Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ignacio GHOULup-Diaz

Kelly Barnhill @kellybarnhill.bsky.social · 6h

We are in the most embarrassing timeline

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 6h

“The Nobel Committee is an independent body and the Norwegian government has no involvement in determining the prizes. But I’m not sure Trump knows that. We have to be prepared for anything from him.”

That they have to say this...

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Norway braces for Trump’s reaction if he does not win Nobel peace prize

US president may impose tariffs, demand higher Nato contributions or even declare Norway an enemy, analyst says

www.theguardian.com

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J. Offir, PhD @joffirphd.bsky.social · 6h

🚨 You can do something to prevent this disaster. Call your Senators - Republican ones as well as the Democrats; we need them - and tell them you only want a Surgeon General who respects & promotes evidence-based medical science, & you need them to vote NO on the confirmation of grifter Casey Means.

J. Offir, PhD @joffirphd.bsky.social · 6h

Mini essay 🧵: I've posted about this grifter nominee for Surgeon General before, & about *why* this admin. gravitates to such awful people: Means, like Dr. Oz & RFK himself, doesn't just hawk products; she sells both the idea that people are to blame...

1/20

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

She left the medical mainstream and rose to be RFK Jr.’s surgeon general pick

Casey Means, the surgeon general nominee, has criticized the medical establishment. She could be put in position to change it.

www.washingtonpost.com

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JLMeyer 🐰 @jenniferlmeyer.bsky.social · 6h

Witch bat is off to which class..?

#NightSchool #sketchbook #art

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 6h

No money flowing to USAID and hardly any to PEPFAR despite their duly enacted funding; well north of twenty billion dollars being deployed for other weird hair autocrats. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The U.S. just bailed out Argentina, treasury secretary confirms

The U.S. Treasury has finalized a financial rescue of Argentina, including a currency swap arrangement with the country’s central bank.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Michelle 🪷🇲🇽🇺🇸🌵 @chicana74.bsky.social · 1d

This headline 🤣🤣🤣

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Ada Lovelace Day @adalovelaceday.bsky.social · 6h

Hao Yichun was a pioneer in the fields of stratigraphy, micropaleontology and paleoceanography. She co-authored Paleontology, China’s first textbook on the subject, and deepened understanding of foraminifera, single-celled organisms found in seawater.
adalovelaceday.subst...

Prof Hao Yichun, Palaeontologist

Hao Yichun was a Chinese geologist who was a pioneer in the fields of stratigraphy, micropaleontology and paleoceanography, and a co-author of China’s first palaeontology textbooks.

adalovelaceday.substack.com

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Norin 🦈 🔜 Twitchcon @mahoukarp.com · 6h

diagnosis 🦈
#art #sharks

Illustration of some mako sharks with the words IBS which stands for "I BE SHARK"

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 6h

practically a requirement for this administration to be a sex pest

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 7h

"30-year-old conservative lawyer and activist who is Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, which deals with federal employee whistleblower complaints and discrimination" cancelled his colleague's hotel room so she would be forced to stay with him.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

In late July, Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, arrived at a Ritz-Carlton in Orlando with a lower-ranking female colleague and others from their department. When the group reached the front desk, the woman learned she didn’t have a hotel room.

Ingrassia then informed her that she would be staying with him, according to five administration officials familiar with the episode. Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him, three of those officials said.

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Carly @nautiluscarly.bsky.social · 17h

My pandemic kitten in 2020.

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 7h

Marwan Barghouti not part of prisoner-hostage exchange ‘at this point,’ Israel says

english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-...

Marwan Barghouti not part of prisoner-hostage exchange ‘at this point,’ Israel says

An Israeli government spokeswoman on Thursday said high profile Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti would not be exchanged as part of the Gaza ceasefire

english.alarabiya.net

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Jill🌻 @jillsunflower.bsky.social · 11h

Ken cat, taking a break from zooming around the house with his new favorite ball. The old favorite was a set of little foam soccer balls, which he tore to shreds within one play session each. 😂 #cats

A black and white three-legged cat laying sideways on a rug and looking up toward the camera, with a green rubber mesh ball next to his front paws.

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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 15h

Trump's dictatorship is time for making moral choices

I talked to the top climate scientist, Penn's Michael Mann, about his great new book - and why he sacrificed a key university post in order to keep speaking the truth against anti-science lies

My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/scie...

Science is under siege. How Penn’s top climate scientist is fighting back | Will Bunch

Michael E. Mann's new book, and the sacrifice this Penn scientist made to fight the war against climate disinformation.

www.inquirer.com

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Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 7h

Illuminating Media:
Transmitting the Renaissance in England, 1400–1550
By Kathleen E. Kennedy
@themedievaldrk.bsky.social

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Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 7h

A lapse in the National Flood Insurance Program when the government shut down threatens to snarl home sales in the nation’s riskiest floodplains and leave some homeowners without coverage in the middle of hurricane season.

Shutdown Cuts Off Flood Insurance Program During Storm Season

A lapse in the National Flood Insurance Program because of the US government shutdown threatens to snarl home sales in the nation’s riskiest floodplains and leave some homeowners without coverage in the middle of hurricane season.

bloom.bg

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 8h

Second threat walked back after a couple days.

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Art Of Coop @artofcoop.bsky.social · 7h

Now playing

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gainesm.bsky.social @gainesm.bsky.social · 3d

Couldn’t have won WW2 without our Navajo Code Talkers 👍

Paul Eric Scannell @pauleric70.bsky.social · 3d

In a speech yesterday, Pete Hegseth told service-members that “diversity is not your strength.” This is Thomas Begay, one of the two living Navajo Code Talkers from World War II, who Hegseth previously removed from DOD websites.

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Dan Treacy @dantreacy13.bsky.social · 8h

Hey @darthbluesky.bsky.social in case BlueSky is looking for a healthy distraction, I’d like to introduce my new puppy Bo.

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Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 12h

Brett Kavanaugh: “The Govt sometimes makes brief investigative stops …”

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Vulture @vulture.com · 7h

Comedians like Aziz Ansari and Jessica Kirson need to look elsewhere for organizations to donate their Riyadh Comedy Festival money. Human Rights Watch said they ‘cannot accept’ donations from them.

Human Rights Watch Doesn’t Want Any Riyadh Comedy Festival Money

Comedians like Aziz Ansari and Jessica Kirson need to look elsewhere for organizations to donate their Riyadh Comedy Festival money. Human Rights Watch said they ‘cannot accept’ donations from them.

www.vulture.com

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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 17h

It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.

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ACLU @aclu.org · 8h

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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Jocelyn Anderson Photography @jocelynanderson.bsky.social · 8h

A Nashville Warbler working along a branch looking for insects to eat. The name comes from ornithologist Alexander Wilson, who first encountered this bird in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 8h

"...total ill gotten gains of approximately $18,933"

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 10h

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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darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 8h

wat

Mark Follman @markfollman.bsky.social · 8h

A very weird detail in this WSJ story about Trump’s weaponization of DOJ and FBI:

“Trump occasionally reminds aides about an incident last year in which Trump cut his hand on Bondi’s large wedding ring, causing him to bleed.”

…??

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Inside the Justice Department Where the President Calls the Shots

The president has executed a wholesale transformation of the Justice Department, taking control in ways he could have only dreamed of in his first term.

www.wsj.com

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