In an Olympian David vs. Goliath...It's Definitely David (And Charley)

You gotta hand it to Olympic hopefuls, particularly the teams and athletes from smaller companies who arrive at the international games every four years with visions of medals in their heads. And this year, you gotta hand it to Puerto Rico, whose men's basketball team soundly spanked the U.S. men's team over the weekend and took top spot among Monday's burstiest BlogPulse phrases.

Olympic mentions also appeared elsewhere, in references to U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps' first medal, U.S. gymnast Blaine Wilson and the controversy created by Iranian Arash Miresmaeili, world-record-holding judo athlete who refused to compete over the weekend with an Israeli athlete because of ties to a "Zionist regime."

The impact of Hurricane Charley on Florida brought about the humanitarian side of blogs, especially the Strengthen the Good blog that is serving as a clearinghouse for disaster relief information. The hard-hit town of Punta Gorda was Monday's seventh-burstiest phrase.

And in politics land, military service continues to be an issue. The latest assault, in addition to the anti-Kerry charges made by Swift Boat Veterans and others, comes from Sen. Tom Harkin, who called Vice President Dick Cheney a "coward" for avoiding service during the Vietnam War and for the government's continued call-up of reservists and guards-men and -women who already have served tours of duty (some of them extended tours) in Iraq...and keep getting called up for more. In anticipation of the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 Republican convention, seems the Republicans are treading the murky waters of gay rights and abortion (registration at LA Times required), something the Dems managed to sidestep nicely this year...so far.

TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Barack Obama claimed at the Democratic National convention that there are no red states or blue states...only united states. See how the Swing State terminology tracks in a BlogPulse trend.