Bloggers Cover the Tsunami Devastation in Asia

The slowed-down nature of the holiday season was abruptly shattered by news of the devastation of the earthquake and resulting tidal waves/tsunamis that slammed into Southern Asia over the weekend, killing thousands without warning.

In fact, 13 of Sunday's top 40 links directly address the tidal wave disaster and resulting news coverage. Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga appeared in Sunday's list of burstiest people, along with geophysicists and earthquake specialists, because of her appeal for international assistance.

And for evidence that bloggers truly have become on-the-scene "reporters" in many cases, the Instanpundit blog includes links to a number of international bloggers covering the devastation "live" from the countries directly affected. More blog coverage of the disaster is found at a blog called Screenshots.

While the world community reacts and responds to the news from Asia, NFL fans today are mourning the death of "The Minister of Defense" Reggie White, a former defensive end for the Philadephia Eagles and Green Bay Packers. White, 43, died Sunday. He was BlogPulse's burstiest person on Sunday.

Over the holiday weekend, many of the key phrases that appeared in blog postings dealt with gifts, shopping, movies watched, DVDs rented/received, holiday wishes, and usual holiday fare. On Christmas Day itself, BlogPulse's "burstiest person" was the enigmatic Mele Kalikimaka, which isn't a person at all but the name of a song and a Hawaiian Christmas greeting. Joining "Mele" on the list is Ferrero Rocher, which is, in fact, the name of a brand of chocolate.

Did you notice how political blog postings dropped off pretty drastically in BlogPulse's daily findings after the Nov. 2 election? They're starting to return, evidenced by speculation by Talking Points memo blog that the Bush White House will use the same sort of truth-smudging tactics to drum up support for Social Security reform, the same way it did to build its "case" for the corporate takeo....er, invasion of Iraq. Time (and experience) will tell....

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: What does the 2005 political/issue agenda look like from the 2004 side of the calendar? And don't forget to check out BlogPulse's intruiguing 2004 review of the blogosphere.