First Thoughts: Whitman's Woes

Jerry Seinfeld’s Unfrosted, a feature film about the heated race to create the toaster pastry Pop-Tarts, starts streaming today (May 3) on Netflix. In his directorial debut, Seinfeld also stars as Kellogg’s head of development, facing cereal mascots and milkmen up in arms because they’re afraid that a breakfast food that doesn’t require milk is going to run them out of business.

Prison is more than a place. It’s also a mindset. When I entered Corrective Colony No. 2—or IK-2, in Mordovia, a region more than 300 miles east of Moscow—I flipped a switch in my head. I’m an inmate now, I told myself. I’ll be here at least nine years. I even rehearsed my release date: Oct.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after a jury said it was deadlocked and could not reach a verdict in the trial of a military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq two decades ago. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The mistrial came in the jury’s eighth day of deliberations.

In a dramatic example of government yielding to public opinion the Senate has introduced legislation to legalize cannabis on the federal level. Though passage before the November election is unlikely, this long overdue legislative action seeks to update a statute stemming [pun intended] from marijuana’s demonized image as depicted in the 1936 documentary film “Reefer Madness” and better reflect public opinion and liberal social trends.

LONDON — Britain’s governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as an array of election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U. K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Labour won control of councils in England it hasn’t held for decades and was successful in a special by-election for Parliament that, if repeated in a general election in coming months, would lead to one of the Conservatives′ biggest-ever defeats. The only negative so far for Labour has been in some areas with large Muslim populations, such as Oldham in northwest England, where the party’s candidates appear to have suffered as a result of leader Keir Starmer ‘s strongly pro-Israel stance in the conflict in Gaza. Perhaps most important in the context of the looming general election, which has to take place by January but could come as soon as next month, Labour easily won back Blackpool South in the northwest of England that went Conservative in the last general election in 2019, when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a big victory.

BOSTON — A highly anticipated trial began in Massachusetts this week involving a woman accused of striking her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him for dead in a snowbank. John O’Keefe died in a suburb about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Boston on Jan. 29, 2022. The case has garnered national attention because the defense alleges state and local law enforcement officials have framed her and allowed the real killer to go free. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Here are the facts and legal arguments in the case: The charges: A tumultuous relationship turns deadly Karen Read, 44, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, faces several charges including second-degree murder in the death of John O’Keefe, 46.