Sept. 1: Blog For Relief Day

The blogosphere continues to report news of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath today, and bloggers are mobilizing to help fill the information gap and help the massive cleanup that will be required. It's reminiscent of the blogger involvement in the 2004 tsunami coverage and relief effort. Instanpundit provides a list of relief/charity organizations. The Truth Laid Bear is helping coordinate the designation of Thursday (9/1) as Blog for Relief Day, "a day of blogging focused on raising awareness of and funds for relief efforts to aid those affected by Hurricane Katrina."

Blogging as close to the scene as possible
Where reporters can't get to, where electricity has failed, or where cell phones have died, bloggers have taken up reins. Among today's top blogs are a handful of newcomers who are providing as much information about Katrina's devastation as possible. They include The Irish Trojan's blog by Brendan Loy, who's blogging from South Bend, Ind., of all places. Others include Metroblogging New Orleans, a blog from the Biloxi Sun Herald and California Yankee blogger.

Top hurricane news sources
A separate BlogPulse analysis of the news sources cited most frequently by bloggers shows that CNN.com leads the list, followed by Yahoo! News, MSNBC, the Washington Post, BBC News, the New York Times, Fox News, USATODAY.com, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Nation. Other news sources breaking into the national spotlight include the Everything New Orleans web site of the New Orleans Times Picayune and the previously mentioned Biloxi Sun Herald.

The entire disaster is producing what A Small Victory calls tireless blogging work."

After The Storm

Bloggers become big-hearted in times of peril, and, as was the case yesterday, their chatter is full of news and concern about Hurricane Katrina, which cut a path of ruin across the Gulf Coast. News stories about the hurricane dominate our Top Links today, with the no. 1 being a newspaper blog with blow-by-blow reports about the storm. "Terrific journalism," says this blogger. CNN Anchor Miles O'Brien also has a blog in our top links, and no. 7 is this New Orleans webcam. The warm response of bloggers to crises has become the norm, whether it's a tsunami, a terrorist attack or a hurricane: As in those times, one of our top links shows people how to make donations to the Red Cross.

Bad Words And Coffee
Even hurricanes can't keep controversy out of the blogosphere, as evidenced by a few of the other things that popped up in BlogPulse today — a school in England will allow students to curse at teachers up to five times during a lesson. A parent calls this "ludicrous" and bloggers are agreeing. "This is a policy that will, of course, prepare these students for the real world. Where cussing at your boss or co-workers will likely not be tolerated at all," writes the aptly named Say Anything blog. Then there's this story, about a conservative group objecting to a quote on a Starbucks cup about being gay, prompting Zero Boss to ask if they're mixing their messages: "For months I've been seeing this ad on conservative blogs which shows a picture of Hilary Clinton with a cup of espresso, with the text railing against "latte-sipping liberals". How many fundamentalists even buy designer coffee? An economic boycott of Starbucks by the far-right wing would cost the company, what, $40?"

Nature's Raw Power: Wind, Storm Surges and Hamsters

Hurricane Katrina, which gave cable news something else to cover besides a missing teen in Aruba, is making as many waves in the blogosphere today as it is on the Gulf Coast. Fifteen of today's top links refer in some way to Katrina, whether it's the hurricane's recently added Wikipedia entry (No. 16 already), links to the National Hurricane Center (No. 7 link) or live web cams from New Orleans. "Hope and pray for the Gulf Coast," a wish from from PSOTD blogger, sums up a nationwide sentiment.

Disrespect of the worst kind
Not so universal are opinions about the Rev. Fred Phelps' latest smack-in-the-face of propriety. He and members of his church are injecting anti-gay sentiment into the debate over Iraq by protesting at soldier's funerals; "this makes me feel positively sick," says LiveJournaler Kay; Dean's World blames it on...the Democrats?

Power to the...hamsters
Peter Ash's idea may have snagged only a C for the science fair, but BlogPulse's Academic Ingenuity Department awards it an A+. The 16-year-old Somerset student invented a hamster-powered phone charger when his sister complained that Elvis' incessant nocturnal cage-running was driving her bonkers. Recent Runs gives kids everywhere a pat on the back for coming up with new ideas.

Stuff only bloggers could love
A few other posts of note today include Duncan Riley's "Demise of the Geek Bloggers" essay and this from GooglePark.

Street News and Paradigm Shifts

One of the interesting things about the blogoshere is how quickly certain bloggers, blogs or issues can rise to the top of the consciousness heap, where they either gain traction or fade away. The Flying Spaghetti Monster letter, (today's No. 3 top link) for example, appeared several months ago and refuses to die...so much so that it now has its own Wikipedia entry (today's No. 6 top link).

Today's top blog post comes from newcomer Michael Yon's Online Magazine: Gates of Fire blog, an independent soul offering lengthy on-the-scene reporting and photos from the ground war in Iraq. "Every sentence is packed with life...and death," says Black Five; "must-read...won't see this kind of reporting anywhere else" is how Instapundit describes it.

Let's change things a lot...
The Bush administration wants to at the United Nations, where newly anointed ambassador John Bolton seems ready to unleash his tact with a few hundred suggestions for change (today's No. 8 top news story). Running Scared blog has a new monkier for Mr. Ambassador "Mouth of Sauron" Bolton (a reference to the bad guy in Lord of the Rings); Captain Ed calls Bolton's mission "a giant step" for reform.

Paradigm No. 2: Got an opinion? Just be quiet about it, OK?
The members of the American Legion has a novel new (and 1984-ishly scary) suggestion for people who feel inclined to air their opinions about the war in Iraq: shut up and be declared illegal? (today's No. 12 top link). "American Legion Goes Berserk" declares Shakespeare's Sister; "Defending Your Rights By Denying Them" points out Bark Bark Woof Woof, who also happens to provide live coverage of Hurricane Katrina...at least until the power goes out.

Blog of the Week: Jeff Jarvis' BuzzMachine

BlogPulse's most recent upgrade included a new tool called BlogPulse Profiles, and today's entry goes one step further with a new feature called Blog of the Week, whereby we talk to various and sundry bloggers about what motivates them, who they are, and why they blog.

First up is Jeff Jarvis (blog profile), who made waves last week with his "Dear Mr. Dell" post at BuzzMachine, detailing ongoing function and customer service problems with a laptop computer (conversation here). He graciously answered some BlogPulse questions by email, so without further ado, heeeere's Jeff Jarvis, first in a series of Blog of the Week profiles:

BlogPulse: Why do some companies tend to ignore bloggers/online consumers?
Jarvis: "Interacting with blogs is no different from interacting with consumers; they're just people. So smart companies will interact wisely; dumb companies will mess it up. Blogs simply make it easier for customers to become publishers and do more damage to your PR if you don't pay attention."

BlogPulse: Does corporate America "get" blogging?
Jarvis: "...Boards don't run companies, executives do. And I think an executive would have to be blind not to see all the press blogs are getting. The question is whether they yet realize the impact this has on their companies -- on the real public relations, on the ability to build a new relationship with your constituency, on the greater danger of not caring about what your customers say."

BlogPulse: What could Dell do to change your mind?
Jarvis: "They could do many things, starting with simply responding in public: Leave a comment, send an email, start a blog... just do us the courtesy of entering into the conversation..."

BlogPulse: Five years from now, where will roost in the media hierarchy?
Jarvis:"I think it's a mistake to judge blogs as media. Blogs are people, consumers, citizens. Blogs give you the chance to listen to and talk with the people you want to serve. Bloggers can tell you how to design and market and support your products and help you do it... if you let them. Media never could do that."

BlogPulse: What CD is in your CD player right now? What's the last movie you rented?
Jarvis: "What's a CD? Haven't played one in ages. On my iPod, I have been listening to podcasts (like Diggnation) and foreign-language podcasts to help me brush up on my language (Schlaflos in Muenchen is a favorite) and NPR programs (On The Media, This American Life)."

BlogPulse: In your "down time," what do you do to relax or disengage your brain?
Jarvis: "I wouldn't say it disengages the brain, but I do find blogging enjoyable and relaxing and I do it when the kids are sleeping. Otherwise, when not working, nothing can beat playing with your kids... even when one of them is your webmaster."

BlogPulse: What's YOUR favorite blog to read?
Jarvis:"Like a Hollywood starlet on a talk show, I never answer that question.... because I read too many and because my list of favorites changes all the time."

Big-Mouth Wednesday: Pat Robertson & Google Talk

See what happens when politics and religion get a little too chummy? You've got a Christian televangelist advocating assassination of a democratically elected world leader as a cheaper alternative than another $200 billion war. Then Venezuela accuses televangelist Pat Robertson of advocating terrorism, and the administration officials currently engaged in one $200 billion war can't back away from Robertson fast enough.

The fallout over Robertson's ill-timed comments dominate the blogosphere today, noted by this "terrorist" graph:



Robertson is today's leading (and burstiet) personality, followed closely by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the guy he thinks deserves to be offed. For the first time in more than a week, in fact, anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan moves from the No. 1 to No. 5 spot among blogged-about personalities. The Robertson mouth-off captures 10 of today's most-shared news link (including seven of the top 10), six of the day's top shared links (which is also infected with blog spam; our apologies), and six of today's top 10 key phrases.

"Crazy Old Uncle Pat" opines Scott Randolph.net; Shattered offers an updated religious moment for such talk; No Right Turn wonders...Chrisitan Coalition or Christian Taleban? (sic)

Google Talkin'
Elsewhere, mouths are little more sane (yes, we said it) at Google, which this week introduced Google Talk, today's most-discussed phrase. "Pretty simple," says Makezine during a test; "uphill battle" predicts Open Loops.

More church-state mixing, with a dash of humor
Pastafarianism is what they're calling it: observance of the religion that believes in the Flying Spaghetti Mosnter as the true creator of the universe (continued staying power at No. 9 top link). Launched as a spoof of Kansas' decision to embrace intelligent design as official science curriculum, it has spawned spoofs (and contests) of its own.

Overlooking the obvious?
Couldn't help but notice today's No. 4 top link, which notes that 65 of 490 girls at a Canton-area high school are pregnant. Among the various "causes," no one mentioned (ahem) Canton-area boys.

Fleeting Moments of Fame

"In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes," said the late artist Andy Warhol, and in the blogosphere, seems like that fame-osity is happening now.

Make yourself famous
For those who like their fame on a magazine cover, go head, knock yourself out and design one yourself at Flickr's Magazine Cover interface, today's top blog post. A "handy-dandy utility"is the folks at NetworkWorld call it.

Time-travel fame
If fame for you arrived in 1985, travel back in time with Engadget, for a look at new technology then. Ah, for the days of gigantic cell phones and the Amiga 1000....

Musical fame
Robert Moog, the man for whom the Moog synthesizer was named, is today's burstiest person for his contribution to the musical world. He died Sunday, and BlogPulse Spotlight has more details.... Also making one last "appearance" is the late Hunter S. Thompson, whose ashes were sent into the atmosphere via cannonfire over the weekend. "There goes Hunter!" indeed...

Political fame...rising and falling
Anti-war protester/mother Cindy Sheehan remains more rank-worthy today among bloggers than President George Bush. And today's No. 5 most-shared link shows his poll numbers dropping, dropping, dropping.

That Screech You Hear Is the Sound of Gas Prices Rising...Again

Does anyone need proof that the rising price of gas isn't having an effect? Creating buzz? Look into the BlogPulse Trend Graph tool and see for yourself. Discussion certainly has risen in direct relation to the speed at which the numbers whirl around at the pump ($2.59 a gallon this week for me), and coverage of worldwide gas prices is today's No. 3 news story:



The citations leading from the link to that CNN story truly illustrate the worldwide phemoneon, encompassing blog discussions in a variety of languages. BridgerUS reminds Americans that they're actually among the last to get on the bandwagon.

Passings...
Fans of the movies and animation are mourning the accidental death of Pixar Studio and former Disney writer Joe Ranft (today's burstiest person). Blogger Aaron Luk notes a loss that will be felt around the world; fan Casira J. captures Ranft's behind-the-scenes but profound impact on a generation.

Lions and Tigers and Bears...in the Heartland?
Scientists (not from the wide-open plains of America) are serious about this: turning loose wild animals in the wide-open plains of America. And by that, they mean camels and lions and elephants -- animals under threat of extinction in Africa and Asia. "Really dumb," offers Gene Expression with a small lesson about rabbits introduced to Australia, while Belligerati wonders how long till such a geniune venture becomes usurped by Corporate America and commercialism.

Check out today's BlogPulse Spotlight blog for news of Sean Puffy Combs/P. Diddy's lastest name change...and other juicy tidbits from the world of entertainment and board games for girls.

Let's Hear it For Levity (Jeff Jarvis' Dell Hell Nothwithstanding...)

Thank goodness for people with senses of humor, because in times of heightened questions about U.S. pre-9/11 intelligence (today's No. 4 blog post) and rising anti-war sentiment (Cindy Sheehan remains the most blogged-about personality today), creeping computer worms and smarmy state politics (thanks to Republican Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, today's 10th burstiest person), some people can still laugh.

Help! I've fallen...and I was pushed!
Like the folks at the satire-heavy Onion, whose theory of Intelligent Falling (as an alternative to intelligent design) is today's No 2. most-shared link among bloggers. "Heh, heh, heh" chuckles Dave Does The Blog.

Its proper place in "history"
Over at BoingBoing, an underground effort to reshelve copies of George Orwell's 1984 (out of fiction and into history/current events) is under way, an effort being noticed domestically and internationally.

Jeff Jarvis, the non-chuckling exception
But the one guy in the blogosphere not laughing today is BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis, whose ongoing troubles with a Dell computer and equally poor follow-up service have gained immense traction. His latest "Dear Mr. Dell" commentary on the continuing saga ranks No. 3 among all blog posts today and has created quite a conversation in less than a day. Do You Hear Us Now?" asks Whatsnextblog; "More Dell Hell" comments CommonSenseDesk. Great points are made about the impact and influence of active online consumers with a penchant to speak their personal truths...

Blogging Gets Easier, Except for the Splogginess

There's plenty of news about blogging today, what with Blogger now available for download into Word (today's top blog post and No. 2 top link) and an upgrade to WordPress (No. 11 top link, No. 18 top blog post). The integration of Blogger into Word, jokes (?) Cowboy Caleb, means that "all your blogs belong to Bill" (referring to Mr. Gates); Audio Activism suggests switching to the new WordPress for the features, sure, but mostly for the security.

(In your best Carl Sagan voice:) Millions and millions of blogs...
Everybody's counting blogs (see Feedster's 500 top-rated blogs), but exactly what are they counting? And what's a splog? It's a spam blog, and it's the subject of today's No. 2 blog post, "A splog here, a splog there, pretty soon it adds up..." by blog maverick. Incremental Blogger offers a few solutions, while threadwatch calls the splog post a trumped-up charge by a "knobhead." Here at BlogPulse, we've agreed that a contagious, flesh-eating-bacteria pox on all blog spammers would be a fitting fix, but haven't quite yet figured out how to make that happen. It's been referred to the BlogPulse Infectious Diseases Cubicle. BlogPulse's Trend Graphs, meanwhile, find discussion about spam blogs on the rise:



Cindy's vigil continues
Cindy Sheehan, the subject of more than 8,600 BlogPulse search results today, continues her anti-war protest outside of President Bush's Crawford, TX, ranch, and even managed today kick Harry Potter AND Bush out of No. 1-2 places as the blogosphere's most-discussed personalities. That, as Hermoine will tell you, is akin to magic. Maybe it helps to have an on-the-scene blog.

No End In Sight

To Cindy Sheehan's ubiquity, that is. Political bloggers are inherently reactionary and always horrified at the things their opponents are doing, meaning everyone probably will continue hammering Sheehan back and forth until she goes home or has her tete-a-tete with President Bush. And if anyone was ever civil in this tawdry mess, that's out the window: Conservatives are snickering that Sheehan's husband has filed for divorce (the forms are our no. 23 link today, from SmokingGun) and that she's found an unexpected ally in the famed racist and David Duke, whose website is link no. 9. "The conclusion to draw is that Cindy Sheehan's anti-war views are so off-the-wall nutty that rabid anti-Semitic kooks like David Duke agree with her," says WizBang.

FLASH! Bloggers Upset With MSM!
Even the world's largest news-gathering organization isn't immune from the web's legions of armchair media critics -- The New York Times reports in our no. 8 link that the Associated Press is getting criticized for its reporting on Iraq, which isn't sufficiently rosy. AP reporters in Iraq seem biased against, ah, getting killed, and aren't attending enough elementary school dedications to write about in their dispatches. Not good enough, says a post here: "I guess the simplest explanation is that the editors and reporters of the AP hate Bush, hate America, and want us to lose... because in their minds, that's a better story." The Bullpen has a different theory: "The plain and simple fact of the press is that violence and conflict sell. More people would tune into or buy a copy of the local newspaper which covered a horrific attack versus how Iraqis are rebuilding oil pipelines which will fuel their economy."

Hello Again, Doktor Dobson!
Dr. James Dobson is in the blogosphere again -- last time we saw him, he was advising parents on how to tell if their 5-11 year-olds were gay -- decrying America's "unelected, arrogant" judges. (It's our no. 15 link today.) The rally was to "educate evangelical Christians about the Supreme Court," and help gird the faithful for the Senate hearings on President Bush's nominee John G. Roberts, which begin Sept. 6. But bloggers, as is often the case when Dobson appears, are dubious. The World Wide Rant says the rally was basically ignorant in its criticisms of the Supreme Court --"They must really hate America," Andy writes with a heavy injection of irony. And Jim, a religious blogger, is uncomfortable with how heavily politics and faith were mixed here. "I am totally opposed to conducting this kind of political event in a church. God’s house should be a place a prayer, but you have made it a den of politicians," he says. That merits a nondenominational, nonpartisan amen.

Why Haven't You Bought More BlogPulse Gear?
When your boss walks into your cube and sees the BlogPulse coffee mug on your desk, or when he sees you in the BlogPulse t-shirt at the company picnic, he'll know you've got what it takes for that big new promotion. (And we'll appreciate you representing the blue B.) So check out our BlogPulse clothing and accessories and show everybody that you know what's up on the web! And, relatedly, that you're cool.

Cindy Sheehan's Rise to Poplarity: Blog-Fueled?

Power of the blogosphere? Sheer dedication of a grieving war mother? Whatever is fueling Cindy Sheehan's rise to popularity, it's working. The woman holding vigil outside President Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch (now accessible via satellite photos at crytpome) upstaged Bush in BlogPulse's key people list starting late last week and continues to hold No. 2 to his No. 3 spot today. A BlogPulse graph plots her two-week rise to fame:



While the gold-star mother (today's No. 28 link) begs the President to meet with her in person during his August vacation, others are examining the fallout and intensifying their scrutiny of the war in Iraq, fueled by Frank Rich's No. 3 top link today "Someone Tell the President the War is Over" and "A Message to Cindy Sheehan" from Iraq the Model blog (today's No. 2 top blog post). Meanwhile, Daily Kos offers tips on how to frame the Cindy discussion, while Michelle Malkin unconfirmedly dishes personal dirt. Protein Wisdom (No. 8 blog post) offers some wit into an otherwise un-funny situation.

Scrutiny galore
Elsewhere, coverage of the war includes a Washington Post assessment of lowered expectations in Iraq (with some reality-vs.-unreality commentary by Washington Monthly) and the discovery of a post-invasion chemical stash near Mosul (and "told you so" commentary by Heretical Ideas.)

BlogPulse News: The 15-Million Blog Milestone...and BlogPulse Paraphernalia!
Ever had a hankering for a BlogPulse T-shirt or coffee mug? A swell BlogPulse mouse pad? Feast your eyes on the latest BlogPulse paraphernalia, now available at cafepress.com. Impress your coworkers. Advertise us for free...we appreciate it. And if you haven't paid attention to the home-page stats box, BlogPulse exceeded the 15-million blog milestone over the weekend. Woohoo!

Cindy Sheehan's Determination, David Galbraith's De-Volution

In less than a week, grieving gold-star mother Cindy Sheehan (the term for mothers whose sons have been killed in war) has risen from obscurity to prominence, not only because she refuses to leave her camp outside of President's Bush's Texas vacation ranch until he meets with her in person but also because she's not backing down from what some are calling swift-boat-style attacks on her sincerity and intent.

Sheehan is today's most No. 2 most blogged-about personality, right behind Bush at No. 1. Among today's top blog posts, Media Matters traces the trail of smears, Truthout.org follows the story, while Patterico keeps up the how-dare-she banter.

Unintelligent design?
Blogger David Galbraith offers his own theory for teaching kids about how the world got its start, this one called Unintelligent Design (today's No. 7 top blog post). Juxtapose that with another continually popular blog entry (No. 18 today), an open letter to the Kansas Board of Education proposing the Flying Spaghetti Monster theory of creation, and you've got a battle. How does a BlogPulse trend graph view it? (The spike occured on the day President Bush indicated that teaching intelligent design made good scientific sense to him).



Paying the price
What else is on blogger's minds? The amounts they're shelling out at the gas pump, for one, (today's No. 11 top phrase) and news that Mohammed Atta, (today's No. 8 talked-about personality) mastermind of the al Qaeda group (today's No. 2 popular phrase) that flew one of the 9/11 planes, had been identified by name (today's top news story) at least a year before the actual attacks.

Controversy, Controversy, Computers

From the way bloggers see it, a new ad by the pro-choice group NARAL criticizing John G. Roberts, President Bush's nominee for the Supreme Court, has backfired spectacularly. In BlogPulse's top link today, Annenberg's FactCheck.org was on top of the TV spot almost as soon as it first aired, debunking its fundamental claim that Roberts endorsed violence against abortion clinics. Inasmuch as the fracas has been about this hottest of hot-button topics, some bloggers want to make it about their dreaded msm, too: Cap'n Ed castigated CNN for agreeing to run the ad -- "shows you how much they value their credibility" -- but then concedes the spot will appear on Fox News, too. "Shame, shame, shame on Fox News as well. What are they trying to prove -- that they can get as corrupt as CNN?"

Doktor Dobson's Advice
Skipping downward once, we come to BlogPulse's link no. three, a page from Dr. James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" website with tips for parents asking "Is My Child Becoming Homosexual?" (Apparently you can tell your son is gay if, between the ages of 5 and 11, he exhibits "a strong feeling he is 'different' from other boys" or "doesn't like the roughhousing other boys enjoy.") This sort of lib-baiting is what keeps people coming back to the blogosphere, after all, because you know the reactions to Dobon's rules will be strident: "Website of organization of idiots posts idiocy. You were expecting erudition from this bunch perhaps? Or did we post this so we can all work ourselves into a froth, and yell and rant, and pretend we're making a difference?" asks a poster on Metafilter. Some bloggers are responding to the Dobson page on its own merits, though -- BloggingBaby has a point-by-point rebuttal.

Beware The Tides Of A March
Bloggers also are trading links today about Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's announcement that the Pentagon will arrange a huge march and country music concert to mark this year's fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. To be called "America Supports You Freedom Walk," -- not Your freedom, for some reason, -- the fete will include a march from the Pentagon to the National Mall and the soothing sounds of singer Clint Black, who, by federal mandate, is now beloved by every American. As public relations, this too may have backfired, judging by the responses: Megablogger Jeff Jarvis calls it "A tasteless tribute;" the metafilter mavens are all over it ("The terrorists have won"); and James Wolcott gets sarcastic: "Nothing honors the dead like an old-fashioned hoedown."

...And Some Of The Rest Of Today's Stuff
Enough Internet users probably identified with a story about a poor guy in South Korea who died after 50 straight hours of video-gaming that it appears twice today in BlogPulse.
As it typical for such a death in the blogosphere, people aren't treating it with much gravity -- "Wow, I wonder who scooped up all his leftover magic cyberswords and stuff!" asked a Wired blogger. Also being tossed around out there is this WaPo story about Americans' chronic boredom at work, for which we suggest this as a solution, and, as always, frequent visits to BlogPulse.

Odds and Ends from the Blogosphere

The blogosphere seems to skitter hither and yon today, so here goes with some hither-and-yon observations...

Far side of the earth (from here)
There's something to be said when the day's top blog post is written by an Aussie about Afghanistan's math-student whizzes. "Good news from Afghanistan" echoes Right Pundit, and "a dose of democracy at work," says the Hill Observer.

Searching for...
Coming in at No. 2 among blog posts is Yahoo!'s announcement that it's reached the 20-billion milestone in its search index. Kicking sand in Google's face, asks SearchViews blog?...or Art of the Blog's version of Yahoo-ey? Google, meanwhile, is creating buzz with news of its news feeds (today's No. 2 top link).

A mom's vigil continues
Can't help but notice that Cindy Sheehan, mother of 24-year-old son killed last year in Iraq, is not only maintaining her vigil outside of President Bush's ranch in Texas, she's also (for the second day in a row) nudging upwards from just below him among BlogPulse's key people (she's No. 4 to his No. 3). Michelle Malkin stoops low enough to call Sheehan's supporters "grief pimps."

More attention on lung cancer
Just two days after ABC newsman Peter Jennings' death from lung cancer, the widow of the late actor Christopher Reeve is in the news: non-smoker Dana Reeve announced Tuesday she also is being treated for lung cancer. "So sad," says Pam's House Blend.

A Day for Remembering: Peter Jennings, and Cindy Sheehan's Son, Casey

The nation obviously feels as if it has lost a true friend in ABC newsman Peter Jennings, whose death Sunday night from lung cancer continues to play out in the blogosphere. It doesn't happen often, but Jennings captures both No. 1 spots among today's most blogged-about and burstiest personalities, while news of his death and commentary on his legacy capture six of today's top links and eight of today's most shared news stories.

"What defined him throughout his career was one word: class..." wrote The Moderate Voice, a sentiment expressed by many. "The era of the "Big Three Anchors" has come to a close," notes Pam's House Blend.

Death of another sort
Another death is also stirring up blogger emotions, except sentiment about the late Casey Sheehan has harsh political overtones because his mother, Cindy Sheehan, (today's No. 4 personality) has turned her grief into a one-woman anti-war protest. The New York Times' coverage of Cindy Sheehan's vigil in Texas, just miles from President Bush's ranch, is today's fitth-ranked story; she's refusing to leave (possibly under threat of arrest) until Bush meets with her personally. Daily Kos and Pandagon are coming to her defense, while conservative bloggers (the same ones who turned the late NFL player/soldier Pat Tillman into a wartime hero?) are slamming her for exploitation and misplaced grief.

If a grieving mother can't mourn her son's death in the way she determines best to honor his memory...who can?

Crossing The Fund-Raising Finish Line: Blogathon 2005

Blogs have proved themselves worthy fund-raising tools during recent and ongoing political campaigns, and Blogathon 2005 (Saturday's top blog) has expanded the concept further. Now in its fifth year, Blogathon (held on Saturday) linked bloggers internationally and virtually. Their mission: post something on their blogs every 30 minutes for 24 hours to raise money for various charities and causes. Its theme: "Stay up late. Make a difference!"

Blogathon 2005 updates ranked No. 7 among Saturday's top BlogPulse links and No. 30 among Saturday's top blog posts.

Even though the event blogging has finished, pledges will continue to be collected through Tuesday for a variety of causes and charities. According to the latest update, Blogathan 2005 had 219 participants, 1,851 sponsors and $56,942 in pledges. The Blogathon web site also featured hot spots, links to participating bloggers who were doing something a little bit special to mark the occasion.

And who are the Blogathon organizers? Sheana in New England to Heather in Las Vegas to Chris in San Francisco, with some foreign-language translators helping out.

Newsmakers In the News

Is it news when newsmakers themselves create the buzz? Indeed. Columnist and CNN commentator Robert Novak (No. 35 among today's bursty people) has been suspended by CNN for cursing and storming off the "Inside Politics" set yesterday (today's No. 2 top news story) during a discussion with host Ed Henry (burstiest) and fellow commentator James Carville. Wonkette has a particularly biting description of Novak; Captains Quarters uses the "blew a gasket" analogy while questioning the thickness of his veteran reporter skin.

Some MSM assault
Conservative bloggers are keeping up the pressure on Air America radio's funding, but it's not clear that anyone else cares quite as much. So they're also taking on the New York Times for asking questions about Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts' adoption of two children from Latin America (No. 18 and 27 top blog posts).

Hail to the Queen, eh?
In Canada, former CBC broadcaster Michaelle Jean (today's No. 2 and 6 bursty person, for spelling reasons) is on tap to become the country's next Governor General, serving as the official representative to the British monarchy. The Haitian-born reporter will be the fist black and third journalist to to hold the post, and the appointment is getting mixed reviews.

Media mention: BlogPulse Among the Best
BlogPulse has been named to Forbes.com's "100 Best Blogs" list, in the meta blogs category. Equally honored and humbled, we are.

Disturbing, Record-Setting Deaths

Here in Ohio, home to 14 members of a Cleveland-based Marine reserve battalion who were killed in Iraq Wednesday, it feels as there has been a disturbance in the force. Wednesday's attack is the deadliest single assault so far in the U.S. invasion of Iraq. News of the attack (and a weekend death toll that totaled 21, combined with the shooting death of freelance journalist/blogger Stephen Vincent, encompass eight of today's top news links. Today's 40th link, in fact, is a December2004 interview with Vincent at frontpagemag.com, while bloggers at In The Red Zone offer condolences.

Bloggers have noticed this, too: President Bush sent his condolences while preparing to set another record: taking the most vacation in at least 36 years (No. 2 top news story). Reality-Based Nation reminds the commander in chief of the realities of the war deaths.

A BlogPulse trend graph on major methods of attack in Iraq also tells a continuing and disturbing tale:



Commentaries of note
Some interesting commentaries appeared today among BlogPulse discoveries, including Juan Cole's Informed Comment thoughts on the state of affairs in Iraq, (part of which is captured in today's top blog posts). "Best blog entry ever," says thestewpot. Also getting traction is columnist Thomas Friedman's "Calling All Luddites" New York Times piece (No. 6 top news story) warning that Americans are falling behind technologically while Congress debates gun liability and leaders preach intelligent design.

Educationally, the Three S's: Science, Sports...and Spam

Officially, most schools don't begin the fall term for another few weeks or so, but it doesn't feel that way on BlogPulse. The gradual adoption of Bible-reading courses in public schools (today's No. 2 top news story) and President Bush's nod to intelligent design theories in science curricula (No. 17) are drawing all sorts of blog reaction. In Bush's home state, the critical Pink Dome can't help but ask, "They can read in Texas?", while Pandagon questions the "educational" motives of the group promoting Bible study. Bush is painted as anything but intelligent by Trial Shoe blog, while Perfectly Crumulent says the Prez is primarily pandering to far-right constitutents.

All those calisthentics...
And to think my junior class thought it novel when "phys ed" teachers Coach McTaggart (boys) and Sister Joan (girls) traded roles for a week: Sister taught the guys to square dance (successfully), while Coach tried (in vain) to inspire the girls to fall in love with golf. Today, gym class goes virtual, (today's No. 6 news link). "Finally, a gym class we'd be good at," says Gawker, while B2Day calls it "another dumb idea" in education.

Spam, sausage and spam
Today's top links show what happens when BlogPulse experiences a slip-up in its spam filtering: 36 of the top 40 links are spam blogs. Fortunately, our list of top 40 weblog posts and top 40 news articles for the day are clean.

More Rove-ing questions
Today's burstiest person, Susan Ralston, is apparently the latest from Karl Rove's office to testify before Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury into the investigation of who leaked CIA agent Valerie Plame's name to the press. Think Progress and War and Piece speculate on the meaning...and the connections.

Where Are The Women Who Blog? At Blogher.

It's a question often asked about blogging: where are all the female bloggers? Bunches of them were at Blogher, last Saturday's all-day conference in Santa Clara for women who blog. Coverage of and blogging from the event pushed the Blogher web site into No. 3 position today among top blogs and today's sixth most-shared link. It was all about connecting with people, says the socialsoftwareweblog. "Herstory in the making," muses arse poetica. Quite possibly a world-changing event, says The Corner blogger.

What does a BlogPulse trend graph say? Women rule the roost in the blogging world...



Blogging got you down?
Are your obsessing about your posting behavior? Suffering from content anxiety? Plagued by equal amounts of self-doubt and self-importance? Is that's what's got you down, Bunky? The Nonist offers a possible diagnosis for this current mental health phemonenon: blog depression. Borrowing on the format of what The Divine Miss Em describes as a school-nurse-pamphlet design, the tongue-in-cheek brochure details a condition that's obviously international in scope, judging by blog comments in German, French, Korean and whatever language this is. (Hungarian? Turkish? Class? Anyone?)

Gotta go. I feel my post-post mood sinking...

But before I go, check out today's 37th top link, a very cool series of optical illusions. "Most incredible," says Shabooty's Madness.

Us. Vs. Them: Political Races and Talk Radio

It's getting nasty here in Ohio's Second Congressional District, what with former Marine and Iraq veteran Paul Hackett, (today's No. 10 top link) a Democrat, challenging former state representative Jean Schmidt, Republican, for the seat in a gerrymandered district that has long favored Republicans. But what's obvious is that bloggers are generating more buzz for Hackett than for Schmidt:



Lots of bloggers are chiming in on the election, including today's top-blog Daily Kos post about Schmidt's weekend denials that she does not know Thomas Noe, a Republican fund-raiser and rare coin dealer who's a central figure in Ohio's "Coingate" scandal about missing and questionable investments in Ohio's workers' comp funds. In today's No. 11-ranked news story, the GOP uses fightin' words, while the Swing State Project lauds Hackett for being equally straightforward.


Heated air waves
Elsehwere, Air America Radio has issued a statement to counter last week's hammerings by conservative bloggers about missing money linked to the liberal network's former investors. WizBang has a sort-of balanced perspective, which is hard to find in this tangled blog war.

Something to laugh about
The results are in, and bad writing has triumphed again. Today's No. 3 link trumpets the results of the 2005 Bulwer-Lytton Awards contest for bad fiction, namely, the worst opening line of a bad novel, sponsored by San Jose State University. (Bulwer-Lytton wrote the novel that began, "It was a dark and stormy night...."). Ignored by MSM? Finest in new fiction? "Neither," deadpans Watcher Magazine in honoring winner (or loser, as the case may be) Dan McKay of Fargo, N.D.