Almost 200 Phish fans left Virginia a little lighter than when they arrived for the band's big reunion. Police said Monday that they confiscated about $1.2 million in illegal drugs and more than $68,000 in cash from concertgoers during the three-night celebration of the band's return to the stage. Authorities arrested 194 Phans, most for drug possession, use and distribution. Nearly 200 law enforcement officers worked the weekend event, with the band picking up the tab.
Get it? Picking up the tab? You know, like a tab of acid? Wait. Do people still use the expression "tab of acid"? Come to think of it, do people still use acid?
Speaking of illegal drugs, that's just what they are doing in Vienna. On the eve of a meeting by the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs to review United Nations drug policy, a new European Commission report said that enforcing drug bans has backfired; displacing drug traffickers to lawless regions and leading addicts to spread disease as syringe-exchange programs have shut down.
Yeah, also otherwise law-abiding citizens are put in jail.
"In other words," concluded the report, "the world drugs situation seems to be more or less in the same state as in 1998."
Nevertheless, U.N. members are expected to sign a declaration re-committing themselves to fighting drug trafficking in the very same way for yet another 10 years. Then, after signing the agreement, they will all go out and get stinking drunk.
Did anyone happen to be in the stands for the opening-round Davis Cup match between Israel and Sweden? Of course not. Almost no one was in the stands. Officials in the Swedish city of Malmö didn't allow spectators inside, saying they couldn't guarantee the Israeli athletes' safety. Check out this eerie footage to see what that was like.
So, while the match went on in an almost-empty stadium, scores of rock-throwing protesters outside clashed with police outside. Cops apprehended nearly 100 people and arrested 10 on charges of rioting and assault. Video footage of the protest on YouTube, shows the march descending into chaos, as demonstrators hurl large fireworks at mounted police, climb on top of police vehicles and attempt to enter the stadium.
Here, someone has set the protest footage to a catchy little tune:
The person who made this tape seems pretty pleased with what went on. Keep in mind, this is about tennis.
According to a spokesman for Stop The Match, the ad-hoc organization formed specifically to cancel the Davis Cup tournament with Israel, this was in retribution for Israel "denying the Palestinian people the right to live in peace and to practice sports" according to its website. After the riots, a spokesman for the group was unapologetic for the violence. "We concluded that 'Malmö is Gaza,'" he said. "We were all Palestinians at the stadium."
Right. "Malmö is Gaza." And Sweden is Israel. And sports and politics mix really well. And violent protests are a great way to solve problems. And, of course, the best possible method for convincing people that the Palestinian cause is just is to threaten innocent athletes for no other reason than they are Jews who represent the Jewish state.
Malmö is Sweden's third-largest city and has grown accustomed to this kind of conflict. Over a quarter of its population is made up of immigrants, many from Arab countries. Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon are in the top 10 countries of origin for immigrants, according to census data.
Oh, by the way, the Israeli team beat Sweden 3-2 to reach the Davis Cup quarter-final for the first time since 1987. Monday, the win was front page news in Israeli papers.
