MORE POWERFUL THAN A LOCOMOTIVE: The Incredibles beats The Polar Express by a two-to-one margin. Dreamworks execs must be asking themselves why they didn't schedule the train's departure for closer to Thanksgiving.

WASHINGTON STATE: When it comes to vote-counting, is Washington the new Florida?

EPA BACKS NANOTECH SAFETY RESEARCH: Certainly, Jon Pratt would no better than I whether this is scientifically necessary. Either way, it's probably politically necessary.

BILL & HILLARY CLINTON are battling behind the scenes to install longtime political operative Harold Ickes as the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee. "This is the first test of whether the Clintons can keep their grip on the party," said one Democrat.

McDONALDS IN JAPAN: I'm Lovin' It.

PRETTY GIRLS DON'T RIDE THE SUBWAY?

RED BANK, TENNESSEE: The business owner charged with spanking two women employees has been hospitalized after a possible suicide attempt.

NORWAY'S COAST PARTY proposes outlawing bestiality after the Norwegian Federation for Animal Protection gets a phone call from a young girl seeking a legal opinion.

WHAT HAPPENED TO STEVE BUSCEMI'S PARTNER IN FARGO really happened to Miguel Marquez in San Jose

ROCHESTER, NH: A mother and her boyfriend were arrested and her three children put into state custody after she threatened to sacrifice at least one of the children inside a Church.

ROBODUMP: Kevin Kelm is a mad scientist.

THE INCREDIBLES: It seems like a big hit, but its PG rating may have kept it from living up to Wall Street's lofty expectations. Since I didn't mention it in my review, I'll note that it's a little scarier than past Pixar flicks, but only really little kids will be too scared. One of my co-workers took her two and four year olds -- they were a little scared, but not too scared. The second weekend will tell the tale here; I'm waiting until next week to see The Polar Express as a show of support for The Incredibles.

YOU'RE FIRED, but you can still ask out Trump's hottie receptionist.

JON PRATT lives near DC, so I thought I would note that he can get traffic cam images on a cellphone.

THE VICE-PRESIDENT was aptly named, apparently.

AND WHY NOT POST A COMIC?

PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ? Donald Trump is thinking about buying the Ritz Hotel in Paris for his fiancee, Melania Knauss. Gaudy, and it will never fit on her finger, Don.

SLATE reports on a New York Times memo regarding the use of anonymous sources, which Slate got from...

TOM BROKAW thinks blogs are "big" and "a fixed part of the universe." Golly, it seems like it was just a few weeks ago that Brokaw was accusing them of waging political jihad.

U2 is inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. Bono's reaction? "I want to go and kill myself now."

DOES SIZE MATTER in the magazine world?

QOTD: "To be a newspaper reporter, you need two things: You need to know how to type. And you need a job at a newspaper."

THE SMOKING GUN: Bill Maher Hit With Palimony Suit; Ex accuses HBO star of physical abuse, "degrading racial comments." I thought he was done with Politically Incorrect.

PHIL SPECTOR: Not only is he facing a murder rap, the L.A. D.A. argues that the release of grand jury testimony wouldn't bias potential jurors against the rock innovator on account of nobody remembers who he is anyway. Ouch.

MORE BUZZ THAT BRITNEY SPEARS IS PREGNANT. If you have an office pool running, I'd bet on it being a boy named Damien.

VETERANS DAY: Armed Liberal salutes the troops at Winds Of Change; The Smithsonian Museum of American History opens The Price of Freedon: Americans at War.

WOI-TV, among other ABC affiliates, declines to air Saving Private Ryan tonight, citing fear of FCC indecency charges. Also airing tonight: Last Letters Home, a documentary in which people who've lost a son, daughter, sibling or spouse in Iraq remember their loved ones and read from their letters home. It's on HBO, but most cable systems will be offering it for free.

COL. SIMON WEST has a Basic Instinct moment sitting next to the Queen.

FUN WITH LIGHTERS: How to modify an ordinary cigarette lighter to produce a giant ball of flaming molten death.

BARBARA BUSH (the younger): Friend Of Will?

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, examining the unique effect of music on the brain, wants you to listen to the music playing in your head. Is it "Lady Madonna?"

LIZA MINELLI is sued for sexual harassment; Liza counter-sues for breach of contract.

NEVER COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU spotlights worthy films that just didn't get much attention the first time around. For those who don't bother to click through, note that High Fidelity and Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey make the cut.

THE ORGASMATRON: How could I have forgotten to link to it?

KIRSTEN DUNST AND KATE BOSWORTH: hopeless addicts, or just plain tacky?

RED BANK, TENNESSEE: Someone missed the whole Clarence Thomas thing.

ON THE PITCHFORK: FIRST AVENUE CLOSES! It's the end of an era...

THE NEW YORKER on drugs. Prescription drugs, that is.

SOMETHING AWFUL reviews music magazines. And rightly so.

MARK A. R. KLEIMAN is writing about "test-doping," the practice of taking stimulants to improve one's scores on standardized tests like the SAT.

ABBA: displaying more integrity than most old bands.

QOTD:"Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are." -- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (courtesy of Pejman)

SCRAMJET: NASA shoots for an engine capable of propelling a craft at Mach 10; it could carry an airplane from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., in about 20 minutes.

I HAVE THAT ON VINYL has just debuted, but seems like it has potential.

ZELL MILLER TAKES ON MAUREEN DOWD: I'm reminded of one of my favorite Craig O'Neill stories. In this context, the question is: "If I called you some highbrow hussy from New York City, and you could only deny one of those, which would it be?"