If The Blogosphere Were a Magazine, Today's Edition Would Be "People"

Today's top blog links aren't particularly juicy, and key phrases are a ho-hum collection of various and sundry topics. But the list of key people has more than enough fodder for a big fat issue of People magazine (or its blog equivalent).

First, there's news of Michael Jackson's hospitalization for flu-like symptoms, and Microsoft's announcement from Bill Gates of the early release of a supposedly more secure Internet Explorer 7.0.

From the world of bizarre hook-ups comes news of the pending marriage of 22-year-old Vili Fualaau and his one-time junior high teacher, 43-year-old Mary Kay Letourneau, who did jail time twice for child rape (and got pregnant twice by the boy). Some relationships are just too bizarre for words.

Today's burstiest person is David Kuo, one-time head of President Bush's faith-based initiative initiative, and now one of its biggest critics. Democrats, he says, are too wishy-washy on the faith issue, and Republicans, he charges, simply don't care enough about poor people to put compassionately conservative words into action (or dollars).

And what's a good gossip magazine without a crop circle story? How about a Hello Kitty crop circle story?

Legal briefs: The Tulsa World is trying to crack down on a blogger, news of a a tsunami-related lawsuit has been filed by Austrian and German victims of the natural disaster, and a Los Angeles Times reports on former U.S. prisoners of war from the first Gulf War who are being told by the Bush Administration to quit asking for the money they were awarded for their torture because the Iraqis need the money now. (Does this administration not understand the word "torture" in any context?)

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Batter up! Baseball's annual spring training season kicks into the gear this week. Allegations of steroid use by some of baseball's biggest stars are bound to have an impact on this year's coverage of the great American pasttime.