Back to Reality in Iraq; Hall of Famers at Home

Although coverage of the earthquake/tsunami in Southern Asia has dominated news coverage and the blogosphere for the past 10 days, Iraq continues to dominate in another part of the world, and the news is rarely uplifting.

In the same week that the Pentagon announced that 10,252 U.S. troops have been wounded in Iraq since March 2003, another horrific roadside bomb killed Ali Al-Haidari, the governor of Baghdad province. And even though his name hasn't been bandied out much publicly lately, captured Saddam Hussein continues to appear among BlogPulse's key people (at No. 21 today).

While debate continues over the wisdom of holding Iraqi elections later this month, bloggers and others continue to share information about the relief efforts underway in Southern Asia, with 17 of today's top 40 links referring to aid organizations or fund-raising campaigns. Among the new finds is Anders Jacobsen's "if you give, I'll give, too" posting.

PASSINGS: Bloggers today are mourning the death of Will Eisner, cartoonist and illustrator of "The Spirit,"' which first appeared as a newspaper comic strip and later as animated novel series. And in honor of the upcoming anniversary of the death of Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, LiveJournal bloggers are proposing the First Annual LiveJournal Rabbit Hole Day. (Let's hope they learn to spell Carroll correctly first!)

Ryne Sandberg and Wade Boggs, the two newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, make it to the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively, among today's burstiest BlogPulse personalities.

In the No. 7 spot among bursty people is Jeanne Phillips, who's heading up the planning for Jan. 20 inauguration activities in Washington D.C. Her presence is countered by the emergence of Not One Damn Dime Day, which is being proposed as a silent protest on Jan. 20 to the president's re-election among voters who still haven't recovered from the Nov. 2 election. If votes don't talk, maybe money will?

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Is "The Aviator" taking wing after a somewhat slow release? And while baseballers revel in their newest Hall of Fame choices, what about Super Bowl buzz?