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The Trump administration isnt backing down from its refusal to fully fund the SNAP program even after being ordered to by a judge on Thursday. The federal government asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block a judges order directing the Trump administration to fully distribute Novembers SNAP benefits by the end of the day. In the U.S., 42 million people 12% of Americans rely on food stamps to buy groceries and afford food. Nearly 40% of SNAP recipients are children and another 20% are over the age of 60. On Thursday, a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the government to release the full amount of federal funds for food stamps set to be distributed in November. People have gone without for too long, U.S. District Judge John McConnell said during the Thursday hearing. Not making payments to them for even another day is simply unacceptable. On November 3, the Trump administration said in a court filing that it would pay out half of Novembers benefits to SNAP recipients, tapping into a USDA contingency fund, after being ordered to distribute funds by two federal judges. A day later, Trump declared that SNAP benefits will only be restored after the shutdown. SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Bidens disastrous term in office will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before! Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this week. Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the SNAP program on the federal level, said that it would not deploy a $6 billion contingency fund to cover the cost of food stamps, in contrast with a version of a shutdown funding plan that was later removed from its website. SNAP contingency funds are only available to supplement regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient to cover, benefits, a USDA memo stated in late October. The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists. Picking up the SNAP slack The SNAP program has found itself on the chopping block as the federal shutdown drags on, but the Trump administration has found ways to keep other programs funded without court intervention. In the shutdowns early days, Trump ordered the Pentagon and the White House to use all available funds to pay active-duty members of the military, avoiding the fallout of service members going unpaid. In contrast to the fight over SNAP, the White House also chose to fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, better known as WIC, using money collected from tariffs. The Trump White House will not allow impoverished mothers and their babies to go hungry because of the Democrats political games, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios. In many cities, food banks and restaurants are scrambling to pick up the slack from the lapsed food program. In Portland, one coffee shop raised over $300,000 to provide free meals to people who have seen their SNAP benefits dry up. Many other local businesses followed suit, offering free special meals for residents in need. The USDA has warned grocery stores offering special deals for SNAP recipients that they might be breaking the law. You must offer eligible foods at the same prices and on the same terms and conditions to SNAP-EBT customers as other customers, a USDA notice confirmed by Fast Company reads. You cannot treat SNAP-EBT customers differently than any other customers.
Category:
E-Commerce
Wendys announced plans to close a “mid-single-digit percentage” of its underperforming U.S. store locations, or 200 to 350 of some 6,000 locations, during its quarterly earnings call on Friday. The news comes as the fast-food giant reports third-quarter profits of $44.3 million and $549.5 million in revenue, beating analyst expectations by 2.71%. The company’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at 24 cents, versus expectations of 20 cents. International business delivered strong system-wide sales growth, with international net unit growth expected to come in over 9% in 2025. Shares in Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) were up about 2% in midday trading on Friday, after Wendys stock surged 11.66% in pre-market trading. On the earnings call, Interim CEO and CFO Ken Cook said the shutterings will begin this year and continue through 2026, but did not give a list of specific locations. (Reached by Fast Company, Wendy’s declined to provide a specific number or list of locations.) Cook said Wendy’s will approach underperforming restaurants on a case-by-case basis. He explained some current restaurants “do not elevate the brand” and are “a drag from a franchisee financial performance perspective.” The goal is to address and fix those restaurants by improving operations, through additional technology or equipment. In other cases, closing the restaurant “will put money back in franchisees pockets and enable them to reinvest both capital and resources in their remaining restaurants.” The bottom line: “Closures of underperforming units are expected to boost sales and profitability at nearby locations,” Cook said. One year ago, in November 2024, Wendy’s also announced it was closing 140 “outdated” restaurants.
Category:
E-Commerce
As artificial intelligence enters its dating era, it has taken on an increasing number of roles: cupid, wingman, even romantic interest. Where once peoples biggest concern was being unfortunately catfished by old photos and flattering filters, now if a person seems too good to be true, well, they might not even be human at all. Hily’s Dating App T.R.U.T.H. report surveyed 1,559 U.S. daters and found 82% of Gen Z and 87% of Millennials are already turning to AI in their dating lives. Up to 95% also plan to use it in the future. Just as in traditional dating, there are some double standards at play. For Gen Z, 62% say they’d be turned off if they discovered their match was using AI during the talking stage, despite being happy to use it themselves. This number increased to 70% for Millennials. As one Gen Z dater on Hily said: Id be less attracted. Its lazy and unnecessary. Demonstrates a lack of creativity and care. Another added: It feels less authenticand also a lot less fun. Isnt dating supposed to be fun, not an imitation of the weird arms race we see in work? The ick is understandable. It brings up questions like, if someone needs the help of AI to carry a conversation, are they even that interested? If they arent willing to put in the work, why should you? And ultimately, if you hit it off, are you falling for the person or the algorithm? The most common uses of AI are to generate a dating app bio based on information provided and to offer suggestions for conversations. If it generated their bio, thats fineif its accurate, one Millennial dater on Hily said. But not if it made things up or used misleading photos. Daters are burnt out from endless swiping, ghosting and a transactional dating culture. Chatfishing is one way to optimize and outsource some of the emotional labor of finding love (who said romance was dead?). After all, most have enlisted the help of the group chat in crafting a risky text or handed over full control to a friend to spice up a conversation. Some chatfishers take things a step further, having ChatGPT conduct entire conversations. A 2025 study from Norton found six in 10 people who use dating apps believe theyve encountered at least one conversation written by AI. Its also getting harder and harder to tell if the person youre messaging is human or bot. A 2025 preprint paper showed that human judges who spoke with both OpenAIs model GPT-4.5 and a human simultaneously, mistook the AI for a human 73% of the time. While AI can be an effective wingman when it comes to clinching a first date, when its finally time to meet face-to-face, problems arise. Of the daters Hily surveyed, 53% of Gen Z and 66% of Millennials say theyd feel less confident on a real-life date after using AI to communicate with a match. People tend to turn towards AI due to the fear that theyre not good enough and need to outsource to be better liked and well received, Dr. Sabrina Romanoff, relationship expert at Hily Dating App and Harvard-trained clinical psychologist, told Fast Company. This has a paradoxical effect as AI often white washes over the personality traits, uniqueness, and small touches that make them special. And if your AI persona is smarter, wittier, and funnier than you, you are only setting yourself up for failure.
Category:
E-Commerce
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