St. Patrick’s Day Observations

* St. Patrick’s Day never used to be big in Ireland itself, while it was absolutely huge in cities around the world with a sizable population of Irish descent. The reasons are understandable; it would be a way for the Irish to assert their identity in a place surrounded by and dominated by non-Irish. In Ireland, just about everybody, including the ruling class, is Irish.

However, it is becoming more popular in Ireland and less of a big deal outside of Ireland. And now we find out Dublin’s version of St. Patrick’s Day Parade doesn’t quite get it right. They would rather be diverse than Irish. At least the parades here explicitly invoke Irishness.

* CQ Politics has this overview of famous Irish-American politicians. In his book, America Balkanized, Dr. Brent Nelson cited a study that shows that Irish Catholics and Scandinavians tend to be the most politically active ethnicities in America.

Bribery as a Business Model

AFP:

Microsoft on Friday began offering large businesses rewards if they have employees scout the Internet with the software giant’s Live Search service.

In a move intended to wrest users from rival search engines such as market-dominating Google, Microsoft will give business customers service or training credits based on how much employees use Live Search.

In other words, Microsoft needs to bribe businesses to have their employees use Live, and they need to bribe reviewers to get glowing reviews of Windows Vista.

Just Plain Goofing Off, Or Another Motive

P-D:

Jeremy Proctor, 24, of Kirkwood, was arrested Tuesday on a warrant charging him with vandalism last year at a memorial for slain Kirkwood police Sgt. William McEntee.

Proctor is charged with second-degree property damage, Detective Mike Bales said. Proctor is accused of dumping paint on the memorial early on July 12, 2006, just hours after it was dedicated.

“This is something he thought was funny and that possibly by doing this he would gain some notoriety,” Bales said.

So they’re settling on goofball publicity stunt as a motive.  However, my mind first ran in two directions when I read this story:  First, the far-left, or second, black Lizz Brown-style rabble rousers.

Great Visuals

Mannies:

At noon Sunday, local opponents of the Iraq War plan to launch a 24-hour vigil that will culminate in a march Monday to the downtown office of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

In a release, organizers promise “GREAT VISUALS: 3,000 TOMBSTONES, 10 x 5 FOOT $100 BILLION WAR BILL, COFFINS” as part of their protest.

The tombstones will be placed in Kauffman Park, just north of City Hall, and will feature the “names of U.S. military and Iraqi civilians,’’ the release says.

“CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE PLANNED,” it adds, in bold letters.

Oh great, this means there will be two flashpoints of “civil disobedience” in downtown St. Louis tomorrow.  I wonder if the yellowshirts in Slay’s office and City Hall will want to combine their efforts with the anti-war crowd.

Knowing what we know about that crowd, a lot of their “great visuals” will probably include signs with four-letter words.

Travel Agent, Not Real Estate Agent

Chinese courts shut down scam business in Beijing that has been selling acreage on the moon. This is as the Chinese space agency plans on further unmanned and eventually manned lunar exploration.

This matches a story from St. Louis last summer about a victim of moon land scams.

Ultra Left Wing SPLC Declares AOH an Extremist Hate Group

NOTE TO DUMMIES:  This is not a real news story.  This is a parody of a real story covered on the CofCC National Website several hours before this writing. 

The well funded ultra-left wing Southern Poverty Law Center, which Harpers Weekly, Montgomery Advertiser, The Nation, Fairfax Journal, and many others have denounced as con artists, has added the Ancient Order of Hibernians to their list of ‘Hate Groups.’ Traditionally the SPLC has raised it’s tens of millions a years by harping on neo-nazi skinheads and the kkk. With the skinheads and the klan dwindling the SPLC has searched for new targets to keep their donations coming in.

From the St. Louis Pest-Displaced:

However, Dr. Hiding Bytegrinch, spokesperson for the SPLC says that the AOH, whose St. Louis Chapter sponsors the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade through the Dogtown neighborhood of St. Louis City, was added to the Center’s no holds barred, rock’em sock’em, get’em while they’re hot, while supplies last, marked down to the bare bones list of extremist hate groups, because “the Hibernians are skating dangerously close to having Irish pride.”

Fr. Timothy Dempsey, head of the St. Louis AOH, when asked about the SPLC’s recent classification of the AOH as a hate group, said, “Huh? Isn’t this the same bunch that hates Catholics?” while a nun could be overheard in the background yelling, “Who the f**k are these nutjobs?”