Dawn Grenier

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM Kay Ryan The room is almost all elephant. Almost none of it isn't. Pretty much solid elephant. So there's no room to talk about it.

The room is
almost all
elephant.
Almost none
of it isn’t.
Pretty much
solid elephant.
So there’s no
room to talk
about it.

-Kay Ryan, “The Elephant in the Room”
#everynightapoem

So many in the comments resonate with me! One not yet mentioned: Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. As assigned college reading, it was eye-opening to a very white kid from a mostly white place - and I had never encountered such stunning nonfiction prose before.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: HASSAN AND SHAHEEN ARE BOTH ON THE LIST OF PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT DEFECTING

CALL NOW

(202) 224-3324 (Hassan)
(202) 224-2841 (Shaheen)

LEAVE VOICEMAILS #NHPoli #NHPolitics

Ezra Levin on Bluesky: “I'm hearing the same thing. Dems are nearing a surrender. I'm shocked. Largest protest in history + best election night in years + polling showing we're kicking their ass in public opinion. And now Dems may cave. It ain't over til it's over, so please do call if you've got a Dem senator.”

🚨 We’re hearing that Senate Democrats are on the verge of caving to Trump in another “Schumer Surrender.”

That means your Democratic senators need to hear from you right now.

Call: indivisible.org/resource/cal...

Email: act.indivisible.org/sign/funding...

SUBJECT: Updated Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) November Benefit Issuance This memorandum is a follow up to the guidance shared on October 10, October 24, November 4, November 5, and November 7, 2025, regarding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November 2025. The U.S. Supreme Court granted the U.S. Department of Agriculture an administrative stay of the orders issued by the District Court of Rhode Island in Rhode Island State Council of Churches, et al. v. Rollins, 25-cv-569. Pending any explicit direction to the contrary from Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), States must not transmit full benefit issuance files to EBT processors. Instead, States must continue to process and load the partial issuance files that reflect the 35 percent reduction of maximum allotments detailed in the November 5 guidance. To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized. Accordingly, States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025. Please advise the appropriate FNS Regional Office representative of steps taken to correct any actions taken that do not comply with this memorandum. Per 7 CFR 271.7(h), failure to comply with this memorandum may result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the Federal share of State administrative costs and holding States liable for any overissuances that result from the noncompliance. We are committed to keeping you as up to date as possible and appreciate your continued partnership to serve program beneficiaries across the country. State agencies with questions should contact their FNS Regional Office representative.

Here's the unbelievable "undo" letter USDA sent: www.fns.usda.gov/snap/updated...

190. SNAP WTF? A very quick explainer on what (and why) Justice Jackson issued an "administrative stay" in the SNAP case late on Friday night, and on what's likely to happen next

Here's the promised longer explainer:

www.stevevladeck.com/p/190-snap-wtf

The voices of SNAP Recipients have become political pawns. They explained, in their own words, what Trump withholding funds has been like.

New — While some states have received SNAP benefits for November and USDA is supposedly pushing through all federal payments soon, that doesn’t erase the psychological terror of the last few weeks.

I spoke with 20+ SNAP recipients in 16 states about preparing for a possible future with no food:

@factorygothic.bsky.social How had I missed that you are here??? And happy new @themountaingoats.bsky.social album day to you and yours! 😁

💔

Teen Vogue Is Folding Into Vogue.com According to Condé Nast’s announcement, the outlet will keep its “unique editorial identity and mission.”

Condé Nast finally achieved its dream of wrecking Teen Vogue and killing its politics section.

www.thecut.com/article/teen...

the fact that crises of poverty constitute the overwhelmingly determinative cause of relinquishments gives an especially bitter flavor to a day when the national imperilment of SNAP benefits coincides with the start of National Adoption Awareness Month. 🥚

Haymarket Ebooks on sale for $2! At Haymarket, our mission is to publish books that contribute to struggles for social and economic justice. We strive to make our books a vibrant and organic part of social movements, and we believe t...

ALL Haymarket EBooks are 80% off through November 7th ✊🏾✊🏿✊🏽

Whenever people complain about the number of folks relying on food stamps, it is worth reminding them that SNAP is, by too large of a degree, a subsidy for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage and their political allies who reject public policy prescriptions to reduce income inequality.

It would help to have a National Day of Action re: SNAP - perhaps on November 1. It would take rapid response but houses of worship could take the lead in mobilizing their members. Educate everyone about the cuts, encourage local donations, pressure Congress, etc...

i really resent the continued assertion that there’s so much anger on both sides, as if the causes of the anger are equally legitimate. we’re angry because masked maniacs are violently snatching our family and neighbors off the street, and they’re angry because we’re calling them out for it.

“if you make anyone feel defended, or aware that they’re not alone, if you make space for hope, if you engage in acts of solidarity instead of stewing in the rancor and alienation that’s killing us—that matters, and it will always matter.”

Just a brilliant, essential article. Read it and breathe.

🔊 Listen Now: A U.S. citizen detained by ICE is pushing to hold agents accountable All Things Considered on NPR One | 4:56

A U.S. citizen detained by #ICE is pushing to hold agents accountable.

one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5582...

During Thanksgiving and holidays, people want to do food drives where they collect canned goods etc... and I really would love to offer that food banks need MONEY so if you can collect and donate MONEY please do that. They can then use those funds to purchase what's needed AT DISCOUNTS.

a hand-painted sign reading “what are you doing next? try mutual aid and direct action!”

accompanied a friend to a small rural demonstration today & despite all the flag waving it was nice to see folks get together. this was my last-minute contribution 🖤

Diane Keaton, Miss Major, D'Angelo... Who gets to live a "long" life in America?

“And then it came, the realization that—at least in my mind—79 years old was so young for a famous rich white woman in America like Diane Keaton and that 78 years old was practically a miracle for a black trans woman like Miss Major.”

ICYMI, I wrote this about why we need humanities majors now, more than ever, and how they succeed.

Maybe even pass it on to students whose One Relative at the Thanksgiving table condescendingly asks "what are you going to do with THAT degree?" Here are some talking points—and data!—to refute them.

remigrate is not a dog whistle, and is open nazi language

Just one more thing... When you were 'discovering' America, was there anyone else there at the time?

“We Survived the Night”: Julian Brave NoiseCat on Residential Schools & Recovering Native History To mark Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we sit down with the award-winning Indigenous writer, journalist and filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat, an enrolled member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’secen of the Secwep...

“We Survived the Night”: Julian Brave NoiseCat on Residential Schools & Recovering Native History https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/13/julian_noisecat_we_survived_the_night

Boston judge orders release of 13-year-old from ICE custody The federal court ruled the boy must be freed unless immigration officials can justify detaining a juvenile with adult detainees at the Burlington facility.

Boston judge orders release of 13-year-old held at ICE adult detainee facility

#Warm4Holidays2024 #Warm4Holidays Public Library Edition For a few years on Twitter, I used the #Warm4Holidays hashtag to organize crafters to join a New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day challenge. Crafters were invited t...

It's almost that time of year again in the Northeast... Time to put together some warm kits: docs.google.com/document/d/1... - it's a great family activity and you can get others involved too. Last year, I adapted the activity to focus on public libraries but they can be donated anywhere.

Children’s Authors on the Real-World Cost of Book Banning Authors discuss how having their work targeted by censors has directly affected their livelihood and their well-being.

Just a reminder that Banned Books Week isn’t about selling more copies of 1984. It’s about keeping authors and teachers and librarians safe and making sure all of us have the freedom to read widely. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Civil Rights Lawyer Bryan Stevenson on How America’s Story Should Be Told

Cause the algorithms are increasingly shady and I don’t see much promotion, let me Gift Link this:

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Terrific resource. Potential dangers here: more federal government surveillance of voters, more voter information vulnerable to hacking, more federal government interference in elections. #elections

ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team Documents show that ICE plans to hire dozens of contractors to scan X, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms to target people for deportation.

ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team

Documents show that ICE plans to hire dozens of contractors to scan X, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms (like this one) to target people for deportation.
www.wired.com/story/ice-so...