Let's All Go To The Movies...(And Have a Safe Memorial Day Weekend)

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, a three-day holiday that no doubt will draw plenty of folks into movie theaters and onto the Internet for movie info, trailers and online video clips.

Among today's blog discoveries is commentary on Cinematical, hinting at yet another Star Wars prequel from George Lucas? Star Wars buzz continues with United States of Noooooo (featuring Darth Vader's voice), and the Organic Trade Associations' Grocery Star Wars.

And for bloggers who now turn into the WEb to watch TV commercials, two created attention this week: One is the racy (and that's perhaps an understatement) Paris Hilton commercial for Carl's Jr.'s BBQ burgers (so popular it crashed servers earlier this week), and the well-choreographed Stunt City commercial for a deodorant tailored to folks (like stunt specialists) who work under pressure.

If it's a museum you'll be visiting over the holidays, the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum is starting to spread the word of its 2007 opening (not far from here, in fact) in Northern Kentucky. Talking dinosaurs and exhibits that conflict (that's an understatement as well) with scientific findings will take center stage. Says one LiveJournal blogger, "I think my head just exploded."

BLOGPULSE WEEKEND ACTIVITY: BlogPulse will continue to update its Top Links, Key People and Key Phrases over Memorial Day, but the Intelliseek and the blog itself are taking advantage of a perk that gives us a four-day weekend. See you next Tuesday, June 1....have a safe holiday!

--The BlogPulse Team

Maybe it wasn't Newsweek's fault after all?

Calling the U.S. detainee center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the "gulag of our time" has pushed Irene Kahn, secretary general of Amnesty International, into the spotlight and the top position among BlogPulse's burstiest people. That assessment is contained in AI's latest report on human rights issues around the world.

Blogger reactions range from "I take exception" at Schadenfreude to verbatim citations from the group's report at Rowhouse Logic blog.

What's hot?
Gizmos and gadgets are making waves these days, so BlogPulse plugged some of the day's hottest toys and to-do's into its Trend Tool and came up with this comparison of Star Wars vs. iPod vs. PS3 vs. XBox:


Passings and passing comments...
Australians today are mourning the death of long-time TV star Graham Kennedy, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan seems to be backing off remarks he made about Newsweek's Koran-related retraction, the U.S. House of Representatives is backing embyronic stem cell research and Carrie Underwood passed Bo Rice Wednesday to become the new American Idol (even though Bo rated higher on BlogPulse's key people lists).

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Star Wars is hot. So are Search Wars.

The Full Moon Phenomenon...and 60 Million Blogs Worldwide?

In a previous career as a newspaper journalist, my colleagues and I got accustomed to the "full-moon phenomenon." During the few days before, during and after a full moon, newsroom phones would ring (day and night) with strange and bizarre questions from often strange and bizarre callers. I think the phenomenon's at work in the blogosphere.

How else to explain today's top news link, the tale of two Brits who used fluourescent light tubes filled with gasoline to stage a Star Wars-like light sabre duel...and ended up hospitalized in critical condition. A blog called Wherever You Are sums up a typical reaction fairly nicely. The Daley Blog dubs it "revenge of the accelerants."

The there's this: today's No. 5 news link about California neighbors complaining about the sheet metal-covered house in their neighborhood; its occupants say the metal protects them from bombarding radiation. The MeisterPlanet blog calls it the "tinfoil hat house."

He was grrrr----eat!
Todays' burstiest person is Thurl Ravenscroft, who died at age 91 over the weekend. For 50 years, he was the voice of Tony the Tiger and also sang the "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" song in the original Grinch cartoon. Bloggers mourn. Another TV icon died this week as well: Howard Morris, the actor who played Ernest T. Bass on the Andy Griffith show.

60 Million Blogs?
Duncan Riley of the BlogHerald, provides a fascinating estimate of the number of blogs worldwide, complete with breakdowns by continent. His projection: 60 million. No telling how many of those are spam or inactive.

The filibuster fallout
Conservative bloggers Michelle Malkin, the Power Line team and idealogue James Dobson are bemoaning the Senate's compromise on the filibuster issue, calling it everything from a "complete bailout and betrayal by a cabal of Republicans" (Dobson) to a "pathetic collapse on the part of the Republicans" (Powerline). (Or maybe this: the pendulum is finally swinging back to a bit of moderate, common-ground, common sense?)

BLOGPULS TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Amazing, isn't it, how the terms "conservative" and "liberal" can track so closely? Maybe as a nation, we are collectively more purple than red or blue?

The BBC: Hot...and Bothered

Today's curious convergence of events: in the same week that BBC employees in London staged a one-day strikeover job cutbacks, BlogPulse also discovered that the BBC has been the most-cited news source among bloggers from January-May 2005 -- topping 2004's top media sources, Yahoo! News and the New York Times.

In the first five months of 2005, the BBC was cited 73,422 times by bloggers, followed by Yahoo! (70,299 citations, dropping from No. 1 to No. 2), CNN (63,347, moving from No. 4 to No. 2) and the Times (52,985, dropping from No. 2 to No. 4).

One of the biggest news winners in 2005 is the alternative TruthOut.org, which jumped from 89th among 2004's top-cited news sources to No. 7 on the January-May 2005 list (with 17,490 citations).

Other blog discoveries
Mary Tillman, the mother of the late NFL star and U.S. soldier Pat Tillman, is today's burstiest person for her public criticism of the U.S. Army's handling of her son's death in Afghanistan. Originally hailed as dying a hero's death in Army reports, Tillman later was found to have been killed by friendly fire during a botched mission. How many other military families will never know the details of their loved one's deaths, asks Scoop Agonist blogger? The Liquid List blog wonders how Tillman would have reacted to the Army's behavior. Powerpundit hopes the family's anger won't be used politically against the Bush Administration.

News that Apple's iTunes update might support podcasts is getting traction in the blogosphere, including a mention at Engadget.

And today's continuing Star Wars-related discoveries include Unfortunate Star Wars Costumes, Burger King's Sith Sense pass-along video, The Force Is a Tool of Satan web site, and this annoying clip of Darth Vader yelling "NOOOOOO."

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: The great (ahem) minds in Washington seem to have reached a compromise on the 200-year-old filibuster rule, finally.

Left vs. Right, Sith vs. Jedi, "Us" Vs. Them

In politics, it's a left vs. right, red vs. blue kind of day, with columnist Keith Thompson ranking as today's burstiest person for his essay about giving up on the left. Democrats, meanwhile, are heartened by Chairman Howard Dean's appearance on Sunday's Meet the Press with Tim Russert, while conservatives focused on his name slipups.

In movie theaters, it's Star Wars mania. Following the movie's record-setting box-office weekend, six of the "Revenge of the Sith" actors/characters appear among today's top personalities, and five of today's most trafficked blog links refer to official Star Wars web sites and blogger reviews, beat out out only by the buzz-building spoof "Grocery Star Wars."

So in the showdown of all times, who's winning...the Force or the Dark Side?



And in international affairs, it just gets messier, with bloggers now hammering Newsweek's Japanese edition cover that describes "The Day America Died," an international-edition piece that examines whether the U.S. is losing its leadership position in the world.

Meanwhile, way down near the bottom of today's top links is the Ballon Juice blog, whose author -- a proud U.S. veteran -- nonetheless takes on blogger Hugh Hewitt for Hewitt's claims that the media is "anti-military." In his "don't shoot the messenger" posting, the Balloon Juice blogger points out the big difference between actual military abuse of detainees and prisoners (and the ramifications of those acts) and the act of reporting them, editorial corrections and all.

Two New BlogPulse Features: Clickable Trend Graphs, Enhanced Conservation Tracker

BlogPulse surpassed the 11-million blog milestone earlier this week, just 23 days after it first identified 10 million total blogs in late April. And to keep up with the boom in creating and understanding blogs, BlogPulse today also offers two new features for users:

• Clickable Trend Charts: The popular Trend Chart feature tracks "buzz" on issues, personalities or phrases over 1-, 2- or 6-month periods. Usability testing revealed a need to understand the reasons for spikes in buzz. For example: Buzz about "Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," which lingered at about .5% of all blog posts since early May, has increased fivefold in the last two weeks to 3% of all blog posts, triggered by the movie's opening today. BlogPulse users can now click on a chart spike to drill through and read the specific blog comments that fueled the spikes. Users can also create their own charts using the BlogPulse Trend Tool.

• Enhanced "Conversation Tracking": In response to feedback, users can now search for any topic in BlogPulse’s "Conversation Tracker" tool. It is no longer necessary to type in the exact link or full URL of a blog post or site. The Conversation Tracker allows users to gauge the extent to which bloggers refer to links or mention topics.

And for the curious: of BlogPulse's 11 million identified blogs, 3.5 million are classified as "active" in the last 30 days.

It's Another Day of Blog Bizarre-Ness

Every once in a while, the blogosphere seems over-popuated by simply bizarre stuff, and it looks as if today is one of those days, what with midget-eating lions, tongue-tied senators, 1950s advice for women and a refreshing abundance of British media influence.

Today's top link, in fact, includes Sen. Bill Frist's verbatim answer to a simple question from Sen. Chuck Schumer, as reported in the Think Progress blog's coverage of the filibuster debate. (Perhaps Frist taking off-the-cuff elocution lessons from the Prez?)

The British press also has been appearing with more frequency among blog posts recently, including the transcript of George Galloway's no-holds-barred testimony before the U.S. senate this week, the BBC coverage of midget-eating lions in Cambodia, a Wired News prediction that the BBC might very well dominate the news business with its recent technology moves, and The Register's coverage (bizarre alert!) of a British woman's embarrassing shopping trip.

In a flashback posting, the blinkytreeblog posts excerpts from "On Becoming a Woman," a 1950s-era booklet brimming with "advice" for women. We've come a long way, baby....haven't we???

On the fantasy front, Batman fans are mourning the death of actor Frank Gorshin, who played The Riddler in the original Batman TV series. And actor Kelsey Grammer will play The Beast in the upcoming X Men 3. But the majority of fantasy buzz is focused on the opening night of "Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith." Among today's popular blog hits are Darth Vader's blog, the official Star Wars site, a Star Wars versions of The Last Supper, the New Yorker's review of the movie, and a Star Wars Photoshop contest.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Let the end of an era begin.

P.S. A BlogPulse user writes in to let folks know of a web site where visitors can send thanks to Star Wars producer George Lucas for 27 years of fine fantasy.

A Curious Mix: Kylie Minogue, Nintendo, Scott McClellan and a Canadian Lawmaker

What a difference a day makes. Tuesday's BlogPulse buzz focused heavily on Newsweek magazine and the shake-out of its Koran-flushing retraction, while today's buzz-makers encompass totally different issues and topics.

Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, who announced this week she has breast cancer, is receiving plenty of support from her fans.

In gamerland, announcement of the spring 2006 launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 dominates the field, is covered live by the aficianados at Engadget and recives plenty of ink from Gamespot.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan jumps from No. 20 to No. 8 among today's key people, no doubt, because in blaming Newsweek for anti-American sentiment abroad, he also drew the wrath of MSNBC's Keith Olberman, who on his blog has called for McClellan's resignation over officially questionable media practices and spin.

And today's No. 2 link details Canadian politics, in which once-Conservative Belinda Stronach has jumped to the Liberal party to take a position in Prime Minister Paul Martin's cabinet.

For today's conservative-liberal viewpoints, there's veteran newsman Bill Moyers, who gave a recent speech about the role of the free press ("a democracy can die of too many lies") and former White House aide Pat Buchanan's thoughts on the demise of conservatism ("a lot of people who call themselves conservative....are big-government people.")

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: In the last few weeks, discussion about cancer has spiked.

Framing the Newsweek Debate: Did a Magazine Error Cause Riotous Outrage, Or Did A Policy of Torture?

When fully half of all the top blog/news links being shared by bloggers focus on a single topic, it's obviously a hot one. That's the case of Newsweek's retraction of a story about desecration of the Koran during detainee interrogations at Guantanamo Bay prison and some critics' contentions that the article caused riotious deaths in Afghanistan.

But the debate is wide-ranging among bloggers, some of who have a reputation for blasting MSM -- mainstream media -- for careless reporting. The National Debate blog notes that no one's died from mistakes by bloggers, and conservative blogger Michelle Malkin has taken up the slogan "Newsweek Lied, No One Died."

But the Light of Reason blog points out that Newsweek's three-paragraph article certainly didn't cause the riots; military torture did, and problems will continue to fester until an administration that supports such policies does what the media have done -- admit mistakes and apologize rather than pursue what amounts to censorship.

BlogPulse's trend graph today plots the word "truth" against four separate entitiies: Media, President Bush, the Pentagon and Bloggers.



Other viewpoints are offered by Ranting Profs, Instapundit, and even Russian news sources.

On ABC's "Nightline" last night, Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker noted that Pentagon sources viewed the article and information before it went to print and expressed no concerns until 11 days after it was published. Meanwhile, Editor and Publisher releases results of its latest survey on the gap between journalists and uthe public on many issues, including freedom of the press.

Who IS "The Piano Man"?
In Great Britain, the identify of a mysterious, unnamed, unspeaking person called "The Piano Man" has made the world stage. The man was found wandering on an English beach in early April and hasn't spoken a word since -- but performs beautifully on the piano.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Where do you worship? A BlogPulse trend graph highlights weekly religious activities depending on the venue.

"Star Wars" is Hot, Blogging is Hard....

This week's release of the final movie in the Star Wars series is certainly generating "buzz" among movie fans. Characters Padme Amidala and General Grievous appear among today's top blog personalities because of a QuizFarm "Which Sith Character are you?" game that's being shared among bloggers.

Episode III "Revenge of the Sith" has consitently maintained higher levels of buzz than most of 2005's other planned action/fantasy movies, not to mention "Robots" and "Hitch," the year's top-grossing films to date:



The Organic Trade Association's "Grocery Store Wars" continues to ride the rebellion popularity wave, clocking in at today's No. 3 top link.

How hard can blogging be?
Rutgers Professor David Greenberg's fill-in stint as a blogger, chronicled in Sunday's New York Times, is receiving the kind of commentary he realized he didn't appreciate when he was blogging. The Weblogg-ed blogger has little compassion while blogger Daniel Drezner, for whom Greenberg did the favor, offers his thanks and personal observations.

Also grabbing attention is Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker's apology for publishing information that may have fueled riots and deaths last week in Afghanistan. While not retracting the report that U.S. interrogators may have flushed a copy of the Qur'an down a toilet, Whitaker now says once-reliable sources who confirmed the information have now backed off. Reactions range from the commentary at Liberals Against Terrorism to Powerline Blog.

And in case you were wondering, comedian Dave Chappelle is just fine, thanks.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Darth Vader continues to out-buzz Yoda in the Star Wars character popularity contest -- but only by a helmet's length?

Popular Web Tools, Not-So-Popular Nominees

John Bolton, the man nominated to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, breaks into the top five blogged-about personalities, no doubt because senators sent his name to the full senate for a vote but shied away from endorsing him on Thursday.

Another Bush appointtee, Dr. David Hager, (today's burstiest person), member of an FDA women's reproductive health advisory committee, is again in the news for claiming he wrote the minority memo that kept the agency from approving over-the-counter emergency contraception. (Hager's long been a subject of e-mail petitions because of his extremely conservative views about women).

Lotsa Web tools
Topping the list of today's links is the BBC's recently announced the test version of BackStage, a developer network that allows users to build their own news content. (BlogPulse is happy because it's offered as one of the built-in tracking features for the project).

Bloggers are also sharing the release of Mozilla 1.0.4, the Pew Typology Test for determing red or blue status, and Funny Fox promotional videos touting officer users' reactions to Firefox. Google and Dodgeball.com, menawhile, have teamed up for online networking/meet-ups.

Unanswered questions
Comedian Dave Chappelle is a topic of speculation for news-based rumors that he is seeking mental health treatment. (Could be true.....or is this a Comedy Central-staged scam?)

And how many folks next Thursday will call in sick with a case of "sith-itis"?

National ID Cards: More Security...or Less?

Now that national ID cards are a thing of the future (thanks to an undebated provision tacked onto the Iraqi spending bill), will they make the nation more secure? Or less?

Some folks argue the latter. Today's No. 2 blog link, Schneier on Security, spells out one security expert's concerns, including increased vulnerability to identity theft, unsupervised security breaches and more. The Ars Technica blog spells out even more concerns. And some governors are hinting at court action to rein it in. The "Real ID" bill passed, by the way, 100 to zip. Today's No. 7 top link is the UnReal ID.

If that bit of news doesn't send some futuristic shivers up your spine, how about this? The Financial Times finds that U.S. wage earners are losing ground at the fastest rate in 14 years. The Labor Blog offers some theories about who gains from these numbers (and if you guessed Corporate America, you'd be right). If United Airlines can weasel out of its pension commitment, how many other corporations soon will be lining up behind it?

Star Wars Mania builds
Star Wars fans are getting antiser for next week's release of "Revenge of the Sith," the last of the six Star Wars movies from director George Lucas. The Organic Trade Association, recognizing a hot trend when they see one, have launched the Grocery Store Wars web site to promote the "organic rebellion." Its star line-up: Dark Tader, Cuke Skywalker, Tofu D2, Chewbroccoli and Obi Wan Cannoli, among others (no vegetables were harmed in the filming of this promotion).

BlogPulse tidbits...The Rev. Chan Chandler of North Carolina has left his 100-member church in the wake of the brouhaha that erupted when he told nine Democrats among his congregation to "repent or resign"....Journalist Molly Bingham's opinion piece about covering the war in Iraq is also getting some traction among bloggers.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: The year-old Abu Ghraib prison scandal continues to play out.

BlogPulse's International Presence...and a Klingon Blog

Intelliseek's senior researchers Natalie Glance and Matthew Hurst, key members of the BlogPulse team, participated Tuesday in the Second Annual Workshop on the Weblogging Ecosystem in Japan. They've set up a conference blog that covers highlights of the international conference.

What's the buzz on rising gas prices? BlogPulse tracked discussion about the terms "gas guzzler" and "hybrid car" and found this interesting trend:



And for folks who speak a definitely different language, the Vancouver Courier documents the passing of an era of Trekkies, many of whom are distraught that the long-running series is disappearing at the end of the week. But never fear: there's a Klingon blog for folks who just can't get enough.

One of BlogPulse's loyal blogger-readers, Steeph's blog, did a little graphing of drug-related vices and found some interesting trends.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: See how Steeph's vices compare with BlogPulse's running tab on the seven deadly sins.

The Huffington Blog Arrives

The Huffington Post, a contributory blog launched by liberal political activist Arianna Huffington is up, running and grabbing lots of attention -- negative and positive.

Some bloggers, such as Paradox1x simply notes its May 9 launch, while the Water Glass says Huffington makes an "online ass of herself" with self-promotionalism and Cal Blog ofers a piece of advice to new bloggers: always link to cited news sources.

Because of the blog, Huffington ranks No. 8 among today's key people and many of the blog's high-profile contributing authors -- Ellen DeGeneres, John Cusack, Gary Hart, Hilary Rosen, Mike Nichols, David Mamet, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and others -- appear in today's list of burstiest personalities.

On the movie front, citations about the recently released trailer for "Harry Potter And the Goblet of Fire" pushed that movie to No. 2 among today's top links. And director Steve Spielberg's tears are getting noticed, too; he cried at a screening of the upcoming Star Wars "Revenge of the Sith" movie. Speaking of which, how about a Darth Vader lawn sprinkler?

Since most elementary and high school students are being tested incessantly these days, you might as well join the fun with this brain-teaser (today's No. 11 link). These puzzles are why I majored in English.

And to really spice up your life, catch this piece about the world's hottest chili sauce in London's Sun.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Star Wars mania builds for the May 19 release of the last Star Wars movie, and Darth Vader and Yoda are running neck and neck...still.

Googley-eyed kind of day

The folks at Google just don't seem to quit.

The company's web accelerator download ranks first among today's top links, and one blogger thinks it might help bloggers in countries where the Internet is tightly ruled by governments.

Microsoft's Bill Gates makes it to the No. 3 spot among today's top personalities, mostly for a Fortune article in which he discusses Google as "more like us than anyone we have ever competed with." Another top BlogPulse link today features Google-Yahoo city traffic maps.

Eyes are also focused overseas, as well, where re-elected British Prime Minister Tony Blair ranks No. 2 behind President George Bush among today's most blogged-about personalities. Observers also specualte about an exposion (by novelty devices) in front of the British consulate in New York City, with descriptions ranging from "major bomb blast" to "party favor in a flower pot."

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY:Britain's Tony Blair won the buzz contest among bloggers, too.

Some "Meaty" Blog Stuff

Now here's some news you can really sink your teeth into. Literally.

Today's fourth most-shared link takes blog readers to the tale of the burger arms race, wherein Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in Clearfield, Pa., is now offering a 15-pound hamburger that feeds a family of 10. Once-obscure 100-pound Kate Stelnick is today's burstiest person for eating a 5-pound version of the burger in record time recently. (Tums, anyone?) Bloggers share their culinary excitement.

If beef's not what's for dinner, how's about a bacon bandage? The Ultimate Insult blog describes it as a great way to "disgust the vegetarian in your life," (although I'm pretty sure it would disgust carnivores as well).

Apple continues to beef up its product line with the newly announced iMac G5, which comes installed with the new Tiger operating system. Mac bloggers are taking note.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: The haggling continues over who will be the next owner of MCI...Qwest or Verizon?

Is PBS Next? Is Laura Bush Anti-Christian? Has the Time Travel Convention Started Yet?

Suddenly, everyone's talking about Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the new (Republican) head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which operates PBS (and todays' burstiest person).

According to the New York Times, his agenda includes a desire to rid PBS of its "liberal bias," and bloggers have a few things to say about that. The Pandagon blog has attracted plenty of comments, and Progress Now describes the move as "kulturkampf" by the far right. More insights are provided by Dangerous Meta. (For the sake of equal time, I have to ask: when do full-scale investigations begin of "conservative bias" on TV/radio?)

Bloggers are still mentioning BlogPulse's 10-million blog milestone, so we ran a trend graph comparing references to the word "blogosphere" to other universes. And it's pretty interesting:



The First Lady dares to poke fun
Most people thought Laura Bush's jokes at the White House correspondents' dinner last weekend were funny and well-delivered. Not conservative Christians, according to The Swift Report, which claims some evangelical groups are criticizing Mrs. Bush for ignoring biblical commands to respect one's husband. (Note: they're JOKES. Ha-Ha. Sense of humor?)

Today's top blog link tells of the upcoming Time Traveler's Convention to be held Saturday at MIT in Boston. It's a "show-up-or-not, whenever-you-get-here" kind of affair, apparently.

Moviegoers continue to discuss The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, laundresses are buzzing over the new "Your Turn" washing machine that won't allow the same user to operate it twice in a row, and Florida sure seems to have more than its fair share of issues these days. Coincidence? Or not? Think about it.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Speaking of issues in Florida, where have the Schiavos gone? Back to the privacy of their own homes, let's hope.

First Lady Keeps 'em Laughing; Bloggers Focus Internationally

Proof once again that many First Ladies tend to have more flair and depth than their male counterparts: First Lady Laura Bush jumped into the limelight over the weekend for her stand-up schtick at the White House correspondents' association dinner, where she included vice presidential wife Lynne Cheney in her routine.

Mrs. Cheney is today's burstiest person for agreeing to be the butt of a joke about "Desperate Housewives," and Mrs. Bush moved from nowhere into the No. 8 spot among key people.

But much of the blogosphere attention today is turned internationally (well, except among Macintosh users, who are veritably DROOLING over the new Tiger System X operating system. One word: YUM).

In the British Isles, voters are gearing up for Thursday's election for a new prime minister, and Tony Blair is on the hot seat.



A few British bloggers are keeping track of the polls, while others are monitoring news reports are suggesting the Blair had been told that an invasion of Iraq was illegal, but pursued it with President Bush anyway.

Also on the international front, bloggers are dissecting the U.S. military's report clearing American troops in the March shooting of a recently freed Italian hostage/journalist in Iraq.

Curious blog discoveries
Also hidden among the blog gems: instructioons on how make your own DVR from PC parts, an online game to test your skills at guessing Google search terms based on the images they produce, a Darth Vader blog (really)and the true story of a weekend's runaway bride by the name of Jennifer Willbanks.

BLOGPULSE TREND GRAPH OF THE DAY: Let's check in this week on the prices of gas and crude oil.