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Anyone who's ever played sports will tell you theres nothing but shame involved in actively lobbying to play a weaker opponent.

Well, yes, too many dumb rules in the sport...I agree. MLB actually has gotten this perfect with the automated strike zones and replay review. Games shouldn't be determined by whether the ump/ref is an idiot. And it shouldn't be predicated on rules that make no sense. It's a shame how hockey allowed the offsides challenge to basically undermine things as well. Not the obvious ones, but where the play was going on for 3 minutes and out of nothing but desperation the team scored against will challenge hoping to claim something that had zero impact on their ability to defend the play should negate a goal. But thats the state of things today. Here, between seeing 60-70% of goals negated because of rules that encourage laziness, and now the stupid pocket card drama, like ugh, reminds me why the only time I can stand soccer is when my daughters playing. If an erroneous and stupid "card ruling" can affect multiple games...fix it. I kinda hope both the US and Belgium lose.

Thats not the case. Playing with the integrity of the game means following the rules of the game start to finish. No changing the rules after the fact because you dont like the outcome. I only follow soccer every 4 years but even i thought the red card was way too harsh (esp given the stuff that went on in the France/Paraguay game). But like the offside rule, thats the game and the rules were set out out long before the tournament started. If you start applying "best team regardless" the rules go out the window.

Here is the thing, I strongly prefer he plays, would be so much sweeter beating their cheating asses that way. The problem is that only the US gets the exemption here... if that is how you really feel, eliminate the suspended match for all players that got a red card. That is integrity.

I mean is it embarrassing pretending to care about "integrity of the game" as an excuse for deliberately trying to avoid playing the best team a country can field? Growing up playing sports, even into a semi high level, it was always viewed as an integrity thing to desire to play the best players/version of your opponent. Otherwise youre just admitting a lack of character and desire to take shortcuts. No "champion" really wants to have that title knowing they weren't actually the best team.

Leave the red card, take the cannoli.

I would feel it would be weird if JPM and Bank of America would make US currency...so, seeing these 100s issues by HSBC and Bank of China is interesting in so many ways. I love the vibe of HK.

If you're in Hong Kong, definitely check out: Lily Bookshop (surprisingly large, english, business section, most used books are in $20-40USD range) -- large for HK standards, we're not talking about a US superstore...LOL My BookRoom (small business, sections, but found some good used bios at a good price - $10-20 USD range) The Commercial Press Tsim Sha Tsui - Small, but focused business section. For the first two, you don't want to go if you are claustrophobic.

You can get the latest version on Kindle, but this is their last printed, hardcopy (2024 Winter). I visited their HQ office (Toyo Keizai) to get this and talk to one of their analysts. Always cool to explore different corners of the financial world. Warren said he used this reference prior to buying this Japanese basket of stocks. Flipping through it, I can see the value.

Hi, I am from Italy. I know just what I have read and see on videos... They have already introduced WERO (already 48 millions registered users on it...to not be only reliable on V and MA...) They have banned Palantir (at least 5 countries...more to come...) French ditched Microsoft for all his entire public sector... Avoiding using U.S server too... The direction is clear... The document about this stuff: Major official legislative proposals, communications, and strategy papers that form the framework for Europe's de-risking and tech decoupling. The core official documents and frameworks include: 1. The European Technological Sovereignty Package (June 2026) This is the most direct legislative push to date. It is aimed explicitly at forcing European businesses and public services to examine and reduce their massive structural reliance on foreign technology providers. [1, 2] The Official Factsheet: You can read the official summary via the European Commission's ⁠Factsheet on Tech Sovereignty. [1] Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA): The core legislative pillar designed to develop homegrown, secure alternative clouds so public sector data isn't locked into U.S. infrastructure. [1, 2, 3] Chips Act 2.0: A revised expansion of the original legislation focused on accelerating permits and boosting domestic AI chip production. [1, 2] 2. The EU Economic Security Strategy Framework The foundational blueprints for identifying and stopping high-risk global dependencies rely on a few central documents: The "High-Risk Dependency" Doctrine: The official guidelines on what constitutes a security risk can be found in the European Commission's ⁠Joint Communication on Strengthening EU Economic Security. It sets precise rules, such as labeling it high-risk if 60% or more of a critical supply chain is controlled by a single non-EU country. [1] Foreign Investment Screening Regulations: Formally adopted by the Council in June 2026, these rules require all EU member states to screen and block outside investments targeting "hyper-critical technologies," military goods, and digital infrastructure. More details are hosted on the Council's ⁠European Economic Security Policy Page. 3. Supply Chain & Raw Material Defense RESourceEU Action Plan: An official December 2025 amendment to the Critical Raw Materials Act. It establishes concrete stockpiling pilots and strict diversification mandates for large industrial operators to protect supply chains (such as AI data centers, defense, and electric vehicles) from single-source foreign blockades. [1, 2, 3] Happy to have pushbacks...I have nothing to prove just collecting data...

Yeahhhhhh, see this is where I enjoy the sporting atmosphere. Go to a bar and have some fun watching the game....who wins? Who TF cares? I feel the same about much of soccer as I do watching our NFL games. Exciting, sure. But way too many people seriously overinvested in the outcome of something where it seems stupid rules and subjectiveness from referees plays way too much of a role in the outcome. Enjoy it for what it is.

That map is inaccurate! The Belgian flag should be covering some percentage of the USA.

Sjees, are you also so biased in your equity research? You get a red card during a world cup - you don't play the next match - is it so difficult? Ngoy got a red card, he had to miss the next game. England had a red card yesterday, he will miss the next game. But rules are clearly not the same for everyone. You clearly don't agree, that is fine, but biased. You're just ignoring or twisting facts to make your argument valid. This should clearly be it, because I assume level of intellectual knowledge should be fine on this fora (in contrary to social media in generale - also only reason why I want to dedicated two post to it). Now I shut up, hope I can watch an unrigged game of football and celebrate in the end.

You're misunderstanding me. If Belgium would try to do the same, the US administration would lobby against it and win for sure. My point was simply, this would not be possible for any other team. This is uninformed, here is the difference: FIFA changed the rules before the tournament so that red cards from qualifying rounds do not carry over into the tournament. Ronaldo actually got 3 banned matched and served the first one in the qualifying rounds, the rest got suspended. All the others had their one banned match not carry over into the tournament. None of them got their immediate suspension revoked in the middle of a tournament except Balogun...

@Sinbius, I'll take the freedom to respectfully challenge that statement above of yours. EU has nothing to do with and no control over EU members' defence spending, however each EU members defence budget matter for each country, especially versus the relation to NATO membership, if NATO member. There doesen't even exist a NATO Army, a NATO Navy or a NATO Air Force. It's all mirages and wet dreams in the heads om some persons in Brussels. What EU does against Big Tech can the same way be challenged. Nobody here where I live [Denmark, both NATO and EU member] are on the hunt after Big Tech. It's a general misperception outside Europe, that EU decides 'everything' inside EU. EU simply doesen't. - - - o 0 o - - - @Sinbius, Are you Danish? -I'm asking because you have linked to a YouTube video with Danish text translation. Please feel free to decline to answer my question - I respect you privacy, if you decline to answer my question.

the plot thickens….regardless of outcome for the US team; Trump and Lutnick have written in permanent ink a big ass asterisk next to the 2026 World Cup Team….

I wrote an update on Fairfax Financial and Fairfax India for the Berczy Park Capital substack. https://open.substack.com/pub/berczyparkcapital/p/past-is-prologue?r=ecc87&utm_medium=ios

Seen on twitter: Hopefully not true: BREAKING: Howard Lutnick was involved in reversing FIFA’s red card decision on American player Balogun, per POLITICO

No team would try to get another teams best Striker reinstated…that’s a silly question….US is NOT the only team to have players reinstated this tournament. Again, I think it should stand even though it was terrible. But some US bias here is really driving the narrative without looking at the other cases. Nobody complained about Ronaldo or the four other players having suspension suspended or removed so they can play World Cup matches. Why does the outrage only start with Balogun? Is the corruption Trump making the call? Or the fact that the US player is the only one that shouldn't have theirs overturned based on FIFA Disciplinary Rule Changes and Reviews?

EU has already chosen and moved towards decoupling vs U.S big tech and defense dependence...

80% of U.S. startup use Chinese AI... Any data that doesn't make someone think that Chinese AI has already won and will continue to win vs U.S. AI?...

That’s not true….Ronaldo had his suspension pushed back so he could play a World Cup match. edit: fwiw I think it shouldn’t be reversed. I’m all for less tech intervention in sports in general. This obsession with reviews and precision are ruining the nuance of the game (baseball, basketball, football, soccer, etc).

What you should complain about is the USA red card getting overturned. Every team knew you could not overturn a decision after the match in this world cup. This was the policy. And believe me through out WC history there has been some terrible red card mistakes. They happen. Though it might not have been a red card... the ref and VAR room decided it was red. End of story as per the policy. If you want to make it possible to correct mistakes then fine. (although with VAR this should be way less of a problem) But make it a policy before the tournament starts. There have been yellow cards given that were not yellow. Mistakes happen. Accumulate enough yellow cards and you'll miss a match... This smells like some kind of corruption. Crazy really.

Correct - Reddit and other social media is suddenly full of American soccer experts. I don't mind Americans increasing their interest in "soccer" but ffs please show some humility. Enjoy, learn and don't start to think that everything is about you. Let's just hope it's over after today so we can start the real talk