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Rebecca M. Bratspies

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H-index: 10
Law 24%
Environmental science 23%
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller , and 12 more

jackjenkins.me
Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.
(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray. “I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.” But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire. “We could hear them laughing,” Black said.
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by Rebecca M. Bratspies

rbratspies.bsky.social
Hmm. Mine were.

Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies

factpostnews.bsky.social
Rep. Raskin: People need those ACA tax credits. They're not going to be able to afford a 30-50% increase in premiums, which means they're simply going to be without health insurance. In the meantime, Trump is building a gilded ballroom for their billionaire donors to have some more black tie dinners
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies

metaomicsnerd.bsky.social
the word we're going to use, loudly and regularly, is "oathbreaker"
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by Rebecca M. Bratspies

rbratspies.bsky.social
FWIW, here is mine. It is not a model of anything, but it was pretty easy to set up and it fulfills the "have your own website" criterion. www.rebeccabratspies.com
Home Who Was Major Deegan Anyway?
In Naming Gotham, New York City history comes alive through the lives behind its urban infrastructure. Learn about environmental justice, racial justice, women's rights in NYC.
www.rebeccabratspies.com
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by Rebecca M. Bratspies

rbratspies.bsky.social
Same here
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Kimberly A. Prather, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 12 more

thetnholler.bsky.social
SOUTH CAROLINA… “Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started. Her husband, Arnie, was in the house with children and perhaps grandchildren. The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony...” www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Juan Cole, Aaron Sojourner , and 1 more

gtconway.bsky.social
Thugs.
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by Rebecca M. Bratspies

rbratspies.bsky.social
Dartmouth as a model of resistance was not on my bingo card. Go Big Green!
jeffsharlet.bsky.social
Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 3d
It appears that my employer, Dartmouth, one of the Trump 9, has said no to the compact. All the better given that our president is cited within it. But she’s saying no. Count the small victories when they come.
Office of the President Dear Dartmouth community, As many of you know, Dartmouth was one of nine universities asked by the White House to give feedback by Oct. 20 on a draft of its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” I am deeply committed to Dartmouth’s academic mission and values and will always defend our fierce independence. You have often heard me say that higher education is not perfect and that we can do better. At the same time, we will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves. Best, Sian Leah Beilock President
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Anna O. Law, Marc Lynch , and 14 more

jeffsharlet.bsky.social
It appears that my employer, Dartmouth, one of the Trump 9, has said no to the compact. All the better given that our president is cited within it. But she’s saying no. Count the small victories when they come.
Office of the President Dear Dartmouth community, As many of you know, Dartmouth was one of nine universities asked by the White House to give feedback by Oct. 20 on a draft of its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” I am deeply committed to Dartmouth’s academic mission and values and will always defend our fierce independence. You have often heard me say that higher education is not perfect and that we can do better. At the same time, we will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves. Best, Sian Leah Beilock President
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies

danieltrubman.bsky.social
This car was driving around Manhattan without any license plates, effectively making it immune to traffic enforcement for safety infractions like posting up on the sidewalk.

Cars like this should immediately get impounded. That would prevent crime and save lives.
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Anna O. Law, Pamela Samuelson , and 9 more

chanda.blacksky.app
🚨🚨 My dear friend and fellow academic, the Palestinian American sociologist @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social has been taken by the Cook County Sheriff near Chicago. They have not mirandized her. Please signal boost. All eyes on Broadview for Eman and the community she was defending 🚨🚨
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by Rebecca M. Bratspies

rbratspies.bsky.social
FYI @michaelhobbes.bsky.social
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies

namwella1961.bsky.social
Good morning, here's a mood-booster to start your day off with a laugh.🎃
#ProudBlue #Pinks #TrumpIsUnfitForOffice
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by Rebecca M. Bratspies

rbratspies.bsky.social
Dealing with SiriusXM is truly peak post-capitalism. There is no such thing as "the price." There is only "which channel of access are you using and how savvy are you."
a drawing of a girl crying with the words aa ugg hhh written above her head
Alt: a line drawing of a stressed out girl screaming "aaugghhh"
media.tenor.com
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Steve Peers, Anders Nilsson

karenattiah.bsky.social
Today, Oct.2nd, is the anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder by Saudi agents.
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies

onestpress.onestnetwork.com
💔 🕊️ 🙏
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by Rebecca M. Bratspies

rbratspies.bsky.social
just a reminder of what the air used to be like before environmental regulation. These images are of New York and Pittsburgh but every place was like this.
Pittsburgh factory billowing black smoke from multiple smokestacks. early 1900s pollution in Manhattan obscuring the Chrysler building entirely.
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Scott L. Greer, Daxton R. Stewart

charlottegarden.bsky.social
I'm skimming, but this paragraph stood out:
And there’s the issue of masks. This Court has listened carefully to the reasons given by Öztürk’s captors for masking- up and has heard the same reasons advanced by the defendant Todd Lyons, Acting Director of ICE. It rejects this testimony as disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable. ICE goes masked for a single reason -- to terrorize Americans into quiescence.
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Anna O. Law, Dorothy Bishop , and 14 more

jasonv.bsky.social
Absolute all-timer sentence in today's @nytimes.com
"some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily execute civilians" says today's New York Times, continuing their long tradition of whitewashing fascism
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies

bluesos.bsky.social
There’s a process to amend the Constitution, it’s called “amending the constitution”. As far as I know Article 5 makes no mention of SCOTUS having a role in that process
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Anna O. Law, Steve Peers , and 1 more

audrelawdamercy.bsky.social
Trump's petition asking the Supreme Court to let him officially redefine (read: rescind) birthright citizenship is now available and

I wish I did not have to worry about the Supreme Court taking seriously such obviously, egregiously unserious & racist bullshit

www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
www.supremecourt.gov
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by Rebecca M. Bratspies

rbratspies.bsky.social
Ready to be a waiter at the table of his success
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by Katharine Hayhoe — Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Lisa W. Fazio, Ed Hawkins , and 6 more

katharinehayhoe.com
I may have found my defining quote.

Pair this with my pinned post and you will see what I mean!
From a poster called “just shower thoughts“ reading: when people talk about traveling to the past, they worry about radically, changing the present by doing something small, barely anyone in the present to really thinks that they can radically change the future by doing something small.
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies

kevinleecaster.bsky.social
I get quite a few self-described leftists that tell me that Democrats are no better on climate than Republicans are.

Well, just look at all of this solar Biden was able to help get deployed and you'll see why that is such a stupid take on a complex issue. The more solar deployed the faster it goes!
Many more homeowners are going solar nationwide Over the last five years, the number of homes with rooftop solar has nearly tripled. Number of homes with solar, per 1,000 people No data Maps of 2020 and then in 2025, from NY Times I think
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by Rebecca M. Bratspies

rbratspies.bsky.social
Oh my god.
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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Joseph Schafer, Berk Özler , and 2 more

mikesacks.bsky.social
This rules - @raskin.house.gov straight up called out Roberts to his face.

democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center...
Ranking Member Jamie Raskin Prepared Remarks for the Judicial Conference September 16, 2025 Thank you, Chief Justice Roberts, for the invitation. Forgive my directness here but the times are serious, as you know, our time is short. I have just five minutes and don't want to trespass on Senator Cruz's time. Sometimes these days I feel as if all the foundational principles are being trampled and lost. Often, I hear my colleagues in the House, and these are fellow Democrats, get up to protest some Executive usurpation of legislative power and they begin their lament with the plaintive cry, "We are a coequal branch of government..." And I always feel they have lost the argument right there just by repeating that fifth-grade dogma. First of all, co-equal is not even a word. It's an embarrassing redundancy like "very unique" or "irregardless. " But there's a reason all legislative power is vested in the Congress and there's a reason it's in Article I. The Founders had a revolution against monarchy and its constant assaults on liberty. In America, the Framers determined, only the representatives of the people would have power to declare wars, pass budgets, impose taxes and tariffs, and so on. Article lis pages and pages of all the powers vested in Congress. Then you get to Article Il, which is tiny. The key paragraph says a president shall be removed from office upon impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors. If we are co-equal, why do we have the power to impeach, try, convict, remove and permanently disqualify the president and he doesn't have the power to impeach, try, convict, remove and disqualify us? The core job of the president is plain: "To Take care that the laws are faithfully executed." That's it. Not abused, not thwarted, not impounded, not redirected, but faithfully executed. A lot of the cases entering the federal courts are variations on this theme. Here's the remarkable thing: Americans have brought over 300 cases in federal district courts against the Administration so far for usurping legislative powers, defying federal laws, or violating the rights of the people. This summer, researchers found that plaintiffs were winning an astonishing 77% of the cases in the district courts. Moreover, they found that President Trump was losing about equally before Republican-appointed judges (72%) and Democratic-appointed judges (80%). The numbers in the federal circuit courts of appeal are similar, with plaintiffs against the Administration winning overwhelmingly and again without a sharp partisan valence to the appeals courts' voting. A good example is the birthright citizenship case where four district court judges, two appointed by Republican presidents and two appointed by Democratic presidents, all struck down the President's purported negation of birthright citizenship. Then, on appeal, three circuit courts again all ruled against the Administration. But everything is flipped when the cases come to the Supreme Court.
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by Anna O. Law — Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies, Mary L. Dudziak

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Reposted by: Rebecca M. Bratspies

mplsalex.bsky.social
Damn Eagan, not even a ped or bike detour in site.
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by Rebecca M. Bratspies

rbratspies.bsky.social
At @rutgersupress.bsky.social for a sustainability conference. 3 state elected officials spoke. Wow!! Nuance and thoughtful policies. Wish DC had folks like this.
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