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GZY ⍼ גז"י @gamzehyaavor.bsky.social · 10h

As we read about Sodom in this week's Torah portion, a brief reminder that according to Jewish tradition the sin of Sodom had nothing to do with sexuality, it was that they criminalized helping the poor and the visitor.

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 13h

The USDA sent an email to grocery stores telling them they are prohibited from offering special discounts to customers affected by the SNAP funding lapse.
I'm aware of at least 2 stores that had offered struggling customers a discount, then withdrew it after receiving this email

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 11h

This is a good point: it’s quite possible that this USDA enforcement is both (1) psychotically cruel and (2) illegal.

Assistant Marshallian Spillover Coordinator @stevenlandgraf.com · 11h

I think the actual rule text doesn't even go as far as the USDA claims. The code specifies SNAP funds must receive equal treatment, not SNAP families regardless of payment method.

bsky.app/profile/stev...

Assistant Marshallian Spillover Coordinator @stevenlandgraf.com · 12h

Doesn't seem like they have the authority to prohibit this. The equal treatment rule in the Fed Register (part b) only pertains to accepting coupons (i.e EBT payments) at different prices. Nothing about the prohibition applying to a family participating in SNAP but paying entirely in non-EBT funds.

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 18h

This is very racist.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

ROB SCHMITT: People are using SNAP benefits to get their nails done, to get their weaves and their hair. This is a really ugly program.

SEN. RON JOHNSON: That program needs to be dramatically reformed.

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 17h

If you thought masked, unidentified federal agents grabbing people off the street were a frightening step toward dystopia, wait until it's private contractors chasing cash bonuses for rounding up human beings at scale

Sam Biddle @sambiddle.com · 2d

ICE is planning to offer private sector bounty hunters cash bonuses for quickly tracking down the home addresses of immigrants across the US, according to a DHS document I reviewed. ICE encourages potential contractors to use "all technology systems available.” theintercept.com/2025/10/31/i...

ICE Plans Cash Rewards for Private Bounty Hunters to Locate and Track Immigrants

Companies hired by ICE would be given bundles of information on 10,000 immigrants at a time to locate.

theintercept.com

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Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 17h

I think part of the problem is people confuse being broke with being poor.

ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 21h

it gets tiring to keep explaining what it means to be poor to people.

it is not that poor people don’t know that cooking is cheaper:

cooking costs time. it costs pots and pans. it costs a working stove and your utilities on. it costs you’ve been on your feet all day and your babies are tired.

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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 21h

i grew up poor, but not have nothing poor. and i had a life changing moment when i was shopping with a woman one day and her kid looked at her and said “momma we won’t have to share a spoon anymore”

just because you’ve always had something doesn’t mean everyone does.

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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 21h

it gets tiring to keep explaining what it means to be poor to people.

it is not that poor people don’t know that cooking is cheaper:

cooking costs time. it costs pots and pans. it costs a working stove and your utilities on. it costs you’ve been on your feet all day and your babies are tired.

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 16h

“[Mamdani’s] presence wasn’t performative. It was pastoral. In a city that so often divides its grief by identity, he crossed the invisible line and simply showed up.”

i love this forward.com/opinion/7805...

=
Forward
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Support Us
A few days later came another night I'll never forget - the Israelis for Peace vigil marking two years since the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023.
Hundreds gathered - Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Arabs, Americans - huddled together on folding chairs in Union Square in chilly weather, under an open sky. As part of a wide-ranging lineup, from the stage, I read a message from Liat Atzili, whose husband Aviv was killed that day; a short, piercing story by Etgar Keret; and a poem by Mahmoud Darwish that hung in the air like a spell.
And there was Mamdani again, sitting quietly in the front row next to Lander. He didn't take the microphone.
He didn't try to center the event on himself. He was just listening. Bearing witness.
His presence wasn't performative. It was pastoral. In a city that so often divides its grief by identity, he crossed the invisible line and simply showed up.
That's when it hit me: This is what safety looks like. Not fences or slogans, not solidarity-as-branding - but the radical act of standing with people in pain, without needing to own or edit it.

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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 14h

I distributed all 150 copies of Megan's "How to Report ICE Philly edition" at Philly Zine Fest yesterday and at least 5 people returned to ask me if it was OK for them to print their own copies to distribute. I responded with an enthusiastic YES - that's the point and I hope everyone does so.

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 14h

We are at a point where state and local police are repeatedly investigating federal law enforcement for systemically illegal behavior.

To the point that even CBS News has to note that pretty high up in the article.

A truly bad sign, at least in the short run (hoping prompts real change in future).

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday that it's investigating the use of force by an anonymous, masked agent against a woman at the protest, as well as any "state criminal law violations during the incident." That agent's actions could be seen in multiple videos.

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shauna @goldengateblond.bsky.social · 14h

someone invited people magazine to the kitchen and they brought their own knives

from people magazine

Donald Trump Confuses Dementia Screening for
'Very Hard' IQ Test as He Brags About Results
The president predicted that Democratic Reps.
Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could not perform as well as he did in a cognitive exam
By Greta Bjornson |
Updated on October 28, 2025 10:24AM EDT

from people magazine

Donald Trump Hosts Great Gatsby-Themed Halloween Party as 42
Million Americans Brace for SNAP Benefits to Expire
The president hosted the Roaring '20s bash at Mar-a-Lago on Oct. 31 amid the ongoing government shutdown
By Bailey Richards
Published on November 1, 2025 06:19PM EDT

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Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · 14h

I would like for national political reporters to place a moratorium on “But what will voters in the rest of America think about New York City’s socialist mayor?” We don’t care! Red states are notably full of psycho politicians yet rarely do you see pundits asking Brooklyn people about them.

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public health guy 🦃 @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 13h

harvard medical school got bombed yesterday and it barely made news

The Harvard Crimson @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social · 1d

A device exploded inside the Goldenson Building in Harvard’s Longwood medical campus early Saturday morning, according to a message from the Harvard University Police Department to University affiliates.

Matan H. Josephy and Laurel M. Shugart report.

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Authorities Investigating Explosion on Harvard’s Medical Campus, Believed To Be Intentional | News | The Harvard Crimson

A device exploded inside the Goldenson Building in Harvard’s Longwood medical campus early Saturday morning, according to a message from the Harvard University Police Department to University…

www.thecrimson.com

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Dag. @3fecta.bsky.social · 12h

Sociopaths. Genuinely

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 13h

The USDA sent an email to grocery stores telling them they are prohibited from offering special discounts to customers affected by the SNAP funding lapse.
I'm aware of at least 2 stores that had offered struggling customers a discount, then withdrew it after receiving this email

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We Are Nothing Like the Gestapo. @why-gestapo-shaped.bsky.social · 1d

We Are Nothing Like the Gestapo.

Claudia Stellar, PhD @claudiastellar.bsky.social · 1d

ICE detained a Virginia mom while she was driving her 16yo daughter to school bc she couldn’t recall her SS#.

“The agent got flustered and lunged at her,” said her daughter.

ICE arrested her even after she showed proof of legal status.

“I want this video out there because I want my mother home.”

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 1d

Don’t. Print. Lies. In. The. Newspapers (Or. Online).

NPR @npr.org · 1d

The U.S. military has carried out another lethal strike on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea. n.pr/47lM2Sa

US carries out new strike in Caribbean, killing 3 alleged drug smugglers

The U.S. military has carried out another lethal strike on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea.

n.pr

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public health guy 🦃 @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 1d

folks doing good work everywhere every day. join us!

StrawbRawry @strawber1.bsky.social · 1d

DOGEd in July and still unemployed but found plenty of time to work at my local food pantry and shelter. Every little act helps!

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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 1d

You can't make this up.

Another host, Eugene Daniels, asked Mr. Cuomo what he meant by diversity being a “weakness.”

“Diversity can be a weakness if you have antipathy among groups, Jonathan,” Mr. Cuomo said, mistaking Mr. Daniels for his co-host Jonathan Capehart, both of whom are Black.

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 2d

This whole thread.

“Oh no, someone might eat food!”

Good. That’s good.

“They might buy something they like.”

Cool.

“They might get a treat!”

Also cool.

grimm 🍂 @mugrimm.bsky.social · 3d

There's something deeply disturbing about EBT/SNAP hate to me. Like just truly bone blanching shit.

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 2d

“My tax dollars are paying for their steak!”

Yeah, well, my tax dollars are paying for ICE to threaten and abduct my neighbors. Steak sounds better.

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Shanna G @devarim.bsky.social · 2d

"There is no doubt...that irreparable harm will begin to occur...if SNAP benefits are not paid..."

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Shanna G @devarim.bsky.social · 2d

"SNAP benefits have *never* until now been terminated." U.S. has admitted that contingency funds have been used, and gave no reason why they coudl nto be used now as they were planned to be used in 2019.

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Shanna G @devarim.bsky.social · 2d

USDA must distribute funds. Ordering a status report by Monday at noon. If USDA chooses not to use its discretion not to make full payments, it must come up with a plan that is not arbitrary and capricious to (something about how limited funds will be distributed).

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persephone @pphone.bsky.social · 2d

phew. phew!!!

Shanna G @devarim.bsky.social · 2d

Judge McConnell (US District Ct - RI) says he will grant the temporary restraining order!

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Julia Raifman, ScD @juliaraifman.bsky.social · 2d

Did you know? The US has one of the highest child poverty rates of OECD countries.

The average child poverty rate across OECD countries is 12.2%

In the US, it’s over 20%

It’s partly why many children rely on SNAP

High rates of child poverty warrant a national conversation.

OECD Child poverty rate by country

“On average across OECD countries, 12.2% of children live in relative income poverty (Chart CO2.2.A),
but rates differ considerably from country to country. In six OECD countries (Chile, Costa Rica, Israel, Spain,
Türkiye and the United States), more than 20% of children live in relative poverty; rates are particularly high,
at around 30%, in Costa Rica. In 17 other OECD countries (Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia and
Sweden), however, less than 10% of children live in relative income poverty. In Denmark and Finland, the
child relative income poverty rate is only around 4%.”

Source:
https://webfs.oecd.org/els-com/Family_Database/CO_2_2_Child_Poverty.pdf

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