Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 8h

The deportation order is based on Vedam’s conviction for murder—a crime he did not actually commit and for which he’s now been wholly exonerated. He entered the US at 9 months old and was a legal permanent resident before his conviction. We are so, so, so far from the light of justice.

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 19h

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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Erin Fogg says Free Link @criminalerin.bsky.social · 8h

The closing 'graph is a real kick in the teeth

"In the likely absence of federal wraparound services for students with disabilities, Wright-Gallo recommended that parents and advocates start paying more attention to support systems at the local and state level."

USA TODAY @usatoday.com · 1d

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

bit.ly

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Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 19h

Just a reminder that Wikipedia is the only remaining reliable source of information that right wing billionaires can't control. (Although they'll never stop trying.)

Please donate to them whenever you can. Even a little bit helps.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 16h

About a month ago, the Trump administration got rid of the de minimis exemption, whereby packages valued under $800 could slide in without import duties. Now there's a backlog as the government can't process all of this paperwork, leading to UPS just destroying packages

Business Insider headline reads: UPS is telling customers that their packages coming to the US are marked for destruction.

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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 22h

Seeing a lot of celebration of this as a win.

But at NIH we have seen this exact play before.

It looks like it is the Vought strategy -and to stop the lawless firings we have to see the bigger picture.
A 🧵:

Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error

www.nytimes.com

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Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 23h

BREAKING: Some of the layoffs at CDC are being REVERSED.
Here is my updated story.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

More than 1,000 CDC staff receive layoff notices during government shutdown

Another round of mass layoffs has struck CDC. The agency had already been cut during a reorganization this year, and more employees are now being shed amid the government shutdown.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 1d

I know Trump and his minions all have sneering contempt for kids with special needs, but trust me when I say that their parents will absolutely fucking destroy anyone who messes with the special education supports to which they are entitled by law.

Sara Partridge, Ph.D. @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 1d

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.

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Madalsa @madalsa.org · 15d

At the Nicholas Roerich Museum, since I can’t go to the Himalayas.

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Melissa Ryan @melissaryan.bsky.social · 1d

This one will hit the red states especially hard. Blue state systems will for the most part work to ensure kids with special needs have access to public education. The red states will leave families to sort it for themselves.

Sara Partridge, Ph.D. @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 1d

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.

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Disability Rights Watch (US) @disrightswatch.bsky.social · 1d

Breaking: per internal sources, the entire Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), including OSEP and RSA beneath them, was RIFed last night at the Department of Ed. Developing story. DoEd union says may take 1-2 days for all affected employees to receive official notice.

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Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 1d

The CDC official who was leading the measles response and was RIFd has more than 28 yrs experience as the senior USG official leading outbreaks on Ebola, Marburg virus, and mpox. 2/4

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Penelope Wang @pennywriter.bsky.social · 1d

The telehealth and in-home hospital care programs were both temporary options for Medicare recipients, allowing providers to bill Medicare for care generally only available in facilities. The shutdown has prevented Congress from extending them.
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/shut...

Shutdown forces Medicare patients off popular telehealth and hospital-at-home programs

The federal government shutdown is forcing a reckoning for two remote health care programs because they automatically expired Oct. 1. The telehealth and in-home hospital care programs were both tempor...

www.newsfromthestates.com

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Hyperallergic @hyperallergic.com · 2d

Bob Ross created thousands of paintings on PBS’s ”The Joy of Painting.” Now, 30 of his works are being sold at auction to benefit public broadcasters suffering under President Trump’s federal funding cuts.

30 Bob Ross Paintings Head to Auction to Support Public Media

The happy little fundraiser will benefit broadcasters affected by Trump’s funding cuts.

hyperallergic.com

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 1d

Trump’s immigration crackdown is risking higher food prices for Americans, according to the Trump admin itself.  DOL warned in an obscure document last week that “near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens” is threatening “stability of domestic food production and prices for US consumers.”

Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices

U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Matthew Dowd @matthewjdowd.bsky.social · 1d

happy bday Eleanor Roosevelt, b.1884, NYC.

“I believe that democracy is based on the ability to make democracy serve the good of the majority of the people. If it can’t do that, then it should not survive.”

“If silence seems to give approval, then remaining silent is cowardly.”

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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 1d

I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.

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Rabih Alameddine @rabihalameddine.bsky.social · 3d

Shoda Koho, Canal Under the Moonlight, 1930

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Cathy Gellis @cathygellis.bsky.social · 1d

Behold an extremely timely Techdirt post...

(just went up)

www.techdirt.com/2025/10/10/i...

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 1d

Here's a neat trick they teach in authoritarianism school: If you purge the people who measure the effects of your policies (BLS, MMWR), you can just claim everything's great, and nobody can prove how much damage you're doing.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 2d

BREAKING: White House budget office says "substantial" firings of federal workers have started as the Trump administration exerts shutdown leverage.

Budget office says 'substantial' firings of federal workers have started in government shutdown

The White House budget office says that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.

bit.ly

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Penelope Wang @pennywriter.bsky.social · 2d

Normally, 2026 increases for Social Security checks, 401(k) contributions, and more would be available next week. Now they may be delayed. (gift link)
www.wsj.com/personal-fin...

Why the Next CPI Report Is Important for Social Security Checks, Bonds and 401(k)s

Furloughed federal workers are being recalled to issue the monthly inflation report that was due out next week.

www.wsj.com

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meh 🎃 @mharvey816.bsky.social · 2d

They're destroying packages. On purpose this time. Wow.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Matthew Wasserbach, brokerage manager of Express Customs Clearance, said of the UPS backlog. “It’s totally unprecedented.”

@cnbc.com $UPS
www.nbcnews.com/business/bus...

UPS is 'disposing of' U.S.-bound packages over customs paperwork problems

Shifting Trump tariffs have created a nightmare for UPS, as thousands of packages from overseas pile up at its hubs while they await customs clearance.

www.nbcnews.com

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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 2d

Picture how big the Hoover Dam is. An absolute unit. The Hoover Dam has a power capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW).

The solar farm that the Admin just cancelled could have produces 6.2 GW of power. That's more than 3 Hoover Dams.

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 2d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 2d

Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - her incredible optimism has already changed her country. I spoke to her, and wrote about her, at the beginning of this year:
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The ‘Anthropological Change’ Happening in Venezuela

Maduro is still in place, but a pro-democracy movement is transforming the beleaguered country.

www.theatlantic.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2d

Immigrant Nobel Prize winners exiting the United States

Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 2d

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7

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