Stephanie Gal

Blood visible from space in Sudan shows evidence of Darfur genocide: Analysts Satellite images and verified videos paint a harrowing picture of door-to-door mass killings in the Darfur region of war-torn Sudan.

There is a genocide & humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

The reports of mass killings, starvation, and displacement in El Fasher are horrifying.

The US must hold the UAE & any other arms dealers to the RSF accountable and act urgently to save lives.

This looks like a concentration camp.

We all know a hungry child can't learn.
 
But Republicans' government shutdown is threatening SNAP and Head Start—forcing parents out of work and kids to go hungry.
 
This hurt and harm is undeniable—and it's 100% preventable.

My son was so horrified that licorice is considered candy. I explained to him that before there was good candy, there was licorice.

I’m really glad you didn’t get listeria!

Rep. Clay Higgins: There are 22 million American households receiving SNAP benefits for groceries, at $4200 per year on average. Try to get your head wrapped around how many pantries you can stock with $4200 dollars in properly shopped groceries. Any American who has been receiving $4200 dollars per year of free groceries and does NOT have at least 1 month of groceries stocked should never again receive SNAP, because wow, stop smoking crack.

Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana blames SNAP recipients for not stockpiling a month's worth of food.

He ends his tweet with "stop smoking crack."

You, an Arlington resident, are accusing the residents of Somerville for “hijacking” [checks notes] the local government in Somerville by [check notes again] voting in Somerville elections. I have to politely disagree.

This is a Somerville ballot question in a Somerville election, but it is about a global issue. I welcome broader conversation. It is the “focus on Somerville” message that wants me to be myopic. Yet this data shows that the campaign’s donors think it’s fine for *them* to think outside their borders.

Right, but you’re in Arlington, telling me that I should only pay attention to my own municipality. Do you see the inconsistency?

Okay, but then I don't love the "focus on Somerville" framing. Because I can just as easily say to you "focus on Arlington" - do you see?

[Honestly, I think it's okay for us to be having these bigger conversations! Let's just be consistent about it]

Yesterday I learned that several of my friends have relied on SNAP benefits at some point in their lives. They talked about the dignity of SNAP vs. going to a good bank. It's a really valuable program, for more than just the money provided.

Remember: The richest 1% evade over $160 billion in taxes every year.

That amount would fund SNAP for a year with money to spare.

Ask yourself who the real freeloaders are.

You can get the data here (for both pro-and anti-ballot finance documents). Search "Somerville" and that will bring them both up. www.somervillema.gov/campaign-fin...

Donations are split into within Somerville and outside of Somerville. Within Somerville donations total to 19.2% of the total money donated - but over half of that (9.8%) came from just one household which gave $20K. Of the remaining donations, 28.4% of the total money came from organizations, while 52.3% of the total money came from private individuals outside of Somerville, telling us to "focus on Somerville." The total donation amount is just over $200K.

Campaign finance data is now available for Somerville ballot question 3. I was interested that the anti-ballot group running the campaign "Focus on Somerville" raised so much money from outside Somerville. They can tell Somerville what to do, but we can't care about broader issues?

i think if you ride public transit enough you learn that most weird behavior is not dangerous, and conversely i think driving a car teaches you that everyone is trying to kill you at all times

Opinion | People Still Want to Marry. Why Aren’t They?

The book Goliath's Curse argues that when societies get so hierarchical that they're really punishing ppl at the bottom, ppl leave (unless they're trapped). Voting with their feet. I think there's a lot of this that can be applied to the conversation around marriage.

Revealed: Israel demanded Google and Amazon use secret ‘wink’ to sidestep legal orders The tech giants agreed to extraordinary terms to clinch a lucrative contract with the Israeli government, documents show

Who are rules for?

"Legal experts, including several former US prosecutors, said the arrangement was highly unusual and carried risks for the companies as the coded messages could violate legal obligations in the US, where the companies are headquartered, to keep a subpoena secret."

Israel just launched a wave of strikes on Gaza, killing over 100 - including, reportedly, dozens of children… then declared the ceasefire is back on.

They have killed over 200 since the “ceasefire” www.cnn.com/2025/10/28/m...

In Gaza, the bombs don't fall on cancer patient wards in hospitals, they fall on cancer patient camps. This whole article is so depressing.

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 104 overnight as ceasefire looks increasingly fragile Netanyahu ordered strikes on Tuesday evening after firefight between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants

I get that this headline isn't technically wrong, but it's ridiculous to say there's a ceasefire when 104 people just died in attacks. What a crazy rhetorical world we live in.

We are doing flowers for the fatal crashes in Somerville since 2019

A Lego streetscape seen at street level, with a Lego bike rider, yellow wayfinding bars visible on adjacent sidewalk, detectable warning strips at curb ramps, and the vendor name TekWay visible in background

Coolest thing at this conference: Vendor for tactile delineator devices (for guiding pedestrians who are blind) has a fully tactile Lego streetscape

Unfortunately the donation link doesn't seem to be working for me - if anyone else figures it out, let me know. I'm leaving this up just in case it's a temporary glitch.

In case you're agonizing about Sudan, Doctors Against Genocide recommended this organization about two weeks ago, they operate in El Fasher. I don't know their current status, with the new developments, but it's supposed to be a good local org.

Bleghghghggh.

I think you might be confusing AECOM (safe routes to school partner) with ACECO LLC, which is the company google told me did the demolition. So that’s good news!

Meanwhile, Bill Gates has "shifted his stance" on climate change while admitting "climate change will have serious consequences — particularly for people in the poorest countries." I hate these people. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/c...

Hurricane Melissa latest updates: Red Cross says 1.5m people in Jamaica could be impacted by ‘storm of the century’ The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says hurricane Melissa is expected to cause a ‘catastrophic situation’

Really worried about this today. Tomorrow may be a very different world for all these people.

I want to know where this woman will go. It sounds like she wants a more progressive party than the Democrats are willing to be.