Rich Stein (he/him)

Photo taken pointed up toward the sky. The left half of the frame is a leafy tree in autumn glory — a mix of yellows and orange and reds. The right side is blue sky with several white puffy clouds.

Look up — and have a great day (and awesome weekend)! Also don't forget to set those clocks back if you're in the U.S. #ShabbatShalom

#photography #photo #foto #fotografie #fotografia #running #nature #trees #sunshine #autumn #leaves #BlueSky #DST

Japan PM Takaichi chose symbolic ingredients for lunch with Trump - The Mainichi KASHIHARA, Nara -- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi treated U.S. President Donald Trump and his delegation to dishes using traditional produce f

Food diplomacy –
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251031/p2a/00m/0na/010000c

Waiting for someone to explain why the announcement of a trade relationship that is worse than the one we had a year ago is received as a big success

Snap Insight: Trump-Xi meeting in Busan cools tensions, but mistrust still runs deep The outcome of the meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Busan signals a de-escalation of tensions, says former US news bureau chief Nirmal Ghosh.

More —
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/trump-xi-us-china-deal-trade-war-rare-earths-snap-insight-5434956
#China #UnitedStates #Xi #geopolitics

Antiscience influencer up for top job.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/opinion/casey-means-surgeon-general-nominee.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xU8.BFuP.8-4X-LjTynD-&smid=url-share

Restoring a Confederate statue without appropriate contemporary commentary or comment is not about preserving or protecting history. It's about wanting to return to a darker, crueler past — about rewriting history […]

Opportunist at the top — Vance.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/us/jd-vance-yale-law-school.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xU8.fFkq.o--lRR5tkja2&smid=url-share

But the whales!! 🐳🐋🐳🐋🐳
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:445txkzk2c6qvvpcuzehrbxv/post/3m4fh66k7oc2n
#RenewableEnergy #renewables #wind #WindPower #UK

Providing the facts and stated outcomes from an important diplomatic meeting like this newsworthy but not assuring, because trump is almost as mercurial and unpredictive as he is vindictive […]

When the reporter becomes the story — a profile of S.V Dáte of Huff Post. Hard to say that anyone brings out the worst in this administration because it's all right there on the surface, but Dáte has really been a target. He's a good reporter; White House staff is hired because they're […]

"I think this is the worst place on Earth now; it's the biggest humanitarian emergency on Earth and it happens in the dark, really - there has been far too little attention to what's happening in Sudan."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c364jgkge46o
#Sudan #elFasher

Trump orders Pentagon to begin testing nuclear weapons 'immediately' The U.S. voluntarily halted nuclear explosive testing in 1992, though it has the ability to resume tests at a site in Nevada.

Peace lover? M.A.D.*
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-orders-pentagon-begin-testing-nuclear-weapons-immediately-rcna240681
*Mutual Assured Destruction 😕

How Will You Know That America Has Become a Dictatorship? After 20 Years Living in One, I Can Tell You. Much of the country is afraid: afraid of the government. Afraid of their fellow citizens. Afraid U.S. laws will no longer protect them.

Much of America is afraid. Afraid of the government. Afraid of their fellow citizens. Afraid America’s legal and judicial institutions will no longer protect them. If Americans don't wake up, organize, and fight harder to defend the rule of law, we'll find ourselves living in an authoritarian system

Trump administration strips Nigerian Nobel winner Wole Soyinka of US visa The first African author to win the Nobel in literature, Soyinka has been an outspoken critic of governments worldwide.

How does anyone from the regime even know who Wole Soyinka even is?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/28/trump-administration-strips-nigerian-nobel-winner-wole-soyinka-of-us-visa

Economic impact of the government shutdown, according to the CBO —
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/29/economic-loss-government-shutdown-2025

Here’s When The Government Shutdown Could Affect You—From SNAP Cuts To Thanksgiving Travel Most Americans haven’t been affected by the shutdown yet, a recent poll found, but its impacts could expand greatly in the coming days.

Lovely calendar: who gets hurt when by the government shutdown —
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/10/29/the-government-shutdowns-about-to-hit-home-for-millions-more-here-are-the-key-dates-coming/

Trump says he could send military into U.S. cities "if it was necessary" President Trump claimed he has the authority to send U.S. military branches to patrol U.S. cities, but said that isn't necessary at this point.

"We're here for you."
Sounds ominous.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-he-could-send-army-navy-air-force-marines-to-us-cities/

- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/29/pentagon-memo-quick-reaction-forces
#army #AirForce #navy #marines #NationalGuard

Maldives eliminates mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B. No babies were born with HIV or syphilis in 2022–23, and hepatitis B has vanished among children. The WHO is calling it a “triple elimination,” the world’s first of its kind […]

Fed cuts rates for the second time this year, will end balance sheet run-off in December The Federal Reserve on Wednesday released its interest decision following a two-day meeting.

Fed cuts rates. What's next?
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/29/fed-rate-decision-october-2025.html
#economics #economy #FederalReserve

"Portland coffee shop raises over $86,000 to feed people losing SNAP benefits"

gift link = https://www.oregonlive.com/food/2025/10/portland-coffee-shop-raises-over-72000-to-feed-people-losing-snap-benefits.html?gift=913a98a4-75d6-436d-b026-62d54ff9879e

"Heretic Coffee, 5120 S.E. 28th Ave., is […]

Federal food assistance program may slow cognitive decline, study suggests New research links receiving food assistance through SNAP to better brain health. Earlier this month, Trump enacted major cuts to the program.

Seems like a good time to resurface my story on the health benefits of SNAP:

Federal food assistance program may slow cognitive decline, study suggests
New research links receiving food assistance through SNAP to better brain health.

share.google/TqhDCjqKQPMF...

What a waste of resources this "report" is —
https://apnews.com/article/autopen-joe-biden-house-republicans-report-dfee07747d5b3e81417f6416c771d833
h/t

Haiku in English: Oct. 28, 2025 - The Mainichi wind and swallows as my only company -- picking blackberries -- Francoise Maurice (Draguignan, France)

wind and swallows

as my only company —

picking blackberries

—

Francoise Maurice (Draguignan, France)

Selected by Dhugal J. Lindsay

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250926/p2g/00m/0su/026000c
#haiku

https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/amazon-targets-many-30000-corporate-job-cuts-sources-say-2025-10-27/
#amazon #economy #AI #layoffs

@gutenberg_org
👆Attn: @minouette

Joanna Koerten: The Dutch Master Known as ‘Scissors Minerva — Her Intricate Paper Cuttings Outsold Rembrandts.

New museum exhibition at D.C.'s National Museum of Women in the Arts puts her back in the spotlight […]

Photo taken at night. It is a suburban street scene — a parked white car and a green pine tree are most visible as a result of some landscape illumination. In the street in the foreground are patches of fallen brown pine needles. Just beyond is the silhouette of a small fox, its eyes glowing yellow from the reflected light of the photographer's headlamp.

I'm not sure if we surprised the fox or it surprised us on a late night dog walk. Doggos started to pull and get excited in the driveway. Two glowing eyes shined back from the beam of my headlamp. The fox ran ahead but watched us from a safe distance.

Cool discovery. Science happens where and how you least expect it — "Geomagnetism and the Orientation of Temples in Thailand"

"By correlating the exact orientations of different historical temples in Thailand and their construction dates to the known drift of the magnetic north pole, scientists […]

A public library in Stanstead, Quebec, straddles the US-Canadian border. Should patrons on the Canadian side be allowed to walk through a door to the US side without going through customs?
https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/trump-ends-canada-access-at-shared-border-library/

Until now, yes […]

@foxmental.bsky.social
Limulus polyphemus — American horseshoe crab — is an evolutionary wonder (because it is so old and hasn't really changed!) LAL is incredibly useful. A synthesized substitute is a real savior for a remarkable creature.

If you are anywhere near the Mid-Atlantic, the early […]