The Long Island Press says five people have already drowned this summer on a beach with “no swimming” signs posted:

The latest incident involved a 12-yr-old girl on a school trip with other students from Harlem.

A teacher at Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science and Engineering – one of three chaperones looking after sixth-grader Nicole Suriel – was injured as she was tossed against a stone jetty while trying to rescue the girl, officials said.

Dozens of police and lifeguards – on hand to set up for weekday lifeguard staffing due to begin next week – joined the search for Nicole. Her motionless body was pulled from the water shortly after 12:30 p.m., more than 90 minutes after she went under off Edwards Boulevard, according to Long Beach and school officials.

The cost of the search must have been astronomical with helicopters overhead and firefighters, police and lifeguards in the water. Long Beach officials said no life guards were on duty because of budgetary constraints.

Jerry Seinfeld sounds upset with how a troublesome fan was put into his box at a baseball stadium.

Gaga showed up during the fifth inning of the day game between the Mets and Padres and was furious that her front-row seats were so close to photographers covering the game. Instead of sitting, she vanished into a lower-deck concourse — only to reappear in the seventh inning in the empty luxury box owned by Seinfeld, a big Mets fan. “You give people the finger and you get upgraded? Is that the world we’re living in now? he said.

The interview is pretty funny. Perhaps the best line is here, when Seinfeld mocks the name of his box violator:

…”I wish her the best,” but then added, “you take one ‘A’ off of that and you’ve got gag.”

Jonny Karpuk, a veteran of the US Army 173d Airborne Brigade and a graduate of West Point, says the Colorado Republican is guilty of using a fear-mongering campaign that is Wrong on National Security

After watching the video [campaign advertisement], I can’t help but think that Norton’s national security policy boils down to a simple mantra: Give Failure Another Chance. It seems that not only does she not understand what the war on terror is but that she also wants to take us back to the foreign policy of George W. Bush’s administration, the same policies that got us in the mess we’re in today.

I have not watched the video but apparently the screen goes black and the sound of planes flying can be heard just after a reference to 9/11; the message is that we are at war with all Muslims and rights against self-incrimination have been suspended. That qualifies as fear mongering, no?

A campaign by veterans has started to gather signatures against the advertisement:

“We have zero tolerance for her attempt to raise money and to scare voters into supporting her candidacy,” the letter [from thirty-two veterans and elected officials] said. “The words in this video are insulting to our armed forces who are fighting and sacrificing.”

This should not be unexpected. Even without tasteless and insulting marketing the Republicans often have a tough time wooing veterans. The Disabled American Veterans website suggests Democrats in office have a record of supporting veteran support legislation, while Republicans typically do not.

Norton’s office has responded to the criticism by renaming it and pretending it is in a far away place. It is not a group of Colorado veterans in her mind, apparently, who are saying she is wrong. She labels them Washington liberals. The campaign spokeswoman provides some deeply ironic material in The Denver Post:

The liberals in Washington want to sweep the threat under the rug, rename it, pretend it’s in a far away place. Jane Norton won’t let that happen. The advertisement is not coming down

Veterans in Colorado critique her security skills and demand more respect. She deflects the request and tries to paint federal government as the problem. Whether or not the veterans who dislike her actually have ties to Washington, her response to them has generated a “Puppet Jane Norton” site that now documents her extensive ties to Washington.

state Republicans have voiced resentment over what they see as Washington insiders picking their candidate for them. They’re probably right — the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee purchased two Internet domain names for [Jane Norton] weeks before she decided to run.

That would explain why she wants to return to security policies of the last Republican administration.