Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nicolas Holzschuch @nholzschuch.bsky.social · 6h

Ça explique plus les cris dans la rue...

Reposted by Nicolas Holzschuch

Szabolcs Panyi @szabolcspanyi.bsky.social · 6h

👀Total blackout in Viktor Orbán’s Hungarian propaganda media: not a single word about our investigation uncovering Hungary’s spy network in Brussels — nor about the EU’s internal probe and the scrutiny over Orbán loyalist EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi's role. How strange!

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mule-du-pape @muledupape.bsky.social · 7h

On me dit que deadline extension serait due to numerous requests.

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Andrea Matranga @andreamatranga.bsky.social · 8h

I am calculating something wich for memory reasons does the tiles without more than 500m elevation difference in the tile and you can really see why building infrastucture in the mediterranean basin is tricky

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Nicolas Holzschuch @nholzschuch.bsky.social · 8h

Soit une recette de gâteau au chocolat qui nécessite 6 blancs et 3 jaunes, et une recette de carbonara qui nécessite 4 jaunes et 2 blancs...

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Petra Boynton @petraboynton.bsky.social · 8h

When we speak about safety in research/academia this is a key example, but often universities (and those who work there) remain in denial or poorly informed about how serious things can be for targeted staff and students.

A useful thread explaining things very clearly.

Lauren MacIvor Thompson @lmacthompson1.bsky.social · 9h

I am writing this because it has swiftly become crystal clear to me that many people have no idea what is happening or how this works. Here is a thread for non-academics to put into context what just happened to Dr. Mark Bray, a fellow historian.

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Pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 9h

This is super cool not just that it exists, but it's at the center of a quasar detected in the 19th C (because the dust around the black hole is so hot, and thus bright), which means people literally saw the two black hole system, which is counterintuitively bright, before black holes were theorized

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Szabolcs Panyi @szabolcspanyi.bsky.social · 8h

I'm just wondering: if the European Commission is unable to deal with Hungarian spying and infiltration in Brussels, how are they expected to handle the more powerful and threatening Russian or Chinese espionage?

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 1d

But did we avoid dismantling core functions of the federal government? No.

But did we avoid killing millions of people by destroying USAID? Also no.

But did we at least avoid violating all kinds of federal laws & the constitution by letting random guys off the streets do this? Alas, also no.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

Did DOGE save us $2 trillion?

“Not even close. .. Total spending excluding interest rose $220 billion, or 4%, for the entire fiscal year.” 🤡

@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/economy/tari...

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John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 10h

A billion dollars is the socio-political equivalent of a loose nuke, and we should work as ruthlessly and diligently to prevent the acquisition of the former as we do the latter.

Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 15h

“The problem with billionaires isn’t that they’re hoarding money that would otherwise pay for a Scandinavian social utopia. It’s that their money has become a source of wildly distorted political power that allows a few men with extremist views to wreak havoc on the rest of us.”

Billionaires Are Hoarding Power, Not Money

Billionaire money has become a source of wildly distorted political power that allows a few men with extremist views to wreak havoc on the rest of us.

www.liberalcurrents.com

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DrScratch @drscratch.bsky.social · 10h

Je ne crois pas qu'un PM de gauche puisse tenir ou faire passer un budget, mais il reste quand-même un problème fondamental qui est l'incapacité de Macron a accepter un PM qu'il ne choisit pas et qui devra se comporter en simple exécutant redevable.

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Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 11h

Someone should write a book about how to manage like the anti-Elon, explaining why all of his management ideas are very, very stupid.

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 11h

News: Bari Weiss just sent a memo to staffers at CBS News asking them to produce a memo explaining "how you spend your working hours—and ideally, what you've made (or are making) that you're most proud of."

One CBS News staffer puts it like this to me: "We just got Elon Musked."

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Thijs Heus @thijsheus.bsky.social · Sep 5

Describing my time in Europe to US friends pretty much made everyone jealous about the futuristic way of living there. Bikes, parks, public transportation, walkable neighborhoods....

The Economist @economist.com · Sep 5

Will the absence of robotaxis in Europe mark the moment its citizens notice how far their continent has fallen behind?

Robotaxis will be the Sputnik Moment for a declining Europe

A slow-motion car crash on Europe’s roads

econ.st

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Ayme @catcoconut.com · 14h

I’m getting big “artists at a con circulating the same $20 around” vibes but like, in an evil way

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Cubidou @cubidou.bsky.social · 18h

Le mec va mettre le 1er ministre en prod ce soir à 18 h.

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Dan Sinykin @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social · 15h

And who is the author of this op-ed? The billionaire CEO of an asset management firm who helped author the compact.

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Peter W🤓 @wang.social · 15h

I didn’t have “buying Tylenol becomes an act of political defiance” on my 2025 bingo card, but here we are…

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No More Robots @nomorerobots.io · 1d

Here's how we handle manchildren on the Steam forums at No More Robots:

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This skeet will self destruct @pardoguerra.bsky.social · 1d

Mary mother of Christ, these people are overpaid fools.

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emily moonlight @threnody.bsky.social · 1d

just watched a dozen people ask microsoft copilot experts their most pressing questions and those questions were 90% “how do i turn it off?” and “when i turn it off, is it really off or is it spying on me?”

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Iron Spike @ironspike.bsky.social · 17h

lmao this is how you do it

No More Robots @nomorerobots.io · 1d

Here's how we handle manchildren on the Steam forums at No More Robots:

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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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David Noll @david.noll.org · 1d

the real antifa consists of anonymous accounts with 43 followers who reply to every new development by noting that they predicted it long ago

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Petra Boynton @petraboynton.bsky.social · 16h

50 things universities are still getting wrong on safety and wellbeing.

For #WorldMentalHealthDay

Let's not stick with descriptions of problems, however, what solutions or examples of good practice do you have to tackle items on this list?

#AcademicSky

www.linkedin.com/pulse/fifty-...

Fifty things that universities are still getting wrong on safety and wellbeing.

1. Despite an increase in awareness around mental health, student and staff safety and wellbeing is still not a priority for universities across teaching, research, and pastoral care.

www.linkedin.com

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Nicolas Holzschuch @nholzschuch.bsky.social · 15h

So what's the bad news?