On Independence Day

America the Beautiful

The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The suppressed fact: deaths by U.S. torture

Happy Canada Day!

There's no place like this.

This Guy Gets It

Ed--Please ask the host to "unlink" WAC? from today's BR. And further please do not use or link to any of WAC?'s content in any future BRs. I would appreciate that. Thanks. Dan

This email request is purportedly "confidential" (not to be confused with anonymous) but it's rather difficult, really impossible, to accommodate the writer of the email unless everyone who hosts Blawg Review is given notice of his peculiar request, and asking us to ask the host to "unlink" WAC? is probably some sort of implied waiver, anyway.

For the record, the editor doesn't tell the hosts who they can or cannot link their blogs to in their presentations of Blawg Review. No amount of begging will get you included, and no amount of whining will get us to ask any host to "unlink" your blog.

If you don't want what you write on the interwebs to be linked by other bloggers you don't friend, then blogging is probably not for you. Have you tried Facebook?

Blawg Review on Twitter

Blawg Review #218 is up on Adrian Dayton's blog about Marketing Strategy and the Law, the Social Media Edition.

Seems like everyone is tweeting about Blawg Review. You can read our tweets @blawgreview and follow this week's Blawg Review host, Adrian Dayton, @adriandayton to find out for yourself why he has almost 20,000 followers.

There just might be something to this Twitter thing, after all, that some lawyers are still missing.

Al Nye The Lawyer Guy says, "These articles either explain Twitter generally or more often than not, provide lawyers with helpful advice about using Twitter. Enjoy!"

Not Just Any Father's Day

Today, on Father's Day, we'd like to share an emotional tribute to an incredible and inspirational dad, from his equally incredible and inspirational son.

My name is Richard E. Hoyt Jr., and I have cerebral palsy. I cannot speak or walk. To write this story, I'm using a computer with special software. When I move my head slightly, the cursor moves across an alphabet. When it gets to the letter I want, I press a switch at the side of my head.

I am half of Team Hoyt. We are a father-and-son team, and we compete in marathons and triathlons around the world. Our goal is to educate people about how the disabled can lead normal lives...[read more]

Blawg Review #217, a special presentation for Father's Day 2009 is up at Securing Innovation, the corporate blog of IP.com Inc.

What Fathers Do

LOVE STORY (Taylor Swift) meets VIVA LA VIDA (Coldplay)

Hi...Jon Schmidt here. This arrangement is dedicated to Sarah, my 7 year old daughter who loves the song Love Story by Taylor Swift. Because of a common rhythm element between the tunes, I decided I could mish/mash the two. My great friend Steven Sharp Nelson (cello percussion) really makes this tune.

Listening to the story behind this arrangement, inspired by a father's feelings for his daughter, reminded me of the host we've got lined up for Blawg Review #217.

Tom Colson, a patent attorney and CEO of IP.com, is hosting the next Blawg Review, #217, on Securing Innovation, on Fathers' Day. Tom has three wonderful little girls I've had the pleasure of meeting over family dinner. He's an amazing father, fully engaged in the lives of his daughters, and I'm happy he agreed to host a special Blawg Review for Fathers' Day.

Tom is asking followers of Blawg Review (those who are fathers, and those who want to honor their fathers) to email their photos to blog@ip.com to add to Blawg Review #217 to illustrate the theme of Fathers' Day.

It's going to be a lot of work to put this presentation together in time for Fathers' Day -- mission impossible if we don't pitch in -- so let's all help make this special. Please send in your photos sooner than later, so we can help Tom get things together in good time and not at the last minute. It's Fathers' Day, after all, and you know what that means -- we'll all have important things on our minds. Call it work/life balance, if you will. Life's more important, but we've got to get the work done, professionally.

Where is this place?

Where is this place? Blawg Review #216 has the answer to this and other questions asked and answered by law bloggers around the world this week.



On 13 July, 1985, the American Bar Association returned to this place to renew its pledge of adherence to the principles of the great charter. How are we doin', Jack?

Meet the Bloggers @IPBC2009

Coming to Chicago for the IP Business Congress? We're getting together to wrap up the conference at the Billy Goat Tavern on Michigan Avenue on Tuesday, June 23rd, at 5 pm 'til they kick us out. Look for the Billy Goat Tavern sign shown in the photo above.

Another sign reads: "Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheezborger. No Pepsi. Coke," These words, with Pepsi and Coke in reverse order, were originally spoken by John Belushi in, "Olympia Cafe," an early Saturday Night Live sketch that was inspired by the tavern.

Who are the bloggers you'll meet at the Billy Goat Tavern?

David Donoghue of the Chicago IP Litigation Law Blog will be there, of course. Dave's been there before, so he made the arrangements and thinks he knows who else might be coming to Meet the Bloggers.

IP Strategist Duncan Bucknell of IP Think Tank has confirmed he'll be there, all the way from Australia.

Dave! Gulbransen will stop by on his way home from work.

Peter Zura at The 271 Patent Blog says, "I will be attending, along with numerous other bloggers, including David Donoghue from the Chicago IP Litigation Blog, who also happens to be organizing a "meet the bloggers" session on the evening of June 23 (link). Many of us should be providing "on the scene" reports from the event. Hope to see you there!"

And the Editor of Blawg Review, yours truly, will be there, for sure.

If you're planning to be there, let us know by email to ed@blawgreview.com and we'll add your name and links to this post as soon as we know you're coming.

No doubt, there will be reporters there from the IPBC2009 sponsor IAM Magazine to meet the bloggers in person and get some stories to take home with them. They're from the UK, so we expect they'll appreciate the choice of venue. Joff Wild, Editor of the IAM Magazine wrote on the iam blog, "If I am still capable of thought and movement by then, I may even pop in myself."

We'll keep this post at the top of Blawg Review until the event, and from there we'll be tweetin' @blawgreview to keep you posted and let you know who all is havin' fun @IPBC2009.

Everyone is welcome to come out and meet the bloggers!

The Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago, Illinois. Photographed 27 May 2006.

© Jeremy Atherton, 2006. (Creative Commons License)

Finding Memo

UN Officially Makes June 8 World Oceans Day

In all the hubbub of Earth Day, it's easy to get caught up in land-bound activities and conservation, and forget about the oceans. But here is one announcement that the oceans will particularly be thankful for. The United Nations, after 16 years of tabling it, have finally made June 8 World Oceans Day.

Disney, apparently, didn't get the memo. Oceans, the movie, is spectacularly scheduled to be released in 2010 on Earth Day.

Carolyn Elefant, hosting Blawg Review #215 on the very first official World Oceans Day, June 8, 2009, "does the business", as the host of last week's presentation would say.

Don't Forget Oceans Day

Carolyn Elefant hosts Blawg Review #215 on World Oceans Day.

Don't forget to submit your favorite law blog posts, even if not related to Carolyn Elefant's practice of the law of the seas and her deep concern for the oceans of the world, which is evident from reading her posts on this blog.

I hope Carolyn will forgive me for the "elephant bit" video embedded above. It's not easy to segue from Blawg Review #214 with British humour to a special presentation of Blawg Review #215 on World Oceans Day, hosted by an Elefant. Anyway, Ricky Gervais is funnier than me, so enjoy.