As reported in the Phoenix a few months ago, former Exile and New York Press reporter-editor Alex Zaitchik is heavy into writing what we predict will be the first diligent biography of Glenn Beck. Unlike the bi-polar Fox News thespian, Zaitchik likes facts, and has traveled around the country tracing Beck's roots collecting them.

As I was just reminded via email by my buddy Alex Zaitchik, there are a lot of Irish people in Boston. Sure - these days most of them are more yuppie than rogue - but they're Irish nonetheless. On that note: folks might appreciate the piece that Alex just did for The Nation about a town of Irish farmers who went head-to-head with Shell and other oil interests that want to run a pipeline through their county.

As usual, former NY Press editor and current AlterNet contributor Alex Zaitchik has weighed in on a topic like no one else has (at least that I know of). This time it's about what a joke this financial crisis is to those of us who don't own a damn thing and who see this so-called economic meltdown as little more than an excuse to stop paying bills.