Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 1h

The Hitler Youth of American fascism.

Politico @politico.com · 4h

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.

Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 1d

Walking in the footsteps of…giant Carboniferous trees?

Some 325 million years ago these coal swamp trees were so heavy they made ‘tree prints’ in the soft coral-infused limestone under the soil.

And today we saw them on our University of Edinburgh undergrad trip to Barns Ness!

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 1d

THE all-time classic pop-science dinosaur book

WitmerLab at Ohio University @witmerlab.bsky.social · 2d

If you haven't read—or re-read in a while—Bakker's 1986 classic The Dinosaur Heresies, it's well worth doing. I read it in 1986 & again on my recent trip to Japan. Got a pb copy for $10 for the long trip (1st photo) rather than take my signed 1st ed (got John Gurche to sign his cover art, too!). 🦖

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 2d

People in Chicago are hiding children in their apartments, to protect them from ICE.

Remind you of anything from history? Anything?

Maybe this seven-year-old girl is writing a diary as she hides from the armed, masked men hunting her?

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid, one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before t...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Reposted by Steve Brusatte

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 3d

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 3d

A group of priests and nuns tried to deliver holy communion to Catholics detained by ICE in Chicago.

ICE turned them away.

A reminder that the MAGA brand of 'Christian nationalism' has nothing to do with Christianity.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Religious leaders denied request to deliver Communion to detainees at Broadview facility

Meanwhile, two days after a judge ordered the removal of a fence erected by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, barricades were being put up in front of the fence on Saturday.

chicago.suntimes.com

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 4d

More information on this developing story here from another Chicago television network:
www.fox32chicago.com/news/wgn-new...

WGN News employee detained by federal agents on Chicago's North Side, videos show

Videos show a WGN News employee being detained by federal agents Friday on Chicago's North Side.

www.fox32chicago.com

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 4d

Debbie Brockman is a journalist for WGN, Chicago's most iconic television news station.

Here she is being wrestled to the ground, handcuffed & detained by masked ICE agents in broad daylight.

ICE rammed into her vehicle, dragged her out & whisked her away. Whereabouts unknown.

This is fascism.

Heartland Signal @heartlandsignal.bsky.social · 4d

BREAKING: Masked Border Patrol agents aggressively arrested WGN video producer Debbie Brockman in Lincoln Square Friday morning, supposedly for "obstructing justice." (Video via Josh Thomas on Facebook)

Follow @heartlandsignal for more.

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Reposted by Steve Brusatte

The Onion @theonion.com · 4d

ICE Boasts Zero Murders Committed By 5-Year-Olds Since Child Detainments Began https://theonion.com/ice-boasts-zero-murders-committed-by-5-year-olds-since-child-detainments-began/

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Reposted by Steve Brusatte

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 4d

George was just trying to get to work.

ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process.

This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 4d

"They put me on suicide watch and they put me in the cell, I'm naked, in like a hospital dress and just a concrete bed with like a mattress, like a thin mattress and, they leave the light on 24/7."

@timmiller.bsky.social talked to a veteran who ICE wrongly detained and brutalized

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 4d

Just got my hard copy the other day and it really looks stunning in print. Bravo!

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 4d

This is an excellent book for the young dinosaur enthusiasts in your life!

(Or at least that guy who blurbed it thinks so 😉) #fossilfriday

Rachel Ignotofsky @rachelignotofsky.bsky.social · 4d

I made a video about my new book: DINOSAURS
Watch here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVy8...

Publishing this Tuesday! grab your copy here: rachelignotofskydesign.com/dinosaurs

#dinosaurs #paleoart #fossilladdict #sciart #evolution

Dinosaurs: Exploring Prehistoric Life and Geological Time

YouTube video by Rachel Ignotofsky

www.youtube.com

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 4d

On this #fossilfriday, take a few moments to read this.

A touching tribute to the life, career, and discoveries of Mark Norell, from his long-time friend and field companion, Mike Novacek. In @nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Mark Norell obituary: palaeontologist who showed that dinosaurs still walk among us — as birds

Through fieldwork and innovative research, he transformed how scientists and the public perceive the prehistoric world.

www.nature.com

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 5d

Seems like Bobby Kennedy Jr misunderstands placental mammal reproduction. Go figure.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

RFK Jr: "Somebody showed me a TikTok video of a pregnant woman at 8 months pregnant -- she's an associate professor at the Columbia Medical School -- and she is saying 'F Trump' and gobbling Tylenol with her baby in her placenta. The level of Trump Derangement Syndrome is now a pathology."

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Reposted by Steve Brusatte

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 5d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 6d

Pritzker gets it. Thanks @govpritzker.illinois.gov for standing up for the people of Illinois. And all of America.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6d

Pritzker: "This guy is unhinged. He's insecure. He's a wannabe dictator. And there's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump. If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me."

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Reposted by Steve Brusatte

Senator Patty Murray @murray.senate.gov · 6d

Every Congressional Republican needs to answer: Do you support the President's call to imprison the Governor of Illinois and Mayor of Chicago?

Trump is not a king. This is not acceptable. Do Republicans want a dictator or a President?

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 6d

This is ICE shooting a priest with a pepper bullet in Chicago.

In one instant, violating four of the five rights (supposedly) ensured by the First Amendment: speech, peaceful assembly, ability to petition the government, and free exercise of religion.

This is fascism.

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 6d

Here’s video of the incident

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 8d

Monday field trip day with our University of Edinburgh undergrads!

The Pentlands, just south of Edinburgh but a world away. Rolling hills grazed by furry cows…

…But 400 million years ago in the Silurian, a tempestuous lagoon, where brachiopods trilobites & sea scorpions frolicked.

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Reposted by Steve Brusatte

Harrogate International Festivals @harrogatefestivals.bsky.social · 8d

Great family friendly event coming up soon! 🦕

Check out the details below 👇

Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 11d

Like dinosaurs or have a kid who does? Live near Yorkshire?

Join @annebrusatte.bsky.social and me Oct 18 at the @harrogatefestivals.bsky.social for an afternoon of family fun, based on our new book children's book My Grandparents Were Dinosaurs!

harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/event/anne-s...

Anne & Steve Brusatte | My Grandparents Were Dinosaurs | Harrogate International Festivals

Book tickets for Anne & Steve Brusatte | My Grandparents Were Dinosaurs with Harrogate International Festivals online today!

harrogateinternationalfestivals.com

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 8d

If you want to know the real Spinosaurus, the animal behind the myths, check out this upcoming book by @davehone.bsky.social & @markwitton.bsky.social !!

Dr Dave Hone @davehone.bsky.social · 8d

And here's what @stevebrusatte.bsky.social had to say about it:

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 9d

It really is a battle of good vs. evil now. And well done to the good people of Chicago for saving this man from abduction.

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 9d

This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 9d

Trump-appointed judge says deploying troops to Oregon is illegal.

Trump is doing it anyway.

Blatantly illegal. Dictator shit. Fascist.

And even worse: it’s like he’s trying to spark the country into a civil war. Not even most fascists from history tried to rip apart their *own* countries.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 9d

BREAKING: Gov. Newsom says Trump is sending 300 California National Guard members to Oregon after a judge blocked his Portland troop deployment plan.

California governor says Trump is sending 300 California National Guard members to Oregon

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says the Trump administration is sending 300 California National Guard members to Oregon.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Steve Brusatte

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 9d

This Trump administration policy of generating an artificial civil war on the basis of big lies is of course meant to be frightening but it is also anti-American, unlawful, stupid and pursued by wildly unpopular people.

Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 9d

Everyone is trying to have a normal Saturday night and the president's top advisor is on X announcing that civil war is necessary

@StephenM on X: Legal insurrection. The President is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, not an Oregon judge. Portland and Oregon law enforcement, at the direction of local leaders, have refused to aid ICE officers facing relentless terrorist assault and threats to life. (There are more local law enforcement officers in Oregon than there are guns and badges in the FBI nationwide). This is an organized terrorist attack on the federal government and its officers, and the deployment of troops is an absolute necessity to defend our personnel, our laws, our government, public order and the Republic itself.

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 10d

ICE flew a military helicopter into Chicago.
Stormed an apartment complex in the middle of the night.
Entered the homes of American citizens.
Separated kids from parents.
Dragged them into the street, some naked.
Put them in trucks.
No warrants.
Fascism.
youtu.be/vFh5yBIxTpc?...

ICE agents raid South Shore apartment building: 'They just treated us like we were nothing'

YouTube video by ABC 7 Chicago

youtu.be

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