Mike Smith

Americans broadly disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling his job, and a majority say he has gone too far in exercising the powers of his office, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll. But a year out from the 2026 midterm elections, there is little evidence that negative impressions of Trump’s performance have accrued to the benefit of the Democratic Party, with voters split almost evenly in their support for Democrats and Republicans. Overall, 41 percent of Americans say they approve of the job Trump is doing, while 59 percent disapprove. That level of disapproval is the highest in a Post-ABC poll since January 2021, a week after the attack on the Capitol. Trump’s support among self-identified Republicans remains strong at 86 percent, while 95 percent of Democrats disapprove. Among independents, Trump’s approval rating is 30 percent, while his disapproval mark is 69 percent.

Another brutal poll for Trump:

CPS, Food Bank expect to see more families as SNAP benefits remain uncertain For many families, the loss of SNAP could change how children eat, both at home and at school.

www.columbiamissourian.com/news/k12_edu...

Go Jays! KC Royals fan here.

An IKEA instruction sheet for "NOSFERATU" that shows the bald-headed IKEA man telling you you'll need a hammer and a wooden stake for this. The next panel down shows two images. The first has a frowning IKEA man kneeling next to an open coffin while the moon is up. No, IKEA man. Do not do this. The next image is the same, but the sun is up and he's smiling. This is the way, IKEA man. The next panel shows IKEA man struggling to move a coffin on his own. The large black 'X' across this image shows what a terrible idea this is. The adjacent image has the bald-headed IKEA man getting the help of curly-haired IKEA man and moving coffins as a duo is now a doddle. The bottom panel shows a puzzled IKEA man staring into the open coffin while holding the stake and hammer. The last image shows IKEA man being bitten by the swirling figure emerging from the coffin. He's dropped his tools and is looking to curly-haired IKEA man for help, but curly-haired IKEA man has already shit his pants and is giving it legs in a cowardly act of self-preservation. Don't be surprised when bald-headed IKEA man comes tapping at your window in the dead of night, curly-haired IKEA man.

From this day in 2016.
#Halloween

He quit his job to clean up trash. Now hundreds join him.

Catbirds are a favorite of mine. Beautiful birds.

Welch: "This has nothing to do with the shutdown. The law requires and the funds are available to continue SNAP right now without any interruption. So that is a decision the president is making on his own to allow people to go hungry."

Amazon just announced 14,000 layoffs. Its CEO made over $40M last year.

UPS announced 48,000 layoffs. Its CEO made over $24M last year.

Intel announced 20,000 layoffs. Its new CEO's pay package is valued at nearly $69M.

This is what I mean when I say the system is rigged.

What did people do before SNAP?”

They died.

Healthcare, vaccines, disability support, education & food assistance are vital to our survival.

They’re why the average lifespan isn’t 35 anymore

The mark of a good & decent society is whether it sees the value in helping others.

I see that the United States' peculiar brand of Christian Nationalism includes judging the poor for needing SNAP benefits (judging is something Jesus said *not to* do) but not helping the poor with SNAP benefits (helping the poor is something Jesus told them *to* do).

"YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN" (1974) dir. Mel Brooks

Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Kenneth Mars, Gene Hackman

🎬 20th Century-Fox
#halloweencountdown
#31DaysOfSpooky
#Halloween2025
#31DaysOfHorror
🎃🍂🏚🔪🦇⚰️🕯🕸🕷💀

And another thing…the Farm Bureau is a huge insurance company not a group of Midwestern farmers.

Love Helen Mirren. I could watch her fold laundry.

Food banks were already struggling to keep with demand. Then, Trump slashed $1 billion from crucial USDA programs supporting them.

Now, thanks to his shutdown, millions of Americans in at least 25 states will lose access to food stamps on November 1st.

The perfect storm of cruelty.

YouTube video by TheHipsterGoat The Stone Roses - Made Of Stone 1989 [HQ Audio]

#80sTop30
8. Made Of Stone - The Stone Roses

"Sometimes I fantasise / When the streets are cold and lonely / And the cars they burn below me"

Looking forward to the '90s, while casting an eye back on the '60s, with this slab of epic Mancunian melancholy.

Court to consider whether to hear challenge to same-sex marriage on Nov. 7 The court is scheduled to consider whether to hear Kim Davis’ challenge to same-sex marriage at their private conference on Friday, Nov. 7. As a general practice, the court does […]

www.scotusblog.com/2025/10/cour...

The Health Insurance Cost Crisis Is Now Upon Us - The American Prospect The price hikes won’t happen until January 1, but open enrollment begins on November 1, ten days from now—and the average exchange beneficiary will see their premium costs more than double.

The Democratic shutdown strategy is squeeze Republicans on the looming doubling of insurance costs on ACA exchanges. That moment is no longer in the future. It’s happening now as 2026 premium costs are revealed. Will it work? My story:
prospect.org/2025/10/23/h...

This cut is on the list of Project 2025 horrors I’ve predicted will actually get White America’s attention. Most Americans who receive SNAP and other “welfare” assistance are white. These program eliminations will devastate working class and poor communities.

Dark days ahead, folks.

Tonight on TCM #TCM
THE BLACK CAT (1934)
This weird, bizarre, beautiful and haunting film is real outlier in the Universal Horror canon. Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff give bravura performances under the brilliant direction of Edgar G. Ulmer. Essential viewing.🎥

Carmella is beautiful 🥰

A small dumpy brown Corn Bunting sists on a Strand of barbed wire, facing right. Beak open singing away. A small bit of black plastic is caught on the barbed wire to its right. The sky background is pale blue.

Corn Bunting
North Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
On the UK Red List, having declined 83% between 1967 & 2022.
Today's #birdoftheday theme set by @robcrank68.bsky.social is #birds #singing.
#EastCoastKin
#Birdlife
#birdphotography
#BlueSkyMonday (if rather pale!)

"It is the eternal struggle between these two principles — right and wrong. The one is the common right of humanity, and the other the divine right of kings...[When] a king seeks to bestride the people of his own nation, it is the same tyrannical principle."

-- Abraham Lincoln

#NoKings

Jeffries: “ And then you got Karoline Leavitt, who's sick. She's out of control. And I'm not sure whether she's just demented, ignorant, a stone-cold liar, or all of the above"

Such a handsome pup ❤️

Happy Thursday friends! I’m getting ready to bounce into the weekend 😊🐾💙

“I love America more than any other country in the world, and exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

~James Baldwin

She gets all the flowers. I mean ALL of them. If we see her, we immediately have to give her flowers.

Beautiful.

POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Farmers grow what they grow because of farm policy.

We don’t need all the soy and corn that we grow, but those are the commodities that receive subsidies and markets.

If we want something better, if we want to heal the Earth and grow food, now is the time to do it.