Do I see a pattern?

Courtesy Der Spiegel:

A soccer riot in Leipzig on Saturday has led authorities to cancel games at every level this coming weekend in the entire state of Saxony. „Italian circumstances can’t be tolerated,“ says the head of Germany’s police union, referring to a policeman killed in an Italian soccer riot earlier this month.

Soccer officials in the German state of Saxony cancelled around 60 matches scheduled for this weekend in reaction to a riot by hooligans last Saturday. The decision comes in the wake of similar measures in Italy, where a policeman was killed by a hooligan during a riot in Sicily on Feb. 2.

 “Cancelling games is a symbolic act,“ said Klaus Reichenbach, president of Saxony’s soccer federation. „We had to send a message.“ And Saxony’s interior minister Albrecht Buttolo said, „To me an empty stadium is a thousand times better than a policeman’s funeral.“

Both local police and soccer players were upset by the violence in Leipzig on Saturday, when some 800 fans of FC Lokomotive Leipzig attacked 300 police officers, apparently in frustration because their team lost. Police said 36 officers and six fans were injured and 21 police vehicles were vandalized. „There could have been deaths,“ said Konrad Freiburg, head of Germany’s police union, who said officers felt targeted by the rioters.

„Italian circumstances,“ he added, „can’t be tolerated.“

Apparently, the German authorities are a bit more responsive than those in Italy.  It’s good to see a stance against hooliganism. Boorish brutes discredit the beautiful game.

Somewhere, it’s happy hour.

I went to a party last night and it was surprisingly enjoyable. I must say that one should not drink a large number of martinis made by other people.  There are some downsides to that.

Interesting site.

I’ve recently been reading ComingAnarchy.  It’s an interesting site with an interesting take on politics, war, news et al. Check it out.