Erin DeLullo

Erin DeLullo. Founder of Civitella Strategies & host of ‘The Poisoning’ pod (about the #fentanyl epidemic). Read my Substack

[Erin DeLullo @EMDeLullo]

Wow! Reuters bought all the chemicals needed to make $3 million worth of #fentanyl — for a mere $3,600. And the ingredients were AIR SHIPPED to them from China to NEW JERSEY...  

Don't miss my FULL conversation with Reuters journalist @Draz_DJ ! https://t.co/OZAmGu9TeS

[Billy Binion @billybinion]

It's repulsive how many people jeer at this stuff. Haiti is controlled by armed gangs. People are starving, it's hard to get basic essentials like medicine, & violence is routine. Every smug keyboard warrior mocking this man would also be sobbing if they were living his reality.

[Senator Ted Budd @SenTedBuddNC]

From 2018 to 2023, ER visits in the U.S. for pediatric cannabis poisoning increased by 461%. This is a public health crisis that demands immediate attention.

56 national & state public health groups support eliminating the hemp loophole. I hope my colleagues join the fight. The health & wellness of the American people, especially our children, depend on it.

[Joe O’Neill 🐀 @actingjoe]

Poignant Video. This was recorded 1 hour before Glen (Rip) was killed. He was in the Wrens Nest, Strawberry Beds at a session.

[Adam Isacson @adam_wola]

The Washington Post saw a DEA assessment acknowledging that US street prices and purity (and thus availability) of cocaine haven’t changed: all the boat strikes have done is cause traffickers to adjust routes.

https://t.co/l448L8JeuE

[Freddy🇩🇪 @FreddyLA7]

COUNTRY ROADS, TAKE ME HOME TO THE PLACE I BELOOOONG, WEST VIRGINIA!!!!!

[Freddy🇩🇪 @FreddyLA7]

Good morning from somewhere in West Virginia. Last night we broke our personal record for the cheapest hotel stay of the trip. We paid just $70 including taxes. Split between the three of us, that worked out to just $23.33 (20.33€) per person. 🙌

[KFF Health News @KFFHealthNews]

Nearly half of roughly $58 billion in opioid settlement money is controlled by county commissioners and city councilors, who often have little experience with addiction policy. Is anyone watching how they spend the money?

@aneripattani reports ⤵️

https://t.co/scq5o7KgYU

[Michael T. Benson @michaeltbenson]

Yet another national story about our @WestVirginiaU song! Thanks to @conorknighton, a native of Charleston, and correspondent @CBSSunday for this fantastic piece

Loved hearing from @WVUEnglish Professor Sarah Morris @WVUEberly

[Charlie Bilello @charliebilello]

Total amount wagered on sports in the US...
2025: $165 billion
2024: $149 billion
2023: $121 billion
2022: $93.7 billion
2021: $57.5 billion
2020: $21.5 billion
2019: $13.1 billion
2018: $6.6 billion

[Josh Kraushaar @JoshKraushaar]

Former GOP congressman, in the pre Trump era:

[Liz Essley Whyte @l_e_whyte]

“Nearly four million people who signed up for Affordable Care Act plans this year have already dropped their coverage after the loss of subsidies resulted in sharply higher costs.”

Via @annawmathews

https://t.co/7Zwcr5gfJZ

[Jeff Jenkins @JeffJenkinsMN]

Couple charged after baby overdoses - WV MetroNews https://t.co/x4NKs6wKgd

[Heather Long @byHeatherLong]

Wow. I just got my latest electric bill.

Exact same daily usage as last year
Exact same daily avg. temp as last year
But... a nearly 30% increase in the daily avg. cost

(The official CPI report says electricity costs are up 6% in the past year. Obviously, it varies by region)

[Alice Miranda Ollstein @AliceOllstein]

It's "attorneys general" for a reason. They are not military generals. "General" refers to the fact that they are the attorneys for everyone in the state.

[Greg Lukianoff @glukianoff]

$22,567 per day.

That’s what Perry County, TN will pay Larry Bushart for every day it kept him in jail over a Trump meme.

He lost 37 days of his life and his job, and missed his anniversary and the birth of his grandchild.

All for speech the First Amendment protects.

Proud that @TheFIREorg helped Larry fight back and win, and even prouder that the First Amendment still has teeth.

[Greg Lukianoff @glukianoff]

Larry Bushart spent 37 days in jail for posting a meme on Facebook.

I’ve been doing this work for 25 years, and I can honestly say this is the worst First Amendment case I’ve ever seen.

Not because Larry threatened anyone. He didn’t. Not because he committed violence. He didn’t. Not because this was a close call. It wasn’t.

He posted a political meme — the kind of thing millions of Americans do every day — and local officials decided to treat it like a crime.

And because they had badges, prosecutors, jail cells, and the terrifying machinery of the state behind them, they got away with it for 37 days.

Larry is a retired police officer and National Guard veteran. The meme he shared quoted Donald Trump’s “we have to get over it” comment after a 2024 Iowa school shooting. Whatever you think of Trump, the meme was plainly political commentary. Perry County officials knew what it referred to. They knew it wasn’t a threat against a Tennessee school.

They arrested him anyway.

In the middle of the night.

They set his bond at $2 million.

He lost his job. He missed family milestones. He sat in jail for more than a month before the charges finally collapsed — because, of course, there was no crime here.

Today, @theFIREorg secured a measure of justice: Perry County agreed to pay Larry Bushart $835,000 for violating his constitutional rights.

This case should scare the hell out of people across the political spectrum.

Because if the government can jail you for a meme by pretending not to understand obvious political commentary, your rights are only as secure as the good faith of the most authoritarian official in your town.

That is exactly why we have the First Amendment. Not for speech everyone likes. Not for opinions that flatter the powerful. Not for the bland, safe, committee-approved stuff.

It exists for moments when fear, outrage, politics, and authority all line up and say: “Surely this is the exception.”

No. It isn’t.

I’m incredibly proud of @theFIREorg’s legal team. And I’m even prouder of Larry Bushart for refusing to let the government get away with treating his constitutional rights like a suggestion.

But despite the correct verdict, I'll probably always get angry every time I think of this case.

Let’s make this the last time anyone in America is arrested — let alone thrown in jail — for a meme.

Celebrate your independence. Defend your First Amendment.

https://t.co/7ADQTxeHsL

[Jeff Jackson @JeffJacksonNC]

This interview with former Senator Ben Sasse is strong stuff.

He’s using the time he has left to speak honestly about life and politics, and a big part of his challenge to us is to find a way to repair our political conversation.

One of his main points is that the addiction to outrage that social media has fueled has done nothing to help us reach practical solutions to hard problems.

He's absolutely right about that, and I really respect that his final political project is conveying genuine hope and encouragement that we lift ourselves to meet this moment as friends, neighbors, and citizens.

[Aneri Pattani @aneripattani]

Someone in America dies by suicide every 11 minutes. Some experts, like @sspencerthomas, say treating mental illness isn’t enough. We must fix the “broken things in our communities." First piece in my series on suicide prevention for @KFFHealthNews https://t.co/SOGtMoFgYM

[Jonathan Haidt @JonHaidt]

The Chromebook backlash is growing.

Many tech execs send kids to screen free schools. Many college professors now ban all screens in class. They know that students learn less with a multifunction device on their desks.

Parents, teachers, and principals are demanding change:

[Fairplay @fairplayforkids]

“I don’t want OpenAI to write their own rules for how they interact with children.”

Read why Fairplay and our Executive Director Josh Golin did NOT ❌ join the Parents & Kids Safe AI Coalition, a group funded entirely by @OpenAI.

🔗https://t.co/KCHBVJijDG