Leftist outlets like The Atlantic seem to have a bad habit of yanking the most insane political ideas out of the ether to make them sound less nutty than they are. Its recent treatment of “degrowth communism” to fight climate change is no exception. “Is America Ready for ‘Degrowth Communism,’” read the magazine’s head-turning May 28 article. The author, Atlantic writing fellow Christopher Beam, tried to soften the expected blowback from such an off-the-wall idea being popularized by leftist Japanese philosopher Kohei Saito. Saito “knows he sounds like a madman,” Beam wrote. “That’s kind of the point,” he continued. “The crazy idea” of “degrowth communism,” Beam summarized, is based on the proposition “that there will always be a correlation between economic output and carbon” emissions. In essence, wrote Beam, “the best way to fight climate change is for wealthy nations to cut back on consumption and reduce the ‘material throughput’ that creates demand for energy and drives GDP.”  Beam pontificated how “[d]egrowth captures a core truth of the fight against climate change: What we’re doing is not enough and might even be making things worse.” He further claimed, “Degrowth might fail too, but in the eyes of its supporters, at least it’s directionally correct. It’s the protest vote of climate activism.” Beam wasted 3,661 words pushing deranged propaganda credentialing Saito’s “degrowth communism.”  That anyone could write this drivel with a straight face without laughing like a hyena on a sugar high is a great feat. But readers shouldn’t be surprised given that The Atlantic is the same outlet that tried to argue that nuclear war was a “climate problem,” the eco-effects of which would be on par with the catastrophic death toll from the mass slaughter. Climate Depot founder Marc Morano at least credited The Atlantic for saying “the quiet part out loud” in comments to MRC Business. “Net zero in the climate agenda is really nothing short of Soviet-style central planning. Every sector of our economy is subject to long range planning to meet net zero goals.”  In order to not come across as completely co-signing Kaito’s extremism, Beam took care to note that Saito had his fair share of “haters” and critics from all sides of the political spectrum. Saito’s critics apparently also included Marxists who saw the philosopher as distorting the radicalism of communism’s preeminent icon Karl Marx. But Beam couldn’t resist casting Kaito as some kind of climate crusader fighting against the system: “It’s understandable that Saito provokes so much ire: He rejects the mainstream political consensus that the best way to fight climate change is through innovation, which requires growth. But no matter how many times opponents swat it down, the idea of degrowth refuses to die. Perhaps it survives these detailed, technical refutations because its very implausibility is central to its appeal.” Beam further legitimized Saito by claiming that the “[t]he question of whether Marx was a degrowther is academic—and so is degrowth itself, unless it can find a viable political path.” Beam bemoaned the state of today’s politics that is somewhat still averse from telling the citizenries to do with less: “In today’s politics, proposing sacrifice seems like an obvious form of political suicide that would only empower politicians who don’t care about climate change.”  Morano saw right through The Atlantic’s ploy to mainstream psychotic climate change fanaticism and underscored what the real agenda is: “Every sector of our economy is subject to long range planning to meet net zero goals. This agenda is nothing short of the rationing of energy food and transportation in order to create chaos and give the government more Covid lockdown like controls. After all, what was a Covid lockdown but the governments' attempt at forcing growth on the world. We have truly entered the era of climate communism.” Conservatives are under attack. Contact The Atlantic at (202) 266-6000 and demand it quit legitimizing Saito’s climate change extremism.   

Monday provided many of the late night comedians with their first opportunities to react to former President Trump being found guilty in his New York trial. They invoked everything from advent calendars holding whiskey to Blu-ray recorders to bad Hunter Biden analogies to applaud the verdict and attack Republicans for condemning it. CBS’s Stephen Colbert kicked off The Late Show by doing his best James Brown impression, “Of course, the news being what it is, sometimes I don't feel so great. But tonight ‘I feel good!’ Because… on Thursday evening, Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush money case.”     Later, he rolled out the props, “Now, the problem is, July 11 is a whole 38 days away. That is so long! I guess I'll just have to pass the time with my Countdown to Sentencing Advent Calendar. Here we go. Got all 38 days here. Judge Merchan, Judge Merchan like that. Okay, today is day one.” Colbert proceeded to open the door to reveal a bottle of $400 20-year old Kentucky Bourbon whiskey and promptly poured himself a glass and had a drink. Late Night host Seth Meyers proclaimed on NBC that he took great pleasure in watching Fox’s initial reporting on the verdict, “I've watched that clip so many times, I have it on Blu-ray now.” Later in his “Closer Look” segment, Meyers didn’t see a problem with the idea that if Trump was not running for president, the case would never have been tried, “Trump's entire life is now coming back to haunt him, and regardless of how you feel about the case, I think you have to admit it's pretty funny. All this loud-mouthed dip[bleep] had to do was not run for president and there's a good chance he would have gotten away with his life of criminality. Here's a good rule of thumb: if you have a closet full of skeletons, don't announce a campaign for the most closely scrutinized office in the entire world.”     Meyers concluded by claiming that Republican allegations of weaponization are wrong: In fact, Hunter Biden's trial on federal gun charges is underway as we speak, not to mention, a sitting Democratic senator, Robert Menendez, who is also on trial right now for bribery charges, so what can we take away from the GOP's unified defense of Trump other than laugh at their shameless hypocrisy? The people that call themselves the party of law and order, who routinely demand that protesters be thrown in jail, or that migrants be rounded up, or that their political opponents be investigated, are now suddenly aggrieved when their presidential candidate faces legal consequences for his actions. Their supposed belief in law and order is obviously not sincere. They see laws not as constraints on power but as tools of power to be wielded against the powerless and for the powerful. That's the classic trademark of authoritarianism. That does not disprove that there wasn’t funny business going in Trump’s specific trial, but invoking Hunter was a common thread. Over at Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Jon Stewart mocked Fox’s Laura Ingraham for joking everyone should now shop at Banana Republic, “After this trial, we need to shop at Old Navy, because our country is a sinking ship. It was a sham! A sham!... Yes, we empaneled grand juries, and submitted evidence, and cross-examined witnesses, but how was Donald Trump or his family not allowed on the jury?” After a clip of Sen. Tim Scott claiming Trump is the victim of a weaponized justice system, Stewart added, “Somebody should mention that to such unprotected Democrats as Senator Robert Menendez and Congressman Henry Cuellar, both facing corruption charges brought by our Department of Justice. Not to mention, Hunter Biden was facing jury selection in a federal gun charges trial [bleep] today! It's why you probably noticed everyone on Fox & Friends this morning using pillows to cover their boners.”     To Stewart’s credit, unlike the others, he did invite former Rep. Ken Buck on to disagree with him later in the show. ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel was the only one on the air last week, but he kept going on Monday, “And somehow, somehow even though Joe Biden has weaponized the American justice system to-- using them as puppets to prosecute his rivals, somehow this one that could get his son 25 years in prison slipped through his iron grip. I mean, how does this happen? Last week, he had the whole legal system rigged! Now, he's powerless, I guess. Meanwhile, his future cellmate-- Hunter Biden's--, Donald Janice Trump, made his first outing after his guilty verdict.”     Then there was NBC’s Jimmy Fallon, who claimed on The Tonight Show, “They were going to put him in an orange jumpsuit, but it felt redundant. The big question now is whether Trump will get jail time or house arrest. If he's sentenced to jail, Melania will be inside the courtroom chanting, ‘Four more years. Four more!’"  Some of the late night comedians have rediscovered Hunter Biden and all it only took was Donald Trump getting convicted. Here are transcripts for the June 3-taped show: CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 6/3/2024 11:37 PM ET STEPHEN COLBERT: I'll be the first to say this is a great job. And I love doing it. I get to come out here every night and feel at you about the news. Of course, the news being what it is, sometimes I don't feel so great. But tonight "I feel good!"Because-- thank you. Was he here? Was James Brown just here?  Because on Thursday evening, Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush money case. Yeah, there you go. Yes, yes, I agree.  This is truly an historic moment, as Donald Trump becomes the first U.S. president convicted of a crime. Although once they almost nailed Martin Van Buren for hotwiring a horse. Let's go back. Come back with me now, ladies and gentlemen. To that fateful moment: Thursday. It was late afternoon, and everyone assumed they'd be adjourning for the day. It was almost 4:30. Trump was feeling loose, believing a longer deliberation meant good news for him.  Then, suddenly, the foreman sent the judge a note that they had come to a verdict, and “in an instant, the smiling stopped, a smattering of gasps could be heard, then a heavy silence filled the room.” And because it's Trump, it was silence, but deadly. After 11 hours of deliberation, the jury announced their verdict. And now the judge has scheduled Trump's sentencing for July 11. That's going to be a really busy time for convicted felon Donald Trump, because the 11th is just four days before the Republican National Convention. And reportedly, top Republicans are preparing for the possibility that Trump could be in prison when he accepts the nomination. That's right. You gotta be prepared. You gotta be prepared. That's right. It's gonna be the RNC, live from cell block B, with a keynote speech from his warden, his cellmate Spider, that one guard who smuggles in cell phones up his butt, and for the cocktail hour, enjoy complimentary toilet wine. Now, the problem is, July 11 is a whole 38 days away. That is so long! I guess I'll just have to pass the time with my Countdown to Sentencing Advent Calendar. Here we go. Got all 38 days here. Judge Merchan, Judge Merchan like that. Okay, today is day one, I'll open that up. There you go. Don't go too far. Daddy's drink burns.  *** NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers 6/4/2024 12:43 AM ET SETH MEYERS: I've watched that clip so many times, I have it on Blu-ray now. My only regret is that the jury didn't have a little more fun with it. "Count 30, guilty, count 31 guilty, count 32, not guilty, JK, guilty." Now there were no cameras in the court, but we do have this artist rendering of Trump's reaction to that verdict. Which is fitting, because the last time he made that face was when Stormy spanked him with a Forbes magazine. Time really is a flat circle. Also, it's amazing when the actual news intrudes on Fox's talking points. All day, they're like, "This is a sham, this is a witch hunt, this is Soviet Russia." And then the actual news happens and suddenly they turn into a cross between Walter Cronkite and an auctioneer. "I have 32 guilty verdicts. Do I have 33? Show me 33, 33 guilty verdicts. Do I have 34? Looking for 34, 34 sold to the man with the long tie and bad lawyers." … So, basically, Trump's entire life is now coming back to haunt him, and regardless of how you feel about the case, I think you have to admit it's pretty funny. All this loud-mouthed dip[bleep] had to do was not run for president and there's a good chance he would have gotten away with his life of criminality. Here's a good rule of thumb: if you have a closet full of skeletons, don't announce a campaign for the most closely scrutinized office in the entire world. … In fact, Hunter Biden's trial on federal gun charges is underway as we speak, not to mention, a sitting Democratic senator, Robert Menendez, who is also on trial right now for bribery charges, so what can we take away from the GOP's unified defense of Trump other than laugh at their shameless hypocrisy? The people that call themselves the party of law and order, who routinely demand that protesters be thrown in jail, or that migrants be rounded up, or that their political opponents be investigated, are now suddenly aggrieved when their presidential candidate faces legal consequences for his actions. Their supposed belief in law and order is obviously not sincere. They see laws not as constraints on power but as tools of power to be wielded against the powerless and for the powerful. That's the classic trademark of authoritarianism. Who knows if this will hurt Trump politically. I have no idea, but if it does DONALD TRUMP: I'm okay with it.  *** ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live! 6/3/2024 11:37 PM ET JIMMY KIMMEL: And somehow, somehow even though Joe Biden has weaponized the American justice system to-- using them as puppets to prosecute his rivals, somehow this one that could get his son 25 years in prison slipped through his iron grip. I mean, how does this happen? Last week, he had the whole legal system rigged! Now, he's powerless, I guess. Meanwhile, his future cellmate-- Hunter Biden's--, Donald Janice Trump, made his first outing after his guilty verdict. Trump spent most of the weekend at his golf club in New Jersey, then went to a UFC fight before finally heading back home to Florida. It's good to see him out crossing state lines while he still can, but Trump stayed at the fight until 1:15 AM. And you know what? If I'd just been found guilty of covering up a hush money payment to a porn star, I wouldn't be in a rush to get home to my wife either, right? I really can't blame him. *** Comedy Central The Daily Show 6/3/2024 11:05 PM ET JON STEWART: After this trial, we need to shop at Old Navy, because our country is a sinking ship. It was a sham! A sham! This trial, a sham, I say! It was a sham! "I am shopping at Old Navy!" The trial was a sham. Yes, we empaneled grand juries, and submitted evidence, and cross-examined witnesses, but how was Donald Trump or his family not allowed on the jury? Outrageous! I guess in America now, we need to start shopping at bonobos, because our country is getting [bleep] at both ends! You see, if I may, bonobos are highly sexual apes who frequently engage in activities with multiple partners. Oh, I'm going to be a big hit on primatologist TikTok. But maybe our justice system wasn't a sham, but certainly applying our justice system to Donald Trump was. TIM SCOTT: This is the weaponization of the justice system against their political opponent. This is a justice system that hunts Republicans, while protecting Democrats. STEWART: Oh, my god! The justice system hunts Republicans while protecting Democrats? Somebody should mention that to such unprotected Democrats as Senator Robert Menendez and Congressman Henry Cuellar, both facing corruption charges brought by our Department of Justice. Not to mention, Hunter Biden was facing jury selection in a federal gun charges trial [bleep] today! It's why you probably noticed everyone on Fox & Friends this morning using pillows to cover their boners.  *** NBC The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon 6/3/2024 11:35 PM ET JIMMY FALLON: And, oh, yeah, former President Trump was convicted on all 34 counts in his hush money trial. That's right. Trump was found guilty. They were going to put him in an orange jumpsuit, but it felt redundant. The big question now is whether Trump will get jail time or house arrest. If he's sentenced to jail, Melania will be inside the courtroom chanting, "Four more years. Four more!" Trump will be sentenced on July 11, and his lawyers told him, "You should get your affairs in order." Trump was like, [TRUMP IMPRESSION]: "That's what got me in trouble in the first place." 

The "independent fact-checkers" have repeatedly pounced on Donald Trump claiming Biden and his team are behind Alvin Bragg's prosecution, especially CNN's Daniel Dale, who was a triggered Tigger on this accusation.  Margot Cleveland at The Federalist offers some hard facts for the pro-Biden media to face in an article headlined "Joe Biden’s Fingerprints Are All Over The Criminal Prosecutions Of Donald Trump." At least Dale would feint toward Bragg relying on prosecutorial help from Matthew Colangelo, who came over from being the #3 official in Biden's Justice Department. But Team Biden's involvement came much earlier:  As I previously reported, the incestuous relationship between the Manhattan D.A.’s office and Team Biden began as early as mid-February 2021. Then, “Bragg’s predecessor, District Attorney Cyrus Vance, arranged for private criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Mark Pomerantz to be a special assistant district attorney for the Manhattan D.A.’s office.” As The New York Times reported at the time, Pomerantz was to work “solely on the Trump investigation” during a temporary leave of absence from his law firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison. “But even before being sworn in as a special assistant to the Manhattan D.A., Pomerantz had reportedly ‘been helping with the case informally for months.’” Even Democrats’ most reliable Old Grey Lady (of the evening) acknowledged, “the hiring of an outsider is a highly unusual move for a prosecutor’s office.” Soon after the Manhattan D.A. hired Pomerantz, two of his colleagues, Elyssa Abuhoff and Caroline Williamson, also took leaves of absence from Paul, Weiss to serve as special assistant district attorneys on the Trump investigation. “For a law firm to lend not one but three lawyers to the Manhattan D.A.’s office seems rather magnanimous, until you consider Paul, Weiss’s previous generosity to Joe Biden.” Imagine a pro-Trump law firm was volunteering time inside a public prosecutor's probe of Biden or Hillary Clinton. Would CNN suggest you couldn't link it to Trump? Cleveland notes the Paul,Weiss firm were also shoveling campaign cash:  As I previously reported, during Biden’s first run for the White House, “the law firm hosted a $2,800-per-plate fundraiser for about 100 guests.” Brad Karp, the chair of Paul, Weiss, also topped the list of Biden fundraisers, bundling at least $100,000 for the then-candidate. At the time, Karp wrote in an email: “As someone who cares passionately about preserving the rule of law, safeguarding our democracy and protecting fundamental liberties, I’ve been delighted to do everything I possibly can to support the Joe Biden/Kamala Harris ticket.” Biden’s relationship with Karp continued after his election, with the president including Karp and his wife at a state dinner with the Australian prime minister. Karp and his fellow Paul, Weiss lawyers continue to fund Biden’s re-election campaign. In fact, Biden’s connection to the firm is so strong Bloomberg branded Paul, Weiss the “Biden-Era N.Y. Power Center.” The pro-Biden law firm collaborated with the pro-Biden media to make sure Trump stayed on the path to indictment and conviction: But for Paul, Weiss lending Pomerantz to the Manhattan D.A.’s office to control the Trump investigation, the former president likely never would have been charged. According to Pomerantz, Bragg had decided “not to go forward with the grand jury presentation and not to seek criminal charges,” indefinitely suspending the investigation. Pomerantz made those claims in the resignation letter he tendered to Bragg in early 2022, which was deliberately leaked to The New York Times. “Pomerantz’s letter and his claims that Bragg had suspended the Trump probe triggered a political firestorm, which the Manhattan D.A. sought to quell by telling the public the investigation was ongoing.” Soon after, Bragg capitulated, hiring Biden’s high-ranking DOJ lawyer, Colangelo, who proceeded to indict and convict Trump.

The Chicago Tribune editorial board said that if a recent foul on WNBA star Caitlin Clark was not in the context of a basketball game, it could be considered an assault.The strange statement followed a shift in discussions surrounding the Indiana Fever player, which have quickly transitioned from her fellow players complaining that their chartered flights are not big enough, to discussions on whether or not the constant on-court abuse of the league's golden goose is warranted.A shove heard around the world saw Clark on the receiving end of a bodycheck from Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter. Not only was the foul before the ball was inbounded, Carter appeared to say something along the lines of "yo, bitch!" as she approached Clark.The Chicago Tribune editorial board published a piece on the incident, which was later increased to a flagrant foul, promoting the idea that it would have been "seen as an assault" if it were "outside of a sporting contest."'Beside three point shooting what does she bring to the table man?'The opinion piece also defended Clark from any notion that she has benefitted from having "pretty privilege," being white, or being straight; ideas brought forth from Sunny Hostin, a host on "The View."Teammate Angel Reese, who was seen joyfully supporting the foul in question, was fined $1,000 by the WNBA for refusing to answer reporter questions after the game.The team itself was fined $5,000 for violating media availability rules.Carter, on the other hand, spoke to reporters but did not answer questions about Clark and instead took her reactions to her X account."Beside three point shooting what does she bring to the table man," Carter wrote, according to Fox News. Following a subsequent practice, she told reporters that she's "smiling," not complaining, and didn't regret her actions on the court. Some have jumped to the defense of WNBA players, saying that Clark in her own right has not been the cleanest player in her short career.The mixed bag of whether or not the league is being too soft or if Clark's teammates need to defend her lets the offending WNBA players off the hook. For the first time ever, the WNBA is on the front of websites and sports pages, talked about on the top podcasts and shows, and has a household name for the first time in decades. And it's all because of one woman.The sentiment has not been echoed throughout the WNBA, and it has taken personalities like NBA legend Charles Barkley to inject common sense:"You women out there, y'all petty, man! Hey, LeBron, you are 100% right on these girls hatin' on Caitlin Clark. Y'all petty girls! I expect men to be petty 'cause we're the most insecure group in the world. Y'all should be thanking that girl for gettin' y'all ass private charters, all the money and visibility she's bringing to the WNBA. Don't be petty like dudes!"While the Chicago Tribune believes the WNBA is afraid of being called racist if it protects Caitlin Clark, the more likely scenario is that players will simply lose their access to endorsements, sponsorships, and chartered flights if they continue the off- and on-court abuse of the person who brought them their most-watched game in a quarter of a century.It will be difficult to blame racism for not having a Nike shoe if Clark is no longer in the league.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

On Tuesday, news broke that San Diego Padres utility player Tucupita Marcano was facing a lifetime ban for having allegedly bet on baseball, including placing bets on the outcomes of Pittsburgh Pirates games when he played for the team last year. The investigation is ongoing, and representatives for Marcano, the MLBPA, and MLB are for the moment staying tight-lipped in public, but the widespread expectation seems to be that Marcano will be lucky to escape with any eligibility to return to professional baseball at all. Marcano, however, is just the latest in an alarming string of athletes who have been implicated in professional gambling scandals. Nor is the problem limited to baseball. In April, the NBA announced a lifetime ban for Toronto Raptors reserve player Jontay Porter, who not only was alleged to have bet on games, but also allegedly provided illegal inside information to gamblers in exchange for money and on at least one occasion allegedly faked an illness to limit his own participation in a game in order to ensure that a particular proposition bet paid off. And of course, most embarrassingly, the most exciting player in recent baseball memory, Shohei Ohtani, was caught up in a gambling scandal when his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was allegedly busted by the feds for stealing millions of dollars from Ohtani to pay off debts he incurred by wagering on sports with an illegal bookie. Although that investigation also remains ongoing, the likelihood that a person in Mizuhara's situation may have provided inside information to gamblers that he was privy to only because of his position as Ohtani's interpreter seems quite high. The biggest threat to the future of professional sports is not woke politics or the specter of people who were born biologically male dominating female athletes. It's gambling and the insidious effect that the industry plainly has on the integrity of sports competition. Sports, at its core, is watchable solely because the audience believes that the athletes involved in the competition are playing an honest game that involves both sides’ best efforts to win. If fans don’t believe that games are on the level, sports cannot survive. Gambling, at its core, is enjoyable to gamblers because it combines the adrenaline of vicarious fan participation in sport with the allure of a potentially large payday without doing work. It should be obvious to all that the incentives created by gambling inherently threaten the basis for sport itself. There is a reason that, in 2018, all four major sports in America petitioned the Supreme Court to keep the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which effectively banned gambling on single sporting events outside Las Vegas. The leagues knew that sports gambling is a nightmare to police, and from the leagues’ perspective, the more they could outsource that job to the feds, the better. However, when the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2018 on fairly narrow technical grounds, Congress had no appetite to pass a law that fixed the flaws that invalidated PASPA. There was not even a serious discussion to bring a bill to that effect to the floor. And with shocking speed, the sports leagues and the sports-consuming public embraced the reality of a world in which sports betting could be done anywhere, on anything. Las Vegas, which had long been shunned by the leagues due to the danger of having a team so close to the seat of organized gambling, suddenly got an NFL team to keep its NHL team company. DraftKings and other companies became some of the most prominent sports advertisers. ESPN opened a vertical called ESPN BET that not only covered gambling but allowed people to gamble online in its portal. And somehow, when news broke that millions of dollars had been siphoned from the bank account of the most famous baseball player since at least Barry Bonds to cover gambling debts, we were all surprised. It is comforting to believe that the leagues have the situation under control and that Marcano, Porter, and Mizuhara were isolated cases. The leagues have even pointed to their cases as evidence that their control mechanisms are working. But the Mizuhara case in particular puts the lie to that contention. Here was an individual who was, effectively, the mouthpiece of the most prominent player in baseball. According to investigators, he placed an astonishing number of bets — estimated to be over 19,000 — over a period that lasted three years. As the story goes, he began siphoning money in the form of public wire transfers that were for huge dollar amounts in September 2023. A total of at least nine of these transactions were authorized and executed over the intervening months. None of this was discovered until January 2024, and even then it was not discovered by the league, it was discovered by the feds. If the feds had not raided the home of Mizuhara’s alleged bookie, who knows how long it would have taken baseball to catch on to what was happening? The problem does not admit of easy answers. There is little or no appetite for a legislative solution because, perversely, the public at large enjoys betting on sports, as evidenced by the massive growth in the sports betting industry that has occurred since 2018. Additionally, the industry is greasing the wheels of both the media that covers sports and the teams themselves with copious amounts of advertising money. Sports fans and media may well be unwittingly sowing the seeds of destruction for sports with their own desires. But even if all this were not true, a legislative fix would likely still not be the answer. Trusting the federal government to deal with the problem by making it illegal is a lazy approach that was ineffective while it lasted. Gambling was largely illegal when Tim Donaghy bet on games for two years as an NBA referee before he got caught. Gambling was largely illegal when Pete Rose reportedly bet on baseball in 1987 — something he was not caught doing until 1989. This problem is not one that the feds could or should solve. But it’s one that the leagues themselves need to wrestle with, and quickly. The steady stream of stories about people who have been caught does and should cause sports fans to question how many more compromised athletes are out there who have not been caught, or at least not caught yet. And it’s only a matter of time before those questions turn to cynicism about the legitimacy of sports' on-field product. And when that happens, sports as we know them will be over.

A juror on a case of alleged COVID fraud in Minneapolis has been dismissed and all seven defendants arrested after a woman allegedly dropped off a bag full of cash in hopes of securing an acquittal.Just before 9 p.m. on Sunday, a woman who appeared to be Somali, wearing a long dress and who spoke with an accent, rang the doorbell at the home of a 23-year-old woman impaneled on a jury for one of the largest COVID-funding fraud cases in the nation.An inspection of the defendants' phones revealed that all 'have had access' to information that would have identified Juror 52.The case involves seven defendants of East African descent accused of buying expensive property, jewelry, cars, and other luxury items with $41 million allocated to Feeding Our Future, an organization entrusted with providing food for underprivileged children. The case is part of a larger case involving 70 total defendants and $250 million in allegedly stolen funds. So far, 18 defendants have pled guilty, and $50 million has been recovered, the AP reported.The Somali woman who arrived at the juror's home spoke with the juror's father-in-law and allegedly handed him a decorative bag filled with rolled up bills totaling $120,000. The woman even allegedly referred to the juror by her first name. "This is for Juror 52," a note accompanying the bag allegedly said. "Tell her there will be another bag for her if she votes to acquit."Juror 52 was not home at the time. When she returned, her father-in-law explained the situation, and the juror immediately called 911. The bag full of cash is now in the custody of the FBI."It is highly likely that someone with access to the juror’s personal information was conspiring with, at minimum, the woman who delivered the $120,000 bribe," read an affidavit.In the courtroom on Monday morning, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson explained the incident of alleged jury tampering without the jury present. "This is outrageous behavior. This is the stuff that happens in mob movies," he said. "It really strikes at the heart of this case."U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel was similarly concerned. She ordered the defendants' phones to be seized and the jury to be sequestered. "I don’t do it lightly, but I want to ensure a fair trial," she said.Brasel also dismissed Juror 52 — described by the Sahan Journal as perhaps "the person of color on the jury" — and questioned the other jurors and alternates, asking them individually whether they had received similar attempted bribes. All replied in the negative.Confident that the trial could proceed, Brasel then authorized the defense teams to make their closing arguments, which were followed by a rebuttal from the prosecution. The case was then given to the jury for deliberation.Until Monday, the seven defendants — Abdiwahab Aftin, Abdiaziz Farah, Said Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Nur, Hayat Nur, and Mukhtar Shariff — had been released on their own recognizance. But following the alleged bribe, Brasel overruled the objections of defense attorneys and had all the defendants rearrested. They will be kept in custody until the jury has reached a verdict.An inspection of the defendants' phones revealed that all "have had access" to information that would have identified Juror 52, according to a search warrant affidavit.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Intel has just announced a new chip that has the potential to completely transform the PC gaming handheld market. It’s called Intel Lunar Lake, and it not only gives you eight CPU cores, but also a gaming GPU with ray tracing, an AI processor, and 32GB of DDR5 RAM, all in one package. There haven’t been many handheld gaming PC devices based on Intel hardware yet, with the MSI Claw being a notable exception. All the current handheld front runners, including the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally X, use AMD hardware at the moment. However, Intel Lunar Lake, which we just saw the company announce at Computex, has the potential to change this situation. Continue reading Intel’s new chip could seriously threaten AMD and the Steam Deck MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Core i5 14600K review, Best gaming CPU, Core i9 14900K review

Almost two whole years since Secrets of the Obscure, the new Guild Wars 2 expansion, Janthir Wilds, finally has a release date and will introduce the first new raid for the MMORPG in five years. If you’ve worked your way through World of Warcraft or finished with Final Fantasy 14 and want something fresh, this is the perfect time to get stuck into ArenaNet’s long-running online fantasy. For the GW2 faithful, Janthir Wilds also introduces one of the key features we’ve been waiting for, as well as new maps, weapons, mounts, and updates. Continue reading New Guild Wars 2 expansion coming soon, with first new raid since 2019 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The best MMORPG on PC, The best dragon games on PC, Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons review

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