Tory tax plans have got the blogosphere in a lather. But not all Tory bloggers are after cuts...
"CONSERVATIVES "SAY SOMETHING SENSIBLE" SHOCK SENSATION! ******ALERT ALERT ALERT****** Rejoice. The Conservative Party has FINALLY said something quite sensible."
That was the verdict on the right-wing A Tangled Web blog. But for many bloggers of a Conservative persuasion, tax cuts are anything from electoral good sense to religious obligation.
Revolution is in the air in Thailand and this is what some of the bloggers are saying.
The military commander, seemingly the man closest to the King, has has taken over power and installed martial law while Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was overseas.
When Shinawatra sold his family's stake in the telecoms firm Shin Corp, it angered many Thais because it passed control of an important national asset to Singaporean investors.
However British expats and travellers seem relatively unconcerned at events, such as the expat His Words, who says: "Life appears to be normal, if quiet. It would seem the coup is a pretty desperate last attempt to get rid of Thaksin, nothing more," while one mother living there said: "Lets just hope internet and phones don't get cut off. Hopefully Thailand can get a democratic government back in place and there won't be any violence or bloodshed."
Backpackers are keenly logging in to news and updates and in typical laidback fashion are relatively unfazed by events and confident that it will all be over in 48 hours.
The first conspiracy theories began to emerge while the wreckage was still smouldering.
In the five years that have passed since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, thousands of web pages have been devoted to the idea that the US government encouraged, permitted or actually carried out the attacks.
David Sifry (left), founder of Technorati, told Channel 4 News Radio's Morning Report: "We are tracking right now about 218 different blogs that are talking about various conspiracy theories."
"Certainly when you make it that easy for people to become creators and writers, every kook with their own theory has the ability to write his blog and get his thoughts out."
"But what we've also seen is the number of legitimate experts and people who are debunking those same theories has grown proportionally"
The Morning Report's Top of the Pods feature looks at those conspiracy theories in more detail and you can listen to them here (about 22 minutes into the show).
More memories of 9/11 on the Channel 4 News website.
The blogosphere is alive with the sound of knives being sharpened after yesterday's leaked memo detailing the plans for Tony Blair's departure.
By lunchtime yesterday news of the prime minister's "all guns blazing" final farewell had been overtaken by the story of three separate letters from Labour MPs, asking Mr Blair either to resign or name a date for his departure.
Opinions on the merits of a Blair resignation range from the uncomprehending to the gleeful. Columnist Melanie Phillips suggests that Labour has gone "stark, staring mad" in trying to force out its leader. "What is the political crime he has committed that is so heinous he must depart forthwith?"
Such considerations are in any case academic if 'Peter Hitchens' (on Guido Fawkes) is to be believed. "Blair will only leave number 10 kicking and screaming leaving bloody nail marks on the door frame," he predicts.
In fact, today's Sun carries a story that Mr Blair will quit as Labour leader on 31 May next year (see picture). That's an optimistic estimate, according to the TakingAim blog. "Frankly, I can't see him surviving beyond this year's party conference, let along staying on until the middle of next year," it says.
Continue reading "'Blair will only leave No. 10 kicking and screaming...' " »
Our resident expert Iain Dale runs his critical eye over a new entrant to the blogosphere - David Cameron.
He's writing the blog about his trip to India. Unlike many high-profile bloggers, the new Tory leader seems to have written this himself, and he's allowing the readers to comment.
Will it provide a new conduit for a direct conversation with the public? Or will it just provide fodder for newspaper diary columns? Listen to his report to find out.
Blog of the week isn't an activist or a politician, but a thinktank. The Adam Smith Institute's blog offers a mix of libertarian thinking and economics. And jokes too - some of which appear to date back to Adam Smith's day, if not before.
Bloggers have made the front pages this week, with the news of how the company that is building a casino inside the Dome played a bit fast and loose with the views of local clerics.
Our resident blogologist Iain Dale reckons it's a key moment in the history of media - blogs are now mainstream enough to make the front pages. Either that, or the editors were short of material in August.
Either way, you can hear his account of the event here. He nominates 'Niles's Blog' by Lib Dem blogger Alex Foster - 'entertaining, unpredictable and at times hilarious'.
http://www.channel4.com/news/podcasts/morning_report/mp3s/blogs/iain_dale_30.mp3
Credit where credit is due, though - the blog which spotted the story was Greenwich Watch.
Also, apologies to Jeffrey Archer. Reports that he was bored of blogging are much exaggerated, it seems. His blog is back in business with a post about sailing on the QE2.
