Angry fans humiliate Trump off the pitch at World Cup finale

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.20.2026 UPDATED

‘With a permissive referee running the show..” The Argentina 🇦🇷 “intimidation” was ultimately thwarted…Wall Street Journal – 7.20.2026

Spain won its second World Cup in a extremely physical match with defending World Cup champion Argentina and Lionel Messi.

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino had to push Trump off the Victory stage – 7.19.2026

But how many will remember the game when, as is often the case, the Audience of One Donald Trump tried to steal the show.

Fortunately thousands of fans in attendance let Trump know what they thought of his party crashing obnoxious appearance.

Excerpted from NJ.com 7.19.2026

A coalition of artists, organizers and advocacy organizations was set to distribute 50,000 red cards to fans headed to MetLife Stadium for the World Cup final on Sunday to stage an in-stadium protest of FIFA and President Donald Trump.

The plan was for fans to hold up the red cards following the Spain-Argentina match when Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented the championship trophy to the winning team.

The red card protest was organized by SoundsGood Presents, along with several activist groups, including Contra-ICE, Make the Road New Jersey, 50501, People vs. The Machine, Way to Win and Movement Voter Project. Other local groups and U.S. Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-11th Dist.) were also part of the coalition.

Excerpted from Yahoo Sports!/Athlon 7.19.2026

Trump demands another World Cup in United States ‘immediately’

Donald Trump has declared that the World Cup should return to the United States “immediately” and claimed he would ask Fifa president Gianni Infantino to help stage another tournament during his presidency.

The hosting rights for next two World Cup have already been decided. The 2030 edition will take place in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, following opening matches in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to mark the tournament’s centenary, while the 2034 tournament will be held in Saudi Arabia.

Donald Trump’s close friendship with Gianni Infantino and apparent influence over the FIFA president has received backlash, including from within U.S. Soccer as well as from other countries. And after Trump took credit for overturning a suspension on USMNT striker Folarin Balogun, Belgium trolled both the U.S. team and Trump himself following a win over the USMNT in the Round of 16.

Will anyone ever know what Lionel Messi was thinking as he shook hands with Trump?

Top photo: Donald Trump and his entourage do the helicopter flyover at Met Life Stadium

Vietnam to Israel. WSJ follows American hegemony party line

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.16.2026

I am unsure what is more infuriating reading this WSJ editorial screed.

Standing by Israel despite its ongoing three year onslaught against the People of Gaza.

Or, relitigating the US involvement in Vietnam. An act of Washington stupidity which lay waste to Southeast Asia resulting in the deaths of 58,000 Americans. And hundreds of thousands of Asians.

Several bloody and bandaged soldiers ride on top of a tank used as a make-shift ambulance after the Battle of Hue in the Vietnam War, Hue, Vietnam, February 15, 1968. (Photo by John Olson/Getty Images)

Wall Street Journal editorial 7.16.2026

The vote by 103 House Democrats on Wednesday to block U.S. arms to Israel as it fights a multifront war is a shocking abandonment of an ally. It’s a sign of the rapid conquest of the Democratic Party by its anti-Israel wing, and it echoes another betrayal half a century ago—in Vietnam.

The measure to strip Israel of all aid—humanitarian and military, offensive and defensive—was offered by the isolationist Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky. He was the only GOP member who voted for it, as it failed on the House floor, 314–104.

The shock is that nearly half of all Democrats voted for it. They included former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the second ranking Democrat in leadership, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. Another 10 voted “present”—non-profiles in courage all. “It is clear that the status quo is not tenable,” Ms. Clark said in a statement before the vote. “We should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with U.S. law, interests, and values. The [Benjamin] Netanyahu government has failed to meet that standard.”

Israel has violated no U.S. laws we know of. As for U.S. interests, Israel is fighting by the side of the U.S. against Iran and fighting alone against Iran’s proxies that have killed Americans. The defense relationship with Israel is a U.S. military advantage that helps maintain America’s technological edge over adversaries. When Democrats are voting to abandon even Iron Dome missile defense, this is self-sabotage out of anti-Israel animus.

It’s one thing to oppose Mr. Trump’s war on Iran, but it’s a far more radical step to cut loose a steadfast ally. How is it a U.S. “value” to disarm an ally fighting against murderous enemies that fire rockets on civilian towns?

VIETNAM – APRIL 30: The Fall of Saigon in Vietnam on April 30, 1975 – The north-Vietnamese tanks cross Saigon on the way towards the Doc Lap palace. (Photo by Herve GLOAGUEN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

All of this echoes the sad denouement of the Vietnam War, when Democrats fought for years to cut off funds for South Vietnam, restricted U.S. aid, and denied its pleas for help in 1975. The North Vietnamese Communist offensive overran the South, sending more than a million “boat people” into the open ocean.

That is where the Democratic Party—and some parts of the far right—appear to be heading. It’s a telling sign that even Seth Moulton, often sensible on foreign policy, voted to disarm Israel as he competes in a Democratic Senate primary in Massachusetts. That’s where the party’s grassroots voters apparently are.

Some might dismiss the House vote as of no great account because everyone knew the Massie measure would fail. But the mistake is thinking that this is a one-time affair. The political momentum is growing against Israel, even if Israelis depose Prime Minister Netanyahu in their October election. This movement thinks Israel is evil while Palestinian terrorists are victims.

The party of Harry Truman, who recognized Israel in its time of founding crisis, is becoming the party of Zohran Mamdani. It’s a betrayal for the ages.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/israel-arms-sales-house-democrats-katherine-clark-thomas-massie-cade897f?st=Pnbsue&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Does the individual have the right to end their own life?

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.16.2026 UPDATED

Does anyone have the right to end one’s own life? It’s a controversial topic worldwide.

The opposition to State sanctioned suicide is fierce on both religious and political grounds.

Often lost in the tumult are the wishes and desires of the patient. It seems a sticking point is the question, “Is the patient mentally capable of making the decision?”

California has a form of physician assisted suicide with the “End of Life Option Act” which went into effect in 2016.

California End of Life Option Act is a law enacted in June 2016 by the California State Legislature which allows terminally ill adult residents in the state of California to access medical aid in dying by self-administering lethal drugs, provided specific circumstances are met.[1] The law was signed in by California governor Jerry Brown in October 2015, making California the fifth state to allow physicians to prescribe drugs to end the life of a terminally ill patient,[2] often referred to as physician-assisted suicide.

In May 2018, a state trial court ruled that the law was unconstitutionally enacted,[3] but the following month, the law was reinstated by a state appeals court;[4] the law was affirmed by the California Supreme Court.[5]

California End of Life Option Act – Wikipedia

As can be seen below, Germany is one country struggling with the assisted suicide dilemma.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 11.23.2025

Lukas Radbruch, one of the leading palliative care doctors in Germany, raised the problem of assisted dying organizations that counsel patients on their end-of-life choices also being the ones carrying out or mediating assisted suicide.

In 2023, lawmakers of the German Bundestag debated possible regulations regarding assisted suicide, adopting with a large majority a resolution to strengthen suicide prevention. This year (2023), a draft suicide prevention law has been presented by the government. The current debate could precipitate its passage through the legislature.

People demonstrate outside the B.C. Court of Appeal during a hearing into the federal government’s appeal of the B.C. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the laws making physician-assisted dying illegal, in Vancouver, B.C., on Monday March 4, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

“The problem with consultations at assisted suicide organizations is that people are more likely to be advised on how to do it, not whether to do it,” he told DW in 2023.

Three organizations currently operate in Germany, offering assistance with suicide to their members. Individuals have to apply for membership, undergo counselling and may not receive medication for the first months of their paid membership.

Former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach of the center-left Social Democrats told the Rheinische Post newspaper that the current situation is ethically unacceptable because it is not certain “that people who take this path do not suffer from mental illnesses that impair their ability to make decisions.”

Editor’s note: If you are suffering from serious emotional strain or suicidal thoughts, do not hesitate to seek professional help. You can find information on where to find such help, no matter where you live in the world, at this website: https://www.befrienders.org/

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-kessler-twins-death-fuels-assisted-suicide-debate/a-74839950

July 16th 2026

Patrick Oliphant Dean of the political cartoonists

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.14.2026

Patrick Oliphant was the true embodiment of the old adage, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Pat Oliphant – Wikipedia

There will never be another political cartoonist who can compare with Patrick Oliphant who passed away at age 90 on July 13th, 2026.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/arts/pat-oliphant-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xlA.dakt.Oj4foeRIeP2V&smid=url-share

The blogger’s interest in Oliphant goes back decades when I began looking forward to his work, published several times weekly.

In the early 1970’s I was living in Germany. I kept a large number of his cartoons and pasted them in my journal. Following are a number of them. All of which were published during the presidency of Richard Nixon, the Vietnam War and the release of the Pentagon Papers.

Oliphant turned his attention to a multiplicity of subjects including the Catholic church, Donald Trump (shown above) and other individuals and institutions who came in the sight of his line of political fire.

One of my favorite Oliphant works is this masterful drawing in 1971 of a family bemoaning the state of the economy and its impact.

 In 1967 Oliphant won his Pulitzer for a cartoon portraying North Vietnam’s revolutionary leader, Ho Chi Minh, carrying a dead soldier. The caption read, “They won’t get us to the conference table … will they?”

As Mr. Oliphant later told it, the cartoon he submitted for the prize was, intentionally, one of the weakest he had published in 1966. It was a kind of test. When it won, he criticized the Pulitzer Board for choosing it on the basis of its America-boosting point of view rather than the quality of his work. Thereafter, he scorned the Pulitzers and became a regular critic of the board’s selection processes. – New York Times 7.13.2026

The Streets of San Francisco. Murder to clear the home for sale.

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.13.2026

The blogger is well familiar with the political combat involving landlord-tenant law in rent control San Francisco.

But murder to facilitate the sale of a property in the foggy Sunset District is something that would only be found in a pulp fiction novel or Hollywood crime story.

The entire Sunset Beacon article is printed herein.

Sunset Beacon 7.13.2026

By Neal Wong
On 46th Avenue in the Outer Sunset, 58-year-old Eric Bigone was fatally shot outside his home in May. His landlord, Philippe Chagniot, was later arrested and charged with the murder.
Eric Bigone’s son has filed a wrongful death lawsuit accusing Chagniot of carrying out the killing to clear the home for sale.
Dino Bigone filed the complaint in June against Phillipe Chagniot and his wife, Barbara Chagniot, individually and as trustees of the couple’s 2007 family trust. Bigone is seeking damages and a court order blocking the sale of several properties the family owns.
According to the complaint, Eric Bigone had been renting the single-family home at 2518 46th Ave. since 2023 for $3,200 a month, paid in cash at the landlords’ insistence so the income could be kept off their tax filings. Beginning in January, the complaint alleges, the Chagniots tried to get him to leave by serving improper notices to enter, threatening eviction, demanding he vacate by March 1 and refusing his rent while declining to give him an address where he could mail it. Bigone hired an attorney simply to keep paying.
The landlords also threatened to invoke the Ellis Act, which lets owners evict tenants by pulling a property off the rental market, but never filed for it. The complaint calls the threat “a fraudulent subterfuge” meant to force Bigone out.
At a press conference in late May, San Francisco Police Department Chief of Police Derrick Lew said surveillance video captured the alleged murder that happened around 5:20 a.m. on May 17.
“Officers obtained video footage showing the suspect dressed in dark clothing, approached the victim’s residence,” Lew said. “The suspect then lit a fire on top of a car. And when the victim exited his residence to deal with the fire, the suspect shot the victim in the back using an automatic firearm equipped with a silencer. The suspect then stood over the victim and fired again before fleeing the scene.”
Phillipe Chagniot “casually” biked away before ambushing and killing his tenant, prosecutors said.
The complaint adds details that the police did not release. It says the weapon was a MAC-10 fitted with a high-capacity magazine and alleges Chagniot rode a bicycle to the home wearing a mask, spray-painted nearby cameras, and shot Bigone in the back of the head.
Lew said investigators used automated license-plate readers and other cameras to identify and track the suspect. Lew did not provide a motive at the conference.
“We’re still very early in the investigation, and we’re still working through all the details,” Lew said.
The complaint alleges that the Chagniots conspired to murder Bigone so they could sell the home without a tenant in it.
HOMICIDE – The San Francisco Police Department logo, serving San Francisco, California. (San Francisco Police Department via Bay City News)
The day after the shooting, the complaint says, Barbara Chagniot called Dino Bigone to offer condolences and to ask when he would move out, and Phillipe Chagniot sent a text message:
“We’d like to offer our sincere condolences to you and your family during what is no doubt, an extremely difficult time. This is something no one should ever have to experience. If you have any questions for me, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Wishing you peace.”
The complaint says Dino Bigone later asked for the return of a security deposit.
On May 27, the Chagniots replied through their attorney that there was no deposit, complained that the Bigone family was in the house, and said the tenancy had ended with Eric Bigone’s death. Phillippe Chagniot was arrested the same day. At the press conference, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that her office has charged Chagniot with murder, with an allegation that he used a gun to commit the murder and a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait.
“We have also filed additional charges that include assault with an automatic firearm, arson, possession of an automatic firearm, possession of a silencer and possession of a high-capacity magazine,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said her office sought to hold Chagniot without bail and that he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Chagniot is due in court on Aug. 24 to set a date for his preliminary hearing.
The civil suit raises 10 causes of action, including wrongful death, battery, breach of contract, negligence and violations of San Francisco’s rent ordinance. It also asks the court to bar the Chagniots from selling or transferring five properties until any judgment is paid, arguing they may try to move the assets. Three of the properties are in San Francisco, one is in Daly City and one in Sonoma County.
In seeking punitive damages, the complaint alleges the defendants “have violent and socially maladaptive tendencies.”
District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong, who represents the neighborhood, provided comment on Eric Bigone’s death.
“This was a heartbreaking incident for our Sunset community, and I know many neighbors have been deeply shaken by the violence,” Wong said. “My thoughts remain with the victim’s loved ones and everyone impacted by this tragedy.”
Both the civil case and the criminal case are pending. The lawsuits’ allegations have not been tested in court.

Undated Top photo: Eric Bigone at Ocean Beach in San Francisco

Attached is an article with further details published in The California Post

California Post

Bone-chilling details emerge in SF landlord’s alleged murder of tenant

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/bone-chilling-details-emerge-sf-201333622.html

Late Lindsey Graham’s inexplicable iconic MSM treatment.

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.13.2026 UPDATED

The blogger, who has posted about the South Carolina Senator, woke this Sunday morning to be inundated with a series of headlines mourning the “sudden” death of Trump’s favorite lapdog. Senator Lindsey Graham. No more so, as would be expected, than the Wall Street Journal editorial page.

Fortunately there are a number of media outlets, not part of the mainstream media establishment who are taking a more jaundiced and skeptical view in announcing Senator Graham’s demise.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/lindsey-graham-advocate-for-american-global-leadership-8eaf3270?st=kZavEb&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Lindsey Graham – Wikipedia – Graham died after a “brief and sudden illness” on the evening of July 11, 2026.[371][372] The day before, on July 10, Graham paid an official visit to Kyiv, Ukraine.[371] One of Graham’s staffers said there had been no indication that he was ill before his death.[373] Emergency medical services responded to a call at a home owned by Graham at around 8:30 p.m. EDT in the Capitol Hill section of Washington D.C. for a patient with chest pain. According to radio transmissions, personnel reported 25 minutes later that a male was in cardiac arrest and that CPR was underway. A nearby resident said that Graham was taken to George Washington University Hospital around 9:30 p.m. EDT.[371][373] On July 12, preliminary findings from the D.C. medical examiner stated Graham died from an aortic dissection caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.[374]
Trump’s shoeshine boys. Lindsey Graham, then AG Bill Barr and Mitch McConnell – June 3, 2019
Trump’s Shoeshine Boys
Lindsey Graham RIP 🙏 trolled the 🇺🇸 American political underbody for decades – Australian 🇦🇺 Echidna – etching by Atlanta Kane
Racist of the day. Lindsey Graham. Black people can ‘go anywhere’ if conservative
The blogger posted several times decrying the reactionary racism of Lindsey Graham. Including his role in the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2020

Bully Donald Trump escalates his war on the First Amendment.

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.15.2026 UPDATED

New York Times – 7.15.2026
Washington Post – 7.11.2026

Donald Trump wants nothing more than to stamp out the First Amendment.

This wannabe dictator will use his final 925 days in the White House unleashing the Department of Justice and abusing the levers of presidential power to stifle, harass and prosecute his political enemies by any means necessary.

First it was former national security advisor John Bolton who published “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.” Bolton plead guilty to one charge against him and is looking at a 2.5M fine and five years prison time.

Trump uses his DOJ to get his Revenge six years later

Now Trump is going after The New York Times

The media world needs to rise up and defend the right to free speech without being intimidated and bullied.

Prior Restraint by Government – Herblock in the Washington Post 1971 Pentagon Papers – Wikipedia

Excerpted from The New York Times 7.10.2026

The Trump administration issued subpoenas on Friday to several journalists for The New York Times, after the news outlet reported this week on security concerns involving President Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One.

The smirking bully Trump

The Times journalists who received subpoenas included Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt, who reported on Wednesday that Mr. Trump had departed Turkey on the old Air Force One as a security precaution at the urging of the Secret Service. On Thursday, The Times reported that the new Air Force One, a Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8, lacked some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft, including antimissile capabilities. Both articles cited sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues.

The subpoenas — which seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday — were an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations.

In some cases, the subpoenas were delivered by federal agents who showed up at reporters’ homes.

The Times denounced the administration’s actions.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” said David McCraw, The Times’s top newsroom lawyer, in a statement on Friday evening.

How do Germans cope with having Nazi grandparents?

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.10.2026

Adolf Hitler perished in his bunker in bombed out Berlin over 81 years ago as the Russian closed in.

Hitler may be long gone physically but his insane 12 year Third Reich lives on. No more so than in the hearts and minds of the German public. Memorialized worldwide in countless historical works, fiction recreations, movies and documentaries.

It’s no surprise that Deutsche Welle would ask the question, “How do Germans cope with having Nazi Grandparents?” Leave it to the bureaucratic Germans to make publicly available online the names of Nazi party members. There were over 8,000,000 members.

Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 7.9.2026

Germany is now regarded abroad as a world leader in how to confront a country’s dark past. There are 100,000 Stolpersteine (“stumbling stones”) embedded in streets to commemorate the victims of National Socialism, a Holocaust memorial stands in the heart of Berlin, and schools place a particular focus on the Nazi era.

Since millions of NSDAP membership cards have been made available online, many Germans have been surprised to discover that their ancestors weren’t always as innocent as family stories had led them to believe.

“I always thought of my grandfather as a left-wing unionist, and now he’s turned up in the NSDAP database,” Hanno Dannenfeldt told DW. It was always said in the family that his paternal grandfather had clean hands.

Now that the National Archives of the United States has published its collection of National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) membership cards, Dannenfeldt is one of countless Germans eager to find out whether their relatives were members of the party that ruled Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945.

This has not been an easy task: The site is often inaccessible because of heavy traffic, and the user interface is difficult to navigate.

A German tool simplifies the search

The German weekly newspaper Die Zeit has developed a tool that simplifies the search. Users simply enter the name and perhaps the year and place of birth of a person — and the results appear immediately. These records are sure to be of interest to people in South America, as well: Many Nazis went into hiding there after World War II. However, a subscription is required to use the service.

What users find there can be painful. Often, it means suddenly looking at their families in a very different light. Memories of a loving grandfather who was always full of fun and energy can contrast sharply with evidence now presented in black and white that the very same grandfather was a member of the National Socialist Party.

After the war, few families spoke about the crimes of the Nazi era, let alone their own role in them. According to a study, more than two-thirds of Germans believe that their ancestors were not Nazis. Nearly 36% believe that their relatives were among the victims, and over 30% believe that their ancestors helped victims of the Nazis — for example, by hiding Jews.

But this can’t possibly be true. Only about 1% of Germans actively resisted. In 1945, one in five adult Germans was a member of the Nazi Party — which had a total of 8.5 million members — thereby lending their support, at least on paper, to that unjust system.

And yet, nationalism is on the rise in Germany again. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is gaining influence. Dannenfeldt wonders whether Germans might again embrace the justifications of the Nazi era. “Some people might think, ‘I’ll join the AfD and make a career for myself,’ he said. “When you realize that your own family didn’t put up much of a fight back then, it makes you think about just how great the danger is today, as well.” 

https://www.dw.com/en/how-do-germans-cope-with-having-nazi-grandparents/a-77886590

Nazi sentiment has always been widespread in America. Perhaps the most factual documentation is the Academy Award nominated “A Night at the Garden.” The Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden in 1937.

– Philip Roth The Plot Against America – Wikipedia

Lou Reed: King of New York

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 7.7.2026

Lou Reed – Wikipedia

I came upon ‘Lou Reed – King of New York’ written by Will Hermes while having lunch with my daughter at a neighborhood Cafe which has an extensive selection of books for purchase.

My first connection with Lou Reed was in the late 1960’s when I purchased the classic ‘Velvet Underground and Nico’ album which, on its cover, had a banana peel which could be peeled off.

Since that time I followed Lou Reed’s musical odyssey. He was definitely one of the most cutting edge American musicians. For both his style and political commentary. Following are three of my favorite Lou Reed compositions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/nyregion/lou-reed-king-of-new-york.html?unlocked_article_code=1.wFA.zJBJ.Fk3xonZYW-Ji&smid=url-share
I’m Waiting for the Man – Wikipedia

The Velvet Underground & Nico was released in March 1967 and peaked at No. 171 on the U.S. Billboard 200.[33] Much later, Rolling Stone listed it as the 13th greatest album of all time; musician Brian Eno once stated that although few people bought the album at the time of its release, most of those who did were inspired to form their own bands.[40] Václav Havel credited the album, which he bought while visiting the U.S., with inspiring him to become president of Czechoslovakia.[41]

Vicious (Lou Reed song) – Wikipedia

Reed’s commercial breakthrough album, Transformer, was released in November 1972. Transformer was co-produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson, and it introduced Reed to a wider audience, especially in the UK. The single “Walk on the Wild Side” was a salute to the misfits and hustlers who once surrounded Andy Warhol in the late ’60s and appeared in his films.

Sweet Jane – Wikipedia

“Sweet Jane” is a song by American rock band the Velvet Underground. Appearing on their fourth studio album Loaded (1970), the song was written by band leader and primary songwriter Lou Reed, who continued to incorporate the piece into live performances after he left the band.

New York (album) – Wikipedia

The 1989 album New York, which commented on crime, AIDS, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, then-President of Austria Kurt Waldheim, and Pope John Paul II, became his second gold-certified work when it passed 500,000 sales in 1997.[62] Reed was nominated for a Grammy Award for best male rock vocal performance for the album.[53]

Top photo: Lou Reed with Patti Smith

Team USA paid the Red Card price for Trump’s brazen FIFA showboating

SAN FRANCISCO

“Karma at Work.” Ann Killion – Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle – 7.6.2026

Lee Heidhues 7.7.2026 UPDATED

The US soccer team was ousted from the World Cup by Belgium in what the press is reporting was an uninspired and desultory performance on the Pitch in Seattle before nearly 70,000 fans.

The blogger has to believe that the US team was thrown off its pregame mojo by the antics of Donald Trump who blatantly interfered to get the star Folarin Balogun American striker back in the game.

Trump utilized all his political muscle and succeeded to get Balogun’s Red Card rescinded. A brazen act which FIFA boss Gianni Infantino acceded to in his sniveling bowing down to curry favor with Trump.

Trump’s bombastic showboating worked. Team USA paid the price on the Pitch.

The Guardian – 7.7.2026
“Overturn this.” Belgium post match comment on ‘X’ – New York Post 7.6.2026

The headline in the Wall Street Journal says it succinctly ‘Belgium ends Team USA’s World Cup Run After Political Firestorm’

Ann Killion in San Francisco calls it “karma at work.”

Top photo – SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – JULY 06: Referee Adham Makhadmeh checks in as Christian Pulisic #10 of the United States reacts after challenged by Youri Tielemans #8 of Belgium during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match between USA and Belgium at Seattle Stadium on July 06, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)