Brian Lyman

First trick-or-treater was a two-year-old in a green dinosaur costume who liked the candy, but was really excited to jump up and down with other trick-or-treaters.

Auburn said trick-or-treating this year needed to happen on Thursday. Some people did that; some people are doing it tonight, and either way, our 11-year-old is cleaning up.

Effects of government shutdown spread on day 31, from health costs to food to flights | Alabama Reflector By Saturday, millions of Americans are expected to face a drastic spike in health care premium costs during open enrollment, though a hunger crisis may have been temporarily averted, both tied to the ongoing government shutdown.

Via Ariana Figueroa and Shauneen Miranda: By Saturday, millions of Americans are expected to face a drastic spike in health care premium costs during open enrollment, though a hunger crisis may have been temporarily averted, both tied to the ongoing government shutdown.

Anna and Andrea did a great job with this.

The Internet made it a lot easier for folks like that to get published. But if you read local newspapers, you know it was always there.

There was also someone who wrote about two “evils” and decided that the only way to solve them was the return of Jesus Christ.

I used to clip the letters published in the Butler (Pa.) Eagle because their correspondents regularly came to the most extreme conclusions in their missives. Two that stood out: A woman declaring that Butler would eventually be home to flying trains, and a man saying public education was nonsense.

Trump administration blocked from cutting off SNAP benefits as two judges issue orders | Alabama Reflector A Rhode Island judge ordered the USDA to continue paying benefits, while a Massachusetts judge said she could order something similar on Monday.

BREAKING via Ariana Figueroa: The rulings came a day before a cutoff of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to 42 million low-income households.

For every solid criminal justice piece Reason runs, there are 12 articles in which libertarianism is basically revealed to be power-worship.

Via @timhenderson.bsky.social and Stateline: The Trump administration now expects about 600,000 total deportations in 2025, fewer than under the Biden administration’s final fiscal year, as a drop in border crossings outweighs the effect of increased deportations elsewhere. https://ow.ly/FrVc50XkYWi

Fixing the immigration system will be hard. But if you want democracy? It has to be a priority. Not only to allow people of good faith to come here without first enduring a Kafkaesque nightmare. But because forcing millions of people to live outside the law is speed-running authoritarianism.

Good people lost; the rule of law reduced to word games drained of justice; law enforcement trained to punish identities rather than actual threats — this nation will pay a high price for the cruelty of a few fanatics.

This crap was being debunked when *I* was trick-or-treating.

After *50-plus years* of this, anyone in the media publishing the poisoned candy myth as even slightly legitimate is either an ignorant fool or a cynical clout chaser, and in either case should not be allowed near a front-end publishing system.

Via Andrea Tinker: The Alabama State Board of Education will vote on adopting new social studies and arts education textbooks for the 2026-2027 school year at its November meeting. https://ow.ly/8ZxH50XkIzO

I have a column coming Monday going deeper into this bill, but I’d strongly recommend people outside Alabama keep an eye on it.

Cover of Beowulf as translated by Seamus Heaney, with a human head covered in chain mail.

So. I’d never read Beowulf before — not even in school — and decided to give it a whirl.

It’s pretty good. I knew the plot, but so wasn’t prepared for how melancholy the story is. The ending points to greater troubles ahead: there will always be monsters, but there may not be heroes to meet them.

Via Shalina Chatlani: States are preparing for the possibility of a rapid shift in the cost of Obamacare health plans, depending on whether Congress extends the subsidies that are at the center of the federal government shutdown. https://ow.ly/k1pA50XkIxX

Ah, look at all the broken statues
Ah, look at all the broken statues

Ozymandias
Sneers in a land where a kingdom has Wrecked
Without a neck
Waits in the desert
Wearing the face that he’s stamped on the things
Lifeless and mean

All the broken statues
Where do they all come from?

Via Shalina Chatlani and Stateline: States have enacted dozens of laws this year to lower prescription drug costs. They cannot lower drug prices directly, but they can go after parts of the supply chain to lower patients’ costs and reduce spending in state-run health plans. https://ow.ly/mq4J50XkstF

Basically why Trump’s vote percentage jumped in Alabama last year despite his aggregate vote total staying roughly the same. Democratic votes in the state plummeted.

the dodgers can have way more money than any other team and baseball's biggest problem can still be the cheap owners, both things can be true.

A.J. Liebling said the Daily News in 1933 explained Roosevelt’s New Deal policies better than “serious” newspapers did.

People who may think the Daily News was a success because told stories through photos have it half right. At its peak, the Daily News was arguably the best-edited newspaper in the city, and had a genius for cutting to the core of an issue or a development.

Via Anna Barrett: An Alabama senator is reviving a bill for the 2026 legislative session that would require health insurance companies to cover prostate cancer screenings for all high-risk patients. https://ow.ly/nPW050XjWBP

American economic policy is now so capricious you really can’t write about “agreements.” You can say Trump spoke with foreign leaders, but he’s simply not a reliable party in these negotiations.

Trump and Xi Ease Off the Trade War, but New Nuclear Threat Brings a Chill

At this point I wonder why any outlet writes with certainty about what Trump says about trade, considering that he’s always one mild inconvenience away from backing off an agreement.

Via Andrea Tinker: Alabama State University has received a $38 million donation from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott, the largest in the school's 158-year history. https://ow.ly/rb0I50Xk0gX

(Ran into that tonight and wanted to write it down.)

Is aimsir an chruatain gur sheas na fíréin — Antaine Raiftearai (In the time of struggle stood the righteous)