ARCADE FIRE: The Gazette reviewed the band's gig at London's ornate Porchester Hall, claimin that it was the final encore of "Wake Up" that inevitably stole the night, as the band abandoned the stage and played acoustically, right in the heart of the crowd. Actually, they played in the foyer of the hall, as they do from time to time.

YOU TUBE hits a rough patch, as Viacom requests the removal of 100K videos after talks collapse. In addition, indie labels mull lawsuits to ensure they are fairly treated by the video-sharing service.

VAN HALEN: David Lee Roth has officially returned to front the band's upcoming tour.

PAOLO NUTINI: The unusually soulful 19-year-old Scot played a set for the World Cafe Friday that you can stream from NPR now.

SOUL REVIVAL: Speaking of soul music, The New York Times reports o­n the current resurgence of classic soul singers and classic soul's influence o­n new artists.

BELLY: Tanya Donnelly has posted the demos for most of Star o­n her website for your downloading and listening pleasure.

THE MONKEES: Most folks are familiar with the countrified album version of Mike Nesmith's "You Just May Be The One," but the original arrangement for TV in this (badly-synced) clip sounds more like The Searchers with John Entwhistle sitting in o­n the bass.

SLOAN: At Chromewaves, Frank rediscovers his love for the band. The power-poppers were pretty much off my radar also, but "I Understand" was certainly worth "Song of the Day" honors at NPR.

CARL NEWMAN and ROD STEWART: NOW Toronto finds similarities between the New Pr0nographer with the old o­ne.

WESTERN STATES MOTEL sounds much like The Shins, with a touch of Wilco. The o­ne-man band also scored o­ne of the "extras" for the the Walk the Line Special Edition DVD, You can stream four relaxed tracks from HisSpace.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer has publicly apologized to the supposedly sober supermodel for the shocking shots of him injecting himself with cocaine.

ENNIO MORRICONE is a five-time Oscar nominee, but never won. This year he is receiving a lifetime-achievement Oscar this year -- the second ever awarded to a composer. NPR has a streaming audio feature, plus a a Top 10 list of his film scores. I (of course) will go straight for live video of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," along with a stream of "A Fistful of Dollars," plus a rockin' cover of "Fistful" from Babe Ruth, circa 1975.

MARTIN SCORSESE took the top prize from the Directors Guild of America for The Departed -- his first DGA award after six previous nominations. The award likely solidifies his odds to take the Oscar. Accepting his award, Scorsese joked that his film had been particularly well-received in US cities with an allegedly large mafia presence.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: In a weekend that was down 20 percent year-over-year, The Messengers and Because I Said So led the box office with 14.5 and 13 million, as movies for youngsters and chicks providfed effective counter-programming o­n SuperBowl weekend. Epic Movie (No. 3) and Smokin' Aces (No.5) plunged precipitously, though the latter is sure to make money. Night at the Museum (No. 4) is finally running out of steam, though a 225 million take to date is pretty sweet. Stomp the Yard dropped to No.6, but has already made 56 million o­n a 13 million budget. Dreamgirls drops to the seventh slot as it struggles toward the 100 million mark. Pan's Labyrinth holds the eighth slot and exeeds its budget here in the US, with possible Oscars poised to boost it in the DVD market. The Pursuit of Happyness slips to the nointh slot, but has made almost three times its budget. The Queen rounds out the top ten, with a 45 million US total o­n a 15 million budget.

FARRAH FAWCETT is certified cancer-free for her 60th birthday, while RYAN O'NEAL was arrested for assaulting his son, Griffin.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: The couple canoodled conspicuously in Miami Beach for some pre-SuperBowl PR.

TOMMY LEE is developing a new line of lingerie for men? Or was it just a come-on line to a waitress?

BRITNEY SPEARS: Fed-Ex's pals float the rumor that Spears has been making late-night phone calls to him in hope of a reconciliation, which other sources dismiss. The pop tart's people also rubbish reports that she will ante up 25 mil to end their marriage, suggesting 1 mill is more likely.

GIRLS GONE WILD mogul Joe Francis rates the relative skills of the French Hotel, Lindsay Lohan, Kimberly Stewart and Tara Reid o­n the Howard Stern Show. We're all shocked that Francis is the sort to kiss and tell. SEMI-RELATED: Kim Kardashian now admits that she made more than o­ne sex video with her ex-boyfriend, R&B singer Ray J. She denies any effort to sell o­ne, contary to media reports.

WHITNEY HOUSTON wants to fast-track her divorce from Bobby Brown by way of a default judgment. Who could blame her?

JIM CARREY: Radar magazine is set to report that three big Carrey films have been shelved in the last year, including o­ne with Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz, due to the actor's unpredictable and bizarre behavior and o­n-set tantrums.

STUDIO 60 o­n the SUNSET STRIP is going o­n hiatus starting March 5, but supposedly will return later this season o­n "a date to be determined."

DENISE & HEATHER & RICHIE & CHARLIE: Egotastic is not the o­nly site wondering what Denise Richards is doing o­n the beach in Hawaii.

SOMALIA: Three battalions of peacekeepers from Uganda and Nigeria will be airlifted to Somalia as soon as possible, as radical Islamists regroup in Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Yemen.

LEBANON: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah publicly admitted the terror group is funded equipped and trained by Iran and Syria.

ISLAMISM in the UK: Police sources say a foiled plot to kidnap, torture and behead a British Muslim soldier was orchestrated by Al Qaeda. Security forces are also praising two British Muslim soldiers who agreed to act as "bait" in the extraordinary "sting" operation. Islamic terror cells in Britain have been instructed to carry out a series of kidnappings and beheadings of this sort. British intelligence services fear that Britain could be subject to a Beslan-style siege, with multiple hostages forced to plead for their lives o­n camera. However, many UK Muslins imagine this is all a government plot. All the while, young British Muslims are becoming radicalized by anti-Western views and misplaced multicultural policies. And the Brits have foiled a terror plot about o­nce every six weeks for the last 18 months.

IRAQ: Michael Yon has another gripping dispatch, this time about a villager martyring himself to stop a suicide bomber from killing others. You can also listen to Yon give a more general overview of what he's seen since returning to Iraq. Two senior Iraqi generals -- as well as Iranians -- are suspected of involvement in the attack that killed five US soldiers in Karbala. Iraq is restricitng passage to Iran and Syria preparation for the new security plan. Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army has been instructed to lay low, not carry guns and avoid confrontations with US forces.

IRAQ in the MEDIA: In The New York Times, Stuart Elliot thinks the SuperBowl ads were subliminally about Iraq. Which probably says more about Elliot than the ads. Perhaps he will do a follow-up on the secret messages he hears when he plays them backwards.

GLOBAL WARMING: As I predicted last week, the new IPCC summary for policy makers triggered plenty of doom-and-gloom coverage in the press. Indeed, the stories that bothered to mention that the IPCC substantially reduced its estimate of global warming and sea-level rise did so in stories of alarmists complaining about the IPCC summary, though the researchers o­n a new study of accelerated sea level rise say it's too early to blame it o­n humans. There were also stories stating that "Global warming has made stronger hurricanes, including those in the Atlantic Ocean such as 2005's Katrina," though the report really doesn't say that and even the author of The Republican War o­n Science thinks the media is overstating it.

POLAR BEAR SCARE: The New York Times article o­n the aforementioned IPCC report includes the above photo of polar bears, yet the story itself makes no reference to polar bears. Indeed, the story reports that "The panel said there was no solid scientific understanding of how rapidly the vast stores of ice in polar regions will melt." Moreover, polar bears o­n melting ice floes may turn up in Iceland, which has seen increasing pack ice. Overall, since 1970, the polar pear population has quintupled. In o­ne area of Canada the polar bear population increased 50 percent in just ten years. BTW, the original photo carries a caption stating the ice floe was carved by waves. The expedition set up an ice buoy to monitor the growth and ablation of sea ice; it was tough work because the ice was so thick. Aside from the emotional appeal of the polar bear photo, the NYT piece is chockful of truthiness, such as the claim that the Bush admin. "until recently avoided directly accepting that humans were warming the planet in potentially harmful ways," when in fact it did so in 2005, 2004, 2002, and 2001. The 2002 story ran in the NYT, making the reporting twice as truthy.

CASPER the CAT got stuck 50 feet up a tree in greater Manchester during six days of stormy weather. They don't have a fire department there?

ENDANGERED WHOOPING CRANES led south to Florida from Wisconsin last fall were all killed in storms.

WILD EAGLES attacked a paraglider in Australia. Veteran Australian paraglider pilot Godfrey Wenness said eagle attacks were rare, but Moss had been flying in an area where the birds were not accustomed to human pilots.

A COYOTE swims ashore at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard... and is released in a nearby community.

First D.J.: Rise and shine, campers and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today.
Second D.J.: It's cold out there every day. What is this, Miami Beach?
First D.J.: Not hardly. So the big question o­n everybody's lips...
Second D.J.: o­n their chapped lips...
First D.J.: ...their chapped lips is, "Does Phil feel lucky?" Punxsatawney Phil! That's right, woodchuck chuckers it's...

[IN UNISON]: GROUNDHOG DAY!!!

The real Punxsutawney Phil has been called the Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary. In fact, he's been right o­nly 39 percent of the time since 1887, though he's improved since 1980. Nevertheless, tens of thousands will make the journey to Gobbler's Knob in the tiny Pennsylvania hamlet that has become known as the "Weather Capital of the World," due in no small part to the movie.

This is o­ne time where the Internet really fails to capture the true excitement of a movie about a large squirrel predicting the weather. However, you can see the trailer or the 60 second edit as a refresher.

At the other end of the political spectrum, Jonah Goldberg's equally effusive movie meditation grabbed the cover of National Review: "When I set out to write this article, I thought it'd be fun to do a quirky homage to an offbeat flick, o­ne I think is brilliant as both comedy and moral philosophy. But while doing what I intended to be cursory research -- how much reporting do you need for a review of a twelve-year-old movie that plays constantly o­n cable? -- I discovered that I wasn't alone in my interest. In the years since its release the film has been taken up by Jews, Catholics, Evangelicals, Hindus, Buddhists, Wiccans, and followers of the oppressed Chinese Falun Gong movement."

Indeed, a 2004 article mentioned by Ebert (but not linked) from London's Independent observes that the Harold Ramis comedy has been hailed by some religious leaders as the most spiritual film of all time. In addition to the examples given in that article, another can be found at the Christian Science Monitor.

As Phil Connors ultimately observed: "When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter."

THUS, THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with Sonny & Cher o­n Hullaballoo and famously o­n Letterman years later, plus UB40 with Chrissie Hynde, not to mention Joey Ramone & Holly Beth Vincent, as well as The Cynics (from the Bonograph tribute CD), David Bowie and Marianne Faithful and, from Ready Steady Go, the Rolling Stones.

THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH: After 19 years, the band from Hull have split up due to musical similarities.

ERIN McKEOWN brought her rootsy, swingin' brand of pop -- including covers of "Paper Moon" and "Get Happy" -- to the World Cafe last Friday, but it's just as good to stream today.

ROBYN HITCHCOCK talks to JamBase about lyrics not being the most important thing, playing with the Venus 3, and more.

KISS: While reading this letter from "Beth" to Peter Criss, you can listen to listen to Criss sing "Hard Luck Woman," a song Soul Asylum should cover.

CELINE DION and Ananstacia sing AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long." The horror! The...HORROR!!! You will pine for that song from Titanic.

PATTI SMITH: EW blogger Michele Romero spends some time in the purple rooms of Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village, where Smith is finishing her new covers album. There's also a link to a video of Patti singing Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" o­n the '70s TV show, Kids Are People Too.

NICK DRAKE: Stereogum has posted a lo-fi version of "To The Garden" -- o­ne of those rare "unreleased" tracks to be featured o­n the upcoming posthumous album.

THE HOLD STEADY guitarist Tad Kubler talks to Leeds Music Scene about a bunch of things including how featuring Franz's piano o­n the new album also accented his guitar work.

THE BROKEN WEST: An Aquarium Drunkard has posted an exclusive acoustic set, which includes a cover of Guided By Voices "Game of Pricks." You can also stream it via the ol' HM.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The supposedly sober supermodel's visit to the troubled singer in rehab is fueling speculation of a break-up, though it may be a temporary spilt for PR purposes. And all of their prior break-ups have been temporary, so don't count this train wreck out just yet.

THE CUTOUT BIN: This Friday's fortuitous finds o­n the ol' HM include: Wedding Present - Where Everybody Knows Your Name; Soul Asylum - Tied To The Tracks; The Buzzcocks - What Do I Get?; The Smithereens - All My Loving; Electric Light Orchestra - Shine a Little Love; Pezband - On And o­n; Bell, Chris - You And Your Sister; Billy Bragg - That's Entertainment; The Kinks - Apeman; Num - Noise; Casper & The Cookies - Sweet Transvestite; Spirit - I Got A Line o­n You; Van Halen - Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love; The Stooges - My Idea of Fun; and The Afghan Whigs - Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe.

MISS CONDUCT: In her first TV interview since leaving rehab, Tara Conner suggested that an abusive childhood may have contributed to her woes. Like we've never heard that o­ne before. MSNBC has more video. Meanwhile, former Miss USA Susie Castillo is blasting Conner for tarnishing the image of the pageant.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are The Messengers, which is this week's unscreened-for-critics PG-13 horror flick, and Because I Said So, a rom-com Diane Keaton probably wishes had not been screened for critics, who are currently giving it 7 percent o­n the Tomatometer.

WINNING an OSCAR may be less than it's cracked up to be.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE: ...And the Winner is lays out the cases for and against the film getting the Oscar for Best Picture.

BRITNEY SPEARS has brought in yet another hot-shot record producer to work over her new material, leading some -- by which I mean me -- to speculate that the new stuff is even worse than her old stuff. Meanwhile, cocktail waitress "Dirty Delta" has a story about serving the pop tart three "orgy bowls" -- a drink meant for five people -- the night before she injured her leg o­n tour.

BRADGELINA: London's Observer reports that -- unlike past efforts -- the latest attempt to film Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is likely to reach the screen, with Jolie playing railroad heiress heroine Dagny Taggart. A two-hour screenplay is almost complete and filming is to start this year with release in 2008. It is being written by Randall Wallace, who wrote the Mel Gibson epic Braveheart, and is backed by Lion's Gate Entertainment.

PRISON BREAK star Lane Garrison had "more than twice the legal limit" of alcohol in his system and was under the influence of cocaine during the fatal crash that killed a 17-year-old boy in December, according to police. The Beverly Hills Police Department has recommend that the L.A. County District Attorney file a felony charge of gross vehicular manslaughter.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Holmes "dishes" about Cruise, her daughter Suri and her career in the March issue of Harper's Bazaar: Tom Cruise is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.

LINDSAY LOHAN has decided not to star in the upcoming A Woman of No Importance so she can focus o­n getting better. Maybe the letter from her convict father will help with the healing.

SUPER BOWL myths and legends are dissected in the Chicago Tribune, but the paper left out the false claim that more women are victims of domestic violence o­n Super Bowl Sunday.

BEYONCE KNOWLES edged out Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Alba as this year's "most desirable woman" in an annual reader survey by AskMen.com, which was kind enough to post a gallery of the Top 99.

WHO IS CAPT. JAMIL HUSSEIN? The apparently pseudonymous Baghdad police officer was a source for over 60 Associated Press stories -- though the AP has never acknowledged the pseudonym. In what has become known as the "Burning Six" story, Hussein claimed that militiamen "burned and blew up four mosques and torched several homes" in Hurriyah. The Multi-National Corps stated that an Iraqi Army patrol found o­nly o­ne mosque had been burned. The AP's follow-up story referred to a single mosque, but was silent o­n the others. Wednesday, the AP had the gall to mischaracterize the MNF's report and further that "the AP has confirmed damage at three of the four mosques, including burn damage at two and slight damage at a third." Which seems quite a bit different from Hussein's claim that the mosques were burned and blew up." You might think a correction would be required by the AP's own policies, but apparently not -- when the story is Iraq.

THE NEW YORK TIMES published a photograph and videotape of a Texas soldier dying in Iraq, violating a signed agreement not to publish photos or video of any wounded soldiers without official consent. The rule exists to allow notification of next of kin. The paper is being forced to write the grieving family a letter of regret.

WHO IS WILLIAM M. ARKIN? He writes about "National and Homeland Security" for the Washington Post. Earlier this week, he responded to an NBC Nightly News report o­n US soldiers frustrated with opposition to war at home by suggesting that: their superiors should tell them speaking out was wrong; soldiers should be grateful that Americans still support them; that the public "indulged" them "(t)hrough every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder"; that "we don't see very many 'baby killer' epithets being thrown around these days, no o­ne in uniform is being spit upon"; that we provide "vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them"; and called them a "mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force."

Arkin does not explain what basis there would be for superior officers to try to censor soldiers speaking within the limits set by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He gives no reason to smear the military as a whole for Abu Grahib or Haditha (a case not yet tried, btw). He is apparently unaware of stories about the uniformed National Guardsman beaten by strangers in Washington state, or the protesters who spat at a wounded Iraq vet in Washington, DC last weekend. Arkin may think our troops have it easy, but the 1st Cavalry Division in Taji sleep o­n the cold ground, which contains sand mites, sand flies and other disease carriers, o­nly to get an anti-war e-mail when they tried to buy mattresses o­nline. Arkin admits he was "dead wrong" in using the word "mercenary" in a follow-up that then accuses them of hiding behind the constitution and the flag, and "spewing" an anti-dissent message. Given the lack of popular support for Iraq, the soldiers are the o­nes dissenting, but that irony is surpassed by Arkin's complaint that those who disagree with him are arrogant and intolerant.

Who is Arkin? In the past, the Washington Post has run stories in which he says he's an activist, not a journalist. And stories about his books and columns divulging classified info in the midst of a war. And his past jobs with Human Rights Watch, Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Institute for Policy Studies. Oddly enough, none of those jobs appear in his current bio for the paper.

MOZART the IGUANA's sad tale of penis removal reaches a satisfying cllimax.

1400 ENDANGERED TURTLES in a suitcase cruises past the eleven swans in an apartment in this week's animal hoarding/smuggling derby. Had it been Christmas season, the swans could have taken it.

A FAT CAT BURGLAR caught wedged in a doggie door was reunited with his estranged owner. The cat is FIV-positive to boot. Video at the link.

HERMAPHRODITE DEER bagged in Florida.

MOOSE are finding the snow in Anchorage, Alaska so deep they're going where they'd rather not, choosing major roads and plowed sidewalks.

DEAD PETS are a girl's best friend.

APPLES IN STEREO singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer Robert Schneider tells Harmonium why he's excited by the band's New Magnetic Wonder, his favorite cookie and more. The band sings along to "Same Old Drag" while driving through Park City, UT during Sundance. Plus, you can stream two more new tracks from TheirSpace (plus "Stephen, Stephen," which Schneider played at the Colbert-Decemberists guitar duel).

NICK DRAKE is getting another posthumous album of allegedly extremely rare material never officially released.  The link will also direct you to a streaming "best of" compilation.

THE EAGLES are close to releasing their first album of new music in almost 30 years? It's going to be tough to convince people about global warming if Hell keeps freezing over like this.

THE DECEMBERISTS frontman Colin Meloy is interviewed by Terry Gross for NPR's Fresh Air about the guitar duel with Stephen Colbert, The Crane Wife, and more.

MUSIC'S TOP MONEYMAKERS 2006: According to Forbes magazine, it's all about the touring, which doesn't surprise me, as I think it's been that way since I was a kid.

PETER BJORN & JOHN tell Pitchfork who they are listening to now, among other things. The band had its network TV debut recently, but the regular video for "Young Folks" is better, imho.  Plus, you can still stream their latest album from TheBooth this week.

THE SHINS do an interview (plus audio) with Rolling Stone, which starts with frontman James Mercer recalling his awe at the notion of selling 20K albums. The band's new album, Wincing the Night Away, debuted at number two o­n the charts, selling 118K copies. Do you think they have to pay royalties to Zach Braff and Natalie Portman? Anyway, you can stream a bunch via the ol' HM at the moment.

TURN THAT MUSIC DOWN! The Austin Chronicle looks at the growing complaints against super-loud, over-compressed recordings that tire the ears of the listener.

SINGER-SONGWRITERS: London's Independent examines their quiet, but growing, resurgence.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: London's Sun has video of the troubled singer shooting cocaine while reassuring the supposedly sober supermodel that he's "fine."

JESSICA BIEL: How did she steal Justin Timberlake? By answering his telephone call. That's not much of a seduction, but it's enough if you're Jessica Biel.

MISS CONDUCT: Freshly-rehabbed Miss USA Tara Conner says she used cocaine, antidepressants and other drugs prior to her treatment.

BRADGELINA: Pitt and Jolie's N'awlins home was o­nce Cosimo Matassas' recording studio, where Fats Domino, Little Richard, Professor Longhair, Allan Toussaint and more recorded in the 1950s. The house is rumored to be haunted by the spirit of Professor Longhair.

LINDSAY LOHAN, stuck in rehab, reportedly text messaged bachelor-about-town Brody Jenner that all she wanted was "McDonald's and sex." I'm lovin' it.

COURTNEY LOVE was punk'd by someone claiming to be the exec producer of American Idol, who asked whether she would be interested in sitting in as a judge o­n the show.

SIENNA MILLER is denying rumors of any romance with either Diddy and that she and Hayden Christensen really "did it" for a love scene in Factory Girl. But there's a disputed story that Diddy's people took the memory card from a camera that snapped him and Miller at Crobar last weekend.

MADONNA: Contrary to all prior reports, adopting little David Banda from Malawi has worked wonders for Madge and Guy Ritchie's marriage.

RACHEL McADAMS is rumored to be the front-runner to replace Katie Holmes in the next Batman movie, perhaps playing Selena Kyle (a/k/a "The Catwoman"). The Dark Knight is scheduled to shoot in Chicago this summer.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON was snapped with Mark Wahlberg, but Scar-Jo's rep says it was all business.

TOM BRADY and GISELE BUNDCHEN, otoh, were officially caught o­n camera as a couple walking back to her NYC pad.

SIDNEY SHELDON, award-winning producer and novelist, died Tuesday afternoon of complications from pneumonia at 89. I'm sure he might prefer to be remembered for the novels, but who can forget The Patty Duke Show, which he also wrote, or I Dream of Jeannie?

RICH GIRLS GONE WILD: A new study of more than 600 high-net-worth individuals shows that the number of well-heeled women that lead more adventurous and exotic sex lives, have had an affair, or joined the mile-high club far outdistances that of men. But how can we judge these results as valid without knowing whether Paris Hilton was part of the survey?

MAXWELL'S DEMON: Nearly 150 years ago it was no more than a concept by a visionary scientist, but researchers have now created a minuscule motor that could lead to the creation of microscopic nanomachines.

IRAN: A new survey of Iranian and American attitudes about terrorism reveals both peoples have many of the same opinions: 70 percent of Iranians questioned felt international terrorism was an important threat to their country's vital interests; 76 percent said attacks against American civilians in the US are never justified; and 74 percent view Usama bin Laden unfavorably. Notably, Iranians were not asked about attacks o­n Americans in Iraq. Also, most Iranians view Hamas and Hezbollah favorably.

IRAQ: If it's a story about reconstruction, it must be bad news. The latest audit by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, paints "a grim picture of waste, fraud and frustration," according to the AP. What Bowen actually said was that "fraud has not been a significant component of the US experience in Iraq," but you won't learn that unless you read through to paragraph 15. Other stories highlight Bowen's comment that the potential loss could be 10 to 15 percent of the 21 billion allocated for US aid. That seems like a lot, but the GAO and others have estimated that 10 percent of all health care spending nationally is lost to "fraud and abuse" -- with New York losing as much as 18 billion yearly, and as much as 14 billion yearly in the Medi-Cal program. None of which justifies waste, fraud and abuse -- but such figures demonstrate that the levels seen in Iraq aren't far from the norm for a big government program (which surprises me, given it's a war zone). Little of the coverage even mentions what the US has accomplished in reconstruction, even though it would probably be news to most.

OXYGEN MASKS FOR PETS are becoming standard equipment for firefighters. They can be used o­n dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, even birds.

"PETERNITY" LEAVE: Companies in Britain are allowing employees to work from home or take days off to look after unwell pets.

ALBERTUS MAGNUS is a fat cat looking for a home.

SNAKES: A British mechanic spent two hours nervously dismantling a courtesy car to find a customer's pet python. PLUS: A new study finds Asian snakes like the Rhabdophis tigrinus eat poisonous toads and keeps their venom for themselves.

SHEEP are eating the sugar-based grit used to defrost icy roads in North Wales. Bad Sheep! Baaaaaaaaaad Sheep!

THE PIPETTES o­n ICE: Italian skater Valentina Marchei chose "Pull Shapes" for her performance at the Ice Gala 2006 ice skating competition (actually held earlier this month). And the crowd claps for more, even before she calls for it.

SUFJAN STEVENS: Thousands of fans and scalpers queued for free tickets to hear Sufjan play the Kennedy Center (with an orchestra) o­n February 5th. It looked like this.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH put out their sophomore album yesterday. Forgot to mention it, but you can stream a couple at TheirSpace.

THE BROKEN WEST: The World Cafe's David Dye calls their debut album "Brimming with catchy hooks and sweet harmonies." you can stream a couple via NPR. And if you did not stream the whole album last week, you can -- and should -- stream a number of tracks via the HM at the moment.

KISS has partnered with comic book production company Platinum Studios to create a new comic book entertainment company called the Kiss Comics Group. The first book will be three feet tall. Sadly, I do not think I have the original KISS comic books.

THE MC5: This take o­n the bluesy "Motor City is Burning" was shot for Beat Club, but was never broadcast, hence the bluescreen background. Normally, it would have looked like this uncensored take of "Kick Out The Jams."

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB has announced details of their upcoming album, Baby 81, due o­n May 1st. You can stream an unplugged version of "666 Conducer," via the ol' HM.

VIETNAM: People tend to fall into opposing camps o­n this band (not unlike the war). But I think it is fair to say they recall the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club more than the Black Crowes. NPR is streaming a couple from the World Cafe.

ROGUE WAVE drummer Pat Spurgeon received a kidney and underwent successful transplant surgery o­n January 12th.

LEE HAZLEWOOD: In the face of his impending "dirt nap," Australia's The Age takes an in-depth look at the pop master's life and legacy: "Today his sound is often called cowboy psychedelia, best represented by the trippy "Some Velvet Morning." But it's a genre of o­ne: No o­ne else has ever sounded quite like him." Much, much more at the link.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer and the supposedly sober supermodel checked secretly into a rehab facility together, though London's ever-reliable Sun seems careful to avoid claiming that Moss is in fact going into rehab.

SIENNA MILLER and DIDDY looked cozy at Sundance. Then they were spotted partying at NYC's Bungalow 8 last Saturday night and caught o­n camera being escorted to her NYC hotel around 9 a.m. by Diddy, whose people tried to obtain the film. Video of a very uncomfy-lookin' Diddy at that last link.

LINDSAY LOHAN'S extraordinary privileges at Wonderland have now driven disgruntled residents out of the rehab facility, according to TMZ. The center has reportedly become lax across-the-board to avoid charges of favoritism. The standard denials are issued. At least Li-Lo has a defender in Gwyneth Paltrow.

BRITNEY SPEARS is wearing the Star of David again, while o­n-and-off bf Issac Cohen buys the pop tart seven pairs of panties for Valentine

DEAN & BRITTA: The former Luna-tics tell Harp about albums that changed their lives. As Dean names The Feelies -- and I just blurbed The Feelies last Friday -- I was in the mood to watch "Nightnurse" and the unplugged Le Blogotheque performance of "The Sun Is Still Sunny."

NEW RELEASES: The stateside arrivals of Lily Allen and Paolo Nutini are among those streaming in full from Spinner. The recently retired Lewis Taylor is followed by The Lost Album, which I'm glad was found. Beirut has posted "Elephant Gun" from a new EP. Melbourne's Love of Diagrams has posted three tracks from their EP, which is in a kinda Joy Div meets Wire with a hint 'o' Sonic Youth sorta space. And while it's not a new release, Peter, Bjorn and John's Writer's Block is streaming in full from the Booth. Unless they changed it this morning.

ROGER WATERS is tired of behaving like a "snotty kid" and trying to look o­n the bright side of life.

ARCTIC MONKEYS: You can stream the lads' surprisingly fantastic cover of the Barbara Lewis classic "Baby, I'm Yours" via Spinner. It's very Merseybeat.

THE POLICE are rumored to be playing the Grammys on Feb. 11th, most likely one of three songs: "Every Breath You Take," "Message in a Bottle" or "Roxanne."

OF MONTREAL bassist Bryan Poole talks to the Daily Californian about the degree of control frontman Kevin Barnes now has over the band's output.

FLAMING LIPS & CAT POWER crank out the Black Sabbath o­n ACL with a rendition of "War Pigs." (Thanks to Pate's first drummer, Ron Hahm, for tracking that down.)

PAUL WELLER, featured here yesterday, has turned down Queen Elizabeth's invitation to become a Commander of the British Empire.

STEVE EARLE: IckMusic has posted a live gig from Tradewinds in Sea Bright, NJ, circa Feb. 1998 in two-parts. Plus, you can jukebox via the ol' HM.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL MUSIC? Over the weekend, NPR interviewed Tom Heddon, o­ne of two composers for NFL Films, which shoots and scores the league's highlights films and blooper reels.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer has reportedly been asked to star in a new reality TV show, which will lock up celebrity drug addicts while they try to get clean. The supposedly sober supermodel may lose her endorsement deal with Rimmel, not because of any misbehavior, but because she is the ripe old age of 33.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Holmes is having problems finding work because of her marriage to Cruise and his belief in Scientology, according to Hollywood insiders. Nevertheless, Jennifer Lopez and hubby Marc Anthony continue to cozy up to TomKat, according to TMZ and Perez Hilton.

THE FRENCH HOTEL: parisexposed.com -- the website displaying personal dirt from the storage locker of the airheaded heiress -- has been shut down. But a lot of it seems to be floating around the 'net for free. NSFW, obvs.

GREY'S ANATOMY: Isaiah Washington's pals are saying he's not anti-gay, painting his slur as part of an anger management problem. T.R. Knight, who was the subject of the slur, is rumored to be threatening to leave the show, though his rep and the network deny it.

JESSICA SIMPSON is serving as John Mayer's band-aid. And his Grammy date.

CARMEN ELECTRA a pr0n starlet? No, but she is playing o­ne in an upcoming British flick, I Want Candy.

LINDSAY LOHAN is getting blacklisted by stars like Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

HILARY DUFF, usually seen as a goody-two-shoes, took the opportunity of her split from Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden to get sloppy drunk at Hollywood hotspot Hyde. Indeed, the Duff sisters reportedly were "all over" their two man-dates.

SPIKE LEE will reportedly direct an NYC-based pilot for NBC, after planned NBC drama about post-Katrina New Orleans was scrapped. What would Kanye West say?

BRUCE WILLIS is kicked in the head for making Die Hard 4.

INDIANA JONES 4 will begin production in June 2007, with a release date of May 2008. Harrison Ford comments: "I don't know if the pants still fit but I know the hat will."

IS HOLLYWOOD TOO TIMID FOR THE WAR o­n TERROR? Novelist Andrew Klavan has a piece in the L.A. Times answering, "pretty much."

GEORGE CLOONEY flatly denies dating PAMELA ANDERSON. But he seems to be looking for love in his Nespresso coffee commercial.

IRAN: A coalition of leading human rights groups have called o­n UN officials to rebuke Iran for its campaign of Holocaust denial. Barry Rubin asks what a nuclear Iran would do, short of using nuclear weapons.

IRAQ: The US plans to go public with new evidence o­n Iran's role in fomenting Iraq's civil war and in working with terrorists killing American soldiers. Bill Roggio has more details o­n the huge battle near Najaf, where new estimates have 300-350 insurgents killed, with minimal losses to the Iraqi and US forces. ITM has more o­n "militants" fleeing to Syria.

IRAQ in the MEDIA: Agency France-Presse finds a new level of dumb with this lede: "The White House has stood by President George W. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, despite growing public opposition and a chorus of criticism from lawmakers in Congress." What's more, VP Dick Cheney still supports it! Who'da thunkit?

PANDA is a miniature guide horse for her blind handler, Edie. A children's book has been written about them.

FROZEN DUCK RISES AGAIN: The duck that survived two days in a refrigerator after being shot by a hunter was declared dead during surgery, but perked up a few seconds later after some chest compressions and oxygen. Video at the link.

UNCAGED HEAT: Prison cats are paroled from Vermont's largest women's prison.

PYTHONS: A huge python believed to have eaten 11 dogs was captured by villagers near Kampung Pogoh, Malaysia. Meanwhile, Florida is considering requiring python registration.

SNAKE and RATS o­n a PLANE: A Bruneian couple o­n budget carrier AirAsia denied smuggling the pet snake, but admitted to the 46 baby rats found in their backpack.