I was on vacation all last week, which is why this blog was silent. (Pretend you noticed.) And I’ve discovered the challenges of shooting video while parasailing with kids. (Pretend you care. And if you do, for some odd reason, click to enlarge.)

But I’ve also come home to see 2,000+ stories in my RSS feed. No, I will not read them all. Or even most.

I will note some roundups (or round ups, or round-ups; your pleasure to hyphenate or bifurcate), however, to others that have destilled the awesome greatness of the legal blogosphere and plucked the very best for your persusal. Or, althernatively, some bloggers who simply linked to stuff they found interesting.

Mastectomies, Rental Cars, BP, Discrimination, Drugs – and Other News (The Pop Tort)

News of Interest for Lawyers on August 10th (Ron Miller - Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog)

Legal and Safety News Round Up (8/10/2010) (Brett Emison @ InjuryBoard)

Legal News Round-Up (Alan Crede – Boston Personal Injury Law Blog)

August 13 Roundup; August 12 roundup; August 11 roundup (all from Overlawyered, which does these daily)

Non-Sequiters (Above the Law)

Grand Rounds (the medical blogosphere’s equivilent of Blawg Review, which sometimes hits the junction of law and medicine)

Health Wonk Review (which often hits the medical-legal angles)

Cavalcade of Risk (hitting the insurance business angle)

And, of course, Blawg Review, hosted this week, in the dog days of August, with a Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup theme.  It’s like Crazy Eddie’s Christmas sale in August. Only with lawyers.

[The Personal Injury Law Roundup over at TortsProf is on summer hiatus.]

Yesterday I did a New York edition my my every-so-often-round-up,so  here are the “other” stories that I’d love to write on if I just had the time:

One Israeli commando shot dead six of the activists/militants/terrorists on that boat trying to run the blockade. Does he deserve the medal of valor?

This is what happens when courts don’t work. The Indian court system and the Bhopal disaster, 25 years later;

Who knew there were mind-control lawyers? And can we blame Martindale-Hubbell? And still with Martindale, have they decided on a soft-core marketing campaign? Yes, that kind of soft-core.

Dave Barry takes on our health care system:

• FACT: American health care is a $2.5-trillion-per-year industry.

• FACT: And yet it cannot make a hospital gown that completely covers your ass.

Law blogger Barry Barnett of Blawgletter fame takes a verdict in a $500M breach of contract case;

Was this $28M verdict for a bed sore? Or something else?

A California case of a woman buried in the wrong grave. Where have I see this before?

The perfect game that wasn’t. Are there legal issues involved?

Barack Obama slept here. And so can you for $1,900/month;

The Personal Injury Round-Up is taking the summer off! Will anyone step into the breach?

Blawg Review #267 is up at Spam Notes;

And congrats to my friends who renewed their vows on their 10th wedding anniversary. In Vegas. Wearing tie dye. With a very tall Elvis presiding. The last couple minutes is the best part.

Lots of stuff I wanted to write about, if I only had the time…

Slackoisie has disappeared. Now what are we going to call “a generation of entitled narcissists?” And why doesn’t my spellchecker recognize the word?

The idea of “health courts” pops up in the context of the health care bill, and the folks at The Pop Tort don’t have anything good to say about them. And there’s a good reason. While the details of such experimental courts haven’t formed, it’s worth noting that New York had a form of such courts (a screening panel) for several years that was a miserable failure;

And while you’re perusing The Pop Tort site, you might as well watch Senator Richard Durbin knock the ball out of the park on the issue of medical malpractice “reform;”

Why is Allstate sometimes referred to as AllSnake? Ask Trey Mills, and he’ll tell you that the good hands people aren’t so good. “I have decided to fight Allstate regardless of the time, resources, and value on the claim;”

I’ve written before about the Graves Amendment that confers immunity to the owners of cars and trucks that are rented or leased. Roy Mura now has an update with some cases where the lessors may still be liable;

What are the damages if you get a bogus take down message for your blog? Let’s just say that legal fees are a big issue; And on the subject of blogs, who owns your content?

Trial lawyers are always cross-examining people who are smarter in certain fields. Orin Kerr shows one way not to do it;

More trial lawyering: Reptile advocacy gets admitted into court. Both Mark Bennett and Max Kennerly on the issue;

Carolyn Elefant, Queen of the legal start-up field, does a roundup of the Solo Blogosphere;

Quotable: “The Republican party is a wholly owned subsidiary of an insurance industry.” Yowza.

Batman takes on Superman. Guess who wins?

When Dick Cheney was hospitalized for his heart attack, President Obama called to wish him well. Here is the transcript. Would I steer you wrong?

And Blawg Review # 253 comes up out of South Florida Lawyers while some folks dig out from up to 7 feet of snow.

Two new blogs from New York focusing on personal injury law have cropped up. I’m adding them to my RSS feed as they hold some promise:

First, Eric Dinnocenzo at the 10-day old What Lawyers Do writes about the fact that there is a disproportionate number of construction site injuries to Hispanics and immigrants. Why? Check the link;

Second, Andrew Barovick has re-branded his blog and staked out The New York Medical Malpractice Law Blog as his territory. We met at a CLE on blogging last month where I was a panelist with Kevin O’Keefe. In one recent post he talks of the relationship between electronic health records and medical malpractice;

Kia Franklin at TortDeform on the future of the civil justice system under an Obama administration that comes with Democratic control of both houses;

You’ve no doubt heard of the criminal violation of Driving While Black. Well, Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast was stopped for Babysitting While White (via Greenfield)

The Faculty Lounge hosted Blawg Review #184, dedicated to the election; and

Sheila B. Scheuerman has this week’s Personal Injury Law round-up at TortsProf.