The Wearing of the Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well it truly is a day for the wearing of the green. In honor of Ireland's patron saint, Bono uh...St. Patrick, I am wearing my new green bow tie which I had shipped in from Vermont just in the nick of time!. That's pretty well as far as I go on this day as I am not one for green beer or spending all day drunk in a pub.[Certainly not all day!] Of course, being Irish-born, that is one of the stereotypes one has to face in life. Sigh....

I attended an event on Parliament Hill the other day, courtesy of the Irish Ambassador to Canada, the always impressive Declan Kelly, to recognize the work of the Ireland Fund working to bring closer understanding and support in Northern Ireland to advance peace. It came on the heels of the shooting of two British soldiers and a policeman. The fact that all parties were instantly united in their disgust at those killings tells us that they have come a long way and don't intend to fall back on the bad old days. It looks like whatever those murderers intended has completely backfired on them.

In honor of this special day, check out this YouTube edition of "There's Nothing as Irish as Barack O'Bama", written by Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys. I had sent this on a while ago to a few friends. Good for a laugh as we all cry in our beer for AIG's execs and their bonuses. [On that issue, notice how the White House has finally drawn a line in the sand on what happens to the bail-out money? There is something to be said for the power of public outrage.]

Sing along.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek

March is often a crazy month - what with seminars and travel and trying to spend some time on March break with the kids.....I was in Dallas last week for a seminar and managed to take in the Sixth Floor Museum. If you've not seen it, it's well worth it - respectfully done and a sobering reminder of what was and what might have been. Oliver Stone was nowhere to be seen.

Before the end of the month I will be in Newark, New York City, Vancouver and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. So I am bringing lots of reading material with me and next post I will make my reading recommendations.

Quote of the week

My favorite quote this week came from the New York Times, attributed to John Kenneth Galbraith (but apparently was actually from the late Stanford economist Ezra Solomon]:

“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.”

Hope you get a March break because already 'Spring is in the air'! [Did I tell you that the Irish are eternal optimists?]

Barry