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Heshan de Silva-Weeramuni

@heshan.bsky.social

630 followers 550 following 710 posts

Once almost an entire Olympic team. Hit all 146 MBTA T stops on 7.2.24. Visited both salt cathedrals. Runs up stairs, dances, skates. Civic organizer, comms, design, ed policy. GenX New Romantic QPR fan.📍10th Middlesex; Massachusett/Pawtucket land. 👶🏾🇱🇰👦🏾🇬🇧👨🏾🇺🇸

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Heshan de Silva-Weeramuni @heshan.bsky.social · Nov 12

Hey there! I’ve missed you. Good to have you back, but here.

Reposted by Heshan de Silva-Weeramuni

NPR @npr.org · 7m

Trump escalates pressure on Venezuela by authorizing covert CIA operations. And, a federal judge halts the Trump administration's shutdown layoffs. n.pr/3KTQb6P

Trump escalates pressure on Venezuelan drug trade. And, judge pauses shutdown layoffs

Trump escalates pressure on Venezuela by authorizing covert CIA operations. And, a federal judge halts the Trump administration's shutdown layoffs.

n.pr

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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 11h

Finally, some common sense from Oklahoma education.

Ryan Walters turned classrooms into culture war battlegrounds. Reversing his Bible mandate isn’t “anti-religion,” it’s accepting the fact that the Bible is not a history book!

Schools should teach, not preach.

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Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin @ecmclaughlin.bsky.social · 1d

The Speaker of the House thinks a naked bike ride is terrorism.

This is a sentence I never thought I’d write when I got a degree in professional writing for journalism.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 10h

Portland has fallen!

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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 2d

NO KINGS, y'all! October 18! Find a rally near you and GO!

nokings.org

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Kirsten Grady @mrskgrady.bsky.social · 21h

The GOP wants people to think they have a mandate for the authoritarian regime they’re building. Showing up on Sat shatters that illusion. That’s why they’re working hard to control the narrative. They want to discredit us because they’re afraid of our power. Time to show them the real mandate!

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Pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 8h

Also the second charges in the impeachment articles drafted against Nixon listed five abuses of power, the first of which was literally this

The second article, offered in amended form by Representative William L, Hungate, Democrat of Missouri, accused Mr. Nixon of conduct, dating back to the first year of his Administration, that allegedly violated. the rights of citizens to privacy, interfered with the proper administration of justice and used various agencies of the Government, The omnibus charge focused' specifically on the following) allegations against the government:

Attempts to use the Internal Revenue Service to initiate tax audits or obtain confidential tax data for political purposes.

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The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 10h

"Who’s assaulting who is the real question?” said Oriana Korol's dad. “She was on the sidewalk playing music when the federal officers just bumrushed the band.”

Band member accused of interfering with federal arrest of another, feds allege

"Who’s assaulting who is the real question?” said Oriana Korol's dad. “She was on the sidewalk playing music when the federal officers just bumrushed the band.”

www.oregonlive.com

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The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 10h

Oriana Korol, a clarinetist with the Unpresidented Brass Band, was arrested after a man and federal agents barreled into band members who were standing across the street from the ICE office and playing the theme from “Ghostbusters.”

Read more: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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Keith Boykin @keithboykin.bsky.social · 9h

This is their plan. If the Supreme Court lets them wipe out Black voting power in the South, Republicans will never have to leave power.

The Supreme Court Case That Could Hand the House to Republicans

www.nytimes.com

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 21h

Q: This has been reported for a while. Cory Mills was accused of beating a girlfriend in his DC apt. Are you concerned about these allegations?

JOHNSON: You have to ask Rep. Mills about that. He's been a faithful colleague. I don't know the details. Let's talk about things that are really serious

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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 9h

LA Times now confirming our earlier reporting: www.latimes.com/california/s...

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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 20h

It's somehow both wildly underreported and just out in the open that the vice president is either a neo-Nazi or, at a bare minimum, a neo-Nazi fellow traveler.

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 21h

Fascinating. Politico notes that when notified of the texts, many state-level Republicans fired or condemned these cretins. Now Vance emerges to excuse the racism, and calls the reaction to it "pearl clutching."

He seems determined to purge the party of its last enclaves of decency.

‘College Group Chat’: JD Vance Dismisses ‘Pearl Clutching’ Over Young Republicans Leak to Attack Jay Jones

Liberals hit back at Vance's blunt dismissal of racist, antisemitic and misogynistic messages leaked from a Young Republicans group chat.

www.mediaite.com

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Don Zeko @donzeko.bsky.social · 11h

This is almost literally what the English Civil War was fought over.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 12h

President Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent federal funds to pay members of the military during the government shutdown, escalating his challenge to the authority of Congress on spending matters.

Trump Signs Memo Expanding His Authority to Spend Federal Money

The president gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wide authority to repurpose funds to pay members of the military without approval from Congress, which has the sole constitutional authority to decide federal spending.

nyti.ms

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @ocasio-cortez.house.gov · 8h

House Republicans are saying that they are doing all of this work, but they are twiddling their thumbs and refusing to negotiate.

I have never seen people who hate working this much. They need to pick up the phone.

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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 8h

The conservative argumentation in the Voting Rights Act is literally "You should let us draw Black districts out of existence because our white people are all racist."

It's a "Racist voters matter" take. And the six conservatives love it....

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Jessica Kant @jessdkant.bsky.social · 22h

Agent lobs a gas canister into a residential neighborhood in Illinois for no discernible reason, gassing dozens of neighbors including a baby. The comfort with which they deploy weapons of war is unreal.

Source: www.reddit.com/r/illinois/s...

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 9h

Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.

26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
prev | next
(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.

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Universal Hub @universalhub.com · 16h

Bostonian abroad.

Robby Roadsteamer @roadsteamer.bsky.social · 20h

🚨 *Breaking News* Robby Roadsteamer has been detained by ICE Portland after singing Rod Stewart with the Portland Frog! We need your help!

Please support Robby's campaign and lawyer fees at robbyroadsteamer.com link on bio 💙🦒🦒🦒

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North Shore Progressives ❌👑 @nsprogressives.bsky.social · 20h

MA folks: Call your state legislators TODAY and urge them to pass H.2580 / S.1681.

For scripts & other resources, see:
www.progressivemass.com/issues/sca-a...

Additional background 👇🏻
miracoalition.org/news/safe-co...

#MaPoli

Progressive Mass @progressivemass.bsky.social · 3d

Massachusetts needs to pass the Safe Communities Act so that we can limit such blatant police collaboration with ICE.

We can't stop everything ICE is doing, but our state and local law enforcement should no the making their jobs easier. #mapoli

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/12/m...

Everett 13-year-old arrested by ICE and sent to Virginia detention facility - The Boston Globe

The boy’s mother, Josiele Berto, was called to pick her son up from the Everett Police Department on Thursday, the day he was arrested.

www.bostonglobe.com

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Maureen @liberallady5678.bsky.social · 18h

Hello from Back Bay, Boston.

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 18h

Meta has removed a Chicago ICE-tracking Facebook page.

The move follows Apple and Google removing ICE activity tracking apps from their app stores.

The removals came after a demand from Trump’s DOJ.

Once again, Big Tech is bending the knee to our tyrant-in-chief to protect its bottom line.

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Eliana @otrodia.bsky.social · 18h

Wondering why? popular.info/p/trumps-arg...

Trump’s Argentina bailout enriches one well-connected billionaire

A $20 billion taxpayer-funded rescue package for Argentina is a gift for a hedge fund manager with personal and professional ties to the Treasury Secretary

popular.info

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Jeff Yang @originalsp.in · 19h

ICE arrested comedian Robby Roadsteamer for singing a parody of Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” in a Jeffrey Epstein the Giraffe costume outside their facility.

He sings “If you hate brown people / and you are a Nazi” and ICE thugs grab him and drag him into detention. No violence—just speech.

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NBC10 Boston @nbcboston.com · 18h

The Supreme Court is taking up a major Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the civil rights movement, that could gut a key provision of the law that prohibits racial discrimination in redistricting. on.nbcboston.com/bGp3C71

Future of Voting Rights Act hangs in the balance at the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court appeared inclined to limit the use of the Voting Rights Act to force states to draw electoral districts favorable to minority voters.

on.nbcboston.com

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