Dave

Chart: Slave population in 1860 | Bill of Rights Institute

@david_ruffin_no_temptations, a Black King wrote:

By 1860, there were 4 million enslaved Black [People] in the United States [Proof: billofrightsinstitute.org/activities/c... ]. Their combined market value was over $3 billion at the time,

(1/10)

#reparations #blackhistory #blacksky #addtoblacksky

YouTube video by Dylan Blaha The War on Veterans Continues #va #unions

On Wednesday, the VA terminated nearly all of its collective bargaining contracts with federal unions,

Which will impact nearly 80% of their staff.

This is a setback for workers’ rights in America and it’s harmful to veterans everywhere.

#va #USPOL #veterans

youtube.com/shorts/Xr60B...

Episode 149: Confederate Monuments with Dr. Karen Cox Podcast Episode · Reckoning with Jason Herbert · 08/08/2025 · 1h 6m

If you’d like to hear some context about Confederate statuary in light of Hegseth’s announcement to restore Confederate monuments to Federal property including at Arlington National Cemetery @herberthistory.bsky.social invited me to his podcast last night to talk about it.

Suckers and losers 🤬🤬🤬

In Dayton, Ohio, vacant positions for purchasing agents resulted in delays in acquiring hundreds of prosthetics, according to an internal VA report from May. Kasperowicz said the hospital has recently cut processing time for such orders by more than half.

Prez Trump has said, "We love our veterans. We're going to take good care of them."

We got internal docs showing VA cuts & chaos have doctors and others to flee.

In one hospital, lack of staff has led to delays in acquiring *hundreds of prosthetics.*

www.propublica.org/article/vete...

“We don’t erase history” says the sentient can of body spray who took Medgar Evers and Harvey Milk’s names off Navy ships

Everyone has been celebrating the court restraining orders in L.A. except for these guys. Is this similarity a coincidence?

Credit to @ communalpress on IG

How Did We Arrive at this Redistricting Mess? The Supreme Court, Of Course “Is This How American Democracy is Supposed to Work?”

Before folks start critiquing the possibility of Democrats redistricting in blue states in response the Republican/Trump gerrymandering-palooza, let’s remember that the Dems would only be playing the hand SCOTUS dealt.
open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

VA ends contracts for most of its unionized employees The Department of Veterans Affairs has terminated collective bargaining agreements for most of its more than 350,000 unionized employees, including nurses, food service workers, technicians and janito...

ICYMI: The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Wednesday that it is terminating collective bargaining agreements with more than half a dozen unions that represent most of its more than 350,000 unionized employees.

It didn’t start with Trump: The decades-long saga of how the GOP went crazy The modern Republican Party has always exploited and encouraged extremism.

It Didn’t Start with Trump: The Decades-Long Saga of How the GOP Went Crazy (from 2022)

Soul Stripping Against AI, again.

In 2010, @sarahkendzior.bsky.social uploaded her paper on digital freedom and social control, so readers could "grasp the digital dangers of surveillance, censorship, and impersonation" without paywalls.

Now someone's AI-created podcast of her paper costs $170 to hear.

The irony is mind-blowing.

5. Ultimately, resources will be shifted to preparation programs emphasizing "classical" (white Christian nationalist) ideals. Soon, your teacher preparation program will need to adopt ideological conservative views of teacher preparation or will no longer be able to prepare teachers in red states.

whichever Democratic politician you’re currently describing as a vile bigot would not have done anything like this

🚨 The federal government caught on camera breaking the order put in place by a federal judge’s TRO.

GOP values

VA Just Terminated Most Federal Union Contracts, National Nurses United Included The VA has terminated union contracts for over 360,000 healthcare workers, including nurses—raising urgent concerns about staffing, patient safety, and veteran care nationwide.

NEW: The Department of Veterans Affairs just terminated union contracts including AFL-CIO (AFGE), NAGE, NFFE, SEIU, and nursing unions NNOC and NNU. nurse.org/news/va-term...

Please read this excellent, point by point refutation of the claim that there was a "Russia hoax"
From @noupside.bsky.social
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/from...

Police State Alert:

The FBI has agreed to hunt down Democratic state lawmakers who legally decided to leave Texas to block a gerrymandering vote, Senator John Cornyn tells the NYT.

No freedom in the Land of the Free.

GOP values

Video shows Department of Justice official urging Jan. 6 rioters to 'kill' cops The Department of Justice hired a former Jan. 6 defendant who was caught on tape urging rioters to "kill" police. The department calls him a "valued member" of the administration.

On Jan. 6, Jared Wise urged rioters to "kill" cops.

"You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo," Wise yelled.

Trump dismissed Wise's Jan. 6 case, and the DOJ hired him as a senior adviser.

We got the bodycam video showing Wise on Jan. 6.

www.npr.org/2025/08/07/n...

This is what frustrates me about the perennial "how do we reach the public" conversations. Are students--and by extension their parents/families/caregivers--not "the public?" Are classrooms, museums, parks, and historic sites not venues where we can reach the public at scale?

ICE raided two Asian supermarkets simultaneously and in one confiscated paperwork, necessary documents and shut down the business.

They even harassed the shoppers.

When your face is the only crime, what kind of system is that.

We have learned that one of the women taken on Alvarado and 8th is Sabrina Medina, a pregnant U.S. Citizen expecting twins from Huntington Park, whom Kristi Noem targeted and was present last month for a photo op.

Serve your country! Defend your culture!

Just in case it’s not already clear that ICE is a white supremacist thug army, Homeland Security is recruiting with a “defend your culture” slogan.

This really feels like a defining post of our time

🧵

Newsflash, Wannabe Dictator:

I don’t care how many times you shake the Etch A Sketch trying to redraw these lines. I’m not disappearing.

I’ll be back, still on your behind every step of the way. (1/2)

Kevin Hassett: decent, amiable, authoritarian apologist. It doesn't take evil; it just takes spinelessness. Read the whole thing in today's Morning Shots: www.thebulwark.com/p/the-banali...

YouTube video by KCRG-TV9: Your Trusted Local News Source Governor’s Reynolds confirms Iowa National Guard will help with immigration enforcement

#iowa

Des Moines Banned Lawn Watering, but Polluted Tap Water Keeps Flowing: Inside Iowa's Nitrate Problem Amid rising cancer rates, citizens are demanding Governor Reynolds take more meaningful action.

A few weeks ago, the Central Iowa Water Works issued a mandatory lawn watering ban due to high levels of nitrates in the source water. Now, amid rising cancer rates, citizens are demanding Governor Reynolds take more meaningful action.