'the bought person' = 'the mark'

Trump's been bloviating a lot lately about socialism and communism. Apparently, he's now fully embraced it — demanding Walmart dramatically lower their beef prices for the purpose of stabilizing his cratering approval ratings and helping him in the 2026 midterm elections.

The thing is, the US are generally well behaved when it comes to fair play in all international sports. They take antidoping more seriously than most, their athletes generally don't cheat and arrogance is often justified by performance. Why throw that away for a corrupt and classless man?

Say what you like, but this represents a major comms failure on the part of the Labour government - something Burnham will surely seek to improve upon.

“I just need you to find me four goals.”

Let’s see how Donald Trump explains away a 4-1 defeat to Belgium. “STOP THE GOALS” “WE WON BY A LANDSLIDE” “THE MOST CORRUPT MATCH IN THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL”

Le Pen’s best hope today when the three appeal judges rule is that they reduce her ban to two years from the date of the original sentence—a term which would expire just in time for her to run. This should not be ruled out, but it seems unlikely 3/

Back in Paris for today's massively consequential court decision that will determine whether the RN leader M. Le Pen can stand in next year's French presidential election. It is no exaggeration to say that today's court decision will effectively launch the French presidential election campaign 1/

"The real question is no longer whether Britain could recover its old opt-outs and budget rebates, but whether it is prepared to join a union that is more fiscally integrated, more interventionist, more geopolitical and...markedly less British than the one it left." @mijrahman.bsky.social

More of this, give me more! I love it!

Same process as moving away from the dollar. It's tricky, it takes time, it's hard to find alternatives, but everyone knows it's essential

What the hell is this? They should have lost by 30.

Americans are now so used to their president cheating and breaking rules that many of them seem genuinely not to understand why the world was rooting for Belgium.

Big day today when Le Pen’s future is decided after she used EU funds to pay for her domestic campaigns. Funny how Farage did exactly this but no UK authorities have done anything about it.

“After it ended, the Belgian team’s social media account had a message to the U.S. on Twitter: “Overturn this.” Perfect. #WellPlayed #Belgium

Everything Trump touches he corrupts Trump calls Fifa president about the suspension of U.S.A team member Folarin Balogun @anntelnaes.bsky.social

we're hearing that the president has intervened to say that the goal will in fact stand but balogun will be deported after the match, he also mentioned he is probably the best at heading in the world

it's been pushed up to the supreme court on appeal clive and they've voted 6-3 against the goal on the grounds that balogun's birthright citizenship to temporary non immigrant parents makes him ineligible to score

folarin balogun puts the ball in the net and the referee gives the goal and var confirms the goal but the legal review has ruled it out on the basis that the goal area can be technically said to belong to the goalkeeper and no valid warrant was produced to justify entering

Reminded of Patrick O’Flynn, then Ukip’s economy spokesperson, describing Farage as “snarling, thin-skinned and aggressive” back in 2015.

Apropos

Heh, nice one Belgium!

The part about covering your arse when you’re found out is useful as a reference for Farage’s response too… lawyer up, deny everything, flood the zone with accusations and counterattacks… Very Farage-y. God I hope it’s game over for that nasty, racist crook.

Important reminder from @mijrahman.bsky.social that the EU isn't the EU the UK left. Where I'd gently take issue is the implication that UK interests & "instincts" are unchanged. It could, depressingly, be true - but a strategicially astute UK might recognize that its interests have, also, moved on.

The rejoin debate is focussed on the wrong things - whether opt outs from € and Schengen could be secured. Not whether it makes sense to join the EU of 2026 which is different in character and DNA than the club we left ten years ago. My latest for @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What did we teach our kids about sport? Have fun Play fair No cheating No hurting people Accept the referee's decision Be gracious in victory, humble in defeat It's not whether you win, it's how you play the game We taught them those things because the lessons transfer to life in general.

Imagine if it was the offside rule which thousands of US instant-experts were lecturing us about.

How the new info op works.

I love how Mbappe has matured into such a smart spokesperson as well as being a brilliant striker.

Anyone checked on Polymarket for whether the red card is going be reinstated and at what time?

You wouldn’t know my standing to appeal a FIFA disciplinary panel decision, it goes to another school

i mean, they are. he's not wrong as such

One of my favourite borders - the Belgium/ Netherlands border goes right through this house in Baarle-Nassau (NL) and Baarle-Hertog (BE).

I mean, you can get a red card for a lot more than violent conduct, and suspensions for red cards and yellows have been a part of football for decades. If you want to challenge that, then fine, but doing it midway through a tournament and in a way that benefits certain players is frustrating

I’m just going to point out that Trump just made a post yesterday saying that he might need a restraining order for the Italian PM because she’s a stalker right before he’s about to fly to the NATO summit and Trump got a bunch of questions about FIFA and zero about Meloni.

BrittafromCommunity.jpg "I can excuse threatening to invade Greenland, but I draw the line at interfering with the football".

If the USA can only protect one room against foreign action, then the federal government has essentially collapsed, has it not?

By his own admission, he had no idea what a red card was, but he knew -- better than the ref, better than FIFA -- that what Balogun did did not meet the standards for getting a red card, which, again, he had never heard of before. This is like watching JD lecture the pope, but more corrupt.

Et voilà.

as i've said before, Americans talking about the rules of football is like when the velociraptors in Jurassic Park learn to open doors

Sorry I'm fucking screaming at this...Australia never change/please change immediately

It is proving to be a flaw in Farage’s political-business model that, unlike Trump, he cannot pretend to be his own man when the money that fuels the project is so obviously not his own.

If Belgium lose tonight do they have a case to overturn the loss at CAS? Sports lawyers?

Trump admits that he's demanded his cronies names things after him

fuck they're really taking this red card thing seriously aren't they

Ted Cruz to Trump: "On behalf of all Americans, thank you for getting rid of that ridiculous red card. It was spectacular."