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Two-Thirds of Global Heating Caused by Richest 10%, Study Suggests (Maria)
The author writes, “The world’s wealthiest 10% are responsible for two-thirds of global heating since 1990, driving droughts and heatwaves in the poorest parts of the world, according to a study. While researchers have previously shown that higher income groups emit disproportionately large amounts of greenhouse gases, the latest survey is the first to try to pin down how that inequality translates into responsibility for climate breakdown. It offers a powerful argument for climate finance and wealth taxes.”
Israel Plans To Occupy and Flatten All of Gaza if No Deal by Trump’s Trip (DonkeyHotey)
From Axios: “Israel has set President Trump’s visit to the Middle East next week as a deadline for a new hostage and ceasefire deal, with a massive ground operation to commence if no deal is reached, Israeli officials say. Why it matters: Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan Sunday night to gradually reoccupy all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely if no deal is reached by May 15. Plans for the operation call for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to flatten any buildings that remain standing and displace virtually the entire population of 2 million people to a single ‘humanitarian area.’”
A Rural Kansas County Is Postcard Perfect. Its For-Profit Jail Is a Way Station to Deportation Hell (Dana)
From the Kansas Reflector: “The story of Rosi Alvarado is a story about home. The 42-year-old mother was lured from her residence in Pittsburg to an immigration office in Kansas City under the pretext of an interview for a green card application. Accompanying Alvarado to that April 23 appointment was her husband, a recently naturalized U.S. citizen, and their 20-year-old daughter. The daughter, Carina Moran, said in social media posts that Alvarado — who has deep ties to her southeast Kansas home — was tricked by ICE agents.”
‘He Loves Us and He’s Doing It’: Trump Fans’ Faith Undimmed by First 100 Days (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “In Trump they trust. While pundits and protesters have called it 100 days of hell, talk to Donald Trump’s most faithful supporters and you will hear them use words such as ‘amazing,’ ‘fantastic,’ and ‘ecstatic’ about his presidency. The Trump base, that amorphous group that has long intrigued pollsters, remains rock solid in its support for the 78-year-old and quite ingenious in finding new ways to eulogize his leadership. Interviews with 10 Trump fans at a campaign-style rally in Warren, Michigan, on Tuesday seemed to occupy a different planet from opinion polls that give him the lowest 100-day job approval rating of any president in the past 80 years.”
Bill Mandating AC for Renters Meets Resistance in Texas Legislature (Reader Steve)
From the Houston Chronicle: “At the height of Texas summers, residents whose homes lack air conditioners have no escape from the extreme heat. And it’s only getting hotter. Air conditioning has long been considered an amenity for renters in the state, but as temperatures continue to rise, experts and some lawmakers are beginning to see cooling as a fundamental right. State Rep. Sheryl Cole, D-Austin, is trying again this year to pass a bill that guarantees a tenant’s right to air conditioning. The bill would require landlords to provide cooling systems and offer accommodations when repairs take more than five days. The proposal, which is the same as one Cole filed two years ago, faces a tough road because of hesitancy in the GOP-led House and Senate to put more onus on landlords and more regulations on the books.”
The Opposite of Déjà Vu Can Happen, and It’s Even More Uncanny (Sean)
The authors write, “Repetition has a strange relationship with the mind. Take the experience of déjà vu, when we wrongly believe we have experienced a novel situation in the past — leaving us with a spooky sense of pastness. … But repetition can do something even more uncanny and unusual. The opposite of déjà vu is ‘jamais vu,’ when something you know to be familiar feels unreal or novel in some way. In our recent research, which has won an Ig Nobel award for literature, we investigated the mechanism behind the phenomenon.”
