World Cup

BRATISLAVA – That’s what the Slovak commentator screamed from the TV.

Goodbye, Italy!

How about ‘dem Slovaks?! Our scrappy Central European friends today sent the reigning champion – mighty Italy – tumbling out of the World Cup, 3-2. Even I cheered in the pub today.

“After you, France … Want to share a taxi to the airport?”

Since its 2 weeks in and it should be my natural "cultural" responsibility to ramp up the coverage on the World's greatest sporting event here at the Mantle, this picture is my first contribution. If this was 03', a Chappelle skit definitely would've been in order. 

Props to Foreign Policy

The contentious Vuvuzela (voo-voo-zeh-la) has made its presence known in the games of the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa as the droning insect soundtrack gracing the games. 

It was the diplomatic equivalent of the age-old admonishment “I’m glad your father didn’t live to see this…”  Last month Archbishop Desmond Tutu told The Guardian he was glad that at age 91, modern South Africa’s Founding Father Nelson Mandela was retired and not following day-to-day politics in his country anymore because if he was “issues such as corruption would certainly hurt him, as well as the gutter level of discourse by some politicians within the ruling party [Mandela’s own