Around the ‘Sphere

Our periodic linkfest to introduce readers to a WIDE VARIETY of views from all over the ‘Sphere. We do NOT restrict mentioned links to one viewpoint — and views do not necessary reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice.

SO NOW THERE’S A NEW POPE and skippy the bush kangaroo (who writes in all in lower case and coined the word Blogtopia) wonders if the new Pope was separated at birth.

TWO JOURNALISTS ARE ASSIGNED TO DO A STORY ON DRINKING so what’s wrong with doing a little on-the-scene research?



HOW DO YOU DEFINE A WOMAN? Is there a danger that it’ll be legislated so a woman is defined by her baby-making abilities? It seems that way.



SOME MORE THOUGHTS ON THE CONFRONTATION OVER JUDICIAL FILIBUSTERS by Bogus Gold.



THE ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER FACTOR in California is (for now) dimming a bit. The inimitatble James Wolcott puts it under his microscope with, as usual, the most acid wit around. Small taste:

The LA Times and the local news broadcasts out here (which really live down to their nitwit reputation–it’s as if the anchors had the Botox injected directly into their brains) are aburst with stories about Arnold in Trouble. His poll numbers have sunk into Bush territory, the unions are running TV ads slamming the governor into the mat, and wife Maria Shriver has jumped in with both scary cheekbones to exercise damage control.

FOR ONE ONE OF THE BEST DAILY DIGESTS OF THE WEB AROUND a reminder to go to Booker Rising which bills itself as “News site for black moderates and black conservatives.” But it’s for everyone.





COULD PEOPLE IN THE CENTER UPSET BY BOTH PARTIES’ PREOCCUPATION WITH THEIR BASES LEAVE AND FORM A THIRD PARTY? Bull Moose (one of our favorites anywhere) looks at the issue and prospects the Internet could play a role. Read the whole post but here’s one point:

If the two parties don’t get their act together, it is indeed within the realm of possibility that the Internet could fuel a most historic insurgency in American history – a successful cyberspace third party Presidential bid.My, its getting hot in the blogosphere – maybe the Moose is in heat!

THERE IS A LOT OF VITRIOL AIMED AT RELIGION and John Cole takes iton bluntly.





AN ACADEMIC DOUBLESPEAK BILL IN FLORIDA that is truly amazing is put under the microscope by the new blog Owned by Cats. Why is it that you already guess it has something to do with the renewed debate over evolution??



THE CASE FOR JOHN BOLTON BEING CONFIRMED is made by David Limbaugh (Rush’s brother) who has a very lively and well written blog.



COLLAPSE OF THE BIG MEDIA? Jeff Jarvis has a tons of links. He asks if we’re seeing a “tipping point” or a melt down. What’s certain is that a massive shift is going on and it seems to be accelerating and weblogs are an important part of it. You can see this in the number of weblogs being started, the growth in many of them, the increase in academic conferences focusing on blog topics and how search engines now list blog posts extensively. And this is JUST THE BEGINNING, folks…