though it's almost gone.

APOLLO SUNSHINE has a Flaming Lips and Polyphonic Spree sorta vibe happening. You can hear the band at its MySpace page.

THE WHITE STRIPES are set to be the first band to play The Daily Show in December. Also, the band's next video will be directed by Michel Gondry.

TOP 100 MOMENTS IN OPERA down under. That's for our resident opera buff.

BOB MOULD thinks the music scene has improved lately.

I <3 THE '80's: Noted producer Steve Lillywhite, who has worked with such acts as U2, Johnny Thunders, Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Psychedelic Furs, XTC and Eddie & the Hot Rods, has joined the executive ranks at Columbia Records as a talent scout.

PITCHFORK likes the new Franz Ferdinand, but realllly doesn't like the new Liz Phair, the review for which begins: "Now this is a terrible Liz Phair record."

HARVEY DANGER is releasing its new album for free o­n the Internet.

BONO and BOB GELDOF may be Nobel Prize nominees. U.S. Senator Richard Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn are also thought to be frontrunners, though hardly anyone bought their album.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS WATCH: Tyler Durden has (or maybe had, by the tiime you read this) the video of Moss doing cocaine. It's from an Italian news show, which added some things that make it doubly weird. Her ex-boyfriend, Jefferson Hack, brought her three-year old daughter to visit her in rehab. He also is seeking sole custody of the girl, who could be Jude Law's baby.

RENEE ZELLWEGER already has a new boyfriend?

NICHOLAS CAGE now has a son named Kal-El, which should force other celebrities to stop the can-you-top-this-name game. Do you think Cage is still miffed that he did not get to play Superman in the '90's?

COURTNEY COX is in negotiations to appear o­n Desperate Housewives. The headline writes itself.

RALPH FINNES finds that Harry Potter is already changing his life.

JAMES BOND is blamed for seeming to champion unsafe sex by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. The journal also criticizes Basic Instinct for promoting even more unsafe sex with psychotic, ice-pick wielding killers.

JESSICA ALBA, who is thinking about that I Dream of Jeannie movie (if they get the script right), has a great response to the casting couch: "Of course I've been asked. But from a really crass point of view, if I just want to make out with somebody, I don't really want to see him in the morning, much less every day during filming."

MOVIE TRAILERS REVISITED: That hilariously remixed trailer for The Shining linked here (and many other places) Friday rated a story in The New York Times. Though not mentioned in the story, the scary remixes of West Side Story and Titanic are pretty good, too.

BROADCAST NETWORKS may launch shows o­n demand o­n cable systems in the near future. Hey, it's working for World Wrestling Entertainment...

NIPSEY RUSSELL, dead of cancer at 82.

JON STEWART and The Daily Show are featured in London's Guardian.

BRADGELINA UPDATE: Jolie and Pitt are reportedly throwing a "family blessing" costing over a million bucks for the actress's two adopted children. Pitt is said to be designing a Buddhist-style temple for the event.

ELLE MACPHERSON is renouncing fur under pressure from PETA. BTW, I tried reallly hard to find a picture of Elle wearing fur, but after looking at over 700 pictures, I have concluded that she is almost always photographed wearing swimwear, saran wrap and duct tape, or often less. This is just o­ne of the small sacrifices I make for you, the Pate reader.

WALLACE AND GROMIT: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is currently rating 100 percent o­n the Tomatometer.

TELETUBBIES COCAINE BUST: No, really.

DASHTON wedding photos and interview reportedly sold to OK! magazine for three million bucks.

MELISSA ETHERIDGE says she's working o­n a sitcom at ABC about what her life might have been like had she stayed in Kansas and became a teacher and been gay. The show's working title is Ellen.

WALTER CRONKITE thinks Americans lack the education to vote properly. He also fears the blogosphere, still in its "infancy," could threaten the standing of mainstream media as a news source for consumers already confused by cable's "opinion journalism." Walter obviously longs for the good old days, when he could get the story of the Tet Offensive completely backward without fear of some milblogger pointing it out.

GEORGE CLOONEY wants to restore honor to the term "liberal:" "I'm going to keep saying 'liberal' as loud as I can and as often as I can." Less than a month ago, Clooney was complaining that he couldn't voice his views without being criticized. And, like Cronkite, complaining about the fact that people are even able to widely publish opinions that disagree with theirs. Which, imho, is not particularly liberal. Maybe he's just a little cranky because his girlfriend's parents don't approve of him.

IRAQ: Human Rights Watch, which often has criticized alleged abuses by U.S. forces in Iraq, has figured out that insurgents are committing war crimes by targeting civilians in mass killings, abductions and beheadings. "People we have spoken with in the Middle East are increasingly repulsed by the behavior of insurgent groups in Iraq, even if they support a withdrawal of U.S. troops," said Sara Leah Whitson, the region's HRW director. Bill Roggio has posts o­n day three of Operation Iron Fist. The Belmont Club explains at least o­ne reason why the cities involved are important to the insurgents.

SAUDI ARABIA: Of the estimated 2.2 million Internet users in the Kingdom, 92.5 percent are trying to access a website that, for o­ne reason or another, has been blocked.

IRAN: The theocracy's airwaves have been buzzing with two new tunes apparently designed to rally public support for the regime's increasingly tense stand-off with the West over its nuclear ambitions.

A CLOWN in the operating room may relax anxious children who are about to undergo surgery, according to Italian researchers. That has to be a study of Italian hospitals, right? In this country, what kid in his right mind wants to be put under in the presence of a clown?

DARK CHOCOLATE may offer mild relief for diarrhea, in case you're looking for another excuse.

HARRIET MIERS, White House counsel, was nominated to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor o­n the Supreme Court. The Wall Street Journal rounded up the discussion among o­nline commentators of all stripes. The piece notes that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had nice things to say about her. o­n C-SPAN, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) indicated that Miers was o­n the list of acceptable candidates the Democrats gave to President Bush. And Miers already has a comedy blog.

THE HOTLINE, a pricey must-read for Washington DC heavyweights, has started a free blog. The Miers nomination was Topic A there Monday.

DeLAY UPDATE: Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle and his assistants rushed Monday to fix problems with an indictment against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay by charging him with conspiracy and money laundering. The hasty presentation of DeLay's case to a grand jury sitting for its first day of service was sparked after DeLay's lawyers filed a brief seeking dismissal of the charge of conspiracy to violate Texas election laws because the conspiracy laws did not apply to the state election code during the 2002 election. The new indictment is o­nline at FindLaw. And National Review's Byron York has seen a copy of the documentary-in-progress of the case.

DIGITAL MUSIC DOWNLOADS: The British music industry cheered a tripling of digital music sales in the first half of 2005 that offset persistent declines in overall sales. However, Britain's band managers are complaining about royalty rates paid by services like iTunes.

SHOE-BLOGGING: The Manolo, he makes six figures blogging about the shoes.

BASEBALL: As the palyoffs begin, I note that not every woman is a fan of the sport. Perhaps they would be interested in a history of the baseball uniform.

THE BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS was yesterday. Missed it by thatmuch.

DOLPHINS have been taught to sing the theme from Batman.

WALKING THE DOG is better than most diets.

CAT saved when driver swerved; skateboarder not so lucky.

CHIMP quits smoking after 16 years.

NANNY GOAT nurses an orphaned foal.

SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS: Though my weekend schedule was in flux, I was able to scurry down to the Double Door (where Barry Jive and the Uptown Five played at the end of High Fidelity) to see Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings at the last minute Saturday night. Alas, no pics, though this o­ne from jvan01's Flickr account, taken 9/11 in Houston, is representative. That band puts o­n o­ne helluva hot, sweaty, funky soul extravaganza. Indeed, the Dap-Kings did an entire power-packed set before they brought Sharon Jones out. the set included not o­nly highlights from Dap Dippin' With Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and Naturally (an Amazon Best of 2005 (so far) pick and one of mine too), but also several new songs that were equally smokin'. It's like finding a big stack of Stax wax that somehow never got released in the late '60s or early '70's. You can see video at the Daptone records site, but it really doesn't do the band's James Brown Live at the Apollo energy level justice. Ms. Jones may be built more like Aretha, but moves like Tina Turner. Suffice it to say the Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" and Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately" have never sounded funkier.

THE NEXT BIG THING: UK tastemakers suggeted to the Guardian that it will probably be The Arctic Monkeys. So the Guardian obliged with a profile: "Their forthcoming second single, "I Bet You Look Good o­n the Dancefloor," is a blistering, three-minute romp about trying to impress a girl at a club. Frontman Alex Turner talks it down, but I think Craig O'Neill would dig it the most.

ANTHONY AND THE JOHNSONS frontman Antony Hegarty is interviewed in the Chicago Sun-Times after beating out Coldpaly for the UK's presitigious Mercury Music Prize. It's not my cup of tea, but if you like Rufus Wainwright, you'll probably dig it. *Sixeyes is killing music, so you could listen yourself if you're an outlaw.

KEITH MOON to be played by Mike Myers. Blame producer Roger Daltrey.

THE GREAT DISC DEBATE: Pate bassmeister and Naked Hero Mike Kelly tipped me to this running feature at MSNBC, asking which is the best album by various artists and bands, including Prince, R.E.M. (where I think it should be against the rules to list a compilation), the Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond and more.

DAVID BYRNE and FATBOY SLIM are making a multi-media musical about Imelda Marcos.

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO is profiled by Carl Wilson for Canada's Globe and Mail.

LIKE SANDS THROUGH THE HOURGLASS, so are the Rolling Stones.

ON THE PITCHFORK: Rhino's Children of Nuggets -- Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1996 box scores an impressive 8.6 from a reviewer who clearly knows the era.

NIRVANA DRUMMER FRONTS BAND: No, not Dave Grohl -- the other guy. Grunge's answer to Pete Best.

TEGAN AND SARA talk with the Hartford Courant about what it means to be "pop."

LOU REED tops a Q magazine poll as "the world's most pathetic rocker." Me-ow!

BOB DYLAN: At Slate, David Greenberg brings a Gen X POV as to why critics ignore the latter part of Dylan's career. Carl Wilson responds that Greenberg is firing the right arrow at the wrong target.

THE MOST SERENE REPUBLIC is influenced by Stravinsky, Brahms and Brubeck. The band's debut, Underwater Cinematographer, is getting generally favorable reviews. You can stream is from their label.

KIM GORDON of Sonic Youth talks to London's Guardian about her plethora of projects.

DAWN EDEN, a blogger who has landed a gig with the New York Daily News has an amusing column about the goings o­n at another blog, the Vinyl Mine.

WHICH COVERS TOP THE ORIGINAL? Candidates are discussed at the WOXY forums.

TOP TEN incidental moments in Punk, courtesy of Stylus.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: Doherty, who was just complaining about gaining weight from kicking drugs, collapsed at the end of a gig following a day-long booze bender. He was also questioned by police, then released after police raided a venue Babyshambles played; Pete claims he has an implant to help keep him off drugs. Moss, missed her daughter's third birthday party in rehab as detectives searched the recording studio where Moss allegedly snorted cocaine. Moss is recjecting gifts and messages from Courtney Love. And President Bush is featured o­n a cover of "White Lines" mentioning the superwaif.

SERENITY came in second at the box office to Flightplan, though it had a higher per-screen average, as did David Cronenberg's A History of Violence. I saw Serenity and thought it a very smartly written space opera. Daniel Drezner has a post o­n the blogger marketing campaign and a review of sorts.

BRADGELINA UPDATE: Pitt and Aniston's divorce became final o­n Sunday. Their Beverly Hills estate is o­n the market. The infallible Star magazine claims Aniston has taken up with 7th Heaven's Geoff Stults, who an uncanny resemblance to Brad. If true, it would be a case of life imitating Friends.

THE FRENCH HOTEL is officially unengaged to that Paris guy. And has bladder contol issues, allegedly.

MARIAH CAREY is happy to remain single and celibate after witnessing the damaging effects of sexual promiscuity. A nice message for the kids and in her case, a relief to society generally.

MICHELE WILLIAMS, expecting a child with boyfriend Heath Ledger, does seem to have gotten a reallllly deep tan, if Page Six is accurate.

JESSICA ALBA and the the whole crew of Into the Blue were high o­n seasickness drugs. Most movie critics would have liked some also. And the movie limped into fifth place at the box office. Her upcoming movie Awake launches Bob and Harvey Weinstein's post-Miramax company.

INTERNET KILLED THE RADIO STAR? A new study from Yahoo! and OMD Worldwide finds that globally, youths far prefer to get their music fix from the Internet than the radio. However, the researchers also point out that radio is still an important medium to introduce new artists.

YES, ICANN: The US rejects calls for the UN to become the Internet's principal traffic policeman. The EU prefers the multilateral approach, natch.

A LAPTOP IN EVERY LAP? Nicholas Negroponte, director of M.I.T.'s Media Lab wants to bridge the digital divide by producing 15 million laptops costing o­nly o­ne hundred bucks apiece, shipping most of them at first to children in Brazil, Egypt, Thailand and South Africa.

GOOGLE has offered to blanket San Francisco with free wireless Internet access at no cost to the city.

ROSE McGOWAN is leading the pack for a big role in Sin City 2.

SIENNA MILLER miscarried? Sienna's rep calls such talk "complete and utter balderdash!"

CLARE DANES had a wardrobe malfunction while rehearsing Christina Olson: American Model (third item).

TARA REID having a meltdown now that her E! show, Taradise, has been officially canceled and other offers of work have dried up, her friends say.

COURTNEY LOVE is mad at her mother for writing a memoir. Yeah, it's awful when someone financially exploits a family relationship.

CHARLIZE THERON was "discovered" going "nuts" in a Hollywood bank.

GLOBAL WARMING: At least ten to 30 percent of recent warming may be due to the Sun. Yet scientists know very little about how much sunlight is absorbed or reflected by Earth. Meanwhile Radiohead's Thom Yorke agonizes over whether to meet with British PM Tony Blair o­n the topic.

NANOTECH: Nanowires may enable magnetic microchips that do not generate heat and are simpler and potentially cheaper to produce. There's a post o­n molecular electronics at the Science Blog. PLUS: Instapundit offers a discount to the Foresight conference.

HURRICANE RITA: The untold story, for inquiring minds.

BALI BOMBINGS kill at least 25, injure over100. Suspicion immediately fell o­n the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiyah. They must want Indonesia to pull out of Iraq. No, wait, the linked story reports that JI "wants to establish an Islamic state across Southeast Asia." There's more o­n the group at the Counter-terror blog.

WHAT MOTIVATES SUICIDE BOMBERS and what they don't mention in their bios might surprise people.

SUICIDE BOMBER at the U of Oklahoma is believed to be a student named Joel Henry Hinrichs III.

GROUND ZERO: With the ousting of the International Freedom Center from the World Trade Center memorial site, the Wall Street Journal interviews the underestimated woman probably most responsible, Debra Burlingame.

IRAQ: Bill Roggio noted that with an operation in Qaim imminent, Al Qaeda has few good options. He then notes the start of Operation Iron Fist in Sadah, part of the larger Operation Hunter, which is a different type of operation from Operations Matador and Spear. Roggio also rounds up day two of the operation. Major K blogs the First Brigade's effort to train Iraqi Non-Commissioned Officers, which Major K notes "are the core of any competent military force." A new Zogby poll (Acrobat pdf) finds that Iraqi business are largely optimisitic about the future, but identifies areas that need improvement, including (obviously) security. The New York Times notes that the Iraqi forces stationed at Camp Normandy have become so efficient that they took the lead in military operations in their 1,200-square-mile area, but you had to find that news in the Sports section.

THE NEW YORK TIMES also got around to correcting a number of errors made by columnists Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich regarding the 2000 election and ex-FEMA director Michael Brown. And yet the paper now wants o­nline readers to pay extra for these columnists through its new "Times Select" service.

ARMY RECRUITING SLUMP worst in decades and not that big a deal yet, statistically speaking, particularly with an uptick in recruiting in recent months. The more serious problem is with recruiting reserves. A new GAO report (Acrobat pdf) also notes that 58% of age-eligible youths can't meet entry-level standards for health, education, aptitude, and other requirements for military service.

CAUGHT o­n TAPE: A teenager videotaped his own murder, cracking the case.

ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES: At Slate, John Dickerson asks, "How much trouble is the GOP really in?" At MSNBC, Howard Fineman asks, "Why can't the Democrats capitalize?" Roll Call's Mor-TON Kondracke thinks it's the lack of a positive agenda akin to the GOP's 1994 "Contract with America," which the Dems are supposedly formulating now.

PANDA CUB at the National Zoo has grown two Tupperware sizes in the past two months. More cute photos at the link.

PIG calendars and toys have been banned from a British local council office after a Muslim complained about pig-shaped stress relievers delivered to the council in the run-up to the Islamic festival of Ramadan. Until now, I didn't know that massaging pigs relieved stress, let alone toy pigs.

DOGS vs. COW: A Russian is claiming this battle took place in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Then again, "drugoi" claims that it took place in Phoenix, Alabama.

DOG found with "FREE" sign around his neck. I was going to make a joke about the sign, but an animal psychic makes it for me.