Comings and Goings of Various Degrees

If there's one theme just about everyone's been discussing lately, it's dying or moving on.

The Thursday death of Terri Schiavo was mentioned in seven of Thursday's' top 40 key phrases and seven of the day's top links. The references ranged from news stories to blogger Michelle Malkin's poetry corner to, believe it or not, references to this week's "South Park" episode, which managed to tackle the good vs. evil themes of "Lord of the Rings" and the moral/ethical issues of feeding tubes in a single 30-minute episode.

Bloggers also reacted to the death of 37-year-old comedian Mitch Hedberg, who was found dead of an apparent heart attack in a New Jersey hotel.

Meanwhile, the world literally waits on word of the deteriorating health of Pope John Paul II.

More passages
After 40-plus years, ABC newsman Ted Koppel will leave his job when his contract ends later this year, and those pesky weapons of mass destruction (remember WMD?) were apparently passed over in a federal sea of incompetent and poorly coordinated intelligence, according to a report delivered to President George Bush yesterday by bipartisan commission. (Maybe he needs to focus on a "culture of integrity" for a change?) .

And bloggers are passing judgment on WordPress for the content tactics it's been using to improve its search-engine rankings (today's top link).

BBC fans have moved actor David Tennant into the No. 3 position among Bursty People because he's being mentioned as a possible replacement on the popular BBC series "Doctor Who."

Shhh.....(secrets!)
Is there something you'd like to get off your chest? Go ahead and join other bloggers who are sharing their deepest (sometimes darkest) secrets at the PostSecret blog. (OK, some are sick...you've been warned).

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: "Culture of life" entered the national lexicon in the last two weeks, so let's take a look at some pressing "culture of life" issues.