Breaking the Law, Breaking Through Stereotypes...and Breaking Cat News

Author Michael Crichton's "This Essay Breaks the Law," an op-ed piece from Sunday's New York Times, continues to break the law and generate blog traction as today's third most-cited link and second most-cited news story. Crichton discusses who owns what in the context of U.S. patent law. "Patent Nonsense?" puns the blogger at Reason Hit & Run, while the future lawyer at Intellectual Quicksand ponders the state of laws such as these.

Really? It's that obvious?
Also maintaining traction is psychologist Jack Block, whose longitudinal study of 95 Berkeley children (here come the "moonbat" comments) came to a startling conclusion (today's most-cited news story) about the seeds of political leanings: that whiny, tattletale children tend to grow up to be politically conservative, while confident, free-wheeling children tend to evolve into political liberals. Suburban Guerilla offers commentary with a headline as pointy-tongued as the commentary, while the Brainster dubs it the "silliest article of the day" for its statistical meaninglessness.

So long, Humphrey
But some bloggers are even more worked up at the death of Humphrey, the stray cat adopted by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1989 (today's No. 9 most-cited link). Was he really, as one LiveJournaler proposes, "the last honest occupant of No. 10 Downing Street"? Elsewhere, tributes pour in like milk into the cat dish.

BlogPulse notes
For the next two weeks, I'll be vacationing/traveling in Alaska (yes, in winter) with only intermittent Internet connections. I'll do my best to keep bloggily informed, but if I miss a few days here and there, it's because I'm surrounded by snow and engrossed in, well, vacation. And who knows, maybe an oil spill or two.