As American students file back to class, legislatures in 17 states have rolled out fresh cellphone restrictions, with Democrats and Republicans unusually united in their zeal for digital detox; the cross-party consensus rests on concerns—statistical…
A 29-year-old man died early Saturday in a cell at New York’s Rikers Island, bringing the Department of Correction’s in-custody death toll to nine for 2024. Staff at the George R. Vierno Center found him unresponsive around 12:30 a.m.; he was pronounced dead within the hour, reinforcing the jail’s reputation as America’s least coveted hotel upgrade.
After four years of relative obscurity, Donald Trump has decisively recast the Republican National Committee in his own image, with allies like Amy Kremer and Joe Gruters seizing top posts at gatherings in Milwaukee and Atlanta. Party veterans—some newly emboldened and others indicted—now tout a “MAGA” identity as the lasting engine of Republican politics, leaving the establishment types to reminisce over their shrinking tent.
The National Weather Service, ever our vigilant lifeguard, has issued a rip current statement for Brooklyn and Queens until Sunday evening, reminding New Yorkers that even ironclad swimmers can find themselves swept away at Coney Island or Rockaway Beach. Advice is to float, not flail, and to bring a flotation device—though, as usual, the greatest buoyancy comes from a properly calibrated sense of caution.
The National Weather Service has warned Brooklyn, Queens, and Suffolk County beachgoers of rip currents through Sunday night, urging swimmers to stick close to lifeguards and carry flotation devices. We’re reminded that panicking is less helpful than following the current and waving for help; a little calm and parallel thinking could prove more buoyant than bravado—though we suspect that, in New York, shouting for help comes naturally.
America’s Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, abruptly sacked Jeffrey Kruse, intelligence chief at the Pentagon, after the White House blasted the agency’s leaked report downplaying the impact of strikes on Iran’s nuclear efforts as “totally wrong.” Two senior naval officers walked the plank as well—officially for “loss of confidence.” Data that fail to match official optimism, we note, often meet a similarly brisk fate.
A rip current warning remains in effect from the National Weather Service for Brooklyn, Queens, Suffolk, and Nassau counties until Monday evening, urging swimmers to stay near lifeguards and float rather than flail should they be swept out. We note that local authorities, well-practiced in the fine art of caution, recommend vigilance—and, for extra insurance, a flotation device that's rather less virtual than most safeguards these days.
Kevin Dubuisson, a four-time felon on parole, managed in Queens to squeeze three attempted carjackings and a police shootout into a chaotic morning—culminating in an NYPD detective wounded by friendly fire—before being taken, not to court, but to a hospital for an unspecified ailment. With such efficiency, local recidivism appears to have abandoned even the pretense of subtlety.
Nicolás Maduro accused Washington of plotting “terrorist” regime change after the US announced a warship deployment of 4,000 troops to the Caribbean, saying it targets drug trafficking but also raising the bounty on Maduro’s capture to $50 million. Caracas drills its militias and denounces “immoral” threats, as UN head António Guterres advocates peace talks; meanwhile, Russia and friends frown from the geopolitical sidelines.
