Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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delrayser @delrayser.bsky.social · 2h

everything is on fire these days, sure, but how is it that 50% of all news stories are not about how I just spent $20 on a bag of store brand coffee at fucking costco

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Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 2h

Just in case anyone is still holding on out of nostalgia for what it used to be.

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 2h

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hairgae.bsky.social @hairgae.bsky.social · 1d

Here is the article for those who don’t subscribe to the New York Times. www.newsweek.com/mark-bray-ru...

Rutgers professor accused of being 'antifa aligned' relocates to Spain

Mark Bray is uprooting his family after a Turning Point USA petition accused him of being “antifa aligned” over a book he wrote.

www.newsweek.com

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Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 1d

"At the Vatican Wednesday, Pope Leo urged bishops to 'speak strongly' on behalf of immigrants affected by Trump’s deportation drive.

The pope met privately Tuesday with 100 American Catholics involved in migrant ministry, thanking them for their work..."

www.thedailybeast.com/pope-leo-ram...

Pope Leo Ramps Up His Trump Feud With Order to American Bishops

The Chicago-born pontiff has sharpened his criticism of the Trump administration and reportedly decided to take action.

www.thedailybeast.com

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Timothy Burke @bubbaprog.xyz · 3h

nothing like Republicans reacting to Bad Bunny, an American who was born in the United States and has lived his whole life here, by creating an "All-American" alternative Super Bowl halftime show

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Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 11h

Welcome to the resistance, uh...

[squints]

...Marjorie Taylor Greene?

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Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 3d

"“If the deputy director wants to do something and needs a legal opinion about whether or not he can do it, he can’t advise himself...”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...

C.I.A. Deputy Director Has Replaced Agency’s Top Legal Official With Himself

www.nytimes.com

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 3d

Doing some back of the napkin math on the Free Press acquisition, I've determined The Onion is worth $2 trillion.

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Katelyn Boo-urns @katelynburns.com · 3h

Oh

Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 10h

Netanyahu's mouthpiece, Amit Segal, casually admits on Twitter that his country has been holding 1,700 people from Gaza hostage, including children.

Among other things, according to the decision:

- 250 security prisoners will be released.
- 1,700 residents of the Gaza Strip who were not involved in the events of October 7 and were arrested after the massacre will be released.
- 22 minors under the age of 18, residents of the Gaza Strip who were not involved in the events of October 7 and were arrested after the massacre, will be released.
- 360 bodies of terrorists will be returned.

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Joe Sudbay @joesudbay.bsky.social · 3h

Cassidy was only R to vote with Dems - Collins is sticking with her President, of course

Cortez Masto, Cruz, Tillis didn't vote

Jamie Dupree @jamiedupree.bsky.social · 3h

The Senate has defeated a plan from Democrats to block President Trump's use of National Guard troops in various cities - if local officials oppose their deployment from other states.

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Ray Beckerman @raybeckerman.bsky.social · 4h

Hegseth's Pentagon witch hunt snares hundreds of Kirk critics www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...

Hegseth's Pentagon witch hunt snares hundreds of Kirk critics

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has exhausted Pentagon and taxpayer resources to investigate nearly 300 of his own employees to find anyone who doesn’t align with President Donald Trump.� ...

www.dailykos.com

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ACLU @aclu.org · 3h

All servicewomen serving in combat roles already have to meet stringent gender-neutral physical standards.

But Secretary Hegseth is intent on smearing those women as unqualified — and pushing all women out of military service.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Moves to Push Women Out of the Military

From eliminating the Pentagon’s gender advisory committee to misrepresenting women’s combat readiness, Hegseth’s record shows a clear campaign against women in uniform.

www.aclu.org

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 3h

Here is the actual TRO:

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 3h

BREAKING: Federal judge issues TRO following a second day of hearings, blocking the Trump administration from “ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois” from now through Oct. 23. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION
STATE OF ILLINOIS, a sovereign state; and the CITY OF CHICAGO, an Illinois municipal corporation,
Plaintiffs,
Case No. 25-cv-12174
Judge April M. Perry
V.
DONALD J. TRUMP, in his official capacity as President of the United States; DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; KRISTI NOEM, in her official capacity as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security;
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE; PETER B.
HEGSETH, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Department of Defense; UNITED STATES ARMY; DANIEL P. DRISCOLL, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Army,
Defendants.
TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
This Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order, Doc. 3, and
ORDERS as follows:
1. Defendants,' their officers, agents, assigns entered, and all persons acting in concert with them, are temporarily enjoined from ordering the federalization and deployment of the
National Guard of the United States within Illinois.
2. This Temporary Restraining Order is at 5:55 P.M. central time on this 9th day of October
2025 and expires on October 23, 2025 at 11:59 P.M.
'President Trump, one of the name Defendants, is not enjoined by this Order.

3. Within two (2) calendar days of entry of this Temporary Restraining Order, Plaintiffs
shall post a nominal bond of $100. The bond shall be filed in the Clerk's Office and be
deposited into the registry of the Court.
4. Defendants' Request to Stay or Administratively Stay the Temporary Restraining Order,
Doc. 62 at 58, is DENIED.
5. A telephone hearing will be held on October 22, 2025, at 9:00 A.M. to address whether
this Temporary Restraining Order should be extended for an additional fourteen (14)
calendar days.
Dated: October 9, 2025
Coul MPeray.
APRIL M. PERRY
United States District Judge
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Shelley Powers @burningbird.net · 3h

I would be surprised if the judge doesn't dismiss

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Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 5h

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

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 6h

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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Ray Beckerman @raybeckerman.bsky.social · 4h

White House’s Chicago “Chaos” Video Is Really From a Red State newrepublic.com/post/201581/...

White House’s Chicago “Chaos” Video Is Really From a Red State

The White House has been caught faking unrest in Chicago.

newrepublic.com

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Ray Beckerman @raybeckerman.bsky.social · 4h

GOP Rep Says Rural Areas Will Just Have to Deal With Hospitals Closing newrepublic.com/post/201546/...

GOP Rep Says Rural Areas Will Just Have to Deal With Hospitals Closing

Representative Mike Flood isn’t worried about the fact that Donald Trump’s bill will force hospitals to close.

newrepublic.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 4h

This is the genius of the Portland protests - they make the claims of lawlessness look not just wrong, but comical

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 7h

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 17h

It cannot be made clearer.

If you continue to support the Harry Potter franchise in any way, you are directly funding the removal of trans people's human rights in the UK.

JK Rowling pledges to keep up fight against SNP trans policies

Author vows to bankroll campaigners after Scottish government fails to pay group's legal fees in Supreme Court equality case

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Physicians for a Healthy Democracy @physiciandemocracy.medsky.social · 7h

@mluckovich.bsky.social

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Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 10h

A federal judge just asked the government if they're the cause of the violence in Chicago - whether this is of their own making.

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 10h

Perry asks directly whether the feds started the alleged violence in Chicago.

She asks whether it matters if the inability to execute the law was "caused by the federal agents."

Hamilton: "No, your honor."