Checking the links for another week:

Blogs

The Showcase continues to gather great entries. To help expand readership (especially repeat readers) I am thinking of changing it into a weekly contest based on links. Let me know what you think.

There's plenty of blogiversaries to celebrate:
Kevin turns one.
Frank J turns two.
Rob from Crab Apple Lane turns four.
Rob from Xset turns one.

Via Ace comes Banterist's new Paris Hilton game for X-box.

Allah has a proposed new Munuvian...although I just don't think he's going to make the cut (via Jen).

Harvey has a tool to help bloggers, particularly the Blogspotted. I think it's time for another Operation Blogsplat to get bloggers away from Blogger.

Conrad finds the UN titling at cyberspace's greatest windmill: spam.

Patterico scores another hit on the LA Times, again proving bloggers act both as great watchers of media and alternative sources of news. In his words: Moral: someone at every major paper should be reading blogs. If they did, the papers might learn different points of view. They might pick up stories that are "not publicized to the Western news media." Tim Blair caught out the Washington Post on the exact some error, but they are yet to make a correction.

The World

Via Dean comes the Smarter Cop's collection of lies, mistruths and exaggerations in Mike Moore's film. It's an impressively long list.

Michele has an interesting discussion ranging from comments policies on blogs to how it reflects the wider political debate. It's a matter of drawing the line between civil discourse and hateful argument. Plenty of others have thoughts on the topic, including Smash and Ryan.

Ilyka is asking for definitions of centrist and what positions a centrist holds these days. It's a fascinating discussion on a position that many claim but few hold.

Frank J, via Blackfive, reports on the latest request for UN election monitors: in the USA!

Arthur Chrenkoff's impressive Good News in Iraq series continues.

One of the most impressive and well-written blogs is Belmont Club. This week he has a summary of Waterloo and the forces at work in Europe and Islam; an analysis of naval power that's interesting even to the least nautical among us; and an explanation why the new hassles of travel are worth putting up with.

The Personal

Via Miss Apropos comes a tear-jerker of a story about love in a time of danger.

Victoria has another great story about ice-cream for the soul.

Tony Pierce has a fantastic photo essay on his July 4th, although Shaky has the photo of the week.

Bill has a finger up his backside.

Ace is sorry and clears a few things up.

Miscellany

Michele is celebrating the best of the 90s. Firstly it was album of the 90s, with the winner Pearljam's Ten. Now it's the best movie of the 90s. At the risk of sounding like my folks, damn they were good years. Happy, happy times.

Giles finds that email follows you everywhere, even beyond the grave. Plus he's got the latest in tombstones.

Laurence adds another to the list of reasons why I am happy to stick with glasses.

Kevin reports on the revival of one of the worst movie series ever. My prediction: record box office takings and lots of self-parody and irony...even that sooooo 90s.

In the "I didn't know that" file, Harry has the lowdown on Fidel Castro.

Tim Blair is going for Nobel Peace Prize and humanitarian of the year with his Great Vegemite Export Drive. Buy Kraft stock now, before Vegemite takes America by storm.