I have returned from the G20 fortress of the Holy City. I was safely in the suburbs and had nothing at all to do with the Red Zone and the Security Fence, and all the other nonsense. Watching the local news on Friday evening, it was obvious the newscasters were just aching for some rioting, arrests, anything to report on. It was so wrong. Shameful, really.
So they finally got their burnt police cars, and smashed windows and arrested rioters. I hope all the newscasts were satisfied.
Meanwhile, poor Frank Lampard. A real shame about that disallowed goal, but since it didn't much matter in the long run..well, Aufwiedersehen, England. heh heh.
3 comments:
I saw ONE burning car that they showed over and over and yes, mister pete mansbridge was frothing at the mouth
as for world cup: goodbye europe! hello, hello south america!!
OMG, there was a goal scored by one of the Argentinian players that was so good, I thought, why has anybody outside Sth America bothered turning up!
Having said that, and with no idea about world rankings, I'm keeping an eye on the Dutch.
Yes, the footage of G8 and G20 here consisted of our new Deputy PM trying to explain the sudden change in leadership down here, Obama organising the photo shoot and that one police car on fire!
I couldn’t agree more about the media. Speaking from my limited experience, I can also add that, contrary to media reports, the police too want some action – how else to justify their extreme presence and excessive budgets? The pictures of burning police cars and broken bank windows are the money shots. At similar events I’ve seen them unnecessarily herd people (confining people to very small areas) and intimidate (via dogs and water cannons) otherwise docile demonstrators – for no other reason than overt provocation. My sense is that the undercover police agitation at Montebello was not an exception but rather the way things are now done (the lack of an inquiry – and outrage – is very telling). Of course, this doesn’t mean that such events don’t attract absolute morons. Everyone seems to have their scripted role. If activists really wanted to embarrass the Harper administration this time around they would have stayed home.
As for England, I predicted a 4 - 0 loss … so I wasn’t so far off. The bad call did ultimately hurt them … forcing them to press and play further up and leaving them vulnerable to additional goals. Still, with defense like that they were never going to beat Germany. There was not a single area – goalkeeping, defense, mid-field, offence – where they inspired confidence.
JD
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