Bloggers I Admire, Pt 2

aka Tabula Rasa 2

Okay, I got a little off-track, and started discussing blogs rather than bloggers in the last post. This time I'll keep it to people.

Tim Lambert at Deltoid continues to slog away at the anti-scientific vested interests, not to mention global warming denialists. Given how rabid and determined the Climate Change Resistance can be it's truly heartwarming to see this kind of stubborn refutation.

I'm very grateful to Umm Yasmin, who writes Dervish. In these times of stupidly inflamed racial tensions and the demonisation of Islam, the blogosphere needs more intelligent Muslim women blogging about what it actually means to be Muslim, and dispelling myths about Islam.

Speaking of brave Muslim women, the most well-known worldwide in the blogosphere is no doubt Riverbend, of Baghdad Burning fame. It's pretty frightening when she goes missing from blogging for a couple of months though...

Minotaur truly provides a public service by trawling through the dirt of Australia's media to recover any nuggets of actual useful news and analysis.

Just as admirably, Whatever It Is, I'm Against It gives us a good giggle, which is absolutely essential when there's so much to be outraged and depressed about. As the saying goes, sometimes you gotta laugh or you'll cry.

Melissa McEwan (aka Shakespeare's Sister) aims to strike a balance when it comes to this, with a prolific group of bloggers who post both frivolous stuff and serious political commentary. Great minds here and some of the best group blogging I've ever read.

Of course, sometimes the best antidote to despair is staying angry - and active. When it comes to angry, determined and motivated, nobody beats the FireDogLake crew. These intrepid bloggers have helped with fundraising across the 50-state strategy, have interviewed luminaries like Keith Olbermann and Glenn Greenwald - but they're best known for their tenacious, thorough and complete coverage of every aspect of the Scooter Libby perjury case, and the Valerie Plame incidents that preceded it. Seriously, you want to know anything about this case, check the archives. Joe Wilson himself has made appearances on the site in order to thank the crew for their tireless work. That's pretty high praise.

As a strong, fearless woman, a blogger and a political influence, Arianna Huffington just leaves me awestruck. Her site, the Huffington Post, has Nancy freakin' Pelosi blogging there for goodness' sake. And even the busiest day at Shakes or FDL is left for dead by a slow day on the HuffPo blog.