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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. grocers and food companies ranging from Walmart (WMT) to Smithfield Foods (SFD) are bracing for a dip in November sales if federal food aid benefits lapse for the first time due to the ongoing government shutdown. The shutdown has imperiled next month's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, which serves nearly 42 million people.

IF the Republican CR passed the Senate today, the President could sign the bill and the government would immediately re-open, right? HOWEVER, the Democrat 'CR' has NOT been passed by the House of Representatives. THEREFORE, even if passed by the Senate, the Democrat bill would need to go BACK to the HOUSE, to be voted on by them, mostly Republicans. This would go right back to major budget negotiations and the government would stay shut down. So Schumer and the Democrats are lying (surprise) when they say that the Republicans in the Senate can solve this immediately. Am I right?

WASHINGTON, DC — Donald Trump received an email from the President of Nigeria with a commitment to end the genocide against Christians if Trump agrees to send him $5,000 in Amazon gift cards. "I hope this email finds you well, Mr. Donald," the email stated. "I am the President of Nigeria and will most gladly endeavor to end this genocide in my country if you can be pleased to send me $5,000 in Amazon gift cards. Thank you very much. You are dearest." Trump expressed surprise at the email and worried it might not be legitimate. "I've seen these things...

Explanation: What could cause the center of M94 to be so bright? Spiral galaxy M94 has a ring of newly formed stars surrounding its nucleus, giving it not only an unusual appearance but also a strong interior glow. A leading progenitor hypothesis holds that an elongated knot of stars known as a bar rotates in M94 and has generated a burst of star formation in the inner ring. Recent observations have revealed the outer, fainter ring is not closed and relatively complex. M94, pictured here spans about 30,000 light years, lies about 15 million light years away, and can be...

Furious passengers have blasted Canada's national airline and train company for displaying land acknowledgments. A land acknowledgement is an increasingly common practice that recognizes an area as the traditional homeland of indigenous peoples. One traveler who recently used both Air Canada and Via Rail, the country's taxpayer-funded train operator, shared images of the signage on social media. Air Canada's display, written in French, read: 'Air Canada recognizes the ancestral and traditional indigenous territories it overflies.' Written in English, the train's sign stated: 'Via Rail acknowledges the ancestral and traditional indigenous territories on which our trains operate.' The posts sparked a...

Inflation is lower than expected after President Trump’s steep levies. (The rest is behind a pay wall.)

Former Clackamas County Commissioner Melissa Fireside Credit: Fireside Campaign/Daily Mail A former Democrat lawmaker from Oregon has apparently taken advantage of soft criminal laws her party has passed over the years and escaped justice. As The Daily Mail reported, 44-year-old Melissa Fireside crossed the U.S. border with her young son after her former partner discovered she had taken the 9-year-old out of school last Wednesday. She then booked a flight from Mexico to Amsterdam. It’s unclear whether she is residing in the Dutch city. Fireside, who served as a Clackamas County Commissioner, is accused of trying to scam her mother’s...

The president decided against discussing the matter with Chinese leader Xi Jinping after top aides opposed the company’s request. (The rest is behind a pay wall).

Key Points * The Trump administration told a judge that it would use contingency funds to pay at least some SNAP benefits during the ongoing U.S. government shutdown. * SNAP provides food stamps to about 42 million Americans. * The administration declined the option U.S. District Court Judge Jack McConnell had suggested to make the full November payments for SNAP benefits by using money from the Child Nutrition Program and other funds. ============================================================= The Trump administration told a Rhode Island federal judge on Monday that it would tap billions of dollars in contingency funds to pay 50% of the normal...

https://babylonbee.com/news/government-once-again-casts-nation-into-430-pm-darknessU.S. — According to sources, the hidden upper echelon embedded in the United States government once again reveled in victory as it cast the nation into darkness at 4:30 p.m., like it does every year. Daylight Saving Time, which was instituted to extend sunlight during evening hours, was revoked once again on Sunday so that millions could "fall back" an hour and lose the evening sun. Now, the nation is plunged into a horrifying darkness beginning at 4:30 p.m. in what some see as an elaborate plot to keep people depressed and without hope. "Yes, be shielded by night, my...

Conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro blasted Tucker Carlson on Monday, calling him “the most virulent super-spreader of vile ideas in America.” In an episode of “The Ben Shapiro Show” released Monday, Shapiro criticized Carlson’s podcast episode with Holocaust-denier Nick Fuentes, saying Carlson failed to push back on Fuentes’ bigotry. “The issue here isn’t that Tucker Carlson had Nick Fuentes on his show last week. He has every right to do that, of course,” Shapiro said. “The issue here is that Tucker Carlson decided to normalize and fluff Nick Fuentes and that the Heritage Foundation then decided to robustly defend that performance.”...

President Donald Trump urged the Senate to end the filibuster as a means of ending the government shutdown and breaking deadlock on some of his key policy issues. The government shut down in early October after the Senate failed to approve a continuing resolution with 60 votes. Ending the filibuster would lower the procedural threshold for the chamber to pass bills to a simple majority. "Terminate the filibuster, not just for the shutdown but for everything else," he posted on Truth Social. "We will get all of our common sense policies approved (Voter ID anyone?) and Make America Great Again!"...

[Catholic Caucus] Fr. Nicola Bux on the Church in Italy and Homosexuality: "The Church cannot change Revelation."Those pastors who argue for the need to change teaching on homosexuality and other moral issues should be reminded that “the Church does not have the authority to change ‘even one iota or one sign’ ” of Revelation, of which the Catechism is a faithful interpreter. The Catechism can “change,” or develop, only in the sense of advancing understanding of the doctrine, but without distorting it. La Bussola interviews Fr. Nicola Bux.On Friday evening, October 24, in Rome, in the Basilica of San Lorenzo...

ransomnote: The following is another GROK AI report critiquing the failure of the DOJ's performance, this time on the failure of the DOJ to follow through on Chuck Grassley's criminal referrals from 2016, regarding evidence that Planned Parenthood was profiting by selling fetal tissue.I asked GROK to use a very sensitive, soft tone because I hope we can reach across the aisle regarding on this issue. I'm hoping to reach those Democrats who, even if they support abortion, would still 'draw the line' at Planned Parenthood marketing fetal tissue for profit. GROK did well with my request it use a...

Renegade Science version of the prehistory of our solar system and planet...

A new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that nearly 5% of U.S. physicians left clinical practice in 2019, representing a 40% increase in just six years.It confirms what every practicing doctor already knows: America’s physicians are burning out, checking out, and getting out, with female physicians and those in rural areas being the most likely to exit.The study, conducted by Rotenstein and colleagues from Yale, UCLA, and UCSF, examined over 700,000 physicians who treated Medicare patients and found that doctors caring for older, sicker, and poorer patients were more likely to leave the profession. Although the paper...

The octopus stinkhorn, also known as devil's fingers, is a type of fungus that grows from egg-like spores Surely one of the weirdest fungi in the British Isles, or indeed anywhere in Europe, is the octopus stinkhorn, otherwise known as devil’s fingers. It’s actually a southern hemisphere species, originally native to New Zealand and Australia – the leading theory is that its microscopic, dust-like spores hitched a lift to Europe in shipments of wool, timber and other natural products. Though it is still rare in its adopted range, sightings of the stinkhorn are now increasing in England, for reasons that...

Yet, the majority of *legal* immigrant households use taxpayer-financed welfare benefits. Illegal alien-headed households are even worse. Welfare used by...Native Born: 39%...Naturalized Citizens: 52%...Non-Citizens: 59%

For the 25th annual Forbes ranking, The Notorious B.I.G., Miles Davis and Jimmy Buffett join a heavenly lineup of musicians as the greatest earners in the great beyond. Plus: How Michael Jackson earned $3.5 billion in the afterlife. In 2001, Elvis Presley topped Forbes’ first list tracking the highest-earning celebrity estates, and The King has appeared on every edition of the rankings in the 25 years since, earning over $1.2 billion during that span. Yet it’s another member of music royalty who has truly broken the paradigm for posthumous earnings—Elvis’ onetime son-in-law, Michael Jackson. The King of Pop’s estate has...

“Pure Joy!” commented one of my Facebook friends on the reel I posted of my 23-year-old daughter riding the Carousel. If you consider it uncommon for a 23-year-old to inspire such a comment, you must understand something: my daughter has Down syndrome. Few people live life with such whole-hearted gusto, expressing their joy without reservation as those who have an extra copy of Chromosome 21. They lack the fear of the disapproval of others, of not being ‘cool,’ and thus are free to express their joy without reservations. It’s a beautiful thing, but it’s becoming rarer. That is why it...