Blog Censorship? And The House That Jack Built Crumbles

It's pretty well known that the Chinese government often censors bloggers or blocks the URLs to blog sites it doesn't like. But is MSN Spaces is on the act, too? That's the question raised in today's most popular blog post, by Rebecca McKinnon, founder of Global Voices Online, at RConversation, "Microsoft Takes Down Chinese Blogger." She provides plenty of details about how certain phrases, words are blocked by servers, linking the take-down to MSN Spaces.

Blogger reaction? "Microsoft serves the great red firewall," observes blogger San Bei Ji. "Is globalization exporting censorship?" asks a MetaFilter discussion (and the conclusion: yes). Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble's not happy either and has offered the Chinese blogger space on his own blog, risk-free.

Nervous nellies in D.C.
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff is the blogosphere's third most-discussed person today after pleading guilty on Monday (today's No. 2 top news story) to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy -- and agreed to cooperate with investigators by spilling the beans, apparently, on leglislators who succumbed to his donations and influence. ThinkProgress outlines the issue in a post called "The House That Jack Built" (today's No. 8 blog post). So far, former Speaker Tom DeLay and Ohio Congressman Bob Ney have been linked to Abramoff:



Read the comments at WizBang!'s recap, and you'll discover that many folks hope BOTH parties learn a lesson, clean house and adopt federal term limits for Congress.

A Soldier's Father Speaks: A Life Wasted?
Today's 20th most-cited news story is a touching essay by the father of a soldier who died in Iraq. "Though it hurts, I believe that his death -- and that of the other Americans who have died in Iraq -- was a waste. They were wasted in a belief that democracy would grow simply by removing a dictator -- a careless misunderstanding of what democracy requires. They were wasted by not sending enough troops to do the job needed in the resulting occupation -- a careless disregard for professional military counsel.

"But their deaths will not be in vain if Americans stop hiding behind flag-draped hero masks and stop whispering their opposition to this war. Until then, the lives of other sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers may be wasted as well."