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Sharon

@sharonk.bsky.social

36K followers 6.5K following 38K posts

political theologian at the ministry for the future interests: classics, history, philosophy, conflict + IR, economics, foreign policy, climate change, east asia (korea + japan) words: Foreign Policy + LiberalCurrents

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 22d

Just moving the book thread further down:

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 23d

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Brad Duplessis @bradduplessis.bsky.social · 5h

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Quantian @quantian.bsky.social · 5h

How did Milei fuck this up specifically with a peso crisis. Wasn’t devaluing the peso literally the first thing he did when he got into office? Everybody knows you take the day 1 hit and blame it on the prior guy, c’mon.

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Michael Peel @mikepeeljourno.bsky.social · 6h

NEW: Early cancer clues found in multiple blood protein changes

Advances in monitoring could flag risks of diseases years before diagnosis

Register here to read some @financialtimes.com articles free:

www.ft.com/register

www.ft.com/content/e3fc...

Early cancer clues found in multiple blood protein changes

Advances in monitoring could flag risks of diseases years before diagnosis

www.ft.com

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5h

honestly I feel things are probably so bad for the GOP it might get the Dem AG nom through

Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 5h

An exchange in tonight's VA Gov debate:

AS: My opponent has previously said that she does not think gay couples should be allowed to marry.

WES: That’s not discrimination!

AS: She said that she is, quote-unquote, morally opposed to same-sex marriage.

WES: That’s not discrimination! (1/2)

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5h

bro is probably the most educated army officer on MENA affairs

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5h

the radical leftist McChrystal staffer

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5h

the funniest responses by far to this are people who treat Exum as a radical leftist by

Andrew Exum @exum.bsky.social · 6h

This week has confirmed my suspicion that Biden’s Middle East policies will look worse, and will be even more embarrassing for Democrats, with the passage of time.

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 6h

I think it’s pretty easy to see the gap in the logical progression between paragraphs 6 and 7 that will doom the case.

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 7h

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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Aubrey Gilleran @aubreygilleran.bsky.social · 5h

“Just defer to the executive on the meaning of the law” means the executive is now also the judge.

Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 12h

Hamilton: “The court doesn’t have to decide what a rebellion is.”
Perry: “I think I do.”

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stcwhite.bsky.social @stcwhite.bsky.social · 5h

What could Exum possibly know about the region? Now, if he had studied it, or spoke any of the languages, or had served there in some capacity, things might be different.

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5h

Personally I don't think the guy who briefed General McChrystal is an anti-Israel radical

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5h

it's very funny to accuse Andrew Exum of all people about being naive about the middle east

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5h

lmfao

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5h

mostly but I remember when you did have some Spiritual Friendship articles in favor of MOMs

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5h

it's very funny to accuse Andrew Exum of all people about being naive about the middle east

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Andrew Exum @exum.bsky.social · 6h

This week has confirmed my suspicion that Biden’s Middle East policies will look worse, and will be even more embarrassing for Democrats, with the passage of time.

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5h

somehow, Side B went secular

opera trinitatis ad extra indivisa sunt @mtrkdjoyce.bsky.social · 5h

the wapo "mixed orientation marriage" article is going to make me pull my hair out

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opera trinitatis ad extra indivisa sunt @mtrkdjoyce.bsky.social · 5h

the wapo "mixed orientation marriage" article is going to make me pull my hair out

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Tony Stark @tonystark.bsky.social · 6h

Like no, marrying a bi man “to fight the patriarchy” is not the same as marrying a gay man because he’s terrified of being a social outcast or worse. Ahhh.

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Tony Stark @tonystark.bsky.social · 6h

That WaPo article on lavender marriages might actually be what makes me walk into the woods.

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Secretary of Defense Rock @sodrock.bsky.social · 6h

This is the best establishment contrarianism can come up with?

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 7h

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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QuoProQuid @quoproquid.bsky.social · 6h

a lot of worse games fail to understand that a lot of video game writing is a magic trick.

you don't actually need the resources to completely disappear the statue of liberty if you can make the audience think the statue has disappeared.

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 6h

funniest bit is her parents got her to sing for church

Joel @snufkinlib.bsky.social · 6h

It’s a good bit that at least one of the singers from Kpop Demon Hunter, Rei Ami, has had a career of producing music that is just wildly un child friendly

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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 1d

I put a lot of time and effort into thinking about those post-trump reform proposals, reluctantly accepted in 2021/22 that the IRA was more important, and now am having some serious second thoughts about that

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QuoProQuid @quoproquid.bsky.social · 1d

you could very easily do a miniseries about "The Kennedy Women" but i think the only person i can see being interested in running that is ryan murphy and i guarantee he would somehow completely miss the point and also produce 10 hours of the most garish and obnoxious programming known to man.

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