Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Ryan Nanni @celebrityhottub.bsky.social · 3h

this is not going great

Ryan Nanni @celebrityhottub.bsky.social · Sep 4

I think this is the year I’m gonna be normal about the Eagles

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cagygibbon.bsky.social @cagygibbon.bsky.social · 5h

Not authorized by Congress so all American tax revenue is now considered the sole property of Donald Trump. Brilliant fucking job America, brilliant

David Gura @davidgura.bsky.social · 11h

Secretary Scott Bessent says the U.S. has “directly purchased Argentine pesos,” and the Treasury Department has “finalized a $20 billion currency swap framework with Argentina’s central bank.”

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Just Some Guy @utopianparallax.bsky.social · 5h

I'm sure you could have easily envisioned this guy just by reading about his repulsive conduct below, but here's Paul Ingrassia

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Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · 6h

I think I deserve some credit for saying Jaxson Dart was going to be the best quarterback in NFL history as soon I heard there was a QB named “Jaxson Dart.” I hadn’t even seen him throw a pass, sometimes you just know

Tweet by @rodger
I’m an NFL GM, I’m figuring out what team is most likely to have the No. 1 pick in the first draft Jaxson Dart is eligible for and giving them whatever they want. That’s the name of the future greatest quarterback in the history of the sport.

9/18/21

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Murph @murphtracks.bsky.social · 6h

👇

David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 14h

“I’ll kill you in front of your students.”

This is just one of the death threats that has driven @mark-bray.bsky.social to try and flee the US.

But at the airport last night, after checking in and clearing security, his booking mysteriously disappeared

www.wired.com/story/mark-b...

He Wrote a Book About Antifa. Death Threats Are Driving Him Out of the US

Rutgers historian Mark Bray is trying to flee to Spain after after an online campaign from far-right influencers was followed by death threats. He was turned back at the airport on his first attempt.

www.wired.com

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 8h

i feel like everything bari weiss does is treated like she's a network exec in 1973 when she's really just a LARPer at the helm of a particularly irrelevant brand while TV news is dying.

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 8h

New: Bari Weiss booked Hillary Clinton, Mike Pompeo, and Antony Blinken for a roundtable on Gaza, her first major move at CBS.

Notably on a CBS call today in which the panel was floated, one producer also repeatedly emphasized the need to hear from Palestinians in Gaza (Weiss did not respond).

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cagygibbon.bsky.social @cagygibbon.bsky.social · 6h

She’s a dumbass

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Jay Perk @johnathanperk.bsky.social · 6h

Republicans will also introduce a nationwide abortion ban during this period; all part of the larger Project 2025 design to remake this nation into a Christian White Nationalist ethnostate.

Think Handmaid’s Tale.

Jay Perk @johnathanperk.bsky.social · 6h

The Supreme Court will rule same-sex marriages unconstitutional during the 2026 calendar year.

Start preparing yourselves now and making plans accordingly.

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max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 8h

New: Bari Weiss booked Hillary Clinton, Mike Pompeo, and Antony Blinken for a roundtable on Gaza, her first major move at CBS.

Notably on a CBS call today in which the panel was floated, one producer also repeatedly emphasized the need to hear from Palestinians in Gaza (Weiss did not respond).

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Ⓐnarchohoodism @161bklyn.bsky.social · 6h

Fuck this weird mf!

www.commondreams.org/news/senate-...

Fetterman Joins GOP to Kill War Powers Resolution Against Trump's Extrajudicial Venezuela Bombings | Common Dreams

The Senate voted down a war powers resolution to rein in Trump's illegal boat strikes. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against it. Rand Paul, one of two Republicans to vote in favor, said...

www.commondreams.org

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Return of the Cmonstermacques @cmonmaque.bsky.social · 6h

Can’t wait for season 2 of “we own this city”. David Simon will be SHOCKED at how he could so misunderstand policing in a major American city yet again

Bolts @boltsmag.org · 6h

Chicago launched a program this year that lets police file felony gun charges without getting a prosecutor’s approval. Two of the police officers who have overseen many cases under this program have 59 misconduct complaints between them.

New Chicago Prosecutor Empowers Police to File More Charges Without Review

In a predominantly Black area of Chicago, police can now directly file gun charges without a prosecutor’s approval. The new program rolls back a process that serves to check misconduct.

boltsmag.org

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cagygibbon.bsky.social @cagygibbon.bsky.social · 7h

They aren’t happily married

Kathryn BrightBOO! 👻 @kebrightbill.bsky.social · 13h

No, WaPo, we are not doing a repeat of creating social pressure for gay people to get straight married, and no, it's not, "redefining what it means to be in a relationship."

Also, could that kiss in the thumbnail be any more awkward?

He’s gay. She’s straight. They’re happily married.

Meet the couples who are redefining what it means to be in a relationship, including those in gay-straight and same-sex platonic marriages.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Rowdy @r0wdy.sk33t.expert · 7h

Oh god this is insane. The law that James apparently broke states that she can't give up ownership of the property(ie timeshare) to rent it, which she did not. There's nothing barring her from renting the property.

I can't see how the judge doesn't toss this immediately.

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 9h

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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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 7h

@levparnas.bsky.social joins me to discuss who Trump is going to indict next after unleashing his Reeks against Comey and Letitia James.

We're Live now

thelefthook.substack.com

The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali | Substack

A political, cultural, and intellectual playground for the rest of us with writer Wajahat Ali. Click to read The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscriber...

thelefthook.substack.com

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Senator Ed Markey @markey.senate.gov · 7h

If Trump can do this to Comey and Letitia James, he can do it to anyone. This is authoritarianism. We cannot be silent.

Screenshot of headline reading: New York Attorney General Letitia James charged in fraud case after pressure campaign by Trump

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bendwalsh.bsky.social @bendwalsh.bsky.social · 12h

wtaf are you talking about

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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 10h

Congress continues to fail to check Trump’s authoritarian power.

Screenshot of a tweet from Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) reporting that the Senate rejected a measure to stop Trump from unilaterally striking Venezuelan boats, with a vote of 48–51. The tweet adds that Fetterman voted no, and Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski voted yes. The attached photo shows senators on the Senate floor during the roll call vote, with a caption bar reading: ‘Motion to Discharge S.J. Res. 83…’

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cagygibbon.bsky.social @cagygibbon.bsky.social · 11h

We need to jail every ICE agent and exile their families from America

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 16h

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

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Black Aziz Anansi @blackazizanansi.blacksky.app · 11h

These people are fucking monsters

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 16h

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

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Jay Perk @johnathanperk.bsky.social · 11h

Bro, Tylenol should sue THEE FUCK out of these people for defamation.

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 13h

Besides linking Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, RFK Jr. now says circumcision is part of the reason why kids are autistic.

"Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. None of this is positive..."

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cagygibbon.bsky.social @cagygibbon.bsky.social · 14h

Fuck that, while true let’s not lose sight of the disgusting an unamerican service men and women who are happily deploying against Americans. Every one should be tried and hung for treason. Pure cowardice

Tammy Duckworth @duckworth.senate.gov · 14h

Trump is forcing the military to our cities, intimidating Americans and distracting troops from their core missions.

It's unconstitutional—we can't act like it's business as usual.

I'm blocking the NDAA until we secure a hearing to investigate this gross abuse of our military.