Blogs

When Aubrey O'Day was a child, growing up in the desert city of La Quinta, she was bullied. While sitting in the bar at the Four Seasons Hotel several months ago -- flanked by her mother, Kandy Allen; her dog, Ginger; and Furhan, her best friend from UC Irvine -- the singer-dancer-reality star told of an incident in middle school when she had to hide in a dryer in a home ec classroom to escape from kids looking to beat her up. There was a song too...

This newspaper typically covers about 10% of the homicides in Los Angeles County each year. They are often the most sensational or shocking: a baby hit by a stray bullet, or a celebrity murder. But for the last year, the paper's website, latimes.com, has recorded every homicide. It was my idea. I reported on crime for the paper, and I wanted readers to see all the killings -- roughly 1,000 violent deaths each year, mostly of young Latinos and, most disproportionately, of young black men.

It was not the most comforting of e-mails: "May God honor my sword by slaying Wael Abbas." Cyberspace can be a messy, dangerous place, especially if you're Abbas, who with keyboard, digital camera and a bit of cunning has become one of Egypt's most popular bloggers. His posts, often with scratchy video, catalog police torture, political oppression, labor strikes, sexual harassment and radical Islam.

The blogosphere has been atwitter over a report in the New York Times about likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain and his relationship with a female lobbyist. One blogger who rose to his defense had a very personal interest in the story. After all, he's her dad. Meghan McCain, 23, frequently travels with her father on his bus, the "Straight Talk Express," filing commentary along the way.

On the night of the hard-fought Florida primary, John McCain spoke about weighty issues -- whether the Republican Party had lost its way and how he would fight America's enemies. His 23-year-old daughter, Meghan, broke down the night's atmospherics on her blog. "What does it feel like to win the Florida primary?" she mused. "It feels like the Doors song 'Break on Through.'

Here are a sample of the comments readers posted on the Homicide Report regarding the gang violence and police shootout Thursday in northeast L.A. that left two dead. Readers offered their own experiences living in the neighborhood and called on residents to help reduce the violence: "I live around the corner from Drew Street and can attest that the situation never seems to improve.

The Times asked Los Angeles leaders to discuss the state of the city's arts and culture scene. Here's what some readers had to say about the article at latimes.com/arts: -- The city would really be a cultural metropolis of the U.S. and the world were it not for the accursed way we must get around. By the time we factor in traffic, cost of gas, parking. . . a lot of us just give up. -- Daniella The strength, uniqueness and appeal of the L.A. arts scene is, with all due respect to its large and small art organizations, driven by the vitality, desire to discover and openness of its artists and citizens.

A friend of a popular Saudi blogger said authorities had released the writer months after arresting him without charge. Fouad Farhan is one of the few Saudi bloggers who uses his real name. His blog discusses freedom, justice, equality and Islamic values, frequently touching on subjects that are sensitive or taboo in Saudi society. After his arrest, a letter was posted on his website saying authorities were after him for writing about political prisoners. Ahmad Omran, Farhan's friend, said he learned of the release through a text message sent to his cellphone by Farhan's wife.

NOTE TO READERS Beginning today, Business will occasionally print excerpts from the Technology blog, which examines the business and culture of our connected lives. Visit latimes.com /technology. -- Two years ago, Internet entrepreneur Keiron McCammon amazed Silicon Valley by returning to work three months after his left hand was amputated, the result of a paragliding accident in the foothills of the Andes in Colombia. Not only did he dive back into work, but he also experimented with different prosthetics to practice yoga, ride a bike and play the guitar.

The gig: As the self-proclaimed "Queen of All Media," Hilton has become a pop culture phenom with his Hollywood gossip blog, which draws about 7 million page views a day. PerezHilton.com is filled with snarky comments and paparazzi photos and helped usher in 24-hour celebrity "info-tainment." Education: Bachelor's degree in drama from New York University. Former jobs: Publicist, actor and journalist at gay publications and tabloid Star magazine.