VP @strategyrisks | Board co-founder @IdeasB2 | Board @envprogress | 🇸🇬 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 | ✍️ The Spectator & elsewhere | Email: melissa@thespectator.com

Joined April 2010
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One day, I hope @MrWinMarshall will no longer be defined by or asked about his cancelation from his band; and that the experience of leaving something he loved so much in order to be free, would be the least interesting thing about him. Until that day.. 👇
Welcome to The Winston Marshall Show
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Mexican fans cheered for Norway 🇳🇴 against Brazil here in the fan zone. After the final whistle blew, they started rowing in anticipation of the next game where they expect to face the Vikings. (Everyone has been very warm and in good spirits here - no hostilities. Although the English do seem very heavily outnumbered here)
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Mexicans really know how to get a party going - this is courtesy of @RodrigoATCG!
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Melissa Chen reposted
Easily one of the greatest games of football I’ve ever attended And hats off to the Mexico fans. All shook our hands after and congratulated us. Great sportsmanship. Good people. ENGERLAND
Wow. What a stadium. What an electric atmosphere at Azteca. May the best team win! LFG 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
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This is what it looked like in the stands when Mexico scored that penalty The fans blew the lid off the stadium and waterfalls of beer and popcorn came cascading from above I have to say the Mexican fans in Azteca were brilliant. They have so much heart, and at the end they were so incredibly gracious. Thank you 🇲🇽
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Wow. What a stadium. What an electric atmosphere at Azteca. May the best team win! LFG 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
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Finally made it to Azteca stadium
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Flew into Mexico City from DC last night and I’m already clocking the shift in energy. I left my England shirt in the bag for this flight despite wearing it loud and proud on every single one before now without any second thoughts. But here? The Mexico fan vibe isn’t reading as normal rivalry. It’s heavier and meaner. It’s not banter; there’s no playfulness about it. There’s actual aggression in it, and underneath that, something colder and almost unhinged. Walked a few blocks around the hotel in my England shirt this morning and got called “puta gringa” - white whore, basically. The whole atmosphere is steeped in this hostility. Police have shut roads down, running checkpoints, confiscating glass bottles like they’re expecting things to pop off. Riot vibes. I’ve traveled everywhere in this shirt and never once felt this on edge. It feels like it’s more than “just football” at stake here. I hope that I’m reading it all wrong, that it’s just pre-match noise that burns off once the final whistle blows and everyone goes home.
This is really very sad. Mexico fans are making a massive noise in the middle of the night outside the hotel where the England team are staying in an attempt to keep them awake at night. I really hope that England thrashes Mexico.
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6 hours before kickoff. Never seen so many police in riot gear, street checkpoints and police helicopters overhead
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We lack imagination when it comes to resolving knockout stage football games. The Penalty shootout should be replaced with other methods such as a quiz contest. The first team that gets all 5 answers right will be the winner. This will encourage all players to strengthen their knowledge.
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Dear America, On this, your 250th birthday, we celebrate the audacious experiment that still sets you apart from every nation that has ever been: a republic built on ordered liberty, where free men and women consent to be governed yet refuse to be ruled. You alone dared to declare that rights come not from kings or majorities but from the Creator, and that government exists to secure them, not dispense them. You are the superlative nation - greatest in scale and spirit, unmatched in your restless vitality. How unique is your wild, irreverent confidence that turns impossible dreams into towering realities? Where else does such extravagant abundance flow - not merely of wealth, but of opportunity, reinvention, and second chances? And what land has ever matched your extreme self-confidence, that bold, almost reckless conviction that tomorrow can always be made better, bigger, freer? To so many of us born elsewhere, you remain the lone and steadfast beacon whose light still pierces the gathering darkness. Your strength and spirit sustain not only your own shores but every heart around the world that yearns for freedom, dignity and self-determination. Guard your rare and precious character, for in them lies the secret of your enduring greatness. We need you now more than ever. Wishing all Americans a happy Independence Day!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ And may God bless the United States of America 🇺🇸
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The ultimate irony on America’s 250th: America literally saved China’s ass from getting colonized by Japan in WWII - Lend-Lease, billions in aid, Flying Tigers, American blood. Without the US, they’d be speaking Japanese and bowing to Tokyo. Today, on America’s Semiquincentennial, Chinese state media (Xinhua) posts an AI-generated missile birthday cake video calling American history “written in smoke” and claims that the US has barely known peace in 250 years. Funny, because without American blood and treasure, their map would be looking very different today. Meanwhile, Japan, the USA’s actual WWII enemy who was defeated with the most devastating of bombs - just illuminated its skyline in the colors of the US flag, and launched fireworks to mark the milestone and celebrate America’s 250th. The contrast couldn’t be clearer. Even now, skeptical Americans still pull me aside to argue that China poses no real threat. Give me a break! In their worldview, America is irredeemable and evil. Wake up - know who your enemies and allies are!
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I’m not making this up. Here’s the AI-made video made by official Chinese state media:
250 Candles. A History Written in Smoke. Since its independence on July 4, 1776, in the 250 years, the United States was not at war for less than two decades. Produced by Xinhua Global Service■
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The banjo is America’s instrument - born in struggle, forged in freedom, and ringing and twanging for 250 years. 🪕🇺🇸 @MrWinMarshall delivers a beautiful tribute to the banjo on America’s 250th Independence Day:
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Canada eliminated. On the 4th of July, no less! The pressure is off. We no longer have to suck worse than Canada at football. Massive Congrats to Morocco 🇲🇦
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No!!! The French didn’t help America on principle. 
They just really really really HATED the British. 
France’s foreign policy since 1066 in a nutshell 😂
Fun fact: France was instrumental in helping America fight for its freedom. Before they were nutty leftists, they were great freedom fighters.
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They were about go on stage at the National Mall for the Freedom 250 festivities here in Washington, D.C. But then there was a heat advisory (it’s 38°C) so everything outdoors was canceled. Instead, here’s the next best thing, since I just can’t get enough of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” It’s a love letter to a beautiful part of America, the open road, the freedom to wander, and that deep, undeniable pull back to where you belong. Enjoy this video of @MrWinMarshall and Joey Davis with the band rehearsing in the trailer. Joey plays for Oliver Anthony who is from West Virginia.
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Another 🇺🇸 classic
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While these 10 American states couldn’t be arsed to decorate even a booth at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in DC for the America 250 celebrations: CT, IL, MN, MA, NC, OR, PA, RI, VT, WA Meanwhile in Japan… 🇯🇵🇺🇸 They threw a stunning fireworks drone show celebrating America’s 250 years of freedom right in front of the Rainbow Bridge. Thank you, Japan. We see you. ❤️
祝・アメリカ250周年 🇯🇵高市首相とトランプ大統領🇺🇸 レインボーブリッジ前で行われた 花火とドローンショー めっちゃ綺麗でしたー✨ #A250inJapan
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