A Radical Suggestion

      3 min read      National/International Politics

I just sent the following to the Obama White House: Dear President Obama, I’d like to offer a perhaps radical suggestion for remaking the health-care town hall discussions. The town hall meetings you’ve held thus far are a start. But they’ve not substantially moved the debate, and I suspect in their current form they’re unlikely to. Perhaps it’s time for some new thinking? Schedule some more town hall discussions. Give away tickets through the White House as you have been.

I've just been wondering...

      1 min read      National/International Politics

A lot of people have been showing up at town hall meetings these days screaming about the inevitable ineptitude of any government-run health care system. I wonder how many of those same people spent the last eight years (or their whole lives) screaming about how our military is the best in the world? Why do people in this self-proclaimed Christian nation believe that our government power can create the best military in the world, a force for killing, while that same government power cannot possibly run a health-care system?

A Note for Sarah Palin

      1 min read      Ireland

Hey, it’s been a lotta fun. Especially gotta admire the way you lowered the bar to the level where a mentally-troubled weasel could leap over it. Thanks so much for knowing when to go. Don’t let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out!

Fame Comes Calling, Again

      1 min read      Ireland

Irish Rose Consulting client Hartung Brothers, Inc. was recently feature on the National Ag Report. Congratulations!

Fame Comes Calling

      1 min read      Rural Issues

Congrats to our good friend Herby Radmann of Bullfrog Fish Farm who was featured in “Questioning the Locals” column in the most recent issue of Volume One magazine! ![](http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=7bea0bd2-9165-81af-9e63-1559aa88090c)

Now That's a Sale!

      1 min read      Technology

Congratulations to Irish Rose Consulting client Hartung Brothers, Inc. of Madison. They’ve signed an agreement to sell their wholesale fertilizer division to The Andersons, an agribusiness based in Maumee, Ohio. We’ve enjoyed working with the folks in the fertilizer division over the past several years, helping with custom software as they expanded their operation. We wish them all the best in their new home. ![](http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=8c632c35-72f6-83e5-98a0-57211ffea647)

Spring Getaway

      1 min read      Photography

This past weekend Kathleen and I headed up to Duluth, MN for a weekend getaway. It was a pretty low-key weekend, we just hung out in Duluth’s Canal Park neighborhood, wandered around a bit, caught an IMAX movie, ate out, walked along the lake. Check out some pics from the weekend. Click here for slideshow ![](http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=63ea4e01-3cbc-8683-abff-dab609fcdca2)

The Gift of Communities

      1 min read      Rural Issues

PortalWisconsin.org has launched a new arts and culture blog focused on the state of Wisconsin. Our good friend Ricky Rolfsmeyer is a contributor to this group blog. Check out his great post, “The Gift of Communities,” and be sure to add the blog’s feed to your newsreader. ![](http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=c3f93717-6f74-4416-8ff6-c031c4c1422f)

Happy Birthday Irish Rose Consulting!

      5 min read      Technology      Professional · Technology

This year Irish Rose Consulting is celebrating 20 years in business. Since the exact start date has been lost to the mists of time, I decided what better day to call our birthday than St. Patrick’s Day. In 1989 I was a student at UW-Platteville. One of my part-time jobs was working on an excellent research-and-development project for Niall Enterprises, run by Jack O’Neill, a professor at Platteville. My friend Rick Eagen was also working on the project.

links for 2009-03-11

      1 min read      Technology

[WBC Protest at UChicago - a set on Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/froboy/sets/72157614979271411/) The hateful folks at Westboro Baptist Church recently brought their lame protest to the University of Chicago. Students responded with a little protest of their own, nicely proving that the best counter to hateful speech is more and better speech. (tags: [politics](http://delicious.com/ddeery/politics) [religion](http://delicious.com/ddeery/religion)) [SUB-MIT: The Great McMurdo Jello-Wrestling All-Hands Meeting | Frontierwatch](http://bigdeadplace.com/frontierwatch/?p=748) Apparently, Jello wrestling is NOT acceptable behavior at the McMurdo Antarctica research station.