A killing at sea marks America’s descent into lawless power by Jon Duffy

Now that the murder of a proud, loud, influential bigot has grabbed the media’s full attention with the sweeping draw of a black hole, it’s important to remember that the miscreants currently soiling the White House are continuing to cross moral and legal boundaries with impunity. Jon Duffy is a retired navy captain who handled sensitive national security tasks during his service. He knows U.S. military policies, protocols, and regulations as well as international law. It is worth paying attention when he identifies the recent targeting of a small boat in the Caribbean, killing all eleven of its passengers, as an especially egregious escalation of the executive branch’s criminality. This persuasive piece is published by Defense One.

The worst takes from a bad week by Don Moynihan

As for the onstage shooting that the victim had previously characterized as a reasonable trade-off to preserving the sanctity of the Second Amendment, it prompted predictably abhorrent rhetoric from his brethren on the right. Writing for his own Substack, Don Moynihan offers a level-headed assessment of why the right’s reaction was so irresponsible, reserving special ire for those who nonsensically held up the killing as evidence of higher education radicalizing young people, a claim that has no basis in reality whatsoever.

Inside the World of “The Great British Bake Off” by Ruby Tandoh

In dire times, a new series of friendly people baking in a tent erected in the British countryside is a welcome diversion. This entertaining piece by Ruby Tandoh, a contestant in series four of The Great British Bake Off, goes behind the scenes of the venerable comfort watch. She shares her experiences with wit, candor, and insight. This article is published by The New Yorker.