Angry Fan Karate Kicks Ref in Soccer Game

Like soccer?  Well, no one does, but you may find this article interesting.  A Chinese soccer fan karate kicked a referee after the Qingdao Chinese Super League club received two red cards.  He then promptly shoved a linesman, and caused a melee to ensue.

From Yahoo!:

BEIJING (Reuters) – A Chinese fan enraged by two quick red cards shown to the Qingdao Chinese Super League club at the weekend registered his annoyance by launching a karate kick at the referee and shoving a linesman.

The incident dealt another blow to the image of Chinese soccer, which is widely considered to be corrupt and riven with violence both on and off the pitch.

Slovenian forward Aleksander Rodic was the first Qingdao player given his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card for diving in the 67th minute of the 2-0 loss to Shanghai Shenhua on Sunday.

Croatian midfielder Stjepan Jukic followed him for an early shower three minutes later after being shown a straight red card for a nasty foul.

The tackle sparked a melee during which the unidentified man raced onto the pitch and attacked the two officials, Chinese media reported on Monday.

Yu Tao, general manager of the Qingdao club, denied that the man, who was wearing branded shorts and trainers, was a club employee.

"The man was definitely not on the staff of our club. He was just an emotional fan," he told the Xinhua news agency. "The referee failed to control the game well -- perhaps he was too young."

Around 100 Qingdao fans smashed up a car they believed belonged to referee Wang Zhe after the match, Xinhua reported.

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Eastern Mediterranean Natural Gas a Potential Windfall for Israel and Lebanon– And of Course Hezbollah Wants It

But there's a catch. There's always a risk of war when two nations are trying to vie for the same resources under a similar border/sea. Think August 1990 at the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. Of course, Hezbollah is sounding the war alarms in an attempt to gain more power for themselves:

"Lebanon's need for the resistance has doubled today in light of Israeli threats to steal Lebanon's oil wealth," Hezbollah's Executive Council chief Hashem Safieddine said last month. The need to protect the offshore wealth "pushes us in the future to strengthen the resistance's capabilities."

According to the article, Israel is going to start producing natural gas in two years and will have enough energy for the next twenty years.

Of course there's talk of Lebanon also developing these waters. Without significant foreign help, it does not appear like Beirut will be able to do so. And furthermore, Hezbollah definitely will not be able to develop and maintain such an infrastructure if it ever took over the country. That being said, it follows that we should prevent those terrorists from getting a hold of such a lucrative resource.

Cross-posted at World Threats.
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Alabama doesn't change.

I knew there was a reason I've always wanted to visit Alabama, and I believe that reason has been found - their consistent Conservatives who do not ever change. According to a new Rasmussen Reports poll, nearly the exact same amount of Alabama voters feel the same way now in 2010, than they did in 2008 about President Barack Obama.

2008 US Presidential Election:

McCain - 60.32%
Obama - 38.74%
Others - 01.96%

2010 US Presidential approval:

Disapprove - 60%
Approve - 39%
Not Sure - 2%

In a world that is lacking consistency, Alabama could teach us all a thing or two. Also, according to that same poll, Senator Shelby will be reelected with relative ease in November, and close to 70% of the state's voting population favor a complete repeal of Obamacare, while 26% don't and 5% are unsure.

Thoughts?

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2010 - Year of the Pitcher.

I am more than convinced of the fact that 2010 is the Year of the Pitcher (or at least the Year of the Pitcher in the post-steroids era) in Major League Baseball. We have witnessed five no-no's, 2 of which were Perfect Game's, and we still have two months left in the season. What will be next for the Pitchers, and what more can be achieved this season than this:

April 17th, 2010 - Ubaldo Jimenez against the Atlanta Braves.
May 9th, 2010 - Dallas Braden* against the Tampa Bay Rays.
May 29th, 2010 - Roy Halladay** against the Florida Marlins.
June 25th, 2010 - Edwin Jackson against the Tampa Bay Rays.
July 26th, 2010 - Matt Garza against the Detroit Tigers.

Can the remarkable season of 1968 be matched this year? Probably not, because Pitcher's don't have a shot in hell of winning 31 games anymore, and a 1.12 ERA is near impossible to recreate. However, Ubaldo Jimenez could win 22 or 23 games, and Josh Johnson's ERA is currently at an impressive 1.61 for the season.

Whether we match 1968 is not a question to be pondered, but whether this season is the single greatest complete season for Pitchers since 1968 is. Two months left in the season; who knows what will happen next.

* - First Perfecto of the Season.
** - Second Perfecto of the Season.

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Quote of the Day

"Literature, not scripture, sustains the mind and --since there is no other metaphor--also the soul. 
" 
— Christopher Hitchens

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