HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

The Bluffs at Martha's Vineyard.

FROM THE WINDSWEPT BEACHES OF THE NORTH: THIS IS YOUR OFFICAL JULY 4TH UPDATE from the only legal blogster working through the holiday driven only by the altruistic desire to serve humanity.

1) A tropical storm is brewing south of Cuba, and no it's name is not Castro. 20% chance it forms into a hurricane. That noise you hear is the people at WSVN Channel 7 praying.

2) Don't be fooled. The World Cup is not what it seem, especially in Bogota.

WORLD CUP UPDATE: From a nice pub here at MV it is apparent that the Huns can't be stopped. Germany 4- Argentina 4-nil.

EVERGLADES UPDATE: Speaking of rivalries, our BBC reports that a 6 foot alligator and a 13 foot burmese python battled to a deadly draw in the Everglades. The story is here.

Here is the news you need as a responsible blog reading lawyer, heading into the Fourth of July Weekend. Check back often, as it raises the stats on our hit counter, and we will update the blog as events warrant.

Item one: February 1865 was the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

Item two: A pop quiz: name the only Supreme Court Justice to have his face on US Currency. And no it's not David's BFF Nino Scalia on the three dollar bill. Hint- he was a CJ to boot. Sounds a bit fishy, huh?

Item Three: The boys at the JAA Broward blog are at war with their chief Judge Tricky Vic Tobin. Here's a little post where they chase Tobin to the point where he requests a Deputy Sheriff to protect him.

Why does that never happen in Dade? Either: 1) We love What Can Brown Do for You Joel Brown, OR 2) He never shows up at the REGJB because they don't have a parking spot for him in the garage. You decide.

Item Four: Between the time we wrote our earlier post and the time you read this one, at least another 16 children have been killed by firearms.

Item Heat: It doesn't look good for our home town heaters to re-sign all world point Guard Dwayne Wade. ESPN is indicating that the Chi-town Bulls look to be in the lead in the Wade sweepstakes.

BUT.... Mr. Wade might want to think twice about relocating to a State that is broke. Yup, they got no flow in Illinois, and they ain't paying their bills right now as the NY Times reports here.

ITEM: Jefferson: Having written the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson sat motionless during those final hours on July 3rd and 4th, as his colleagues set to editing his masterpiece. According to author David McCollough, more than 80 changes were made to Jefferson's original draft. And according to Peggy Noonan, who was at one time Ronald Reagan's speech writer, nothing hurt Jefferson more than his paean to the English and American peoples: "We might have been a free and great people together."

The words are poignant, and they resonate across the generations, written by a man who 50 years after 1776 requested that on his tombstone, after his name, the word "Author" be inscribed. *

That's it for now.....except this 4th of July question that is really bugging us:

why do they sell hot dogs in packs of six, and hot dog buns in packs of eight? Someone really has a scam going.

* These are Peggy Noonan's ideas, contained in her remarkable 4th of July article, published here in the WSJ.