Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Peg

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 49m

The Trump administration has promoted the anti-vax, anti-science movement which has now produced an epidemic www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Hundreds of U.S. students quarantined amid measles outbreaks

At least 270 unvaccinated kids are staying home from school as measles continues to spread nationwide. "Expect more," one expert said.

www.nbcnews.com

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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 10h

One of the many things I wish I had been wrong about is saying that back in the nineties, our leaders looked at climate change and said: We can’t do shit about this without measures we find unacceptable, so future generations will just have to deal with it via machine guns, fences and attack dogs.

Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsk... • 2d
"I don't think we can mitigate for climate change."
- Mícheál Martin, Taoiseach.

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Edward Nirenberg @enirenberg.bsky.social · 18h

Not enough news outlets are making it absolutely clear that last night’s RIFs are unlawful

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Just Jack @just-jack-1.bsky.social · 19h

Number of days since Republicans shut down the government to carry out their Project 2025 agenda and protect the Epstein files: Eleven.

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Peg @ethnobot.bsky.social · 20h

Please! Somebody copy this with text, “RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!“

Then join the Trump/Miller/Noem/Thiel et al resistance crowds throughout the US.

Stephen McGann @stephenmcgann.uk · Aug 15

It's what Sid would've wanted.

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 3d

As I observed in my Substack Round Up this past week, the endgame of the military strikes against drug cartels in international waters is to lay the groundwork to use lethal military force against Americans at home. Pay attention open.substack.com/pub/asharang...

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

Among many others at the CDC, the Trump regime laid off the staff of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

“The publication’s storied history includes a June 1981 report that five previously healthy gay men were treated for an unusual pneumonia — the first hint of the AIDS epidemic.”

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

www.nytimes.com

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Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 1d

They must be with Antifa.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 1d

Presented without comment, the current scene outside Union Station in DC as I got off the train.

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Peg @ethnobot.bsky.social · 1d

⬇️ Notice the eagle: pissed & ready to strike.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 1d

Kid Rock: Do you know what is stupid… these chicks running around on campuses with blue hair, five nose rings.

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Just Jack @just-jack-1.bsky.social · 1d

Only a government run by billionaires would berate its employees for not wanting to work without pay.

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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 1d

Wow.

Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 1d

Machado issues her first statement since being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and makes a thinly-veiled appeal to Trump for US intervention in Venezuela:

María Corina Machado ©
@MariaCorinaYA
Follow
This recognition of the struggle of all Venezuelans is a boost to conclude our task: to conquer Freedom.
We are on the threshold of victory and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy.
I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!
8:34 AM • 10/10/25 • 30K Views

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Peg @ethnobot.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, you can hide from man but not your conscience
You eat the bread of sorrow
Drink the wine of violence
Allow yourself to be conquered by the serpent
Why did you disobey the first commandment
~ Buju Banton, 1995

Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · 1d

Murderer, blood is on your shoulder.

Kill me today, you cannot kill I tomorrow.

youtu.be/WcP8_E8ygcA?...

Buju Banton - Murderer

YouTube video by Rastafari Jah

youtu.be

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Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · 1d

Murderer, blood is on your shoulder.

Kill me today, you cannot kill I tomorrow.

youtu.be/WcP8_E8ygcA?...

Buju Banton - Murderer

YouTube video by Rastafari Jah

youtu.be

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Peg @ethnobot.bsky.social · 1d

But did she meet with the frog brigade?

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Kimberley Johnson @kimberleyjohnson.bsky.social · 1d

It's harder for fascism to cement in a joyful, healthy community.

🌮 Lucky Shitt 🇨🇦 🇪🇺 🇲🇽 🇺🇦 @luckyshitt.bsky.social · 1d

#KEEPPORTLANDWEIRD
Axolotl! Left Shark!

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Peg @ethnobot.bsky.social · 1d

Forget the Nobel. Trump would be satisfied being recognized as the sexiest president in American history, an honor currently held by former president Barack Obama

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James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 1d

If People Magazine wants to restore their credibility, they'll recognize me as Sexiest Man Alive. I've earned it.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Scalise: "If Nobel wants to restore what used to be a once dignified prize, they can restore their credibility by awarding President Trump the Nobel Peace Prize. He's earned it."

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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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Peg @ethnobot.bsky.social · 2d

Well…
L: 7 AM today
R: Monday PM

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Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 2d

I’ve never seen anything remotely this petty charged as bank fraud.

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 2d

NEW: Here's the two-count indictment against NY AG Letitia James. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

INDICTMENT
October 2025 Term - at Alexandria, Virginia
THE GRAND JURY CHARGES THAT:
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
At all times relevant to this Indictment:
1. Letitia A. James ("JAMES) was a resident of Brooklyn, New York, and the borrower on a
Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for the property located at 3121 Peronne Avenue,
Norfolk, Virginia.
2. OVM Financial (also known as Old Virginia Mortgage / AnnieMac) was a mortgage lending business located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, engaged in the business of originating and underwriting residential mortgage loans, including those backed by the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"). OVM Financial qualified as a "financial institution" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 20(10).
3. Fannie Mae was a federally chartered corporation that purchased and guaranteed mortgages,
operating as a government-sponsored enterprise under the oversight of the Federal Housing

Finance Agency ("FHFA").
4. First Savings Bank was a state-chartered, FDIC-insured financial institution (Certificate
#29961), headquartered in Jeffersonville, Indiana, which acquired mortgage loans through assignment or acquisition. First Savings Bank qualified as a "financial institution" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 20(1).
5. On or about August 17, 2020, JAMES, as sole borrower, purchased the three (3) bedroom,
(1) bathroom property located at 3121 Peronne Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia 23509 (the
"Peronne Property"), for approximately $137,000, financed with a mortgage loan of approximately $109,600 (Loan #4430025978) backed by Fannie Mae.
6. The loan was originated by OVM Financial under a signed Second Home Rider, which required JAMES, as the sole borrower to occupy and use the property as her secondary residence, and prohibited its use as a timesharing or other shared ownership arrangement or agreement that requires her either to rent the property or give any other person any control over the occupancy or use of the property.
7. Despite these representations, the Peronne Property was not occupied or used by JAMES as a secondary residence and was instead used as a rental investment property, renting the property to a family of (3).
8. This misrepresentation allowed JAMES to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties, including a note rate of 3.000% (avoiding a 0.815% higher
comparable investment property rate of 3.815%, resulting in approximately $17,837 in rate savings over the life of the loan), a seller credit of approximately $3,288 (exceeding the seller credit for investment properties by approximately $1,096), for total ill-gotten gains of approximately $18,933 over the life of the loan.
9. JAMES' Universal Property application for homeowners' insurance indicated "owner-

occupied non-seasonal use," further misrepresenting the intended use of the property.
10. JAMES filed Schedule E tax forms), under penalties of perjury, treating the Perrone Property as rental real estate, reporting fair rental days, zero personal use days, thousand(s)
of dollars in rents received, and claiming deductions for expenses relating to the property, further contradicting the second home classification.
11. The loan was acquired by or assigned to First Savings Bank by March 2021, exposing it to risks associated with the misrepresented loan.
12. The acts described herein occurred within the Eastern District of Virginia.
COUNT ONE
(Bank Fraud - 18 U.S.C. § 1344)
13. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 12 are re-alleged and incorporated herein.
14. From on or about August 7, 2020, through at least January 2024, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, the Defendant, LETITIA A. JAMES, did knowingly execute and attempt to execute a scheme and artifice to defraud OVM Financial and First Savings Bank,
financial institutions, and to obtain moneys, funds, and credits owned by and under the custody and control of OVM Financial and First Savings Bank by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.
15. The scheme involved falsely representing the Peronne Property as a secondary residence to obtain favorable mortgage terms, while using it as an investment property with no intended
or actual personal occupancy or use by her.
(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344).
COUNT TWO
(False Statements to a Financial Institution - 18 U.S.C. § 1014)
16. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 12 are re-alleged and incorporated herein.

17. From on or about July 28, 2020, through at least August 31, 2020, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, the Defendant, LETITIA A. JAMES, did knowingly make and cause to be made false statements and reports for the purpose of influencing the action of OVM Financial, a Fannie Mae-backed lender, upon an application for a loan, in that JAMES represented and affirmed in uniform residential loan applications and related documents that
the Peronne Property would be used as a secondary residence, when in truth and fact, as JAMES then knew, the property was intended and used as an investment property with no intended or actual personal occupancy or use by her.
(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1014).
FORFEITURE NOTICE
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2(a) and Title 18, U.S.C. §
982(a)(2)(A), upon conviction of the offenses in Counts One and Two, the Defendant, Letitia
A. James, shall forfeit to the United States any property constituting, or derived from, proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of such violations, including but not limited to a money judgment in the amount of $18,933.
If any of the property described above, as a result of any act or omission of the Defendant: (a) cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence; (b) has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party; (c) has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court; (d) has been substantially diminished in value; or (e) has been commingled with other property which cannot be divided without difficulty, the United States shall be entitled to a forfeiture of substitute property pursuant to Title 21, U.S.C. § 853(b), as incorporated by Title
18 U.S.C. § 982(b)(1).
(In accordance with Title 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C) and 982(a)(1); Title 28, U.S.C. § 2461(c); and Title 21 U.S.C. § 853(p).)

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Peg @ethnobot.bsky.social · 2d

Nothing more gorgeous from the fall garden than purple swiss chard, served w sliced golden beets.
It’s the supper vegetable dish, probably including a good chunk of butter.

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Peg @ethnobot.bsky.social · 2d

🤯

Jacob Shamsian @jayshams.bsky.social · 2d

I've been wondering why Dominion Voting Systems suddenly reached settlements with Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and One America News.

Turns out, it's been purchased by a Republican-owned election tech firm that insisted on it, per Axios.

www.axios.com/2025/10/09/d...

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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 2d

Trump promised a health care plan TEN YEARS AGO and has never come up with one. Unless you consider it a "health care plan" when you cut health care and use the savings to give rich people a tax cut.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Thune: "The president would like to overhaul Obamacare and give people health insurance that is higher quality and more affordable."

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2d

CHICAGO — Outside an elementary school during dismissal… horrifying. What have we become?

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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 2d

you'd think a prominent news outlet like the New York Times might mention that "antifa" isn't an actual organization in a long story about antifa, but nope!

and the subhead helps props up a false claim this professor was up to something seedy as something up for debate

NYT headline: "Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats"

subheadline: "Mark Bray was teaching courses on antifascism. Turning Point USA accused him of belonging to antifa, which he denies. His flight to Spain was canceled abruptly on Wednesday night."

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