Wednesday's result means the team are now just one win away from a famous Finals win.
Jerry Seinfeld shut down an anti-Israel influencer by telling him Palestine "doesn't exist" after he was rushed while leaving the Garden Wednesday night following the Knicks' historic NBA Finals comeback.
American political history is rife with examples of corruption. The period after the Civil War was known then as the Great Barbecue, when ethics broke down in public life. There were embezzling treasurers, bribe-giving lobbyists, purchased newspapermen, and swindlers at the public trough. But the Trump administration has just tried to pull off a corrupt deal so brazen it would make Reconstruction-era crooks blush. Good people, including West Virginia’s Congressional delegation, cannot look the other way.In West Virginia, we’ve had our share of corruption, but usually we have been able to right the ship and send the scoundrels packing, sometimes off to jail. Neither political party is immune. We’ve sent Governors Wally Barron (a Democrat) and Arch Moore (a Republican) to prison. And the entire political structure of Logan County has to be cleaned out periodically. But Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and his proposed settlement are something else entirely. They set up a massive raid on the U.S. Treasury to be paid for by taxpayers.Trump v. Internal Revenue ServiceMost Presidential candidates disclose their tax returns. Trump frequently promised to do so, but never did. No wonder. In 2016 and again in 2017, Trump, a billionaire, paid $750 in taxes. In 10 of the previous 15 years, he paid no taxes whatsoever. We know this because a contractor for the IRS copied and then disclosed Trump’s tax returns to the news media. This was a crime, and the contractor is now serving a five-year sentence.In January 2026, Trump sued the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service for $10 billion. He did this as a private citizen, not as president. In his lawsuit, Trump claimed that the contractor was an IRS employee who was improperly supervised. But the last time I checked, President Trump was in charge of the entire executive branch, including the Treasury Department and the IRS. He appointed the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner of the IRS and can remove them whenever they displease him. So Trump is essentially suing himself. But wait, the cheese gets even stinkier.A court has no jurisdiction over a made-up controversy because there is no true adversity to resolve. That would include situations where one party is trying to sue himself, say to recover insurance money. When Trump v. IRS was filed, the judge questioned whether this was just such a made-up case. But before the Justice Department answered the judge’s concern, or put up the first defense, the parties announced that they had “settled” the case and asked the judge to dismiss it. The lawyers for the American people caved to a lawsuit filed by their boss without a fight.Terms of the settlementNeither Trump’s lawyers nor the Justice Department disclosed the settlement agreement to the judge. If they had, she would have seen that Trump demanded a $1.776 billion fund to compensate people he believes were unfairly treated by the federal government, including the people who were involved in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. These are the same people who attacked police, paraded through the Capitol with Confederate flags, and defecated on the floor. Many of them were convicted of federal crimes for this, but were later pardoned by our President. This giveaway would be funded by U.S. taxpayers.In response to a huge backlash on this proposed compensation fund for criminals, even from his own party, Trump is backing down — for now. This followed a ruling in Virginia on May 29 that halted any activity to set up the fund or make payments from it. But in testimony before Congress, Todd Blanche, acting head of the Justice Department, refused to put in writing that the Trump Administration is abandoning the idea permanently.There is a second aspect of the settlement Trump refuses to abandon that is blatantly corrupt. Trump demanded a provision in the settlement agreement that the U.S. be “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization over past tax filings. This is complete overreach. Immunity from past tax infractions has nothing to do with the leak of Trump’s tax returns, which was the reason for the lawsuit in the first place. But the Justice Department was happy to give Trump anything he wanted.An IRS inquiry now pending could reveal that Trump owes over $100 million in tax liability, penalties, and interest. Who will make up for the shortfall in revenue if these millions aren’t paid? The taxpayers will. The Wall Street Journal has called this deal “extraordinary and unprecedented.” The New York Times called the immunity from audit a “staggering public benefit.” Why should Trump get a deal no other taxpayer can get, at huge taxpayer expense, to settle a made-up lawsuit? He got this self-serving deal because he controls almost everyone involved in making it.Where we go from hereBut Trump does not control the federal judge who is presiding in the case.
President Donald Trump has had one clear economic statistic he could brag about — but the new inflation data shows even that is gone now.Specifically, inflation-adjusted wage gains, which were relatively strong even into Trump's term as inflation worsened, have been essentially wiped out with the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data, according to Axios.The new development, according to the report, "shows how the recent energy-driven inflation surge is eating into household purchasing power," with inflation-adjusted compensation for workers now only 0.1 percent higher since January 2025 — essentially flat.This comes as Trump's war in Iran has led to the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil passes, being practically shut down, disrupting world energy markets and causing prices to surge everywhere. Trump reportedly considered ending the war without a resolution on the Strait at one point.For his part, the president denies anything wrong with the current economy, and even went so far as to proclaim, "I love the inflation." He has also claimed he's solving the Strait of Hormuz crisis by secretly transporting 100 million barrels of oil, a claim that couldn't be verified.
The Knicks made history by rallying from a 29-point deficit in Game 4 of the Finals on Wednesday for a 107-106 win — finishing the game on a 55-25 run.
Two of the Senate GOP's most senior figures are openly questioning President Donald Trump's massive new Pentagon funding push, throwing fresh doubt on his ambitious $1.5 trillion military budget goal, according to Punchbowl News.Trump launched his latest funding blitz on Truth Social Wednesday night, demanding Republicans "IMMEDIATELY advance and pass" a $350 billion reconciliation package, which he called "Recon 3.0," that he said is the only way to reach a $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget. He framed the request as building the "ARSENAL OF FREEDOM" and demanded "no games, no delays, and no weak compromises."But the outlook for Trump's plan is "bleak," Punchbowl reported Thursday. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who chairs the Defense appropriations subcommittee, have openly raised concerns about the approach. Punchbowl bluntly put it: "Trump wants his Golden Dome and Golden Fleet, but for GOP leaders, the vote counts may not be golden."The fight comes against the backdrop of Trump's escalating Iran war, which has stretched past 100 days with no resolution. Trump threatened recently to "bomb the s--- out of them" if Iran didn't sign a peace deal soon.The Pentagon push is also complicated by Trump's previous demands for emergency war funding, requests that GOP leaders already balked at. The Pentagon's $200 billion supplemental request has stalled in Congress amid bipartisan demands for cost transparency that the White House has yet to provide.Punchbowl reported that the SAVE Act, the GOP voter ID bill Trump wants attached to the reconciliation package, cannot pass via reconciliation due to Senate parliamentary rules.Even defense hawks who applaud the $1.5 trillion request face vote-counting problems in both chambers.
The New York metropolitan area will be abuzz with activities during the length of the World Cup tournament.
This summer’s World Cup will be unlike any other in the 96-year history of the world’s most popular sporting event. Never before have players on the field and spectators in the stands faced the intensity of heat expected to confront them at the matches taking place over the next 39 days, starting with today’s opener between Mexico and South Africa. The extra heat is due, in no small part, to rising global temperatures driven by the burning of fossil fuels, making the 2026 World Cup not just a sports story but a climate one too.Game-time temperatures at many of the host venues in the U.S. and Mexico are projected to be higher than during any previous World Cup, according to new scientific studies. (The 2022 World Cup was hosted by Qatar, but its desert heat was offset by shifting the tournament from summer to winter and holding matches in air conditioned stadiums.) Climate change has increased the number of extremely hot summer days in 14 of the 16 cities hosting matches during the 2026 Cup, the scientific nonprofit Climate Central found. Perhaps most at risk is Miami, which “now experiences roughly two additional weeks of extreme June and July heat compared to the 1970s,” Climate Central’s Ben Tracy reports.In anticipation of the exceptional heat, FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, has taken the extraordinary step of ordering referees to enforce a three-minute break halfway through each half so players can rest and hydrate. Nevertheless, the heat could be so intense, especially in Miami, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Guadalajara, and Mexico City, that players’ performance—how fast they can run, how many minutes they can play—is projected to suffer at 97 of the 104 total matches. “It has such a huge impact on the way you play,” former pro footballer Marisa Abegg told Tracy. That, in turn, has implications for the flow of play and the outcomes of matches: Teams that rely more on speed or endurance, for example, will potentially be disadvantaged.Spectators, too, will suffer. Eleven of the 16 venues are open-air stadiums where spectators will endure the full wrath of the prevailing heat and humidity. Health experts warn of increased risks of heat stroke, dehydration, and kidney failure. In response, some stadiums are adding cooling stations, misting tents, and additional medical staffing.So, a friendly request for our fellow journalists on newsrooms’ sports desks: Acquaint yourselves with the abundant science behind these warnings, via the links in this article. And mention that science occasionally in your reporting and commentary. To ignore climate change would omit crucial context that fans will find useful for understanding why their favorite teams and players excelled or languished during this World Cup.There will be plenty of opportunities to make the climate connection. Commercials will occupy two minutes and 10 seconds of each hydration break, but, for TV and radio commentators, it will be easy enough during the remaining 50 seconds of airtime to note that these breaks are taking place because, thanks largely to global warming, players are enduring some of the highest temperatures in World Cup history.A full account of the climate connection would include not only what climate change is doing to the Cup, but also what the Cup is doing to climate change. A Guardian article described how this year’s tournament is “on track to be the “most polluting” World Cup ever, with total greenhouse gas emissions hitting nearly two times the historical average.” The Guardian notes various “FIFA own goals,” including the association’s decision to increase the number of competing teams from 32 to 48. Most impactful, however, was FIFA’s decision to name three different host nations, rather than the usual one. And since Mexico, the U.S., and Canada are large land masses, teams and spectators traveling to and from venues must travel long distances by air, a notoriously carbon-intensive means of transport. Finally, in what The Guardian calls a sponsorship deal “that looks like it was concocted in a greenwashing laboratory,” FIFA in 2024 “signed a four-year partnership deal with Aramco, the state-owned Saudi energy behemoth that is the largest corporate greenhouse gas emitter on Earth.”In short, there are plenty of climate angles for journalists to explore while covering the 2026 World Cup. The same was true of the Winter Olympics earlier this year, and in 2022, and of the 2024 Summer Olympics. In each case, most coverage was disappointingly silent on the climate connection to these globally beloved sporting events. The next 39 days will reveal whether the 2026 World Cup will be any different.This article is published as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now.
⚽️ Infantino tells fans to ‘chill’ in response to Fifa’s critics⚽️ Match centre | Player guide | Bracketology | Mail JohnBTL chat is thus far dominated by Gianni Infantino’s ritual pre-tournament torching of his own dignity. SonOfThe Desert offers this:“Infantino is just absolutely wretched, isn’t he? An absolute nothing of a man, sucking up to tyrants because he thinks it makes him look strong. ”But you know what’s really annoying me? All those heads of national associations who could have unified around a candidate - anyone - to oppose Infantino and try and rescue Fifa from humiliation. Couldn’t be bothered though, could they? Might’ve had to do some actual work that way.New York has honored two footballing greats by temporarily renaming streets after Thierry Henry and Pelé ahead of the World Cup kickoff …Crowds gathered at West 50th Street and 6th Avenue in downtown Manhattan to mark the unveiling of “Thierry Henry Way” by city officials, according to FOX Sports. Continue reading...