Estrogen vs. Testosterone: Women's Issues Muscle Into the Discussion

The nomination of another middle-aged white guy to the U.S. Supreme Court has shifted blog discussion toward women's issues, intended or not.

Maureen Dowd's examination of the women's movement, What's a Modern Girl to Do?, excerpted from an upcoming book, is today's 10th most-shared link, with reactions ranging from Nichelle Newsletter's "get thee to a nursing home!" rallying cry to Bamber's less-than-flattering reaction.

And if the issue of abortion weren't enough to divide religious reds from coastal blues, today's most linked-to news story, about a vaccine for cervical cancer, will add to the gap. Conservatives are questioning the vaccine on the grounds that it might encourage teen-age girls to have sex. Pharyngula wonders about the wisdom of questioning a cancer-preventing vaccine; PatridiotWatch wonders how that line of un-healthy thinking might play out intimately. (If it were a vaccine for prostate cancer, would the fears be the same? Hmmm...)

Worried about winter?
Speaking of fears, can't help but notice increasing attention to bird flu and other potential threats for the Winter of 2005:




Let the showdown begin?
Tensions are ratching up in the nation's capital, and not solely because of Appeals Court Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court. Adding to the fray are Tuesday's hastily called closed Senate session (today's No. 9 top news story) by Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (today's fourth most-discussed blog personality) to hash out the Bush Administration's prewar intelligence, with plenty of bloggers posting Reid's statement in its entirety. That pushed former Office of Management and Budget Directory Larry Lindsay into the burstiest person spotlight because he's cited in the memo as another administration official who was "let go" for, supposedly for stating the facts about the war.

The next chapter
And while no one's able to predict what'll happen to recently indicted Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Lewis Scooter Libby, Tuesday's BlogPulse Spotlight blog found this little gem about Libby's juicy extra-curricular writing endeavors, a fitting beginning to National Novel Writing Month.