Becky O’Donoghue

Screenshot of the Mass.gov webpage titled “SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps)” under the Department of Transitional Assistance. The page header is blue and white with the official Mass.gov logo and navigation menu. Below the title, there’s a yellow “Notices & Alerts” box with a warning icon and bold text that reads: “President Trump is currently choosing to not issue November SNAP benefits that help you and many families put food on the table.” The notice is followed by a timestamp that says “Updated Oct. 24, 2025, 10:00 am.” This section is circled in red. Beneath the notice, the page lists SNAP benefit details such as monthly EBT funds for food, extra fruits and vegetables via HIP farms, SNAP Path to Work education, nutrition classes, and cultural institution discounts.

That's how it's done.

www.mass.gov/snap-benefit...

SNAP’s Contingency Reserve Is Available for Regular SNAP Benefits, as USDA and OMB Have Ruled in Past The Administration must use all available options to fund November benefits for the 1 in 8 people in the U.S. who need SNAP to afford their grocery bill.

Past administrations used #SNAP contingency funds to prevent benefit gaps. Despite clear legal authority, the current Administration refuses to do, putting 1 in 8 people in the U.S. who need SNAP to afford their grocery bill. www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

Our Common Nature: Episodes | WNYC Studios | Podcasts Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and host Ana Gonzalez travel around the country to meet people, make music and better understand how culture binds us to nature.

www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/our...

Energy Bills Are Soaring in America’s Coal Capital

As utility bills rise nationwide, the Trump administration is forcing retiring coal plants to keep operating and fast-tracking oil and gas projects, while trying to halt clean energy projects like solar and offshore wind. But clean energy is cheaper than fossil fuels.

Administrators at Indiana University baselessly fired the student media director and ordered the student paper to cease its print edition, so it'd sure be a shame if this excellent digital front page were to be widely shared today

issuu.com/idsnews/docs...

🔥 The never-ending narrative…
This week, I’ve once again heard prominent climate researchers dismiss individual action as either irrelevant or a distraction instigated by the fossil fuel industry.

Here’s a 🧵 on why this argument frustrates me to no end and why I think it misses the bigger picture.

A Debilitating Virus Surges Globally as Mosquitoes Move With Warming Climate

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/h...

New York Confirms State’s First Locally Acquired Case of Chikungunya

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/n...

Three Years After Trial Launch, Ireland Is Making Basic Income for Artists Program Permanent Several years after launching a trial, Ireland is set to make its basic income for artists program permanent starting in 2026.

www.artnews.com/art-news/new...

Source: Charitie Ropati, Intersectional Environmentalist, and Feminist reporting on Typhoon Halong ravaging western Alaska

Researchers, Colleges Face Federal Shutdown Impacts Two weeks into the government shutdown with no resolution in sight, higher ed associations and researchers say the inability of scientists to contact federal agency workers or get new grants approved ...

Already Battered by Cuts, Researchers and Colleges Face Federal Shutdown Impacts

Private equity takeover of hospitals led to rise in Medicare emergency patient deaths, says study Study found seven more deaths per 10,000 patients in private equity hospitals’ versus non-private equity hospitals

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

American Gulag The brutal rollout of Trump's police state.

When it comes toTrump’s immigration policy, cruelty has always been the point, but anti-immigrant animus is now being paired with unprecedented funding, manpower, and technology.

This decision means SNAP participants who live in areas where jobs are scarce in CA, CT, DC, GU, IL, KY, MI, MT, MN, ND, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OR, RI, VI, and WA will be at risk of being cut off SNAP by the program's harsh & ineffective work requirement even earlier than anticipated.

We Keep Us Safe: On Antifa This past Saturday, Donald Trump announced that his administration would be deploying federal troops to Portland, OR, authorizing the military to use “full...

in case you want some non bullshit about antifa here is something i wrote

buttondown.com/theswordandt...

A mining threat returns to the nation’s most visited wilderness A sulfide-ore copper mine could bring irreversible pollution to the rivers and streams flowing into the Boundary Waters.

The Boundary Waters is an irreplaceable ecosystem of interconnected islands, lakes, and rivers.​

But a proposed sulfide-ore copper mine could bring irreversible pollution to the rivers and streams flowing into these treasured waters. ​

Same judge. While Miller rails about judges.

YouTube video by MSNBC ‘F--- them kids’: ICE agents drag children out of bed, ransack Chicago building

According to eyewitnesses, armed ICE agents dragged kids out of their beds in the middle of the night, zip tied them and put them in rented vans while raiding an * entire apartment building* on the South Side of Chicago.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOXO...

Hey, folks, please check out the new Drawdown Explorer.

It’s the world’s leading resource for science-backed climate solutions. And now it provides the most up-to-date, localized, actionable intelligence to help scale these solutions out in the world.

Drawdown.org/explorer

Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list It is the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to dispute, silence or downplay climate change.

The Energy Department adds “climate change,” “green” and “decarbonization” to its restricted list.

Why Don’t Struggling Students Do Their Homework? Disentangling Motivation and Study Productivity as Drivers of Human Capital Formation Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

This is a pretty remarkable paper and seems to suggest "grit" is not necessarily the driving force behind student achievement:

www.nber.org/papers/w3427...

A majority of US children rely on Medicaid or CHIP, new study finds • Kansas Reflector A majority of children in the United States rely on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program at some point by their 18th birthday, and many experience periods of coverage loss, according to...

A majority of US children rely on Medicaid or CHIP, new study finds | via Nada Hassanein #ksleg

These Texas scientists are doing their best to thwart scary mosquito-borne diseases Tropical illnesses are knocking on America's door even as Trump guts public health research funding.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Print in blue and white of a stylised garden with trees, plants, birds, tools and plant pots as well as winding text which says 'In my garden I can feel life and it is beautiful"

'My Garden...' by Mariann Johansen-Ellis, contemporary artist and printmaker #WomensArt

YouTube video by Zeteo “You Can’t Bomb The Truth Away” - Mehdi’s POWERFUL speech About Palestinian Journalists

“You can’t bomb the truth away”

My full speech at Wembley Arena tonight, in London, to 12,000 people at the Together for Palestine concert, paying tribute to murdered Palestinian journalists and their bravery, and calling out the silence and complicity of Western media.

Looks like I posted this a day too early.

The Ozone Hole Is Steadily Shrinking because of Global Efforts After nearly 40 years of global efforts, the ozone hole over Antarctica is continuing to heal

A little bit of good news for you. And a reminder that we *can* solve big, global problems--when we want to. 🧪

(by @meghanbartels.bsky.social)

‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster Some days it can feel as if climate catastrophe is inevitable. But history is full of cases – such as the banning of whaling and CFCs – that show humanity can come together to avert disaster

Humans: sometimes bad, sometimes good, capable of great. Me, in today’s @theguardian.com Long Read
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...

‘We’ve done it before’: how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster Some days it can feel as if climate catastrophe is inevitable. But history is full of cases – such as the banning of whaling and CFCs – that show humanity can come together to avert disaster

www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...

Painting of a branch of a bramble plant with stem with thorns, green leaves and red berries

'Autumn Studies' by Sarah Jane Humphrey, contemporary UK natural science/ botanical illustrator #WomensArt