John Wright

David Wright Faladé: Black Texans were not ignorant of their freedom before June 19, 1865 African Americans had likely known themselves to be legally free before General Order No. 3, but acting on this knowledge was difficult.

Commentary: Juneteenth has been described as the day the enslaved people of Texas finally “learned” that they were free.

University of Illinois professor David Wright Faladé believes it improbable — impossible, even — that enslaved Texans had been ignorant of the fact of their own freedom.

I have been, and will continue to post this often. Your Guard, Reserve and active duty family, friends, neighbors and coworkers are going to need it.

Please share far, wide and often!

Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and Trump didn't call in the National Guard.

Today, we remember Uvalde.

We remember the 19 children and 2 teachers who were mercilessly gunned down.

The kids who hid underneath their dead classmates to survive.

The parents who had to submit DNA to identify their own babies.

We need an assault weapons ban. Now.

Cato has published my comprehensive review of the ~240 Venezuelans the US government renditioned 2 months ago to Salvador’s notorious prison. We identified FIFTY who came legally, never violated any immigration law, but are imprisoned at the US government’s request and at US taxpayer expense.

My autistic son was restrained and thrown in isolation rooms (a closet) for hours at a time because he ripped up paper. He watched peers dragged out screaming until high school. Schools that prioritize obedience over accommodation cause severe trauma.

New research contradicts RFK Jr.’s claim that severe autism cases are rising Cases with mild or significant impairment stayed relatively consistent from 2000 to 2016, the analysis found.

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. repeatedly claims that autism is becoming more prevalent and “severe," which isn’t substantiated by science.

But new research suggests that the share of autism cases with moderate or significant symptoms remained relatively consistent from 2000 to 2016.

The premise of the tariffs was to
combat fentanyl crossing the border. How does this in any way align with that justification? Did I miss something (probably)?

Leaving this here without comment

@kenwhite.bsky.social time to ditch the day job and move to releasing podcasts 3x/week!

We’re all living through the "First they came for..." poem right now.

Trump claims '200' tariff deals, phone call with Chinese President Xi in wide-ranging interview President Trump told Time magazine trade negotiations would be "finished" in 3-4 weeks.

Narrator: There are a 195 countries on Earth.

In the words of George Costanza, “It’s not a lie if you believe it.” I can believe his staff is just telling him they are signing lots of deals so he stops posting stuff that tanks the stock market.

RFK Jr.’s lies about autism are disgraceful — and I won't share them to spread misinformation.

He consistently undermines public health and reinforces dangerous myths.

In Illinois, we stand with those with autism, and I’ll keep fighting for inclusion, science, and the truth.

JUST IN: Deputy Assistant to the President and "Counterterrorism Czar" Sebastian Gorka says anyone advocating for due process for Kilmar Abrego Garcia could be viewed as "aiding and abetting a terrorist" and be federally charged. (h/t Philip Germain)

Foreign Friends with Travel Plans to the U.S. for Conventions:

A bit back I said you should maybe reconsider those plans.

I would like to amend my prior statement.

Cancel them. Cancel them now. We cannot keep you safe from our own government. Take your holiday in Spain or something.

Who’s In and Who’s Out at the Naval Academy’s Library? An order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office resulted in a purge of books critical of racism but preserved volumes defending white power.

Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf” is still on U.S. Naval Academy shelves. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “Memorializing the Holocaust” are not.

An order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office led to a purge of books that are critical of racism — but preserved volumes defending white power.

If this continues, what can the judge do? Fining the govt isn’t going to change anything. Jail time for someone? If so, who? The lawyers? Seems like DOJ would be fine with that.

This is big: House Republicans tucked language into the budget res “rule” that bans the House from voting to terminate Trump’s emergency declaration used to impose tariffs. TL;DR lawmakers who vote for this are officially giving up their power to revoke his tariffs until October.

IRS lawyers advise that what Trump wants to do with private tax information is likely illegal.

They do it anyway.

IRS commissioner resigns (3rd one gone in 3 months).

Hello courts: your turn.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

IRS agrees to share migrants’ tax information with ICE The IRS has agreed to help homeland security officials find immigrants they are trying to deport, according to court records, committing to sharing information in what would be a fundamental change…

The IRS has agreed to help homeland security officials find immigrants they are trying to deport, according to court records.

JPMorgan has published a research note raising its odds of a global recession to 60% in response to Trump’s tariffs.

Screenshot of three tweets from @JamesSurowiecki dated 2 April 2025. (1) "It's also important to understand that the tariff rates that foreign countries are supposedly charging us are just made-up numbers. South Korea, with which we have a trade agreement, is not charging a 50% tariff on U.S. exports. Nor is the EU charging a 39% tariff." (2) "Just figured out where these fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us. So we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is." (3) "Even given that it's Trump, I cannot believe they said "We'll just divide the trade deficit by imports and tell people that's the tariff rate." And then they decided to set our tariffs by just cutting that totally made-up rate in half! This is so dumb and deceptive."

Wow. Just wow. How Trump set the tariff rates. This is blithering, staggering, mind-boggling, jaw-cracking, gums-bleeding stupidity.

Apparently, waste, fraud, and abuse only occurs in counties that voted for Harris. Who knew?

GIMP 3.0 is finally here 🥹

@itsthatladydev.bsky.social has the details in this episode of The Download ⬇️
youtu.be/hhCMggZXQYU

Trump administration cuts $153 million in Illinois public health, substance abuse programs The Illinois cuts are part of $12 billion in grants that the federal Department of Health and Human Services canceled this week.

Donald Trump is putting cruelty over care.

No part of Illinois will be untouched by these cuts that impact mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and infectious disease prevention programs.

Ultimately, his actions will generate larger expenses in the long run.

Also the "diplomatic relationships" appear to be the deal with a foreign dictator to hold people disappeared from American soil without process in a concentration camp to be subjected to inhumane treatment and forced labor. To suggest this is not a legal issue would be risible were it not Orwellian

They claim they can snatch people up, put them on planes, and deport them to a country run by an authoritarian, where those people will be forced to work slave labor at an inhumane prison. All without due process, and in defiance of federal courts.

The hypotheticals are over. This is the nightmare.

Not hypothetical anymore

Pro tip for Democrats: if Trump is congratulating you, you fucked up.