I've been waiting a long time for "Patience" to get bumped from a list of virtues.

When Peter Black hosted the Twitter-centric Blawg Review #178 in September 2008, the microblogging service was something of a novelty, and particularly so in the legal community. Since then, Twitter's user base has grown at an astonishing rate, 1,382% between 2008 and 2009 according to Nielsen Online. In the legal blogosphere also in the nine months since Blawg Review #178, Twitter has moved from the bleeding edge of technology to a spot a little further back on the blade. As a group, legal bloggers tend to be ahead of the curve; within that group, however, Twitter is mainstream enough that I would hazard a majority of us have considered it and made a decision to participate or not. In short, you don't hear many voices anymore in the blawgosphere asking "What's this 'Twitter' thing?"

It's a good time, then, for Blawg Review to revisit Twitter. This week's Blawg Review #218 host, Adrian Dayton, touches on the topic several times in the course of his virtues-themed post. He focuses in this Blawg Review, as in his forthcoming book, on twelve virtues which "will make our world a better place to live." Considering the prominence of Twitter in this week's edition of the carnival of legal blogging, perhaps "Brevity" is an unofficial thirteenth virtue!

Apart from Twitter-related musings, highlights of this week's issue include wondering whether we need the SCOTUS to tell us that strip-searching a 13-years-old is not OK, noting that offshoring legal work might have reached a tipping point, and finding one's passion in the practice of law or outside it. Cathy Gellis will host next week's Blawg Review #219 at her Statements of Interest blog.

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (225) . . . The Sequel!

This week's bonus joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of Reuters (from Wednesday, June 24; link good at time of posting):

A monkey urinated on Zambian President Rupiah Banda as he spoke to journalists at a news conference on Wednesday.

Banda softly shouted: "You (monkey) have urinated on my jacket," and paused as he looked up to see the animal playing in a tree just above his chair.

"Perhaps these are blessings," he said continuing his address amid laughter from the audience of journalists and diplomats at the State House presidential offices.

[Previous TGIS]

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (225)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Associated Press (via Venkat Balsubramani) (from Sunday, June 21; links good at time of posting):

A man who allegedly wanted to buy some marijuana was arrested after he mistakenly sent a text message to a Salem police officer, authorities said yesterday.

Cpl. Christopher Pew was off-duty when he received the message on his personal cell phone last week. Since he didn't know the person who had sent the text or whether it was a serious request, Pew agreed to meet the texter at a shopping center, and the person described what vehicle he would be driving.

That led to the arrests of John Milligan, 22, and Kelly Reilly, 20 . . . .

[Previous TGIS]

The Right Sort of Daddy Issues

Fathers' Day has always been more about quiet appreciation than applause and attention. If there's any defining characteristic of the American Fathers' Day, it's been relaxation. Dads are expected and encouraged to take it easy and enjoy a well-deserved day off. While that's certainly a concept I can get behind, this week's Blawg Review #217 host, Thomas Colson of the Securing Innovation blog, suggests that it can be something more.

Much as other holidays (the Martin Luther King holiday comes to mind) have of late become days to accomplish something in the spirit of the holiday rather than days of leisure, he describes how he uses Fathers' Day to improve himself as a father: "I made the decision to become more than a good father. I decided to become a great father to my children. I decided to become a mentor, life coach, and ally, providing them with tools and skills necessary to meet life’s challenges. And since I believe that success has a lot to do with planning, I decided to use Father's Day as my planning day. Since then, I have invested a few hours every Fathers’ Day building my Fatherhood Plan for the upcoming year; setting goals, tactical plans, and reviewing my successes from the previous year."

His planning has produced a series of children's books, a family of Mandarin Chinese speakers, and now a public speaking program for children. My Fathers' Day produced a neatly-cut lawn, a poorly-caulked shower, and a daughter who has mastered the first three levels of Monsters vs. Aliens on the Wii. Needless to say, I feel much shame.

Colson's post starts by reminding us of another recent Blawg Review, #209 hosted by John Hochfeder at his New York Injury Cases blog, which was a touching tribute to his father. From there, highlights include the "infinite" and possibly unconstitutional nature of the damages in the Jammie Thomas case, the pointlessness of British "anti-stab" knives, and a damaging ruling in the U.K. for anonymous bloggers ably covered by anonymous/psudonymous legal bloggers.

Adrian Dayton will host the next edition of Blawg Review at his Marketing Strategy and the Law blog next Monday.

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (224)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of the Associated Press (from Tuesday, June 16; link good at time of posting):

After being told by her daughter that a man in their home was an armed intruder, a 77-year-old woman pulled a gun on him and sent him running, according to court documents. The Bangor Daily News reported that family members have been referring to Doris Gatchell of Princeton as "Annie Oakley" after she confronted the man Friday.

Suspect Dean T. Moore made his first appearance Monday in Washington County Superior Court.

The newspaper reported that he faces up to 30 years in jail and fines of up to $50,000 on each of the two most serious charges of burglary with a firearm and robbery.

[Previous TGIS]

A Blawg Review Host Deserving of the Royal "We".

I'll confess that I know little about the Magna Carta apart from the fact that it was a larger-caliber version of the original Carta, with improved penetration and stopping power. It seems that John Bolch knows a bit more about it than I do, which is fortunate since he's the one who's hosting the Magna Carta-themed Blawg Review #216 this week at the Family Lore blog.

This edition of the carnival of legal blogging is really more of a royal faire, replete with lords and ladies and more Middle Ages flavor than an evening at Medieval Times. Although my wife and daughter regularly address me as "My Lord", Bolch is the first outside my immediate family to do so. I like it. Once I'm through with this post, I'll circulate a memo around the office with some revised guidelines. But I digress.

Highlights of this edition include paring down the dirty tricks used in divorce to just ten, reconciling belt-tightening and work-life balance in Big Law, and considering whether naming names has a place in the blogosphere. The fine folks at the Securing Innovation blog will host Blawg Review #217. I might even suggest a few links if they'll promise to refer to me as "My Lord".

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (223)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of Deadspin (from Wednesday, June 10; link good at time of posting):

Reebok belatedly discovers that they gave a shoe contract to [Marcin Gortat,] a white guy with an "Air Jordan" tattoo on his leg.

[Previous TGIS]

Enjoy some pun in the sun down by the seashore.

If nautical nonsense be something you wish, forego Spongebob this week and check out Blawg Review. Commemorating World Oceans Day, Carolyn Elefant hosts a pun-filled Blawg Review #215 at her My Shingle blog. Yes, I know that World Oceans Day was on Monday; I would've done something then, like perhaps write an introductory post for Blawg Review #215, but I was a bit underwater with professional and personal commitments. Highlights include a crackdown on fraudulent charities, law firm lessons from the collapse of GM, and deciding whether it helps or hurts to Get a Life. English family lawyer John Bolch hosts next week's Blawg Review #216 at his Family Lore blog.

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (222)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of The Jerusalem Post via Joel Rosenberg (from day, June ; link good at time of posting):

A six-year-old girl helped put a knife-brandishing robber under arrest Tuesday night after the man had already successfully stolen money from two grown men.

The Dan District Police Station registered two complaints on Tuesday by apartment owners in Ramat Gan, saying a man threatened them with a knife and took money from them.

The 51-year-old robber, also a Ramat Gan resident, then moved on to a third apartment. After he knocked on the door, a little girl opened it. When he demanded she leave the house, she refused and said she would call the police. He then threatened her with a knife, but the child got hold of a broom and hit him with it.

The man fled the scene, but after the girl described his appearance to the police, he was caught and arrested while still in possession of the knife he had used in the robberies.

[Previous TGIS]

Smoke Yourself Fit with Blawg Review

The inimitable Charon QC hosts Blawg Review #214 this week. The occasion is the anniversary of the declaration of war between the United States and Great Britain. Not the first war, the American Revolution in the 1770s and 1780s, and not the most recent one, when Geeklawyer hosted Blawg Review #203 back in March. No, Charon references the often-overlooked War of 1812, which occurred sometime in the 1830s I think, and which prompted Francis Scott Key to pen the poem which was later set to music to become our national anthem, "Baby Got Back".

As Charon's work so often does, Blawg Review #214 ranges far from its ostensible origins, highlighting the mysterious art of Smokedo, which combines exercise and smoking to achieve an enlightened and enigmatic state of being wherein the practitioner is both more and less fit. If you thought the well-known Zen koan about the sound of one hand clapping was confusing, ask yourself about the improvement of cardio-vascular fitness with cigarettes. Yes, Charon covers it all this week, from the doings (or lack thereof) of the Slackoisie to the misdeeds of Britain's expensive members of Parliament, from dictators with something lacking to a lack of excuses for stealing legal blog content, and from the neverending debate over Twitter's and blogging's respective merits to negotiating one's way through legal troubles. There's extensive coverage of the Sotomayor nomination, of course, and even a quick tour of Ireland and Scotland thrown in for good measure.

Carolyn Elefant will host the next edition of the carnival of legal blogging next Monday at her My Shingle blog.