This thread is a perfect illustration of the problem with the draconian new "no content from other sites" rule. There is really no point for this thread, because to see what point you are trying to make, we have to follow every link you post. We might as well just include a list of URLs in the first post and leave it at that; conversation over.
There isn't a blog in the world that doesn't include salient quotes from other authors; heck, there are entire sites whose sole function is to aggregate information from other websites. Quoting other authors is entirely permissible under copyright law and any threats to the contrary are nothing more than hot air. I am not saying we need to include entire articles, but paragraphs or sentences to clarify points and streamline the conversation would be nice (see my quotes in the gay marriage thread for an example).
Obviously, this is Kevin's site and he can run it how he will, but it's gotten so inconvenient to partake in conversations, what with having to hop all over the interwebz to figure out what people's points are, that I am just sort of . . . not anymore.