I'm on a blogger conference call with Bob Geldof of Live Aid, arranged for by Joe Trippi and John Hindrocket of Powerline. I'll update after the call is over.

In a non-partisan effort, Joe Trippi of JoeTrippi.com and John Hinderaker of Powerlineblog.com will be hosting a Live 8 Blog Conference Call with special guest, Live 8 organizer, Sir Bob Geldof.

The Live 8 concert series has been set up to raise awareness to the issue of ending poverty in Africa prior to the leaders of the G8 meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland. This event is crossing both political and musical spectrums and now we are hoping to cross the blogosphere as well.

Update: It's still going on. We're asking Sir Geldof questions now. He's so passionate on the subject.

This is not a campaign to raise money, it's one to influence policy. They want bloggers to spread the word. If you're a blogger, lend your voice. This is a campaign to do three things:

Bump: Monday is the last chance to weigh in.

I've been working on making TalkLeft more readable. Mike Ditto has been helping.

If you go here, you will see what the new site would look like.

What do you think?

Update: The justified text is now gone, by acclamation of commenters. The issue now is the size of the center column and whether it should be fixed or adjustable. I've already made the color changes to the block quotes. Thanks for your comments and keep them coming.

At 8pm ET, C-Span 2 will feature Atrios and other bloggers participating in the Take Back America conference this week in Washington, D.C. You can watch on the Internet here.

Top progressive bloggers, comedians and radio commentators will take the stage for an animated discussion about the new media and politics. Think Crossfire meets Politically Incorrect. Bring your laptop and tell them what you really think live on stage.

Howard Dean, John Edwards and Arianna Huffington spoke today. And John Edwards invited some of our favorite bloggers over to his house for dinner.

The conference continues tomorrow.

Crooks and Liars, the best liberal video blogger, is hosting a funds drive to help pay for site expenses. Go on over and help, you know you watch the videos, and they are expensive to host. He doesn't ask often, and C&L is a must-stop-by-every- day kind of site.

SK Bubba is traveling and just got to Monterey. He has some gorgeous photos of views from the Pacific Coast Highway, the seals - and San Luis Obispo. Scroll through. Or click here and here for examples. Or here and here. I wish I could take pictures like that.

Lots of new blogs are debuting this week:

• Progressive Patriot Fund (Sen. Russ Feingold's new site "dedicated to promoting a progressive reform agenda and supporting candidates across the country.")

• The Presidential Wire (Patrick Ruffini's up to the minute news of 2008 Presidential Candidates

• Oddjack (Nick Denton's New Gambling Blog)

• TPM Cafe (Josh Marshall's new community blog we wrote about yesterday)

• Big Brass Blog (group liberal politics blog)

Also of note,

• The Wal-Mart Movie Site (more over at Crooks and Liars)

I'm done here for today, if you'd like to take over the conversation, be my guest.

Update and Add bookmarks: Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo has opened a new group blog called TPM Cafe. Josh will still be blogging at Talking Points Memo, they are separate sites. Matt Yglesias is writing at TPM Cafe and closed his old blog, so update his bookmark.

Former Senator and VP Candidate John Edwards is guest blogging there this week.

[Corrected to reflect that Josh is still blogging at tpm. Thanks to our commenter for pointing that out.]

Law Professor Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, has an article in today's Wall Street Journal (available free here) on the emerging Citizen's Media. His premise:

The news business is in trouble. Readership and viewership are declining, public trust is plummeting, and advertisers are beginning to wonder whether they're getting their money's worth.

Pajamas Media is coming and Blogads is here to stay. Reynolds says that even if traditional newspapers can't keep up, the 'we-dia' benefits them.

Because with mainstream media losing credibility through scandals like Easongate, Rathergate, and Newsweek's latest, free-press protections are likely to come under fire. The best defense will be a public that sees free speech as something it participates in, not just a protection for big corporate entities. What some are calling "we-dia" may wind up saving the media.

Atrios, just back from a month of travel, is adding two new bloggers to Eschaton.

Go away for a month and suddenly everyone's turning their blogs into mini empires. Don't want to be left behind. So, next month Gil Gerard and Erin Grey will join the brain trust here.

Avedon Carol, Attaturk and Echidne did a great job guest-blogging for Atrios this month. Don't forget to read them at their own blogs. And welcome, Gil and Erin. [Update: Pete at Drug War Rant has identified them.]

Quite a few blogs are going this route. For me, the sign that it works is when I find myself reading the post without checking first to see who wrote it - the principal blogger or the guest. Another example of a blog who has successfully made the transition: Skippy, which now includes regular postings by Cookie Jill and R.J. Eskow, both of whom contribute added variety, wit and substance to the unique and funny blog. Who knew that Skippy International would become a reality?

Matthew Yglesias, affectionately referred to in the blogosphere as "Big Media Matt" will be getting even bigger. He's closing down his extraordinarily popular blog, which I've been reading and praising since he was blogging out of his college dorm room (okay, apartment) and moving to the new Scoop blogging venture about to be launched by Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo.

TPM will be changing to a Scoop format (like Daily Kos) called TPM Cafe, and Matt will have his own blog there. This is a great move for Matt. I've really enjoyed watching him grow, and I have no doubt someday he will be editor of American Prospect or The Nation or even Newsweek.

I don't mean to sound immodest, but I've been pretty good at spotting emerging talent in the blogosphere. Besides Matt, I've been a big fan of Eric Hananoki, aka The Hamster. Eric was a freshman at GW when we began corresponding through our blogs. He just graduated and you can find him now writing Al Franken's Air America Radio blog.

If you'd like to know who will be next to move from college blogger to big liberal media, here's my bet: Ezra Klein. Formerly half of Pandagon (not to take anything away from Jesse who is equally exceptional, but like Oliver, he's not in college anymore --Jesse moved on to Springer on the Radio and Oliver to Media Matters,) Ezra is destined for the big time. He's about to graduate, and my prediction is, he'll be the next Big Media Matt.

Another kid you should be watching: August J. Pollack Xoverboard.

It's a privilege to know them all. Update your bookmarks. These kids are the future and they will make us proud.

Daily Kos turned three yesterday. At that time, Markos was lucky to get 100 visitors a day. Today, Daily Kos is the most amazing phenomenon in the blogosphere, averaging 500,000 visitors a day. It is a community of voices, but as Armando, another major contributor to the blog explains, it all really goes back to Markos.

Markos is the magic here. Yes the Community is the heart. But Markos created the space, created the conditions and created the spark that has made dailykos what it is today.

So lift your virtual glass, a toast to Markos.

Indeed. Congrats and many, many more, Markos.

Your turn, your topics. Have fun.