The new links

This may seem trivial on a day when Benazir Bhutto, the woman who was possibly about to become the next leader of Pakistan - one of the world's nuclear powers - was felled by an assassin's bullet. (Or bomb. They did both. Kinda went for overkill there.) (UPDATE, 12/29/07: Or because she whacked her head on the lever that operates the sun roof in her vehicle. That's the official word from the government of Pakistan now.) But if you want news and analysis on that event, there are plenty of other places to get that. CNN spent most of today covering this story to the exclusion of all others. (Which was no great loss, since the only other news stories currently worthy of getting reported on CNN are apparently a tiger attack in the San Francisco Zoo, a 13-year-old girl who was the sole survivor of a Panamanian plane crash, and a week-old story about a girl who needed an emergency airlift from a cruise ship off Baja California.) But today, I will be giving details on some sites I've recently linked.

Over the past few days I've added a few sites that I've been visiting regularly to my sidebar links. I may start a second group of regular "Blog Links" soon, since Blogger automatically puts each new link at the top of the list, and I almost always want new links at the bottom. To move a link you must step through the existing links one at a time. You cannot loop around from the top entry to the bottom entry. You must move the new link from the first position, to the second position, to the third position, and so on, all the way to the bottom. So I am stuck moving through every existing entry - currently, 52 blogs and associated sites, counting the ones I've just added.

Here are brief descriptions of these new links:

Hedera's Corner: Hedera is a fellow Felbernaut, a regular commentor on Adam Felber's Fanatical Apathy. This means she is witty, intelligent, sophisticated, and impeccably well-groomed. Just like me. "Started out as a librarian, followed by systems engineering and later systems design. Secular humanist, interested in trends in science. Often annoyed by politicians." She is based in the San Francisco Bay area.

The Swordswallowers - Alexander Kensington and Charon Henning and Charon Henning's Odd Angel Studios: I first came across Charon Henning, The World's Most Dangerous Beauty, when I was going through a list of Sideshow links in the weeks prior to this November's Sideshow Gathering. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a sucker for a pretty lady, and if that lady can swallow swords and breathe fire - well, all the better. We started a comment correspondence back and forth, and she was so kind as to link me a long, long time ago. I'm finally reciprocating. The Swordswallowers page is updated more often than the Odd Angel Studios page, but both are worthy of many visits. Someday I have to explore her links, too.

Debra Pasquella's Let Me Go On and On!: I first encountered Debra through a comment on this post, and I've been visiting off and on since then. In her own words:

Debra Pasquella is the author of “A Prayer Away From Healing”, a book about the power of prayer and relationships, based upon the background on Debra’s life. Some posts in this blog contain articles describing how promiscuity gets confused with loving relationships between two people of the same gender. Other posts are lighthearted and comical, telling you stories about her dysfunctional life. She wouldn’t have it any other way. Normality is something to be avoided. There are many posts about relationships in general--whether you're male or female, straight or gay. Deb welcomes you into her world and would love to hear what’s on your mind- even if it’s an opposing view. Content may be controversial and opinionated. An opened mind is required. Ask your doctor if this blog’s right for you.

In tone and content, I find Debra's blog interestingly similar to Bill's blog, currently called "Bill's Notes". (Note to self: change the sidebar description from "Industrial Blog".) In reality, the two are approaching some of the same issues from diametrically opposing points of view. It would be interesting to witness a discourse between the two of them. Possibly also very amusing and, without proper cover, somewhat dangerous.

In non-blog links, I have added two things to "Semi-Daily Visits": I Can Has Cheezburger? - LOLcats and funny pictures, because we all need a little laughter in our lives every day, and Fresh Air with Terry Gross, because I got tired of having to look up the damned site every time I wanted to do a reference, or just listen to an archived show!