As 2005 Approaches, the Disaster Looms Large

It's hard to think about the wishes and optimism typically associated with the New Year's holiday when the news from Southern Asia continues to worsen, darken and sink in. The Southeast-Asia Tsunami & Earthquake blog, providing constant updates from that part of the world, remains in the No. 1 spot among today's top 40 links, 22 of which are about the disaster or relief efforts.

Many amazing stories and tales continue to emerge from Asia and the affected countries/islands, where the death toll has topped 100,000, including this scientific finding that the quake was so powerful that it may actually have affected the earth's rotation.

Today's 9th-burstiest phrase is the simple but powerful help tsunami victims.

And while it seems rather petty, relatively speaking, to talk about favorite television shows, the death of actor Jerry Orbach is discussed heavily in the blogosphere, especially among fans of "Law and Order." Orbach, 69, who died of prostate cancer, played tought-talking, joke-cracking detective Lenny Briscoe on that program.

Several weeks ago, Time magazine bestowed "Blog of the Year" designation on the PowerLine blog, a conservative blog published in Minnesota. Columnist Nick Coleman, with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, does his best to expose the behind-the-scenes Republican/conservative/think-tank connections that power the PowerLine (free newspaper registration requied to read his column).

And what's this about a bare-bones Macintosh G4 for under $500? Think Secret's Nick dePlume provides the scoop.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Mother Nature makes her presence felt in this blog comparison of tsunamis vs. earthquakes vs. blizzards.