What will 2007 hold for the U.S. and Iraq? A redeployment of existing U.S. troops in an already embattled country? A troop surge? A little diplomacy for a change? A BlogPulse Trend Graph, while not able to predict the future, plots references to "stay the course" against references to drawing down/redeploying troops. ("Stay the course" peaked in pre-election late October when the Bush Administration officially abandoned the three-word policy as official policy).

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:37 PM

Proof that religion can be as divisive for some as it is peaceful for others is more than obvious in the blogosphere today. Evidence ranges from a Londoner's Sunday visit to Westminster Cathedral (today's No. 2 most-cited blog post) to coverage of a Somali Muslim cleric's calls for the Pope's assassination (today's No. 2 most-cited news story).

In fact, half of today's most-cited news stories among bloggers mention a variety of religiously-themed issues, including coverage of the death of a nun in Somalia, linked to the Pope's comments about the Muslim world last week, and continued anger among the Muslim world, even after the Pope apologized.

Keep paying attention
Today's most-cited news story, curiously, details the re-construction of Iraq and the requirements to get an admission ticket.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:36 AM

Everyone remembers something about Sept. 11, 2001. I was in Homer, Alaska, waking up a newly remarried woman after an incredibly beautiful, simply and fun ceremony with newfound strangers who became instant friends the night before at The Rookery Restaurant in Otter Cove. From so far away at the time, it all seemed like an unbelievable nightmare, and because of the disrupted air travel in the next few days and weeks, my husband and I ended up driving 4,159 mile home from Anchorage to Ohio in a Ford Escort.

Today, the blogosphere is filled with memories of 9-11...where people were, what they recall, how they react five years later to the images and re-telling of the events of of that day. A BlogPulse search for 9/11-related phrases captures peoples' memories and stories.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:09 AM

A year ago, as Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore on the Gulf Coast, no one had any idea how devastated the region would remain today. In the No. 10 spot among today's blog posts, ThinkProgress provides a year-long timeline that starts Aug. 26, 2005, when the first evacuation orders were issued.

A BlogPulse trend graph shows discussion rising again in conjunction with the first anniversary of the storm; the March spike occurred when video footage was released of President Bush being warned of the hurricane's potential for damage, despite previous statements that no one could have predicted the severity of the storm:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:04 AM

You know the world is a profoundly different place when one of the newest blogs to capture bloggers' attention is written by one Mahmoud Ahmandinejad, one of the week's most-blogged-about people and a guy who just so happens to be the president of Iran.

The Dubai-based bloggers at "Notes from a Palm Island" provide some perspective, and a 7 Days news article provides even more. AnotherStinking Blog provides a link to an English translation. Ahmadinejad's RSS-enabled blog is available in several languages, too: Persian, Arabic, English and French. "I think it's brilliant!" exclaims the blogger at "Me, Myself and Bangladesh." (Personally, I think it's a paradigm shift of yet-undetermined proportions).

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 09:25 AM

Sure, Mel Gibson has taken over the top spot this week as the most-blogged-about person, as has Fidel Castro (more buzz today than President Bush) and his now-in-control brother, Raul (today's burstiest person).

But what are people really talking about? The weather, and the wide-ranging heat wave that's gripped the country the past few weeks. A BlogPulse trend graph shows the way:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 09:41 AM

The always-contextual Juan Cole, now president of the Global Americana Institute, rises to the top of the blogosphere today for his "Informed Comment" post indicating that Israel's current war tactics in Lebanon had been in the works for more than a year and presented via PowerPoint last year to think tanks in Washington D.C. Word is getting around, from LiveJournalers to more involved discussions of the impact of the current conflict. A separate Cole post from today indicates that the Israeli army is encountering much more resistance and better-trained fighters than it expected. The one thing you gotta love about the professor's blog entries: the comments are often as interesting and thoughtful as the professor himself.

Tracking the buzz
A BlogPulse trend graph indicates that the issue is certainly capturing the attention of the blogosphere:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 02:23 PM

The war in the Middle East continues to shake up the blogosphere today, and "live blogging" is the buzzword of the day. In fact, today's No. 5 most-cited blog post includes a roundup of Israelie bloggers who are covering the bombings, raids and news from the heart of the conflict and lists of rallies. The Daily Tidbit blog, for example, has a Mideast On Target newsletter with updated material, and This Ongoing Warprovides updates as well. Because of the volatility of the sitatuion, Middle East traveler and blogger Michael J. Totten has closed comments on his blog for safety reasons.

The "other" war
There's another conflict brewing in the blogosphere as well, this one a conservative-led smackdowon on the media in general, and their current target is New York Times photojournalist Joao Silva, whose coverage of insurgent movement is again producing catcalls of "treason" (by people who sit at computers and type, instead of people who don bullet-proof vests and risk their lives to bring us coverage of what's really happening in the world?...I'll never get that part). Glenn Greenwald has a response about the gang mentality that's suddenly targeting the media instead of the policies and practices that lead to such events and behaviors.

Passings...
Mickey Spillane is today's burstiest person and the tributes are pouring in for the veteran mystery/detective writer and creator of the Mike Hammer series. "I don't know the cause," writes a LiveJournaler blogger, "but I hope it was two slugs from a .45 while he was in the arms of a beautiful but deadly blonde."

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:23 AM

The escalating conflict in the Middle East is being played out in the blogosphere today as well. Among the commentaries rising to the top are Mideast traveler Michael J. Totten's personal observations from that part of the world, today's No. 9 most-cited blog post. He writes: "Israel has a right - nay, a moral obligation - to defend itself and rescue the kidnapped. But what kind of down-the-rabbit-hole war is this, where the guilty parties - the Baath regime in Syria and the Jihad regime in Iran - sleep warm in their beds while Beirut, a libertine city they hate, takes the punishment for them? The dictators in the region have always been happy to fight the Israelis to the last Palestinian. Now it looks like they're happy to fight the Israelis to the last Lebanese, too."

Other voices
Other bloggers writing from the Middle East or about it, also captured in today's most-cited blog posts, include Glenn Greenwald ("Israel's war is also 'our' war?", No. 10), the Lebanese Political Journal ("becoming a refugee," No. 13), Whiskey Bar ("punching above its weight," No. 21), Vox's Den ("go to hell Nasrallah", No. 26), Michelle Malkin ("I stand with Israel," No. 30), Juan Cole at Informed Comment ("global protests at indiscriminate Israeli bombings of Lebanon," No. 32), and Captain's Quarters ("Syrian power structure bypassing Assad?", No. 40).

Geo-buzz
Discussion also appears among today's most-cited phrases in the blogosphere, including "Middle East conflict" (No. 2), "southern Lebanon," (No. 5) "Tel Aviv" (No. 6) and "Israeli soldiers" (No. 9). A BlogPulse trend graph comparing buzz about countries in the Middle East shows that the current conflict is reaching levels of discussion about Iraq:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:13 AM

Curious, how with all the recent attention paid to illegal immigrants from Mexico and places south of the border, attention can turn suddenly to the U.S. neighbors to the north. Today, fully one-quarter of all the news stories cited most frequently by bloggers deal with the weekend arrests of 17 Canadians (12 adults, five teens) alleged by authorities to have been involved in "homegrown" terrorist plots to use explosives against key Canadian landmarks and targets.

Reaction galore
No More Mister Nice Blog points out the difference between Internet monitoring and domestic spyings. The Cat's Meow wonders if the arrests signal just another sign of the times? The discussion that's taking place on Myblahg indicates that Canada's populace is undergoing some of the same red-blue/left-right hackling discussions as U.S. voters.

Devilish party!
Elsewhere, the approach of Tuesday - 06/06/06 in d/m/y parlance - is causing equal parts excitement and dread for thsoe who associate 666 with the symbol for the devil/Satan, and Hell, Michigan's preparations (today's No. 8 most-cited news story) are only part of the buzz.

Random (but interesting) blog stuff
Author/blogger Seth Godin has turned off comments on his blog, and here's why. LiveJournalers who breastfeed have an issue with LJ's photo-dinking policy. Anyone gearing up for the 2006 mid-term elections might be interested in Rolling Stone's examination of at what might have happened in 2004 (today's most popuarly cited news story), while former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich examines the Republican-led tax cuts and what's (or who's) behind them. And don't expect BoingBoing to get all excited about the World Cup.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:30 AM

Newly nominated Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson captures the lion's share of personality buzz in the blogosphere today, burstiest person and all, and a single blog post and its follow-on comment capture fairly well the yes-no feelings about the appointment.

The real focus: Iraq and the War
But talk all you want about the state of the economy, what bloggers are really discussing today is Iraq, from various angles and platforms. So much so that more than 25% of today's most-cited news stories deal, in some form or another, with the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the war on terror. Among them, are news of more bombings in Iraq (No. 2), new investigations of alleged killings of Iraqi citizens by U.S. Marines (No. 4), including the critical fallout (No. 5), the ongoing news coverage (No. 29), and military followup (No. 36). That's in addition to ongoing casualty reports (No. 37), renewed problems in Afghanistan (No. 34) and even more dire predictions from some observers (No. 38) about what's ahead for Iraq. Dare anyone say, "Hope you had a happy Memorial Day?"

Curious (and bad?) discoveries
The link for Al Gore's documentary film, "An Inconvenient Truth" ranked higher today (No. 12) than Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," (No. 13)...and perhapswarnings about itchier poison ivy in this global-warming world may have something to do with it? And if you ever wanted to know what the 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time are/were, PC World has done it for you.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 01:08 PM

Just found this among today's most-cited BlogPulse links (No. 6), and it brought back wonderful memories of one of my most favorite people - the late Fred Rogers, of PBS' "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood." In my previous career as a newspaper reporter, I interviewed Fred Rogers at a spina bifida convention and he was one of the most sincere human beings I've ever met. So if you have time, check out this YouTube video of his 1969 testimony before Congress, asking for increased funding for public television. Thanks, Fred. The world could use more guys like you today.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:12 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

At age 44, they were both too young and, until only recently, too seemingly healthy, but baseball great Kirby Puckett, who died Monday from a stroke, and actress Dana Reeve, who died Tuesday of lung cancer, are among today's most-discussed personalities in the blogosphere for their early deaths.

"Still the best thing in decades in baseball," was the tribute to Puckett, 45, by the blogger at Chewie World Order, while the Minneapolis Star-Tribune offered a simple "Goodbye, Kirby." Many of the references to Reeve's death, coming as it does soon after the death of her husband actor Christopher Reeve, note that the research center the two set up to study severe spinal cord injuries/paralysis would be obliterated by recently proposed health-budget cuts by the Bush Administration. Asks the CarpetBagger blogger: "Hard choices?" That's the best rationalization they've got?

A BlogPulse Trend Graph keeps things in persepctive about the leading causes of death: the spike for HIV/AIDS occurs on Dec. 1, designated at World AIDS Day:




Blogging as Cultural Education
Today's No. 2 top blog post from His Master's Toys blog proves that blogs can help close the cultural divide through something as simple as a video and an explanation of how to turn 82 feet of colorful cloth into an Indian turban. Although the video takes longer than usual to load, it's fascinating and worth the wait.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:29 AM

Torture and detention of Iraqi prisoners/terrorism detainess by the U.S. is an issue that won't go away (and it's today's top phrase at BlogPulse). It's returned today in several forms, including new 2004 photos of Abu Ghraib prison abuse released by Australian news sources and Salon.com (today's No. 2 top news story), a United Nations finding against the U.S. detainment policies at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and more recent photos of what's going on at Abu Ghraib by the Black Five military blog.Reactions range from lingering disgust to questions about media double standards.

Knitting Olympics update:
If you want to see what those Olympic knitters are up to, the Yarnharlot blog (today's No. 8 top blog post) provides updates of the thousands of participants who are knitting to their hearts' delight while the 2006 Winter Olympics take place in Italy -- from their kickoff knitting parties to the progress of their projects.

What do we call this Cheney thing?
The media is still actively dissecting Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident (Cheney remains the most-blogged-about person), but apparently so are Republican punidts who are discussing a possible Cheney replacement if DC can't survive the fallout of shooting a 78-year-old lawyer in the face and chest. Who might it be? bloggers ask. BlogPulse prediction: sometime between now and June, the VP will resign "for health reasons." (Remind me to check back).

What's your favorite Olympic sport?
What are Olympic watchers watching? As the wife of a northern Minnesotan (ya, sure, you betcha), you can guess that curling has been big on our list. But a BlogPulse trend graph shows overall sports buzz:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:00 PM

One of the true benefits of blogging is that it can be done anywhere there's an Internet connection, and today's No. 21 top blog post does that just from Erbil, the capital of the northern Kurdish territory of Iraq. Blogger Michael J. Totten, author of the Middle East Journal blog, says the war's already over in much of northern Iraq. His photos, descriptions and encounters with a driver provide a fascinating look at a part of the world most Americans see only as sound bites on the evening news.

Writes Totten: "The city didn’t look like anywhere I wanted to be. Few things in this world are uglier than totalitarian cities. And while Erbil isn’t totalitarian anymore, Saddam Hussein left his stinking thumbprints all over the place." For intrepid behavior alone, Samizdata blog recommends Totten's writings. "A great read" says Small Dead Animals.

Dick Cheney, the moving humor target
Vice President Dick Cheney remains today's most-blogged person, not only because 78-year-old Harry Whittington (second burstiest person) suffered a minor heart attack earlier this week after being shot by Cheney while quail hunting but because comedians everywhere have scared up a covey of jokes. Boing Boing's "Ten Ways Dick Cheney Can Kill You" feature is today's No. 9 top blog post, and The Daily Show's Rob Corddy is the fourth-burstiest person in the blogosphere for his Monday night commentary about the shooting. Conservative bloggers, led by Michellel Malkin, are questioning the motives of Washington Post reporter Dana Milbanks, who appeared on TV wearing an orange vest and hat, but are silent about Florida Gov. Jeb Bush doing the same. What...pointed humor is acceptable only if you're related to the President?

Calling it quits
Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett is the subject of today's sixth-most-cited news story for dropping out of the U.S. Senate race because of pressure he claims was exerted by Democratic party-leaders and fund raisers ("no room for liberal hawks?" asks Professor Bainbridge), and quitting is also on the agenda in the UK, where a smoking ban for bars and private clubs goes into effect in 2007 (No. 18 top link). "And the search for civilisation continues," moans Warren Ellis.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:21 AM

Just goes to show you that a little media exposure goes a long way, which explains why singer Kelly Clarkson, the "American Idol" winner who snapped up a few Grammy Awards this week, is today's second most-blogged personality and why a real-estate evaluation web site called Zillow.com is among today's most-shared links after being featured this week on NPR.

Apple/iPod speculation abounds
Two other popular blog posts today discuss Apple and its iPod/iTunes domination, which will either expand if the company acquires Palm (today's No. 3 top blog post) or diminish if open-source Songbird takes off (the No. 2 top post) as an iTunes competitor, depending on whom you believe. Jake's Blog isn't all that impressed with Songbird; neither is the blogger at Insignificant Thoughts, pointing out that as an open-source application, "there will be 30,000,000,000,000,000,000 point releases fixing one bug at a time 30 times a week."

The cartoons...debuted in Egypt?
Today's top blog post, from Rantings of a Sandmonkey, notes that the editorial cartoons of the prophet Muhammed, the ones causing riots in the Middle East, also appeared without comment last fall in Egyptian newspapers. The Freedom for Egyptians blog (No. 10 blog post) seconds the motion. Operating on the notion that humor might perhaps work some magic, Iowahawk blogger offers satire on a similar cartoon brou-ha-ha brewing in the Midwest, as in Wisconsin.

Valentine's Day is for...eating?
If you wanna know what your sweetie has in mind for Valentine's Day this year, get ready to chow down:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:49 AM

Today's most-cited blog post raises the dire possibility that the increasing Middle East tension over months-old cartoons considered offensive to Muslims may, in fact, combine with other factors to start a war that would spread from the Middle East to Europe and beyond. The blogger at Civitas raises the possibility by asking, "If There's Hell Below, Is This Where We All Shall be Spending Xmas?"

Other assesments emerge from The Volokh Conspiracy, who writes that "intolerance, ignorance, and parochialism" are fueling the East vs. West clash (today's No. 14 blog post), an event no doubt fueled by Iran's solicitation of Holocaust cartoons as retribution (today's fifth-most-shared link). (Seems to me, the world needs a strong mother figure to deliver a pointed, finger-wagging lecture about everyone settling down, taking a time-out and acting like grown-ups for a change).

Meanwhile, paradise IS out there
Scientist Bruce Keehler is today's burstiest person because his trek into the Indonesian jungle (the subject of today's No. 5 news story) uncovered new species of butterflies, frogs, birds and plants. "It's beautiful, untouched, unpopulated forest; there's no evidence of human impact or presence up in these mountains," Dr Beehler told the BBC News website. (We like it already). "So cool," agrees Shakespeare's Sister.

Oscar Buzz
The Academy Award ceremony is in early March, and BlogPulse's trend-graphing tool monitor buzz about the nominees for this year's best picture. Will "Brokeback Mountain" win? Will "Crash" steal its thunder, as some have predicted?

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:54 AM

While football revelers contained their weekend outbursts to cheering at the annual U.S. tradition know as the Super Bowl (today's two top phrases), things weren't so calm in Lebanon, where protesters burned the Danish and Norwegian embassies (today's No. 4 top news story) to protest what they claim are offensive cartoons, published recently in Danish newspapers and elsewhere around the world, that portray the prophet Muhammed.

In an Internet-driven age, it's kind of hard to AVOID the cartoons, now that they're being blogged about, archived (today's No. 4 most-shared link) and analyzed in light democratic concepts and religious principles, especially when the two clash so openly and so publicly.

For those not interested...
And for those among us, like Phil Ewing over at BlogPulse's Spotlight Blog, there was always the Puppy Bowl for anyone not inclined to pay attention to the sports commentators or the news headlines. Just cute, adorable little puppies.

Passings...
It's quite possible that two careers could never have been more different, but feminist, activist and author Betty Friedan died over the weekend, as did actor Al Lewis. Friedan, 85, author of The Feminine Mystique and often described as one of the founders of the modern-day feminist movement, is today's No. 2 and second-burstiest personality. Poppymom blogger offers a simple, heartfelt tribute. Lewis, 95, played Grandpa Munster on "The Munsters" TV show, Officer Schnauzer in "Car 54, Where Are You?" and led an active post-TV life as a restaurateur, basketball scout and good sport. Scared Monkeys blogger offers a similar heartfelt tribute.

Super Bowl plugs
Hollywood used the Super Bowl venue to promote several upcoming movies, and here's how BlogPulse tracked the buzz:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:10 PM

"Embedded reporters," a defining practice of the ongoing war in Iraq, took a very personal turn over the weekend when ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt (today's two burstiest people) were seriously injured in a roadside bomb explosion (today's 10th-most-cited news story) while on patrol with Iraqi troops near Bagdhad. The Moderate Voice blogger provides perpsective about the dangers of journalism and Woodruff's friendship with the late reporter David Bloomfield, a print reporter who died of a lung blood clot in 2003 in Iraq.

Muzzling scientists?
So over the weekend, my husband and I decided to take a mid-winter January walk through downtown Cincinnati, supposedly the coldest winter month. We saw: outdoor market vendors selling wares in 60-degree weather, people picnicking in parks, teens lobbing Frisbees in T-shirts and a line out the door at an ice cream parlor. So why is the Bush Administration trying to stifle the scientific opinions of NASA scientist and global warming expert Dr. James Hansen (No. 8 among the day's bursty people and the subject of the day's most-cited news story). Ambivablog sees bureaucratic danger ahead, Will Robinson. Only in New Mexico sees shades of Big Brother, while Kaseido lumps the latest saga into the ongoing Bush war on reality. A BlogPulse trend graph shows a definite spike in interest about global warming during the 2004 hurricane season:



BlogPulse on Dateline: BlogPulse is a regular data contributor to NBC's "Dateline," and Josh Mankiewicz' Sunday Mank Blog looks at what bloggers buzzed about last week...namely, Oprah Winfrey's truth take-down of A Million Little Pieces author James Frey.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:49 AM

On any typical BlogPulse Day, President Bush and Harry Potter duke it out for No. 1 position among the list of most blogged-about people. But not today. New Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and just-ousted Liberal PM Paul Martin both rank higher than the Prez. Beyond the Punchline blog already features a cartoon tapping into speculation that the new Candadian government (today's top news story) will have closer ties to the ever-eloquent President Bush.

Middle Eastern borders
Among today's top blog posts is another tale of governments across the borders: Israel and Iran. The Canadian-citizen blogger who writes about Iran at E:M (Editor:Myself) is visiting Israel: "As a citizen journalist, I'm going to show my 20,000 daily Iranian readers what Israel really looks like and how people live there." Andy Carvin calls it a one-man peace mission.

TV and Search Shakeups
It's all called "media" these days, and it's changing in big ways. Today's No. 2 top link tells of plans to merge UPN and WB into one happy CW network, operated by CBS and Warner Bros. "If Veronica Mars survives, I'm happy," says the War Liberal blogger. Logopolis has his own mathematical formula for the merger: Netlet + Netlet = Actual Network? On the Internet side of the media, Yahoo's apparently satisfied to play straight man to Google's lead in the search engine biz (today's No. 8 most-cited link). Says Micropersuasion's Steve Rubel: If Yahoo!'s giving up on dominating search, he's giving up on Yahoo!

Unexpected finds
Bloggers always seem to find a few unexpected tidbits, including this BBC story about economic optimism around the world and today's burstiest person, columnist Joel Stein, who's sure to rankle a few backbones with today's top blog post, his LA Times essay "Warriors and Wussies."

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:44 AM

Former Vice President Al Gore (today's fifth most-blogged personality) keeps making speeches that pop him into public consciousness again, and this time, his lambasting of the Bush Administration over its domestic spying program is the fuel that's stoking the blog fires (and ranking as today's most-cited news story). On the federal Martin Luther King holiday, he noted that Dr. King himself was wiretapped by the FBI after being declared "dangerous individual.

In fact, today's top blog posts feature several references to Gore's speech and the topic of spying. Crooks & Liars provides highlights as today's No. 4 blog post, the Los Angeles Times editorializes about the perils of unchecked power, Think Progress hints at that pesky old "i" word again and the Zogby Poll announces "i"-related opinion results.

Women rule, literally
Two women took charge of countries this week: President Michelle Bachelet in Chile (today's 10th most-cited person) and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia.

The 2007 war?
Today's 17th most-cited link among bloggers is an essay by Harvard historican Niall Ferguson, speculating on the potential causes of the War of 2007. Prediction or history repeating itself, the bloggers wonder?

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 04:19 PM

Those year-end lists, like the BlogPulse 2005 Year in Review, usually appear at, well, the end of the year. But 2006 is already sprouting its first crop of lists, including a few among today's top blog posts, such as Google Blogoscoped's 10 Web Trends That Should Die in 2006 (No. 4), Quick Online Tips' 50 Extensions for Firefox use in 2006 (No. 5) and at the RSS Blog, Randy Charles Martin's Web 2.0 predictions for 2006 (No. 37).

But wait! That's not all! Among the day's top links are the BBC's "100 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Year" (No. 8) and Lake Superior State University's List of 2006 Banned Words (No. 24, and you've been warned. You can also submit your own for 2007). The Washington Post offers what's out/in for 2006 (today's No. 27 top news story).

Intelligent...energy?
Today's No. 20 top link from Quantum Biocommunication Technology blog, outlines what may be 2006's version of intelligent design -- a cool form of energy, part of what scientists are calling the supernatural universe (and comparing it to the "force" in Star Wars). They write: "The human mind and body are not distinct and separate from their environment, but a packet of pulsating energy constantly interacting with this vast energy sea."

Here's what's new, Pussycat
Not sure whether his skin-tight pants follow him, but singer Tom Jones (today's 38th burstiest person) is now Sir Tom, now that he's been knighted. "It isn't a sign of the end of the world, but it should be..." observes blogger Mark Daniels

International rumors
And can't help but notice today's international speculation, from Der Spiegel and the Jerusalem Post.. Does the U.S. have sights on an attack on Iran?

BlogPulse Spotlight
The Spotlight blog kicks off 2006 with a look at the new Coldplay CD and its embedded DRM "protection," which makes it unplayable to some of its owners.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:32 AM

Want to bet that the short video of President George Bush pulling on locked doors while trying to leave a Beijing press conference will be one of the most passed-around videos of the month? Oops, it already is, judging by today's BlogPulse results. Today's No. 4 and No. 9 top links and top two news stories (all from the BBC) feature that "What, Me Worry?" look on the face of the President and a link to the video. Is this the President's long-awaited exit strategy, asks J-Walk Blog? A Finnish blogger titles it simply, "Photo of the Day."

"There Is No God"
Comedian/illusionist Penn Jillette offered up a commentary for NPR's popular "This I Believe" segment, and it's today's second most-cited link. Except it's about a topic of non-belief, one sure to touch some nerves and titled simply "There Is No God." Metafilter calls it "a hell of a brave stand." Says Ratcliffe blog: it's provocative and convincing.

The list no one wants to make
Poor Camden, N.J. For the second year in a row, it's been named the country's most dangerous city, (today's 31st most-cited link), and it's not happy. The Trenchcoat Chronicles pokes fun, and "J's notes" is happy to be ranked No. 5.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 09:17 AM

According to a Catholic cardinal, Charles Darwin and the Book of Geneis are "perfectly compatible" if folks are reading the Bible correctly. That tidbit is today's fourth most-shared link among bloggers and 18th top news story, and it's only one example where bridges apparently are being built between evangelicals and those who prefer a little science with their beliefs. Today's No. 10 top-shared link describes a movement by evangelical Christians to support the environmental movement as part of their mission to support stewardship of the earth. John Cole at Balloon Juice calls it an "interesting coaliton"; BrothersJudd have this observation: "Forget science; argue soul."

Administratively speaking
Several issues that are rooted in the Bush Administration's blueprint for controlling terrorism continue to swirl through the blogosphere, including the Washington Post's examination of the FBI's increased use of "national security letters" (today's No. 2 top link) as part of the U.S. Patriot Act. "Someone is watching," observes Obsidian Wings; By the Bayou thinks maybe the FBI should become the DKI? President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney continue to claim "we do not torture" while arguing for stricter detainee policies.

Rah team?
Renee Thomas and Angela Keathley are today's burstiest people for apparently putting a little too much sis-boom-bah in their off-field routines for the North Carolina Panthers. Says DovBear: "Best COPS episode, ever!"

Which do bloggers prefer?
With continuining scrutiny of who leaked what (today's top blog post) and who should resign or be fired (today's No. 32 top blog post), we ran a few terms through a BlogPulse trend graph to see how the honesty vs. lies battle plays out:

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:24 AM

For the big picture today, we turn to former White House speechwriter Peggy Noonan, whose WSJ opinion column (today's No. 33 top link) about America's current state of afffairs seem to put just about everything -- from Supreme Court nominess to White House staff indictment predictions (updated here with Scooter Libby's indictment) to stem cells to intelligent design theories -- in context. And on a day like today, perhaps that's what the country needs the most: the view from a distance. "Peggy Noonan bought a clue" is one blogger's review, while Justice For All thinks her views are "fundamentally wrong."

Now that Harriet's gone...
Reaction to Harriet Miers' Thursday withdrawal from the Supreme Court pool was voluminous and varied. By volume: 14 of today's top 20 most-shared links , 12 of the top 20 news stories and at least seven of the top 20 blog posts mentioned the move. Miers is today's most-discussed BlogPulse personality, and the day's two most-discussed phrases are in context of the Miers move. Commentary ranges from Outside the Beltway's relief to Hugh Hewitt's concern to PoliPundit's observation that things will be far different for future nominees, now that conservatives clearly have made political ideology a litmus test for any judge.

Legal coincidence?
Todays list of the most-discussed personalities in the blogosphere contains an awkwad combination of folks, including most of the major players in the CIA/Fitzgerald investigation, (Rove, Fitzgerald, Libby, Plame, Cheney, etc.). Next door atop the Bursty People list is Tom Noe, an Ohio Republican fund-raiser and rare coin dealer at the center of a scandal over the state's workers' compensation fund's investments in...yes, rare coins and other underpeforming funds. He's just been...yes, indicted for money laundering and donating above-limit funds to President Bush's campaign.

Jokes for news junkies
Today's BlogPulse Spotlight blog zeroes in on another top link today: a look at how Fox News might have covered major historical events.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:12 AM

The weekend earthquake that devastated parts of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan dominates blog activity today, but the natural disaster shares the spotlight with news of the Bible and, believe it or not, the bombing of a Smurf village.

Earthquake relief
Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice, today's top blog post, provides some of the most comprehensive coverage of the earthquake devastation with roundups from various news agencies. "Mother Nature just isn't quitting this year," a comment from Loaded Mouth, sums up many peoples' reactions to this latest natural disaster. Quake-related news comprises more than 25% of today's most-shared news links. The same bloggers who mobilized to provide tsunami relief in late 2004 have banded together again for South Asia Quake Help (today's No. 2 top blog).

Biblically stated
Want to tuck a condensed version of the Bible into your virtual pocket? No problem. The BBC reports that a SMS (short message service) version of the Bible has been released in Asia (today's 21st-ranked news story), with the spelling "condensed" (ahem, mangled) into text-message format so that it fits. "Lordy Lord" says one LiveJournal blogger. Just don't believe everything you read it in: that's the essence of a Times Online article (today's third most popular news link) about Catholic Bishops in the UK issuing an "accuracy" warning about the Bible. Has anyone told the Pope? asks Lam(b).

Smurf annihilation..for a cause
People of Belgium: the trouble is not in your set. Those really were Smurfs being targeted by bombs on the first adult verison of The Smurfs (today's No. 16, 17 and 19 top news stories). The short ad is a fund-raiser by the Belgian UNICEF arm for the rehabilitation of children recruited as soldiers in the African nation of Burundi. Smurf creator Peyo approved of the film but insisted it not be shown before 9 p.m. Reactions range from "just seems odd" to "Smurf-tastic!"

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:43 AM

Never let it be said that the blogosphere is where old news stories go to die. If anything, certain issues are hashed (and rehashed) by bloggers for reasons with varying degrees of clarity and motivation.

For example, Cindy Sheehan (today's No. 3 personality) and Pat Tillman's family have one thing in common: they're both back in the news because they refuse to let the memories of their soldier sons be obscured by politics, lies and unanswered questions. Sheehan was arrested Monday during a peaceful Code Pink protest in front of the White House, and Tillman's family is pressing for a new inquiry into the friendly-fire death of their former NFL son-turned soldier (today's No. 14 top link). The Cunning Realist calls the Tillman saga "Anatomy of a Disgrace."

Now under scrutiny: media coverage
Attention has shifted from recovery efforts to media coverage of the days following Hurricane Katrina, as evidenced by Jeff Jarvis' blast of media obsession with minutiae while overlooking the big picture, and Power Line's call for an investigation of media coverage (today's No. 6 top blog post), especially coverage of what went on -- or didn't go on -- inside the Superdome and New Orleans Convention Center (todays' No. 2 link). Maybe it was dueling incompetence: a media that doesn't fact-check vs. a FEMA gang that doesn't watch TV or else they'd have known tens of thousands of people were stranded. Also, today's No. 26 top blog post provides a link to the new 88-pageHandbook for Bloggers and Cyberdissidents from Reporters Without Borders. Screenshots offers some perspective on global blogging.

Killer dolphins?
Speaking of things that may (or may not) have happened, today's top news story nonetheless comes from The Observer, complete with unconfirmed reports that U.S. Navy-trained, armed-and-dangerous dolphins may be on the loose in the Gulf of Mexico waters....where's Flipper when you need him?

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 09:39 AM

Did you ever get that strange feeling of deja vu? A major democratic nation is trying to figure out who won its most recent election, only this time it's Germany, not the U.S., (today's No. 4 top blog post) struggling to determine whether Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (today's No. 12 leading personality) or conservative challenger Angela Merkel (today's 25th burstiest person) will take charge in Deutschland. "Smell you later, Gerhard," says the blogger at No Parasan, while Shot in the Dark examines the deeper, more complicated issues at stake. (I've already emailed my cousin in Germany, offering the services of the Florida Board of Elections and U.S. Supreme Court to help count votes, just in case).

Afghanistan is also hosting another round of national elections, and surprisingly, the analysis comes from California Yankee blog (today's No. 13 blog post). It's a good day when voters can speak their minds, says Protein Wisdom.

Katrina Fallout Continues
There's a reason L. Frank Baum, the author of the Wizard of Oz, appears in the No. 3 bursty person position, and it's because of the comparison made by the New York Times' Frank Rich in Sunday's column (today's top news story). While Al Gore's former campaign advisor jumps on the President's rebuilding bandwagon, the Washington Post finds continued disarray in the relief effort, New Orleans' hospitals are struggling to rebuild and views from inside FEMA are starting to emerge. Incompetent or negligent? asks Suburban Guerilla blog.

Mother Nature's other side
Let's not forget the softer side of the natural word, captured in today's No. 4 key phrase: full moon. (Did you notice it Saturday night? Awesome....)

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:06 AM

Seems the storm following the storm is getting as much attention as the actual cleanup and relief efforts of post-Hurricane Katrina. Today's blogosphere is rife with accusations against FEMA -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency that, in a post-9/11 world, was supposed to streamline and coordinate response efforts to major catastrophes.

Let the scrutiny begin
A timeline by Right-Wing NutHouse (lots of traffic, slow to load) is today's most cited blog post, while other bloggers and news stories are pointing specific blame at FEMA, including the lack of disaster experience by anyone in charge (today's No. 13 top post), the New York Times' initial examination of finger-pointing that's already starting (No. 6 link), Daily Kos' examination of volunteer workers (No. 6 link) and volunteers in boats (No. 21 link) being turned away by FEMA, while the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette weekend reports of Red Cross food deliveries turned away in New Orleans (No. 15 link).

Perhaps not surprisingly then (sigh), today's 18th-most-shared link is from FEMA's own web site three days before the hurricane hit, basically saying: don't come unless we call you first. Cosmic Variance blogger has terms for a new FEMA acronym: Flagarantly Egregious Malfeasance Agency.

Media grows spine: outside world notices
The BBC has noticed something interesting: an American mainstream media that seems to have awakened from its spin-induced, war-embedded fog. Reporters and anchor folks are finally asking hard questions and demanding answers, and MSNBC's Keith Olberman is just one of the news peeps getting attention.

Oh, Bar....
Discourse.net is calling it a "let them eat cake moment," and it happened when former First Lady Barbara Bush actually told NPR this from the Astrodome in Houston: "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this - this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them." Did the acorn fall far from the tree, asks MetaFilter?

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:36 AM

The vastness of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina is more than geographical in nature, stretching as it does across three states and affecting dozens more as refugees resettle. And that vastness is well represented in the blogosphere discussions as well.

The socioeconomic fallout
Trapping as it did mostly poor Americans, Hurricane Katrina has jump-started numerous discussions about race, poverty and fragile domestic safety nets, as evidenced by today's top blog post titled "Whatever: Being Poor" by writer John Scalzi. It ought to be mandatory reading, says PSOTD blogger.

The political fallout
Today's second blog post, "War and Piece," by Laura Rozen points out that events were staged and then rapidly dismantled for one visit by President Bush to the disaster area; disgust and outright anger (language warning) from bloggers abound toward the White House and its dangerously weak response, even as the Bush Administration tries to smooth over the political damage (today's most-shared link).

The personnel fallout?
Even conservative blogger Michelle Malkin is calling for the head of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director Michael Brown, today's third most-blogged-about personality, for incompetence. Something, apparently, Brown's former employer did, according to the Boston Herald.Yet the party-line guys at PowerLine find a new source of blame for the slow official response: the media? As if the on-the-scene, 24-hour-coverage media didn't know what was going on?

Where is Katrina-related buzz falling toward the various responses by agencies? FEMA is definitely leading the pack:

New sources of help
The Internet continues to play a role in recovery and relief efforts. More than 50,000 entries have already been logged into the PeopleFinderVolunteer web site to coordinate data about misplaced victims trying to locate family members and friends.

Passings...
So intense is the coverage of Katrina that the weekend death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, and the subsequent nomination of yet-to-be-confirmed John G. Roberts to replace him, seem to be afterthoughts in the grand scheme of things.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:22 PM

The harsh realities posed by the aftermath and pending cleamup from Hurricane Katrina are settling in starkly and on a variety of fronts. As the entire city of New Orleans evacuates, relief efforts galore are ramping up, ranging from Instapundit's massive list of relief organizations (today's top blog post) to relief campaigns from Canada and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (who's apparently let the Pat Robertson "thing" pass). Today, 27 of the top 40 blog posts, 29 of the top 40 web links and 24 of the top 40 phrases discussed by bloggers refer somehow to Katrina's devastation.

Likewise, "buzz" in the blogosphere is tracking the deteriorating aftermath, including looting, rising gas prices and massive evacuations:



Discussion varies geographically, too, with most of the attention focused on New Orleans, with other cities falling in behind.




"RIP, New Orleans..."
What's interesting today is the range of conversations taking place. RIP, New Orleans," laments LiveJournaler Snidgepod as she reocunts her once-favorable memories and spots of the home of Mardis Gras. Should New Orleans be rebuilt, asks BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis? And the reason that two Yahoo! news photos are today's No. 1 and No. 3 links is because of wording in the cutlines: is it "looting" when people of color do it and "finding" when whites do it? That's the debate being raised by Daily Kos, Wonkette and others.

Issues of race also surface in commentary about the pre-hurricane evacuation plan, most notably in this wrenching email from a New Orleans-area rescue worker featured at BoingBoing. Were the poor and minorites deliberately left behind, some are wondering? And did the flooding have to happen, asks Editor & Publisher?

Other hurricane tidbits
A Small Victory is focusing attention on good news from the hurricane-affected areas, while The Mudville Gazette examines the U.S. military's capabilities for responding, including claims of an already overstretched military because of the war in Iraq.

And scientifically speaking...
Now that the nation is faced with a herculean cleanup effort that involves oil rigs, transportation systems, communication systems and entire economies, is the country up to it scientifically? That's the question being asked after the latest U.S. poll finds Americans dismally lacking in science fundamentals; two-thirds favor the teaching of creationism in schools along with evolution. Is this corner of the world getting dumber all the time?...that's what some bloggers want to know.

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 10:04 AM

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

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

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

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

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 12:06 PM

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



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

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

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

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

Posted by Sue MacDonald at 11:57 AM