It hasn't been a week since the mid-term elections, and the divisive fear-mongering has started already, what with right-wing bloggers hinting that Al Quaeda is absolutely thrilled now that Democrats have swept Republicans out of majority control, a point refuted by Glenn Greenwald. Maybe everyone ought to take a deep breath and at least let the Democratic majority take office before they start speculating and spreading fear and loathing. Who knows? Maybe some real live international diplomacy and intelligent foreign policy might make a difference for a change...

BlogPulse, the book
OK, so there is no BlogPulse book, but over at the Data Mining blog, Nielsen BuzzMetrics' own Matthew Hurst created a close fascimile of one.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:14 AM

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:21 AM

Now that the Republicans have a sexual scandal of their own (involving homosexual undertones and the stalking of underage teen boys at that), do you suppose anyone will ask independent counsel Kenneth Starr to come back and dig the dirt all over again? Friday's abrupt resignation of Florida Congressman Mark Foley came as the result of the discovery of inappropriate instant messages and e-mails sent by Foley to 16- and 17-year-old high school boys who were part of the House Page Program. (Starr was the attorney who investigated the affair of former President Bill Clinton and intern Monica Lewinsky).

Foley chaired a caucus on missing and exploited children and helped write federal law that govern the kind of behavior he's now alleged to have taken part in. Off the Cuff blogger has some biting insights into the so-called political party of "morals and values." Then there's this no-big-deal defense from the GOP-leaning PowerLine blog. Other GOP leaders, some of whom knew of Foley's behavior a full year ago, are now being scrutinized too, including speaker Rep. Dennis Hastert and Rep. John Shimkus, head of the page program.

Maybe the runup-to-the-election question isn't which party can best protect Americans from terrorists...but which party can best protect Americans from its own Congress?

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 09:42 AM

You gotta hand it to William Jefferson Clinton. For a guy who's an ex-president, he's certainly riled things up (and made his way to the top of the list of most-blogged-about people today) for his weekend interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace (No. 4).

And everybody's joining the discussion among today's most-cited blog posts, from Patterico's Pronouncements (Chris did ask the other side hard questions) to Glenn Greenwald's "cut and run" Senatorial quotes to Keith Olberman's assessment to insights from a former intelligence honcho/blogger known as Spook86.

A BlogPulse trend graph shows a little head-to-head Presidential bantering on the upswing:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:15 AM

MSNBC commentator Keith Olberman and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne are getting attention in the blogosphere today for zingers.

Olberman is among today's most-blogged-about personalities for today's top blog post, his 9/11 commentary (courtesy of Crooks and Liars) titled "This hole in the ground, Mr. President." References to the essay, in fact, show up five times among today's top 20 most-cited news stories. It's nice to hear well written, well thought out, non-screaming commentary on news programs again, you know?

Crowd control?
And Wynne is today's burstiest person for suggesting that "non-lethal" weapons being tested ought to be tried out on Americans first for crowd control just in case...you know...someone gets hurt. Hmmm....

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 01:51 PM

Who knows whether this weekend's "Snakes on a Plane" movie will turn out to be so good it's bad, or so bad it's good, but it's certainly earning a hefty share of blog buzz. Star Samuel L. Jackson (who hawked the flick in true Samuel L. Jackson style Tuesday on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show") is today's fourth most-discussed person in the blogosphere as a result, and the film's pre-buzz graphical line is certainly on the rise, no doubt fueled by the online ability to send a phone message to friends from SamJack himself:



Candidate says what?
Virginia Sen. (and GOP Presidential hopeful?) George Allen might not be so hopeful anymore, now that he's opened his mouth a little too widely (today's top news story). Discuss.

So long, "Fish Face"
It probably wasn't his best acting performance, but Actor Bruno Kirby's "baby fish face!" utterance during a game of charades in "When Harry Met Sally" certainly is memorable. Kirby (today's burstiest person) died this week of leukemia, and fans are mourning his status as an all-time supporting actor.

Tables turned?
One of today's most-cited blog posts, in the wake of momentus political/historical events, again comes from Glenn Greenwald, who looks at the impact of questioning the Commander-in-Chief, depending on which way one leans, politically speaking.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:58 AM

One of the most popoular blog posts for the past few days has been security expert Bruce Schneier's examination of last week's crackdown on liquids on airplanes. Author of today's 7th-most-cited blog, he writes: "None of the airplane security measures implemented because of 9/11 -- no-fly lists, secondary screening, prohibitions against pocket knives and corkscrews -- had anything to do with last week's arrests. And they wouldn't have prevented the planned attacks, had the terrorists not been arrested. A national ID card wouldn't have made a difference, either. Instead, the arrests are a victory for old-fashioned intelligence and investigation." Discuss (and bloggers are).

Michael J. Totten, in the middle of things again
World traveler Michael J. Totten is live-blogging again from the Middle East (today's No. 7 most-cited link), where kidnapped Fox News correspondent Steve Cetanni (today's' burstiest person) and cameraman Olaf Wiig (eighth-burstiest) have been kidnapped.

A new blogging tool
Today's most-used phrase is a reference to yesterday's releaase by Microsoft of a test version of Windows Live Writer, software that allows bloggers to use a single application to publish to a variety of blog platforms, including Spaces, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress and others. Bloggers are already testing it out.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:33 AM

It's a data kind of day, based on what's creating buzz in thh blogosphere, as in: AOL's release of users' data (today's top blog post) and competitor Technorati's udpate on blog data (fourth most-cited post).

Leopard vs. Vista?
But what's really got lots of computer users excited, given that today's two most-cited links are from Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, where Apple's new Leopard operating system is being teased. The blogger at Born to do Dishes calls is "insane" (in a good way). Many are debating how Leopard will steal the thunder from Microsoft's still-delayed Vista operating system update for Windows. A BlogPulse trend graph indicates a definite spike in Leopard buzz.....



Whither Joe?
Defeated Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is today's second most-blogged person (and curiously, defeater Ned Lamont doesn't appear on the day's lists, even though pundits "blame" his victory on those darned bloggers. Electoral reactions rangefrom "poor Joe" to "don't go away mad, Joe, just go away."

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 09:56 AM

Two names and one issue pop out among political blog discussions today, all of them indicative, perhaps, of what may happen in the upcoming 2006 mid-term elections.

Newly elected Alabama House of Representatives Patricia Todd is among them at No. 3 among today's burstiest people, the first openly gay legislator in Alabama (and "long past due," according to one blogger). Elsewhere, recently defeated Georgia candidate Ralph Reed, former Republican operative and former head of the Chrisitan Coalition and No. 7 among today's most-cited people, is also creating buzz, mostly because of his close ties to indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and what that association might mean for other Republican candidates this fall.

The first veto
President Bush's first-ever veto, of stem-cell research bill (today's No. 2 most-cited blog phrase) that would have opened doors for scientists is also on bloggers' minds, making up six of today's most-cited news stories and piggybacking on other articles hinting at a "growing conservative backlash" against the President on foreign policy and other issues. Dissent? Hmmm....

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:31 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

So in the spirit of the Fourth of July, (today's No. 23 top phrase) you'd assume (perhaps) that bloggers would be glorifying the principles of democracatic governance and the rights of a free press in an open, democratic society...and if so, you'd pretty much be wrong.

Because instead, you've got Business Week writing about bloggers "Polluting the Blogosphere" by being paid for product placement mentions in their posts (today's No. 8 top news story) and conservative bloggers nagging about a New York Times travel story that located the vacation homes of Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (as if either were surprises to anyone who hasn't been reading the papers for the past several years?). Blogger Glenn Greenwald points out that the same group of bloggers didn't have the same reaction to similar detailed household disclosures several weeks ago in a Times article about Bill and Hillary Clinton....and he offers has a few other cogent observations about defining real enemies vs. those imagined.

Michael J. Totten Marches On
Every once in a while, blogger Michael J. Totten's posts from his travels through the Middle East bubble to the surface, and they make for some of the best blog reading anywhere. Today's' No. 8 most-cited blog post, in fact, describes his discovery of an ever-elusive phenomenon known as moderate Islamics. He writes from Kurdish Iraq: "If all the world’s Islamists were like these mellow Kurdish Islamists there would be no Terror War and there would be no talk of any clash of civilizations. It’s no accident, nor is it merely a convenience, that the Kurds of Iraq are American allies." "Absolutely fascinating" is one blogger's review.

Celebrate your rights
And for one more moment of groundedness, today's No. 10 most-cited blog post provides 20 amazing facts about American voting. Happy Independence Day?

World Cup: All-European Event
Now that Brazil and Argentina have been ousted from the World Cup finals, it's an all-European affair: Italy, Germany, France and Portugal will battle it out for bragging rights. A BlogPulse Trend graph takes a look at current "buzz" about each of the four countries paired with the phrase "World Cup":

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:04 AM

Say what you want about all of of the others rumored to affect the 2006 and 2008 elections - immigration, health care, minimum wage, moral virtue and basic competence - the war in Iraq and the role of the U.S. military (today's 37th most-cited phrase) are issues that won't go away, and todays' blogosphere findings illustrate why.

Two new soldiers
While politicians like Sen. John Murtha and White House advisers like Karl Rove (No. 22 and 9, respectively among today's most-blogged-about people) debate the policy and strategy of war, two soldiers found dead in Iraq - privates Kristian Menchaca and Thomas L. Tucker - are the latest casualties and among today's burstiest names in the blogosphere. And bloggers simply hash out the right vs. the left positions (among today's top blog posts)...and nothing ever changes.

A BlogPulse trend graph shows an upward trend in conversation about the war, with fairly flat discussion about Iraq and "democracy," and occasional spikes about the insurgency in that Middle Eastern country.



Tangential...or not
Other hot items in the blogosphere today that are related to Iraq include the transcript of an embassy communique (today's No. 5 top news story) sent to Washington just before President Bush's surprise visit to Bagdhad last week, and a Time magazine excerpt of Ron Suskind's new book about terror plots in U.S. subways.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 03:03 PM

If Reader's Digest is right and laughter is the best medicine, at least some of today's most popular blog discoveries are taking time to poke fun at some pretty scary news.

The scariest seems to be the ongoing brou-ha-ha over the National Security Agency (NSA) domestic wiretapping program, the subject of at least six of today's top 10 blog posts and six of today's 10 most-cited news stories. Security expert and blogger Bruce Schneier manages to coax phone-company jokes out of his fellow bloggers to add some lightness to the conversation about the legality of the government asking phone companies for records of all phone logs. Such as..."I got a call from the NSA yesterday just to let me know that I could save money by switching to Sprint for long distance..." Pa-dum-pum.

Funny guy Al?
And look who's back in the spotlight? Former Vice President Al Gore's appearance on Saturday Night Live pushed him to No. 4 among most-blogged personalities, and a video of his opening speech (delivered as if he'd been elected in 2000) is captured in today's top phrase and fifth-most-cited link. Reviews range from "I heart Al Gore" to to "too scary."

Blogging vs. MSM
Blogger and entrepreneur Mark Cuban gets some discussion going about the different between mainstream media and blogging.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 01:06 PM

Talk about seismic shifts? A few seem to be taking place today in the blogosphere. To wit:

PowerLiners' advice for Bush
Blogger John Hinderaker of the right-leaning PowerLine blog has strong (free) words for President George Bush about immigration, today's No. 5 most-cited blog post. Which suggest that the president's low poll numbers aren't because of bipartisan frustration with his performance but that some Republicans think he isn't acting Republican enough. There's a difference. Gateway Pundit is just one of many who picks up the free advice theme, and Mahablog offers some different insights about what's happening to the red-state frame of mind. "My jaw will drop if this comes true," the assessment of Hinderaker's advice from Scylla & Charybdis, is echoed by Michelle Malkin's "when pigs fly" metaphor. Which might apply to this news, too.

Congressional minimum wage?
Another item that's catching traction in the blogosphere (but fairly absent from mainstream media sources) is Sen. Hillary Clinton's recently introduced bill that would tie the nation's minimum wage to Congressional pay raises. Did Hillary just do something awesome? asks Daily Kos in today's No. 8 most-cited blog post. It's a short bill, and reaction so far ranges from "brilliant" to "jujitsu."

Cultural notoriety
Today's list of most-blogged personalities contains a strange combination...burstiest of which is USA Today reporter Leslie Cauley, whose Thursday article about the NSA's huge database of personal/business phone calls is causing consternation on Capitol Hill (and today's No. 35 most-cited news story). Then there's Chris Daughtry, whose boot off of "American Idol" this week ranks him second in blog buzz only to President Bush.

Have a laugh on Mother's Day
This YouTube video (one of today's most-cited links) provides a hilarious behind-the-scenes look at snapping the perfect photo for Mom on Mother's Day. A BlogPulse trend graph agrees.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:20 PM

It's hard to tell we are today in the time-warp continuum, with today's No. 31 most-cited news story a tale of the Russians warning of a new Cold War (which is regressive, is it not?) while President George Bush is fast-forwarding us to WWIII already (today's most-cited news story). A LiveJournaler hearkens to the words of Marshal McLuhan as part of a big-picture assessment, while tmesis blogger falls back on the "it just got worse" reaction.

Please pay attention
So while the blogosphere takes an international view of the state of international affairs, let's turn to the Scotsman.com, which provides fodder for today's most-cited blog post: a pronouncement by the Vatican's official astronomer that the theory of creationism has pagan roots and is another good reason why science and religion don't always mesh well in popular culture. "I can't believe I just read this," writes one fairly astounded blogger. The Flypaper Theory blogger's equally floored.

And news from Down Under
Australian news doesn't hit the mainstream much, which is why the blogosphere's impact is so interesting sometimes. To wit: today's Nos. 1-2 burstiest people are both Australians the rest of the world probably never would have heard about without blogger reminders and memorials. Grant McLennan, co-leader of a band called the Go-Betweens (today's No. 25 top link), died over the weekend and is being memorialized by Aussies who loved him and his music. At No. 2 among bursty people is Australian journalist Richard Carleton, who died while covering the rescue of two miners trapped underground since April 25. Even viewers who weren't particularly endeared to his personality are mourning the loss.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 03:19 PM

It's not often that someone nudges into the No. 1-2 spots of the most-blogged-about personalities...spots usually reserved for President George Bush and the fictitious teenthrob Harry Potter. But comedian Steven Colbert has done it in a big way today, capturing No. 2 spot among BlogPulse's key people list for his "truthiness-inspired" speech at the White House Correspondent Dinner Saturday night.

In fact, 18 of today's top 40 most-cited URLs/links embedded in blog entries refer directly to either footage of his roasting peformance or transcripts and news coverage of his biting commentary in front of the big whigs he lampoons nightly on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." Including the Prez himself, who apparently was not amused. Some of the one-liners from Colbert's talk make up four of the top five most-used phrases by bloggers.

When hackers attack
Elsewhere, some of the nation's right-leaning bloggers are recovering from a weekend denial-of-service attack that they claim was launched from computers somewhere in Saudi Arabia. The blogger at Urban Grounds has some pithy commentary on what's being called Internet Jihad.

Really?
Other curious discoveries in the blogosphere today...Daily Kos is hinting at a lobbyist-inspired sex ring in D.C.? MSNBC has some emerging scuttlebutt on the same issue. The Boston Globe's piece about hundreds of law that President Bush has tried to ignore/skirt is among the day's most-shared links, and Rush Limbaugh's guilty plea in a drug possession case in order to avoid prison is among today's top news stories.

Passings
Economics John Kenneth Galbraith, who died over the weekend at age 97, is today's burstiest person and is being remembered worldwide for his contributions to the study and knowledge of economics.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 09:28 AM

Oh sure, there's lots of unrest and frustration with today's political scene, and much of its capturedi n today's No. 2 most-cited blog post from Libercontrarian Nicholas Horianopoulos...about why he's' changing parties (again), this time from Libertarian to Independent. The comments are as insightful as Hornianpoulos' own disappointments.

Speaking of politics, we took a little BlogPulse poll, using the Trend Graph feature to track phrases that discuss the upcoming 2006 mid-term Congressional elections and the 2008 Presidential election. The Prez won.




Blasts from the past
Arthur J. Schlessinger, who served as an adviser to President John F. Kennedy, returns to the spotlight today (No. 3 most-blogged person) for this quote: "There is no more dangerous thing for a democracy than a foreign policy based on presidential preventive war," which is also today's fourth most-cited phrase in the blogosphere. Schlessinger made the statement in a Washington Post essay examining President Bush's final 1,000 days in office, today's 37th-most-cited news story.

Spy-ly speaking
Talking Points Memo has far more questions than "60 Minutes" had (today's No. 5 most-cited news link) for former CIA guy Tyler Drumheller, today's' No. 21 most-blogged personality.

Just for fun
Hey ladies! Always forgetting somtehing important when you grab the purse and run out the door? Thought so, which is why Gizmodo's RFID-enabled pursue is featured in one of today's most-read blog posts. It was developed at Simon Fraser University in Canada (RFID stands for radio frequency identification, a technology that uses tiny transmitters/receivers to track the movement or locations of items (or, what beeps when you walk out of a store with one of those tags that the clerk forgot to deactivate when you bought it. Hopefully). That piece links to another technology-enabled service, the Get out of Date Free card from SecureSingles, which sends you a pre-programmed bow-out message if your date's not going so swell.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 01:40 PM

Washington D.C. seems to be veritably dripping with leaks these days, as five of today's most-cited news stories have the word "leak" in their headlines. Coverage ranges from fired CIA agent Mary McCarthy (today's No. 5 most-blogged personality) to speculation that the Secretary of State has also been the source of leaks. Discuss.

Care to dance, monkey?
Some people are big-picture people, and that obviously applies to the creator of today's No. 10 most-cited link, Ernest Cline's Dance, Monkeys, Dance!" Anyone who attended grade school in the 1960s will remember the "ding!" sound from the film-strip format.

Got your agenda right here...
Other discoveries: The blogger at Angry Biscuit provides a bitey-tongue-in-cheeck (we think?) gay agenda for all of the "family" groups who have longed claimed there actually is such a thing. Dave Weiss' personalized tour of Microsoft's Macintosh lab has been among the most popular blog posts in the past few days, and TPM CAfe notes that no one's paying attention to bipartisan Congressional give-away of the Internet, which has led to a Save the Internet campaign.

Up, up and away...
And oh yeah: the phrase "gas prices" now has 49,701 blog results attached to it (and is the day's No. 24 most-cited phrase). Speaking of up and coming things, we turned to BlogPulse Trend Graphs today to gauge "buzz" about the upcoming 2006 Congressional mid-term elections and the 2008 Presidential election:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 02:48 PM

Now that the long-rumored shake-up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is under way, pundits are beginning to speculate about who will replace the empty seats, particularly that of White House spokesman Scott McLellan, among the week's most-blogged-about personality. Will it be Tony Snow? Or others?

Will McClellan and the Wal-Mart smiley-face logo head into the reitrement sunset together? Among the discussions is biting analysis from Duckplops and some other bloggers' unanswered questions for the outgoing press spokesperson before he goes out.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:51 AM

You gotta hand it to this President of the United States: he likes to mix it up. Last week, he was being called the "leaker in chief" by others. This week, he's a self-declared "decider," (today's No. 5 most-cited news story) mostly because he's decided to keep Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (today's fifth most-cited personality) in place despite calls from six retired generals for Rumsfeld's replacement (and undoubtedly, we can only surmise, because the monker is so grammatically on par with his vast linguistic capabilities).

So here's a question: what would the President decide to do about the video featured in today's most-shared Web link...a video of graffiti artist Mark Ecko "tagging" (spray-painting) Air Force One? BoingBoing calls it "excellent faked video"...but Ecko's explanation is worth a listen.

Watergate deja vu
Someone with a strong opinion is writer Carl Bernstein, he of the 1970s Woodward-Bernstein duo who spearheaded journalistic investigations that led to the Watergate hearings and President Richard Nixon's resignation. His Vanity Fair essay calling for Senate hearings into the Bush Administraiton's policies (intelligence, war planning, domestic spying, competence) is today's fourth most-cited link. Discuss.

Star babies
The baby girl's name is Suri, and actress Katie Holmes and actor Tom Cruise are among today's most popularly blogged people because of the birth of their daughter...and because Tom actually said this (joking, one can only hope).

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 01:58 PM

The blog universe can be such a fickle place -- early in the week, liberal-leaning blogs were all over Seymour Hersh's New Yorker article about U.S. military plans for attacking Iran (since Sunday, it remains the blogosphere's top new story and most-cited link), while here at mid-week, conservative-leaning bloggers are all over the immigration rallies taking place throughout the U.S. But some of the best language on the debate comes from Hispanic blogger La Queen Sucia (today's No. 18 top blog post), who addresses point by point some of the issues raised in recently snarky e-mails she's received.

Which raises the issue: just what are the issues du jour over the past six months?A BlogPulse Trend Graph takes a look at some of them:




More language...about a boy's hat?
Gawker Media today recounts an e-mail exchange (today's No. 9 top blog post) among a group of New York parents over a lost-and-found post about a boy's hat. Garfield Ridge renames it the Park Slope Hat Spat, while a LiveJournaler might just prefer Amityville.

Phone jamming and other discoveries
The name of James Tobin appears among today's burstiest (No. 3) amid charges that some of the phone-jamming (for which Bush campaign operative Tobin has already been convicted) of Democratic call centers during the 2002 elections might have been directed from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Still speculation at this point.

Meanwhile, another country is looking at building another fence, the Engadget crowd reports that Microsoft's Vista has been successfully installed on a Mac (and Daring Fireball has more thoughts on Apple's Boot Camp Mac-to-Windows download), world traveler Michael J. Totten is trying to drive back into Iraq, and for beer lovers who also love ice cream, Ben & Jerry's is rolling out Black and Tan ice cream (today's No. 17 most-cited link). Fer real. Sold by the pint, one blogger points out.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:59 AM

Writer Seymour Hirsch, the reporter who uncovered torture at Abu Ghraib, is at it again (today's No. 2-3 buristest person) for writing a piece in the New Yorker (today's most-cited link and most-cited news story) that indicates the Bush Administration is promoting diplomacy on one hand but also developing plans for strategic bombing strikes against Iran in hopes of overthrowing another leader they don't like, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad (today's burstiest person).

Bloggers react
Once he gets through all the ramifications of such an undertaking The Belgravia Dispatch blogger asks a central question: could the current administration even carry out something as strategic as this (given its record for other "strategery," a la Katrina and neighboring Iraq and Social Security and immigration reform)? Is such a thing insane, asks the Gaelic Starover blogger, or does this administration have a thing against bearded Middle Eastern leaders, jokes Norbusiness? Regardless of one's opinion, Hersh's piece has generated quite a few of them, based on BlogPulse's Conversation Tracker.

So which war are people discussing most? The war in Iraq? A possible war against Iran? The war on poverty? A war against immigration? A BlogPulse trend graph looks at the word "war" against those four entities: Iraq, Iran, poverty, immigration:



BlogPulse in the news
MSNBC's Dateline Mank Blog by correspondent Josh Mankiewicz looks at the popular celeb-sighting blog Gawker, which some celebrities think is akin to blog stalking. BlogPulse provides weekly data to "Dateline" for the blog segment.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 03:56 PM

Bad behavior seems to be today's running theme, what with U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney the subject of an arrest warrant for her run-in with Capitol police and Homeland Security official Brian J. Doyle (today's No. 2 burstiest person) under arrest for soliciting a teen for sex over the Internet (today's No. 21 most-cited news story).

As for the former, Georgia blogger Dignan, self-described "idealist and dreamer wandreing in a desert of cynicism," is so embarrassed by his elected representative that he's announcing his candidacy for her seat in Congress (today's No. 29 top blog post). The Palm Tree Pundit calls it "good news for embarrassed Georgians."

As to the latter, Captain's Quarters blog calls Doyle's arrest the result of "the gang that couldn't vet straight" and questions the appointee screening process at federal levels. Under a "Shadenfreude" headline, Mahablog examines a variety of troubling issues that arise when a top-ranking Homeland Security official gives out personal information so freely on his headlong visit to a sting operation.

"The Awesome Deferred"
A piece at Something Awful is today's 17th most-cited link for doing a little math about the cost so far of the Iraq War...and what $250 billion (with a b) could have otherwise purchased...such as 45 skyscrapers, full four-year scholarships for 7.2 million students, and $16,000 and a plane ticket to the U.S. for every adult in Iraq. Discuss. And remember this?

Springy stuff
What do a person's thoughts turn to as spring approaches? A BlogPulse trend graph has a few hints...

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:07 AM

There's a little something for everyone today, and that includes the weekend re-design of the New York Times Web site, the topic of today's second most-cited news story and primary source of today's news for bloggers. Gawker Media likes the eventuality of some of the new features; Apartment Therapy wonders whether readability has been sacrificed for design.

No more 4 a.m. alarms for Katie
NBC's Katie Couric, the belle of the "Today Show," is today's ninth most-blogged-about personality for announcing she'll jump ship to anchor the CBS evening news. Who will take Katie's place?

Apple in 30
Today's No. 9 top blog post from Engadget details 30 years in Apple products, from the original Apple 1 to today's MacBook Pro. You've come a long way. So have keyboards, the top 10 weirdest of which are featured today at fosfor gadgets.

The GOP: In flux
Now that Rep. Tom DeLay has resigned from Congress, he's not only today's most-blogged-about person, he's also the subject of six of today's most-cited news stories and his party is under examination for its emerging role as a religious party, at least according to commentator Kevin Phillips. And maybe even . Sen. John McCain is joining the bandwagon?

Feminism's many challenges
Among today's top blog posts is Dr. Sanity's re-purposing of an interview about the custom of female circumcision, and one blogger's reaction honestly questions just which culture is obsessed with what kind of thinking.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 04:46 PM

Good vs. bad, good vs. evil. They're concepts that arise in the blogosphere on topics ranging from the state of the economy to the state of U.S. foreign policies.

One of today's top blog posts, from Caterina, raises the issue of starting a company in this economy....good or bad? Even though the discussion emanated in California, it's resonating in Germany and and elsewhere.

Over there
No. 4 among today's top blog posts comes from former UN Ambassador Madeline Albright, who puts forth the theory that "good vs. evil" may make sense in general thinking but not as foreign policy by a major superpower. The Art of War blogger, obviously, disagrees. The Letter from Here blogger gets nostalgic.

Passings...
Country music's Buck Owens is among today's most-blogged people. He died at age 76 over the weekend from heart failutre.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 02:14 PM

When the South Dakota legilsature recently passed what's thought to be one of the nation's toughest abortion laws, a blogger named Molly gained early March attention with her educational campaign for women.

Today, the campaign steps up a notch, such that today's top blog post and two most-cited links refer to the efforts of Cecilia Fire Thunder, president of the Oglala Sioux Reservation in Pine Ridge, S.D., to offer her reservation as the site for a Planned Parenthood clinic as a way to skirt the state and federal laws governing abortion. Their activism is aimed at S.D. Gov. Mike Rounds and state Sen. Bill Napoli, who's being challenged for his personal definition of a "simple rape," (as if it's his to decide?). He's been Googlebombed because of his comments. "Don't mess with Fire Thunder," says the blogger at After School Snack.

Other blog discoveries
Not sure what to make of us, but maybe a bar's not the best place to get drunk in Texas? And at least Dick Cheney doesn't ask the hotel staff to remove the brown M&M's from the candy dish.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 03:24 PM

It's a day for big shifts in thinking, starting with Sen. Russ Feingold, a possible 2008 Democratic presidential nominee and today's No. 2 burstiest person for proposing a vote today that would censure President George Bush (today's top top news story and No. 3 top blog post) for exceeding executive powers and ignoring judicial oversight for the NSA domestic spying program. Brilliant at Breakfast is obviously thrilled to see a Democrat with a backbone; blogger Don Surber calls it more adolescent politics. What does a BlogPulse trend graph say about the "i-word" vs. the "c-word"?



Chile Breaks the Gender Barrier
From the stage of world leaders comes Chile's gender-shifting decision to elect Michelle Bachelet (today's No. 16 most-blogged-about personality) as its first woman president (today's No. 3 most-cited news story). "Wouldn't it be something?..." says a wisftul U.S.-based Magpie blogger. Former Yugoslav presidetn Slobodan Milosevic is today's No. 3 top person after being found dead in his cell at The Hague over the weekend, and former Iraq President Saddam Hussein is in the news because apparently thought about what might happen in post-war Iraq...perhaps more than his country's "liberators" did?

Speaking out
Two people are capturing attention for speaking out, including former British soldier Ben Griffin, today's burstiest person because of an interview in which he describes his moral decision to leave the British military rather than continue fighting what he calls an immoral "mess" in Iraq. And at No. 15 among today's burstiest people is Dr. Wafa Sultan, a Syrian-born woman whose criticism of Muslim extremists (today's No. 6 most-cited news story) is bringing her praise...and death threats. "Meet the voice of reason," says one blogger; the blogger at Sisu offers perspective and background.

BlogPulse News
The Olympics are over, Josh Mankiewicz is back from vacation, and his Mank Blog is back on MSNBC's Dateline, which receives weekly blog data from BlogPulse.com and Technorati in a blogosphere roundup.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:46 AM

They come and they go, these issues of government-endorsed warrantless spying (today's No. 16 top blog post) and abortion restrictions, (No. 27 top link) but some things just arrive out of nowhere with an element of surprise, such as furry-looking lobsters, the subject of today's most-cited news story. Scientists have named it Kiwa hirsuta, but the blogger at TowlerRoad calls it something else: "gayest lobster ever."

That spying thing
Blogger Glenn Greenwald (today's No. 6 top blog post) chimes in with more analysis of the Senate Intelligence's Committee's so-called follow-through on the NSA domestic spying program, and analysis of his analysis says more about GOP party politics than actual follow-through.

Activist women return
Efforts to ban abortions in South Dakota have resurrected Molly's blog back to the No. 5 spot among top blog posts, and it's topped by other women's pointed-tongue scrutiny of Sen. Bill Napoli's description of the kind of rape that would qualify for coverage under the bill. Discuss? Napoli's today's second burstiest blog personality, and it all occurs in the wake of International Women's Day.

Sneak Peaks
Todays' top blog post provides a Tech Crunch sneak peak at Google's yet-unlaunched Calendar, called CL2. "Pretty cool," says a search engine blogger. Why the fervor, asks Geek Rant? And today's No. 7 top link offers a sneak peek at Windows Live. GoogleBlogoscoped tried it out.

Passings
Photographer, writer, composer and humanitarian Gordon Parks, the first African American photographer hired by Life magazine, is being remembered today by bloggers. He died Wednesday at age 93. "A true renaissance man," eulogizes blogger Mark Hamilton.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:23 AM

"Crash" crashed the Oscars Sunday night, and buzz about who won (and who didn't) captured 8 of today's top 10 key phrases, while movie celebs dominated the most-discussed people list as well. Celeb-discussion included nods to host Jon Stewart (at No. 2, mixed reviews), best supporting actor George Clooney (No. 3), best actress Reese Witherspoon (No. 5), supporting actress Rachel Weisz (No. 7), best actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (No. 8), and actress nominee Felicity Huffman (No. 9). Not to be outdone, Tom Cruise, Jenny McCarty, Rob Schneider and Paris Hilton took home Razzy Awards in today's 33rd-most-cited news story.

Creativity in Legos, on film
As someone who has wrestled with more than her share of Lego creations in the endeavor known as motherhood, let me congratulate the winners featured in Tech Blog's Top 10 Strangest Lego Creations, today's ninth-most-cited link (and I thought the helicopter thing was hard). Equally creative is today's No. 2, 4 and 7 most-cited links, the opening credits to "The Simpson's" acted by real people with real nuclear plant smokestacks and scaneed grocery-store babies. D'oh! says MorgansMinstrel at LiveJournal. Too much time on someone's hands? asks an otherwise impressed Laist blogger.

Leakbusters?
When the news leaks out, and it's rarely good, who's the White House gonna call? The FBI and CIA, apparently, according to today's most-cited news story from The Washington Post, which is threatening news reporters with espionage laws for "leaks." Conversation is already fairly hefty.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:34 AM

The next political wedge issue may be brewing now in the state that ranks, populationwise, No. 46 among 50: South Dakota, where legislators are pushing through a bill that would ban most abortions (today's burstiest phrase) for the state's 770,883 residents.

News of the bill's passage is found in seven of today's top links and six of today's most-cited news stories. State Sen. Julie Bartling, the bill's sponsor, is today's burstiest person, followed at No. 2 by Kate Looby, director of the state's only abortion clinic. "The Supreme Court has been loaded and they are ready," observes one LiveJournaler. The Centrist blogger invites all South Dakotans to Massachusetts as an alternative. Funny, says the native New Wisdom blogger, how a state can move into the future and past at the same time.

Did Bill O'Reilly REALLY say that?
Media Matters is today's No. 12 most-cited news item for featuring Bill O'Reilly's newest (and verbatim) proposal for an Iraq war policy: "the only solution to this is to hand over everything to the Iraqis as fast as humanly possible" because "[t]here are so many nuts in the country -- so many crazies -- that we can't control them." Isn't that this? Is he, as the Moderate Left blogger suggests, embracing his inner liberal?

Issues in perspective
A BlogPulse trend graph highlights what's on blogger's minds when it comes to the day's pressing issues:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:50 AM

When mean-spirited, anti-gay protesters show up at the military funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, who you gonna call? The Patriot Guard Riders, that's who, and they're the subject of today's second-most-shared link among bloggers. As one of the group's cycle-ridin' leaders (and burstiest blog person) Don Woodrick explains eloquently: “The most important thing we can do is let families know that the nation cares. When a total stranger gets on a motorcycle in the middle of winter and drives 300 miles to hold a flag, that makes a powerful statement."

The bikers are showing up, sometimes thousands strong, to drown out protesters and shield families from protesters organized by Fred Phelps, a so-called minister at a Kansas church who organizes tasteless protests at military funerals. Good for them! says one blogger of the bikers' efforts. Another LiveJournaler calls the guys on wheels "patriotism at its finest."

Re-classifying once-public documents
When does a public document become secret again? And who decides? That's the discussion taking place, based on a New York Times story detailing a massive re-classification of once-public documents at the National Archives by government intelligence agencies (today's top news story). ChangeLog puts the effort in the same category as 1984. "This is not how democracy works," insists Shakespeare's Sister. Norwegianity chalks it up to more scary tactics from "Republican Bizarro World." It took a few pages of blog comments to find one (Discarded Lies) that called the move much ado about nothing.

Dead parrot, anyone?
Find out why I can't contain my excitement at the BlogPulse Spotlight blog.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:35 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

What is there to say when the morning headlines report that the Vice President of the United States (today's most blogged-about person) shot a hunting buddy with buckshot while quail-hunting? It's today's top news story and most-cited link. Plenty, if you ask bloggers, who've used everything from Elmer Fudd references (check out the poetic comment) to the term "cheneyquidick" to analyze what happened...and to wonder why the incident wasn't acknowledged for 24 hours? Katharine Armstrong, the owner of the ranch where the shooting occured, is today's burstiest person.

Pillar...of information
Also attracting attention is former CIA analyst Paul Pillar (today's seventh burstiest person), who's now going public with his assessment of the Bush Administration's use of pre-Iraq War intelligence, saying it was "cherry-picked" to justify a war (today's No. 14 top news story).

Kwan's Olympic hopes dashed
You gotta give her an award for integrity and grace: U.S. Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan (today's No. 3 most-blogged-about personality) promised she'd withdraw if she couldn't perform at 100% in Torino, and she did just that over the weekend, opening a door for Emily Hughes (second burstiest person) on the U.S. team. The blogger at Peacebang awards a gold regardless, while another blogger isn't as kind.

Anticipation?
Having watched 12 inches of snow fall on the Baltimore area Saturday and Sunday, I had to wonder: how many folks were thinking of a "snow day" today? A BlogPulse trend graph takes a look:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:53 AM

How curious, don't you think, that at a time when the U.S. is waging war ostensibly to spread democracy around the world, one of the fundamentals of democracy itself ("right to free speech" is today's 38th-most-cited blog phrase) seem to be in the crosshairs of international and national discussion.

The right to speak up is discussed in several contexts, such as the messages that civil rights leader such as the Rev. Joseph Lowery (today's No. 11-12 burstiest person) and former President Jimmy Carter delivered earlier this week at the funeral of Coretta Scott King (today's most-cited phrase). Some observers were offended that pointed political messages were intermixed with tributes...and delivered to an audience that included President George Bush. ThinkProgress provides today's No. 5 top blog post, which is video of the standing ovation that Lowry received.

Cartoon perspective
Columnist Amir Taheri is today's fourth burstiest person for an editorial he wrote in the Wall Street Journal Online that explains the Muslim underpinnings...or lack thereof...for outrage over cartoons portraying the prophet Muhammed (today's No. 6 top news story) in the Middle East and elsewhere. Other notable personalities: editors at the New York Press who walked off the job this week (today's No. 3 blog post) when their publisher refused to publish the cartoons.

What is the NSA REALLY doing?
Even Republicans are curious now, which is why Rep. Heather A. Wilson is today's No. 2 burstiest person, now that she's called for a full-scale investigation of the Bush Administration's domestic spying program at the NSA (today's third-most-cited news story). Fear of political failure, writes the LawandPolitics blogger, is the great motivator. Other bloggers offer their assessments of the heightened NSA scrutiny, and a BlogPulse trend graph looks at what bothers people most these days:



AIDS cure?
Today's second most-cited news story tells of a possible AIDS breakthrough, and comments are already starting.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:51 AM

When is an editorial or political cartoon offensive, and who defines offensive? The issue is boiling in the blogosphere today, over European cartoons (today's No. 7 top news story) that have angered Muslims around the world (today's No. 8 top phrase) and a Washington Post cartoon that has angered the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Blogger Michelle Malkin, in fact, has taken up the issue in several to-ranked blog posts today.

DeLay's successor
No sooner had Ohio Rep. John Boehner (today's 14th burstiest person) been elected as the new majority-party leader of the House of Representatives than the scrutiny started from various camps.

When you're No. 1, everybody takes a shot
During the week that Oscar nominations were announced, parodies of the much-nominated film "Brokeback Mountain" also made appearances on BlogPulse, including Mighty McPilgrim's "Broke Mac Mountain" (a computer funny and today's 30th most-shared link) and "Brokeback to the Future," (today's most-shared link) which features clips of old "Back to the Future" episodes.

That was some FAST backpedalling
President Bush swore Tuesday night that the U.S. is addicted to oil. Two of the country's high-level bureaucrats/departements swore just a day later that, well, it's not quite true. Especially if you don't want to upset those Middle East countries that like selling the U.S. their oil.

Oscar buzz
Today, BlogPulse trend graphs look at buzz for this year's Oscar-nominated directors:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:40 PM

The charges have already been dropped, but the damage has been done over anti-war activist and Gold Star Mom Cindy Sheehan's arrest (today's top news story) for "unlawful conduct." Her crime? As a ticketed audience member, she wore an T-shirt to President Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday night that read: "2,245 Dead. How Many More?" Cindy's version of the events appears several times among today's top blog entries and most-shared links, at Daily Kos and on Michael Moore's web site.

You gotta wonder: would charges have been dropped if another woman, a certain Beverly Young, a Congressman's WIFE, hadn't been removed (but not arrested) as well for wearing a "Support Our Troops" T-shirt? Young is today's burstiest person; Sheehan is nipping at the President's heels again, literally and figuratively. Blogger Glenn Greenwald calls it like he sees it: "completely disgraceful." Says another blogger: "tactical mistake."

Let's just hope they don't start dancing in iPod commercials
Sen. Ted Stevens, 82, bragging about his iPod? Weirder things have happened on Capitol Hill, I'm sure, but some bloggers think it's time all Senators who are called to vote on issues such as copyright laws and new technologies at least understand what the heck they're talking about. Hence, iPac Action (today's No. 30 most-shared link) is asking bloggers to donate cash to buy iPods for Congress.

Oscar Buzz
Over the next few weeks, BlogPulse will deploy its trend graphs to track buzz about the 2005 Oscar nominations. Today, a look at the men nominated for best supporting actor...



...and the women nominated for best supporting actress.

Posted by Su