Jerry Seinfeld didn’t need a punchline — reality did the work for him. After the New York Knicks’ victory over the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night, a streamer cornered the legendary comedian outside the arena, camera rolling, clearly fishing for a viral moment. “What up, Seinfeld? What up? Can we get a ‘free Palestine?’ Can we get a ‘free Palestine?’ C’mon, give us a ‘free Palestine,'” the streamer demanded. Seinfeld laughed — and then delivered three words that broke the internet: “It doesn’t exist.” The streamer, apparently satisfied with the chaos he’d generated, turned to his phone and announced, “You got all that? You got all that? There we go.” He got it, alright. He just didn’t get what he wanted. After the Knick’s comeback win, comedian Jerry Seinfeld was asked to say “Free Palestine.” Seinfeld laughs and then responds: "It doesn't exist.” WATCH: pic.twitter.com/3DDMAHqG8r — Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 11, 2026 For anyone surprised by Seinfeld’s composure, they haven’t been paying attention. The comedian has been navigating this minefield for years — and winning every round. His connection to Israel runs deep and predates his fame. At 16, in 1970, Seinfeld volunteered at Kibbutz Sa’ar. After Hamas’ October 7, 2023, massacre, he flew to Tel Aviv on a solidarity trip, meeting with hostage families and visiting the devastated Kibbutz Be’eri and the Nova Music Festival site. The backlash was swift — and Seinfeld turned it into material. In Australia, when a heckler accused him of supporting genocide, Seinfeld fired back: “We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen. He’s solved the Middle East! It’s the Jewish comedians, that’s who we have to get.” To another protester he quipped, “I think you need to go back and tell whoever is running your organization, ‘We just gave more money to a Jew.’ That cannot be a good plan for you.” In February 2024, protesters called him “Nazi scum” as he left the 92Y in Manhattan. He smiled and waved. Outside another event, demonstrators surrounded his car screaming “genocide scum.” He smiled and waved again. At Duke University’s May 2024 commencement, roughly 100 students walked out waving Palestinian flags when he took the podium. He told the remaining crowd, “A lot of you are thinking, ‘I can’t believe they invited this guy.’ Too late.” By September 2025, Seinfeld had stopped pulling punches entirely. At a Duke campus event, he compared “Free Palestine” to KKK rhetoric, arguing both mask hatred behind euphemism — and that the Klan was at least honest about it. So when the streamer shoved a camera in his face Wednesday night expecting to rattle the man, he walked into years of battle-tested material. The response was instant. It was devastating. It was, in a word, Seinfeldian.

The FBI arrested a Somali-born man accused of stealing $4 million from a federal food program for children in need through his participation in the nation’s largest COVID-era scam.  FBI Director Kash Patel announced Wednesday that 47-year-old Said Abdullahi Ereg surrendered to federal authorities after being wanted since 2024 on fraud charges. Ereg was placed on the “Most Wanted Fraudsters” last week over his alleged involvement in the massive $250 million Feeding Our Future scam. “When [Vice President] Vance led the way for the Most Wanted Fraudsters list through the [White House Fraud Task Force] — this was exactly the righteous goal the Task Force had in mind — to bring to justice all those who have stolen money from hardworking American taxpayers,” Patel said. “This historic result is only the beginning — and let it be a message to any fraudster who takes advantage of America, this team will find you.” The FBI said that Ereg took $4.2 million in government payments to his Minneapolis-based grocery and deli to supposedly provide meals through the Federal Child Nutrition Program between April 2020 and April 2021. Ereg’s grocery was sponsored by the fraudulent Feeding Our Future program.  “Ereg allegedly transferred most of the money to fund his family’s lavish lifestyle,” the FBI said. “He also allegedly transferred money to foreign accounts controlled by foreign companies.” Ereg’s grocery store purported to serve “3,000 meals, twice a day, seven days a week” but in actuality only served a “fraction of those meals,” according to prosecutors. In total, he claimed to have served 1.4 million meals to children.  The money was instead used for purchases of high-end brands like Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and Canada Goose and sent to a foreign textile company, according to the indictment. Ereg transferred some $2.5 million funds received from government payouts to foreign accounts controlled by foreign companies, prosecutors said.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars went toward the purchase of a home in New Hope, Minnesota, and the Somali-founded Quick Chain Trading Company and the Chinese-based Shaoxing Aifan Textile Company, according to the indictment.  The suspected fraudster faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The criminal proceedings for Ereg will take place in federal court in Minnesota.  Aimee Bock, the founder of Feeding Our Future, was sentenced last month to 500 months in prison for her role in the exploitation of the child nutrition program during COVID. She and others created dozens of shell companies to funnel federal dollars that were supposed to go toward feeding kids.  Under the direction of Vice President JD Vance, the Trump administration is focusing on cracking down on fraud. Federal officials are investigating in Ohio after The Daily Wire reported on the state’s questionable payments for a taxpayer funded home healthcare program.

The Canadian Parliament is poised to pass a bill that would ramp up restrictions on so-called hate speech and remove religious protections in a move that concerns conservatives and Christians whose worldview stands in opposition to the LGBT ideology.  Canada’s “Combatting Hate Act,” or Bill C-9, targets so-called hate crimes such as the public display of the Nazi swastika and other terrorist symbols, and it also increases the punishment for “intimidation” around places of worship and safe places. But also buried inside the bill is a controversial section that removes Canada’s religious exemption for so-called hate speech. Some worry that the bill could be used to silence Christian expression that opposes gay marriage. The bill passed the country’s House of Commons in March and was adopted by the Senate last week. It was then sent back to the House of Commons to resolve amendments made in the Senate, and it is expected to be accepted without opposition and be signed into law by the governor general. Canada’s Liberal government made an agreement with the secular Bloc Quebecois, a party devoted to Quebecois nationalism, to include in the bill a section that removes the religious exemption clause to hate speech that is currently in Canadian law code. With the removal of the religious exemption, people can be prosecuted for hate speech even if “the person expressed or attempted to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text.” Josh Dehaas from the Canadian Constitution Foundation warned that the bill could even target the reading of certain scripture passages due to the removal of this religious protection.  “It is unlikely passages from religious texts read on their own will lead to criminal charges,” Dehaas stated. “The Crown would need to believe that the intention of reading the text was to incite hatred, promote hatred or promote antisemitism.” “However, with the defence now removed, certain passages from religious texts could now lead to charges depending on the context including when they are read, where they are read, and what other words are used when they are read,” he added.  The Canadian Supreme Court has made a test for hate speech by looking for “hallmarks of hatred.” The “hallmarks” include calling a specific group a “powerful menace,” accusing “a group of carrying out secret conspiracies to gain global control or that they are plotting to destroy western civilization,” calling a group “liars, cheats, criminals and thugs,” labeling a people group “subhuman,” or blaming a group for the problems of society. The bill does include at least one protection against abuse, requiring the approval of the provincial attorneys, so the charge cannot be weaponized by local police. Hillsdale assistant professor Dr. John Petrakis, an expert in comparative political systems and Canadian and American law, told The Daily Wire that the Canadian Supreme Court would likely defend bill if it becomes law, following its decision in Saskatchewan (Human Rights Commission) v. Whatcott, in which the court upheld a penalty for a man who spread anti-gay pamphlets. “It is difficult to predict exactly how these legal changes will operate in practice, and whether people might be able to challenge them on constitutional grounds (freedom of speech and freedom of religion,)” Petrakis declared. “I will say that the Court’s Whatcott decision should make one pessimistic. The courts are likely to dismiss constitutional challenges by saying that the laws and their application to specific cases are ‘reasonable’ limitations to constitutional rights.” Petrakis said that with the advent of this new legislation, Canada will likely emulate countries such as Great Britain in their crackdown on reported hate speech. “My overall take is that Canadian free speech law and culture is much less robust than the U.S., though more robust than Western Europe, but that this new law will reinforce our trend away from American-style speech culture towards the European version,” Petrakis said. The Senate sponsor of the bill, the Honorable Kristopher Wells, described his experience working with the “Jewish, Muslim, Asian, black, indigenous and 2SLGBTQI+ communities,” stating that their universal plea to the government is that “they do not feel safe, do not feel seen and do not feel the law is there to help them at their time of greatest need.” “Bill C-9 is our answer to those responses,” Wells stated. “It is an opportunity for Parliament to say, with unwavering moral clarity and with the strength of criminal law, that our country sees you, Canada will stand with you and hate will not be tolerated in this country.” One section of the bill creates a separate hate crime offense for an “offense … motivated by hatred based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, color, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.” Previously, the charge of a hate crime could only be used to extend the sentence for a crime, but this bill creates it as a separate, punishable offense. Wells argued that Canada needs a separate hate crime offense after claiming to witness a rise in so-called hate crimes against the LGBT community. “Drag storytimes are protested; pride flags are burned or removed from municipalities and schools; and 25% of adolescents in Canada have experienced at least one form of cyberbullying, with trans and non-binary adolescents almost twice as likely to be targeted,” Wells said.  “Bill C-9 corrects this by creating a dedicated hate crime offence, ensuring that when someone wilfully commits a criminal act motivated by hatred against an identifiable group, that motivation is recognized as the very essence of the wrongdoing,” he added. The bill also prohibits the public display of a symbol that “is principally used by, or principally associated with, a listed entity.” This bans hosting the flags for designated terror organizations, such as the Palestine Liberation Front, the Taliban, and Al Qaida, and gangs such as La Mara Salvatrucha, along with far-Right groups such as the Proud Boys. The bill seeks to prevent terrorist demonstrations like the pro-Hamas demonstrations in the United States, where Left-wing rioters shouted “Allahu Akbar” and burned the American flag in response to a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Karmelo Anthony was transferred to a state prison in Navasota, Texas, just one day after he was convicted of murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf. Anthony was booked at the Collin County, Texas, Jail on Tuesday, mere hours after his conviction. By Wednesday, he was transferred to the Wallace Pack Unit, according to CBS 11 journalist J.D. Miles. Anthony’s prison mugshot shows that his head has been shaved as he officially starts his lengthy stay in state prison. Breaking: Karmelo Anthony has been transferred to the Pack Unit in Navasota by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Here is his prison mug shot. pic.twitter.com/cm14aycoHI — J.D. Miles (@jdmiles11) June 10, 2026 The 19-year-old was sentenced on Tuesday to 35 years behind bars for Metcalf’s murder, and shortly after sentencing, his jail booking photo was released to the public: New mugshot of Karmelo Anthony in the Collin County Jail as he spends the first night of his 35 year sentence for murder. He will like be transported to prison in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/yENKRyD6AP — J.D. Miles (@jdmiles11) June 10, 2026 The Wallace Pack Unit, where Anthony is now held, has over 1,400 male prisoners and is a minimum-to-medium security facility. Anthony fatally stabbed Metcalf, who was white, at a track event in April 2025 in Frisco, Texas. The case quickly generated national attention, both due to a narrative peddled by the Anthony family and the glaring lack of coverage from the legacy media, which routinely highlights and escalates white-on-black incidents. The high-profile trial started on June 1 with jury selection and wrapped in a matter of nine days. Video footage and witness testimony — even from defense witnesses — generally indicated that Anthony provoked the situation with Metcalf and deadly force was not needed, contradicting the self-defense argument from Anthony’s team. Anthony broke down in tears when the verdict was read and was visibly shaking; he also broke down when his 35-year sentence was announced. It’s unclear if Anthony cried during any other part of the trial.  Jeff Metcalf, the slain teen’s father, read a powerful victim impact statement after Anthony’s sentencing. He told Anthony he forgives him, but does not forgive his actions. “A piece of me died with my son, and I’m expected to keep living,” he said. “You’re free to make choices all you want, but you’re not free from those consequences. You will face those consequences starting today.” “People think that grief is sadness but it’s not. It’s rage! Pure unfiltered rage,” the father reportedly shouted while slamming his hands on the table in front of him. “You failed your parents, you failed yourself and you failed society, you don’t belong in this community.” Related: ‘F*ck Austin!’: Karmelo Anthony Supporters Harass, Threaten Friends Of Slain Teen Outside Courthouse

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** The past decade or so’s changes in publishing have hit young adult books and two conservative favorites, science fiction and fantasy, hardest. This is why right-leaning indie authors lean heavy on genre stuff. This is great, except for the fact that indie genre authors also love to write long. Do you want to stand out from the pack as a right-aligned indie novelist? Write mysteries or crime thrillers that are reasonably short. There are not a lot of such books. (If you’ve got one, drop a comment and I might review it.) For lovers of fantasy, though, let’s look at the long and the short of it. “Travel by Star” by Paul Scott Grill “Travel by Star” offers some of the best and the less appealing of the indie genre scene. A road-tripping fantasy novel grounded in the author’s Christian faith and an atypical Western setting, it’s not like the kind of stuff you’ll see major publishers putting out. The fall of a legendary city has doomed a frontier land to grinding struggle; now a young woman of angelic lineage named Nichole Littlestar has to convince reluctant horse whisperer Travel to brave dangers manmade and mystical, and guide her to the city’s site, in an effort to rekindle the lost hope of man. Along the way, they brave the dangers of a poisoned land, not least Drannach of Shrian, known as the Wathe, who will stop at nothing to purge Archewood’s memory from the world of men.  Also, there are superintelligent horses that act functionally sort of like Roy Roger’s Trigger. If nothing else will pique your interest, that should do it. There’s a genuine charm to “Travel by Star.” Its action and scares are balanced by an underlying gentleness. Its faith-based sensibilities are neither cloying nor overpowering, and Christians with a fondness for fictional worlds may particularly enjoy its handling of the influence of Jesus on a fantasy world and how Christ reaches the people there. The characters aren’t particularly compelling, but they are human and likable.  The only downside is the page count. This book would have been a terrific read at 250-300 pages. It would have been fine at 350. But “Travel by Star” is six hundred and thirty-six pages. As a result, the charms get a little lost and the parts that drag have too much time to settle in. But it’s a book with real heart and with some things to say, particularly about the temptation to repay wrong with wrong, and living with choices that haunt you. And while it may not be as polished as mainstream offerings, at its best it portrays a fallen world that truly feels eerie and out of joint, and that’s harder to pull off than you’d think. “The Turquoise Serpent” by Alexander Palacio This one’s lean and mean, folks. If you want more, there’s a sequel (“The Flowers of the Moon”), but the original is plenty fun on its own: It’s a straightforward sword and sorcery story with enjoyably contrasting characters, a hectic pace, and action aplenty.  Having captured the brutish exile Cayucali, a band of soldiers and the spiteful young wizard-in-training Tezca are forced by a storm to detour their march home, only to find themselves in an unholy land where the fallen nation Kalak Mool is in thrall to the deadly cult of a dark god. Do our protagonists fall into the hands of utter villainy? Indeed they do. Is the muscled hero forced to fight in an arena? Yes he is. Is the cerebral co-protagonist flattered and tempted by the enticements of an evil sorcerer? But of course. Is there a pretty girl who must be saved? Absolutely.  You can call a lot of the beats in this story going in. But that’s half the fun: “The Turquoise Serpent” does what it says on the tin, and isn’t it nice to know what you’re getting occasionally? The real spice comes not from the plot, but from the setting, a Mesoamerican-inspired fantasy world that isn’t afraid to get weird and have different attitudes from our modern day-to-day. It’s short, zippy, and doesn’t make the mistake of being overly ambitious. A good companion for a summer afternoon in the hammock. “The Mighty Sons of Hercules: Volume 1” published by Cirsova Publishing The mighty sons of Hercules once thundered through the years.  These men of steel could never feel the curse of a coward’s fears The mighty sons of Hercules were men as men should be They burned with dreams and turned their dreams into history! Er, sorry, that’s the catchy old TV show theme. Cirsova is hat-tipping here. In the late 1960s, some enterprising producers snagged the U.S. TV rights to a bunch of sword and sandal strongman pics. They renamed most of the heroes in dubbing, broke the movies into two hour-long episodes, slapped a title sequence on it, and dumped it into syndication. Tim Lucas’s Video WatchBlog notes that it aired around the U.S. for 11 straight years and had a revival in the 1990s thanks to the cable channel TNT.  What does this have to do with the anthology (and, one presumes, its sequel, “The Mighty Sons of Hercules: Volume 2”)? Absolutely nothing, except that the publisher is telling you the old sword and sandals are just what you’re in for here, in eight stories of inhumanly strong men, adventurers who help the troubled and free the oppressed.  The best tale by far is Misha Burnett’s “Summer of the Stranger,” wherein a boy from a bandit-plagued village tries to assemble a defensive force based on the example of a traveling son of Hercules, but there’s great fun in several. Hero-vs-evil-king tale “Mighty Umaeo and the Tyrant’s Test” features the most delightful herculean strength feat of the book, wherein the hero saves a sinking ship by towing it to harbor, and “Maciste in the Land of the Snakes” and “Melkart the Unchained” both get the feel of the old sword and sandals pictures to come across very well. Cirsova’s bringing back the rollicking, cheerful strongman hero, who tackles problems head-on with a smile and bulging biceps in the antithesis of grimdark fantasy. Villains are formidable but never seem unconquerable; the hero may be captured, but he never doubts or questions himself and always has good cheer and plenty of hope. Never for a moment do you doubt the good guy will win. And don’t we all need a little dose of that every now and then? *** David Hines has a background in forensic science and international human rights, has written for the Federalist and the American Conservative, and loves books. Possibly even yours.