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

Posted: August 19th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

A statement from the Workers Solidarity Alliance (USA/Canada) on the conflict between Georgia & Russia, based on the call sent out first by Polish Anarchists and then by the International Workers Association (IWA):

The eruption of military violence between Georgia and South Ossetia, despite the recent development of a shaky and tentative truce, threatens to develop into a large-scale protracted war between Georgia supported by NATO on the one hand, and South Ossetia supported by the Russian state on the other. Despite the relative brevity of the length of the war thousands of people have already been killed and wounded - principally, peaceful non-combatants; whole cities and settlements have been wiped out and their
inhabitants displaced. Hateful nationalist and chauvinistic hysteria is being whipped up by self-interested leaders on both sides of the conflict. The development of a full scale protracted war in the Caucuses would mean nothing but suffering and devastation on a mass scale for many more in the region, all so that statesmen, the military brass, and wealthy capitalist entrepreneurs can gain ever more wealth and power through the strategic control of the region and the control of marketable Caspian oil and gas. Read more »

Posted: August 18th, 2008 under politrix.
Comments: none

An exceptionally good story from the AP wire on child labor in Africa and the international Gold trade.  Think about this next time you see some sell-out corporate pop-rapper wearing giant gold chains.

AP IMPACT: Kids working in African gold mines

TENKOTO, Senegal - A reef of gold buried beneath this vast, parched grassland arcs across some of the world’s poorest countries. Where the ore is rich, industrial mines carve it out. Where it’s not, the poor sift the earth.

In a yearlong investigation, The Associated Press visited six of these bush mines in three West African countries and interviewed more than 150 child miners. AP journalists watched as child-mined gold was bought by itinerant traders. And, through interviews and customs documents, The AP tracked gold from these mines on a 3,000-mile journey to Mali’s capital city and then on to Switzerland, where it enters the world market.

Read more »

Posted: August 10th, 2008 under culture war, economics.
Comments: none

Saw something interesting on the AP wire today, apparently Obama has decided to be more overt in opposing identity-based smear tactics against him and has explicitly called out the RNC for fear mongering. Here’s his exact words:

“What they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me… You know, he’s not patriotic enough, he’s got a funny name, you know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills” [from the Associated Press]

McCain, of course, reacted with indignation and accused Obama of playing the Race card by accusing McCain of playing it.

Read more »

Posted: August 1st, 2008 under politrix, race & racism.
Comments: 1