WAGBYKT, R?

Keeping today's theme going, if the last post was "The Weblog Strikes Back," this must be "Return Of The Weblog," specifically MLOD and its evil genius Gary Turner. Gary couldn't really confess his world domination plans to Frank Paynter in his interview because, well, they're no secret and they're coming further to fruition each day. But my favorite transplanted Scot did provide his usual wit and wisdom, which I urge you to enjoy. A visit to Gary's blog always picks me up from whatever funk I've fallen into, and now I can fit more pieces into the "why" of it all: the man has the good sense to appreciate Formula One [via FiA], for one thing. And to make these kinds of observations about weblogs and "voice":

For me, voice isn't just speaking frankly or in a way that might seem controversial to the pack. It isn't non-conformism for the sake of it, and conformism isn't exactly the most appropriate word to use here buy anyway. In some ways, voice is what you use to connect yourself with other people but not just on a conversational level, I mean to _really_ connect, a live feed directly into their brain or and soul.

Gary, you've done it, and Frank, you've done it again!

"Split The Circuit" Debate Heats Up In Congress

Theme for the day: "Weblogs are great, but you knew that, right?" And this time in particular Howard Bashman's. Howard writes today about Senator Murkowski's (R-AK) statement that he plans to keep offering amendments that would divide the Ninth federal appellate circuit and create a new one (the Twelfth), "on every bill until we obtain a vote on this issue." The Senator's full statement in the Congressional Record is the tenth item on this page. This is big news in my neck of the woods (i.e., the Ninth Circuit), and I believe Howard -- thanks to an email from one of his readers, Law Professor Arthur D. Hellman of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law -- may be the first, other than the Senator himself, to get the word out. (These searches presently reveal only Senator Murkowski's press release on the subject.)
--Correction: the press release is from last year, Howard's still the sole Web source on this unless Google's missing something.

Of course, Ernie and his trusty Radio news aggregator spotted Howard's post even before I did. (I've had no initial success getting Radio to run right on the Mac. Guess I need to try, try again.)

Link Controversy Page Updated

Weblogs are great, but you knew that, right? Example: I have referred here before to Dr. Stephan Bechtold's Link Controversy Page as a valuable one-stop shopping point for global cases and scholarship about link related disputes. Trouble was it was starting to get a little out of date, but Dr. Bechtold has surfaced with a comprehensive update as of July 13 (Happy Fifth Anniversary to the Link Controversy Page as well). Bill Slawski of the Delaware Law Office spotted the update, and mentions two other excellent resources: a Linking Rights page by Brad Templeton, Chairman of the EFF, and CyberSLAPP, a site sponsored by a coalition of civil liberties and privacy groups aimed at developing legal standards to protect the privacy of online speakers in SLAPP suits (strategic law suits against public participation; a bit more about California's anti-SLAPP legislation here).

Thanks Bill, thanks Dr. Bechtold. (And don't forget to check in with the dmoz Open Directory Project's Linking Law page if you are researching or interested in link controversy issues.)

Pathetic Moments While Revising/Filing A Brief

9:30 a.m.: while consuming a Diet Coke With Lemon for the pure caffeine of it all, considered how the Lemon must surely boost the nutritional value...

2:30 p.m.: tried to italicize something in a Word document (unintended for Web use) by inserting the < i > tag...

Client Control

Don't spank your clients! In case you were, ah, tempted. [Via Law.com.]