Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 1m

Reposted by Kevin

darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 4h

the republican majority leader with a clear vision for the democratic party

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9h

Thune: "If the Democrats had won the majority, they probably would've tried to nuke the filibuster. And then you'd have four new senators from Puerto Rico and DC, you'd have a packed Supreme Court, you'd have abortion on demand ... "

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Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 3h

Every single Chicagoland parent is being radicalized as school districts send mass texts warning about ICE activities.

Reposted by Kevin

Reuters @reuters.com · 4h

BREAKING: The US will slap an additional 100% tariff on imports from China and impose export controls on all critical US-made software from November 1, President Donald Trump said reut.rs/48lhYXC

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Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 4h

🚨 BLACK MONDAY ALERT 🚨

FinTwitter @fintwitter.bsky.social · 4h

BITCOIN LAST DOWN 5.5% AT $114505 AS OF 4:58 PM ET

Reposted by Kevin

FinTwitter @fintwitter.bsky.social · 4h

BITCOIN LAST DOWN 5.5% AT $114505 AS OF 4:58 PM ET

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Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 4h

China can inflict maximum pain on Trump via BTC. While leaving general population mostly untouched. Galaxy brain move to smoke crypto.

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Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 7h

in general this admin seems to not understand why executing hostages *lowers* your leverage instead of raising it

Ben McAdams Memorial Act. but on BlueSky @purrtah.bsky.social · 8h

Yea fuck this keep it closed down come hell or high water

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 6h

a friend of mine in antifa told me that antifa's headquarters is SHEIN and if the company fell the whole network would fall

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Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 7h

They hate the troops.

Politico @politico.com · 8h

A Democratic effort to pass a bill paying active-duty military members during the shutdown was blocked on the House floor by the GOP.

Democratic troop pay bill blocked in House amid shutdown

GOP leaders are seeking to keep pressure on Democrats to reopen the whole government.

www.politico.com

Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 7h

Say less fam

Yahoo Finance @yahoofinance.com · 8h

Connecticut governor warns a Mamdani win could rattle Wall Street

Lamont points to Connecticut's economic strengths but warns Mamdani's agenda could unsettle the region's financial hub.

yhoo.it

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 8h

Among the long list of political adversaries President Trump has targeted in his second term are several Black women in powerful positions. Attorney General Letitia James of New York, who brought a civil case against Trump and won, is the latest.

Letitia James Is Among Prominent Black Women Targeted by Trump

Fani T. Willis, a district attorney who brought election interference charges against Mr. Trump, and Lisa Cook, who serves on the Federal Reserve Board, have also been investigated.

nyti.ms

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Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · 9h

A five-point-five billion Trump golf course in Qatar, and Qatar gets an air base in Idaho.

New Trump Golf Course, $5.5 Billion Beachside Project Announced for Qatar

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Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 8h

Just wait till 2028

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9h

Thune: "If the Democrats had won the majority, they probably would've tried to nuke the filibuster. And then you'd have four new senators from Puerto Rico and DC, you'd have a packed Supreme Court, you'd have abortion on demand ... "

Reposted by Kevin

The Birds The Turtles and The Beast @turtlebee.bsky.social · 9h

The Frog Costume has gone from $25 to almost $40 on amazon over the last week. There's an army brewing.

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Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 12h

Bleeding Kansas is now bleeding Chicago

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 13h

Might feel like an inversion of the Civil War, but less than you might think. The federal government was thoroughly in the hands of the Slave Power in the 1850s. States resisted the Fugitive Slave Act; Dred Scott was SCOTUS. Secession happened b/c they wouldn't accept losing that control in 1860.

Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 13h

Republican Governors Eagerly Join Trump’s Military Campaign Against Blue Cities
theintercept.com/2025/10/09/r...

Republican Governors Eagerly Join Trump’s Military Campaign Against Blue Cities

An Intercept analysis finds nearly every Republican governor has deployed National Guard members to aid Trump’s domestic military agenda.

theintercept.com

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Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 13h

Headline: Thiel calls the pope Leo an antichrist.

Michael Derby @michaelsderby.bsky.social · 14h

Conservative tech lord Thiel said tighter financial regulations “were a sign that a singular world government has begun to emerge that could be taken over by an Antichrist figure who could then use it to exert control over people.” Via WashPost

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction

In leaked recordings of private lectures by tech billionaire Peter Thiel he argued that “the Antichrist” is likely to take the form of a critic of technology.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 1d

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

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 1d

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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Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 1d

Credit to local Wisconsin comedian Charlie Berens and his viral TikTok on this project

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

Microsoft pulls the plug on a 244-acre data-center project in Wisconsin — after local opposition.

“.. I think they heard the message.”

$MSFT
www.jsonline.com/story/money/...

Reposted by Kevin

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

Microsoft pulls the plug on a 244-acre data-center project in Wisconsin — after local opposition.

“.. I think they heard the message.”

$MSFT
www.jsonline.com/story/money/...

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Reposted by Kevin

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 1d

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

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Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 1d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 1d

First he axes the MAGA superintendent, now this. Fence sitters starting to jump…

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

“.. the first time a Republican governor has questioned the interstate deployment of National Guard troops over a governor’s objections.”

@nytimes.com #OKgov
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

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Kevin @acrossthecurve.bsky.social · 1d

Keep grinding, keep running the ball 🏈. The defensive line is crumbling.

H. John Tran @johnhtran.bsky.social · 1d

The shutdown was meant to show strength.
Now the crowd’s turning.

Polls blame Trump and the GOP; patience made Democrats the quiet winners.
Even Republicans are cracking over paychecks, troops, and care.

Every empire learns the same lesson - the show ends when the crowd stops clapping.