Auntie Smithbrainz

Exclusive: Nearly nine months after President Trump took over the Kennedy Center, sales for orchestra, theater and dance performances are the worst they’ve been since the pandemic, according to a Washington Post analysis.

The average US taxpayer spends $36 a year on SNAP

You know what they spend on corporate subsidies? $670

Poor and disabled people who need food are not the problem

If you’re angry about “your money” feeding people but not angry it’s giving tax cuts to the wealthy?

You’re doing their dirty work.

CULTURE TRENDS SNAP beneficiaries threaten to ransack stores over government shutdown One mother claims taxpayers must feed her children as SNAP benefits face cuts By Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi • Fox News Published October 31, 2025 2:16pm EDT

So there were some AI-generated videos that purported to show Black women ranting about SNAP benefits, and... Fox News is reporting on this like these are real people. They're not! They're AI!

This is truly insane. Total unreality. www.foxnews.com/media/snap-b...

EGADS.
(That’s the polite version of what I’m thinking.)

Background artwork by Maurice Noble for Broomstick Bunny. Doors and furniture are just black line drawings and still nicer than anything I currently have in my apartment. Predominant colours are peach and teal.

Another Maurice background for Broomstick Bunny. There's a vase on a line drawing table, stairs with no bottom step, and Witch Hazel's bobby pins hanging in the air. You don't know how many vacuums I've killed sucking up bobby pins.

Another Noble background for Broomstick Bunny. A fern, rose pink walls, a line drawing of a couch, and hot pink curtains. More bobby pins in the air. A red-head would look great in this room.

Bugs Bunny peers out from a door disguised by a wall painting of spiny yellow fish swimming in giant fishbowl. Why would Witch Hazel have this on her wall and why do I want it on mine?

Is wanting a room with Maurice Noble walls too much?

This feels illegal.

I’d like to know who the judges here are, because Judge Ellis was clear that she wasn’t managing Bovino’s job, but being a neutral arbiter of the law.

This is why we’re seeing cracks. Their bullshit propaganda blaming democrats isn’t working. By large margins.

Great job, Gov Pritzker. ❤️

Photo of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker dressed as Fred Flintstone and first lady MK Prtizker dressed as Wilma Flintstone in front of what looks like a school with children behind them.

This is how you lead with humor and humility. Yabba dabba do @govpritzker.illinois.gov!

Me a few months ago:
I'm gonna dress up like a creepy doll or Wednesday Addams for Halloween.

Me a few weeks ago: I can't face a costume but I can at least put on the glow-in-the-dark Ouija board skirt and matching Hot Chocolate Design planchette shoes.

Today: I have put on a bra.

😖

Disability is a minority group you can join at any time

Many of us were “young & otherwise healthy” when we became ill

We were working & couldn’t imagine being unable to earn a living

We didn’t plan to become disabled. We didn’t plan to stop working

It can happen to anyone

In Big Win for Voters and Democrats, Court Blocks Trump’s Demand for Voter ID on Registration Form Read more here.

NEW STORY: In a major win for voters, a federal court permanently blocks a provision of Trump’s anti-voting order requiring proof-of-citizenship for voter registration, holding that the president lacks authority over election regulation.

There are basic issues of democratic legitimacy when armed and masked men are defying the wishes of neighborhoods and cities of America.

It behooves all of us to remember forever that Donald Trump, Republican President of the United States, and his Republican enablers did not *want* to release funds to feed children.

Judges have forced them to do it against their will.

A split bar chart of YouGov polling data with the headline: "Do Americans remember who was president during major events?." The chart has the sub-headline: "As far as you remember, who was president when the following happened? (% of U.S. adult citizens)Note: This chart has been truncated. See the full data in the article linked with this post.."

How many remember who was president when Roe v. Wade was overturned, TARP was passed, or the COVID vaccines debuted? We asked Americans about these & 17 other events from the past 25 years.

See the full results in @today.yougov.com's free newsletter: yougovamerica.substack.com/p/how-many-a...

Elizabeth Warren's dog, Bailey, wearing glasses, a tux, and posing next to an award.

Bailey is ready for Halloween! This year, he’s dressed as the person who doesn't cave to big media corporations or the president: Stephen Colbert.

It's a Ponzi scheme. And these people at our universities have got us involved.

💔 😖 (If you’re a doc & you can’t handle a patient’s issue, send ‘em to one who can.)

Ah. Throw that ick back in the ick pile!

JD & Usha were reportedly married in an interfaith ceremony several years before he converted to Catholicism. If the marriage wasn’t performed in the church, I’m not sure he’d need an annulment. (There are lots of icky things in that story but I don’t think annulment is one of them.)

Graphic showing how much candy prices are increasing this year: Tootsie rolls up 32.1% Hershey variety pack up 22.1% Mars variety pack up 12.1% Mondelez gummy variety pack up 9.4% Hersheys peanut butter cup variety pack up 8%

Americans should be able to celebrate Halloween without fearing for their wallets.

All of this *just* happened in two totally separate cases, so be careful with differing stories about where things stand:
- TRO granted in the Rhode Island case (Judge Jack McConnell), but no written order yet.
- Trump admin was given until Monday to act in the Mass. case (Judge Indira Talwani).

Here’s a good summary of today’s federal court actions on SNAP in MA and RI.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS ET AL., Plaintiffs, V. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ET AL., Defendants. * * * * * * * * * * * Civil Action No. 1:25-cv-13165-IT MEMORANDUM AND ORDER October 31, 2025 TALWANI, D.J. Pending before the court is Plaintiffs' Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order [Doc. No. 3] seeking to enjoin, on an emergency basis, Defendants' November 1, 2025 suspension of benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ("SNAP"). For the reasons stated below, Plaintiffs have standing to bring this action and are likely to succeed on their claim that Defendants' suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful. Where that suspension of benefits rested on an erroneous construction of the relevant statutory provisions, the court will allow Defendants to consider whether they will authorize at least reduced SNAP benefits for November, and report back to the court no later than Monday, November 3, 2025.

A. Likelihood of Success on the Merits Plaintiffs have demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits of their claim under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), (C), that Defendants' suspension of SNAP benefits is contrary to law. At core, Defendants' conclusion that USDA is statutorily prohibited from funding SNAP because Congress has not enacted new appropriations for the current fiscal year is erroneous. To the contrary, Defendants are statutorily mandated to use the previously appropriated SNAP contingency reserve when necessary and also have discretion to use other previously appropriated funds as detailed below.

As both parties acknowledge, Congress has not yet appropriated any new funds for SNAP benefits for Fiscal Year 2026, which began on October 1, 2025. Pls.' Mem. 6 [Doc. No. 4]; Defs.' Opp'n 7 [Doc. No. 18]. But Congress took steps to protect against the deprivation of SNAP assistance. In the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Pub. L. No. 118-42, § 6, 138 Stat. 25, 93-94, Congress separately appropriated $6 billion to the SNAP program "to remain available through September 30, 2026" and "be placed in reserve for use only in such amounts and at such times as may become necessary to carry out program operations." See also Pub. L. No. 119-4, § 1101(a), 139 Stat. 9, 10 (2025). As Plaintiffs point out, given the mandatory nature of SNAP benefits under 7 U.S.C. § 2014(a) and the appropriation of these funds to be available 10 Case 1:25-cv-13165-IT Document 26 Filed 10/31/25 Page 11 of 15 through this current fiscal year, the government is obligated to use this contingent reserve account to fund SNAP "as may become necessary to carry out program operations." 138 Stat. at 93-94; Pls.' Mem. 11 [Doc. No. 4].

Defendants argue out that a "suspension" is permitted under USDA's regulations, and that USDA "has consistently interpreted its authority to allow for the suspension or cancellation of benefits when necessary." Defs. Opp'n 6 [Doc. No. 18). The regulation at issue, 7 C.F.R. $ 271.7(a), sets forth procedures to be followed if monthly SNAP allowances "must be reduced, suspended, or cancelled to comply with section 18 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008" (emphasis added). But that the regulation allows for a suspension when there are no funds does not mean that Defendants may choose a suspension over a reduction while funds do remain. If the regulation did authorize such discretion, it would be inconsistent with the statutory mandate that benefits "shall" be paid unless funding is no longer available.

BREAKING: Federal judge rules that the Trump administration likely illegally suspended SNAP benefits, ruling that at least reduced distribution is required to go forward under law using the $6 billion reserve fund.

Judge gives the Trump admin until Monday to respond as to whether it will act.

Himbs looks very dignified.

😍🎃

BREAKING: Judge doesn't quite grant TRO requiring Trump admin to make partial SNAP payment for next month. Judge Indira Talwani (Obama) says USDA has that power. Wants answer by Monday on whether it will do so. Seems like she'll order if they don't. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Callers to Social Security wait for hours to get help. Hear their ordeals. Millions of seniors and disabled people call Social Security’s 1-800 number every month. What they experience is often maddening.

"One Social Security worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said many of those she has called back don’t even answer the phone because it has been hours or even weeks since their initial call..."

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...