Happy Thursday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,038 words…3.9 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: Park Ave Horror, Pahalgam Avenged, Pam & Liam Dating Rumors, Man Makes Miniature NYC, Wizard of Oz in 4D… & much more!
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
Clockwise from Top Left: Gunman Shane Tamura; FDNY truck stationed on Park Avenue; Inset: Off-duty NYPD officer Didarul Islam; Employees at Blackstone barricaded themselves in their office; Scenes across Park Avenue.
🗽 Park Avenue Bloodshed… And the Twist of Fate
Midtown NYC was rocked by a mass shooting Tuesday evening when a heavily armed gunman opened fire inside swanky 345 Park Avenue—home to Blackstone, the NFL, and other corporate giants.
What happened:
▶️ Shooter: Shane Devon Tamura, 27, arrived in a BMW wearing body armor and carrying a high-powered M4 rifle.
▶️ Timeline: He killed off-duty NYPD officer Didarul Islam in the lobby, shot others—including a security guard—and moved to the 33rd floor, where he fatally shot another person before taking his own life.
▶️ Victims: 5 dead (including shooter), 1 critically injured.
The scene: The NYPD and FBI locked down the area, evacuated floors, and secured the building. Blackstone employees barricaded themselves in their offices with big pieces of furniture. Several blocks of Midtown were shut down for hours.
The shooter: A standout football player in high school, Tamura was a Nevada resident with mental health history, expired PI license, and no major criminal record.
Motive: His body was found with a note that read - “Please study brain for CTE. I’m sorry. The league knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits. They failed us,”
💬 Mayor Eric Adams said late Tuesday, the gunman wanted to target the NFL’s offices on levels 5 through 8 — but “mistakenly went up the wrong elevator banks.”
🔍 Bottom line: New York’s financial fortress was breached by a lone gunman. Just raw, senseless violence—and a city still in shock, left reckoning with mental health, CTE, and the brutality of being just one wrong turn away from tragedy.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
🇮🇳 India Avenges Pahalgam: All Attackers Neutralized
India officially confirmed the elimination of all terrorists behind April’s deadly Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 civilians—mostly tourists.
In a joint op dubbed “Operation Mahadev”, forces took out 3 top Lashkar-e-Taiba militants in Dachigam, near Srinagar. All were Pakistani nationals.
How? Indian authorities relied on a combination of signal and human intelligence, using specialized equipment and persistent ground efforts to locate and corner the terrorists over a two-month period.
“Nuclear blackmail won’t work. Their [Pakistan’s] airbases & assets… are still in the ICU.”
📍 Big Picture: India says it's dismantling terror infrastructure inside Pakistan. This underscores the high priority India continues to place on national security and counterterrorism; ushering in a new era of technological and intelligence-driven anti-terror operations.
🇬🇧 Starmer’s Palestine Gambit: Recognition Deadline Set for September
UK PM Keir Starmer says Britain will recognize Palestine at the UN in Sept unless Israel halts Gaza ops, ends annexation plans, and revives a real peace process.
It echoes Macron’s move, but with stricter preconditions—and no moral equivalence drawn between Israel and Hamas
And unlike France who suspiciously made the announcement on the heels of a major Qatari deal.
👀 The angle: Labour feels cornered by internal pressure. But Berlin’s not on board—German Chancellor Merz blasted the timing, insisting recognition should await successful negotiations. And Israel has accused Starmer of “rewarding Hamas”.
🎯 Bottom line: Starmer’s signaling—but it’s not a done deal.
💸 EU Freezes Ukraine Aid Over Anti-Corruption Backslide
The EU has suspended $1.7B in aid to Ukraine after Kyiv passed Law 21414—seen as gutting the independence of key anti-corruption bodies, NABU and SAPO.
Funding from ERA Loans and the Ukraine Facility is now frozen.
A fix-law is up for vote July 31—but Brussels wants proof, not promises.
💡 Why it matters: With war expenses mounting, the budget gap just widened.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
Joe Macken with his masterpiece
💋 Anderson & Neeson: Rom-Com or Real Thing?
The Naked Gun reboot stars Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson dodged dating rumors on the Today show after red carpet PDA and an onscreen kiss stirred buzz. When asked if they were an item, Anderson deflected with a smile, Neeson said they “let the chemistry breathe.”
🎬 Bottom line: Is this just promo heat… or a late-career Hollywood romance blooming in real time?
🗽 One Man. One Million Buildings. One Tiny NYC
Truck driver Joe Macken spent 21 years building a jaw-dropping 30x50-foot replica of New York City—by hand.
His all-balsa-wood masterpiece captures every borough (plus NJ & Westchester) with uncanny detail, earning viral fame and public calls for a museum exhibit.
No formal training. No lasers. Just Elmer’s glue, sandpaper, and grit.
“I just kept building.”
Next up? Minneapolis. “Should only take two years,” he jokes.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
🪄 ‘Wizard of Oz’ Goes 4D in Vegas
Starting Aug. 28, The Wizard of Oz gets a mind-bending makeover at the Las Vegas Sphere. The 1939 classic will feature:
AI-enhanced visuals
Haptic (motion) seats
Tornado-grade wind
And even scent effects
Engineers used AI “outpainting” via Google Cloud to stretch 1939’s frames into full 16K immersion across the Sphere’s 160,000 sq. ft. wraparound screen.
🧠 Bottom line: From Kansas to Vegas, Dorothy just got a tech upgrade.
🚕 Dallas, Meet Your Robotaxi Overlords
Waymo’s rolling into Dallas in 2026 with its driverless Jaguar I-PACEs, teaming up with Avis to manage the fleet and expanding its footprint that includes San Fran, L.A. & Phoenix.
As Tesla and Zoox lag, Waymo’s racking up real miles and real passengers —logging 250K+ paid weekly rides and over 100M autonomous miles on public roads.
Bonus: You’ll hail a ride via app—no human, no small talk, just pure Level 4 autonomy.
🧠 Bottom line: Waymo’s playing chess while the others beta test.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: ps_ar_59
The New York Public Library
The NYPL opened on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in 1911. In the 1930s during the Great Depression, Mayor LaGuardia named the two lions in front of the building - “Patience” & “Fortitude”, a nod to the qualities he felt all New Yorkers needed to possess to survive those unthinkable times.
💀 THE ROAST
Because World Leaders Beg To Be Dragged
