"We don't buy every new set that comes out," 38-year-old collector Jonny Edmondson told The Wall Street Journal. "We've got to eat."
Lego's investment in sets for adults is paying off in spades. The company's revenue has doubled over the last decade to almost $10 billion in 2023, the Journal reported.
"We decided to focus on adults because we realized that we had a much bigger opportunity than we were tapping into," Julia Goldin, Lego's chief of product and marketing, told the Journal.
For adults, part of the appeal is displaying the finished product.
"Nowadays it's not so geeky," Sian Twynham, another adult Lego builder, told the Journal. "You can have a set on your coffee table, and no one would bat an eyelid."
Whether it's nostalgia or strategic marketing, toy companies are seeing big returns when they rebrand kids products for adult audiences.
Hasbro, another classic toymaker, has latched onto a similar strategy, rebranding classic games like Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit for both older and younger generations, the Associated Press reported.
US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Carney engaging missiles and drones in the Red Sea.
US Navy/MCS2 Aaron Lau
Iran launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel this weekend.
The IDF said 99% of the 300 or so Iranian munitions were shot down.
US forces destroyed more than 70 of them, according to Biden administration officials.
US forces engaged and shot down more than 75 of the missiles and drones that Iran fired at Israel this weekend, marking its biggest air-defense battle of the six-month-long Middle East crisis.
Iran and its proxy militias launched a barrage of 170 attack drones, 120 ballistic missiles, and 30 cruise missiles at Israel in a massive and unprecedented attack on Saturday night local time, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
It was the first-ever direct attack on Israel from Iranian soil. About 99% of the threats were intercepted by Israel and its partners, the IDF said, and most of them did not even cross into Israeli territory — a remarkable air-defense success.
US forces in the region eliminated more than 70 of the Iranian munitions, senior Biden administration officials told reporters on Sunday.
An Israeli fighter jet intercepts a drone.
IDF screengrab via X
Two US Navy destroyers operating in the eastern Mediterranean Sea — the USS Arleigh Burke and USS Carney — engaged and destroyed between four and six ballistic missiles, and a Patriot air-defense system shot down one ballistic missile above Iraq, an official said.
A majority of the remaining ballistic missiles were engaged by Israel's Arrow 2 and 3 systems, which make up the top echelon of the country's sophisticated air defense network. A few of the ballistic missiles entered Israeli territory and struck targets, including an IDF base, causing minor damage, the military said.
US fighter jets also shot down more than 70 Iranian one-way attack drones, the Biden administration official said. They would not say how many aircraft were involved in the interceptions.
President Joe Biden said he directed the US military to move aircraft and ballistic missile defenses to the region over the past week.
"Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles," he said in a statement.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke.
US Navy photo/Petty Officer 3rd Class Scott Pittman
"Our forces remain postured to protect US troops and partners in the region, provide further support for Israel's defense, and enhance regional stability," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement after the attack.
Britain's defense minister, Grant Shapps, confirmed that the UK also intercepted multiple drones. None of the drones or cruise missiles launched by Iran crossed into Israeli territory, according to the IDF.
The attack marked the US military's biggest air-defense battle of the ongoing and widespread Middle East crisis, which began with Hamas' October 7 terror attack across southern Israel, sparking an outburst of violence across the region.
Since October, US forces have engaged aerial threats launched by Iran-backed militias above Iraq and Syria, and also the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The largest of these attacks involved more than 20 drones and missiles carried out by the Yemen-based Houthis earlier this year.
Damage from a missile impact at an Israeli airbase.
IDF
Tehran's attack against Israel, meanwhile, came in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria at the start of April. The strike killed several military officials, including two generals in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Following the incident, Iran vowed revenge and telegraphed that it would retaliate against Israel. The Middle East had been on heightened alert over the past two weeks as it braced for a possible response from Tehran, which was unclear in terms of size and scope.
The attack on Saturday was met with resounding international condemnation, with world leaders blasting Iran as "reckless." The leaders of the G7 — which is made up of the US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, and Japan — said they expressed solidarity with Israel and are committed to the country's security.
"With its actions, Iran has further stepped toward the destabilization of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation," the leaders said in a statement. "This must be avoided."
For now, Israel appears to be calibrating a response to the Iranian attack, although it is unclear at this time what that may look like.
Ex-national security advisor John Bolton called for a "far stronger" response from Israel against Iran.
Bolton made the comments after Iran launched a barrage of retaliatory strikes toward Israel.
John Kirby told NBC News President Joe Biden did not want to engage in a wider war with Iran.
Former national security advisor John Bolton called for a "far stronger" response from Israel after Iran launched a missile and drone attack against the country.
Bolton, a UN ambassador under President George W. Bush and an advisor in President Donald Trump's administration, took to CNN shortly after the attack began to call out what he said was an insufficient deterrence strategy.
"What we had tonight was a massive failure of Israeli and American deterrence. Massive failure," he told anchor Wolf Blitzer. "A 200 ballistic missile, cruise missile, drone failure."
"I think notwithstanding that there appears to be very little damage, fingers crossed, until we get the final assessment," he continued.
The world is now waiting to see how Israel will respond. Bolton, for his part, said Israel should "reestablish deterrence in a major way."
"I think that means by definition, Israel's response — and there should be a response — should not be proportionate," he told Blitzer. "It should be far stronger because when deterrence fails to re-establish, you have to teach the adversary that any gain they may hope to get by any future attack will be more than outweighed by the damage that will be called."
Bolton, who was instrumental in the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, then suggested that the Israeli government should use the attack to "destroy" Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Bolton said on NewsNation's "The Hill Sunday," however, that the Iranian government looked "weak" after its attack.
"Whatever it is, 300 plus drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles and maybe three or four got thorough," he said. "So, who's the fool in this posture right now?" Who looks weak? The regime in Iran looks weak."
Bolton also blasted the Biden administration for what he said was its "weak" posture toward Iran.
The United States helped Israel counter the aerial assault by intercepting dozens of Iranian drones and missiles.
On Sunday, White House national security communications advisor John Kirby on NBC's "Meet the Press" said that Israel's response would be "up to them" and repeatedly affirmed that President Joe Biden did not want to engage in a wider conflict with Iran.
"I'm certainly not going to get ahead of their decision-making," Kirby said of Israel, adding: "And as the president said to the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] last night, that support for Israel's self-defense will stay ironclad."
Detroit's new sign attracted controversy after being billed as "Hollywood-like."
City of Detroit
Detroit spent $400,000 on a new Hollywood-style sign as it hosts the NFL Draft.
Detroit views the NFL Draft as a chance to showcase its recovery after years of financial trouble.
Residents have widely mocked the sign and at least one rapper made it the subject of a diss track.
"All I want to know is now much we paid for this?" Detroit rapper Gmac Cash asks in his new single, "Detroit Sign."
The answer: About $400,000.
Jessica Parker, the city's deputy chief operations officer, told The Detroit Free Press that the installation of the sign is one of several infrastructure improvements planned ahead of the NFL Draft, which is set to take place in Detroit at the end of the month.
Before the city installed the sign, Parker told the outlet it would look "like the Hollywood sign, but smaller."
Cash disagrees.
"I thought our sign was going to look like Hollywood," Cash raps. "That's probably why they put this bitch right by the hood."
Cash's new song — in which he says the sign looks like "Times New Roman" — attracted more than 1 million views on TikTok in just one day.
Cash, a local Detroit rapper, has several songs about landmark attractions in the city, usually with a comedic spin. In 2022, he performed his song "Giant Slide" on Jimmy Kimmel Live after the city's giant metal slide briefly closed following safety complaints.
"This new slide you got to take a Tylenol to get on. If your kids gettin' on your nerves, make em get on," he raps in the song's chorus.
Parker said the city spent $400,000 of city funds to pay Fairmount Sign Company, which is based in Detroit, for the sign, the Free Press reported. The sign's letters stand at eight feet tall and sit on two-foot concrete blocks, according to the city.
In 2013, Detroit filed the largest ever Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy, defaulting on more than $600 million in loans. The bankruptcy filing erased about $7 billion worth of debt, and the city's financial situation has since improved.
In March, Moody's, a credit ratings research agency, upgraded the city's municipal bonds to investment grade for the first time since 2009.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan previously told Business Insider he hopes hosting the NFL Draft will show people how far the city has come since he took office in 2014.
"The last time the country paid attention to Detroit was 10 years ago when we were in bankruptcy," Duggan told BI. "Those images of streetlights being out, police not showing up, and blighted communities have stuck in many people's minds."
"We see the draft as a chance to reintroduce Detroit to America and the world," Duggan added.
Fairmont Sign Company did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.
Squatters are residing in one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants in London.
The squatters hung a "legal warning" on the restaurant's window, arguing their right to remain.
Local authorities told BI they're "aware" of the situation and will "take action when appropriate."
Squatters have taken over one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants in London.
At least six people are residing in York & Albany, an eatery connected to the eponymous hotel in Camden Town, according to The Sun and BBC. York & Albany is temporarily closed while Ramsay, 57, finalizes a new lease, The Sun reported.
It's unclear when the squatters first arrived. Metropolitan Police told Business Insider they "were made aware of squatters at a disused property" on April 10 in Regents Park, where the restaurant is located.
The outlets reported that the group had locked themselves inside the building, boarded up the windows, and are threatening legal action against those attempting to remove them.
Photo of York & Albany in London.
Google Maps
Photos obtained by the outlets showed a "legal warning" taped to one of the restaurant's doors. It was signed by "The Occupiers."
"Take notice that we occupy this property and at all times there is at least one person in occupation," the notice reads. "That any entry or attempt to enter into these premises without our permission is therefore a criminal offence as any one of us who is in physical possession is opposed to such entry without our permission."
The legal warning said the group will to take legal action against those who "enter by violence" or "threaten to enter by violence."
The notice read, "LASPO does NOT apply," referring to the 2012 Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment Offenders Act. Under LASPO, occupying a non-residential building is not a crime. So the squatters are claiming the law allows them to be there.
Ramsay called local authorities about the property but has so far failed to have the squatters removed, the outlets reported.
Metropolitan Police in London told Business Insider that this issue "is a civil matter and so police did not attend as an emergency call out. However we in the process of identifying if any subsequent offences have occurred, and will take action where appropriate."
Gordon Ramsay in April 2024.
Stu Forster/Getty Images
While it's unconfirmed what the group intends to do with the space, BBC reported that two Instagram accounts — Autonomous Winter Shelter and Camden Art Cafe — have described it as a "new squatted community space."
"Pop down to a new squatted community space in Camden," a post's caption read. "Come on down and say hi, grab some food and a coffee on our first day open tomorrow."
Camden Art Cafe's Instagram also appeared to share photos of the restaurant's interior.
"An autonomous cafe in the heart of Camden committed to providing free food and creating a space for the community," the bio read.
Gordon Ramsay on "Kitchen Nightmares" in June 2023.
FOX/Getty Images
Ramsay became attached to the property in 2007 when director Gary Love leased it to him on a 25-year term with a yearly rent of £640,000, or about $797,000, the outlets report. Ramsay tried to get out of the lease in 2015 but lost the legal battle.
The property was listed in late 2023 with a guide price of £13 million, or more than $16 million, according to the outlets.
Representatives for Ramsay and York & Albany did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
Other stories about squatters have made headlines this year.
In New York City, a couple cannot move into the $2 million home they purchased because of a squatter who refuses to vacate the property. The couple sued the squatter to evict him, but he countersued for harassment.
L: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
R: Objects are seen in the sky above Jerusalem after Iran launched drones and missiles toward Israel.
LEO CORREA (Getty Images) | REUTERS
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is considering how to respond to Iranian drone strikes on Israel.
Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night.
There are fears the conflicts in the region could increase further.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must weigh up the implications of escalating the conflict in the Middle East as he mulls Israel's response to Iran's attack, experts say.
Israel's air defenses, with support from the US, UK, French, and Jordanian militaries, intercepted 99% of the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran on Saturday night, the Israeli military said.
Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, responded to the killings by warning that the "Zionist regime will be punished."
But while some believed Iran may carry out a "symbolic" attack, experts say it went much further.
And depending on how Israel and Iran move forward, the countries may risk taking their yearslong shadow war into an open, regional conflict.
"I don't think that we're past the point of no return, but I think we're in a new, kind of uncharted territory, and everything now depends on how the different actors decide to operate," Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group, told Business Insider.
"This was a very dangerous attack, that could easily have ended with us discussing the war to come, rather than whether Israel will respond or not," Michael Horowitz, a geopolitical expert and security analyst, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
In another post, he argued that the attack was not symbolic, as some had suggested, as Iran had attempted to "overwhelm Israel's air defenses."
Zonszein agreed that the attack "wasn't symbolic" but told BI "it was calibrated in the sense that it was a larger and more powerful response" than people in Israel had anticipated.
"It's a very precarious situation," Zonszein continued. "There are conflicting views on whether Israel should respond. A lot of military analysts and former officials are saying 'Israel was able to defend itself. This is a win. And we should stop here and leverage the support that Israel has gotten.'"
An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles toward Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel April 14, 2024.
Amir Cohen via Reuters
Shashank Joshi, the defense editor of The Economist, told LBC that the hope now is that because the attack was so "calibrated" and had "such little lethal effect," Netanyahu can confine himself to striking Iranian facilities or personnel without launching a full-out attack on the Iranian regime.
In spite of the minimal damage caused, the implications of Iran's actions are difficult to ignore, as it marks the first time the Islamic Republic has directly attacked the Jewish state.
"At no point previously had Iran directly struck Israel in a way that violated its sovereignty, meaning directly on Israeli soil. So, while Iran may now say that the issue is closed, it would be very surprising to see the Israelis not feel the need to respond, given the extent of the escalation," Carmiel Arbit, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, told BI.
Iran has since warned Israel and its allies against a counterstrike, saying it would launch an even larger attack if they retaliated.
Some Sunni Arab states could unite against Iran
How Israel chooses to respond is now in the hands of Israel's war cabinet, which consists of Netanhayu, defense minister Yoav Gallant, and former army general Benny Gantz.
Gantz has already said that Israel will "exact a price" from Iran when the time is right, per the BBC.
But the cabinet runs a serious risk of both escalating the conflict in the region and jeopardizing support from its allies, particularly from the US.
And the president has since warned Netanyahu that the US would not collaborate in any Israeli counterattacks against Iran, US officials familiar with the matter have said, per CNN.
Meanwhile, Arbit said Iran's unprecedented action could unite some Sunni Arab states against it.
"I think what was particularly interesting yesterday is that we saw Iran violate the airspace of a number of different Arab countries, including Jordan, who then participated in the response. So, on the one hand, I think you see where a coalition of moderate Sunni states find themselves, in a very tangible way, united in their interests in curbing the threat posed by Iran to the region."
It was a response to Israel's attack on an Iranian consulate building in Damascus on April 1, which killed multiple high-level Iranian commanders.
Iran's retaliation might sound like a lot. But Iran knows all too well about Israel's Iron Dome and its other air defense systems, which intercepted many of the incoming projectiles. US and British aircraft, US warships, and Jordanian forces also shot down some of the estimated 300 aerial threats.
Iran also warned everyone for weeks that the attack was coming — giving Israel's allies time to prepare — and avoided targeting civilian locations.
"Iran's done enough to be seen as credibly responding to Israel's Damascus strike last week," Ian Bremmer, the president of the Eurasia Group, wrote on X. "While sufficiently limited and telegraphed to avoid significant Israeli (or US/allies) escalation in response."
And then, as soon as the attack was over, Iran said it was done. Iran called it "a limited operation."
It was a response aimed at demonstrating its capabilities and saving face while — its government hopes — avoiding further escalation.
But the scale of the barrage also increased the likelihood that some of the strikes would make it through and, indeed, some of them did, although initial reports say they caused little damage.
"Iran very much tried to overwhelm Israel's air defenses," Michael Horowitz, an analyst and head of intelligence at security consultancy Le Beck International, wrote on X on Sunday. "The idea that this was just a symbolic attack, designed to fail, is wrong."
If one of the strikes had harmed any Israelis, Israeli officials would be forced to save face with their own escalation.
That last part is now up to Israel.
Will Israel retaliate against the retaliation?
Almost everyone's hoping it doesn't.
The United States, Israel's most important ally and the one who supplies many of the components that Israel's air defense systems use to protect itself, has asked them not to.
"Whether and how the Israelis will respond, that's going to be up to them. We understand that and respect that. But the president's been very clear: we don't seek a war with Iran," White House spokesman John Kirby said on NBC's Meet the Press.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not heeded US President Joe Biden's calls for de-escalation in recent months, straining relations between the two leaders.
Biden has repeatedly called on Israel to dial back its scorched-earth campaign in Gaza following the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas. Israel's retaliation for that assault has killed over 33,000 Palestinians and leveled much of the territory, plunging them into near famine.
The response has been so severe that much of the global goodwill Israel saw after the Hamas attacks dissipated — nowhere more clearly than in the executive branch of the US government.
Netanyahu is also facing serious challenges to his leadership at home.
On the day of the Iranian attack, thousands gathered in Tel Aviv to protest against Netanyahu's government. Many of them were families of hostages angry at Netanyahu's handling of the crisis.
Some Israelis have also publicly blamed Netanyahu's hardline policies for antagonizing Palestinians and Hamas. Netanyahu has dramatically expanded settlement activity, illegal under international law, in the West Bank, for instance.
How Israel will respond to this latest escalation is anyone's guess. Israel's national security minister called for a "crushing attack" on social media. But Benny Gantz, who is a member of the country's war cabinet, was more measured in his response, saying only that Israel would "build a regional coalition" and respond to the attack "in the manner and time that are appropriate for us."
Netanyahu said on Thursday, anticipating Iran's retaliation, that his country would be ready to respond.
"Whoever harms us, we will harm them," he said. "We are prepared to meet all of the security needs of the State of Israel, both defensively and offensively."
Israel and Iran have been at war for a while
While a direct attack on Israel is a major escalation, the two countries have been fighting each other for decades.
Iran's Islamic government has viewed Israel as an enemy since it seized control of the country in 1979. Israel had supported the old Iranian regime. Israel has since seen Iran as an existential threat.
Iran has long supported anti-Israel militant groups like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. For its part, Israel has conducted strikes against Iranian allies in Syria and worked to isolate Iran diplomatically, relying on its military rather than negotiations to try to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Israel's Arrow 3 system — first deployed in 2017 — is the top level of its air defense network and is designed to intercept targets in space. The system was developed with significant funding from the United States and is a joint project of Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries and its subsidiaries, according to The New York Times.
Israel's chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, told reporters on Sunday that Arrow 3 had "proved itself against a significant number of ballistic missiles" that were fired by Iran.
Israel's defense ministry said in a fact sheet that "the Arrow-3 system's capabilities enable longer range, higher altitude (exo-atmospheric), and more precise ballistic missile engagements." It also noted that Arrow 3 has "state-of-the-art maneuverability," a "very short reaction time," and "hit-to-kill technology."
Arrow 3 is the successor to Arrow 2, designed to intercept targets in the upper atmosphere. The older system was first deployed in 2000 and was credited with intercepting a Houthi ballistic missile and a long-range rocket fired from the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war. Together, the systems comprise the top level of Israel's air defense network, which protects the country's territory from missiles, rockets, artillery, and drones.
Below the Arrow system is David's Sling, which engages medium- to long-range rockets and missiles at up to 185 miles. Under that is the Iron Dome, which can intercept several short-range artillery fire and rockets and is perhaps the best known of Israel's air defense systems.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
I'm not looking for an iPhone replacement. I love my phone — so much.
iStock; Rebecca Zisser/BI
Bad reviews of the AI Pin point out how it can't replace a phone.
But I don't want to replace a phone. I love staring at my iPhone.
I only regret that I cannot stare at my phone more hours of the day.
I was excited for the AI Pin, I really was. When the wearable device meant to replace a phone was announced this fall, I was slightly unsure of how normal people might use it, but I was stoked on the idea of a strange new category of gadget, something creative and ambitious and new.
Unfortunately, the reviews of the AI Pin so far have been dreadful. They point out that it simply doesn't work half the time, overheats, and generally fails at its biggest ambition: to be a screen-free replacement for your phone.
All the problems with the AI Pin aside (I recommend this review from The Verge if you're more curious), I keep coming back to the central thesis of the device — that you want a way to avoid looking at your phone — and scratch my head. Who says I don't want to look at my phone screen? I LOVE looking at my phone!
There are two arguments here: the practical and the existential.
The practical argument for a non-phone device that can do phone-like things is that you can accomplish simple tasks without getting distracted by the other notifications and temptations of a phone. I agree — that's a good thing. Setting a timer, composing a text while driving, getting a quick morning weather report — these are all things that are great use cases for not using a phone. Luckily, we've had voice assistants like Alexa and Siri that have existed for over a decade that already do that.
There's also the Meta Ray-Ban glasses that take video and photos —ideal for hands-free situations, like riding a roller coaster, dancing, or attending a concert. They're an objectively neat-o gadget, cool for certain uses, and their AI element will probably bring even more useful ways to use them. But I don't think they're attempting to replace your phone.
Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal used the AI Pin along with the Meta Ray-Bans on her recent family vacation and found that the wearable camera aspect was great for capturing quick moments with her kids. She was pleased not to have to take her phone out: "You know the dance. You take out your phone, snap a photo, then get distracted by some message or notification. It felt good to keep my phone in my backpack for most of these vacation excursions," she wrote.
That practical reason — a phone can be distracting when you just want to snap a photo — is very reasonable and relatable!
The AI Pin has gotten pretty bad reviews — and I can see why. I love my iPhone. I don't need a replacement.
Courtesy of Humane
But then there's the other, more existential argument against phones: We are spending all our free moments with a screen shoved in our faces, mindlessly scrolling for dopamine and ignoring the world around us. Time spent on your phone is bad; time spent doing anything else is good.
This argument I just can't get on board with. I love mindless scrolling; I find it immensely enjoyable. I love flipping through TikTok, browsing tweets, poking around Reddit. I'll pop into the group chat. Maybe if I have some extra time, I'll go to my happy place and watch some movie trailers on YouTube.
I strenuously object to the idea that spending time away from your phone is somehow more virtuous. What am I going to do, go for a walk and stare at the trees? Do you have any idea how many articles there are I haven't read?
I also object to the idea that, as a parent, I should neglect my phone to be more "present" with my family. I absolutely do spend periods of time during the day giving my undivided attention to each child — I am not a monster. But I do not think it's necessary to give ALL of your time as undivided attention to young children; they should be lightly ignored a little — it builds independence.
Frankly, I am not worried about not being present. I can multitask. I am capable of processing many inputs of attention at the same time; I'm running dozens of teraflops; my momcompute is so plentiful Sam Altman wants to get the UAE to invest in it. Glancing at my texts is not going to be the thing that pulls me out of being "present." I am never not present. And I bet that's true for you, too.
I concede that it does matter how parents model phone use to their children — it's not ideal to have a phone in your face all day and then try to convince a kid that they have to put down the iPad. There is a happy and healthy medium here. I'm not saying you should miss your child's first steps because you're tweeting, but I feel zero guilt whatsoever about checking email while watching "Frozen" for the 20th time.
However, I am not a teenager. I am an adult. Do not confuse the conversations about phones being bad for 15-year-olds with phones being bad for grown adults.
The most straightforward part of the phones-are-bad-for-kids argument is that time spent on a screen would be much better spent on other things, like in-person socializing or sleep. This is very true for teens, and maybe it's a little true for adults, too. (Sure, I'd probably be better off with an extra 20 minutes of sleep.) But I'm a grown-up with a fully formed frontal lobe who has already shaped my social skills in my formative years.
The one advantage to being old now is that my phone can't hurt me. I can handle looking at Instagram and seeing my friends having a good time and simply feel happy for them. I can watch as much TikTok as I want and the only thing that happens is that now I know the teen slang words and learn about the lives of people I'd never meet in real life. Haha! Mindless scrolling only increases my powers.
I don't want to be rude, so I try to follow reasonable phone etiquette. I don't stare at my phone in a restaurant, a movie theater, or while talking to someone. I like my Apple Watch for this reason: It allows me to put away my phone in social situations without worrying I'll miss an important text or call. I appreciate that there are functions and situations where something other than a phone would be great.
But I don't want to replace my phone. I don't want to downgrade to a dumbphone as some act of reclaiming my attention from greedy tech companies. I don't think my consciousness will ascend to a higher plane if I could only tear myself away from the 2,000-nit light of my iPhone 14 Pro Max. As far as I'm concerned, the smartphone is the apex of humanity's achievement. I treasure it, I revere it, and I am thankful for it. I don't look at this amazing gift of the sum of human technology and think, "I'd be happier without it."
If anything, my only wish is if I could stare at my phone more.
Powered by a robust showing in the Atlanta metropolitan area, strong turnout with Black voters and young people across the state, and dual Senate races that boosted Democratic enthusiasm, Biden won Georgia by 11,779 votes out of nearly 5 million ballots cast.
The state now boasts two Democratic US senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, after years of GOP dominance on the federal level.
But Republicans also won every non-federal statewide office in 2022, which included Gov. Brian Kemp's victory over his 2018 opponent, former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams. And the GOP retained control of the Georgia legislature.
So Georgia remains a highly-competitive swing state, with both Biden and former President Donald Trump hoping to win its 16 electoral votes.
Where does the race in Georgia stand less than seven months before the election?
Biden waves to supporters after speaking at a campaign event in Atlanta on March 9, 2024.
Brynn Anderson/AP
Surveys point to a close race
A Wall Street Journal battleground state poll conducted in Georgia in March showed Trump with a scant one-point lead (44%-43%) over Biden among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup.
In a race between the two major-party candidates, Georgia gave Trump his narrowest advantage among the seven swing states that were polled, which also included Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Other recent surveys, including ones conducted by CBS News and Marist, showed Trump with leads of 3 points and 4 points, respectively.
According to the Marist Georgia Poll, the top issue among Georgians ahead of November is preserving democracy. It was cited by 25% of respondents as their top issue, and Biden eked out a one-point advantage over Trump on who would best handle the issue.
Immigration and inflation were the second- and third-most important issues for registered voters. Trump had the edge on those.
A view of the gold-domed Georgia State Capitol and downtown Atlanta.
AP Photo/Steve Helber, File
The Atlanta metro area is an electoral juggernaut
In 2020, Biden's statewide win was propelled by Fulton County, which is anchored by Atlanta, and the populous suburbs that surround the capital city. Several of these jurisdictions, including Cobb and Gwinnett counties, were once reliably Republican but have swung heavily toward Democrats on the federal level. Nearby Clayton, DeKalb, and Henry counties also went strongly for Biden.
These voting shifts have given Democrats a major opening in a state that as recently as 2012 was largely seen as out-of-reach for then-President Barack Obama during his reelection campaign.
In 2020, Biden easily won Fulton County (73% to 26%) over Trump and netted nearly 243,000 votes out of that one county alone, which went a long way in countering the then-president's strong showing in many of the state's exurban and rural areas.