Author | Lightnews

Cory J Godwin

@biostrat.bsky.social

240 followers 290 following 450 posts

Geologist / Conodont Biostratigrapher (Geology posts will have a severe Carboniferous bias). Number of posts I have deleted before posting, thus saving you time: 1,209 and counting.

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Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · Feb 20

My submission:

Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 7h

🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style.

Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.

Bill Melugin
@BillMelugin_
BREAKING: Per four senior DHS & Trump admin sources, a mass removal of ICE leadership around the country is underway, with up to 12 ICE field office chiefs being removed & reassigned in an effort to increase deportation numbers. I'm told the move is spearheaded by Corey Lewandowski, and a handful of the ICE Chiefs will likely be replaced by Border Patrol & CBP officials, some of whom will be hand-picked by aggressive & controversial Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. I'm told some of the ICE leadership removed from their positions include the ICE Field Office Directors in:

- Los Angeles
- Phoenix
- Philadelphia
- Denver
- El Paso
- San Diego
- Seattle/Portland
- New Orleans

Border Patrol officials taking over ICE leadership positions would be extremely significant, as Border Patrol and ICE do different things, and I've done numerous ride-alongs/embeds with both.

Generally speaking, ICE typically conducts very targeted operations, largely going after criminal illegal aliens or those with deportation orders, but almost always knowing who they are targeting for arrest, often conducting surveillance to learn their schedules before and waiting hours before arresting them if needed.

Border Patrol, under Trump 2.0, while sometimes doing their own targeted operations, has been extremely aggressive and has been at the forefront of some of the most controversial immigration enforcement operations we've seen so far, carrying out roving patrols in Los Angeles, Chicago, etc, often at Home Depot, car washes, flea markets etc, leading to a handful of federal judges around the country issuing injunctions against them. A majority of the viral videos you see online are Border Patrol agents, including the use of a Trojan horse style Penske moving truck at a Los Angeles Home Depot, an operation organized by Bovino.

ICE often gets blamed for what Border Patrol does, as the media and activists often cannot tell the difference between federal agents, and everyone is called "ICE". I'm told there are growing concerns about the political and PR fallout associated with some of the roving patrols Border Patrol is conducting as lawsuits continue to stack up and mid-terms approach next year.

I'm told there is significant friction within different wings of DHS and the administration, with Border Czar Tom Homan & ICE Director Todd Lyons preferring to prioritize targeting criminal aliens & the "worst of the worst" or those with deportation orders, while DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, and BP Commander Bovino prefer to use aggressive tactics to arrest anyone in the US illegally, including but not limited to criminals, to ramp up deportation numbers and achieve President Trump's promises of mass deportations.

I am hearing from both sides of this friction.

One senior DHS official tells me:

"ICE started with the worst of the worst, knowing every target they are hitting, but since Border Patrol started in LA in June, we've (DHS) lost our focus, going too hard, too fast, with limited prioritization. It's getting numbers, but at what cost?".

Border Patrol agents I've talked to defend their tactics, with one telling me:

"What did everyone think mass deportations meant? Only the worst? Tom Homan has said it himself, anyone in the US illegally is on the table."

It's quite a situation, as both sides of this are on the same team, with the same end goals, but different perspectives on how to get there.

Another DHS official confirmed the personnel changes to me on deep background, adding that the moves are based on performance and doing what is needed to achieve the best results.

Official statement to
@FoxNews
via
@TriciaOhio
:

"While we have no personnel changes to announce at this time, the Trump Administration remains laser focused on delivering results and removing violent criminal illegal aliens from this country."
7:57 PM · Oct 27, 2025
·
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Views

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Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 6h

I am a simple person who likes rocks, butt seems pretty f-ed up to me.
Also, although spread across the entire military it comes to a single ~$100 payment, what is to keep the DOD from targeted payment to servicemen and women who are directly involved domestic operations? INCREDIBLY problematic.

Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 8h

No 5th place in a debate

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Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 10h

Really attacking the issues of the modern world here.

Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 10h

I mean, could they be more obvious?

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Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 13h

Tan. Suit.

Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19h

My big takeaway from Trump's lengthy Air Force One gaggle is that he's talking about shredding the Constitution by being in office for a third term increasingly openly.

If you don't think he try it, you're in denial.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19h

Trump on a third term: "I would love to do it. I have the best numbers ever. Am I not ruling it out? You'll have to tell me."

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Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 1d

But how bright? Like, on a scale of shades-wearing.

Reposted by Cory J Godwin

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 1d

How George Will describes the unlawful arrest of George Retes in the Bezos Post.

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

The ICEmen were presumably looking for undocumented immigrants. Retes’s driver’s license, which he says the ICEmen never asked to see, identifies him as “Veteran Army.” His license plate includes “DV”: disabled veteran. While ICE’s warriors were trying and ultimately succeeding in smashing his driver’s-side window (the better to pepper spray him), they apparently did not notice his rear window’s “Iraq Combat Veteran” sticker.

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

For an administration that came out of the box threatening Canadian independence, Greenland’s sovereignty, the Panama Canal, etc., it sure has a glass jaw. 🤡

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

WELKER: Why is the president setting trade policy based on a TV ad he doesn't like?

BESSENT: This is a kind of propaganda against US citizens. It's psyops

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Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 2d

Because no matter how much people say “it’s the economy stupid”, and no matter how much that does play a role, social and cultural issues play a much greater role. Too many people vote based on what they are told “deviants” are doing in the big city and what “evil liberals” want to take from them.

Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 3d

For reference:

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Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 3d

Just a slush fund

Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Jacob Harris @jacobharr.is · 3d

Percentage Hispanic population
Passaic County, NJ: 42.74%
Kern County, CA: 54.9%
Riverside County, CA: 49.72%
Fresno County, CA: 53.61%
Orange County, CA: 34.1%
Los Angeles County, CA: 48%

What happens when Kavanagh stops meet Roberts' disdain for the VRA

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg 🇵🇸 @elizabethweill.bsky.social · 3d

Breaking: The Department of Justice announced it will "monitor polling sites in six jurisdictions [in New Jersey and California] ahead of the upcoming November 4, 2025, general election to ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law." www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...

Justice Department to Monitor Polling Sites in California, New Jersey

WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Justice announced that it will monitor polling sites in six jurisdictions ahead of the upcoming November 4, 2025, general election to ensure transparency, ballot ...

www.justice.gov

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Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 3d

For #FossilFriday, a special look at a historic dinosaur trackway at Maya Dude Ranch near Bandera, Texas. Originally interpreted by Roland Bird in 1940 as that of a "swimming sauropod," discovery of more tracks by "Jurassic Judy" (Neuman) confirmed it as a walking (not swimming!) trackway. 🧪🦕🐾

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Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 3d

AP: “.. The shift could spell trouble for Republicans looking to cement support ..”

@apnews.com
apnews.com/article/hisp...

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Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Paul D. Taylor @nhmbryozoa.bsky.social · 4d

#FossilFriday Not to be outdone by Isaac Newton who is buried beneath a gastropod fossil in Westminster Abbey, the famous geologist Charles Lyell’s gravestone is Carboniferous crinoidal limestone full of columnals of these ‘sea-lilies’.

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Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 4d

Just watched 311 on Tiny Desk from like a year ago.

I feel old now. Old and gray and thinking wistfully of the 90s.

Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 4d

Just thinking that the next Democratic president could transition the ballroom into a museum celebrating all the historically marginalized people and groups of Americans Trump hates.

Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 6d

13 days until the first-ever ORE CUP!

You ready?
(We’re not, but we will be!)

#OreCup

A trophy filled in with an ink drawing of stratigraphy

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Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Paleontological Society @paleosoc.bsky.social · 12d

Remember to mark your calendar for PS events at GSA in San Antonio, there will be 6 fantastic events across 5 days. Find more information at paleosoc.org and from our Priscum newsletter!
We hope to see you there, & safe travels!
#PSEvents #GSAConnects #GSA #GSASanAntonio #Paleontology

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Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 6d

‼️Special volume about arthropod paleontology was published today in the Journal of Paleontology, honoring the late Dr. Rodney Feldmann.🦀🦞🦐 Many of the 20 articles are open access. @paleosoc.bsky.social #paleontology #fossil #crab #lobster #shrimp
Full volume:
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Dr. Heather Hinam 🍁 🇨🇦 @secondnaturemb.bsky.social · 6d

My first polar bear of the season. Such a privilege and a pleasure to be able to spend time with these guys. #mammals 🌿🐻‍❄️

A polar bear sleeps, curled up on the tundra next to a swale of bare Willow. Hudson Bay can be seen behind it.

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Reposted by Cory J Godwin

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 6d

What, if anything, did the No Kings protests accomplish?

I've seen that pop up in everything from genuine inquiry to sneering dismissal. For anyone asking or facing that question, here's an answer.

Everything isn't all fixed, of course. But the protests accomplished at least these seven things:

7 Things the No Kings Protests Accomplished

The political emergency isn't over, of course, but who thought it would be. Here are seven things this weekend's protests accomplished.

www.arcdigital.media

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Cory J Godwin @biostrat.bsky.social · 6d

a black and white cat is peeking out from behind a curtain .

ALT: a black and white cat is peeking out from behind a curtain .

media.tenor.com