Hope to see the Books N Bros community keep expanding-- what a wonderful mission. via Nameless.tv


If the economy’s cooked, Olive Garden’s making sure it’s at least al dente—reviving its Never-Ending Pasta Bowl, the carb-loaded stimulus package no one asked for but everyone needs.
From August 25 to November 16, for just $13.99, customers can indulge in up to 96 combinations of noodles and sauces, plus unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks, which, according to Morgan’s law, you must eat at least three of before your entrée arrives.
The menu features classics like fettuccine, spaghetti, angel hair, and rigatoni, all coated in sauces ranging from creamy Alfredo to a new “Spicy Three-Meat Sauce,” described by Olive Garden as “flavorful,” which usually means you’re gonna need extra Tums. For an extra $4.99, you can add crispy chicken, meatballs, or Italian sausage to your mountain of carbs.
According to Olive Garden:
“[K]eeping the price of its most beloved offer exactly the same, in a time when prices seem to rise with every season.”
That’s right, in a world where your landlord raises the rent monthly, Olive Garden’s the only one still offering consistency…and it comes with unlimited salad. The deal’s price hasn’t budged since 2022, and neither has America’s appetite for it.
Online, diners are flexing how far they can push the phrase “never-ending,” including one Olive Garden employee who shared a receipt so long it could double as a paper scarf.
On Reddit, u/TheShoobster420 uploaded a photo of the receipt with the caption:
“This never-ending pasta gotta stop.”
You can see the photo here:

Somewhere, a CVS cashier just nodded in respect. And no, the total for the meal was not available.
The user followed up with:
“Never had a table get this many refills. It was my coworker’s table and they were obv hoarding it. He wanted to tell them to stop but the table was too big and it was slow so he didn’t want to compromise his tip.”
In other words, the breadsticks weren’t the only thing being stretched thin.
So how does Olive Garden make any money off people treating dinner like a competitive sport? Simple: they’re betting on math, margins, and marinara sauce.
Maeve Webster, president of consulting firm Menu Matters, told CNN:
“If the pasta brings them in the door and they purchase other profitable items, then it definitely makes sense in the long run. Olive Garden has likely done the math regarding how many patrons will actually eat significantly more than $13 of pasta. Some will, of course, but likely on average it works out in their favor.”
She added that the chain, with nearly 1,000 locations, “likely has a very strong and cooperative relationship with pasta suppliers, which can, in turn, help them with price.”
Translation: Olive Garden’s got pasta deals that make Costco look amateur.
The Never-Ending Pasta Bowl first debuted in 1995 and has become a back-to-school season tradition, because nothing says “budgeting for school supplies” like eating your body weight in rigatoni. Olive Garden’s senior VP of marketing, Jaime Bunker, previously told CNN the timing is deliberate, as “people have a lot of expenses” and “consumers are looking to save.”
And save they do. The National Restaurant Association reports that menu prices across the industry have risen over 30 percent since 2020, while Olive Garden’s went up only 2 percent last year. Yet somehow, its profits rose 12.7 percent. Turns out, feeding America’s anxiety with endless carbs is a winning strategy.
Rick Cardenas, CEO of Olive Garden’s parent company Darden, bragged to analysts in June:
“Our consumers want to go out and spend their hard-earned money, and we think we’re taking some wallet share from fast food and fast casual.”
Because in a 2025 Trump economy, fiscal responsibility looks a lot like passing on lattes and doubling down on fettuccine.
Hungrily, social media couldn’t resist weighing in on the Olive Garden receipt that just wouldn’t end.












And Olive Garden is not alone. Other sit-down chains are also cashing in on value nostalgia. Applebee’s just posted its first same-store sales increase in eight quarters, thanks to the “2 for $25” deal. BJ’s, Red Robin, and Chili’s are all rolling out new promotions too, because in 2025, the only thing truly endless is America’s appetite for a bargain that feels like 2012.
So yes, the economy might be a mess. But at least the pasta? Still never-ending.
It seems like every industry is currently grappling with the rise of AI and how the technology will be used in that field.
Front and center is the world of film and other creative endeavors, with propositions as mild as using AI to write publication release copy and as wild as what Kevin O'Leary suggested recently: replacing background extras in film to save a few bucks.
Actor Simu Liu, most recently known for his work in Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, heavily disputed that take.
O'Leary, known as "Mr. Wonderful" from his role on Shark Tank, recently made that suggestion when discussing his new A24 film Marty Supreme.
He discussed how the film had allegedly hired up to 150 extras for individual scenes, and lamented the cost of the actors—and of the working conditions.
“Now, those people have to stay awake for 18 hours, be completely dressed in the background...Why couldn’t you simply put AI agents in their place? They’re not the main actors. They’re only in the story visually."
"[You could] save millions of dollars, so more movies could be made. The same director, instead of spending $90 million or whatever he spent, could’ve spent $35 million and made two movies."
O'Leary's naïveté about what film producers would do with an extra $35 million aside, he really made working actors mad with that take.
Actor Simu Liu replied to a tweet from Vanity Fair about O'Leary's suggestion with some fiery and justified rhetoric about what he thought of the concept of AI extras.
Spoiler: he's not a fan.
There were many folks cheering him on in the comments. The way each industry is dealing with AI is varied, but it seems to have people in one of two fairly opposing camps.
The voices of Liu and other actors discussing their own experiences working as extras really came out in the comments.
Liu's background of working as an extra as well as his championing them in his reply to O'Leary made actors come out to support him.
Liu's next appearance will be in the television project The Copenhagen Test, a spy thriller series set to premier in late December 2025.

Huge multinational bank JPMorgan just unveiled their glittering new headquarters in New York City, and if you're looking for an office layout straight out of a dystopian movie, you're in luck!
The headquarters, which is housed in a brand new skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, has a rather unique layout inside.
On X, Dell Technologies Chairman and CEO Michael Dell shared an image of the $3 billion office with a note of congratulations, and it instantly got roasted.
Of course Dell would congratulate the design—it's likely all those gazillion monitors were made by his company.
But despite his and tons of other corporate leaders' enthusiasm, to any normal person this looks like one thing and one thing only: a corporate sweatshop.
Just row after row after row of computer monitors crammed next to each other so tightly it looks like there's probably a warden nearby who bloodies your knuckles if you so much as think of getting out of your seat.
Presumably, that's not the case: The new HQ also comes with amenities like a a gym, a "community hub," whatever that means, 24/7 food options and even a pub.
How exactly you access these amenities when you have to climb over all your coworkers and walk a 10K to even get out of the boiler room is anyone's guess.
@newspeakmedia Everyone please congratulate JP Morgan on their new corporate headquarters. And a special congratulations to the lucky employees that get to work at these desks.
Look at the way the one lone person in the photo is dwarfed by those rows and rows of monitors and desks. Doesn't seem like it would be worth the hike to go to the JPMorgan "community hub" to be honest!
And it's hard not to suspect that's part of the point, especially given the way corporations lined up to praise the design in their social media feeds.
There's really no way to interpret this design layout as anything other than an expectation of endless productivity at all costs, including each worker's well-being.
It's so on the nose for today's economic and working environment that it feels almost satirical, a perfect visualization of our era of wealth disparity, dystopian oligarchy, and absurd corporate expectations at the cost of workers' mental health.
And on X, people were feeling precisely that vibe: JPMorgan's new office layout quickly became a darkly comedic meme for all the wrong reasons.
Who knew the day would come when we'd long for the stultifying sameness of cubicles? At least you had some privacy and a divider or two between you and your annoying colleagues!
Anyway, JPMorgan's new gulag—sorry, headquarters—is housed in its new 60-story office building at 270 Park Avenue designed by architectural icon Norman Foster.
It's being billed as both an architectural and green engineering wonder, as an all-electric tower powered by hydroelectric technology, with a much smaller carbon footprint than most high-rise buildings.
A woman's clip from her wedding video is going viral for her father's decision to put his political beliefs before her happiness on her wedding day. Asked to leave his politics at home for one day, the MAGA minion dad wasn't capable of keeping his promise to his daughter, his love for MAGA Republican President Donald Trump being more important.
Tagging it a late night find, the wedding is from several years ago, but Courtney Raspor—a stay-at-home mom of three and daycare provider—shares insights on dealing with going no contact with a narcissistic parent in her content. The wedding reception clip of her father's speech was a glimpse into why they're estranged.
She shared the clip on her TikTok and Instagram.
@courtneyraspor I used the “Libreral” font on this just out of spite. #narcissisticfather #maganarcissist #narcissisticparent #weddingfail #latenightfinds
The MAGA hat wasn't the only bad decision dad made during his speech.
Raspor shared another clip on Instagram in response to a comment about the numerous MAGA members and friends of Trump getting indicted for sex crimes against children.
Raspor replied with a video of her dad thanking the DJ, then saying he had music queued up and he'd take requests, followed by "I'll Make Love To You" playing as dad grinned then looked toward the bride.
@courtneyraspor Replying to @Joshua Renshaw Should we take a vote? Is this or the MAGA hat part of the speech worse? 😳 #maganarcissist #narcissisticfather #narcissisticparent #nocontactwithparent #estrangedadultchildren




A later email exchange with dad didn't improve matters.
@courtneyraspor But he’s NOT a narcissist 🙄 “Courtney why would you post this on the internet?” Because I’m done protecting him, I’m done hiding and pretending everything’s okay, I’m done allowing him to play the martyr and allowing him space to twist the narrative in his favor and paint himself the victim time and time again. It’s about time he faces the consequences of his own actions and words. #narcissisticparent #nocontact #nocontactwithparent #maganarcissist #narcissisticfather
People were disgusted by MAGA dad's behavior, and by dad himself.















Raspor shared she has since gone no contact with her father and is much happier because of it.
When someone shows you who they are...
Arizona Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego floated the idea to name the new White House ballroom after former President Barack Obama once President Donald Trump leaves office, pointing out it would incense the notoriously thin-skinned president.
Trump recently ordered the demolition of the entire East Wing to make way for a 90,000 square-foot ballroom that will dwarf the size of the White House itself, sparking alarm from historical preservationists and the public alike.
The pet project has garnered heavy criticism in light of the ongoing government shutdown and the announcement that families will not receive SNAP benefits as of November 1. The Trump administration has also declined to release contingency funds that would ensure families that rely on these payments don't go hungry.
When asked recently if he would name the ballroom after himself, Trump denied it:
"I don't have any plan to call it after myself. That was fake news. Probably going to call it the presidential ballroom or something like that. We haven't really thought about a name yet."
Responding to a question about whether he agrees with calls from Democrats, including former congressman Joe Walsh, to demolish the ballroom as soon as Trump leaves office, Gallego said:
"I think to really mess with him, just name it the Barack Obama Ballroom, and that will take care of half the problem."
He added:
"This is a distraction. First of all, he should not have done that. This is the People's House. Two, where is the president?"
"He's focusing on the ballroom, he's focusing on everything [else], but he's not focused on what's happening right now: inflation's still high, people can't buy what they need to buy, energy's still high ... This is a Marie Antoinette talking about 'Let them eat cake' while Americans are struggling right now."
"What I would like him to do is focus on this to make sure we can actually get costs down, people can actually make a good standard of living right now and pay what they need to survive instead of focusing on all these little projects."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Many agreed that would certainly get under Trump's skin—and some even offered their own suggestions.
Considering how much Trump enjoys finding ways to attack Obama, there's no doubt renaming the ballroom would drive him up the wall.