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Folks, lots of cool local stuff to talk about this week, so lets get right into it! This year the Catskills Irish Arts Week is back and running at full strength. The dates are July 10-16 and with a program as incredible as the one theyve put together theres a lot to look forward to.

It all starts with the folks on board and CIAWs organizers have taken pains to build a great staff there are over 40 instructors but whats even more noteworthy is the large number of notables theyre bringing over from Ireland. The folks traveling here include Clare Friel, fiddle; Danny OMahony, button accordion; Brenda Castles & Liam OBrien, concertina; Tara Howley, uilleann pipes; Michael Rooney & Seamus OFlaherty, harp; Mchel Mille, Irish language; Deirdre Cronin, creative writing; Caoimhe Flaherty, Irish singing; and Pdraig McEneany, set dancing. The US-based staff (which space prevents me from including here) is similarly top tier and includes a number of luminaries, among them Comhaltas Hall of Fame members, several All-Ireland champions, and even a couple of National Heritage Fellows.

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And remember: heading up to East Durham just for the hang is great craic, but the real experience is to be found in participating in the Festival itself by taking part in the workshops, and going to the lectures, concerts, and sessions. Its this sort of participation that will ensure CIAW remains an ongoing concern!

Enrollment is open, its definitely a good idea to check it out this year! For more information about the staff, schedule, signing up, and places to stay, visit http://www.catskillsirishartsweek.com.

In other news, on June 19 thats this Sunday the Rambling House in Woodlawn will host a fundraiser in its Party Room from 12:00-3:30 p.m. for the young local musicians who will be traveling to compete in the Fleadh Cheoil na hireann in Mullingar, July 31-August 7. The Sarah Lynch Cil Band, the Martin OGrady Cil Band & Grupai Cheoil will be there, as will Mickey Coleman, the Flynn Irish Dancers, and more. Should be a great time!

On June 29, the Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) in Dublin will launch what theyre calling a major digital exhibition of Irish traditional music relating to New York. The online exhibit will feature rare recordings, stories, photos, and videos that document New York Citys rich Irish traditional music heritage.

I have not been made privy to the complete contents of the exhibition, but Ive seen a couple things that have made me say wow! and the people Ive talked to who have worked on the project have expressed a sense of great excitement. I think this exhibition is really, really something to look forward to and be very excited about. Visit itma.ie for more information (and perhaps sign up to their mailing list, theyre launching very cool new things all the time and youll be in the loop when the NYC exhibition launches).

Finally: a little while back now I ran into Gregory Grene and he handed me a copy of Belturbet Town, the new album by his group the Prodigals. Ive always known the Prodigals as a Celtic rock band, something thats put their music a bit out of this columns purview. However, Ive always dug them they have incredible energy live so I took some time to have a close listen to this new one and found it really rather interesting. On it, they make a bit of a departure from their jig punk reputation and have embraced the sound of a wizened pub band taking a more introspective traditional angle.

The Prodigals are a New York institution and have been around for nigh 25 years. Although the lineups changed some over that time, the current incarnation is strong and includes Grene (vocals, button accordion), Colin Forhan (guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals), and Eamon Elams (drums & percussion). On the album, theyre joined by some very fine guests, including Mari Black (fiddle; http://www.mariblack.com), Mark Dann (bass), Alex Grene (fiddle), Katie Grennan (fiddle; http://www.katiegrennan.com), Jimmy Greenwood (bass) and the great Joanie Madden (whistle & flute; joaniemadden.com).

When he gave me the album, Grene said it included some traditional sounds Id be interested in, and in that vein hes right. Songs like Two Sisters, and Black Velvet Band, and instrumental tracks like Carolans Concerto / have a bit of old time depth and are lovely. However, I found that the best and most compelling stuff on the album were Grenes own compositions. There are a couple of interesting tune sets in Kathleen Alex / and Frances Clement / that I think are quite nice but to my ears his songs Belturbet Town, Recantation (Say Hello), and Ballad of Mattie Farrell stand out. Theyre well written, finely arranged, and well produced tracks that attract the ear.

Belturbet Town is an album I didnt expect. Its introspective without being precious and the music unfolds in a measured, almost relaxed way. Fans of The Prodigals will dig it, of course, but theres more to this album than the bands reputation will have you think its one Id say curious listeners should check out. (And, Id wager its one youll certainly hear Sundays on WFUV if youre in the Tristate Area!) Learn more at The Prodigals website, http://www.prodigals.com....

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Participation is key for CIAW - Irish Echo

UEFA have fined Paris Saint-Germain 8,000 and banned former sporting director Leonardo for one match following incidents at the end of their Champions League knockout game against Real Madrid in March.

PSG lost the tie 3-2 on aggregate, despite leading 2-0 with less than 30 minutes remaining.

Leonardo left the club last week following a major review by club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi which will also see Mauricio Pochettino depart.

The punishments handed down by UEFAs Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body stem from events on March 9.

The Athletic understands Al-Khelaifi and Leonardo went to the referees room at the Santiago Bernabeu to complain about the award of Reals first goal, believing that goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma had been fouled in the build-up.

PSG were initially fined 16,000 on June 2, but appealed the decision.

A UEFA statement read: The appeal lodged by Paris Saint-Germain is partially upheld. Consequently, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Bodys decision of March 2 is amended as follows.

To fine Paris Saint-Germain 8,000 for blocking of public passageways. The CEBD had decided, inter alia, to fine Paris Saint-Germain 16,000 for blocking of public passageways.

Leonardo has also been banned for one game. The former AC Milan midfielder was appointed as PSGs sporting director for the second time in July 2019. Al-Khelaifi has been cleared.

Leonardo, who also played for PSG in the 1996-97 season, had previously held the role between July 2011 and July 2013.

The Athletic understands the club is undergoing a thorough process and considering various candidates to replace Pochettino, of which Nices Christophe Galtier is one, while sources close to PSG denied links that emerged last Friday claiming that Zinedine Zidane was close to an agreement.

(Photo: Getty Images)

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UEFA fine PSG and ban former sporting director Leonardo for reaction to Real Madrid loss - The Athletic

Jovial Jake White before a match. (Photo by Gordon Arons/Gallo Images)

Bulls mentor Jake White has emphatically dismissed a stream of thought that his team peaked too early in their brilliant semi-final victory over Leinster last week ahead of Saturday's United Rugby Championship (URC) final.

Some commentators, notably former Springbok consultant and Lions coach Swys de Bruin, earlier this week pondered if the men from Loftus over-exerted themselves mentally and might perhaps fall a bit flat when they meet the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium.

But White believes if his charges' reaction after the win in Dublin is anything to go by, they will be more than up for the challenge.

"Last week when we beat Leinster, we didn't celebrate," said the franchise's director of rugby.

"It wasn't like we achieved anything. I can tell you that the guys were happy, but they weren't jumping around and celebrating like everything is done. That's a good sign for a coach."

His skipper, irrepressible flanker Marcell Coetzee, has continually reiterated over the past few weeks that the Bulls have been playing knockout rugby ever since they've had rescue themselves from a poor start to the campaign.

Furthermore, White's troops have won two of the three finals they've appeared over the past two years.

READ |Jake concerned over scrum fiasco on URC final pitch: 'Stormers could suffer most'

"We've had to jump up from 15th on the log. I remember people sharing screenshots of us being second last on the table. We've had to play knockout rugby for most of this campaign," he said.

"[World Cup-winning Springbok coach] Kitch Christie always used to say that you have to play your best rugby in a final and that's the reality.

"We got nothing from winning in Dublin. You maybe get 250 WhatsApp messages from your mates congratulating you, but it's not winning.

"Our final is on Saturday. I'm not concerned. The Stormers won their semi-final with a try and conversion with the last play against Ulster. Maybe their final was last week as well.

"A final is remembered by the team who wins it. It's like Neil Armstrong being the first man on the moon, the second guy was also there but nobody remembers him."

Meanwhile, White has had no qualms laying down the simple challenge to his players of pulling out all the stops this weekend because, as he's discovered, they've repelled everything that's been thrown at them over the past few years.

Teams:

Stormers

15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 JJ Kotze, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain)

Substitutes: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Ernst van Rhyn, 20 Junior Pokomela, 21 Nama Xaba, 22 Godlen Masimla, 23 Sacha Mngomezulu

Bulls

15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Cornal Hendricks, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Madosh Tambwe, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Arno Botha, 6 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Walt Steenkamp, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp

Substitutes: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Robert Hunt, 19 Janko Swanepoel, 20 WJ Steenkamp, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 David Kriel

"Last week we beat Leinster with 19 internationals. We beat South Africa 'A' last year. And my message to them would be all those players started like we started. All of them were young at one point and they had to either sink or swim," he said.

"Thats the message - either we sink or swim. I have no doubt every time we have played in a knockout game, we have come through the other side as winners. Every time we have had to beat someone - we lost to the Sharks twice, and we beat them in the playoff, we lost to the Sharks in the Currie Cup and we beat them in the final.

We lost to the Stormers twice, now it's irrelevant. It's a playoff game and the lessons we learn by playing all those big teams, they all started like this. We dont have five World Cup winners. If they picked the Springbok team tomorrow, we wouldnt have one player in the 23.

"But saying that, it's a great way to be, because all the teams started like that. Leinster started like that, the Crusaders started like that. The Springboks started like that. When I started coaching the Springboks in 2004, we had 175 caps of which Breyton (Paulse) had 80 and Os (du Randt) had 50. That team went on to win Tri Nations, World Cup and the British & Irish Lions.

"My message is, 'listen boys, let's go out there and do it'. Every time Ive challenged you, youve won."

Kick-off is at 19:30.

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Jake rubbishes talk that Bulls peaked too early in Dublin: 'Lots of WhatsApps isn't winning' - News24

Evil Geniuses vs Cloud9 Picks

Evil Geniuses

The spring season playoff winners Evil Geniuses kick off their summer season against Cloud9 hoping to continue the fine form that led them to a $100,000 prize pool two months ago. They had a 9-9 win-loss record in the league before winning it all in the playoffs by comfortably seeing off 100 Thieves 3-0 in the final. They face Cloud9 team in a rematch of the round 2 spring playoffs game in which the Evil Geniuses prevailed 3-0. The title win last season was inspired by performances across the team with bot laner Danny winning the player of the game award four times.

Support player Vulcan also made the 3rd All Pro Team while their jungler Inspired 3.04 kills, 1.79 deaths, 6.97 assists for a KDA of 5.61. The mood in the camp is buoyant after the win in the spring playoffs and the roster looks fairly settled ahead of their title defence, with no changes made. They are slim favorites to start off with a win in their first league match.

Cloud9 have to cope without Summit and two other support players Isles and Winsome after a turnover in their roster and it is hard to know how ready they are to face opposition like Evil Geniuses. Summit along with jungler Blaber were part of the All Pro team last season.

Cloud9 faltered in the knockout game despite qualifying two positions ahead of Evil Geniuses in the league. They had a 13-5 record in the league led by their top laner Summit who was top of the Player of the Game standings winning the award seven times. Cloud9 will be boosted by the return of Jensen who rejoined the side after over three years. He previously played and lost three LCS finals before joining Team Liquid and winning his first title.

Cloud9 will hope he can continue his form alongside Fudge who has impressed while averaging 3.54 kills, 1.81 deaths, 5.73 assists with a KDA of 5.12. They will need him to keep that up to have any chance of beating Evil Geniuses and build momentum for the early part of the season.

Golden Guardians

Golden Guardians head into the new season with renewed optimism after a solid 6th place finish in the spring standings. Like the eventual winners Evil Geniuses, they got 9 wins and 9 losses last season and even rose up to 3rd in the standings at one point before flatering in the first playoff round losing to Cloud9.

They now have to cope without their bot laner Lost who averaged 3.45 kills, 2.14 deaths, 4.18 assists and a KDA of 3.57. Replacing him is Stixxay who changes position from positional coach to bot laner. As long as they can manage the loss of Lost, Golden Guardians should be able to pick up the win and get off to a comfortable start. They will be looking to build on their 6th place finish in the spring season and become one of the top tier teams in the league.

FlyQuest also got 9 wins and 9 losses last season and qualified for the playoffs in 5th place even though the team looked to be heading for a top 3 finish throughout the season. They lost to the eventual winners Evil Geniuses in the playoff round. But this season, they have bolstered their squad by adding top laner Philip from their academy.

They will bank on their mid laner Toucouille who was named in the 2nd All Pro Team last season to continue making an impact. Both teams are trying to move up the standings but we think Golden Guardians have enough to win this game and potentially get their season off to a good start while FlyQuest will need their new additions to fire in order to make a game of this and start the season with a win.

100 Thieves

100 Thieves enjoyed a fine spring season finishing 3rd in the standings with a 12-6 win-loss record before going all the way to the finals in the playoffs. They led the table for much of the league season before eventually finishing 3rd. Theyll start as heavy favorites to win against TSM in their first contest of the new season. They will once again bank on the talented top laner Ssumday who had a stirring season winning player of the game five times.

His record of 2.71 kills, 1.47 deaths, 4.91 assists for a KDA of 5.18 is the highest in the team. They go into the new season unchanged aiming to take the next step and win the title this time.With a settled squad and on the back of a solid season, momentum is on the side of 100 Thieves and they will be the favorites in their first match of the summer season and for the rest of the campaign.

TSM endured a dismal spring season finishing 9th in the standings with a 5-13 win-loss record. They failed to make the playoffs and only managed to get themselves off the bottom of the table in the penultimate week after being bottom for most of the season. Mid laner Maple and support player Shenyi were added to the roster to help improve the team.

Though the changes will definitely improve TSMs chances this season, the first match against 100 Thieves may have come too early for them and it will need to be a real team effort to be competitive. 100 Thieves is the favorite in their first match of the summer season and they will be expected to push on and have another fine season this summer.

Team Liquid

After finishing bottom of the table in the spring season, Immortals will be hoping to turn their fortunes around this time. The grim form last season prompted wholesale changes in the roster with bot laner Lost joining from Golden Guardians. He averaged 3.45 kills, 2.14 deaths, 4.18 assists and a KDA of 3.57 and Immortals will hope that he will be able to hit the ground running quickly along with other new faces jungler Kenvi and support player Ignar.

This is a new roster for Immortals and it is hard to know how ready they will be for opposition like Team Liquid with such a short turnaround time. It will take a miracle for the bottom team last year to do any real damage against the league-topping Team Liquid. The money is on a Team Liquid win in their first match of the summer season.

The powerhouse Team Liquid is no stranger to success having won 4 LCS titles in a row and taking the 1st seed for North America at Worlds 2019. In the spring season this year too,Team Liquid enjoyed a stellar campaign finishing top of the standings before being edged out by eventual winners Evil Geniuses in the third round of the playoffs.

Their league record of 14 wins and 4 losses with a 78% win record was unmatched and they go into the new season as one of the early favorites. Their team effort was led by their jungler Santorin who was awarded player of the game five times while mid laner Bjergsen, bot laner Hans sama and support player CoreJJ all made it to the All Pro team.

It is the same roster as last season with Team Liquid hoping to go further in the playoffs and win the title. They are an easy bet to place for the first match of the summer season and are heavily favored to kick on from their showing last season and be competitive in the playoffs again.

Dignitas

Dignitas narrowly missed out on making the playoffs in the spring season after finishing seventh with a 8-10 win loss record and a 44% win percentage. The team will be looking to go one better this time and make the playoffs and they will do so after bolstering their roster by re-signing top laner Gamsu who made the switch from 100 Thieves academy roster.

They will hope he combines well with the assists machine Biofrost who averages 7.25 assists with a KDA of 3.96. Their task will be to remain highly competitive in the league and hope to go further than they did in the spring season and make the playoffs this time around.

Time will tell if the decision to re-sign Gamsu will turn out to be the masterstroke they were looking for but they should have enough in the team to see off Counter Logic Gaming in the first match of the summer season.

Counter Logic Gaming also missed out on the playoffs in the spring season after finishing 8th with a 6-12 win loss record and a 33% win percentage. It was a league campaign where they were just unable to build any real momentum with their highest position only 7th during the whole season.

They have recruited top laner dhokla from the academy roster to replace the outgoing Jenkins but the change alone is not expected to be enough to fire them up the table. They will find it difficult against Dignitas in the first match of the summer season and it is likely they will have to regroup quickly to avoid a repeat of last season and move up the table.

They will aim to be competitive and the top laner dhokla will be key to their chances of having a better season this time.

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LCS Picks, Predictions and Odds for 17 June - World Sports Network

"Just imagine for once if we led the world in funding peace and not wars."

Just imagine! The words are those of Robert Weissman, president of the organization Public Citizen, in response to the legislative efforts of Reps. Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan, who are the co-chairs ofglory hallelujah!the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus. They recently introduced legislation that would cut Pentagon spending by $100 billion and divert the money to programs that actually helped the country . . . e.g., universal health care, ending child poverty, saving the environment.

"Just imagine for once if we led the world in funding peace and not wars."

Yeah, just imagine. One can also quickly, unavoidably imagine the cynicism that rushes in whenever someone tosses out the word "peace." Then it's all pushed to the margins, both political and social, as America continues its business as usual, which is all about protecting itself from enemies (most of whom it creates). The sales pitch is fear. The motive, hidden in the shadows, is extraordinary profit for some.

The problem begins with the words themselves, which turn two complex, infinitely different enterpriseswar and peaceinto two items on a knick-knack shelf . . .a plastic G.I. Joe, let's say, and a cute little angel. That's the essence of the American "debate" about what matters and what it should do with its wealth. The debate is cynicism-fueled and simplistic, reducing "peace," in particular, to a weakling's counterpart to war. When the focus is on war, you always know what to do next. Say the wrong guy (Joe Biden, for instance), gets elected president:

"We will have to do a bloody, massively bloody revolution against them. That's what's going to have to happen."

The speaker is the currently incarcerated Elmer Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, who, of course, played a major role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. His words are both stunning and completely ho-hum "normal." Declare an enemy, then kill it. What about that do you not understand?

The thing is, this attitude isn't just rightwing nutballicosity. This is red, white and blue, "mission accomplished," ever-increasing-defense-budget America. "Just imagine for once if we led the world in funding peace and not wars." Everybody knows this is virtually impossible to imagine beyond the realm of the fairytale. What would that even mean? Funding peace, creating peacethis is deeply complex, and too many Americans, certainly too many of those in leadership positions, don't have time for complexity.

How, for instance, do we deal with all those inconvenient mass shootings, at schools, shopping malls, churches, etc.? Gun control isn't the answer because people need access to assault rifles and suchin America we have the freedom to protect ourselves (just ask George Zimmerman). The guys who do those mass shootings are lone wolves and usually mentally ill, so we need to amp up our mental health efforts, which, mind you, doesn't actually mean funding mental health programs (the Pentagon needs that money). Is there another option?

"The aftermath of the attack also unleashed a call by several prominent Republicans to arm teachers.," according to Common Dreams.

And to that end, Ohio's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, recently signed a bill "permitting teachers to carry a gun to class after just 24 hours of firearms training." This is down from the 700 hours of training previously required of school personnel. What could possibly go wrong with that?

"A madness has taken hold," tweeted the NAACP's Sherrilyn Ifill.

That seems to be the caseor so it seems beyond the world of guns and violence and easy solutions. In his book The Powers That Be, Walter Wink talks about "the myth of redemptive violence": the belief that violence saves us. Indeed, "It doesn't seem to be mythic in the least," he wrote. "Violence simply appears to be in the nature of things. It's what works. It seems inevitable, the last and, often, the first resort in conflicts. If a god is what you turn to when all else fails, violence certainly functions as a god."

This is a helluva god to worship and obey. Here are some stats: In 2020, the most recent year that data is available, 45,222 people in the United States were killed by guns. Nearly 53 people are killed by guns every day.

And across the various oceans, at least a million people have died in recent American warsin Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and other countries. And, oh yeah, more than 30,000 American veterans have committed suicide in the wake of those wars, according to the Costs of War Project, seeming to indicate that the god of redemptive violence isn't the only one we worship. For many people, another God appears in the wake of war and violence, especially when someone is all alone with himself/herself. Suddenly liveslost livesmay start to matter.

"Wasteful defense spending does not make our communities saferit only weakens our ability to respond to crises," said Congresswoman Lee.

She's referring, of course, to complex responses: providing food and health care for the hungry, the ill; addressing the deep causes of crime and social instability; listening to people and healing wounds rather than being content with punishment and armed self-defense; allowing our empathy to transcend national borders; rethinking our relationship with Planet Earth and placing our priorities on sustaining rather than exploiting it.

"Just imagine for once if we led the world in funding peace and not wars."

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Opinion | Embracing the Complexity of Peace | Robert C. Koehler - Common Dreams