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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 31m

Look I mean yeah but chihuahuas and bullmastifs are both dogs. Small genetic differences can lead to big differences in appearance!

Doug Mack @douglasmack.bsky.social · 41m

i'm sorry WHAT

Wikipedia screenshot

Brassica oleracea, also known as wild cabbage in its uncultivated form, is a plant of the family Brassicaceae. The species originated from feral populations of related plants in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it was most likely first cultivated. It has many common cultivars used as vegetables, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, romanesco, kale, Brussels sprout, collard, Savoy cabbage, kohlrabi, and gai lan.

Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 1h

Campbell should have gone for the 4th and 14.

Lions are down 10 with 8 mins left in the game. If they punt, they lose. If they miss the conversion, they lose. Only way to win was to convert on 4th and long.

Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 9h

Also sure, the Jedi were prominent, but I think it's stated in the prequels that the order is only like 10,000 strong or something like that. 10,000 for a galaxy of trillions. What are the odds that the average person would ever run into a Jedi in their lifetime, if they didn't live on Coruscant?

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 9h

I think the idea is to show how merciless propaganda can be. In the span of like half that time Hitler and the Nazis convinced the vast majority of Germans that Jews were vermin to be exterminated. It was a widely held belief in, say, 1944. People literally memory holed their neighbors.

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 12h

He's literally doing the @internethippo.bsky.social meme

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 12h

Brennan does not challenge Vance when he says the government MUST lay people off.

The correct question there is to push him: Why?

There is zero requirement for the government to lay anyone off during a shutdown. The government has not laid people off during previous shutdowns.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13h

BRENNAN: CBS confirmed the Trump administration rescinded the layoffs of CDC scientists. Some were involved with the federal measles response. How does a mistake like this happen?

VANCE: The govt shutdown inevitably leads to some chaos. It happened because of Schumer

B: But this was a WH decision

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 1d

And it is even more important when it comes to paying soldiers. If the executive can just decide to pay the troops, irrespective of Congress, the executive both controls deployment of the military and the power to fund it. That makes the military wholly accountable to one person.

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 1d

I don't think people really understand the idea that Congress controls the purse strings and how important it is to the Constitutional order. It literally prevents the executive from doing anything without Congress providing the money. This is a power Congress has VERY closely guarded.

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 1d

No.

"And in no case where the item for which funds are requested has been denied by Congress."

This sentence is key. It says that DoD cannot transfer funds to a program Congress has denied appropriation to. Congress has not passed a bill to pay the troops. That's why there's a shutdown.

eric gonzalez juenke @egojunk.bsky.social · 1d

The DoD is allowed to transfer this money per statute apparently (though this is outside of my area). The CR in March upped it to 8 billion.

Of course it has. It always does. Sec 8005 of DOD Appropriations, for starters…

That one provision now allows for $8b in transfers, per March’s full year CR:

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 1d

To be clear, this is almost certainly a violation of federal law, specifically the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the executive from authorizing an expenditure that has not be appropriated by Congress.

CNN @cnn.com · 1d

Breaking News
Trump says his administration has "identified funds" to pay military troops next week as the government shutdown continues. https://cnn.it/46MWQIz

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 1d

"Tylenol causes kids to have autism and we don't want to teach them" is certainly a hell of a platform.

Leah 🐸 McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 1d

⚠️ USAToday reporter confirms the office in charge of special education funding has been “decimated”:

Zach Schermele
Follow
@ZachSchermele
NEW: The Education Dept. layoffs continued overnight, w/ the main office in charge of special ed funding being
"decimated," as one person described.
"They cut just about everyone that works with IDEA funding," said another.
"I'm not sure how these programs exist moving forward."
10:21 AM • 10/11/25 • 2.1K Views

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 2d

Hat, they made a woman who murdered her dog the head of all this.

Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 2d

Wen should direct more attention to incidents like these because Americans are more likely to respond to brutality to pets than to brutality to human beings.

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

EL PASO — a family says ICE showed up at their house looking for migrants and shot and KILLED THEIR DOG, then didn’t help them as the agent ran away and was not identified.

kfoxtv.com/news/local/e...

Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 2d

If a Democratic President was married to an immigrant from a former Chinese satellite state who said she had an open channel of communication with Xi, Republicans would be crying Manchurian candidate while burning down the fucking White House with them inside.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Melania Trump: "President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication."

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 3d

I mean look at this eyesore:

Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 3d

And look, to be fair, the rotary on the other side of the memorial bridge is ugly and barren. Putting something in the middle of it is far from the worst idea Trump has ever had.

◥◤Kriston Capps @kristoncapps.bsky.social · 3d

Classicists have been floating a triumphal arch for DC for approximately forever. Catesby Leigh pitched it most recently in December www.city-journal.org/article/trum...

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 3d

This is the language on the Fannie Mae rider. If James committed bank fraud, so does literally everyone who buys a second house to AirBnB some of the time.

And the terms explicitly allow short term rentals immediately, and long term rentals after 1 year.

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 3d

This is the language on a Fannie Mae second home rider. If Letitia James committed bank fraud, so does literally every person who buys a second house to use it as an AirBnB.

The problem is, the terms EXPLICITLY allow for short term rentals immediately, and long term rental after 1 year.

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 3d

James bought the house in 2020. If DOJ can prove she rented it immediately, they may have a case, if she didn't seek permission from the lender.

But nowhere in the indictment is it evidenced she rented it in the first year. It just says she rented it out.

Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 3d

This is the language on a Fannie Mae second home rider:

It says that the borrower will maintain exclusive control over occupancy of the property, including for rentals. It explicitly allows rentals after one year of ownership.

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 3d

This is just the sloppiest shit imaginable.

The second home rider prohibits her from offering a stake in the property or entering into a contract where someone else has control over whether it is rented.

It does not prohibit her from choosing to rent it herself.

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 3d

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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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 4d

"The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand."

Scott Shapiro @scottjshapiro.bsky.social · 4d

We are ruled by criminal morons

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 4d

Need to update to Antifa General Counsel Hat

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 4d

Just a reminder that Pete Hegseth wants these people out of Service because they're overweight.

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 5d

Greg Abbott sends the elite Meal Team 6 from the Texas National Guard into Illinois.

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 8d

I appreciate Pritzker's truth telling here, but at some point, a Governor just has to say "no, you will not federalize my national guard."

Federalization of the guard requires a President to declare a National Emergency exists. Force Trump to defend the declaration of emergency by refusing.

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 8d

This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.

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Matt Separa @mattsepara.bsky.social · 8d

The Truth and Reconciliation Commissions that come out of all this are going to be full of stories like this. The problem will be identifying and properly punishing the ICE agents responsible for these assaults.

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 8d

"I believe that Americans would agree that the government can’t just make people disappear without any process or explanation. Second, because I want to give the government a chance to admit that they were wrong.

So far the government has not done so."

newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/im-a-us-ci...

I’m a US citizen and a veteran. ICE arrested me for no reason.

Jailed for three days without an explanation or ability to notify anyone, George Retes argues the only path to healing starts with the government taking accountability for its actions.

newsletter.ofthebrave.org