Author | Lightnews

Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 15h

October 30, 2025

the GoP's inactions cause hunger, tremendous disapproval in polls (on donOLD, the economy) but they spin it as wait for trickle down; ramping up violent expulsion of undocumented brown people; planned Federal "strike force"; Epstein

October 30, 2025

House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) continues to try to pin the upcoming catastrophic lapse in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding on the Democrats.

open.substack.com

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 1d

Trump Orders ICE Agents to Pick Crops Unharvested by Deported Immigrants

Borowitz satire

Trump Orders ICE Agents to Pick Crops Unharvested by Deported Immigrants

“I didn’t sign up for this,” complained an exhausted ICE officer.

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 1d

Satmar defends Zohran Mamdani against antisemitism claims | The Jerusalem Post

NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is a liberal muslim, and not antisemitic, Satmar's Williamsburg, Brooklyn, community leadership wrote in newsletter Der Blatt.

www.jpost.com

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 1d

October 29, 2025

Republican "games" with funds committed for feeding the hungry, Mike's extended paid Congressional vacation to prevent negotiation (and Epstein); CBP/ICE confront the judiciary in Chicago; & extrajudicial killings with no transparency

October 29, 2025

Today is the twenty-ninth day of the government shutdown, and the House of Representatives is still on break as House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) continues to try to force the Senate to pass the House...

open.substack.com

Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 2d

October 28, 2025

the reasons for the collapse of the economy in 1929 and the birth of The New Deal under FDR to rebuild the country

October 28, 2025

In the election of 1920, Americans handed a landslide victory to the Republicans and their presidential candidate Warren G.

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 3d

there should be full transparency for all his medical records

Tim Dickinson @timdickinson.bsky.social · 3d

Why did Trump have an MRI?

Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 3d

The Hunger Games Begin

Krugman's analysis of the impact of donOLD's decision not to support SNAP on hunger

The Hunger Games Begin

40 million Americans are about to lose food stamps

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 3d

good!

Lapid says he’ll push for revoking ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers’ right to vote

Liberman welcomes opposition leader's threat, while Gantz derides 'illegal' and undemocratic proposal

www.timesofisrael.com

Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 4d

Melania Increases Tariffs on Canada to 10,000% to Retaliate for Katy Perry Dating Justin Trudeau

The First Lady's move has further imperiled relations between the US and its northern neighbor.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D.

Tony Pentimalli @tonywriteshere.bsky.social · 4d

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Reposted by Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D.

Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 5d

Evidence-Based ACIP is Back, But only in a peer reviewed article - the actual ACIP is far behind it. by @angierasmussen.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...

Evidence-Based ACIP is So Back

Never underestimate vaccinologists with a standardized framework for interpreting evidence

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 4d

October 26, 2025

political and economic history of the Erie canal

October 26, 2025

Economist Paul Krugman probably didn’t have the Erie Canal in mind today when he wrote about the rise of renewable energy, but he could have.

open.substack.com

Reposted by Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D.

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 6d

"The Old Issue," the Rudyard Kipling poem from 1899 from which we draw the phrase "No Truce With Kings," might make a good reading for the next #NoKings Day. This is an excerpt, full text at this link (h/t George L.): www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_o...

Screenshot of excerpt from Rudyard Kipling poem: "Howso’ great their clamour, whatsoe’er their claim,
Suffer not the old King under any name!

Here is naught unproven—here is naught to learn.
It is written what shall fall if the King return.

He shall mark our goings, question whence we came,
Set his guards about us, as in Freedom’s name.

He shall take a tribute, toll of all our ware;
He shall change our gold for arms—arms we may not bear.

He shall break his judges if they cross his word;
He shall rule above the Law calling on the Lord.
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He shall peep and mutter; and the night shall bring
Watchers ’neath our window, lest we mock the King—

Hate and all division; hosts of hurrying spies;
Money poured in secret, carrion breeding flies.

Strangers of his counsel, hirelings of his pay,
These shall deal our Justice: sell—deny—delay."

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 5d

a non-political post from Trudeau

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 5d

October 25, 2025

the history of food stamps (now SNAP) and donOLD's intentional cruelty to millions of hungry Americans

October 25, 2025

Yesterday the Trump administration said it would not use any of the approximately $6 billion the U.S.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D.

Art by Emily K @museum.of.emilyk.art · 6d

"Tzefardea Tzedek" (Frog of Righteousness)

As soon as the Portland Frog became a meme, Jewish social media blew up with jokes about the 2nd Passover plague - tzefarde'a (frogs) - and the Rabbinical commentary around it. I knew I had to make a calligraphy piece encompassing all of it. (more in alt.)

Hebrew calligraphy in dark green stretches in lines across the image. Negative space makes room for a simple representation of an inflatable frog costume with a blue bandana. That shape consists of the English translation of the Hebrew, in a lighter green, and in much smaller text.
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Famously, the Egyptian tyrant causes Egypt to be overrun with frogs because he refuses to free the Hebrew people, but there are additional details that make this a fun one to ponder. For one, the Hebrew says "the frog came up" - ONE frog - even though the rest of the time it says "frogs." So there are a few explanations rabbis have come up with to explain this. One is that a single frog multiplied to create swarms. A more creative explanation is that there was a singular giant frog who traveled and brought destruction. Jewish social media was sharing videos of the Portland Frog protester with the caption, "One Big Frog! One Big Frog!" Of course the frog protesters did multiply, and many were seen in crowds all over the world on "No Kings" Day. This calligraphic work takes the verses addressing the frog plague and combines them to form a simple rendering of the Portland Frog protester. The frog figure itself is made up of the English translations of the Hebrew around it. At the bottom left my signature is in the shape of a lily pad.

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 6d

16 'toons

The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics

Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in th...

www.politico.com

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 6d

there is also the huge oil reserve...

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 6d

America is very upset about migrants and drugs coming from Venezuela

So America is trying to destabilize the Venezuelan government

Which would create a lot more migrants

And open up more space for drug traffickers

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 6d

GLP-1 class drugs have tremendous medical effects aside from obesity/diabetes with many more potential

Bruce Bartlett @bartlettb.bsky.social · 6d

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/w...

Heart Benefits of Wegovy Extend Beyond Weight Loss, Study Shows

www.nytimes.com

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 6d

criminal and with no provocation

Three cars set ablaze in overnight settler attack on West Bank’s al-Mughayyir

Violence comes amid repeated assaults on Palestinian olive harvesters and farmland; several settlers detained, no injuries reported

www.timesofisrael.com

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 6d

some insights into the 3 housing ballot questions in NYC

Opinion | Will New York Voters Choose to Speed Up Housing Construction?

www.nytimes.com

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 6d

and of course that individual could afford to pay a more fair tax rate instead of accepting donOLD's big beautiful tax break

Andrew Weinstein @andrewjweinstein.com · 7d

If members of the United States military are truly being paid their salaries by a private individual, the American people should know who that individual is. Now.

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Reposted by Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D.

Democracy Action Network @democracyactionnet.bsky.social · 7d

There are no plans for the ballroom

Here's why the new White House ballroom project is not real. (The demo is obviously real.) Some background - I am a licensed Architect with 20+ years of experience. I have worked on multiple Federal projects with sensitive building programs that required background checks.

1. With a projected size of 90,000sf and a newly revised budget of $300M, the cost per square foot would be $3,333. No building costs anywhere near that. $1,000/sf is astronomical.

2. Let's assume, since we are drawing in the classical, style, that the proportions of the building adhere to the Golden Ratio. A 90,000sf would be a building with a footprint roughly 380' x 235'. Longer than a football field and 1.5x as wide.

2. The building is projected to accommodate 999 people. 15sf/person is required for a banquet area; 20sf/person is pretty comfortable. What you see in the rendering below is closer to 20sf/person. That's only 20,000sf, or a space that is 200'x100'. It's supposed to be a ballroom, so let's be extraordinarily generous and provide 10,000sf for the ballroom support functions, and another 10,000sf for pre-function. Extraordinarily generous. That's STILL only 40,000sf, not even half of the supposed building.

3. There are no drawings for the building. The renderings are poorly coordinated - exterior views do not match the interior views. See below - the White House is 70 feet tall, to the roof. The interior renderings show a room that is roughly 100' x 200', with a ~20 foot ceiling. The exterior renderings show a building footprint of 4.5x that amount.

Those are renderings that could be produced by young staff in a week or two, at most. Nothing else exists.

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Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D. @carolshoshkesreiss.bsky.social · 6d

October 24, 2025

donOLD's shutdown continues without negotiation as SNAP benefits run out of state cash and hunger will surge nationwide. Economic indicators (inflation & US debt) show a failing economy and low popular support; tariff issues with Canada and Colombia

October 24, 2025

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has canceled House business again next week, meaning that over the last 17 weeks, the House of Representatives will have worked on Capitol Hill for just 20 days.

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Reposted by Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph. D.

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 7d

So they didn’t like the ad. Let’s just post Reagan’s 5 min speech against tariffs as it appears on YouTube.

Over and over. On all platforms (some of y’all are still on X).

*1981 Sherrilyn horrified by 2025 Sherrilyn saying “let’s post Reagan’s speech.”

youtu.be/5t5QK03KXPc

President Reagan's Radio Address on Free and Fair Trade on April 25, 1987

YouTube video by Reagan Library

youtu.be

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