And now, in honour of Independence Day, a word from the British...

London-based blogger Nearly Legal hosts Blawg Review #115 this week. Nearly starts with a wry observation about the recent car bomb attacks in Britain:

I’m a Londoner, home and work, and, while I generally prefer people not to try to blow up bits of the city, I was heartened to note the way in which the two London attempts were stopped. Britain, or at least England, is obsessed with traffic regulations and binge drinking, these being generally viewed as bad things. One bomb attempt was prevented as a result of inebriates staggering out of a nightclub, the other by the car being towed away for illegal parking. To the drunkards and parking wardens of London, I’m proud of you.

May those drunken Londoners never sober up and may the city's traffic wardens continue to bask in a public esteem they've not enjoyed since before Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was released!

Meanwhile, the rest of us can enjoy this week's Blawg Review coverage of a blogging British Foreign Secretary, public displays of judicial underpants, and speculation as to the official legal height threshhold for dwarves. Nearly Legal also reports on England's newly-effective ban on smoking in public places but wisely refrains from predicting whether one might now reasonably anticipate a new ban on smoking in parked cars filled with gas cylinders and nails.

On July 4, 1776, Americans officially declared themselves at a loss to understand the purpose of the British monarchy and, after seeing the "highlights" of Prince William's and Prince Harry's "Concert for Diana" last evening, I suspect that this morning the British might also be wondering why they keep the royals around. Perhaps next week, when Corporate Blawg UK hosts Blawg Review #116, we'll all learn the answer to the most burning legal question in Britain this week -- does anything in the Magna Carta bar the royal family from concert promotions in the future?