St Patrick's Day

St Patrick's DaySaint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá ’le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig), colloquially St. Paddy's Day or Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa AD 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17.

The day is the national holiday of Ireland. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Montserrat. In Canada, Great Britain, Australia, the United States and New Zealand, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday.

It became a feast day in the Roman Catholic Church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early part of the 17th century, and is a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland. The feast day usually falls during Lent; if it falls on a Friday of Lent (unless it is Good Friday), the obligation to abstain from eating meat can be lifted by the local bishop. The date of the feast is occasionally, yet controversially, moved by church authorities when March 17 falls during Holy Week; this happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on April 3 in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and happened again in 2008, having been observed on 15 March.

Original Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Patrick%27s_Day

Bijou Phillips And Danny Masterson Engaged

Bijou Phillips And Danny Masterson EngagedBijou Phillips and Danny Masterson are in preproduction to be costars for life.

The That '70s Show star, 33, popped the question to the Havoc hottie, 28, over the weekend.

"They got engaged on Saturday," Masterson's rep, Jenni Weinman, tells E! News.

The thesp couple performed together in three indie films releasing this year—Wake, Made for Each Other and The Bridge to Nowhere. The sometimes-model and sometimes-DJ Mom Jeans have been dating for more than three years.

Phillips, whose godfather was Andy Warhol, once dated Sean Lennon.

Original Source : http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b104605_bijou_phillips_danny_masterson_made.html

Bryce Brown

Bryce BrownBryce Brown Chooses Tennessee.

Bryce Brown will attend Tennessee, he said Monday at a news conference.

Bryce Brown, the top-ranked football recruit in the class of 2009, will announce Monday afternoon where he will attend college.

The 6-foot, 215-pound tailback will choose among Kansas State, Louisiana State, Miami, Oregon and Tennessee in an announcement at 1 p.m., Central time, at the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in Wichita, Kan., said Brian Butler, Brown’s controversial trainer and recruiting adviser.

Brown has maintained that he remains committed to Miami, where his older brother, Arthur Brown Jr., is a linebacker, but the Hurricanes have indicated that they are no longer recruiting him and will not provide him with a scholarship.

As of Monday morning, Butler said that Brown’s college decision had been made.

“Feeling peace about it,” Butler wrote in a text message.

Asked what made him feel at peace about Brown’s decision, Butler wrote in a text message, “It’s done.”

Brown, who graduated a semester early from Wichita (Kan.) East High School, did not sign a letter of intent on national signing day in early February as nearly all recruits did.

Over the weekend Brown made a surprise visit to Tennessee, which he visited last month on an official visit. He also made a visit to Louisiana State late last month.

In a telephone interview last month, Brown emphasized that he wanted to attend a college where he would grow spiritually and academically. Besides tailback, he was also interested in being used as a wide receiver and a kick returner.

“I’m obviously looking for a place where I feel like they’re going to use me and my talents the way I want to be used,” Brown said. “I’m definitely a versatile player, and I want to be able to use all my versatility.”

Last month the N.C.A.A. started an investigation into Butler and held interviews about him in Wichita. The interviews were conducted by Mike DeCesare, the N.C.A.A.’s assistant director of amateurism certification, and at least one of them centered on Butler’s relationship with Brown.

So which college will Brown choose? Why? Drop your thoughts in the comment section.

Original Source : http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/bryce-brown-set-to-announce-where-hell-play/

Christine Quinn

Christine QuinnQuinn to Mark St. Patrick’s Day Elsewhere.

Every March 17 for the last few years, New York’s political establishment has always asked the same question: what will City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn do? After all, when Ms. Quinn, an openly gay Irish American, became speaker in 2006, the organizers of the city’s signature St. Patrick’s Day Parade, down Fifth Avenue, made it clear that while she could march as an individual and as a city official, she could not display anything hinting at gay pride — not a pin, not a button, not a sash. So she boycotted the event.

In 2007, she did march in a St. Patrick’s Day parade — but in Dublin, at the request of the city council and parade organizers there. Nor did she make up an appearance on Fifth Avenue last year; she was attending Gov. David A. Paterson’s inauguration in Albany.

This year, Ms. Quinn will mark St. Patrick’s Day in yet another city not named New York: Washington. She will attend a reception for Irish-Americans at the White House Tuesday night hosted by President Obama, and featuring Prime Minister Brian Cowen of Ireland.

Ms. Quinn — the 2008 recipient of the Irish American of the Year award from the Irish Echo, the oldest and largest Irish-American newspaper — said in an interview that she was honored. But she also said that she felt a bit of “sadness” that she also wouldn’t be able to celebrate on Fifth Avenue, alongside the estimated 150,000 people who march every year either.

Sure, she asked the parade’s organizers, the New York City St. Patrick’s Parade and Celebration Committee, to sit down and have a meeting to discuss possible compromises — as she has done for years. And once again, she said that she did not get a response.

“I just don’t understand why being stuck is more attractive than even trying,” she said. “It just seems hard to accept, with all of the progress in our city, and all of the progress in the world, that we should be at loggerheads over the inclusiveness of the Fifth Avenue parade. It kind of boggles the mind.”

A message left with the parade organizers was not immediately returned.

Original Source : http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/quinn-to-mark-st-patricks-day-elsewhere/

Shamrock Seeds Seizure

Shamrock Seeds SeizureFeds Seize Shamrock Seeds at Dulles Airport.

Federal agents at Dulles International Airport have seized shamrock seeds from travelers arriving from Ireland — just days before St. Patrick's Day.

Customs and Border Patrol spokesman Stephen Sapp said the agents targeted the Aer Lingus flight on Thursday and had been searching for passengers carrying prohibited meat.

He says 16 packets of shamrock seeds were found among some pork and beef. A permit is needed to import the seeds.

Both the meat and shamrock seeds were destroyed.

Original Source : http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509354,00.html

Free Napkin

Free Napkin

Free Napkin Is Online Trading Without The Trade.

I recently wrote about the online bartering trend. Now there's a site getting tons of hits, Free Napkin, that is a similar idea to online bartering sites in terms of creating a profile, leaving feedback, etc, just without the actual trade--you just give some stuff away for free. Here's an example from the site's FAQ:

Registered freenapkin user Bob has a father who owns a farm. His dads farm has a lot of old equipment. Much of the equipment is old and non-functional and takes up a lot of space. Bobs dad is old and he himself does not have enough money to hire movers to come haul away some of the big equipment. He decides its better and more lucrative if he registers a free account on freenapkin so that his father can get rid of his equipment that he needs at will. His 80 yr old father was able to take a photo of his farming equipment and then with no help at all upload the photos onto his freenapkin account. The items were claimed within a few days. See how simple and easy a freenapkin account is. Senior citizens might not be able to help lift heavy objects but they can take a picture.

I haven't been able to find many testimonials from people about how they have liked using this site. But assuming it's legit, the idea is a bit strange. People who want to donate items for humanitarian purposes would probably prefer to do so at a place like Goodwill or Salvation Army where they know their donation is going to support the needy--not just someone who wants free stuff. For people looking to unload unwanted items, Craigslist (or any of the online bartering sites) seem just as easy to use, but with the added bonus of getting something in return.

Original Source : http://www.usnews.com/blogs/risky-business/2009/03/16/free-napkin-is-online-trading-without-the-trade.html

Don Imus

Don ImusDon Imus Reveals He Has Prostate Cancer.Men diagnosed with prostate cancer face a tough call on whether to get treated now or wait. Learn how to prevent prostate cancer, and consider these 11 things to know about prostate cancer.

Why Playtime Matters to Kids' Health and Brains

Who has time to play these days? Life is pretty darned serious. But play is essential for both kids and grown-ups to stay healthy, creative, and productive, according to Stuart Brown, author of the new book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul (Avery, $24.95). Brown, a retired psychiatrist in Carmel Valley, Calif., has spent decades studying the py-and-more-pr"effects of play on children and adults, Nancy Shute reports. Play is not trivial, Brown says; it's a basic biological drive as critical to our health
as sleep or food.

Here are 10 reasons play can make you healthy, happy, and more productive. Looking for creative ideas to get your kids off the couch? Try incorporating these 5 ways to get more play into your childs day.
New HPV Test to Detect Cervical Cancer Strains

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first DNA test that identifies two HPV strains, types 16 and 18, which are responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancers in the United States, Deborah Kotz reports. Gynecologists typically perform an HPV test along with regular Pap smears, and the current test won't tell you if you have a cancer-causing strain, though it will categorize the types into low, moderate, or high risk. At the moment, the new DNA test, called Cervista HPV 16/18, isn't available in doctors' offices, but a spokesperson for the manufacturer, Hologic, says it should start arriving in limited quantities within the next three months.

The FDA delivered some disheartening news on the HPV vaccine last year for women ages 27 to 45; the agency told manufacturer Merck that it needs more time to make a decision about expanded use for its $360 Gardasil vaccine, already approved for females ages 12 to 26.

Radio personality Don Imus, 68, told listeners of his syndicated show Monday morning that he has stage II prostate cancer, the New York Daily News reports. "I have great confidence in my doctors," Imus said, according to the Daily News. "I'll be fine. If I'm not fine, I won't be fine. It's not a big deal. The prognosis couldn't be better." Imus has been hosting a syndicated radio program for Citadel Broadcasting Corp. since December 2007; he was fired by CBS Corp. in April 2007 for making racially insensitive comments about members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team, according to Bloomberg.com.

Original Source : http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/2009/03/16/health-buzz-don-imus-has-prostate-cancer-and-other-health-news.html