'It's America that refuses to listen and learn'

'Barack Obama is not your emotional support president'

Karen Attiah at The Washington Post

"America, no one is coming to save you. Especially not Barack Obama," says Karen Attiah. Humans are "hardwired to yearn for authority figures to tell them everything will be OK. And, for many, the emotional support figure par excellence will always be the 44th president." But "after a white majority elected Trump for the second time, it's Barack Obama, the first Black president, who has an obligation to comfort the nation?" Obama "already told Americans the truth."

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'So many what-ifs haunt Guadalupe River flood'

The Dallas Morning News editorial board

In Texas, questions "must be answered about how much warning people in harm's way received and how quickly local officials reacted to those warnings," says The Dallas Morning News editorial board. Texas "river flooding is unlike most natural disasters not only in its speed and ferocity but in its unpredictability." Texans "need to understand whether improved staffing or technology at either the National Weather Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could give more accurate advance warning."

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'State-sponsored Islamophobia in France encourages violence'

Farid Hafez at Al Jazeera

"Islamophobia in France has not stopped at vandalism," says Farid Hafez. There has been a "significant spike in Islamophobic acts in France — something the French authorities remain reluctant to publicly comment on." There are "various factors that have contributed to this, but central among them is the French state's own Islamophobic rhetoric." It's "hard to believe that the obsession of the French state and government with what they call 'Islamist separatism' is not, in fact, inciting violence."

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'"Love Island USA" exposes Gen Z's messiest dating traits — and it's hard to look away

Erin Gloria Ryan at MSNBC

"Love Island USA" is an "appealing escapist counterweight to historically bad national vibes," says Erin Gloria Ryan. There are "hours of new content from the island per week, almost enough to drown out the sound of the world ending." This is a "coalescence of two large-scale human experiments: Does social media harm human development? How about forced Covid isolation during a formative emotional time?" It's "no wonder 'Love Island USA' is such a fascinating — and revealing — watch."

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