Dr PattiJones

Yeah. I am just suffering through this weekend. If the Ohio St game was not on Fox I may have done the same.

They said they had been a little worried that no one would get it and I was like I can’t think of a better way to provoke every southerner you encounter to out themselves

Went to an early dinner tonight at a very *Brooklyn* place and the first costumes through the door were a couple dressed as Bill Belichick and Jordon. I was like these gotta be college football people and sure enough, Texas and Tennessee

We had a neighborhood couple dressed as Bill and Jordon, but we are in Chapel Hill.

Smelling an unexplained odor is just your dog

Matt Rhule, what the actual hell

This is insane

A federal judge in Rhode Island on Friday blocked the Trump administration from ceasing to pay SNAP benefits during the U.S. government shutdown. The oral ruling by Judge Jack McConnell came a day before the administration was set to cut off those food stamp benefits from 42 million Americans.

BREAKING: In a second case over the suspension of SNAP benefits, a federal judge in Rhode Island has issued a TRO from the bench against the Trump administration.

There is no written order yet, but here is CNBC's report: www.cnbc.com/2025/10/31/s...

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.

In this economy!

Trump 2 is very Real Housewives (the season after they see themselves on TV for the first time)-coded.

He “New Money New York’d” the Lincoln bathroom

I assume he is still using his NY/NJ mob contractors and suppliers.

great news for humanity! Lol

Triangle Food Banks Brace For Increased Demand As SNAP Cutoff Nears What’s happening with SNAP in the Triangle, where to find food assistance, and how you can help others access food as the shutdown drags on.

What’s happening with SNAP in the Triangle, where to find food assistance, and how you can help others access food as the shutdown drags on.

@jacketdan.bsky.social OMG. The robot is like the TikTok girl just without a sword.

exactly!!!

@surber.bsky.social as JellyRoll as French biker

Was explaining to my daughter that when I was growing up (and it is still true there today) we did not trick or treat on Halloween, but on Beggar's night (usually the night before). She was shocked.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars...

Pandemic-era sports league operations as a new paradigm for local epidemic resilience Strategic, coordinated, and rapid responses are essential when pathogens emerge, yet these responses are often mishandled during epidemics due to myriad factors, including entrenched socioeconomic and...

1/5: Interested in basketball? Disease ecology? Epidemics?

5 years ago, the NBA embarked on a great experiment in infection control: "The NBA Bubble." In a new preprint led by Dr. Yun Tao + Dr. Nita Bharti, we examine it's underlying disease ecology principles.

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Opinion | In Trump’s America, Are We Losing Our Democracy? (Gift Article) Donald Trump has wielded power as no previous president has.

Gift link.

This is the kind of thing that should be shared with people who don't spend all day online like we do. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

@hollyanderson.bsky.social I don't care about this discovery...I would like the fullcast run of show to proceed as previously discussed.

Aimee Mann writing "Save Me" about Dave Foley is the yin to the yang of Alanis Morissette writing "You Oughta Know" about Dave Coulier

France rules

Only Kelsey Mitchell more days until college basketball

But today it's more than just her number: Kelsey also holds the NCAA record for consecutive games with a three pointer (92!) and finished her career as the all time leader in threes made.

www.landgrantholyland.com/2025/5/18/24...

Here’s How the AI Crash Happens The U.S. is becoming an Nvidia-state.

so @matteowong.bsky.social & I wrote on data centers: arguably the most important buildings in the world & are, in a way, holding the economy hostage. Byzantine financial instruments, private equity, depreciating tech, hype, $trillion valuations. it’s all there. an ai crash prob starts here.

do you think she wore leather pants to mimic the natural seductiveness of his favorite ottoman?

A container of my preferred coffee on #Amazon used to be $9.99. Today it is $21.94. WTF??? 😡

Welp, thanks to "carriage" disputes, I won't be able to watch my favorite horror show tonight.

Irish carved turnip.

Happy Halloween.