New York’s currently: speeding up so we can speed back down

 Iran asks U.S. for direct talks on its nuclear program—and that letter still goes unanswered.

 Iraqi death squads may maintain loyalties to the government and the insurgency, and operate within the lawful bounds of Iraq’s Ministries.

 In testimony, Lee Malvo lays out the second phase of John Allen Muhammad’s plot—to blow up schools, buses, and hospitals.

 World Health Organization detects no mutation in bird flu—though human-to-human transmission cannot be ruled out in Indonesian deaths.

 Purported bin Laden audio recording denies Moussaoui’s role in Sept. 11 attacks.

 Largehearted Boy’s “Book Notes” with TMN’s Kevin Guilfoile.

 When potential future inductees will be eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; next year could include R.E.M., the Beastie Boys, and Sonic Youth.

 After a nine-day fast-food road trip, Frank Bruni can pin a Whataburger from miles out.

 The feds may not have found Jimmy Hoffa in Milford, Mich., but Milford discovered a business in novelty T-shirts and cupcakes.

 Another baseball record may soon be toppled—the Astros’ Craig Biggio has been hit by 277 pitches, 10 plunks away from the top mark.

 Thirty-five hundred Germans arrested for file sharing.

 New legislation holds students accountable for MySpace profiles—2,000 photos of teens holding red Solo cups deleted.

 In today’s Digest, Rosecrans Baldwin on the week in Mp3s.

 Two elderly California women arrested for taking out insurance on homeless men, running them down in their Honda Civic.

 Cesar Millan: “In the city [dogs] become a child, they become a husband, they become a soul mate. They become something the human wants before they are willing to do what is best for them.”

 The Simpsons for the blind [mp3]; knock-off Tiny Toons for the deaf [mpg]

 Seventy-five years of Soviet posters.

 The future of building design should be A/C-free, says architect Richard Rogers.

 A (not really) secret Flickr message.

 One’s natural reaction to arm-twisters of any description is to wriggle free, turn around, and kick them in the pentacles. Anthony Lane hits the Da Vinci Code where it hurts.