Can Cartoons Precipitate War? (And Can't We Focus on A Different Kind of Paradise?)

Today's most-cited blog post raises the dire possibility that the increasing Middle East tension over months-old cartoons considered offensive to Muslims may, in fact, combine with other factors to start a war that would spread from the Middle East to Europe and beyond. The blogger at Civitas raises the possibility by asking, "If There's Hell Below, Is This Where We All Shall be Spending Xmas?"

Other assesments emerge from The Volokh Conspiracy, who writes that "intolerance, ignorance, and parochialism" are fueling the East vs. West clash (today's No. 14 blog post), an event no doubt fueled by Iran's solicitation of Holocaust cartoons as retribution (today's fifth-most-shared link). (Seems to me, the world needs a strong mother figure to deliver a pointed, finger-wagging lecture about everyone settling down, taking a time-out and acting like grown-ups for a change).

Meanwhile, paradise IS out there
Scientist Bruce Keehler is today's burstiest person because his trek into the Indonesian jungle (the subject of today's No. 5 news story) uncovered new species of butterflies, frogs, birds and plants. "It's beautiful, untouched, unpopulated forest; there's no evidence of human impact or presence up in these mountains," Dr Beehler told the BBC News website. (We like it already). "So cool," agrees Shakespeare's Sister.

Oscar Buzz
The Academy Award ceremony is in early March, and BlogPulse's trend-graphing tool monitor buzz about the nominees for this year's best picture. Will "Brokeback Mountain" win? Will "Crash" steal its thunder, as some have predicted?