Robert Vollrath
@vollrathian.bsky.social
Database and application developer. Avid TV watcher, RPG player, and above average sci-fi and fantasy reader.
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
"The woman, a U.S. citizen who was born in Edina Minnesota, was zip-tied when she was detained near Nicollet Mall..."
www.fox9.com/news/u-s-cit...
www.fox9.com/news/u-s-cit...
December 8, 2025 at 6:48 PM
"The woman, a U.S. citizen who was born in Edina Minnesota, was zip-tied when she was detained near Nicollet Mall..."
www.fox9.com/news/u-s-cit...
www.fox9.com/news/u-s-cit...
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:40 PM
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Christ on a cracker — these seemingly hostile drones only missed Zelensky’s plane because he was unexpectedly early www.thejournal.ie/drones-dubli...
Four unidentified military-style drones breached no-fly zone to target Zelenskyy's arrival in Dublin
Gardaí are investigating whether the drones took off from land in Dublin or from an undetected ship.
www.thejournal.ie
December 4, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Christ on a cracker — these seemingly hostile drones only missed Zelensky’s plane because he was unexpectedly early www.thejournal.ie/drones-dubli...
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
41 minutes. www.cnn.com/2025/12/04/p...
December 5, 2025 at 1:22 AM
41 minutes. www.cnn.com/2025/12/04/p...
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
This was just sent to me by an LAUSD parent. A 4th grader was assigned to design a book cover for Pippi Longstocking using Adobe for Education. Here is what the AI tool generated:
December 5, 2025 at 9:49 PM
This was just sent to me by an LAUSD parent. A 4th grader was assigned to design a book cover for Pippi Longstocking using Adobe for Education. Here is what the AI tool generated:
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
What I’ve been up to! www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...
LA Parents say school-issued iPads and Chromebooks cause chaos
A growing contingent of public school parents say school-mandated iPads, particularly in elementary and middle schools, are leading to behavior problems.
www.nbcnews.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:18 PM
What I’ve been up to! www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Democrats need to lay the groundwork for reform by attacking the villains on the Supreme Court - loudly, angrily, personally, relentlessly. And they should start now.
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
Democrats Need to Treat the Supreme Court Like the Villain It Is
The Court is out of control, and we'll never see reform unless we build the case for it. Starting now.
paulwaldman.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Democrats need to lay the groundwork for reform by attacking the villains on the Supreme Court - loudly, angrily, personally, relentlessly. And they should start now.
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
BERMAN: Would it be legal for police in Arkansas to kill suspected drug dealers on a boat in a lake?
TOM COTTON: The premise of your question is not well-founded
BERMAN: The answer is no. It would not be legal to kill them.
TOM COTTON: The premise of your question is not well-founded
BERMAN: The answer is no. It would not be legal to kill them.
December 5, 2025 at 3:32 PM
BERMAN: Would it be legal for police in Arkansas to kill suspected drug dealers on a boat in a lake?
TOM COTTON: The premise of your question is not well-founded
BERMAN: The answer is no. It would not be legal to kill them.
TOM COTTON: The premise of your question is not well-founded
BERMAN: The answer is no. It would not be legal to kill them.
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
This regressive move will literally kill people. It's making kids' liver cancer great again. And it's a sign of more harm to come.
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine
The CDC's ACIP panel voted to recommend delaying the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, ending a policy that has reined in the virus.
www.statnews.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:46 PM
This regressive move will literally kill people. It's making kids' liver cancer great again. And it's a sign of more harm to come.
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Wow, Adm. Holsey didn't leave of his own accord, Hegseth pushed him out. What looked like the SOCOM head resigning rather than do war crimes now looks like SecDef canning him to facilitate war crimes.
Congress should have him testify, and would've already if war-crime-sympathetic GOP didn't run it.
Congress should have him testify, and would've already if war-crime-sympathetic GOP didn't run it.
Exclusive | Hegseth Asked Top Admiral to Resign After Months of Discord
The relationship between the Pentagon chief and Adm. Alvin Holsey had been rocky since Trump’s inauguration.
www.wsj.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Wow, Adm. Holsey didn't leave of his own accord, Hegseth pushed him out. What looked like the SOCOM head resigning rather than do war crimes now looks like SecDef canning him to facilitate war crimes.
Congress should have him testify, and would've already if war-crime-sympathetic GOP didn't run it.
Congress should have him testify, and would've already if war-crime-sympathetic GOP didn't run it.
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
so now if you worked in content moderation you are visa-blackballed like you'd be if you're friends were all al qaeda
Holy shit.
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
December 4, 2025 at 7:07 PM
so now if you worked in content moderation you are visa-blackballed like you'd be if you're friends were all al qaeda
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Agents in Key Largo, Florida ripped this woman wearing medical scrubs out of her car as she screamed she is a US citizen. Agents cuffed her and put her in one of their cars.
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
December 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Agents in Key Largo, Florida ripped this woman wearing medical scrubs out of her car as she screamed she is a US citizen. Agents cuffed her and put her in one of their cars.
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Ahhh good faith conservatism
December 2, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Ahhh good faith conservatism
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
*not shopping at Target intensifies*
December 1, 2025 at 8:31 PM
*not shopping at Target intensifies*
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Kelly: He runs around on stage talking about lethality and the warrior ethos.. That’s not the message that should be coming from the Secretary of Defense… He runs around on a stage like he’s a 12 year old playing army. It’s embarrassing.
December 1, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Kelly: He runs around on stage talking about lethality and the warrior ethos.. That’s not the message that should be coming from the Secretary of Defense… He runs around on a stage like he’s a 12 year old playing army. It’s embarrassing.
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Lecturing on Watergate this morning and trying to decide how to communicate "no, Congress used to care when presidents did crimes!" without derailing the lecture and/or sobbing
December 1, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Lecturing on Watergate this morning and trying to decide how to communicate "no, Congress used to care when presidents did crimes!" without derailing the lecture and/or sobbing
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Streets are saying If Books Could Kill is the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 of podcasts
www.vulture.com/article/cult...
www.vulture.com/article/cult...
December 1, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Streets are saying If Books Could Kill is the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 of podcasts
www.vulture.com/article/cult...
www.vulture.com/article/cult...
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
A new post by a Republican state Senator in Indiana, saying she will "not cave" on redistricting as she shares that she was just the target of a pipe bomb threat to due "DC political pundits."
November 30, 2025 at 8:57 PM
A new post by a Republican state Senator in Indiana, saying she will "not cave" on redistricting as she shares that she was just the target of a pipe bomb threat to due "DC political pundits."
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
"Never spread the lie in the headline" should be a hard rule of 21st century journalism.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
News media has to do better with headlines that present false and unverified public health claims.
November 30, 2025 at 1:10 AM
"Never spread the lie in the headline" should be a hard rule of 21st century journalism.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
I think often of the time a bunch of murder victims’ families showed Trump treasured photos of their loved ones and he signed them
Q: Do you plan to attend Sarah's funeral?
TRUMP: I haven't thought about it yet, but it's certainly something I can conceive of. I love West Virginia. You know, I won West Virginia by one of the biggest margins of any president anywhere.
TRUMP: I haven't thought about it yet, but it's certainly something I can conceive of. I love West Virginia. You know, I won West Virginia by one of the biggest margins of any president anywhere.
November 28, 2025 at 2:50 AM
I think often of the time a bunch of murder victims’ families showed Trump treasured photos of their loved ones and he signed them
Reposted by Robert Vollrath
Hate to be posting this on a holiday, but there's been renewed interest in the CIA-backed Zero Units in Afghanistan. Here's a good summary of @propublica.org's 2022 reporting on the units and just some of the civilian casualties they were responsible for:
What We Know About U.S.-Backed Zero Units in Afghanistan
Deadly night raids. Faulty U.S. intelligence. A “classified” war loophole. Reporter Lynzy Billing’s investigation offers an unprecedented insight into the civilian casualties of Afghanistan’s Zero Uni...
www.propublica.org
November 28, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Hate to be posting this on a holiday, but there's been renewed interest in the CIA-backed Zero Units in Afghanistan. Here's a good summary of @propublica.org's 2022 reporting on the units and just some of the civilian casualties they were responsible for: