I mean, coffins are expensive. It makes more sense to rent than to own.

Add me on StoryGraph if you’d like. I love seeing what people read, how much they read, and what they think of what they read.

@vupware

I’m not confined to one genre or style of writing, and I try to review every book.

SponsorBlock, Timestamps, and Generated Summary below:

SponsorBlock Timestamp:

1. 0:00.0 - 0:02.8 - Intermission
2. 0:02 - 3:28 - Breadlines & Unpaid Federal Employees
3. 3:28 - 5:30 - Food Bank Data & SNAP Scale
4. 5:30 - 7:52 - Political Critique: Both Parties, Billionaires
5. 7:52 - 10:29 - Food Bank Capacity Limitations
6. 10:29 - 12:45 - Call for Community Mutual Aid
7. 12:45 - 14:34 - SNAP User Testimony: Working Single Mother
8. 14:34 - 18:51 - Massachusetts SNAP Lapse & Funding Critique
9. 18:51 - 21:26 - Warning Against Large Charities
10. 21:26 - 23:30 - Canceled Government Food Aid (94M lbs)
11. 23:30 - 24:05 - Broader Economic Struggle
12. 24:05 - 25:02 - Major Company Layoffs List
13. 25:02 - 29:47 - AI & Automation Job Replacement
14. 29:47 - 31:12 - Detroit Urban Farmer Mutual Aid Example
15. 31:12 - 33:24 - Final Summary & Direct Call to Action
16. 33:24.900 - 33:34.919 - Endcards/Credits

Video Description:

#breadlines #sabbysabs #governmentshutdown

Generated Summary:

The Looming SNAP Crisis & Systemic Failure**

This transcript outlines a multi-faceted crisis of food insecurity in the United States, driven by a government shutdown but rooted in long-standing systemic issues. The speaker uses data, expert interviews, and visual evidence to argue that the government has failed its people and that community-based mutual aid is the necessary response.

1. The Immediate Crisis: Government Shutdown & SNAP Lapse (Timestamps: 0:00 - 3:28, 14:34 - 18:51)

• Main Point: A government shutdown is causing a direct and immediate threat to food security for millions.
• Key Data & Details:
  • SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans are set to run out on November 1st.
  • Visual Evidence: Breadlines are shown in Landover, Maryland, populated by federal employees who are not receiving paychecks.
  • State Example: In Massachusetts, over a million "Bay Staters" are told SNAP benefits will not be issued. The state receives $240 million per month from the federal government for SNAP, which it cannot backfill.
• Source: The USDA and state government announcements (via news reports).

2. The Pre-Existing & Worsening Problem (Timestamps: 3:28 - 5:30)

• Main Point: Food insecurity was already at a crisis level before the shutdown.
• Key Data & Details:
  • 70% Increase: The Atlanta Community Food Bank saw a 70% surge in demand over 3.5 years due to inflation.
  • DMV Area: A 2025 hunger report found 1.5 million households (36%) in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area were food insecure prior to the shutdown.
• Source: Interview with Kyle Wade, President & CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank (on CNN).

3. Systemic Failure & Political Critique (Timestamps: 5:30 - 7:52, 21:26 - 23:30)

• Main Point: Both Democratic and Republican parties are accused of prioritizing corporations and the wealthy over working-class citizens.
• Key Data & Details:
  • Canceled Aid: A ProPublica investigation revealed the Trump administration canceled 94 million pounds of food (meat, dairy, produce) destined for food banks in 2024.
  • Misplaced Priorities: Contrasts the SNAP crisis with examples like Massachusetts sending $10 million in aid to Israel and the 2008 Wall Street bailout.
  • Available Funds: It is stated that a contingency fund exists, and the President has the power to use it to continue SNAP benefits but has chosen not to.

4. Compounding Economic Pressures (Timestamps: 24:05 - 29:47)

• Main Point: Mass layoffs and automation are creating a perfect storm for economic despair.
• Key Data & Details:
  • Major Layoffs: A list is provided, including UPS (48,000), Amazon (30,000), Intel (24,000), and Ford (11,000).
  • AI & Automation: The speaker links job losses to a corporate push for AI and automation, demonstrating new self-checkout shopping carts that eliminate cashier jobs.

5. The Advocated Solution: Community Mutual Aid (Timestamps: 12:45 - 13:40, 30:24 - End)

• Main Point: The only reliable solution is for communities to organize and support each other.
• Key Details:
  • Humanizing Testimony: A clip from "Lacy," a single, working mother of a medically complex child, defends SNAP recipients against stereotypes of laziness (Timestamp: 12:45).
  • Positive Example: Travis Peters, a Detroit urban farmer, is highlighted for offering free bags of produce to anyone affected by the SNAP lapse, embodying the mutual aid model.
  • Call to Action: The speaker repeatedly urges viewers to start local mutual aid groups, distrust large NGOs like United Way, and take direct action to help their neighbors.

In conclusion, the speaker frames the SNAP crisis not as an isolated event but as a symptom of a system that abandons its people, arguing that the only path forward is through community solidarity and self-reliance.

About Channel:

Leftist news commentary & interviews. Fighting for political and social change. Sabby Sabs podcast is a part of Revolutionary Blackout Network.

LIVESTREAM SCHEDULE:

• Tuesdays @7pm ET
• Thursdays & Fridays @8pm ET
• Every Other Sunday @5pm ET

Website: https://sabbysabs.com/

If successful, the campaign to get rid of differential privacy could not only radically change the kind of data made available, but could put the data of every person living in the US at risk. The campaign could also discourage immigrants from participating in the census entirely.

32m here with no success with the opposite gender. Feels like my time of finding someone has gone past its chances. If I ever and I mine EVER find someone, how would I find the keys to her heart? How does one get out of their comfort zone with extreme anxiety and agoraphobia of public places? Yes I have had one on one therapy with a counselor but have gone like 2 weeks without seeing one. Currently not working and been that way for like a year now. Hopefully I can get out of this deep hole I’m in as I’m in a terrible rut right now.

Recently I added a new HDD to my proxmox system, and I started to realize the HDD was running warm. Was thinking for a second, and having a dashboard with temps and general hardware health would be useful for the server, but I do not find a solution from within proxmox to do this.

Does anyone here added this kind of dashboarding in a proxmox installation? And if so, how or what did you use?

When Google and Amazon negotiated a major $1.2bn cloud-computing deal in 2021, their customer – the Israeli government – had an unusual demand: agree to use a secret code as part of an arrangement that would become known as the “winking mechanism”.

The demand, which would require Google and Amazon to effectively sidestep legal obligations in countries around the world, was born out of Israel’s concerns that data it moves into the global corporations’ cloud platforms could end up in the hands of foreign law enforcement authorities.

For Israel, losing control of its data to authorities overseas was a significant concern. So to deal with the threat, officials created a secret warning system: the companies must send signals hidden in payments to the Israeli government, tipping it off when it has disclosed Israeli data to foreign courts or investigators.

To clinch the lucrative contract, Google and Amazon agreed to the so-called winking mechanism. The strict controls include measures that prohibit the US companies from restricting how an array of Israeli government agencies, security services and military units use their cloud services. According to the deal’s terms, the companies cannot suspend or withdraw Israel’s access to its technology, even if it’s found to have violated their terms of service.

When Google and Amazon negotiated a major $1.2bn cloud-computing deal in 2021, their customer – the Israeli government – had an unusual demand: agree to use a secret code as part of an arrangement that would become known as the “winking mechanism”.

The demand, which would require Google and Amazon to effectively sidestep legal obligations in countries around the world, was born out of Israel’s concerns that data it moves into the global corporations’ cloud platforms could end up in the hands of foreign law enforcement authorities.

For Israel, losing control of its data to authorities overseas was a significant concern. So to deal with the threat, officials created a secret warning system: the companies must send signals hidden in payments to the Israeli government, tipping it off when it has disclosed Israeli data to foreign courts or investigators.

To clinch the lucrative contract, Google and Amazon agreed to the so-called winking mechanism. The strict controls include measures that prohibit the US companies from restricting how an array of Israeli government agencies, security services and military units use their cloud services. According to the deal’s terms, the companies cannot suspend or withdraw Israel’s access to its technology, even if it’s found to have violated their terms of service.

Archived

[...]

Provocative stunts targeting Jewish and Muslim communities [across Europe] are among a range of incidents – ranging from the bizarre to the potentially lethal – that police investigations in European countries have tracked back to Russia.

They span graffiti campaigns in Paris; the burning of a Warsaw shopping centre and a warehouse in London; exploding parcels in Leipzig and Birmingham; the sabotage of railway lines in Germany; cyberattacks and doctored viral videos across Europe; to the recent disruption of airports with drones in Norway, Denmark and Munich.

As their frequency has multiplied in recent years, European police, governments, and intelligence services have begun openly sharing the evidence they find to suggest the incidents are part of a Russian “hybrid war”: an attempt to foster instability and division in European societies, while burdening and distracting governments that are supportive of Ukraine.

The aim is “to disrupt the unity of Western states and sow discord among the citizens of European countries,” reads a report on the issue by the Czech intelligence service.

“The psychological effect of their actions is particularly crucial. This is the weakening of the cohesion of western society, the instillation of fear and uncertainty, the undermining of trust in one’s own state that it can protect its citizens, and the aforementioned pressure to limit support for Ukraine.”

[...]

The long chain of recruitment separating those paying for the attacks and the sometimes unwitting perpetrators can make attribution difficult. This is deliberate, according to those who study Russian warfare.

“By doing this, you avoid direct accusations. You say: no, no, it’s not us. Hybrid attacks are perfect for this,” Christo Atanasov Kostov, an adjunct professor at IE University currently conducting research into Russian-backed disinformation in eastern Europe.

The fear and uncertainty such attacks can produce, with people divided about whether or not Russia could be responsible, is also the point, analysts say.

“They are signalling clearly to governments that this is a Russian capability that the Kremlin is willing to use,” said Stefan Wolff, professor of international security at the University of Birmingham.

“But at the public level, there’s enough doubt that pro-Russian actors can say: look at our governments, they are incapable of protecting us properly, they are just needlessly blaming the Russians.”

[...]

The Valdai Discussion Club, a think tank with close ties to the Russian government that hosts a talk by president Vladimir Putin each year, recently released its annual report, called Dr. Chaos or: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Disorder.

The report writes that wars may now have a “changing purpose”, which is “maintaining a balance” with other powers – constant disorder, instead of outright victory.

“Russia, it’s a really big country, but if you look at the population and the size of the economy, I think they do realise that they cannot ‘win’ in a more traditional sense of winning,” said Wolff.

“So all they need to do is have this permanent state of uncertainty and volatility. For that, they have enough capability.”

We undoubtedly live in pretty crappy version of cyberpunk. For already quite some time. Authoritarianism and techno-feudalism are on the rise. Cristo-fascism is blooming. Rights and freedoms are being taken from us every single day. Tech is transformed purely into means of data extraction, surveillance and control. However there does not seem to be any counter-culture forming, no music or art genres with strong messages rising up against all of this. Where is the punk of today?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/38234808

By MEE staff Published date: 29 October 2025 13:05 GMT

Meanwhile, Israel has violated multiple aspects of the agreement, including maintaining restrictions on aid, keeping the Rafah crossing closed and carrying out repeated air strikes.

In just under three weeks, Israeli forces have killed 211 people since the ceasefire began.

Medical supplies, fuel and other essential goods remain severely limited in the Palestinian enclave.

Retail Giant Captures Quarter of Food Aid Dollars While Underpaid Staff Depend on Taxpayer-Funded Benefits

Dunno if this violates rule 3 but here I go: I am a 21 year old male currently living with a family member, I only have a DL and a High School Diploma and nothing else. I'm in the deep south so trade unions are hard to get into. I have a disqualifying condition so I can't join the military. Getting a job is difficult because they never respond. Question in title.

• Release Date: December 2nd
• Description: Deliver mail as Catto, the town's dedicated Postcat, while meeting unique friends in a cozy cat-themed town filled with cute kitty residents. Explore the charming open world at your own pace, indulge your cat-like instincts (with boxes to hide in, objects to knock over, and a dedicated button to meow whenever you like), and get to the tail-end of a most purr-culiar mystery: today's your birthday and everyone seems to have forgotten?! Oh my whiskers…
• Price: TBA
• Link: TBA
• Steam Rating: Overwhelmingly Positive

other sysadmin communities and downdetector are reporting outages worldwide to the admin portals such as admin.microsoft.com and portal.azure.com.

No impact to user-facing services, yet.