Melania Trump just threw a grenade into her own administration’s bunker. By stepping up to a White House podium to demand public congressional hearings for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, the First Lady (accidentally?) dragged the darkest scandal in modern politics back into the daylight.
And what do we find? A cover-up that thought it was home free, now cracking under its own weight.
The DOJ is desperately shielding fired AG Pam Bondi from a House Oversight subpoena on the laughable technicality that she is no longer the Attorney General. Meanwhile, an unholy bipartisan alliance led by Nancy Mace and Ro Khanna is staging an institutional siege to pry open the Epstein vault. To cap it off, Ghislaine Maxwell is sitting in a cushy Texas facility maneuvering for a commutation. If the administration stonewalls her hustle, this cornered animal has every incentive to start leaking.
Effective corruption requires intense coordination, and this group is profoundly uncoordinated. They are tripping over the rugs they are sweeping under, and the First Lady just handed us a carpet knife.
We are digging into the rubble today. Join the crew for the daily Digital Diner livestream at 11 AM ET.
Attribution: Melania wants Epstein victim Hearings by Dave Granlund, PoliticalCartoons.com
Melania Trump made a rare public statement pushing back on what Donald Trump has called an Epstein “hoax.” Rep. Ro Khanna, a member of the House Oversight Committee, tells MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell that there were four words the First Lady uttered that were “incredibly important”: “Epstein was not alone.”
Trump Had NO IDEA Melania Was Making an Epstein Statement & He’s Back to Making Threats to Iran
Trump’s whole war in Iran now hinges on re-opening the Strait of Hormuz, only a handful of ships have been allowed to pass through and Trump is floating the idea of a grand reopening/joint venture with Iran, he was back making threats on social last night, formal peace talks are expected to begin Saturday in Pakistan, the Prime Minister of Spain has had enough of Trump, Donald’s popularity is very low right now, Melania emerged today to deliver a surprise statement about Epstein, Trump told a reporter that he didn’t know anything about it before she made it, the $70 million private plane Kristi Noem bought with taxpayer money will now be used by cabinet officials and Melania, the right wing cableverse is already past the idea of whether or not aliens are among us and onto whether extraterrestrials are manly enough, and a new edition of This Week in Unnecessary Censorship.
Attribution: Melania’s laundry by Christo Komarnitski, Bulgaria
[Christo Komarnitski is a Bulgarian cartoonist for the daily newspaper Sega (“Now”).]
what’s happened to the suit and could it be the why:
[published October 22, 2025]
NEW YORK (AP) — Author Michael Wolff claims in a lawsuit that First Lady Melania Trump threatened to sue him for over $1 billion in damages if he didn’t retract Jeffrey Epstein -related statements he recently made about her.
Wolff sought unspecified damages in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.
Nicholas Clemens, a spokesperson for Melania Trump, issued a statement, saying: “First Lady Melania Trump is proud to continue standing up to those who spread malicious and defamatory falsehoods as they desperately try to get undeserved attention and money from their unlawful conduct.”
In his lawsuit, Wolff said Melania Trump and her husband, President Donald Trump, “have made a practice of threatening those who speak against them” with costly legal actions “to silence their speech, to intimidate their critics generally, and to extract unjustified payments and North Korean style confessions and apologies.”
He said the threats “are designed to create a climate of fear in the nation so that people cannot freely or confidently exercise their First Amendment rights.”
According to the lawsuit, the threats are also meant to shut down inquiry into the couple’s involvement with Epstein, the notorious financier who killed himself in a New York federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The lawsuit came on the day that Melania Trump’s lawyer had set as a deadline for Wolff to retract statements, issue an apology and pay damages to his client.
The lawyer, Alejandro Brito, wrote on Oct. 15 that she would be “left with no alternative” but to sue for over $1 billion after the statements had caused her “overwhelming reputational and financial harm.”
Through his lawsuit, Wolff announced his intention to use the legal action to put the president and his wife under oath to answer questions about Epstein. Wolff has published a dozen books, including four bestsellers about the president.
Wolff said in the lawsuit that Melania Trump’s threat to sue came over statements he made to “The Daily Beast” and in three videos published on social media, although he added that some statements were incomplete phrases and were taken out of context.
Others, the lawsuit said, were protected speech. For instance, the statement that the Trumps were in a “sham marriage, trophy marriage,” was a “fair and justified” statement of opinion, it said.
The lawsuit noted that Wolff never said Melania Trump was involved in any of Epstein’s crimes.
Among the statements the lawsuit said were true were those saying Melania Trump was “very involved” in Epstein’s social circle, where she met her future husband, and that Donald Trump liked to have sex with his friend’s wives and first slept with Melania Trump on Epstein’s private jet.
The lawsuit said it was fair to question how Melania Trump fits into the Epstein story.
And, it added, it was proper to “find out what happened in Mr. Trump’s and Epstein’s 10 years of pursuing models, including supermodels, runway models, catalog models, Eastern European models, and girls who just dreamed of being models.”
According to the lawsuit, that subject “will be one of the zones of inquiry that this lawsuit will have to undertake.”
Wolff conducted interviews with Epstein before his death.
Earlier this year, President Trump berated Wolff as a “Third Rate Reporter” and, in one lengthy social media post, called his upcoming book “a total FAKE JOB, just like the other JUNK he wrote.”
Trump added: “His other books about me have been discredited, as this one will be also.”
What’s really happening behind the scenes? In this video, we break down the latest developments as Melania Trump reportedly moves quickly to delay the high-profile lawsuit involving author Michael Wolff. From legal maneuvers to strategic filings, this story is packed with drama, controversy, and unanswered questions. 👀⚖️
We dive deep into the timeline of events, exploring what triggered this legal clash and why the delay tactics are raising eyebrows. Is this a calculated legal strategy… or a sign of mounting pressure? 🤔
💡 What You’ll Learn in This Video:
The background of the Wolff lawsuit and why it matters
Key legal tactics being used to delay proceedings
What experts say about these moves
Possible outcomes and what could happen next
The broader political and media implications
Whether you’re following political news, legal battles, or media controversies, this breakdown gives you a clear, easy-to-understand look at a complex situation. 📊
What Is the Status and What Are the Key Filings in Michael Wolff’s Lawsuit Against Melania Trump as of February 2026?
Researched on April 10, 2026
Executive summary
Michael Wolff filed a defamation and anti‑SLAPP suit against First Lady Melania Trump in New York Supreme Court in October 2025 after her lawyers threatened him with a $1 billion lawsuit over his Epstein‑related statements; Wolff seeks to block the threatened suit and to use the court process to probe the Trumps’ ties to Jeffrey Epstein [1] [2]. As of February 2026 the case has not produced a final adjudication: Melania’s team has moved to dismiss or transfer the case — arguing lack of proper service and urging federal or Florida jurisdiction — while Wolff has publicly pushed back, raised funds and framed the dispute as a First Amendment fight.
She’s a totally absent first lady when children die from denied HIV treatment, a woman gets shot in the face by ICE, a girl’s school blown up, all as her husband’s pal Putin continues his unfettered genocide in Ukraine.
But when the dark web says mean things about her? Now that’s too much, time for a nationally televised addresss.
Voter ID comes to WV. Newsbreak.
It’s coming to a state near you, so get ready.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Our daily Digital Diner podcast airs 11-Noon ET on YouTube. JOIN Chatroom Here. WATCH Yesterday’s Replay Here.
What America is Actually Clicking: April 10, 2026
These are the stories driving the most traffic across U.S. outlets right now—not necessarily the stories we think you should read, and not always the most recent.
A roundup by our AI partner Silas (Gemini).
Pog, nice to see WV is doing so well they have room to worry about non-existent voter fraud.
‘It’s coming to a state near you, so get ready.‘
Pog, yep, it came this way last week. gov Beshear will probably veto to no avail though:
The Kentucky Senate made significant changes to a previously bipartisan House bill on election law, adding provisions that would restrict accepted voter IDs and allow private voter information to be shared with the federal government.
The bill passed the Senate floor on a 31-6 vote. All Senate Democrats voted against the bill.
HB 139, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, previously just cleaned up current election statutes. But new provisions that stem from Senate Bill 154 and House Bill 534, which both make sweeping election law changes, add language that sparked controversy among lawmakers during both bills’ previous debates. The new version of HB 139 is also known as a “Christmas tree bill,” which is when lawmakers attach separate measures representing the “ornaments” on a tree.
The bill now heads back to the House to consider changes made by the Senate.
What she said yesterday:
For the first time Melania confirmed the legitimacy of this email exchange:
Ghislaine Maxwell: “Sweet pea — thanks for your message. Actually plans changed again and I am now on my way back to NY. I leave again on Fri so I still do not think I have time to see you sadly. I will try and call though. Keep well.”
Melania: “Dear GI How are you? Nice story about JE in NY mag. You look great on the picture. I know you are very busy flying all over the world. How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you are back in NY. Have a great time! Love, Melania.”
If they can’t stop these bills there’s only one answer: ORGANIZE, get people properly registered. Use it as an opportunity to strengthen get-out-the-vote networks for election day. We need turnout that’s TOO BIG TO RIG!
There is something really weird about flotus denying the obvious. I am curious why she was in the WH, she normally hides somewhere else. Why a not planned speech using the prez’s podium? Why were the usual magat reporters left in the dark? Those scribblers were the foundation of information the WH wants released, but are still scratching their collective behinds. As for sfb not knowing, it is quite possible he was told and did not process the information, dementia and Alzheimer’s does things like that.
Look forward to the books after the WH is fumigated.
NPR: There’s growing disquiet in the military. The Iran war made it worse.
BlueB, I wonder if she saw her tanking poll numbers and decided Epstein rumors were behind it.
Craig, I don’t think she gives a darn about poll numbers. Her lawsuit and Wolff’s countersuit results mean mucho $$ lost or won. My bet is that her lawyers advised her and probably wrote or edited what she read.
The irony of the WV voter ID law is that it will keep a lot of holler dwellers from voting, and to the extent they ever vote, they would by and large vote for Republicans. It will definitely hit the old and disadvantaged citizens as well, but given the overwhelming majority of votes in statewide elections are for Republicans, why our citizen legislators would bother with this shit is beyond me.
Happy Friday everyone! Just checking in here for a minute. I’ve been on vacation from work this week. I took a road trip to the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, MI. on Monday. That place is about 90 minutes from Holland. I bought gas for $3.83 a gallon in Holland that day. However, on M-40/89 it was $3.53 at the gas stations there. Had I waited 15 minutes, I could have saved myself 30 cents a gallon. Gas was $4.19 in Grand Rapids. It’s now $3.99 in Holland. I took Amtrak to Chicago for the day on Wednesday. A radio news report said that many people are now taking Amtrak to Chicago from here since gas is so expensive these days. Both trains that I was on Wednesday were completely full. I think gas at the one station I saw in Chicago was $4.69 a gallon. Judging from the TV ads I’ve seen lately, most Republican political candidates here are still running campaigns based on supporting Trump first and foremost. Especially an ad from Aric Nesbitt who is running for Governor. Although, Mike Rogers, who is running for Senate is getting all the financial support from the Republican establishment. Have a great day, everyone!
I made a couple of memes this week. Meme #1
Meme #2
Hey Corey! Thanks for dropping in!
I want to see an SNL skit with Melania going to the podium and playing “Never Have I Ever” with the press corps.
Journalist does the NHIE part, and Melania drinks.
Never Have I Ever done any of the things Amanda Ungaro is about to say I did. Glug, glug, glug.
Craig – It was a heck of a distraction from US soldiers airing dirty laundry, too.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kuwait-attack-pete-hegseth-american-survivors-b2954785.html
American soldiers who survived a drone attack against a U.S. tactical operations center in Kuwait, which killed six service members, heavily dispute Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s narrative that one drone made its way through air defenses – claiming the center had little in the way of fortifications to begin with.
Hegseth initially described the deadly March 1 attack as a “once-in-a-while” incident in which a “squiter” made its way through air defenses and struck the “fortified” operations center located in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.
“Painting a picture that ‘one squeaked through’ is a falsehood,” one of the injured soldiers told CBS News. “I want people to know the unit…was unprepared to provide any defense for itself.”
One soldier described the tactical operation center as “a bunch of little tin buildings where we can set up makeshift offices,” surrounded by barriers that were designed to absorb blasts from a rocket but offer no protection against aerial attacks.
“It’s not my intent to diminish morale or to disparage the Army or the Department of War more holistically, but I do think that telling the truth is important and we’re not going to learn from these mistakes if we pretend these mistakes didn’t happen,” one of the soldiers told CBS News.
Meanwhile… here in rural NH we have a local newspaper that gets published twice a week. Yesterday’s version had a big article about Ghislaine Maxwell’s estate in Bradford NH. She purchased the property in which to hide after Epstein’s death. It’s called “Tuck Away” and is a 156 acre place in the middle of the woods. She was caught there. It recently went up for sale (again) and was purchased for a record $2.7 million.
what a coinky dinky… and no… who bought it wasn’t mentioned.
We have bills allowing OTC Ivermectin and prohibiting financial institutions from discriminating against firearms dealers. Hot issues here. 😵💫
Corey, hop in the chat room some time. Would love to catch up.
Trying out today’s menu on TikTok, see if it gets banned. It’s fun messing with Ellison’s robots (it’s preview cards don’t work as well as YouTube’s, might need to enlarge)…
We’ve reached a point where stump is blasting more republicans than democrats.
(Carlson, Kelly, Jones, etc)
“As the Worm Turns”
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍🍽️
🎙️Chat begins at 11am (ET) until NOON
Grab a mic now → https://trailmix.cc/stage
More options at https://trailmix.cc/chat
MHS GENESIS is the primary electronic health record system for the U.S. Military Health System, offering a secure patient portal for viewing records, messaging providers, and managing appointments. It securely shares data with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and civilian providers via the Joint Health Information Exchange (JHIE) and national eHealth Exchange
The Military Health System (MHS) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) utilize a joint Health Information Exchange (joint HIE) and the eHealth Exchange to securely share electronic health records with participating civilian health care providers, including those who accept Medicare.
From Apple News
Anyone willing to set up a gofundme account for a one way ticket?
Wolff responds to Melania…
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW9FK7wDnGj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
it’s already OTC
at PetsMart
today’s meme…
Alternatives
Today in the Diner…
Melania Trump Epstein Comments, Ghislaine Emails & MAGA
Melania Trump reopens the Epstein scandal. We dig into her motives, the Ghislaine Maxwell emails, MAGA fallout, and urban pigeon defense strategies.
The former First Lady just tossed a grenade into the news cycle, demanding Congressional hearings for Epstein victims and declaring he was not alone. We sift through the rubble to figure out exactly why. Is she defending herself, attacking Donald, or just entirely disconnected? We look at the Ghislaine Maxwell email trail and the Amanda Ungaro feud to make sense of the mess.
When we aren’t dissecting political chaos, Jack and Craig trade combat tactics from the urban gardening front. From weaponizing pinwheels against pigeons to cultivating sweet potatoes in laundry baskets, it is a gritty look at urban survival. Plus, a dive into government tracking paranoia, solar punk ideals, and the undeniable, unshakable pride of being certified old farts.
https://trailmix.cc/chat
https://trailmix.cc
https://trailmix.cc/alerts
00:00 Intro
00:35 Polling Melania’s True Motives
01:45 The Amanda Ungaro Feud
05:50 Decoding Ghislaine’s Sweet Pea Emails
10:00 Barron Trump & The Dark Web
14:00 Urban Gardening & Pigeon Warfare
24:15 Ro Khanna Responds
40:00 MAGA Voters and Epstein Fatigue
48:50 Going Solar Punk
01:00:25 Proud Old Farts
Anon, true that – they want to make sure it’s available at Walgreen’s, etc.
Listen, Epstein is fun and all, and it makes DJT and DOJ look bad, and Melanoma’s denials ring hollow as a log, but IMHO Dems should push things like the price of gas* and the new inflation numbers of 3.3% for March.** Not to mention that the December 2025 jobs report indicated a cooling labor market, with payrolls rising by just 50,000, – 23,000 short of expected growth and marking 2025 as the weakest year for hiring since 2020.
* NYT
** NYT
My 2 cents.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/04/09/automatic-registration-military-draft-december-2026/89530527007/
Eligible men will be automatically registered into the U.S. military draft pool by December in an effort to streamline the existing self-registration process, according to the agency that oversees the system.
According to the SSS website, the change “transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oracle-wins-cms-cloud-contract-153106727.html
***
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/centers-for-medicare-and-medicaid-select-oracle-cloud-for-modernization-efforts/
***
https://business.times-online.com/times-online/article/marketminute-2026-2-13-oracle-seals-landmark-cms-cloud-deal-solidifying-dominance-in-federal-healthcare-infrastructure
Under the terms of the agreement, Oracle will migrate the vast data repositories of Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. The first wave of eligibility and verification systems is slated to go live on OCI by late 2026, with the full suite of adjudication services following shortly thereafter. This transition is not merely a “lift and shift” operation; it involves rebuilding the agency’s logic within the Oracle Autonomous Database and leveraging OCI’s FedRAMP High security environment to ensure data integrity and privacy.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/pentagon-adopt-palantir-ai-as-core-us-military-system-memo-says-2026-03-20/
Palantir’s (PLTR.O), opens new tab Maven artificial intelligence system will become an official program of record, Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg said in a letter to Pentagon leaders, a move that locks in long-term use of Palantir’s weapons-targeting technology across the U.S. military.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oracle-and-palantir-join-forces-to-deliver-mission-critical-ai-solutions-to-governments-and-businesses-302108086.html
Oracle and Palantir Join Forces to Deliver Mission Critical AI Solutions to Governments and Businesses
As part of the agreement, Palantir will move Foundry workloads to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Palantir will also make its Gotham and AI Platforms deployable across Oracle’s distributed cloud: in public cloud regions; Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Dedicated Regions; Oracle Alloy; Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud; Oracle Government Cloud; Oracle Roving Edge, and Oracle’s air-gapped regions for defense and intelligence customers. Oracle’s vast cloud footprint and sovereign AI capabilities will allow more organizations to use Palantir’s leading platforms for data integration and decision-making.
Search Assist –
Oracle and Palantir have partnered to provide joint cloud, data, and AI solutions, enhancing decision-making capabilities for businesses and governments. This collaboration allows Palantir’s platforms to operate on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, improving efficiency and performance across various sectors.
*Sovereignty? For what or whom? Is there a firewall between them if Ai is working access all of it? I’d love to know, if there’s a tree-hugging, IT person out there.
Pogo… I agree with your 12:36 post.
James Carville cry of “it’s the economy, stupid” rings as much true today as it did back in the early 90s.
OK, the above posts explained what I was going on about today, Daniel. If you can assuage my fears about firewalls and personal data not being weaponized by the government, I’d appreciate it.
About the mixing data bases and the government keeping detailed records discussion in the chat room. What I was thinking about was the work of DOGE and Musk.
Here is a source talking about them accessing medicare payments, which basically gives them our health records given medicare’s outcome based payment system.
Link
A quick google of “musk, DOGE, IRS” should give you where they were given access to our tax records/ financial records.
So it was easy to go along with BiDs expanded point for talking purposes.
Jack
Melania detonated a grenade on live television. We dissect why she set MAGA on fire. She flatly stated Epstein was not alone and demanded Congress drag victims back under oath.
From today’s Digital Diner menu 🍽️
Renee – interesting to find out that Ghislaine was a neighbor of yours. I wonder if sweet pea ever visited her in NH.
era of competitive stupidity
How about: It’s a tale of two economies, they think we’re stupid. Be smart, don’t let the Epstein class keep leeching off of taxpayers. ?
What if I don’t want my data integrated??? How do I opt out of Oracle’s Autonomous Database???
they’re right!
wasn’t even hard for them
hide out in the amazon
might buy you a couple years
Elon’s solar mirror concept and the damage it can do environmentally if “dark skies” no longer exist. Losing dark skies triggers significant environmental damage, primarily by disrupting circadian rhythms and essential behaviors in wildlife, such as migration, hunting, and reproduction. It creates ecological imbalances, such as massive insect population declines and disorientation of nocturnal species, while wasting energy, accelerating climate change, and reducing nocturnal safety for animals.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/this-is-really-intolerable-astronomers-protest-giant-orbiting-mirror-project-and-spacexs-million-ai-satellites
Pogo… don’t know about that… the estate is hidden deep in the woods.
But you lived in this state…. my understanding is that it’s pretty close to the Mt. Sunapee ski area.
meme #2…
yup…. #3…
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/guantanamo-bay-cuba/
US Plans to Detain Cubans at Guantánamo in Event of Mass Migration From Island
The Trump administration’s fuel blockade is creating a humanitarian crisis that may soon force many Cubans to flee.
We just dug up the rarest artifact of the current era: a MAGA loyalist actively jumping ship. It seems burying the Epstein scandal to obsess over 2020 is the final straw. Listen to the buyer’s remorse hit in real-time. The foundation is cracking.
Nice to see Ken Burns in the mix.
Donate to Sherrod
MAGA Christians Don’t Hate The Pope; They Hate His Jesus.
They are sickened by the “Love your neighbor as yourself” Jesus, who has made him a champion of the poor and the sick.
They spit in the face of the “blessed are the peacemakers” Jesus, who has compelled him to call for the abolition of the death penalty.
They seethe with anger toward the “care for the least of these” Jesus, who moved him to previously confront JD Vance’s ridiculous position that in the New Testament, love is hierarchical based on geography.
Jesus’ kindness, his compassion, his mercy, and his selflessness all fly in the face of the predatory bully pulpit they are constructing at the Capitol. A Jesus who feeds the hungry, binds up the bleeding, calls out predatory power, condemns wealth, and welcomes the stranger all actively confront the religion of compulsion found in Project 2025, which has proven during Trump’s second term to be their true sacred text.
https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2026/03/exclusive-secret-ice-detention-facilities-exist-around-colorado-data-shows/76983/
…a strip mall houses a gym, a chiropractor’s office, a tax accountant, and on the far end of the building, one less-common tenant: an ICE detention facility, one of at least nine such secretive facilities in the state.
Hold rooms, as the agency calls the small, tucked-away detention facilities, are forbidden from containing “bunks, cots, beds” or other sleeping apparatuses, according to ICE documentation. They consist mainly of a bench, some access to potable water, and a drain in the floor. Many do not have toilets.
Though the agency’s own rules say that detainees may not be kept in hold rooms for more than 72 hours, many have remained in the facilities for weeks at a time. Here in Colorado, at least one detainee was kept in a hold room for 39 days. The rules also state that no unaccompanied minors, no women with children, and no adults over 70 may be placed in hold rooms. ICE has broken those rules as well.
Between January and October of last year, 2,831 individuals were held in at least one of the nine facilities. The oldest was 91 years old; the youngest was a 1-year-old girl. Many detainees were held for weeks at a time in rooms without beds, well in excess of the agency’s own internal rules for the small detention facilities, most of which are tucked into strip malls and industrial parks around the state.
Jack cracks the Melania code. She demands sworn testimony because she is betting NO ONE will risk perjury to implicate Donald. It is a cynical bluff dressed up as a crusade for the truth.
From today’s Digital Diner menu 🍽️
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trumps-economy-insider-trading-pardoning-criminals-chumps
Trump’s Economy: You’re Either an Insider or a Chump
The president is enriching friends, pardoning criminals, and impoverishing everyone else.
succinct and accurate
Some Texans on SNAP say the ban on using food stamps to buy sugary drinks and candy prevents quick fixes to low blood sugar conditions.
While they agree that diabetics and hypoglycemics should eat nutritious foods to prevent their conditions from worsening, health experts and those with these chronic conditions also say the new SNAP restrictions will prevent them from quickly accessing sugar when their blood sugar levels drop to dangerously low levels.
“By restricting certain foods, it inadvertently sets people such as myself up for an emergency,” said Britton, who works as a substitute teacher in Everman near Fort Worth. “This is a life-threatening situation and can end badly. It may sound good on paper, but in practice, it is not a good thing.”
Several diabetics and their family members also expressed similar concerns on Texas Health and Human Services’ Facebook post announcing the SNAP changes. “Diabetics with hypoglycemia require sugar like in candies and juices to avoid going into a coma,” one comment reads. Other comments say, “My son is an insulin dependent diabetic what is he supposed to do?” and “My husband drops low a lot, we can’t afford sodas or juices. He can’t drink orange juice. He is a kidney failure patient.”
Chris Carmona, Texas Diabetes Council Chair, said restricting SNAP purchases of candy and sweetened drinks is a reasonable public health measure, especially at a time when obesity and type 2 diabetes rates are rising.
“The important point is that there are effective ways to treat low blood sugar that do not depend on sugary sodas or candy,” Carmona said.
People who previously have relied on candy or sugary beverages to stabilize blood sugar levels can switch to using fruit juice, honey, or glucose tablets, Sarah Williams-Blangero, South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute Chair, recommends.
In a hypoglycemic episode, the priority is to raise blood sugar quickly. Britton says she prefers soda over glucose tablets because soda is liquid and she absorbs it quicker.
“At that moment, when you feel shaky or like you might pass out, you want something that works fast and is easy to take — and for many people, that’s soda,” Britton said.
Many on SNAP also live in food deserts and may not have access to alternative quick fixes for hypoglycemic episodes or fresh fruits and vegetables, according to Julie Zuniga, a researcher and nursing professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Instead of implementing purchase restrictions to help people on SNAP improve their diets, the state should better address food deserts and increase educational outreach on how to eat better, Zuniga said.
“Sometimes we’re at a loss on how to eat well and how to feed our bodies without having very much money. If we look, what [SNAP enrollees] are buying isn’t much different than people who don’t have SNAP,” Zuniga said. “I don’t think that just taking this away will change behaviors. There’s ways to improve people’s diets that’s more collaborative and compassionate.”
Nancy Guillet, another UT nursing professor, works at an Austin charity clinic that provides diabetes management classes to those living in poverty. She said the patients have very poor knowledge about diabetes, so the program educates them about what the condition is, the medication they’re taking, and how to monitor blood sugar.
She said for families who are just trying to survive, their kids miss the opportunities to learn about and prioritize health.
“Let’s say my parents live in poverty, and they have to work day and night … just to pay the rent. Healthy nutrition is not there,” Guillet said. “People in poverty, they have everything against them to succeed.”
The latest restrictions are among several recent Republican-backed changes to SNAP. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that went into effect in July, able-bodied individuals ages 18 through 65 without dependents must work or attend a work program for at least 80 hours per month to receive benefits and only certain lawful permanent residents and U.S. citizens can be SNAP eligible. The bill also announced new rules that force each state to improve the number of times officials overpay or underpay SNAP recipients, or face financial penalties.
The Texas Human Health Services Commission officials said they are surveying SNAP recipients to determine the impact of the SNAP restrictions and determine whether shopping and eating habits will change.
The tax break is one of the state’s costliest incentive programs and soon to be the most expensive of its kind in the nation.
Lawmakers approved the tax break more than a decade ago, when data centers were smaller and required fewer resources. From 2014 to 2022, the exemption amounted to between $5 million and $30 million in lost state revenue per year. By 2023, that skyrocketed to more than $150 million, and this year Texas is forgoing at least $1.3 billion — a number that is rapidly increasing every year, based on state projections.
The money Texas is poised to lose from the tax break on a yearly basis could pay for the entirety of the state’s new school voucher program, or it could double the size of a state disaster fund to help local communities like Kerr County prevent flooding.
Texas will lose out on $3.2 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years thanks to an exemption for the state’s booming data center industry, according to the comptroller’s office.
That figure is likely a vast underestimate given the explosion of new facilities being built, but already makes the tax break one of the state’s costliest incentive programs and soon to be the most expensive of its kind in the nation.
Lawmakers, who will meet in January for the next legislative session, say they are considering proposals to either limit the scope of the tax break or get rid of it altogether.
Data center industry leaders warn that shrinking or ending the tax break could spell an end to Texas’ rising status as the nation’s No. 1 destination for data centers, a status the industry argues comes with new jobs and billions of dollars in local investment.
“I think the hostile message that sends would … give a lot of different companies pause about what the state of being able to invest in Texas for the long term is,” said Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy with the Data Center Coalition, a trade group that represents major tech companies.
Meanwhile, data centers are becoming increasingly unpopular among locals.
“Somebody’s giving out money; [the companies] want to be in line. But it’s not really how decisions are made, especially when there’s bedrock things like land and energy that are much more important than their tax rate,” Lavine added.
You’re either at the table, or on the menu
Renee, I’m familiar with the Sunapee area. A guy who worked for me at Plymouth State College was the captain of one of the dinner cruise boats on Lake Sunapee. Very pretty area – kinda remote – just off I-89 what, half an our or a little more from Concord and not near much of anything?
You’re either the windshield or the bug
Why is Texas doing exactly what Sarah Palin told them not to do?
There is genuine hope to be found in the early 2028 field forming at the National Action Network convention in NY. Seeing leaders actually eager to step up and fix this mess? I’ll take that optimism.
We dig in live from 11am-noon ET, kicking off with KY Gov. Andy Beshear in a chat with Al Sharpton.
We track Melania’s sudden panic right back to Barron. He lurks in the dark web and likely fed his mother the exact internet garbage that provoked her televised meltdown.
From today’s Digital Diner menu 🍽️
*Rut-roh.
Jamie, MSNOW has that streaming service you’ve been wanting. Or is it? I’m not exactly sure what this is.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/ms-now/id6756430166
exact plot of this Dr. Who
billionaire supervillain has a space mirror
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Enemy_of_the_World
the story is set in 2018 – 50 years into the future from 1968
Melienia usually does not worry about other people’s lies. Strange that this one triggered her.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-us-war-live-trump-ceasefire-strait-hormuz-israel-lebanon-b2955014.html
“We have a reset going. We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made – even better than what we did previously and we blew them apart.”
Trump earlier warned that the only reason Iranian officials are still alive is so the US can negotiate with them, in his latest warning ahead of the Islamabad talks.
US vice president JD Vance, who is leading the US delegation, earlier warned Tehran “not to play us” as he left for Islamabad where the negotiations will take place this weekend.
~Such statesmanship~
Almost time for splashdown! A little over an hour away.
One of my all-time favorites of forever:
Da Zap
Yeah, you gonna want me someday—but I’ll run away…..lol Yay Frank.
That’s an interesting lead. LoL It is also bull shit. As a diabetic I can tell you there are many ways to deal with a low blood sugar episode. My favorite is maple syrup, but table sugar dissolved in water works too, as do fruit juices. A slice bread with jelly.
And many other things
She puts the last in “First” Lady.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/10/epstein-survivors-melania-trump-reaction
Jack – The point of the article is poverty. SNAP doesn’t buy much. Maple syrup, for instance, is expensive. (I don’t even know that syrup isn’t on the SNAP banned list.) Folks live in food deserts; there are towns around here where Dollar General is the only place to buy food, and there is little/no fresh produce. They have little/poor medical information/assistance.
Yes, there are better was to handle low blood sugar, but it takes money and access to those things.
Where is all of Elon’s space junk?
We succeed in spite of Dodo. Never because of.
Splashdown!
Back to business..
Bad guitar….Bad!
Yo, Texas Nanny State: Sarah Palin has used sugar-laden treats and drinks as political symbols to protest government regulation and nutritional advocacy, often termed a “nanny state” approach. She notably drank a “Big Gulp” at the 2013 CPAC to mock NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s sugary drink ban and brought cookies to a Pennsylvania school in 2010 to protest proposed restrictions on school sweets.
I just got home from the east side of the state. I saw one woman in downtown Ann Arbor with 2 signs. One said: Impeach! The other said: Invoke the 25th Amendment! The cheapest gas price I saw all day was at a station in Ann Arbor. It was $3.59.
That race needed thinning out.
no way, smear campaign
no way an elder millennial liberal would run for governor of the most liberal state if they thought those kinds of allegations could come back to them
…and four at once all of a sudden?
careful lads, there’s dirty work afoot
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap.
ok one apple tree planted (also thousands of veg and flower seeds 😊), no rookie bullshit putting bagged soil (wood chips) in there
just need to find a 2nd of the variety i desire
you wash those pots?
(15000 steps since 4pm, lets go)
Melania abandons her former friend Amanda Ungaro to rot in ICE detention. The spurned ex-model retaliates with extortion threats on social media. Melania panics and triggers a national news cycle to cover her tracks.
From today’s Digital Diner menu 🍽️
re: candy
GOP pricks just like taking it from kids
mean-spirited scum
they cried like children when libs tried to restrict soda
Cliché or not….the world is watching with bated breath.
This Amanda Ungaro story is hopping. BlueD and Katie were on top of it…
Donald Trump’s close friend willing to ‘testify under oath’ that he introduced US president and First Lady
In this episode of Trump 100, Mark Stone and Martha Kelner receive a surprise call from Donald Trump’s close ally Paolo Zampolli. The man who says it was him, not Epstein, who introduced Melania to Donald Trump.
https://news.sky.com/video/donald-trumps-close-friend-willing-to-testify-under-oath-that-he-introduced-us-president-and-first-lady-13530055
————-
Amanda Ungaro taped an interview with Spain’s El Pais AIRING this weekend‼️ Amanda Ungaro & Zampolli were together for 2 decades moved in elite circles, attending events at Mar-a-Lago ETC
Paolo Zampolli a friend Melania who brought her to the US & now works for the WH
Story of the week:
“The Cask of Amontillado”
By Poe. There are parallels.
I guess you could call Poe’s genre “Psychological Fiction”
Yes and they don’t involve candy bars or sodas.
Guess what, they are covered by snap and cheaper.
If you are really worried about poverty, and especially children in poverty, you should be applauding this move, These banned items aren’t cheap and they offer no nutritional value.
Jack
a snickers has nutritional value
soda is poison though i won’t dispute that
“taking candy from kids”
ads write themselves
“when Republicans aren’t busy trying to ensnare children in barbed-wire boobytraps and put them in cages, they’re taking candy from them”
ok i’ll help
Yeah, about the same nutritional value as the Budwieser beer I used to drink with it.
As to the ads, yeah they write themselves but not the ones you are imagining.
BTW, snickers aren;t any good for blood sugar control either. too much fat.
pure sugar followed by some carbs like bread or soda crackers. If you do have to use candy, skittles work best pure sugar and they never go bad. Just the thing to carry around in a hot car for 2 years or longer.
Jack
beer and chocolate is a unique paring!
listen, your heart is in the right place, but Republicans don’t give a shit about poor people. they just like taking things from them.
if I showed you how rich the rich people are now it would blow your mind, their priority shouldn’t be taking candy from children
I’ll take it all back if they replace the cuts with targeted assistance programs while not holding my breath
we’re basically India now, caste system
1 $281
2 $516 ($258 per person)
3 $740 ($246.66 per person)
4 $939 ($234.75 per person)
SNAP benefits per month.
Food insecurity (and that includes not being able to access unprocessed foods) should not be a thing, especially with the obscene wealth of some who get government contracts and/or massive tax cuts. Billionaires should be taxed until they aren’t.
The next town over has no grocery store. They have a Dollar General (or Tree). You have to have transportation to drive 10-plus miles to get to this town to have a full grocery store.
And then, as the story mentioned, better education on what to take for low blood sugar needs to be addressed.
SNAP can’t be used for non-food items like diapers, bathroom tissue, soap, etc.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5826129-raskin-presses-trump-fitness/
Raskin asks White House physician for ‘comprehensive cognitive assessment’ of Trump
In a letter to Sean Barbabella, a Navy captain serving as Trump’s official doctor, Raskin argued that Trump’s words and actions in recent months — particularly those surrounding the Iran war — have raised enough questions about the president’s mental acuity to merit a “comprehensive cognitive assessment.” Raskin wants the results shared publicly.
“Experts have repeatedly warned that the President has been exhibiting signs consistent with dementia and cognitive decline. And, in recent days, the country has watched President Trump’s public statements and outbursts turn increasingly incoherent, volatile, profane, deranged, and threatening,” wrote Raskin, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
“His apparently deteriorating condition has caused tremendous alarm across the nation (and political spectrum) about the President’s cognitive function and continuing mental fitness for the office of President, and prompted concerns about the President’s wellbeing.”
*Will Sean Barbarella tell the truth? I mean, we can see Adolf’s mental decay, but will Barbarella remain loyal to him or his oath as a doctor and/or the US Constitution?
As for Swalwell, I believe the women.
El Pais interview with Amanda Ungaro expected soon. Watch the El País América landing page. They have been leading the charge on this specific investigative thread.
Primary Link to Monitor:
https://elpais.com/america/
Secondary Link (Social Feed for Breaking Alerts):
Tweets by elpaismexico
If the publication follows standard European/Latin American weekend cycles, expect the piece to land either late tonight (Friday) or in the early hours of Saturday, April 11.
well i’ll let that guy defend himself
don’t think he’s gonna be governor
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/swalwells-former-female-staffer-drops-bombshell-allegations-sexual-assault-exposing-himself-report
The unnamed female accuser, who spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle, reportedly worked for Swalwell for about two years and revealed that he started pursuing her, despite being married, shortly after she was hired as a 21-year-old staffer in his district office.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s reporting on the alleged victim’s experiences, one moment she did remember from the night was pushing Swalwell away and telling him “no” as he allegedly tried to force her to have sex with him. The woman reportedly texted a friend after the incident telling her she had been sexually assaulted by Swalwell. Other messages reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle reportedly showed the victim indicating she had “blacked out” but “woke up once during it and even told him to stop at one point.”
“This happened one other time when I was working with him, but I convinced myself I was an equal party in it even though same pattern: I blacked out and he had sex with me,” the alleged victim wrote, referring to the 2019 incident, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s reporting.
The outlet also indicated it spoke with the friend the victim was allegedly texting and the woman’s boyfriend whom she reportedly told about the assault the next day. The boyfriend reportedly encouraged her to report Swalwell at the time.
However, she did not go to the authorities at the time, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, because she was afraid she would not be believed.
Medical records reportedly showed she did obtain a pregnancy and STD test a week after the incident.
*Seems to be common knowledge he was a creeper. Why now? Because he could’ve been elected into a position with more power. She knew it would make her life hell for speaking out, but she did it anyway. It sounds like there are now more women.
NEW THREAD