Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Will Li

Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 3h

2/ Democrats aren't going to vote for a budget that throws millions off health care and funds Trump's growing totalitarianism. At least I'm not.

Why work so hard to get to the Senate if you don't use your power to fight for what you believe in? Especially at a time like this.

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Reposted by Will Li

Sam Shirazi @samshirazi.bsky.social · 2h

Special bonus Federal Fallout pod out this morning

Interview with @pwcdanica.bsky.social

Senator Roem talks about Emerge Virginia and candidate training

Then goes over House of Delegates races, serving in General Assembly, and the Manassas battlefield

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

Bonus Episode: State Senator Danica Roem on Emerge Virginia

Podcast Episode · Federal Fallout: The 2025 Virginia Elections · 10/14/2025 · 41m

podcasts.apple.com

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 8h

Consider it done

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 8h

I don’t exactly know why people fail to develop the vocabulary to be deeper and more complex readers, but there is definitely a feedback loop here - when you teach someone the vocabulary it often is enough to get them to read more and more complex texts. But someone usually has to start them.

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 8h

There are a lot of surface-level readers out there who are very capable of feelings that approximate deeper reading (comparisons between works, understanding themes, foreshadowing, the broader significance of textual references), but they never learn how to articulate those feelings into words.

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 9h

I think so too!

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 10h

Oh it’s definitely my friend Mike covering You Can Call Me Al.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPd_...

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 10h

The googly eyes really make this

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 11h

Like, look at this. Each point scoring or losing play can be reacted to or commented on, and people do.

This can’t possibly be good for us as a society.

Screenshot of a Yahoo! Fantasy football app screen. Each scoring play has reactions and comments available.

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 11h

I still found a use for them, but…every time I use one I get a little sheepish

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 11h

Who the hell has time to laugh react on a fantasy site’s screen within a screen within a screen, and then reply to someone else’s comment, when Bijan Robinson gains two yards?

Are these real people?

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 11h

Exhibit 800 to “sports microbetting a social detriment on levels we don’t fully appreciate:”

I’m checking my fantasy team (free league w/ friends) and y’all, in Yahoo! you can click into an individual player’s profile and each time they gain or lose points you can comment or react, and people DO.

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 12h

This reminds me of the time I bought 100 sheets of a speciality paper (and I thought it was a phenomenal deal) and instead of 12 inches by 10 inches in size, each was 12 cm by 10 cm.

It happens to the best of us. And me.

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 15h

I think 80% of the value of reading classics is trying to figure out context! If someone is going just try to pick up say, Paradise Lost, and read it, they’re missing the real value, which is to try to discern what tf Milton was going on about.

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Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 16h

These are the same kind of weasels who would’ve called George Washington & America’s revolutionaries “terrorists.” They spend their days sucking up to King Trump & demonizing peaceful protest just as some in America sought to appease King George III.

Looking forward to No Kings Day.

Johnson describes planned No Kings rally as ‘hate America,’ ‘pro-Hamas’ gathering

Organizers largely blew off the rhetoric, but some Democrats online criticized the tone.

www.politico.com

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 15h

Got it, understood!

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 15h

Ooh, was this in People v Hall? There several around that time period that are hot garbage

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 18h

Reminder, this does not mean these publications are going to grow a backbone.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 19h

Breaking news: The Washington Post joined the New York Times, CNN and the Atlantic in refusing to sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new press policy, citing First Amendment concerns.

Prominent news outlets reject Pentagon rules before signing deadline

The Washington Post and other major news outlets have refused to sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new press policy, citing First Amendment concerns.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 23h

Loss of federal support can create an avalanche on
other systems, so the real question is how to mitigate that and build systems back up.

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 23h

Taking federal out of that equation is going to put a burden on the other providers, and saying parents may need to pay attention to state and local support systems is an understatement. In some cases they may need to get more involved, help sustain, or simply create them.

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 23h

start paying more attention to support systems at the local and state level.”

This is a little hard to understand, because wraparound services is a term of art (basically, it means, individualized services that deploy resources from different levels - family, community, local, federal).

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 23h

This is a good article, and glad the union is quoted at length. One thing to highlight at the end:

“In the likely absence of federal wraparound services for students with disabilities, Wright-Gallo recommended that parents and advocates…

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 1d

U.S. Department of Education fired nearly everyone in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in a wave of new layoffs that began Friday, according to the union representing the agency's employees. www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...

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.

www.usatoday.com

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 1d

Why do you think the evil pond killed Dave?

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 1d

The corpus of Third Amendment scholarship that accounts for vampires is virtually nonexistent, in this Note I will…..

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Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · 1d

bsky.app/profile/will...

Will Li @williamlidc.bsky.social · Aug 18

Broccoli has an IQ of 10!

Screenshot from a cartoon sushi episode featuring an anthropomorphic broccoli standing in behind a game show podium, it has yellow eyes with red pupils and big bushy green hair. The name on the podium reads “broccoli.”

An announcer with hair that is greying at the temples wearing a blue suit stand next to broccoli.

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