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Gold-Covered Hairballs May Reveal Why Cats Eat Grass (Maria)
The author writes, “Of the many mysterious behaviors cats exhibit, one of the biggest is also one of the most strange: Why do they insist on eating grass, when it only seems to make them throw up? Scientists have proposed many theories over the years, but the latest may be the one that sticks — literally. A new study suggests cats may have figured out how to take advantage of features that plants originally evolved for self-defense, says T. Michael Anderson, an ecologist at Wake Forest University.”
The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced (Laura)
The author writes, “My most widely shared thread was not even about activist Charlie Kirk, who was horribly murdered, but about the political assassinations of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman, her husband and her dog. I pointed to the familiar pattern of America shrugging off gun deaths, and giving compassion for white men who commit and espouse political violence. This cycle has been documented for years. Nothing I said was new or false or disparaging — it is descriptive, and supported by data.”
New Bill Would Give Marco Rubio Power To Revoke US Passports (Sean)
From The Intercept: “In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stripped Turkish doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk of her visa based on what a court later found was nothing more than her opinion piece critical of Israel. Now, a bill introduced by the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is ringing alarm bells for civil liberties advocates who say it would grant Rubio the power to revoke the passports of American citizens on similar grounds.”
The NYPD Is Teaching America How To Track Everyone Every Day Forever (Russ)
The author writes, “The city’s police force has spent more than $3 billion amassing information that reveals where you have been, whom you have interacted with and what you have said, thought and believed. Unlike previous surveillance methods, new digital tools allow law enforcement agencies to conduct surveillance persistently, universally, at an unimaginable scale. They can do so with no special permission, no oversight and no advance planning.”
Man Threatened ‘Mass Murder’ of Minorities After Charlie Kirk Killing, Feds Say (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “A 19-year-old was tracked down by the FBI and arrested after federal prosecutors said he threatened ‘mass murder’ against Jews and minorities following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Jace Allen of Jamestown, N.M., promised to ‘shoot up unspecified locations’ in the series of public threats he posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, while using the alias ‘Jebron Lames,’ on Sept. 11, according to prosecutors. The FBI’s eGuardian counterterrorism system, which tracks threats, noticed Allen’s posts and alerted the agency, an FBI special agent wrote in an affidavit…At Allen’s home, he told agents, according to the affidavit, that he ‘identifies as a NeoNazi and hates Jews and minorities.’”
Rising Tenant-Led Movement Aims To Bring Down Corporate Landlords (Reader Jim)
From Truthout: “The movement is knitting tenants together into a self-identified class across geography that is carrying out rent strikes, winning critical policy battles, and even shaping the heights of politics. It’s a radical movement: connecting the dots between the housing system and racial capitalism, framing housing struggle as a class struggle, and critiquing the ‘rent relation’ and commodified housing altogether. While far from a new thing, today’s tenant movement is an expanding vanguard that’s organizing to frontally challenge the nexus of financial and real estate capital at the heart of the corporate power structure.”