Day O' the St. Patrick

Here's some Pogues love via JennB:

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Sigh.

Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno Fools Alabama National Guard:

"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The actor best known as 'Borat' tricked the Alabama National Guard into allowing him onto a post, giving him a military uniform and briefly letting him train _ all, supposedly, for a German TV documentary.

The ruse, which included comedian Sacha Baron Cohen exposing his thong underwear while changing clothes, was going well until a young cadet recognized Cohen and notified older officers who weren't familiar with the actor.

'It's an embarrassment to the Alabama National Guard,' Staff Sgt. Katrina Timmons said Monday. 'Since then we have put in protocols to make sure this doesn't happen again.'"

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Stock mArKetz iz hard.

The Washington Monthly:

"Just so we're clear, here's a helpful guide to the rules of market watching, as they relate to partisan politics:

When the market went down on Bush's watch before the 2008 elections, this was Bill Clinton's fault.

When the market went down on Bush's watch between November 2008 and January 2009, this was Barack Obama's fault.

When the market went down during Obama's first seven weeks in office, this was definitely Barack Obama's fault.

And when the market rallies on Obama's watch during the second week in March, George W. Bush deserves at least some of the credit."

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As one who was raised in a Union family, the EFCA is damn important.

Employee Free Choice Act just what Maine's economy needs | Portland Press Herald:

"Historically, no institution has been as effective at improving the quality of life for working families as membership in a union.

Union members earn better wages, have better health-care coverage and can count on a more secure retirement than non-union workers.

As current and former union members ourselves, we know that unions work.

Who brought us the weekend? Unions. Who rose with unions? The middle class. It just makes sense. Tens of millions of workers would join a union if they could. The problem is that if they try, and their employer resists, workers have only about a 20 percent chance of success.

This is because the current system for forming a union is unfairly tilted in the employer's favor.

That's just wrong. It's un-American and one more example of greed and power run amok."

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And here's Maddow from last week debunking Republican bunk:

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Goddamn Socialists!

Or is this what Jesus would do?

So confusing sometimes.

Beth Israel workers agree to go without to save jobs - The Boston Globe:

"The consensus was that the workers don't want anyone to get laid off and are willing to give up pay and benefits to make sure no one does. A nurse said her floor voted unanimously to forgo a 3 percent raise. A guy in finance who got laid off from his last job at a hospital in Rhode Island suggested working one less day a week. Another nurse said she was willing to give up some vacation and sick time. A respiratory therapist suggested eliminating bonuses."

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Hurry up with the warp drive already.

Scientists harness anti-matter, ordinary matter's 'evil twin' :

"Nevertheless, the Defense Department, the Energy Department, NASA, university physicists and a few private companies are working to produce and manage anti-matter and to develop useful applications for this weird stuff.

Potential applications include propellants for deep space travel, better cancer radiation therapies and detectors for smuggled nuclear materials, according to Gerald Jackson, a physicist and the president of Hbar Technologies in West Chicago, Ill. 'Hbar' is physicists' shorthand for anti-hydrogen."

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