via Wikipedia

​A New York Times report says the Drug Enforcement Administration has laundered money for drug cartels in an effort to "identify how criminal organizations move their money, where they keep their assets and, most important, who their leaders are." This controversial tactic was banned from use in Mexico in 1998, but due to an increase in drug-related violence, the practice has been used with "hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash." The DEA "often allows cartels to continue their operations over months or even years before making seizures or arrests." [NYT]

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via Nevada Smith's Facebook

Grown people excited about balls at Nevada Smiths

It's been known that Nevada Smiths, that lovable East Village soccer bar where grown men went at six am to watch mostly scoreless games, would have to vacate its current Third Avenue home. And as EV Grieve recently noted, they're moving into a new location, a block north in between 12th and 13th, on Third Ave. But then Nevada Smiths announced via its own site that tonight would be the watering hole's last hurrah until the new year.

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wldcup.com

Saadi Qaddafi signing for Perugia

​The Libyan national soccer team has abandoned the green uniforms favored by Muammar Qaddafi in favor of jerseys sporting the rebels' colors. The Guardian reports that the change has been made for the team's African Cup of Nations qualifier against Mozambique today. While it may be a small, ceremonial change, it signifies a greater national shift. Members of the team were reported to have joined the rebels early in the summer, and now the entire squad will wear the black, red and green flag of the National Transitional Council.

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​After Uruguay defeated Paraguay in the finals of the Copa America on Sunday, ecstatic fans flooded the streets of Jackson Heights. Minutes later, dozens of police officers arrived at 37th Avenue and 84th Street and began pushing back the crowd. This led to scuffles between the soccer fans and the police. Residents felt that the police response was unjust; "I couldn't call 911. They were the same people abusing us," said Silvana Sislian, 46, manager of La Gran Uruguaya Bakery, to the Daily News.

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​Alas, the U.S. lost in Sunday's Women's World Cup final, ceding the first place spot to Japan, but worldwide there were other competitions -- on different fields -- afoot. As we watched the final moments with bated breath, people were tweeting about them like crazy around the world, surpassing the seven-month record for highest tweets per second and making it to 7,196. The next highest TPS was Japan, on New Year's Day 2011, which measured at 6,939. Comparatively, Osama Bin Laden's death reached some 5,100 tweets per second. Twitter geeks and soccer geeks, clearly, you are a match made in heaven. [Wired]

​It's hard to explain the collective feelings of the United States when it comes to the World Cup this afternoon. As mentioned earlier, energy is a contagious thing, especially when it comes to bandwagon fans. And so it was going to take a pretty special underdog performance from the U.S. team to ensure they had a slight grip on the nation's attention. Things didn't start out well -- it took England only four minutes to strike, taking the lead and deflating American egos. But thanks to a crucial mistake by English keeper Robert Green, the U.S. was able to hang on for a 1-1 tie. Many are wondering, "What's with this 'tie' shit?" Let's settle this like men who roll around on the grass crying and holding their legs!

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​In June, 1950, at the World Cup in Brazil, the American team beat England 1-0. It was the last time the two teams met in the Cup and is still thought of as "the greatest upset in the history of World Cup soccer." The defeat humiliated the proud England team and crushed a nation. In America, at the time, no one really cared; our squad went on to lose later in the tournament and returned home as the same collection of scrubs and next-to-nobodies. Have things changed? Will they today?

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​We thought all soccer enthusiasts huddled around a big-screen TV during the World Cup, but the soccer club at Manhattan Comprehensive, an international high school, played right through the games today at Roosevelt Park on the Lower East Side.

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​Every four years, Americans adopt the rest of the world's favorite pastime. And this year for the World Cup, Puma partnered with South Street Seaport restaurant Red to create New York's booziest soccer cash cow: Puma City, a pop-up soccer amusement park, which opened today to throngs of unemployed or work-ditching soccer fans.

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