Main squeeze

Hassane Kamara of Watford FC looks dejected following their side's defeat in the Premier League match between Manchester City and Watford at Etihad Stadium on April 23, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Hassane Kamara is a high-octane defender at Watford FC in England. He was the club’s player of the year last season despite only joining in January 2022. He’s also emblematic of the financial engineering available to football clubs through the increasingly popular multi-club ownership model. Watford was relegated from the Premier League last summer and Kamara was sold to Udinese of Italy for a profit of about £12 million ($14.4 million). That looked like a great trade — but even better was that Udinese, which is owned by the same Italian family that owns Watford, immediately loaned the player back. No rules were broken and Watford Chairman Scott Duxbury was upfront about the motives, telling the club’s website that the deal aimed to balance … [Read more...] about It’s not just Manchester City. Financial football is becoming more prevalent

Finance Secretary TV Somanathan TV Somanathan is one of the key persons behind drafting the budget. In an interaction with Shweta Punj of Moneycontrol, the finance secretary shared the thoughts  that went into drawing up the document, and nuancing between the known unknowns and unknown unknowns. Edited excerpts: Q: The economy has faced several global headwinds yet managed to stay steady. What were your priorities as you were drafting this budget? What were the three key things that you wanted to ensure? There were three key priorities. One, to act as a driver of growth at a time when global growth is slowing down, but when India is poised to recover its growth rate to its potential. That was one of the objectives, which you see reflected in a big increase in capital investment and in several other parts of the budget, which are essentially to propel growth. The second major concern was that in doing that, we wanted to be sure that we were fiscally prudent. In our … [Read more...] about It is a challenging number, the reduction to 4.5, but it is feasible. It’s difficult, but feasible

Google CEO Sundar Pichai [REUTERS/YONHAP] Amid the accelerated rivalry for artificial intelligence (AI) leadership between Microsoft and Google, Korea's tech companies are eyeing the non-English speaking countries with their capabilities in search engine and messenger services. Whereas the ChatGPT — a free chatbot system capable of generating conversational dialogue — displays a surprising level of sophistication in response to English language prompts, the Korean version of its service is lacking. And that might leave an opening for a niche market for local competitors. On Tuesday, Microsoft said that it will incorporate Open AI’s GPT technology into its Bing search engine. “This technology is going to reshape pretty much every software category that we know,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The updated version of Bing will have a conversational interface similar to ChatGPT. The goal is to have the unpopular search engine compete against Google. Microsoft CEO … [Read more...] about As AI war rages, Korea seeks a place among giants

My gun collection has grown large. With my sixth grandkid on the way, I wanted to buy another safe to lock away weapons and valuables. Then, when Joe Biden said we need not worry about the security of his classified documents, it occurred to me: I have a perfectly good two-car garage, too. Thanks for the security tip, Joe! When asked by a reporter who inadvertently practiced vigilant journalism about his cache of classified documents, Joe Biden said, “There is no there there.” This was a prickish, Democrat politician way to say, “Do not cover this story; I am totally guilty.”  It turns out documents were there, there, there and just about everywhere. Mike Pence just upped the ante on the classified documents gambit. He said he also had such top-secret documents in his home. This prompted our ever-vigilant federal government to ask all ex-presidents, “Hey guys, any of you cats have any of dem classified documents?” We will see what Obama and Dubya say, but Jimmy Carter … [Read more...] about HART: Classified Documents Here, There, Everywhere!

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin You’ve been hearing a lot about Greenville, South Carolina, in recent years—and that’s because it has something for everybody. With a population hovering around 75,000, South Carolina’s most charming town is where big city cool meets small-town America. Downtown’s tree-lined main street could be plucked from a postcard, and Reedy River, along with the roaring Reedy River Falls, ripple right through the heart of the city—lending it an even more special feel. And because so many global companies (including Michelin, BMW, and Bosch) have headquarters and operations in the area, Greenville boasts a wonderfully diverse population. There’s also an incredible number of locally-owned restaurants and shops ready to show you their own unique style of Southern hospitality, and the weather is blissfully mild—even during this time of year. So here, how to plan a winter weekend in Greenville with recommendations on where to eat and … [Read more...] about Why Now Is A Terrific Time To Visit Greenville, South Carolina’s Most Charming Town

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin After a long winter the impulse to escape to a beach somewhere in the Caribbean often overtakes travelers, however, there are some very compelling reasons to book your spring vacation in a snowy destination — even if you don’t ski. From sustainability factors to a true escape from the peak travel season crowds, thinking outside of the typical spring break box can have huge payoffs in terms of your travel experience —including a deeper connection to the destination and the people you meet there. Tom Wilkinson, Senior Product Manager with Exodus Travels, says that the tour operator’s trips in Northern Finland provide travelers with a memorable and impactful travel experience — one that suggests you pack a bathing suit, but doesn’t involve swimming through a cloud of someone else’s sunscreen. Here’s why you should consider a different kind of vacation this spring. Crowd control Forget lining up at the bar for an … [Read more...] about 5 Reasons To Consider A Cold Weather Trip This Spring Break

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Popular Bloomberg News columnist Matt Levine likes to make a comical point in his popular Moneystuff column for Bloomberg that from the SEC’s perspective nearly everything a company does (or its executives) that violates the law can be construed as securities fraud. The Federal Trade Commission under Lina Khan has embraced a similarly omnivorous jurisdictional appetite by declaring that a wide array of heretofore commonly accepted business practice could potentially be construed as a violation of antitrust laws. Abandoning the notion that the FTC should be concerned first and foremost with consumer welfare and prices has given Khan the freedom to pursue an overtly political agenda, which a cursory exam of the industries in her crosshairs makes abundantly clear. Two issues in particular illustrate the extent to which the current FTC is pursuing a narrow ideological agenda rather than attempting to improve consumer welfare. … [Read more...] about The FTC’s Fight Against Non-Monopolies Won’t Help Consumers

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin FC Barcelona have three transfer targets to sign this summer, according to reports. The Blaugrana currently have a financial headache to deal with after La Liga president Javier Tebas revealed last week that they must shave at least €200mn ($214.5mn) from their wage bill ahead of the 2023/2024 season. This will probably force the Catalans to make a big player sale , with Ferran Torres, Eric Garcia, and even Ansu Fati tipped for the chopping block . Even if Barca are likely crowned La Liga champions for the first time since 2019 in early June, however, considering their eight point lead over Real Madrid, head coach Xavi Hernandez will still want to make reinforcements. Mundo Deportivo reports on Wednesday that there are three in mind. The first is Vitor Roque , the 17-year-old whose transfer SPORT claimed Barca are already negotiating with Athletico Paranaense . Roque is lighting up the South … [Read more...] about FC Barcelona Have Three Transfer Targets For Summer 2023 – Reports

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Floyd Mayweather’s Nascar team is preparing to make waves in its second season of competition. The Money Team Racing — coined after Maywather’s lifestyle brand — just announced it will attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 with Conor Daly later this month. Mayweather co-owns the No. 50 Chevrolet team with longtime Nascar executive Willy Auchmoody and ONE Entertainment CEO Brent Johnson, who’s Mayweather’s marketing manager. The part-time organization spent several years and the majority of the Covid-19 pandemic to overcome hurdles before qualifying into the 2022 Daytona 500 with Kaz Grala to make its debut. “The Money Team Racing shocked the world by making the Daytona 500 last year and I believe in this team and know we will prepare a great car for this year's race,” Mayweather said in a statement. “Like a fighter who’s always ready to face the best, Conor has the courage to buckle into this beast without any practice … [Read more...] about Floyd Mayweather’s The Money Team Racing Prepares For Second Nascar Cup Series Season

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Spring training camps will be opening any day now, so it’s time to take a final look back at last season with my annual “Best Pitches” series. Let’s go pitch by pitch through the arsenals of all starting pitchers who threw 135 or more innings last season and determine the game’s best - and worst - offerings. The main inputs are pitchers’ bat-missing and contact management results. Each pitch is compared to league average swing-and-miss rates and pitch-specific Adjusted Contact Scores. Adjusted Contact Score is, on a scale where 100 equals MLB average and the lower the number the better, the relative production a pitcher “should have” allowed based on the exit speed/launch angle mix of every batted ball yielded. An average pitch gets a “B’”, and a sliding scale is applied to each pitcher’s results to approximate a bell curve. Today, we begin with the changeups. As usual, the changeup graded out as MLB’s most effective … [Read more...] about Tyler Anderson, Sandy Alcantara Lead List Of MLB’s Best Changeups