From the "creative people with too much time on their hands" department comes one of the most popular blog posts from the past several days: "What I did Over Christmas Vacation." To wit, a bunch of "Lord of the Rings" fans built a replica of Helm's Deep battle sing candy (Sourpatch Kids, Gummy Bears, lollipops, peppermints, icing etc). No pun intended, but...SWEET!...and rather nerdly.

What about guys?
And one of the week's top news stories -- that more U.S. women are spouse-less than those who are married -- was curious for what it didn't report: the number of men (over time) who are also spouse-less or not. The report noted generally that more men are married than women, but didn't provide comparative historical data for men. Hmmm... WhereItStands at least provides a timeline.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 03:29 PM

Could you drive through a major U.S. city if all the traffic signs were removed? European cities are experimenting with the concept, which ranks among today's most-cited new stories in the blogosphere. (Can anyone imagine driving in Boston without traffic signs?)....

I give it a year, maybe two
I'm not sure what the folks at the U.S. Mint think will make Americans suddenly begin loving the dollar coins, given the fact that the Susan B. Anthony $2 version went, well, nowhere. "Dear Mint: We want LESS weight in our pockets, not more. Thank you."

Feeling the earth move, indeed
If the spirit strikes you on Dec. 22, here's why. Enough said.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 03:31 PM

The Rev. Ted Haggard, who resigned yesterday as head of the National Association of Evangelicals, is today's burstiest person for that very reason. Well, that and the reasons behind the resignation: allegations that he paid for a gay escort for the past several years (among today's most-cited links) while leading religiously-based anti-gay agendas from New Life Church in Colorado Springs, of course (one of today's most-cited phrases).

Maybe he can pastor to resigned Rep. Mark Foley. And Jimmy Swaggart. And Tammy Faye Baker's husband, whatever his name was. And... (Note: One would assume that staking the high moral ground also means having the ability to walk on it).

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 02:30 PM

Given what's happened this week, you have to wonder what's' worse: John Kerry's botched joke about the kind of smarts needed to wage an effective war, or the fact that the Iraqi government basically told the U.S. troops to leave one of Bagdhad's strongest havens for independent militas? Is that "stay the course" or not?

The verbal smackdown
And it was time for a BlogPulse graph to illustrate whether actor Michael J. Fox, who takes his drugs for a legitimate degenerative disease, or DJ Rush Limbaugh, whose excuse for taking drugs is more elusive, captured more buzz for Limbaugh's recent mockery of Fox's political involvement on behalf of stem cell research:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:00 AM

Fame and fortune can be so fleeting in the blogosphere, and the evidence is in today's most-cited blog links. First from BoingBoing is to news that video clips from Comedy Central's popular "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart and "The Colbert Report" with Stephen Colbert are being yanked from video site YouTube.com because of rights issues. The end of YouTube as we know it? ask blogger Mark Evans.

"So last year..."
And another hot blog property - MySpace - is "so last year," according to today's No. 3 most-cited news story from the Washington Post. Ask the blogger at Deep Jive Interests, should all social networking sites have expiration dates?

He's so popular because...
Ever heard of David M. Walker? He's today's burstiest person for a reason: an all-out warning that the U.S. is headed for financial ruin. (You mean, it's the economy, stupid, after all?)

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:31 AM

Are they trying too hard or not really trying at all? That's what you've got to ask yourself about these politicians (you know, the ones deciding Network Neutrality issues and all) who claim to know all there is to know about the Internet.

First, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens embarrased himself to no end a few months ago (watch it here on "The Daily Show" via YouTube) with his description of the "tubes" that either make the Internet work great or clog it up real good. Now, thanks to a top blog post from Think Progress, we have footage of President George W. Bush saying he's uses "the Google" occasionally to check out satellite photos of his Texas ranch. And apparently not using "the Google" very well, according to LeisureGuy blogger's reaction to Bush's CNBC appearance. Not surprisingly, his "descriptive" retort came on the same day that Google itself wowed real online users with a customizable search engine. That's "the Google" everyone else knows.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:50 PM

What gives you the worst creeps: snakes on a plane, liquids on a plane or a little old church lady canned from her job because she's a little old lady? Let's take a look.

Actor Samuel L. Jackson, who apparently doesn't like snakes on his plane, is todays No. 3 most-discussed blog personality and the link to the S.O.A.P. movie site ranks No. 5 today as well. But we did something a bit different: tracked buzz about "snakes on a plane" vs. references to the suddenly-banned liquids on a plane to see which is more feared:



Obviously, the reptilians win. (So, too, apparently did the flick "Little Miss Sunshine," whose title is today's fourth-most-discussed personality because text-mining technologies say so.

Today's religious lesson begins with....
Maybe Mary Lambert of Watertown, NY, today's second burstiest person in the blogosphere, needs what's being promoted in today's third-most cited link today: Armor of God pajamas. Seems the 81-year-old woman whose 54 previous years of service to her church as a Sunday school teacher matter not to today's third-burstiest person, the Rev. Timothy Labouf, who relieved her of her teaching duties because, as everyone knows, women should be seen, not heard.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: God is paying attention to stuff like this, and she's NOT happy about it. Neither is this blogger.

Thanks, Joe
Bloggers are noting the death of photographer Joe Rosenthal, whose WWII shot of American soldiers atop Mt. Suribachi on Iowa Jima is one of the world's most famous.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:04 AM

In case you missed Monday's late-night airing of satirist Stephen Colbert's "The Word" segment on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," (a YouTube video of which is today's No. 6 most-cited link,) he invented another one: "Wikiality," which already has more than 150 search results on BlogPulse.

Today's 16th-most-cited personality and the guy who invented "truthiness," Colbert also got himself banned from Wikipedia in the process. He invented "wikiality" to illustrate the thinking that if enough people believe something false, it becomes reality in a democratic sort of way. Wikipedia, which got slammed by viewers who followed Colbert's advice and tried to edit entries about his own opinions and elephants, got banned from the site, according to Newsvine (No. 16 most-cited link). Bloggers noticed. Some were amused. Some weren't.

And the not-so-funny
But not everything's funny. Today's top-cited news articles from Vanity Fair and the Washington Post hint that Congressional 9/11 investigators felt intentionally misled by the Pentagon about what really happened on Sept. 11, 2001. Elsewhere, author Seth Godin has advice for authors, and Harry Potter fans don't want him dead.

STILL hot
And yes, it's STILL hot. Eleven of today's most-cited blog phrases include references of one sort or another to the weather or to heat, including the ever-popular "hottest day of the summer."

Up or down?
Congress is trying to kill two birds with one stone with a bill that sets an index for minimum wage increases but also cuts estate taxes at the same time (as if no on in Congress can remember how to address one issue at a time?). A BlogPulse trend graph shows more buzz for the lower end of the economic scale:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 01:23 PM

Most people who've snorkeled around the Internet for any length of time realize that The Onion is a publication and Web site that provides some of society's most biting, humorous (and often tasteless) satire. But the blogger at March Together for Life apparently isn't paying attention, and he's paying the price.

His July 6 post, severely criticizing a 1999 (on the ball, dude!) Onion piece (of fiction) by a woman excited about an upcoming abortion, has the blogosphere laughing collectively. The 26 search results taking "Peter" to task for not understanding satire (and not bothering to note a 1999 dateline on the original piece of comedy) are only the beginning of the ridicule; at 10 a.m. today, the blog post contained 844 comments (no, wait; it's now 846 since I started writing this!) from readers begging to hand him a clue. That total compares with about 600 comments that were posted on the blog late Tuesday night and about 200 Tuesday morning. And Peter's July 11 attempt to explain the entry isn't going over, either (more comments). (Hint to Peter: use the "Delete this entry" button before it's too late! Oops, never mind).

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:30 AM

When you read things like this, you don't know whether to laugh or cry (or run for public office on the "At least I'm not stupid" ticket). But Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is today's sixth-buristest person for saying this about why he voted the way he did on Network Neutrality, a legal effort to make sure the Internet does not turn into a tiered-service provider for haves and have-nots. In response, the blogger at Yourish.com created a PowerPoint presentation (today's No. 37 top blog post) that perhaps only Congress-people can understand about how the Internet works. (Disclosure: I've yet to get my own representative/senators to send me an e-mail in response to my communications at their Web sites, despite repeated requests to NOT send me a snail-mail letter and instead prove they know HOW to use the Internet by responding electronically; still waiting, still getting "Dear Susan..." franked letters 3-4 montsh later instead).

The Smackdown continues
Bloggers Glenn Greenwald (Nos. 1 and 4 posts today) and Daily Kos continue their smackdown of conservative bloggers who joined forces over the weekend to call for the lynching of the New York Times for a travel piece that included photos of Vice President Cheney's and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's vacation homes in Maryland. Turns out Greenwald pursued the facts (!!), and discovered that the Times called Rumsfeld's office, asked for and received Rummy's permission to take the photos.

Holidays in the dark
Seems as if quite a few folks spent the holiday weekend in movie theaters; among today's most-cited phrases in blogs are "went to see Devil Wears Prada" (No. 2) and "went to see Superman Returns" (No. 5), and Johnny Depp is today's No. 3 most-cited personality for his portrayal of Capt. Jack Sparrow (No. 18) in "Pirates of the Caribbean 3." Popcorn, anyone?

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:37 AM

Looks like it's women's day in the blogosphere, what with ultra-conservative author Ann Coulter (today's third most-blogged-about person) on the hot seat again for her latest book, the timidly (ahem) titled Godless: The Church of Liberalism. People either hate her (Henry Rollins' "love" letter here, with a language warning) or love her (Update: the Rollins video has been removed). Most days, we just wish she'd go away.

Darryl, come down?
Actress Daryl Hannah (today's fifth burstiest person) made a news splash this week, too (no pun intended, or maybe it was) by climbing a tree to protest the destruction of a 14-acre garden in Los Angeles; the environmentalist actress was later removed from the tree and arrested. According to the TreeHugger blogger, the protest was fruitless and the community garden/farm was razed. Snarky bloggers chime in on the brou-ha-ha.

Katrina redux
And just in time for the 2006 hurricane season, Katrina makes a return visit, although not yet in the form of high winds and crashing waves. This time it's in the form of billions of un-accounted for funds from FEMA for Katrina relief, such as that in the form of today's No. 2 most-used phrase: "dom perignon champagne and other alcoholic beverages." That's what some of anestimated $1.4 billion was spent on by FEMA, as well as porn, Caribbean vacations and sex change operations. Agency spokesperson Aaron Walker is today's burstiest person for having to justify the report about the bogus expenditures. And how sad it is when one blogger's "ooooh, big surprise" headline commentary seems to be more like par for the course rather than a sarcastic reference to an extraordinary screw-up? BlogPulse is already picking up buzz for the upcoming hurricane season:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 01:57 PM

Strange and curious sightings in the blogosphere today...

From the sports desk
It's obvious that blogging is a worldwide phenomenon when there's far more buzz for the upcoming World Cup soccer championships in Germany than the ongoing NBA championships in the states and the French Open tennis matches in France. A BlogPulse trend graph shows the way:



Suddenly, the eBay grilled cheese sandwich makes sense
Popping up at No. 12 today among top links is an ad, obviously, for the Jesus Pan, which allows culinary believers to cook the image of Jesus Christ right into whatever they're fryin' up. WWJF indeed?

Paint With Numbers, literally
Another popular link today is OneThousandPaintings.com, which allows you to buy from Sala, a Swiss painter, an original painting (blue on white) of all the numbers, apparently, from 1-1,000. Discussion ranges from "cool idea" to "a sucker born every minute." He paints. You decide.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 03:24 PM

Doesn't matter if you're the kind of navigator who gets lost driving around the block: there's no reason to get lost in outer space, now that Google has expanded its mapping functionality to Google Mars and Google Moon, today's two most-cited URLs among bloggers. Bloggers from around the world, in fact, are discussing the ability to Google-cruise the Red Planet and the lunar surface the same way travelers locate a hotel in downtown London. Probably useless, says Shelly Lives blogger, "but worth that 10 seconds of amazement."

Yeah, crows George, I'm a liberal
At least in Oscar winner George Clooney's mind, being a liberal is a thing of pride, and his Huffington Post essay declaring his liberalism is today's third most cited URL among bloggers. "We can't demand freedom of speech then turn around and say, But please don't say bad things about us. You gotta be a grown up and take your hits. I am a liberal. Fire away," says he. And you know bloggers, they take up the challenge. "Moronic" says Brainster, and the American Princess thinks George has probably already used Google Mars. But a musing Chicagoan likes what he hears, and so does Fiat Lux.

So let's take the theme of that symposium a step farther and use a BlogPulse trend graph to see how "conservative" vs. "liberal" stacks up, with a hint of progressivism thrown in for good measure (note: the January peak coincided with Canada's elections):




Bird flu flutters
After hearing reports of pending bird flu infestation in the U.S., I had to wonder: should I start stocking up on duct tape and plastic again? Actually, tuna and powdered milk are on the agenda, according to the contents of one of today's most-cited news stories. Enough of the alarmist tone already, says Jiblog, urging instead sound advice and plenty of planning for what could be more sweeping natural disasters. (And we all know how well our governmental bureacracy is at dealing with THOSE). Get ready, says Crofsblog, "for the great tuna rush of 2006". Just eat around the mercury and stuff.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:26 AM

Out of nowwhere, personality expert Renee Baron is today's most-blogged personality, mostly because of a popular Enneagram meme (shared activity or game) that's making the rounds among bloggers (today's No. 21 top link) (The Enneagram is one method of classifying people based on personality traits). Which probably makes sense, because there are lots of, shall we say, intriguing personalities in the blogosphere today.

Stingy personified
From the stingy category comes a Canadian family who found someone's camera in Hawaii and then decided, well, their kid liked it so much they wouldn't return it to the owner. It's the subject of today's No. 2 top blog post.

Snoopy, scary
Thank goodness the librarians in Bethesda, MD., are a quick-thinking lot. They politely escorted OUT of the library a few overzealous "officials" who asked a few too many questions about what patrons were looking at on the library's public computers (today's ninth most-cited news story among bloggers). Is this what the fight against terrorism has come to, asks Swisher's Untitlted Blog Project?

Cartoon defense
The Danish editor who published the Muhammed cartoons that have stirred up the Muslim world defends his actions in today's most-cited news story, titled "Why I Published Those Cartoons." The blogger at Villainous Company wonders if the melting pot has melted into a tribal society that will be constantly at odds?

Not the marrying type
On the heels of Valentine's Day, here's a warning to all women about the kind of guy NOT to consider in your nuptial dreams, thanks to the second-most-shared link from The Smoking Gun.

English Major humor
If Garrison Keillor can do public service commercials for the Coalition of English Majors, then Geoffrey Chaucer can have a blog. And he doth, at today's third most-popular linke.

BlogPulse News: the 23-million blog milestone
For those who keep track, BlogPulse.com today surpassed the 23-million blog milestone in its index.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:28 AM

If the Bush White House thought that trying to keep Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident under wraps would work, they were absolutely wrong. Cheney is today's most blogged-about person, and his (ahem) athletic skills are stealing the the show from now-withdrawn Olympic skater Michelle Kwan (No. 3) and snowboarding gold-medalist Shaun White (No. 4).



Moreover, nine of today's most-cited news stories and seven of the day's most-shared links deal with the hunting accident, in which Cheny shot 78-year-old attorney Harry Whittington in the face and chest (today's second and third most-cited phrases) while quail hunting. By comparison, a web site offering coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics ranked No. 14 among today's top links. Blogger analyses of the Veep who couldn't shoot straight range from "birds of mass destruction" to "holy shades of schadenfreude."

When bloggers dissent
One of the week's most popular blog posts so far comes from Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, who examines the "liberal" and "conservative" labels and how they play out in the blogosphere. Interesting reading for anyone curious about political influence that's spilled over into the blogosphere.

Did you remember Valentine's Day?
If you forgot your sweetie on this Hallmark day of days, check out today's No. 27 top link from GlassGiant.com: a web site where you can make your own romance novel cover and share it. Says one LiveJournaler: "It's just like being published, without all that annoying writing..."

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:59 AM

Remember when blue staters, distraught at the results of the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, swore they'd move to a free-thinking, more liberal Canada? Not any more, not since Conservative Stephen Harper (today's third most-cited person by bloggers) ousted Liberal Paul Martin in Canada's parliamentary elections this week.

The web site for Canadian election results is today's No. 17 top link). and the CBC's Canada Votes 2006 site comes in at No. 37. Blogger Brian Maloney at RadioEqualizer looks at the impact of Canadian bloggers and talk radio on the election and the electorate. Watersblogged wonders if a U.S. network would use Shakespearean metaphors (as the CBC did) to cover an election? And a LiveJournaler compares the results to "a live grenade" down Paul Martin's pants.

U.S. conservative blogger Michelle Malkin gives sole credit for the Liberal meltdown to Minnesota-based Captain's Quarters Blog, while Captain's Quarters predicts "Canada is about to erupt." Time will tell....

But wait! A curious blogosphere juxtaposition is today's 12th-most-cited news story from the Christian Science Monitor, "Triumph of the redistributionist left," about emerging victories by American liberals on issues of federal spending, foreign policy and fiscal responsibility. Really? Says the unabrewer blogger: "The right is no longer on the right."

Bush posing with Abramaoff: the enigmatic photos
South of the Canadian border, U.S. Republicans can't seem to run away from former lobbyist Jack Abramoff fast enough, and the President is looking for distance, too. Bush originally said he really didn't know the guy, but now that photos of the two together are emerging (today's fourth-most-cited news story), White House officials are blaming it on "coincidence" (No. 22 top link) and routine get-togethers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (as if just anyone gets invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for parties).

Attack of the...octopus?
Glow-in-the-dark pigs have been replaced this week by a giant squid that attacked a submarine...the topic of today's seventh-most-cited news story.

Passings...
Today's burstiest person is popular Manila DJ Ernie Baron, who died this week.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:47 AM

Random discoveries from today's blogosphere:

Newspaper overhaul?
Over at the BuzzMachine, journalist/blogger Jeff Jarvis has some ideas for spiffing up the nation's newspapers, and it's major spiffing indeed (and the day's No. 5 most-cited blog post). No more small print? Local columnists or reviewers? Stock listings?

Weapons of (Domestic) Destruction
One of today's most unsettling blog posts (No. 7) comes from a Fairfax, VA, TV station, which reports that gang members are increasingly using machetes in their attacks on other gangs. Aren't they a threat, too?

Lobbying loopholes...already
For all the talk of reforming lobbying and campaign finance in Washington, today's most-cited news story from the Washington Post illuminates the loopholes that have already been built into the "reform packages." Says the FireDogLake blogger: "Ethics, Schmethics" (scroll down to find it). Seems to me, any local book club, PTA group or senior citizens bridge group could come up with better lobbying reform laws...and quicker. (I'l volunteer!)

Bombs, literally and figuratively
International hand-wringing over Iran's nuclear intentions is apparent today, inclluding The Belmont Club blog's "The Coming of the Bomb" post and Michael Leeden's alarmist approach in the National Review Online (today's No. 19 top news story). Bombs of another sort keep falling as a result of the Jack Abramoff scandal, and the latest involve efforts to link Abramoff directly to the White House, such as today's No. 32 news story from The Texas Observer, "The Pimping of the President." Bloggers are discussing the increasingly close ties.

And don't worry, fun stuff, too
But there's frivolity and fun in the blog universe today, including the Yarn Harlot's soliciation for the 2006 Knitting Olympics, (today's 8th-most-cited blog post) in which participants are invited to knit something during the Olympics, so long as the last stitch is finished by the time the flame extinguishes. And William Shatner's kidney stone is popular today after it was sold for $25,000 at a charity auction. "Pass it on," jokes the TaxProfBlog.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:48 AM

Maybe the fact that today is Friday the 13th has something to do with it, but blog discussion has kind of a bizarre tone today.

Starting with today's second most-cited news story in the blogosphere: green glow-in-the-dark pigs in Taiwan. That's right, folks. Taiwan researchers have brewed jellyfish DNA with pig DNA to create pigs that are fluorescent green, inside and out. "I do not like green eggs and ham," jokes the blogger at Barking Moonbat in response. Bloggers already have names for them. Rave Pigs. Glow Pork. Porci Fluorescentes! One offers a poetic tribute to "the other green meat."

JC in the news
I'm not watcher of ABC's "Lost" drama, but the fact that the phrase "Jesus Stick" showed up as today's burstiest person (hey, sometimes text-mining algorithms get confused, too) obviously means that a reference in this week's episode to Mr. Eko's "Jesus stick" is resonating through the blogosphere. Jesus is in the news elswhere, too, as the Rev. Pat Robertson is trying to take back what he said (No. 7 news story) about the ailing Ariel Sharon to mend ties with Israel (where he wants to build a Bible theme park). Elsewhere, an anti-ACLU movement is having fits over lawsuits about Christian prayers and Wiccan priestess lawyers fees and lawsuits over what's appropriate at official government meetings.

There go those paradigms again
First, Kodak announced plans to de-emphasize its photographic paper, and now Nikon (today's No. 5 top link) is signaling a fuller shift away from 35mm/film to digital cameras. Bloggers wonder: the end of an era?

A new map of the world...
Finally, today's fourth most-cited blog post presents a new Prejudice Map of the world, created by using Google's search engine with the terms "(named residents) are known for" in the search box. Go a head. Take the tour. And see what Virginians are known for. (I tried "Ohioans," who apparently are known for "shooting the curl," (huh?) generosity, wearing layers and being hard-working folks. Whatever.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:40 AM

A tiny (perhaps vengeful) mouse has a big audience in the blogosphere today because of its role in a housefire in New Mexico. "Burning leaves" (today's most-used phrase in blog posts); it's into a pile of those that a New Mexico man threw a mouse that he'd caught in his house (mentioned in three of today's top five news stories and in the day's three top links). The flaming mouse then ran back into the house, setting it on fire and burning it to the ground. Today's four burstiest people include three fire officials from Fort Sumner NM and Luciano Mares, the unlucky homeowner. Deadpans The Circus blog: "An American Tail."

Stuff related to sex
A few items with sexual overtones also show up today, including a Utah theater's refusal to show the movie "Brokeback Mountain" (today's No. 14 top news story). Bloggers at mayfire and Blurbomat blog can't help but offer Utah-specific commentary. Today's BlogPulse Spotlight takes a deeper look. For the sexually confused, there's today's second most-shared news story which points out that novelist JT Leroy is actually female and probably a made-up author. Whatever dubs January National Literary Fraud Month. And if you're into guys kissing, knock yourself out (today's seventh most-cited blog post).

Religion and politics...questions galore
When the Catholic Church plays tough, what happens? A Polish parish in St. Louis, the topic of today's No. 14 top blog post from The Infamous Brad, provides a master plan. Question No. 2: When ministers sneak into Senate hearing rooms to "bless" the seats of Supreme Court nominees, is that a good thing? (Is it a post-9/11 security breach? Will Iraqi holy men, "copying" U.S. democracy, want to do the same overseas?). A BlogPulse trend graph plots buzz about key questions expected today of nominee Judge Samuel Alito:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:07 AM

From the "people/stuff you've probably not heard about before" department comes a few tidbits from today's blog discoveries.

Unknown hardware:
From the time it was hinted at in 2005, the Optimus keyboard has drawn plenty of curious interest, and as the source of today's most-shared link, it may soon be a commercial reality. Starting Feb. 1. Engadget has the scoop on this multi-task keyboard development from Russia-based Art Lebedev Studio. ShaolinTiger calls in the "best keyboard in the world." The BlogPulse Spotlight provides more analysis.

Unknown general:
Identifying himself only as "General Wager," a Vietnam vet has a few choice words for Sen. John Murtha at a town hall meeting...and then walks out when Murtha responds. Michelle Malkin provides a link to the C-Span video (today's No. top blog post). Discussion leans mostly right.

Unknown privacy invasions?
Did you know that cell phone records are for sale? That's the top of today's most-shared news story, from the crime reporter of the Chicago Sun-Times. MediaGirl.org calls it "Big Brother: Free-market style."

Unknown men
Also among today's blog disucssions are the names of two men, recognized for vastly different reasons. First is Hugh Thompson, a Vietnam vet (and today's No. 26 burstiest person) who died of cancer last week. He's best known as being a 24-year-old helicopter pilot who intervened and helped put an end to the slaughter of the residents of the village of My Lai. MarineCorpsMoms offers a tribute. Also on the list is 100-year-old Albert Hoffman, the Swiss inventor of LSD, and the subject of a New York Times article that's today's No. 4 top link.

The joke's on you?
For topical grins, check out today's No. 18 top link titled "Dean's Song," appropriate with the start of today's confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito. But if you're looking for the best blonde joke ever (the subject of today's top blog post), I get the feeling the joke's on you. You can keep clicking, and clicking, and clicking, and....

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:42 AM

Not exactly sure WHAT God would think about religiously-oriented blogosphere buzz today, but I'm guessing she's not very happy about it.

Among today's most-shared links are these No. 2 and No. 3 gems: the Rev. (it hurts to type that title) Pat Robertsonis blaming Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's recent stroke on his decision to divvy up the Promised Land (which is apparently deeded to God). Media Matters (today's No. 8 link) provides access to the video. Read the reaction and comments at the Titusonenine blog, and you'll get a sense of how average people react to Mr. Robertson.

Sexual set-up? Hmmm...
Elsewhere, a Southern Baptist preacher known to rail against the evils of homosexuality was arrested this week for...you guessed it...soliciting gay sex outside a hotel in Oklahoma City. The Rev. Lonnie Latham is today's No. 2 burstiest person, and Capt. Jeffrey Becker, who described the arrest to the media, tops him at No. 1. "We wish we could say we were surprised," deadpans the Pink Dome blog.

Law and Order: the Jesus episode
And today's most-cited news story, for the intrigued, takes visitors to an Italian court, where a judge is trying to decide a squabble over the existence/true identity of Jesus Christ. May the best man win? The Jolly Blogger provides diferent viewpoints, and finds it somewhat ironic that the legal case coincides with the coming release of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code on the big screen.

God is...
For today's graphical sermon, we turn to the wisdom of the BlogPulse trend graph, into which we plotted the word "god" and the words "love," "angry" and "vengeful." Not hard to guess which one was most associated with god (whatever one's beliefs). Take that, Pat:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:56 AM

Perhaps it's just a sign of the times when an odd collection of products and ideas converge in the blogosphere. To wit:

Protect it with...Blast Wrap!
If it's an explosion you're worried about, pack your precious cargo or treasured items in the subject of today's No. 30 most-shared news story: a Popular Science article about Blast Wrap, one of 2005's most innovative products from (honest) Blastgard International. The perlite-packed packets can diffuse the blast of a bomb in seconds, and they're being used to line public trash cans in D.C. (many cities, in case you haven't noticed, have removed trash cans from public streets because terrorists used to like to toss bombs into them). "No word if it also would also work on the movie Battlefield Earth," deadpans the SethJones blog.

Awesome-O
Eric Cartman would be more than proud at today's No. 6 top link. It's the Honda site for its Asimo robot, which now (for those with broadband connection) jogs with bizarre human-like movements. (Even in Japanese, the web site's pretty fascinating). What do you supppose Asimo carries in that backpack? A Mega-Bytes Lunchables?

Questioning(able) Quakers?
Did you ever get the sneaky feeling that someone's spying on you? Like your own government? (today's 4th most-shared news story). Evy Grachow, a member of a Quaker group in Florida, is today's burstiest person because her peace-loving group has been named a Dept. of Defense "threat" for a meeting in which Quaker activists discussed ways to curtail military recruiting at a local high school. Pam's House Blend isn't the only blogger to call such snooping an "outrage."

It's satire. Honest.
But lest you think the world is without a funny bone, think again. The folks at The Onion combine the vitriol of the debate over "activist judges"' with the vitriol over the attack on Christmas to come up with this: "Activist Judge Cancels Christmas." (It's today's No. 16 top news story). Says Daily Kos, tongue firmly in cheek: Uh-oh.

BlogPulse Spotlight today looks at reaction to the recently released trailer of The Da Vinci Code, movie version.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:20 AM

So some segment of our society think there's an all-out attack on Christmas. They think that saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" somehow siphons the meaning out of this season because it dilutes the whole reason for Christmas in the first place.

Some prefer "happy holidays" because it recognizes the diversity of the season, honors all holiday celebrations that take place at this time of year and exhibits a respect for traditions based on beliefs other than Christianity.

So here at BlogPulse central, we turned loose a trend graph that shows both phrases surviving quite nicely, thank you.



Can't we all just get along and enjoy this time of year, whatever it means?

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:25 AM

Perhaps everyone's still on a tryptophan high from eating all those turkey leftovers? How else to explain the strange collection of bedbugs, English fairies and space aliens in today's blog discussions?

In case you didn't read Sunday's New York Times, you missed coverage of the return of the bedbugs (complete with photos, it's today's most-cited news story). Surprisingly (and kind of creepily, don't you think?), BlogPulse detected more than 1,000 search results for "bedbugs."

Don't disturb them, please
And in England, locals near Perthshire are upset at construction for a new housing development that's disturbing, yes, the fairies who inhabit it, according to the Times online. "Neat!" comes the endorsement from Here Be Bears blogger. "California," writes the Primis blogger, "you have been weighed and measured and found wanting. You have a loottt of catching up to do."

More tin-foil hats?
Maybe those guys at MIT were ahead of their time? Former Canadian defense minister Paul Hellyer is making space waves by calling for public hearings about extraterrestrials, and he even uses the " R word" (Roswell, NM). The Random Numbers blogger already has an aluminum-foil maple leaf ready to go. Little Green Footballs notes that the speech ended....not with harrumphing and a walkout, but with a standing ovation. Asks Daimnation: "When Canadians say they wish the American media would pay more attention to them, is this what they had in mind?" Don't think so.

Passings...Bloggers are mourning the weekend death of actor Pat Morita, whose Mr. Miyagi character in the "Karate Kid" movies is legendary. "Rest in peace, sir," offers Patchwork Earth in tribute.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:25 AM

The continuing riots and unrest in Paris and elsewhere in France capture some of the mindshare among bloggers today, with reactions ranging from Mary Steyn's "Wake Up, Europe, You've Got a War on Your Hands" column in the Chicago Sun-Times (today's fourth most-shared news story) to blogger Don Surber's description of the upheaval as "L' Intifada." T. Longren's observation is equally pointed: "To hell in a handbasket." The riots, in fact, have garnered more blogger attention than the anti-Bush protests being staged at a world summit in Argentina.

How intelligent was the intelligence?
Attention is also zeroing in on an issue that was at the heart of the Watergate scandal, captured in that famous question: What did you know and when did you know it? Only this time it's about pre-war intelligence that led to the war in Iraq, captured in today's top links from the New York Times. Did senior officials know that "Mr. Libi," one of the foreign sources for some of the intelligence and today's third burstiest person, and his "intelligence" were both dubious?

Death by Caffeine
Yes, you heard that right, and before anyone gets bummed by news of riots and questionable due diligence at the highest levels of government, we turn today to the No. 7 top link, called Death By Caffeine, in which you choose your favorite caffeine-laced beverage to find out how many it would take to do you in. Says one Mountain Dew fan: "what a way to go..."

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 08:39 AM

It's Halloween today, and for those who want to have a little fun, today's No. 5 top blog post offers us a cornucopia of recipes for Halloween-themed dishes, such as Buttered Brains (using spaetzle) and roasted pumpkins seeds (for anyone who saves the pumpkin guts). Speaking of pumpkin guts, if you prefer a virtual pumpkin, carve one digitally at today's No. 13 top link. And speaking of OTHER guts, who knew "Saw II" would have such a great weekend at the box office? Halloween enthusiasts, obviously:



Indictment fallout
The Booman Tribune, (appropriately named as today's top blog post), offers one of many assessments of last Friday's indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Joining the discussion is former ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose Los Angeles Times column "Our 27 Months of Hell" (today's No. 10 blog post) discusses what's ahead for his now-outed wife. Other reaction ranges from calls for Karl Rove to be fired or resign while the investigation continues, to Don Surber's analysis of what he calls a "dumb case."

Curiosities in blogging
Bloggers did a curious thing over the weekend: attacked (No. 2. top blog post for Saturday) and chewed up (No. 4) a Forbes magazine article titled "Attack of the Bloggers" (Saturday's No. 19 top news story; registration required). From here, seems like PR pro Jeremy Pepper took the high-road perspective at WebProNews.

Blogosophere here and there
Prince Charles will try to talk some sense into President George Bush about Islam, the TaxProfBlog takes a look at oil company profits and their effect on taxation, battle lines already are being drawn over President Bush's latest nomination for the Supreme Court and Trekkies are absorbing last week's announcement that George "Mr. Sulu" Takei is gay.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:19 AM

If the blogging world is a mirror into the world of news, it's impossible to ignore the obvious: a giant, 25-foot squid discovered in Japan, and the indictment of Sen. Majority Leader Tom Delay. Those two stories dominate the blogosphere today.

First, the giant sea creature
Among today's top links, 10 of the top 40 refer to the giant squid discovered by Japanese scientist Tsunemi Kubodera (today's second burstiest person). Loaded Mouth blogger is amazed...and suspiciously hungry.

Secondly, the out-of-power senator
In addition, 8 of today's top 40 links mention the Texas indictment of DeLay (today's most-shared news story) for allegedly funneling corporate contributions, in violation of state campaign finance laws, to Republican Party candidates and organizations. Reaction ranges from protectionary to, well, overjoyed. Travis County DA Ronnie Earle, the indict-er, is today's burstiest person.

Oh, lordy...
Couldn't help but notice this British study of the effect of religion on socieities, which popped into blogger consciousness on Wednesday. It didn't take long for astute readers to question the science behind the "research." Speaking of religion, remember Ashley Smith, the Atlanta woman who said she gave a killer on the run a taste of her religious faith to convince him to surrender to police? That's not all she gave him, according to her recently published book (today's No. 13 top blog post).

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:56 AM

By Neptune's binnacle, shipmates, if we don't enjoy the opportunities for linguistic variance afforded by ye blogosphere! Aye, first 'twas our delight in using the otherwise outmoded editorial "we," but today be even better — point yer spyglass towards our links crow's nest and regard no. 32: Monday be National Talk Like a Pirate Day, mateys! The cap'n'll be back then, so we're talkin like a pirate now, while we're at the helm! Welcome aboard the Blogganear, ye scurvy dogs, as we hoist our Bloggy Roger and drop anchor in a few blog ports o' call. Arrrrr!

The Controversies Du Jour
Lessee what we got today... a blog post that satirizes the Bush administration and Magic: The Gathering geekoids at the same time... a badly Photoshopped head covering on a woman a Council on American-Islamic Relations website... and, ah yes, the Pledge of Allegiance was declared cnconstitutional — again. Not a bad day's catch, eh, sailor?

Exeunt, News. Enter... the Mach 5?
Today the Internet has been put in the rare and extraordinary position of having foreseen the development of a new grooming product years before its actual release. This is our no. 9 link for today, a straight news story about a new five-bladed razor from Gilette, and this is our no 4 link, a column from The Onion in which the fictional CEO of Gillette hilariously lambastes his subordinates for letting Schick out-blade them in the razor game. (Readers are warned that the CEO is a foul-mouthed curr.) "The Onion and reality: The two keep getting closer," writes Andrew Sullivan. Another blogger weighs the question on its merits: "I think a single-bladed razor works just fine (and is also less irritating to your skin)". Arrr! A rusty dagger's fine for us, mateys!

Rough Times ahead
The New York Times is almost always in BlogPulse's top five most-cited news sources, but tomorrow it's staring "Times Select," a service that will require you pay to see its opinion columnists such as David Brooks and Frank Rich. How will bloggers do their work if they can't link to the Times' writers? How much presence can The Times maintain by hiding its writers? We'll be watching.

Also: Arrrrrrr!

Posted by Philip Ewing at 11:17 AM

Not only were there fireworks on the Fourth of July, there were explosions in space as well, as NASA's $333 million "Deep Impact" project crashed a probe into Tempel 1 comet and recorded the event from a nearby mothership (today's No. 22 top link). "Amazing," says the blogger at Spyndle.com. "Stratospherically irresponsible" retorted a Russian astrologer who sued NASA for possibly endangering the history of civilization (No. 9 link). Beneath the Pendulum blogger calls the lawsuit either "insane or inspired."

Always something sexy...
The sex-crazed among us have plenty of reading material today, including the New York Times' coverage of a new report on bisexuality (No. 2 link). Blogger Ken Sain says the issue hints at deeper issues and needs more study. An op-ed piece in the same publication blames heterosexuals -- not the gay community -- for most of the problems plaguing traditional marriage (No. 27 link). Pandagon sums up the piece with some feminist context. Meanwhile, the United Church of Christ has endorsed "full marriage equality," (No. 28 link) making the Christian Agnostic once again happy to be called Christian. Searches for the terms "full marriage equality" now cover the UCC's decision and recent votes in Canada, Belgium and Spain.

The Rove factor
And then there's Karl Rove, who's been identified as the Bush insider who talked to jail-bound reporters Matt Cooper and Judith Miller about the the identity of Valerie Plame as a CIA operative. "Boy genius" is how Gawker describes the weird turn of events, while Lawrence O'Donnell at The Huffington Post calls it Rove's "I Did Not Inhale" defense. The News Hounds blog, ("we watch Fox News so you don't have to"), notes that since the Rove link has been alleged, the Foxies have been far less vociferous about the "news" value of the leaks.

Wooden iPods, Santorum's spoutings, and the life of pi
Other blog discoveries today include Flickr's collection of stylin' wooden cases for iPods, excerpts from Sen. Rick Santorum's upcoming book, and the tale of a Japanese man who recited pi to 83,000-plus characters. Infinitely impressive.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:35 AM

The only clue about the origin of one of BlogPulse's top links this week is the "ru" in the URL, indicating it's from Russia, but it's a curious one...the kind of web site that will no doubt lead to hours of unproductive work at computers. Check out the bouncing bubble lady. Manipulate her with your mouse or refresh to start over. Kind of reminds me of Paul Simon's "Graceland" lyrics about the "human trampoline...And sometimes when I’m falling, flying or tumbling in turmoil I say, 'Oh, so this is what she means.' "

Another time-killer is back, The Llama Song from Albino Black Sheep shows up again among top links. It's just as annoying as before. Last time we tallied, in fact, Albino Black Sheep was ranked 6th among 2005's top blogs to date.

Speaking of annoying, an Oregon attorney has found his 25-year-long membership in a certain political party (starts with "R") no longer tolerable, so he's leaving. Best to read it first from James Chaney

BLOGPULSE TECHNICAL UPDATE: Please be advised that the BlogPulse engineering continues to work through a data quality issue that affects blog posts from June 20 on. Because of the problem, trend charts from June 20 on are showing low percentages or unexplained dips. Other fixes and updates will be coming soon. Thanks for your patience!

BLOGPULSE TECHNICAL UPDATE: Please be advised that the BlogPulse engineering continues to work through a data quality issue that affects blog posts from June 20 on. Because of the problem, trend charts from June 20 on are showing low percentages or unexplained dips. Other fixes and updates will be coming soon. Thanks for your patience!

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:07 AM

You read it right. Since yesterday more bloggers have linked to this story about reincarnated dogs than any other. Mostly the response has been wry disbelief, but ipissmimus voices an obvious concern about the consequences this procedure might have on the animals: "They say the dogs are fine, but kibbles just aren't the same when one gets the taste for brains." Quite.

Just Like Halo, Without the Shooting or Aliens
On the matter of cutting-edge science, there also is this link, BlogPulse's no. 12, about a proposal to save Earth from global warming with an enormous artificial ring in space. Though the idea is little more than a thought experiment -- and, with a potential starting cost of $500 billion, could bankrupt entire countries -- it has taken hold of some bloggers. Ravenwood says it's proof the "environmental movement has been hijacked by wackos," but when anfaclicious saw it, she said she was left "speechless." At the idea of it, anyhow.

Southern Man
Bloggers haven't been speechless about the death of historian Shelby Foote, who is BlogPulse's burstiest name today. Many say that they appreciated Foote's ability to write conversationally throughout his landmark three-volume history of the Civil War, and at least one blogger simply loved to hear Foote talk.

The Supremes: Aftermath
Justice David Souter, private property and the Ten Commandments are all fixtures in BlogPulse these days -- the web is reacting to the recent spate of endlessly contentious Supreme Court decisions. Going in order, then: Check out the buzz that's building around this letter (its author, Logan Darrow Clements, is BlogPulse's no. 4 bursty name). Wags in the Northeast seem to be trying to use the court's eminent domain decision against Souter, to get him off his property and build a new hotel complex. And as for the Ten Commandments, almost nobody seems completely satisfied with the court's twin rulings. DriveDemocracy, however, strikes a hopeful tone that the rulings will help reduce the acrimony caused by the display of the commandments: "As people of faith, we should struggle not to hang the most plaques or to build the most monuments, but to show the most kindness and compassion to those less privileged than ourselves." Amen.

BLOGPULSE TECHNICAL UPDATE: Please be advised that the BlogPulse engineering continues to work through a data quality issue that affects blog posts from June 20 on. Because of the problem, trend charts from June 20 on are showing low percentages or unexplained dips. Other fixes and updates will be coming soon. Thanks for your patience!

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:27 AM

Never let it be said that bloggers are a humorless lot. A cruise through today's top blog links proves otherwise.

Dear Kansas....
The laughfest starts with today's top BlogPulse link called Open Letter, in which Bobby Henderson at vengaza.org asks the Kansas Board of Education to add yet another "intelligent design" theory to its science curriculum, this one based on a science-based belief that the universe was created by Flying Spaghetti Monsters (with a side theory linking pirates and global warming). "I salute you!" says Stirman blogger. "Now I have to clean up the coffee I snorted out of my nose" adds Stuff and Nonsense blogger.

Let's mock ourselves!
Ranking as the No. 6 link is The Onion's 300th-anniversary parody of itself in the year 2056, complete with genetically engineered farmers and a democratic coalition in the Middle East declaring war on the U.S. "Quite flipping brilliant" says blogger My Other Yin is a Yang.

ZAP!
Star Wars humor? Got that, too. There's "Tom Cruise Kills Oprah" video featuring the star's TV appearance with emperor-zapping death rays (No.10 link) ("we all saw it coming" comments Purlingswine blogger) and Darth Vader's appearance on Wheel of Fortune (No. 39 link).

Humor with a sigh
Beauty Dish blogger, a Avon Lady mom-blogger, at least gets a laugh out of her 8-year-old's suspension from school for what she feels (and we agree) is a ridiculous reason.

The only place there IS no humor is San Antonio, where the NBA finals will be decided tonight. Who's got the lead on blog buzz....?

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:05 AM

The full moon arrives on Tuesday, a phenomenon that's apparent not only by full-moon references in the blogosphere but by the emergence (again) of bizarre news. Plunderbunny's Deep Thoughts has noticed the hugeness of the moon in the sky, and the NASA's explanation of the perspective is today's No. 3 link. BlogPulse's "full moon" buzz is appropriately cyclical:



Dog Days...
The news isn't so glowing on the dog front. In fact, it's downright disturbing. Today's top link tells of a South Carolina teen's troubles for sexually assaulting a neighbor's dog and another neighbor's girls (and why does the dog news gets more attention? "Oh....my....God" writes one LiveJournal blogger. Have to agree. On the other side of the world, a deformed dog in Malaysia created enough stir to be today's fourth most-cited blog link (remember, bizarre things happen around full-moon time!).

"I'll have what she's having...
As for Meg Ryan, her famous diner scene in "When Harry Met Sally" now has science on its side: women can fake orgasms (but the brain knows the difference), according to British researchers. Three of today's Top 40 links (Nos. 13 and 15 and 31) point to the study's results, while researcher Gert Holstege is today's burstiest person. Antiminke blogger figures this kind of research, if nothing else, ought to inspire children to study science.

Support the war? Sign right up
Jesus' General blog has taken up an unsual campaign called Operation Yellow Elephant: encouraging members of the Young Republicans clubs around the U.S. to enlist for military service as a manly way to support the war in Iraq. Malixe blogger has joined the call to send campaign details to qualified friends, and New York Times columnist Bob Herbert points out in "Someone Else's Child" (today's No. 26 link) that re-instituting the draft doesn't necessarily solve the problem of an understaffed military.

Another CEO blogger
GoDaddy honcho Bob Parsons has joined the list of CEO bloggers and learned opinionated lessons the hard way... Welcome to the blogosphere, Bob.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:49 AM

Today's blog discoveries are all over the lot, so let's get to it, shall we?

Durbin Day: Conservative bloggers are ganging up on Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin (today's burstiest person) for comments he made on the senate floor about an FBI agent's observation of immoral treatment of Guantanamo Bay prisoners by the U.S. military. Just Barking Mad uses the Jane Fonda comparison to take Durbin to task for comparing U.S. detention practices to those of the Nazis, while Daily Kos uses equally strong words (some from conservative Republicans themselves) to come to Durbin's defense.

How do bloggers interpret torture? A BlogPulse trend graph compares the word "torture" with two different sets of adjectives:



Paring the Patriot Act: Renewal of the Patriot Act is also getting attention, especially with Thursday's House vote that gets the government's nose out o