the NHL picks continue (a good 2 months + into the season, whateva! i do what i want!). now we tackle the western conference. i’ve had my own personal favorite in the west since i was a kid, the chicago blackhawks – who happen to have the longest streak sans a cup, i’m probably partly to blame – and i said they’d come out of the west before the season started so i’m sticking with it. these picks are all ones i had pre-season, and i figure i should stand by ‘em regardless of the standings now…plus, there’s still months of hockey left. so here’s the picks (and again, asterisks denote playoff team, and to meet my 10 vids per music monday i’ll include 2 personal faves of mine).
central
chicago*
detroit*
columbus*
nashville
st. louis
pacific
san jose*
anaheim*
los angeles
dallas
phoenix
to start off, let’s go with the team i both root for in this conference (and against all non-boston teams) and have picked to come out on top, chicago. this team is very young (jonathan toews is 21, patrick cane is 20 and brent seabrook is 24), but also have both the experienced players on board and a competitive season in their rear-view to help them be able to get it done. this is exemplified best in marian hossa, the journeyman who has spent the last few season trying to get himself on a cup team. also, there’s duncan keith on D, who alongside seabrook might be part of the best blue line tandem in the league. and, of course you’ve got 2 vets in goal with cristobal huet and antti niemi. they’ll be switching back & forth and this could be one of the concerns the team will have. now, with chi-town, there’s a veritable plethora of artists i could pick to represent. i was gonna go with ”chicago” by crosby, stills, nash & young b/c i just absolutely love that song, but would that really represent? nah. so here is the greatest mc to ever come out of the midwest, my man common with “resurrection” (gotta go back a ways to get a vid that universal hasn’t disabled!).
What’s in a number? 45,000 people die every year in this nation without access to healthcare.
What is a number? Poverty among seniors has dropped more than 60 percent since the adoption of Medicare.
What’s in a number? Millions of Americans file for personal bankruptcy – one every 12 seconds – because medical crisis hit them too hard. And of those bankrupt folks, two-thirds had health insurance.
this week senator bernie sanders has introduced amendment #2837 in opposition to the current senate healthcare bill (comparison here) continuing thestruggle to reform the broken, profit-driven system & to keep fighting for this to be a nation that no longer leaves the weak, the sick and the poor behind in the delivery of its most basic human rights. i urge you to call the capitol switchboard @ 866-220-0044 and ask your senators to support senator sanders amendment #2837.
40,000 soldiers will cost $40 billion a year. with unemployment rising, record foreclosures, and the economy stagnate; can the u.s. really afford to escalate the war in afghanistan?
music monday is taking a backseat this week to something much more important. it’s national white house call-in day: monday, 11/23/09. call president obama, your senators & member of congress to STOP THE ESCALATION & END THE WAR in afghanistan!!! if you don’t want to call but would like to still add your voice, you can write your elected officials in congress urging them to oppose escalation by supporting HR 3699, introduced by rep. lee, and to support withdrawal from afghanistan by supporting HR 2404, introduced by rep. mcgovern. call 202-456-1111 for obama & (202)224-3121 for your senators & reps.
also, check out & get involved with the following peace groups.
so, that last music monday was dedicated to the greatest of games, hockey. now, i didn’t do a pre-season predictions HOCKEY TALK! bloog, and we’re a good 6 weeks in now, so i feel like this is kind of cheating, but whateva! i do what i want! and i figured that since it’s music monday today, i’d do my picks for the eastern conference playoffs, with 2 honorable mentions (this equals 10) and do a song for each city or state that the team represents. if you don’t care about hockey, stick around, b/c you might still like the songs! now, first off, i’ll break down the 3 divisions: atlantic, northeast & southeast. (* = playoffs)
atlantic
pittsburgh penguins *
philadelphia flyers *
new jersey devils *
new york islanders
new york rangers
northeast
boston bruins *
buffalo sabres *
ottawa senators *
toronto maple leafs
montreal canadiens
southeast
washington capitals *
carolina hurricanes *
tampa bay lightning
atlanta thrashers
florida panthers
now, onto the team i (obviously) predict to come out on top, the boston bruins. i realize i am a complete homer. no apologies. also, my hatred of the new york rangers & montreal canadiens has caused me to place them in the basement of both their divisions which is highly unlikely. oh well, a boy can dream. boston has been severely hampered by injuries and illness early on, but are still hanging on in the northeast, right behind buffalo. this team lost a key component in phil kessel, but with the best blueliner in the game with zdeno chara, last season’s top coach in claude (CLODE!) julian, the fight club king milan lucic & last season’s vezina netminder tim thomas (though he has shown some signs of being a one-trick pony, luckily back-up tukka rask is NASTY!), the B’s at full strength are a force, no doubt about it. add to the mix one of the league’s top scorers with marc savard, a young force in david krejci, and the return of marco sturm, i don’t think it’s too much of a homer move to say the black & gold will come out of the east on top for the 2nd straight season – so long as they get that friggin’ power play going!!! now, there are many, many songs about boston, and i’ve featured a helluva lotta them on here. this was prolly on the last bloog. oh well, mike mccolgan – frontman, and original frontman of the dropkick murphys – is who i want to be like. so friggin’ cool. this IS boston. the street dogs with “savin hill”.
this past saturday a friend texted me and said “we are screwed”. i thought he was referring to the bruins. but, he was referring to the healthcare bill being passed. now, this particular friend was saying this as a conservative. i agree with him, however, as a progressive. in case you’re wondering exactly what this healthcare bill entails, please allow me to break it down for you.
in the words of healthcare-NOW!, “the House bill is a gift to the insurance industry at the further expense of the people of this nation”.
the following was written by army sergeant matthis chiroux and featured on commondreams.org
“It’s time to take care of your troops, America. We are mired in violence and gun lust, post traumatic stress and substance abuse; outward anxiety and inward extremism. Maj. Nidal Hassan is one of us.
Eight years we’ve been at war now. The youngest victim of Hassan’s murderous rampage was but 11 when the towers fell. For years, Maj. Hassan listened to the horrors of the occupations which resulted, and it made him crazy, as it made me crazy. Then they told him it was his turn to go, as they told me it was my turn. (more…)
the NHL & college hockey seasons have been underway now for over a month, and i’ve been to 2 bruins games (including opening night), yet haven’t bloogged about hockey yet (aside from the kessel messel). i’m not sure why. obviously i’ve not been as adamant about blooging since i hastily put the last bloog to rest, but maybe i had some foresight into the bruins slow start (though keeping in mind injury & illness have been key factors – though in the games i was at the problem was sloppiness, and there’s no excuse to be last in the power play!), as well as the continuation of the UMAINE hockey program going down the drain. i have noooooo idea what is going on there…that is the university of maine’s entire reason for being!!! though, the recent wins over vermont and BU give some hope. let’s just hope they’re up for BC in a few weeks, otherwise i’ll likely to do something drastic. i think i’ll do a better late then never hockey talk bloog soon, looking at how i think it’ll all play out in the NHL. my pre-season prediction was boston -v- chicago, a dream match-up as they are my 2 favorite teams, and i’ll stick with it, though early indicators would show, in the words of thom yorke “i might be wrong”. now, onto some hockey songs. or, songs that are in some way influenced by the greatest of games. to start it off, there’s no better song then “the hockey song” by stompin’ tom connors. and a 1, 2, a 1 weeee-oooooh!
“More than a year has gone by since Congress passed the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. The Federal Reserve has committed trillions of additional dollars in virtually zero-interest loans and other assistance to large financial institutions resulting in the largest taxpayer bailout in the history of the world. Today, most of the huge financial institutions still standing have become even bigger — so big that the four largest banks in America (JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup) now issue one out of every two mortgages; two out of three credit cards; and hold $4 out of every $10 in bank deposits in the entire country.
If any of these financial institutions were to get into major trouble again, taxpayers would be on the hook for another massive bailout. We cannot let that happen. That is why I introduced legislation that would give the secretary of the Treasury 90 days to identify every single financial institution and insurance company in this country that is too big to fail and to break them up within one year.”
ladies & gentlemen i give you: METALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!
2 subgenres in particular, power metal & viking metal. viking metal is self-explanatory, and power metal is basically the child of thrash and speed metal, infused with lyrical obsession of all things that got you beat up in high school: dungeons & dragons, lord of the rings (before it was cool), fantasy novels, and the like, sung typically very highly (i.e. “ahhhhhhhhAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”). power metal has been around for a while, but got a little bit of mainstream attention with the success (relatively speaking, they’re far from platinum!) of dragonforce, based highly on their being featured in guitar hero. dragonforce get some flack from the hardcore fanbase of the scene, they’ve been called “nintendo metal” based on the video game sound of their guitars & keyboards, but i think they pwn. then again, metal is not my passion, so perhaps that’s why either way, here’s a hilarious yet awesome (3 words that go together very well when talking about power metal videos & lyrics) video, “operation ground & pound”.
Almighty God,
who hast knit together thine elect
in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of Your Son,
Christ our Lord:
Give us grace so to follow
Your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living,
that we may come
to those ineffable joys
that thou hast prepared for those
who unfeignedly love thee;
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with thee and the Holy Spirit
liveth and reigneth,
one God, in glory everlasting.
Amen
it’s almost the end of the 31st of october, infamous most of all for halloween and the ancient celtic holiday of samhain, but it is also the day in 1517 that martin luther unwittingly began the protestant reformation by nailing his “95 theses” to the door of the church in wittenburg, germany. luther was, like any revered historical figure, a man of greatness and a man of flaws. his greatness lie in his faith, his integrity, his courage, his standing up to corruption. my favorite story about luther is that one night he woke and satan was at the foot of his bed, and luther said “oh, it’s only you” and went back to sleep. now, for anyone familiar with luther, they know of his fierce anti-semitism, which is completely deplorable and inexcusable. but, as thomas jefferson was a product of his times by owning slaves yet still a man of greatness, luther’s tremendous gifts to us should not be tossed out because he like nearly every other german of the day was guilty of anti-semitic sentiments. not only did luther provide an independence to the christian faith that was lacking and desperately needed, but he also translated the bible into the common tongue, which would be the greatest asset to the emerging reformation. when people were able to actually find out what was in the new testament, they realized how corrupted the church had become by the marriage to the state (pay attention, all ye who do not appreciate the separation we have now – it PROTECTS the church FROM the state!). luther also loved beer, so that’s cool. he turned german drinking songs into what are now famous hymns.
as an anglican/episcopalian, i am in the “middle road” between protestant and catholic (anglo-catholic, instead of roman catholic). i appreciate many of luther’s qualities and actions, and disagree with many, as well. not only the aforementioned unfortunate mindset, but also his idea of sola scriptura, considering there was no bible for the first 3 centuries of the faith…as well as the fact he also says sola fide, i.e. faith, and sola gratia, i.e. grace…is it only scripture or only faith or only grace?!?). anyways, below is a clip from the film luther, and after the jump are the complete 95 theses. enjoy!
“Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told her Democratic House Caucus last month: “If it were up to me, we’d have single payer.” Uh, excuse me Madame Speaker – It is up to you!
That’s why Single Payer Action is focusing on the Democrats in Congress. Because – it is up to them. More precisely, it’s up to the House Single Payer Caucus — The 88 members of Congress who have co-sponsored HR 676 – the single payer bill in the House.
If only half of them stood with us in opposition to Obamacare — it would go down in flames — as it deservedly must. And everybody in, nobody out single payer would be national news. (continue reading below)…
“While markets surged past 10,000, the official unemployment rate stood near 10 percent. The United States is in a unique historical position. People on top are doing extraordinarily well, but in the real world the middle class is collapsing. The top 1 percent owns more wealth then the bottom 90 percent. CEOs of large corporations earn 400 times what their workers make. That is not what America is supposed to be about. With all the issues we are dealing with – from health care to global warming to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – please do not forgot what is happening to tens of millions of our brothers and our sisters out there who are struggling hard to keep their heads above water.”
“americana is an amalgam of roots music formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the american musical ethos”. i think one the most interesting parts of american history is the development of music. and, it’s also the thing i find the most pride in about being american, is how the people of this country have created so many styles of music and produced so much ear pleasure. when it comes to americana, there are various styles of roots music that are included, one being the hillbilly music of appalachia that would give us bluegrass & country (when country was great). as with anything american, the real roots are found overseas. anyone with half a good eardrum should be able to tell that the old appalachian music and the genres that emerged from it were based on irish, scottish & welsh jigs & reels and the ballad songs that the immigrants of the british isles brought with them. when the banjo, an african instrument, was introduced by freed slaves, a whole new element was added. and it was gooooood. the music was first recorded in the early 20’s and in the 30’s the grand ole opry radio show broadcast it. by 1940 the capitol of country was nashville, and country had become the term used instead of hillbilly music, as the popularity of acts such as the carter family grew. bluegrass would become a sound unto itself, as well. though, the two would remain intertwined in many ways. with hank williams, country had it’s first superstar, and bill monroe would lead the charge of the high lonesome sound.
the first family of country is the carter family. a.p., his wife sara and her sister maybelle would come from virginia and give a this new music some faces to go along with it. by 1930 they were the most popular act in the country. in ‘36, a.p. & sara divorced, but maybelle continued on with her daughters, including the amazing june, who’d marry the greatest american ever: johnny cash. here’s mother maybelle & her daughters doing “wildwood flower”.
tonight in my home state of maine at 7pm, at the cathedral of st. luke in portland, bishop gene robinson will be speaking on faith, unity & equality, as the state approaches the date of voting on question 1. for those who are not aware, question 1 is the prop 8 of 2009, occuring this time on the other side of the country in a state with a very small yet socio-politically divided population. i was raised in small town central maine, and it is GOP land. sure, there’s pockets here & there of progressive thought, such as bangor (where i was introduced to ralph nader & the green party in 1996) or the neighboring orono due primarily to the university of maine being located there, but the small town, rural part of the state, basically the whole heap of land north of portland, is fairly conservative and fiercly libertarian (though most do not realize they are in fact libertarian). (more…)
both columbus day and thanksgiving are odd holidays. now, clearly holidays in this society are not really meaningful to most, i.e. christmas and easter to the average person have nothing at all to do with jesus, hence the elves and trees and reindeer and bunnies and eggs. people want to be able to have a day off, be gluttonous, watch tv specials, and get stressed by their families without contemplating anything. still, the question is asked “who is columbus to have a holiday?”, it’s sort of like naming a dessert after napoleon. but, aside from the small segment of the population deeply concerned with native american rights and conversely, old italian men at the local KoC, no one really seems to care. it’s just a 3 day weekend. with thanksgiving, we like that idea of the pilgrims & natives having a meal. it’s makes us feel like the fact that that pilgrims were puritanical religious fanatics who later turned on the natives isn’t that bad, and we can get real serious with the gluttony. it’s something people don’t really want to think about, because of just how awful it truly is. 5 centuries ago, north & south america were populated only by what we in the u.s. call “native americans”, or in canada “first nations”, or more generally “indigenous” peoples. and now, here in the u.s., 5 centuries later that percentage has gone from 100% to roughly 1.4%. that is all you need to know to realize how screwed up it’s been for those who were here first. but, it hasn’t stopped. that’s the thing the average american doesn’t realize, that native americans are the most segregated and persecuted people in the u.s. still. did you know that a native american is not allowed by law to own a home outside of a reservation? yeah. that’s just one example. it’s ridiculously messed up. but, i think there also should be some understanding that this is what humanity does. from the beginning of this human experiment, one group of people goes from one place, invades another, kills as many as possible, takes as much as possible, and if they like it they stay. it is still happening today. and i think the british, french, portuguese & in particular the spanish empires were much more to blame for their actions prior to the establishment of the united states. however, in my estimation the fact that the u.s. was created to be something so much better then those empires is what makes this so tragic, and how the lust and desire for manifest destiny was so much more important than the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. hopefully i can get a friend who has vast knowledge of the plight of native americans today to share some thoughts (check back for comments). until then, here’s the videos on this music monday. some are songs that are about native peoples, some are songs by native peoples. to start it off, now i realize a lot of people don’t care for rage against the machine – ironically they tend to be people who totally agree with their politics. but, this video is amazing, and very timely due to what is going on with leonard peltier right now. here’s “freedom”.
Lord make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred let me sow love.
Where there is injurty, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that i may not seek so much to be comforted as to comfort.
To be understood as to understand.
To be loved as to love.
For it is giving that we receive.
It is in forgiving that we are forgiven.
And it is dying that we are born to eternal life.
it all began around 5,000 years ago with a strange old man in either modern day iraq or turkey depending on what time of day you ask a scholar. he was married to an old barren bird and so he got it on with his egyptian handmaid and had a son. later on, his wife said “surprise, i got a bun in the oven, too” and all hell broke lose. you’ll be happy to know no further problems arose from these two sons both claiming lineage from the same patriarch (oh wait, nevermind). the 2nd son would have a couple of his own, one being renamed yisrael after rasslin’ with an angel, and then having 12 sons, who would also have no problems with each other and do nothing innappropriate (oh wait, nevermind). there names were reuben (from which we get the delicious kosher sandwich), simeon, levi, judah (a descendent of this tribe would come along a few millenia later and cause a fuss – something about beatitudes and forgiveness and crucifixion – also, the lion of judah was emblonized on the ethiopian flag for a while, so that’s cool), dan, naphtali, gad, asher (my friend ian’s middle name), issachar, zebulun, joseph (who had an amazing technicolor dreamcoat) and benjamin. sadly, only two of the tribes that came from these boys would survive, those of judah & benjamin. thus giving rise to lots of conspiracy theories about what happened to the lost tribes and who they “really” are today. here’s an idea – they were LOST. and not like kate, jack, sawyer & hurley. but, i’m getting off track. the patriachs of the hebrew people have now been given to you. flash forward to levi’s great grandson and you’ve got moses. once upon a time moses found himself on top of a mountain and God said “hey, moses, go tell your friends i say hi”, so moses did. the people asked moses, “well, what does he want with us?”, so moses goes back up the mountain and says “they asked what you want”, and God says “i want to be their God and for them to be my people, you know, i’ll be their heavenly baby daddy”. so moses goes back down the mountain and tells the people, and they say “well that sounds all touchy-feely. can’t he just give us some rules to follow or something?”, so moses goes back up the mountain, meanwhile thinking “you know, sandals are not the best for all this hiking, and this is the friggin’ desert, i’m schvitzing over here!“, and tells God. well, God was pissed, and said “rules? they want rules?!?! i’ll give ‘em rules! 613 of ‘em!!!”, and you can find these – most of which are by even ancient standards way crazy – in the 2nd half of exodus – deutoronomy (the majority of the torah, aka the first 5 books of the bible). leviticus is perhaps the wackiest, and also gives us the details on the day of atonement, what we now know as yom kippur. and long story short, that is today until sunset. in celebration, this music monday will feature videos by some descendants of the tribes of judah & benjamin, the modern day jewish people (again, i implore you to ignore anyone saying the “true hebrews” are northern europeans or africans (well, excluding converts or the ethiopian falasha – descendents of king solomon) or anything other then the goldsteins and horovitzs and cohens that you know). begin!
now, everyone knows about dylan. and, a lesser known fact is elvis’ mother was jewish. but, what might surprise you most is how influencial the israelites have been on punk rock. and the godfather of punk himself, iggy pop, is a hebrew. here he is with the stooges doing “i wanna be your dog”.
so said the wonderous flann o’brien. today is being commemorated as “arthur’s day”, as in arthur guinness, the brewer and founder of the guinness brewery at st. james gate in dublin, celebrating it’s 250th year in 2009. though i’ve become a wee bit of a “beer snob” in my days, and spend most of my drinking time at a brewpub, there’s still nothing that compares to a pint of guinness. it’s the greatest gift ever given to mankind, me thinks. indeed.
so, phil kessel has left boston. the bruins GM peter chiarelli has stated that kessel had “zero interest in returning to boston” so it only made sense to do the deal, but i honestly think that this was about chiarelli and moreso head coach claude julien not liking kessel, and the feeling being mutual. it was well known the last 2 seasons that julien did not care for kessel’s attitude and vice versa. there was this image of kessel as being soft, but i think for a 20, 21 year old kid, he showed his worth. that playoff performance back in ‘08 against montreal – after julien benched him the first couple games – was amazing. and, he had 60 points in 70 games last year. this kid is a sniper, and was poised to be the future of the b’s. now, maybe he didn’t want to play here. maybe he was a prima donna. maybe he’s not “a real bruin”. but, i liked having arguably the best american player in boston with the black & gold on. and, without getting any proven talent in return and trading him to a team in the same division just seems foolish to me. i thought nashville would’ve been much more preferable, but supposedly the only team that was willing to do the deal was toronto. well, God bless, i do have plenty of love in my heart for the leafs and would like to see them win a cup in the near future…just not at the bruins expense. though, with this deal, it very well may be.
central
the following was written by army sergeant matthis chiroux and featured on 
the NHL & college hockey seasons have been underway now for over a month, and i’ve been to 2 bruins games (including opening night), yet haven’t bloogged about hockey yet (aside from 
from senator bernie sanders (I-VT):
ladies & gentlemen i give you: METALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!
either way, here’s a hilarious yet awesome (3 words that go together very well when talking about power metal videos & lyrics) video, “operation ground & pound”.
happy all saints day. 
it’s almost the end of the 31st of october, infamous most of all for halloween and the ancient celtic holiday of samhain, but it is also the day in 1517 that martin luther unwittingly began the protestant reformation by nailing his “95 theses” to the door of the church in wittenburg, germany. luther was, like any revered historical figure, a man of greatness and a man of flaws. his greatness lie in his faith, his integrity, his courage, his standing up to corruption. my favorite story about luther is that one night he woke and satan was at the foot of his bed, and luther said “oh, it’s only you” and went back to sleep. now, for anyone familiar with luther, they know of his fierce anti-semitism, which is completely deplorable and inexcusable. but, as thomas jefferson was a product of his times by owning slaves yet still a man of greatness, luther’s tremendous gifts to us should not be tossed out because he like nearly every other german of the day was guilty of anti-semitic sentiments. not only did luther provide an independence to the christian faith that was lacking and desperately needed, but he also translated the bible into the common tongue, which would be the greatest asset to the emerging reformation. when people were able to actually find out what was in the new testament, they realized how corrupted the church had become by the marriage to the state (pay attention, all ye who do not appreciate the separation we have now – it PROTECTS the church FROM the state!). luther also loved beer, so that’s cool. he turned german drinking songs into what are now famous hymns. 
“americana is an amalgam of roots music formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the american musical ethos”. i think one the most interesting parts of american history is the development of music. and, it’s also the thing i find the most pride in about being american, is how the people of this country have created so many styles of music and produced so much ear pleasure. when it comes to americana, there are various styles of roots music that are included, one being the hillbilly music of appalachia that would give us bluegrass & country (when country was great). as with anything american, the real roots are found overseas. anyone with half a good eardrum should be able to tell that the old appalachian music and the genres that emerged from it were based on irish, scottish & welsh jigs & reels and the ballad songs that the immigrants of the british isles brought with them. when the banjo, an african instrument, was introduced by freed slaves, a whole new element was added. and it was gooooood. the music was first recorded in the early 20’s and in the 30’s the grand ole opry radio show broadcast it. by 1940 the capitol of country was nashville, and country had become the term used instead of hillbilly music, as the popularity of acts such as the carter family grew. bluegrass would become a sound unto itself, as well. though, the two would remain intertwined in many ways. with hank williams, country had it’s first superstar, and bill monroe would lead the charge of the high lonesome sound. 
tonight in my home state of maine at 7pm, at 
both columbus day and thanksgiving are odd holidays. now, clearly holidays in this society are not really meaningful to most, i.e. christmas and easter to the average person have nothing at all to do with jesus, hence the elves and trees and reindeer and bunnies and eggs. people want to be able to have a day off, be gluttonous, watch tv specials, and get stressed by their families without contemplating anything. still, the question is asked “who is columbus to have a holiday?”, it’s sort of like naming a dessert after napoleon. but, aside from the small segment of the population deeply concerned with native american rights and conversely, old italian men at the local KoC, no one really seems to care. it’s just a 3 day weekend. with thanksgiving, we like that idea of the pilgrims & natives having a meal. it’s makes us feel like the fact that that pilgrims were puritanical religious fanatics who later turned on the natives isn’t that bad, and we can get real serious with the gluttony. it’s something people don’t really want to think about, because of just how awful it truly is. 5 centuries ago, north & south america were populated only by what we in the u.s. call “native americans”, or in canada “first nations”, or more generally “indigenous” peoples. and now, here in the u.s., 5 centuries later that percentage has gone from 100% to roughly 1.4%. that is all you need to know to realize how screwed up it’s been for those who were here first. but, it hasn’t stopped. that’s the thing the average american doesn’t realize, that native americans are the most segregated and persecuted people in the u.s. still. did you know that a native american is not allowed by law to own a home outside of a reservation? yeah. that’s just one example. it’s ridiculously messed up. but, i think there also should be some understanding that this is what humanity does. from the beginning of this human experiment, one group of people goes from one place, invades another, kills as many as possible, takes as much as possible, and if they like it they stay. it is still happening today. and i think the british, french, portuguese & in particular the spanish empires were much more to blame for their actions prior to the establishment of the united states. however, in my estimation the fact that the u.s. was created to be something so much better then those empires is what makes this so tragic, and how the lust and desire for manifest destiny was so much more important than the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. hopefully i can get a friend who has vast knowledge of the plight of native americans today to share some thoughts (check back for comments). until then, here’s the videos on this music monday. some are songs that are about native peoples, some are songs by native peoples. to start it off, now i realize a lot of people don’t care for rage against the machine – ironically they tend to be people who totally agree with their politics. but, this video is amazing, and very timely due to what is going on with 
happy st. francis of assisi day.
it all began around 5,000 years ago with a strange old man in either modern day iraq or turkey depending on what time of day you ask a scholar. he was married to an old barren bird and so he got it on with his egyptian handmaid and had a son. later on, his wife said “surprise, i got a bun in the oven, too” and all hell broke lose. you’ll be happy to know no further problems arose from these two sons both claiming lineage from the same patriarch (oh wait, nevermind). the 2nd son would have a couple of his own, one being renamed yisrael after rasslin’ with an angel, and then having 12 sons, who would also have no problems with each other and do nothing innappropriate (oh wait, nevermind). there names were reuben (from which we get the delicious kosher sandwich), simeon, levi, judah (a descendent of this tribe would come along a few millenia later and cause a fuss – something about beatitudes and forgiveness and crucifixion – also, the 
so, phil kessel has left boston. the bruins GM peter chiarelli has stated that kessel had “zero interest in returning to boston” so it only made sense to do the deal, but i honestly think that this was about chiarelli and moreso head coach claude julien not liking kessel, and the feeling being mutual. it was well known the last 2 seasons that julien did not care for kessel’s attitude and vice versa. there was this image of kessel as being soft, but i think for a 20, 21 year old kid, he showed his worth. that playoff performance back in ‘08 against montreal – after julien benched him the first couple games – was amazing. and, he had 60 points in 70 games last year. this kid is a sniper, and was poised to be the future of the b’s. now, maybe he didn’t want to play here. maybe he was a prima donna. maybe he’s not “a real bruin”. but, i liked having arguably the best american player in boston with the black & gold on. and, without getting any proven talent in return and trading him to a team in the same division just seems foolish to me. i thought nashville would’ve been much more preferable, but supposedly the only team that was willing to do the deal was toronto. well, God bless, i do have plenty of love in my heart for the leafs and would like to see them win a cup in the near future…just not at the bruins expense. though, with this deal, it very well may be.
