Kate Peeples, Ph.D.

NOOOOOO

I hate Duke. I hate the CFP. I am cranky and going to bed.

AHHHHHH CARDIAC CAVS!!! That was insane

This is the first year in forever that I’ve made serious efforts to watch Virginia football. I generally don’t even like football; I’m a hoops fan. SO OF COURSE THEY ARE GOING TO BREAK MY HEART.

Worst part is DUKE SHOULDN’T EVEN BE HERE.

a man wearing an orange shirt that says crew on it Alt: a young male Virginia fan wearing an orange shirt that says hoo crew on it, hunched over a brick wall in an expression of defeat and exhaustion

I realize that this is absolutely NOT an actual, real problem, but WHYYYY IS UVA LOSING TO DUKE RIGHT NOW.

Fuck, this is depressing.

Higher ed is dying an excruciating death.

50 years after the birth of special education, some fear for its future under Trump The Trump administration has fired, or tried to fire, many of the federal staff who manage and enforce federal disability law in schools.

"Fifty years ago, Ed Martin helped write the law that made clear to all states and all public schools: Children with disabilities deserve better. The law, he says, was "an affirmation of the values of the country."

He hopes that's still true."

www.npr.org/2025/12/03/n...

Weakening the IDEA Threatens Millions of Disabled Americans Like Me Ives-Rublee: Federal law made it possible for disabled students like me to go to school. Those opportunities may vanish for the next generation.

Saturday was the 50th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). I wrote about how the law helped make me who I am today and how losing it's protections may stifle the talent of generations of disabled individuals after me. www.the74million.org/article/weak...

“Life is a gamble, at terrible odds—if it were a bet you wouldn't take it.”

-Tom Stoppard,
“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead”

Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.

The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.

Meta buried 'causal' evidence of social media harm, US court filings allege - The Economic Times Meta reportedly halted internal research into the mental health impacts of Facebook and Instagram after finding causal evidence of harm. Internal documents revealed users reported lower depression and...

“Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users’ mental health, according to unredacted filings in a lawsuit by U.S. school districts against Meta and other social media platforms.”

ICYMI
Our Department of Education, which is helmed by a woman connected to a scandal involving child abuse, who was appointed by a man connected to a scandal involving child abuse, is now refusing to recognize the professions of our country’s mandated reporters of… child abuse.

Sign on telephone pole. Text “the only out of towners not welcome here is ICE”

Three blocks from my house. Hell yes Durham North Carolina

So Harvard is keeping this guy, but Claudine Gay had to step down over ginned up plagiarism accusations and bad-faith accusations of anti-Semitism.

Got it.

Donald Trump Snaps at Female Reporter Who Asks About Epstein Files: 'Quiet Piggy' Donald Trump Says 'Quiet Piggy' to Female Reporter Asking About Epstein Files

"When an off-camera female reporter... began to ask if there was anything 'incriminating' in the Epstein emails, Trump pointed a finger in her face. 'Quiet. Quiet, Piggy,' he said menacingly."

Tell me again how it's women who are ruining the workplace?

people.com/donald-trump...

Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.

It's a surreal--and troubling--read.

drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...

My gosh this is great (and by “great” I mean both 🤣 and 🤦🏻‍♀️)

As a neuroscientist, I’d suggest there is a profound disconnect between what *some* computer scientists think is representative of “intelligence”, cognitive ability, or descriptions of consciousness from some in AI work.

LLMs are not how neural systems process information, nor how brains function.

“On and on he went, a truly deranged lunatic.” 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

How one legal team is building support for people with cognitive disabilities The Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office has an unusual unit at its office: A team dedicated to working with defendants who have cognitive disabilities. The office helps these people access treatment.

The Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office has an unusual unit at its office: A team dedicated to working with defendants who have cognitive disabilities. The office helps these people access treatment. n.pr/4oj2jNz

There’s (sadly) not much hope or relief to be found in NC politics these days, but AG Jackson and the NCDOJ are fighting all the good fights.

THE
CRUELTY
IS
THE
POINT.

Help ProPublica Report on Education ProPublica needs your help to track how the upheaval of public education is affecting schools and colleges in your community. Take a few minutes to join our source network and help guide our coverage.

Educators & parents:
• Are public schools in your area losing funding or changing curriculum?
• Are low-income, ESL or disabled students losing access to programs?
• Are more families in your area sending students to private schools?

Help us report ⬇️

Wahoowa!

Special education isn't a "nice thing to have." It isn't "charity" or doing something to make us feel better. It is a right. The right to a Free Appropriate Public Education is codified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, signed by a Republican president.

Happy Indigenous People's Day

The end of federal enforcement of special ed laws. Some states - including MN - will likely be ok. But a lot of disabled kids in a lot of states are going to lose the education that federal law and decades of jurisprudence say they are owed.

If you work in the Office of Special Education for the Department of Education and have been RIF'ed or if you work in a school that has been notified about it, please message me. My Signal is emgarcia.85. I'll protect your identity.

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.