Today's Forecast: Stormy Weather, Stormy Words

Cool things first. Ever wondered what it's like inside a tornado? National Geographic accomplished the feat with flat conical video cameras that stayed on the ground while the tornado roared overhead, and the footage (about 5 minutes) is today's No. 7 top link.

The ITLnet blog calls it a "technological first." Webslog describes it as "some of the most memorable photgraphic images on the planet."

Before we get to stormy words, how are you spending your first weeks of summer? At the movies? Glued to the TV watching reality and courtroom news? Kickin' back? Had to share this BlogPulse graph:



Politicial storms a'brewing?
Free-flowing words continue to spill from the mouth of Democratic National Party chairman Howard Dean, who, when asked about diversity, this week called the GOP a "white Christian" party. He shoots to No. 3 among today's key personalities. Right Pundit calls his blunt speeches divisive, while Junkyard Blog takes a longer view.

A word storm has also picked up in Washington D.C., bringing White House aide Philip Cooney to the top of today's bursty people list. Seems the former oil lobbyist, now a Bush aide on environmental policies, has edited global-warming reports to tone down language linking fossil-fuel emissions with global warming. PublicTheologian asks, "Aren't you glad lobbyists are keeping those pesky government scientists in line?"

The Articulatory Loop blog has a posting of a poster, and it's creating a stir as well. The "Watch, Ride and Report" poster now appearing in D. C. subways has bloggers asking: Is it Orwellian? Fake? A WPA/Art Deco throwback? Or a Soviet-style invitation to spy on one's friends? ? Red Wolf blog calls them "terrornoia posters," while Core Dump notes their content/stylist resemblance to 1930s-era Communist propaganda art. What do YOU think?

Passings
Bloggers mourn the Monday death (cancer) of actress Anne Bancroft, the original Mrs. Robinson and wife of comedian Mel Brooks.