Friday, October 31
Headlines
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Federal judge “likely” to order the Trump admin to release SNAP funds. On Thursday, Judge Indira Talwani said during a hearing that a $5.5 billion contingency fund should be used to provide Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits after states run out of aid money due to the government shutdown—lapses that may begin as soon as tomorrow. “Congress has put money in an emergency fund, and it is hard for me to understand how this is not an emergency,” Talwani said. She also said the USDA should be figuring out how to allocate the $5.5 billion, even though it’s not enough money to fund an entire month of the program. She called the agency’s search for a reason not to disburse the money “lawyering” and said, “I want agency action, not lawyering.” The SNAP program provides food assistance to 42 million Americans.—HVL
Palantir says two former AI engineers stole company secrets. The company named after the object with which Pippin nearly gave away the secret that Frodo and Sam were carrying the One Ring to Mordor has accused two ex-employees of stealing its secrets. Palantir sued two former senior AI engineers, alleging that they stole information to launch a “copycat” company, Percepta, Bloomberg reported. According to the lawsuit, the employees lied about their plans to start a competitor when they resigned in November 2024 and February 2025, respectively. Palantir also claims one of them stole “highly confidential” documents the day before she resigned by sending them to herself on Slack. Percepta’s parent company declined to comment to Bloomberg.—AE
Taylor Sheridan is staying at Paramount (sorta) to write a Call of Duty movie. The move heard ’round Hollywood got even spicier yesterday when news broke that writer-producer Taylor Sheridan will in fact still co-write a Call of Duty movie for Paramount, just days after the highly coveted Yellowstone creator reportedly defected to rival NBCUniversal. Earlier this week, The Hollywood Reporter said Sheridan was moving his overall pact from Paramount to NBCU, where his film deal will start next year and his TV deal will kick in in 2028. But apparently not before penning a film adaptation of the US’ top-selling video game franchise. Call of Duty has sold more than 500 million copies and generated tens of billions of dollars in revenue.—AE
At A Glance
(10/24/25) What it means if you see a blue stop sign.
(10/3/25) Why the kids are saying "6-7."
(10/14/25) Simple steps to help prevent dementia.
(10/14/25) Study finds the one trait that makes for a great manager.
(10/15/25) Practical tasks Americans can and cannot do.
(10/13/25) See where you fall in the newly released 2026 tax brackets.
(10/13/25) The funniest one-star reviews for national parks.
(10/7/25) What it costs to grow old in your home. (w/interactive)
(10/28/25) The income needed to be in your state's top 5%.
(10/3/25) How much alcohol do Americans drink?
In partnership: Scammers love Halloween too—here’s how to stay safe.*
Clickbait: The number of friends our brains can handle.
Historybook: English poet John Keats born (1795); Magician Harry Houdini dies (1926); Mount Rushmore National Memorial is completed (1941); Actor and comedian John Candy born (1950); First female prime minister of India Indira Gandhi is assassinated (1984).
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Toronto Blue Jays lead World Series 3-2 after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers last night, teeing up potential for title-clinching win in Game 6 tomorrow at 8 pm ET (More)
> Paramount to lay off roughly 2,000 employees—about 10% of workforce—as it targets $2B in cost cuts following acquisition by Skydance in August (More)
> Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola auctions seven watches—including one valued at roughly $1M—after $120M film "Megalopolis" grosses $14.4M in box office (More)
Science & Technology
> Startup Character.AI to ban minors from engaging in open-ended chats with its chatbots next month after lawsuits from families over child safety (More)
> Researchers determine attention lapses caused by sleep deprivation coincide with fluid flushing from the brain, a process that typically occurs during sleep (More)
> Scientists discover age-related changes in T cells can trigger weaker vaccine responses in adults around age 65, suggesting older adults may need tailored vaccine formulations and treatment schedules (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.0%, Dow -0.2%, Nasdaq +0.6%) after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signals Fed may not cut rates again this year (More) | Fed lowers interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75%-4% (More)
> Starbucks reports same-store sales growth in September for first time in nearly two years (More) | Alphabet tops $100B quarterly revenue for first time (More)
> General Motors to permanently lay off 1,750 workers in Michigan and Ohio and temporarily lay off 1,550 in Ohio and Tennessee amid slowing EV demand (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Hurricane Melissa weakens to a Category 1 storm en route to the Bahamas after killing at least 30 people across Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic (More) | See live updates (More)
> Sudanese rebel group Rapid Support Forces kills 460 patients at a hospital in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur; the group, allegedly backed by the UAE, has reportedly killed over 2,000 people in the three days since capturing the city (More)
> Brazilian police raid on a drug gang in Rio de Janeiro Tuesday kills at least 119 people—the city's deadliest raid on record (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Financially Selfish
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Right now, our combined monthly income which is basically Social Security is right around $3,000 leaving us about $1,000 that we have to take out of our savings each month or about $12,000 a year. If we add in vacations and other purchases, then we are up to $18,000 or another $1500/month from savings or whatever investments we might have.
Currently, we are getting about $3,000/month from investments, so our income is $6,000 and our expenses are $5,500, leaving us with a positive amount of $500 which we put right back into savings.
Our investments are locked in for twenty-four months, so we are basically experiencing no financial issues perhaps until 2027/2028. By then, I will be 80 years of age, and my wife will be 75. Our life expectancies are not over 95 and quite possibly less, leaving us another 15-20 years to worry, if necessary, about our finances.
Our situation is better than most our age but not as good many our age. The reason for this discrepancy is that we did not fully prepare ourselves for retirement and what we were able to save was just pure luck. However, very few financial experts believe in luck.
Neither my wife nor I trust the STOCK MARKET nor do we trust investment brokers who claim they only have your best interests in mind. That is BOLOX as the British say... America is all about GREED and MAKING MONEY... companies will say anything to get you to invest with them.
We have our money in Credit Union CDs and while the interest rate is below the Stock Market, our money is relatively safe...
Plus, as long as the CD rate is above the annual inflation rate, we are keeping our heads above water.
When the economy is BAD, like under Biden, the Credit Union CD rates were higher than when the economy was good under Trump.
Therefore, we are hoping that another Democrat wins the Presidency in 2028 and ruins the economy again.
GUESS THAT MEANS WE ARE SELFISH...
Norway succeeds in producing energy floating above the water
Norway has always been committed to sustainable development initiatives, but now Norway has succeeded in producing energy floating above the water. Norway is no longer focused on traditional solar panels anymore or on energy generated atop the mountains or from the deep fjords, thanks to Norwegian startup, Alotta. Alotta is focusing on hybrid floating solar power systems that amalgamate solar panels with battery storage potential. This innovation floating above the water is surely making waves.
Thursday, October 30
Wonderings 27
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Why was I not born in another country to altogether different parents where the opportunities before me were limited?
Why was I not given a choice of parents, birth locations, and ethnic heritage?
In looking at these questions, none of us have been given a choice as to whether we wanted to be born or not.
So...
our lives begin without the choice of FREE WILL and yet, if you are a Christian, you are taught that God gives you free will, but again, wants you to give up that free will to follow HIS WILL.
IF...
We do not have a say so in our own birth, do you really think we have a say so in how the rest of our lives are lived or for that matter how we live for the rest of ETERNITY???
- We did not create life
- We did not create the universe
- We did not create spacetime
- We were forced to accept our own birth
- We were forced to live in this world
- We were forced into a certain ethnic group
- We were forced into living a privileged or non-privileged life
Most of us could care less about what we might have been forced to be or become...
Living our lives as best as we can without goals or ambitions...
Living and dying because that is what we are supposed to do...
An Opinion
FOCUS: I would like to say a word or two about the mayor race in NYC.
Personally, I support the STAR TREK concept which is predicated upon pure socialism, but it is too far in our future to grasp as far as reality is concerned.
The USA already has an abundance of socialism... anything labelled public is considered socialism.
I am all in on taxing the wealthy, eliminating tax shelters but that depends on action from Congress that I do not believe will ever happen.
Mamdani is a socialist, not a Democratic Socialist but a full-fledged socialist. Part of me wants him to lose and part of me wants him to win.
My winning side is winning because I want New Yorkers and the rest of the US to see once and for all, if socialism by Mamdani will work!!!
I don't think it will, but I am just a nobody with an opinion... therefore, let's give Mamdani a chance to prove himself right or wrong, so we can finally put to bed this idea that socialism is better than capitalism because it helps the people more.
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