A Few Links

My friend and blog reader Amy mentioned that anti-bacterial soap kills as many germs as regular soap does, and here's an interesting post on this. I find this interesting:

The anti-bacterial soaps kill the bacteria, but you don't have to kill the bacteria to prevent infection. You just have to wash them off. The issue is important because some fear that antibacterial soaps have played a role in the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Over the weekend, Chris, George (my roommate) and I were talking about baseball relievers and how they'd fared after a big loss, particularly Donnie Moore's awful fate, so this list is timely. I have my issues with it, as not every fall after a big loss can be blamed completely on that loss, but it's still as comprehensive a list as you could hope for. While I think you can still make a case that it can be damaging, here is the conclusion:

Even using a fairly broad definition of "Damaged," and understanding that in any season a certain number of successful relievers will fall off, we come up with a list of 22 relief pitchers (55%) who Survived a major postseason disaster, 12 (30%) who came away in some sense Damaged, and just 6 (15%) who were thoroughly Ruined by the experience, those being a mixture of young guys (Schiraldi) and established veterans (Niedenfeur, Williams).

Finally, Chris and I were talking about European soccer, and I was pointing out some of its odder points. Lazio, an Italian club, is the first to come to mind, as they were Mussolini's favorite, and Fascists still claim them. This article from 2000 gives you an introduction:

Lazio has unwanted links with the extreme right faction of the Alleanze Nazionale - the former fascist-turned-conservative party which commands around 35 per cent of the vote in Rome elections.

That number may be relatively small, around 4,000, but it is racist, extremely violent and it has a ready-made audience in the Stadio Olimpico, with photographers and television cameras able to capture its message and spread it around Italy.

At last season's Rome derby, the notorious supporters group - the Irriducibili Ultras - unfurled a 50-metre banner around Lazio's Curva Nord section of the stadium. It read: 'Auschwitz is your town, the ovens are your houses.'

If the public outcry stopped short of direct city or governmental action, the tribute to the assassinated Arkan in February this year provoked a response.

'In honour of Arkan the Tiger, one of us,' it screamed to the watching world about a man who had conscripted many of Red Star Belgrade's most subversive fans and led them in committing atrocities in the Balkan conflict.

The wrath of the Italian Government came down on Lazio, who were ordered to confiscate offensive banners at the entrance to future matches and the club issued statements decrying the behaviour of the few.

And here's this year's wonderful example. There are questions as to Paolo di Canio's intent by using the Fascist salute, but it's still inexcusable. According to the Wikipedia, he has was a member of the Ultras as a child.