The media fails to remind its viewers and readers of them. Here, in contrast, is Wikipedia's description of Trump's treatment of E Jean Carroll, the court case that resulted, and the amount Trump was ruled he had to pay, namely $88 million. For an account of other cases go this Wikipedia account
June 12, 2026
Donald Trump's sexual history
Sam Smith - At least 28 women have publicly accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct since the 1970s, including allegations of rape, forcible kissing, groping, and unwanted touching.
College students losing reading skills
Futurism - In a new essay for The Chronicle Higher Education, university-level literature and writing instructor Tyler Jagt recalls how not a single one of his students could get through an assigned 20-page article, something that he had read “without complaint” as an undergraduate a decade ago.
One student confessed that the reason they didn’t finish was that they kept losing track of what the paper was about. And there’s no doubt that they’re not alone.
Jagt cites the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress reading assessment results released last year. It showed that 12th grade reading scores were at the lowest level since the assessment began in 1992. Nearly a third of those 12th graders scored below the assessment’s “basic” level in reading, meaning they likely “cannot draw general conclusions based on concepts presented explicitly in a text.” Younger children aren’t better off: a recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that 70 percent of fourth graders, or around two million kids, can’t read at a proficient level.
“What I am seeing in my classroom is no longer a hunch,” Jagt writes. “There is a measurable, generational collapse in sustained reading and writing, and the academy is responding to it with improvisation and exhaustion rather than the structural overhaul it requires.
Switzerland to vote on a cap for its population
New Yorker - On June 14th, Switzerland will vote on whether to become the only country in the world to officially cap its population, with a limit of ten million people until 2050. (The current population is 9.1 million.) The initiative, which was put forward by the Swiss People’s Party (S.V.P.) and in recent polls has been supported by as many as fifty-two per cent of respondents, would require the government to curb growth through two main measures.
The first, triggered as soon as Switzerland exceeds 9.5 million inhabitants, would lead to restrictions in the areas of asylum and family reunification. If the population surpasses ten million for two consecutive years, the second measure would kick in, requiring the termination of the Free Movement of Persons agreement, which allows citizens of the European Union to work, study, and live in Switzerland (and vice versa). This move would rupture Switzerland’s relations with the E.U., its closest partner in trade and security. “The whole package of bilateral agreements would be at stake,” Michael Siegenthaler, a labor economist at the public university E.T.H. Zurich, said. “It’s quite likely that the European Union would cancel all of them.” A population ceiling is more or less unprecedented; the closest comparison might be conservation laws that limit human settlement in ecologically fragile places like the Galápagos Islands.
Housing
Time - According to a recent report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, California saw a 2.8% decrease in its population experiencing homelessness year over year, marking the first decline since 2018 and one of the largest drops in the country. Although California still has the largest number of people experiencing homelessness in the nation, the state's rate dipped from 48 per 10,000 people to 46 per 10,000.
The decline appears to have been driven by a mix of policies, according to organizations that work closely with the state government to address the crisis: prevention programs, supportive housing and mental health services, and more aggressive encampment cleanup operations.
What's really happened to Social Security
Robert Reich - The common understanding is that Social Security’s shortfall is due to the huge postwar baby boom, now retiring, and to America’s increasing life expectancy. The usual recommended fix is to reduce Social Security benefits or raise the age of eligibility. As Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, warned Monday, “entitlement programs” like Social Security “have to be adjusted and fixed.” He said Republicans will introduce a plan to do that. Brace yourselves.
I used to be a Social Security trustee, and I call bullsh*t. The baby boom can’t be blamed for Social Security’s shortfall. The Greenspan Commission, which in 1983 recommended the reforms that Congress then made — raising Social Security payroll taxes and also raising the eligibility age for collecting Social Security benefits — knew all about the baby boom and figured it into its calculations. (Early boomers like me can now start collecting full benefits at age 66; late boomers born after 1960 have to wait until they’re 67 to collect full benefits.)
Americans’ increasing life expectancy isn’t at fault, either. While wealthier Americans are living longer, that’s not the case for lower-income Americans. The Urban Institute estimates that life expectancy in the top 20 percent of income-earners is 91 years for people born in the 1990s, four years more than people born in the 1950s. Yet the life expectancy in the lowest 20 percent of income-earners is fewer than 80 years.
So what’s the real cause of the Social Security shortfall? What did Greenspan’s commission fail to predict? Widening inequality.
Remember, the Social Security payroll tax applies only to earnings up to a certain cap. This year, that cap is $184,500. Earnings at or below this amount are taxed at 12.4 percent. The cap rises every year according to a formula roughly matching inflation.
Back in 1983, the cap was set so the Social Security payroll tax would hit 90 percent of total income in America. That 90 percent figure was built into the Greenspan Commission’s fixes. The Greenspan commission assumed that, as the cap rose with inflation, the Social Security payroll tax would continue to hit 90 percent of total income.
Today, though, the Social Security payroll tax hits only about 83 percent of total income in America. It went from 90 percent to 83 percent because a steadily larger portion of the nation’s total income has gone to the top.
In 1983, the richest 1 percent of Americans got 11.6 percent of total income. Today, the top 1 percent takes in more than 20 percent.
Trump regime
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| Elizabeth Warren |
Democracy Forward, a legal nonprofit representing the plaintiffs, confirmed Brinkema’s ruling from the bench.
“This ruling is a significant victory for the Constitution, the rule of law, and people in America,” Skye Perryman, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
“The court recognized the serious legal concerns raised by the Trump-Vance administration’s attempt to create a secretive, taxpayer-funded compensation program operating outside the constitutional safeguards that govern public spending. Despite the administration’s shifting explanations about the future of the slush fund, the court’s order ensures that taxpayer dollars cannot be distributed through this unlawful scheme while the courts fully consider the serious constitutional issues at stake. We look forward to continuing this challenge on behalf of our clients.”
Health
Axios - PwC yesterday estimated that medical costs will go up by 9% in the employer market next year, and by 8.5% in the individual market. One of the largest drivers is providers' use of AI-enabled software and scribes that more thoroughly document the care that's delivered. Such tools are being used "to capture greater billing complexity, and plans are absorbing the cost," per the report.
PwC said the financial impact isn't so much due to people using more medical services as "changes in coded severity, case mix and paid amount per claim."
Donald Trump
NY Times - A federal judge on Friday barred the Trump administration until further notice from setting up a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people claiming to have been unfairly prosecuted by the government, saying that her order was needed because of mixed messages about the scheme from President Trump.
The ruling by the judge, Leonie M. Brinkema, was the strongest effort to date by anyone in government to hold the administration to its word that the proposal to create the fund had actually been set aside. While Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, told Congress last week that the fund would not move forward, Mr. Trump has been much more circumspect, insisting that he still loves the idea and believes that people who suffered in court at the hands of the government should get financial compensation.
A measure to expunge Trump’s 2019 and 2021 impeachments likely wouldn’t be considered until after the midterm elections, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal Thursday night.
“It should be done because I did nothing wrong,” Trump told the Journal. “It was a rigged deal—it was a whole rigged situation.” Experts said that the resolution would have little legal weight considering that the Constitution has no mechanism for expunging impeachments, and Republican lawmakers noted that it wouldn’t be easy to get enough support to pass the bill.
The president’s plan to erase his impeachments gained new momentum in April, after the Trump administration published new documents related to his first impeachment that MAGA claimed undermined the credibility of the witnesses.
Federal judge blocks lawsuit against ActBlue
The Hill - A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled Thursday that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) cannot move forward with a donation-vetting lawsuit against progressive fundraising platform ActBlue. District Judge Richard G. Stearns blocked Paxton from “continuing to litigate” the case, finding that ActBlue was likely to succeed in its claims that the action infringed on its First Amendment’s free-speech protections.
The court sided with ActBlue’s argument that the lawsuit amounted to “retaliation” for its role in fundraising for Democratic candidates, namely Paxton’s opponent in the Texas Senate race, state Rep. James Talarico (D).
“The lawsuit in Texas is undoubtedly an adverse action,” Stearns, an appointee of former President Clinton, wrote in a 15-page order. “And having previously found bad faith, the court agrees with ActBlue that the evidence in the record compels the conclusion that, far from protecting Texas consumers, the action was filed in retaliation for ActBlue’s fundraising on behalf of Talarico, Paxton’s current political rival for the Senate seat.”
The court sided with ActBlue’s argument that the lawsuit amounted to “retaliation” for its role in fundraising for Democratic candidates, namely Paxton’s opponent in the Texas Senate race, state Rep. James Talarico (D).
“The lawsuit in Texas is undoubtedly an adverse action,” Stearns, an appointee of former President Clinton, wrote in a 15-page order. “And having previously found bad faith, the court agrees with ActBlue that the evidence in the record compels the conclusion that, far from protecting Texas consumers, the action was filed in retaliation for ActBlue’s fundraising on behalf of Talarico, Paxton’s current political rival for the Senate seat.”
Bad Weather
Bloomberg - The US declared a power emergency in the southeast as forecasters warned of dangerous heat that’s likely to stress power grids. Chicago was placed under a tornado warning on Thursday night, and disruptions to air travel and power supply persisted after the storm moved through. As of 11 p.m. ET, 1,474 flights were canceled and nearly 600,000 homes and businesses were without power.
NPR - The Trump administration is trying to downsize the U.S. Forest Service and eliminate wildfire and smoke research, just as the American West faces a potentially epic summer fire season. The administration has identified 90 research stations for closure as part of its Forest Service reorganization plan, which includes relocating its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Utah and consolidating regional offices into individual state facilities. U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz has defended the proposed reorganization, noting it has been considered by previous administrations since 2006. If Congress approves Trump's proposed budget for the agency, the U.S. Forest Service would be a skeleton of its former self, just as climate change is accelerating the frequency and severity of wildfires.
SpaceX
NBC News - SpaceX is set to begin trading on the stock market today at a valuation of $1.77 trillion — the largest ever initial public offering.
The IPO, which could be a referendum on Elon Musk, is also going to be the latest major test of red-hot demand for the artificial intelligence boom. Yesterday, the company locked in its final IPO price of $135, making it the largest stock debut ever.
The implications of this IPO stretch far beyond the opening trade.
For years, SpaceX was largely accessible only to venture capital firms, institutional investors and a small group of private shareholders. Now, ordinary investors will have their first chance to buy into the company — whether they realize it or not. Recent changes made by major stock exchanges mean SpaceX could be added to passive index funds almost immediately.
In addition, buying the stock also means investing by proxy in Musk, the company’s controlling shareholder. He’s already the world’s richest person but is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire when Space X goes public. To put that into perspective, it would take the average U.S. household nearly 12 million years to accumulate that much wealth.
Still can't wrap your head around how much 1,000,000,000,000 really is? These interactive graphics will help you visualize it.
The IPO, which could be a referendum on Elon Musk, is also going to be the latest major test of red-hot demand for the artificial intelligence boom. Yesterday, the company locked in its final IPO price of $135, making it the largest stock debut ever.
The implications of this IPO stretch far beyond the opening trade.
For years, SpaceX was largely accessible only to venture capital firms, institutional investors and a small group of private shareholders. Now, ordinary investors will have their first chance to buy into the company — whether they realize it or not. Recent changes made by major stock exchanges mean SpaceX could be added to passive index funds almost immediately.
In addition, buying the stock also means investing by proxy in Musk, the company’s controlling shareholder. He’s already the world’s richest person but is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire when Space X goes public. To put that into perspective, it would take the average U.S. household nearly 12 million years to accumulate that much wealth.
Still can't wrap your head around how much 1,000,000,000,000 really is? These interactive graphics will help you visualize it.
Middle East
NPR - In another whiplash decision, President Trump announced yesterday that he canceled new attacks in Iran, after announcing earlier in the day that more strikes were coming if the country didn't agree to a peace deal. The president signaled that the two countries had "conceptually" secured an agreement on nuclear issues and could sign a peace deal in the next few days, but Iran's foreign ministry says a deal hasn't been finalized. Trump wants this war to end, NPR's Aya Batrawy tells Up First. It's unpopular among Americans, who saw inflation surge to its highest level in several years. Arab Gulf countries are also hurting as the war drags on. Batrawy says a call between Trump and Qatar's emir yesterday, in which messages from Iran were exchanged, could have led Trump to call off more attacks. The United Arab Emirates has also shifted its tone from being hawkish on Iran to aligning more with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt about ending the war. That leaves Israel as the only country railing against a diplomatic approach. |
New execution system
The Guardian- The US’s newest execution method, nitrogen gas, appears headed toward a legal showdown amid a widening controversy over whether it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The supreme court late on Thursday rejected the state of Alabama’s request to execute prisoner Jeffrey Lee with nitrogen gas, and the rebuke culminates a week of setbacks for Alabama. The method has raised concerns for its apparent brutality. Eugene Smith, the first person to die by nitrogen hypoxia, thrashed and writhed on the gurney, according to witnesses. The last nitrogen execution, of Anthony Boyd, appeared to take more than 30 minutes as Boyd shuddered and gasped.
New alcohol studies
NY Times - A government alcohol study published on Tuesday concluded that the health risks of alcohol start at a single drink a day. The report was caught up in controversy after drawing the ire of the alcohol industry. For people who have one drink a day on average, the researchers found, there was an increased risk of premature death from an illness or injury directly attributable to alcohol, though it was small — one in 1,000 people. But the risk of premature death jumped to one in 25 for those who had two drinks a day, a level long considered safe for men, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
The second report’s finding was more palatable to the alcohol industry, which had called the Alcohol Intake and Health Study ideologically driven and scientifically flawed, and said it had communicated its concerns repeatedly to government officials over a period of several years.
The Alcohol Intake and Health Study was one of two reports commissioned during the Biden administration to inform an update to the U.S. dietary guidelines.
The second report, from a panel appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, or NASEM, came to very different conclusions. It suggested that moderate drinking (up to two drinks a day for men and one for women) was healthier than not drinking at all, although it noted that moderate drinking was also linked to a higher breast cancer risk. Some of the panelists behind that report had financial ties to the alcohol industry.
The second report’s finding was more palatable to the alcohol industry, which had called the Alcohol Intake and Health Study ideologically driven and scientifically flawed, and said it had communicated its concerns repeatedly to government officials over a period of several years.
June 11, 2026
Voting
Alternet - President Donald Trump's administration has spent months trying to get voter lists, particularly from blue states. Now, Trump is threatening to deny mailing ballots through the USPS if those states don't turn over the lists.
"That dilemma stems from newly proposed USPS rules that seek to comply with an executive order President Donald Trump signed this spring to crack down on mail-in voting," reported CNN. "If courts let the order stand, it would give the federal government an unprecedented role in elections — and could put even more voter data in the hands of Trump officials searching for supposed election fraud."
Trump's rules lay out new demands for mail-in ballots that states must meet if they intend to conduct an election by mail. Some states, like Colorado and seven others, with the District of Columbia, have all-mail elections. Twenty-three states and D.C. have decided to sue over the threat.
The Justice Department cleared a legal hurdle in May when a federal judge in Washington refused to block Trump’s executive order, allowing the Postal Service to begin enforcing it. Democratic groups are seeking an appeal and warn voters will be disenfranchised in November if mailed-in ballots are banned.
Democratic Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, whose state is part of the coalition challenging the order in Boston, told CNN in an interview that if courts rule in favor of the Trump administration, it would be “a virtual elimination of mail-in voting, unless the states supply voter lists to the federal government.”
ICE
Ximena Bustillo, NPR - Republicans in Congress voted to send tens of billions of dollars to two agencies - Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. This includes $38 billion just for ICE, which is a bit over three times the previous annual budget Congress had approved. It also includes money to hire more Border Patrol agents and for border security technology. Congress was originally on track to fund these parts of DHS, along with many other parts of the federal government, through its normal appropriations process, but Senate Democrats pulled their support for that measure and for all of DHS funding after DHS agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January.
Donald Trump
Independent - The Trump administration requested National Park visitors report exhibits deemed "negative" about Americans, aiming to restore sites as "uplifting public monuments." An analysis of 35,000 public comments, disclosed through a Sierra Club lawsuit, revealed that the vast majority sharply criticized the administration's initiative, with many calling it "un-American."
Newsbreak - President Trump on Wednesday applauded the latest inflation spike, saying the numbers are "great" and "I love the inflation" because the U.S. is "taking out" what he called "millions" of barrels of Iranian oil through the Strait of Hormuz and because once the conflict is over, he said oil prices and inflation will drop rapidly.
A reporter asked the president in the Oval Office Wednesday if he's concerned that the Consumer Price Index rose at an annual rate of 4.2%, up from 3.8% in the prior month and marking the highest level since April 2023. The new inflation numbers were released earlier Wednesday.
"No, I love it," the president said. "The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation. You know why? Because as soon as this war is over. You know, I can say it now, something you didn't know. Did you know we've been taking out millions of barrels of oil? Nobody knows it. You know who doesn't know about it? Iran, until right now. We took out the other night, 22 ships. Late at night, with no lights. Because they don't have any radar because we blasted the crap out of it. We took out. That's why oil's $85 a barrel."
President Donald Trump appears to have set a new bar: 22 medical specialists assessed him as part of his latest checkup, according to a medical report recently released by the White House. That figure is nearly double the number of specialists who assessed Trump for his past medical checkups as president, according to a review of publicly available statements by Trump’s doctors.
Six states bail on Great American State Fair
States bail on Trump’s party: Six states told NOTUS that they won’t be officially participating in the “Great American State Fair” set to kick off on the National Mall in a couple weeks, and three more are still undecided on sending an official delegation to the increasingly political national birthday celebration. The list of skippers: Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Oregon. The states on the fence: Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington. Is this the next headache for Freedom 250? NOTUS’ Sam Fortier, Jenna Monnin and Torrie Herrington have the details.
Congressional GOP want to permanently kill aid to Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood - Last summer, President Trump and his backers in Congress "defunded" Planned Parenthood by passing a law that aims to block people with Medicaid from using their insurance to get care at Planned Parenthood health centers. Now, Congressional Republicans want to make this permanent.
This law has already harmed people around the country who turn to Planned Parenthood health centers for cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, birth control, and other affordable, time-sensitive care. Last year, 51 Planned Parenthood health centers were forced to permanently close, leaving thousands of patients with fewer options, higher costs, and less freedom to make their own decisions about their lives, bodies, and futures.
Hazmat crews respond to ‘hazardous materials incident’ at the Pentagon
NBC News - Virginia emergency crews deployed to the Pentagon on Thursday morning for what authorities described as a “hazardous materials incident.” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed that “sophisticated systems” had “detected an air quality issue necessitating precautionary measures until we determine its significance.”
“The Department is executing standard protection protocols, including a shelter-in-place order for the affected area,” Parnell added, referring to the Defense Department. “Response teams are in place and ready to support building occupants.”
In a post on X, the Arlington County Fire Department said emergency units, including its hazardous materials team, were “operating at the Pentagon in support of PFPA’s Hazmat Team during a hazardous materials incident.”
Word
Jimmy Kimmel - “The Arc de Triomphe has the names of generals who fought and died for France engraved on its face. Ours will have the name of the draft dodger who killed America on it.”
Polls
Independent - A new Reuters/Ipsos poll reveals widespread public skepticism regarding accountability in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Only 10% of Americans overall and 21% of Republicans believe the administration has helped efforts to hold those involved accountable.
The poll indicates deep public distrust, with 84% believing powerful individuals are rarely held to account and around three-quarters suspecting the federal government is withholding information.
New RepublicIn Iowa, 58 percent of these targeted voters see the economy worsening and blame Trump for it, and 56 percent blame the GOP. In Michigan, 63 percent of these voters blame Trump, and 61 percent blame the GOP. In North Carolina, 51 percent of these voters blame Trump, and 48 percent blame the GOP. In Pennsylvania, 54 percent of these voters blame Trump, while 57 percent blame the GOP.
Schools
Time - Teachers’ paychecks have never fully reflected their passion or professionalism, but as America’s cost-of-living crisis persists, educators increasingly cannot afford even life’s basic necessities.
Rebecca Mikkelson, a school counselor in New Mexico, currently works three jobs just to buy the basics—groceries, a place to live, and health insurance. “The message this sends is deeply troubling: even when educators follow the rules, invest in education, eliminate my debt, and work full time in public service, financial security is no longer guaranteed... This is not a personal failure, it’s a systemic one.”
Her story is not unique. A recent survey of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) members found that the vast majority are living from paycheck to paycheck and many are taking on debt to pay for groceries, rent, and healthcare costs. Educators play a crucial role in our society, and the affordability crisis among America’s teachers can no longer be ignored.
This is a five-alarm fire, and it’s getting worse. According to the most recent data from the National Education Association, teachers make less than they did 10 years ago. The average starting salary has increased a paltry 0.7%—nowhere near enough to cover soaring gas prices, which have increased more than 40% this year. Meanwhile, the pay gap between teachers and other college-educated professionals—known as the “teacher pay penalty”—has grown to 27%. To put it plainly, people with the same level of education and experience can make far more doing almost anything other than teaching. We cannot accept this as an unfortunate reality or an accident.
Please Proceed With Your Plans to Vote by Mail Just have a backup plan, if possible, to vote in-person
Chris Bowers - Over the weekend, I sent an email from Bowers News Media .... explaining how the Trump administration was adding new layers of bureaucracy to delivering mail-in ballots that could result in delays, or worse, for some voters. I also published a version of this email as an article here on Wolves and Sheep: “Will you receive a mail-in ballot this year?“
I have received a number concerned emails in response to this, so I wanted to make one thing absolutely clear: DO NOT ABANDON YOUR PLANS TO VOTE BY MAIL THIS YEAR.
Also, as I wrote in response to one of the questions in yesterday’s version of Ask Us Anything, do not advise others to abandon their plans to vote by mail.
While we do not know exactly what will happen as a result of this additional bureaucracy, the most likely outcome is that for the vast, vast majority of people who attempt to vote by mail, everything will be fine...
Proceed with any plans you had to vote by mail, but develop a backup plan, if possible, to vote in person (I know that voting in person is not possible in all states, or for all people). You can do this through Vote.org and Vote America.
No matter where you live, please consider directly supporting the legal fund for Democratic secretaries of state who are leading the lawsuits against the Trump administration’s attempts to interfere with the way our elections are administered.
You can do the second action through the Democracy Legal Defense Fund, operated by the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State (DASS), which is the national Democratic party committee that works to elect Democrats in secretary of state elections around the country.
I have received a number concerned emails in response to this, so I wanted to make one thing absolutely clear: DO NOT ABANDON YOUR PLANS TO VOTE BY MAIL THIS YEAR.
Also, as I wrote in response to one of the questions in yesterday’s version of Ask Us Anything, do not advise others to abandon their plans to vote by mail.
While we do not know exactly what will happen as a result of this additional bureaucracy, the most likely outcome is that for the vast, vast majority of people who attempt to vote by mail, everything will be fine...
Proceed with any plans you had to vote by mail, but develop a backup plan, if possible, to vote in person (I know that voting in person is not possible in all states, or for all people). You can do this through Vote.org and Vote America.
No matter where you live, please consider directly supporting the legal fund for Democratic secretaries of state who are leading the lawsuits against the Trump administration’s attempts to interfere with the way our elections are administered.
You can do the second action through the Democracy Legal Defense Fund, operated by the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State (DASS), which is the national Democratic party committee that works to elect Democrats in secretary of state elections around the country.
Football or soccer
Wikipedia - The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition among the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to World War II.
AOL- In the United States, "football" is typically associated with a sport that is, for the most part, played with one's hands. However, most of the world uses the term "football" to describe the sport the U.S. calls "soccer." ....
Contrary to some conventional wisdom, the word "soccer" did not originate in the U.S. — but rather in England. Back in 1863, the newly formed Football Association in England created the official rules of the game to distinguish themselves from the rugby style of play.
In the 1880s, popular English slang would shorten names of sports and then add "-er" to the end of it. Association football became "assoccer," which ultimately developed into the word "soccer."
When soccer made its way to the United States, the gridiron version of football was already established. So those who played the sport with the round ball decided to lean into the term "soccer."
While the word "football" developed in England, most countries since the late 19th and early 20th centuries have used the term to describe the game.
But the U.S. isn't the only place where the sport is called soccer. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa also use the term.
Sam Smith - Whatever you call it, the game was the only sport your editor ever played seriously, thanks to going to Germantown Friends, a soccer friendly Quaker high school in Philadelphia. As I wrote in my memoir:
The school, while de-emphasizing competition among its students, was remarkably competitive in one sport: soccer.... It had enjoyed 40 winning seasons in what was then one of the few cities in America in which soccer was taken seriously. At GFS it was the major sport. Playing in the old-style soccer shoes seemingly constructed of two by fours and pipe clamps, I attempted to be as inconspicuous as possible, which, as a fullback, was not that difficult since the ball was so frequently at the other end of the field. By senior year I had been relegated to goalie for the junior varsity, the only senior on the team. My coach and I both hoped that size would compensate for my lack of skill. But even my one moment of glory was by accident. While playing temporarily as a fullback in a game, I momentarily forgot my position and intercepted with my hand a ball inexorably headed for the goal. The resulting penalty kick failed and I was cheered for my strategic brilliance.
The closest I came to physical achievement was in the spring as a middling shot-putter. I was not bad at pure force; it was only when the force required some finite direction and distance that I failed.
Workers
NPR - Americans' wages, on average, have not kept pace with rising prices. The Labor Department says average wages have increased by only 3.4% over the last year. NPR’s Scott Horsley says this is an unfortunate turn of events because, for most of the last three years, workers saw real improvement in their buying power because wages were rising faster than prices. The Federal Reserve typically addresses inflation by raising interest rates or keeping them high. But Trump has been demanding lower interest rates, which presents a challenge for new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh as he prepares for his first rate-setting meeting next week. Horsley says he believes interest rates will likely remain elevated for an extended period.
Middle East
NBC News - President Trump announced in a Truth Social post he’s canceled an additional round of strikes in Iran, saying discussions with Tehran “have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved.” The president said that “discussions and final points” have been approved by “all parties involved,” including other nations in the region. Iran did not confirm a deal had been reached.
It is difficult to make a definitive call on whether this escalation between the U.S. and Iran will lead to full-scale fighting, NPR’s Greg Myre tells Up First. For two consecutive nights, there have been U.S. attacks on Iran, and the president says there will be more tonight if Iran doesn't agree to a deal.
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