Hello world!

Posted on February 10, 2009

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Online documentaries on the Iraq War

Posted on January 3, 2009

Part of the America at a Crossroads documentary series aired on PBS earlier this year, Operation Homecoming is a unique approach at representing the war. Taking writings from soldiers deployed in Iraq, the producers of Operation Homecoming created a series of visual vignettes, attempting to create a wide variety of visual approaches to the writings and the subject matter. The visual styles range from animation, cinema verite, re-enactments, and CGI graphics.

The videos are terrifying, moving, heartbreaking.  Nonfiction personal narratives from soldiers in Iraq about their experiences there, set to video.   http://kcet.org/explore-ca/web-stories/iraq/operation/

‘Listen to your heart’

Posted on September 15, 2008

A great song by Paddyrasta, my favorite celtic reggae band.

On Tour

Posted on August 19, 2008

Just a quick note to let ya’ll know that as of 9:00 am this morning i’m on a plane to new jersey and on tour with my band, which means i won’t be updating this blog until I get back in early september.  for everybody in the north-east US who’s been wondering when i’d finally get out to your neck of the woods for some shows, this is it folks.  You can get all the info on the shows off the bands website – beltainesfire.com

Here’s the official tour schedule:

Aug 21 2008 8:00PM
Puck’s in Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Aug 23 2008 10:00PM
Celtic Collision @ PUBLIC ASSEMBLY(formerly Galapagos) in Brooklyn (Williamsburg), New York

Aug. 25th 10:00PM
Tritone (http://www.tritonebar.com/) in Philadelphia, Pensyvania.

Aug 28 2008 8:00PM
CherryWood Bar & Grill Clementon, New Jersey

Aug 29 2008 12:00A
The Underscore in Manhattan, New York, New York

Aug 30 2008 8:00P
Barrington Coffee House and Cafe Barrington, New Jersey

Aug 31 2008 4:00P
COHENFEST (Private Show) CAPE MAY, New Jersey

As before, we really need to move pre-sale tickets for the show at Puck to keep the venue happy, so if you’re planning to come it’d be awesome if you could buy a few and get a group of friends to come with ya. Obviously we’re not in our home turf here and need all the help we can get getting the word out for all of these shows, so anything ya’ll can do to get folks out to the shows would be greatly appreciated.

And, for all our folks here on the west coast, I should mention that KVMR has started selling tickets for their annual festival in September and that if you buy ‘em early you can get a big fat discount. It’s 2 days of music and fun that you wont forget in a hurry, with some of the best celtic bands in north america playing – including Solas, Enter the Haggis, Molly’s Revenge, and a bunch more.   You can get your tickets at: http://www.kvmr.org/celticfestival/tickets.htm

see ya’ll at the shows!

Lynx

Why Capitalists love Communists

Posted on July 15, 2008

A new article from the Washington Post explores why it is that “American” corporations are rushing to invest in Vietnam.

According to a report by Keith Bradsher in the New York Times last
month, such multinational companies as Canon (the printer and copier
maker) and Hanesbrands (the North Carolina-based underwear empire) are
expanding or building factories in Hanoi, where they churn out products
for Wal-Mart and other American retailers. Foreign direct investment in
Vietnam increased 136 percent between 2006 and 2007, while it increased
just 14 percent in China.

The reason for the move south is straightforward: Vietnamese factory
workers make about a quarter of what their Chinese counterparts earn.

But why Vietnam and not, say, Thailand, where labor is similarly cheap?

Vietnam’s edge, it seems, is political. “Communism means more
stability,”

Why Were We in Vietnam? By Harold Meyerson

Check out the full article on their website, and while you read it keep in mind that Anarchists like Bakunin predicted from the very start that in practice Marxism could only create tyranny and then think about all the dictators our government has sponsored around the world.  Capitalism and Communism aren’t ideological opposites, they’re two sides of the same coin – and they go together just fine.