Author | Lightnews

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 14h

The season progresses in spite of a drizzly day. Halloween approacheth.

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 18h

They could not yet have imagined what was actually coming.

Open Culture @openculture.bsky.social · 1d

Aldous Huxley to George Orwell: My Hellish Vision of the Future is Better Than Yours (1949)

In 1949, George Orwell received a curious letter from his former high school French teacher. Orwell had just published his groundbreaking book Nineteen Eighty-Four, which received glowing reviews fro...

www.openculture.com

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 18h

'The panel “deems void President Biden’s executive actions that were signed using the Autopen, and the committee determines that action by the Department of Justice is warranted to address the legal consequences of that determination,” it said in its letter to Bondi, published Tuesday.'

Biden’s autopen pardons void due to ‘mental decline’, House Oversight Committee says

Republican-led panel claims former president’s ‘cognitive decline’ was so severe he may not have been aware what he was signing and his clemency orders are therefore ‘null and void’ and should be revi...

www.independent.co.uk

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 20h

The BLS Owner’s Equivalent of Rent page has been taken down. No BLS tables are available for "Average Price Data" for the most recent (September) report.

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 20h

"OER weighs 26% of CPI, 33% of core CPI, 44% of core services CPI. It moves the needle. CPI inflation would have been a lot hotter without this outlier situation.
*
Something went wrong... and significantly pushed down the month-to-month readings of Consumer Price Index."

Rate cuts by fiat.

Massive Outlier in Owner’s Equivalent of Rent Pushed Down CPI, Core CPI, Core Services CPI: Something Went Awry at the BLS | Wolf Street

wolfstreet.com

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 20h

"OER weighs 26% of CPI, 33% of core CPI, 44% of core services CPI. It moves the needle. CPI inflation would have been a lot hotter without this outlier situation.
*
Something went wrong... and significantly pushed down the month-to-month readings of Consumer Price Index."

Rate cuts by fiat.

Massive Outlier in Owner’s Equivalent of Rent Pushed Down CPI, Core CPI, Core Services CPI: Something Went Awry at the BLS | Wolf Street

wolfstreet.com

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 1d

😄

💙🐶🚴🏻🏊‍♂️♊️ Victoria🌈💥☀️ @victoriaswimcycle.bsky.social · 1d

Reposted by Virtual Vanaprastha

SPW @78minutes.bsky.social · 1d

open.substack.com/pub/treason/...

NEWS: Trump blocks disaster aid to Blue States, approves Red States

Your life is worth less to the president if you didn’t vote for him.

open.substack.com

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 1d

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Angry Donkey News @angrydonkeynews.bsky.social · 3d

Aerial shot of the Antifa cemetery in Normandy

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 2d

"[A]dvisory committees are populated by activists from organizations openly hostile to conservative principles who use the committees to impede conservative policy. [S]uch committees should be reviewed regarding whether they are required by statute and abolished if they are not." Project 2025 @ 666.

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 2d

"electricity prices rose 5.1% over the past 12 months through September, while gas service went up a whopping 11.7%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.

That came as the feds and state governments have been offering financial incentives for companies to build data centers."

Utility bills spike as power-hungry AI data centers boom, Bank of America report finds

The average utility payment for electricity and gas jumped in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to a study led by Bank of America.

nypost.com

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 3d

"The Secretary of Commerce has determined that the purposes for which the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee (FESAC) was established have been fulfilled, and the committee has been terminated effective February 28, 2025."

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 3d

Here is the archived version of the USDA Shutdown Plan that has just been removed from the Trump Administration USDA site.

web.archive.org

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 3d

'The Agriculture Department says... states won't be reimbursed if they cover the expenses on their own,...
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House Democrats accused USDA of "avoiding accountability" and ignoring its own shutdown-funding plan, which was struck from its own website, that indicated emergency funds could be used.'

Exclusive: USDA says it won't use emergency funds for food stamps

States also won't be reimbursed if they cover SNAP expenses on their own, the memo says.

www.axios.com

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 3d

'September drop follows modest increases of 0.2% in August and 3.2% in July, both periods that McCown says were “significantly buoyed by frontloading to get goods in prior to additional tariffs going into effect.” Prior to those temporary gains, ports saw decreases of 8.3% in June and 6.6% in May.'

U.S. Container Imports Plunge 6.6% in September as Tariff Fallout Takes Hold

The ten largest U.S. ports recorded a 6.6% year-over-year decrease in inbound container volume in September, marking a sharp reversal from earlier months and signaling the beginning of what industry.....

gcaptain.com

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 3d

"OER weighs 26% of CPI, 33% of core CPI, 44% of core services CPI. It moves the needle. CPI inflation would have been a lot hotter without this outlier situation.
*
Something went wrong... and significantly pushed down the month-to-month readings of Consumer Price Index."

1

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 3d

😢

M Meerkat @kackbro.bsky.social · 4d

Gavin Newsom Knows Chump and
Stephen Miller's Playbook Well......

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 3d

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Biggie @biggienotsmalls.bsky.social · 4d

Speak Truth.....

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 4d

The August Consumer Price Index (CPI) derived from 'different-cell imputation', reached 36%. Under Trump, the expert oversight boards have been terminated. The rate of imputation/estimation has gone way up. This month the BLS was called back in for less than one week in order to calculate inflation.

Soaring CPI Imputation Rate Raises Data Accuracy Concerns in the US

Increased reliance on 'different-cell imputation' in the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) sparks worries about data quality and its impact on monetary policy and economic decisions.

www.markets.com

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 6d

😆

Newfie912 @newfie912.bsky.social · 7d

Some of these are pretty funny

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 6d

🤪

darren32359.bsky.social @darren32359.bsky.social · 8d

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 6d

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Mark214 #FDT💙💙 @mark214.bsky.social · 6d

The Stupidity is running rampant

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 6d

How convenient! A MAGA media outlet suddenly announces "an analysis" by the MAGA think tank Paragon Health Institute, founded by Brian Blase, health policy adviser to Trump during the first administration, saying the Democrats are completely wrong about the pending increase in ACA premiums.

Health Check: New Data Blunts Democrats' Core Claim In Funding Fight Over Obamacare Subsidies

A new analysis released Tuesday is challenging the central argument made by Congressional Democrats in the ongoing government funding debate, where they are

www.tampafp.com

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 7d

Watched it on YouTube a couple of weeks ago.

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 7d

"According to Reuters, the new body—called the Interagency Weaponization Working Group—has been active since at least May and includes dozens of personnel from the White House, FBI, CIA, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Justice, Defense and Homeland Security departments."

White House secret group targeting Donald Trump’s enemies: Report

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed the group’s existence to Fox News.

www.newsweek.com

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Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 8d

10/1 - $4 billion. 10/2 - $2 billion. 10/7- $2 billion. 10/16 - $4 billion. How to keep long term Treasury debt instrument yields (interest rates) low when you are increasing deficits, antagonizing foreign buyers and destabilizing the economy. We are buying back our own debt at an historical rate.

Virtual Vanaprastha @virtualvanaprastha.bsky.social · 8d

June 5. "In a move that signals a major shift in the federal government’s fiscal strategy, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on Tuesday that it has repurchased $10 billion worth of Treasury debt, marking the largest debt buyback operation in American history."

U.S. Treasury Executes Historic $10 Billion Debt Buyback — Largest in American History

U.S. Treasury Debt Buyback 2025, Largest Treasury Buyback in History, $10 Billion Debt Buyback, June 2025 Treasury Operation, Treasury Market Liquidit

www.hokanews.com

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