Her column takes us to Bethlehem Central High School, outside Albany, New York, where administrators are trying to change that, at least for 180 school days a year and seven classes a day. Walking into the cafeteria, she feels like she’s stepped back into the 1980s. There are no acid-wash denims or leg warmers (yet); there’s just spirited lunchtime conversation. In case you haven’t set foot in the school lately, it’s getting a little outdated.
Interestingly, she reports that many of Bethlehem’s students are fans: Instead of resenting the restrictions, they’re “relieved to not have to respond to posts or texts during class.”
Kate’s shocking statistics on how addicted kids are to screen time make the point: Who wouldn’t want to break free from this addiction?
Can schools open on Saturdays?
Chaser: Fareed Zakaria Recently, in arguing for a TikTok ban, I offered a primer on the science of screen addiction.
Voting is happening all over the world
Election check-in! Americans are understandably fixated on the race between President Biden and former President Donald Trump, but how is the rest of the world voting?
Let’s start with the largest democracy on earth. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected to a third term this week, but his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party lost all its seats in parliament, a stunning failure for a politician and party that was once thought to be a powerhouse. It is the first time in Modi’s political career that he has failed to win a majority.
“After an election campaign in which Modi claimed to be an incarnation of God, Rana Ayyub “The myth of his invincibility was shattered,” wrote Rana, who said the result gave Muslims at least a little peace of mind about their future in India.
surely, Editorial Committee With a sigh of relief, he writes, the BJP “will no longer have unfettered power to further crack down on civil society, jail the opposition, infiltrate and hijack our democratic institutions and persecute Muslims.”
In the UK, Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party is trailing Keir Starmer’s Labour Party by more than 20 points heading into the election scheduled for July 4th. (It’s been 248 years, folks.)
British journalist Martin Ivens To rub salt into the Conservative wounds, the Trump-like Nigel Farage, now officially leader of the populist Reform Party, is setting his sights on a total reshuffle of the British right as soon as he’s wiped away his milkshake, writes Ivens, who foresees “a slightly polite MAGA with a British accent”.
Finally, across the Channel, the European Parliament elections taking place this week will affect all 450 million people on the continent. Lee Hochsteder They write that the outcome may depend heavily on Italy’s “protean” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
As Lee writes, the protean prime minister is essentially faced with a choice between aligning with moderate centrists to stabilize Europe, or aligning with the far-right parties that are causing rebellion in many countries. “In a way, Meloni’s choice may be whether to follow his head or his heart,” Lee explains.
Chaser: In case you missed it yesterday, the Commission confirmed that the democratic election of Mexico’s first female president was in fact Weakening Mexican democracy.
from David Ignatius In this column, I argued why Hamas should accept this plan and finally end the horrific Gaza war.
David learned more about the unannounced agreement from a person close to the negotiations, but other terms of the deal are promising, including the rapid construction of housing, restoration of key community lifelines and repairs to Gaza’s infrastructure.
“If large amounts of international aid flow into the exclave, Gaza may actually experience a post-war economic boom,” David writes. Normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia could eventually follow.
This is what the Palestinian people want, and David hopes Hamas understands this and does the right thing.
Trump and his team want revenge. Ruth Marcus His aides plan to indict law enforcement officials in an eye-for-an-eye approach to the legal proceedings against the former president. “This is so crazy that it is tempting to dismiss it as overheated rhetoric,” Roos wrote. “That would be a mistake.”
Her column is full of worrying comments from Trump’s retaliation operatives. Listen to Trump adviser Stephen Miller: “All the House committees are controlled by Republicans, and they’re exercising their subpoena power in every way possible?”
And that was before Trump’s own comments, which you should read and understand are what Roos calls “dangerous, illegal and un-American.”
The Chaser: Carole BogartThe president of the criminal justice nonprofit Marshall Project doesn’t want to call Trump a “felon” – and there’s good reason the term has fallen out of use.
- from Alexandra Petri: “I’m your new AI search assistant! I hope you eat glue and die.”
- Apparently, a former Washington Post court reporter let a story about the Samuel Alito flag sit for years. Erik Wemple This is a huge blemish on the newspaper, he writes.
- President Biden’s immigration plan likely would not withstand legal challenge. Jen Rubin But it’s still a smart move.
It’s a goodbye. It’s a haiku. It’s… “goodbye.”
A vanilla British middle-right winger?
Have a newsworthy haiku of your own? Please send by e-mailIf you have any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact us. See you tomorrow!
