Rob Arthur
@robarthur.bsky.social
Data journalist, scientist, data scientist, science journalist, etc.
Reposted by Rob Arthur
you could fact check this — there aren’t 30 million illegal immigrants and there is no evidence that the presence of an immigrant in say houston has any impact on housing in madison, wisconsin — or you could note straightforwardly that this is just nazi rhetoric
JD Vance: "A lot of young people are saying housing is way too expensive. Why is that? Because we flooded the country with 30 million illegal immigrants who were taking houses that ought by right go to American citizens."
November 13, 2025 at 10:12 PM
you could fact check this — there aren’t 30 million illegal immigrants and there is no evidence that the presence of an immigrant in say houston has any impact on housing in madison, wisconsin — or you could note straightforwardly that this is just nazi rhetoric
Reposted by Rob Arthur
Check out our story here, which was a big collaborative effort from @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social, @jodiscohen.bsky.social, @tchristianmiller.bsky.social, Sebastian Rotella, & me. Data & research from Nick McMillan, @kirstenberg.bsky.social, & Gabriel Sandoval
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
www.propublica.org
November 13, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Check out our story here, which was a big collaborative effort from @melissa-sanchez.bsky.social, @jodiscohen.bsky.social, @tchristianmiller.bsky.social, Sebastian Rotella, & me. Data & research from Nick McMillan, @kirstenberg.bsky.social, & Gabriel Sandoval
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
Reposted by Rob Arthur
NEW: The first two years of Massachusetts' millionaire tax has raised $3 billion more than expected.
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
Millionaire Tax That Inspired Mamdani Fuels $5.7 Billion Haul in Massachusetts
A millionaire levy in Massachusetts that New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holds up as a model for taxing the rich has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing...
www.bloomberg.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:01 PM
NEW: The first two years of Massachusetts' millionaire tax has raised $3 billion more than expected.
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
Reposted by Rob Arthur
I’d started to wonder whether the Epstein files were a bit of a macguffin, but no no they implicate the President of the United States in a pedophilia ring—and show the entire Republican Party as well as much of the federal government has been baldly covering it up. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
November 12, 2025 at 4:19 PM
I’d started to wonder whether the Epstein files were a bit of a macguffin, but no no they implicate the President of the United States in a pedophilia ring—and show the entire Republican Party as well as much of the federal government has been baldly covering it up. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The amount of work the Trump administration is putting into making sure people starve is staggering.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
Trump Administration Demands States ‘Undo’ Work to Send Full Food Stamps
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
The amount of work the Trump administration is putting into making sure people starve is staggering.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
Reposted by Rob Arthur
Reposted by Rob Arthur
Looking forward to learning all about how the right should move left to win elections tomorrow. They should maybe dye their hair pink, learn to love pronouns.
November 5, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Looking forward to learning all about how the right should move left to win elections tomorrow. They should maybe dye their hair pink, learn to love pronouns.
Reposted by Rob Arthur
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
Reposted by Rob Arthur
They send armed goons to kidnap parents in front of their children and then get mad that we don’t thank them for “keeping us safe.”
Hell isn’t hot enough for these assholes.
Hell isn’t hot enough for these assholes.
A Naperville man was hauled away by federal immigration agents Thursday morning as his two sons watched, the older boy begging them not to hurt his father and tearfully asking for a chance to speak to him before they left.
As his two sons watch and cry, ‘Pa, te amo,’ federal agents arrest man outside of Naperville apartments
A Naperville man was hauled away by federal immigration agents Thursday as his two sons cried and begged for him not to be hurt.
trib.al
October 25, 2025 at 11:57 PM
They send armed goons to kidnap parents in front of their children and then get mad that we don’t thank them for “keeping us safe.”
Hell isn’t hot enough for these assholes.
Hell isn’t hot enough for these assholes.
Reposted by Rob Arthur
Here's a photo of my friend and colleague, Jorge Bautista, getting shot in the face with a flashbang grenade. The ICE Agent is so afraid of Jorge (who was posing no threat) that he has wet himself. Please share this photo. Everyone needs to know what cowards ICE agents are.
October 23, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Here's a photo of my friend and colleague, Jorge Bautista, getting shot in the face with a flashbang grenade. The ICE Agent is so afraid of Jorge (who was posing no threat) that he has wet himself. Please share this photo. Everyone needs to know what cowards ICE agents are.
Reposted by Rob Arthur
How many Republicans objected to a Trump nominee with an acknowledged "Nazi streak"?
Four (4).
Four (4).
BREAKING: Trump's pick to lead the federal watchdog agency withdraws amid GOP objections over his MLK and "Nazi streak" text messages.
Trump pick to lead federal watchdog agency withdraws after offensive text messages were revealed
President Donald Trump’s pick to lead a federal watchdog agency withdrew from consideration Tuesday after his offensive text messages were made public and GOP senators revolted.
bit.ly
October 22, 2025 at 3:44 PM
How many Republicans objected to a Trump nominee with an acknowledged "Nazi streak"?
Four (4).
Four (4).
Reposted by Rob Arthur
2 million more than June and now basically 2% of the entire US population. Which is huge.
It may not seem like a big number, but one in 50 people suggests to me that almost everyone in the US personally knows someone who attended.
It may not seem like a big number, but one in 50 people suggests to me that almost everyone in the US personally knows someone who attended.
October 18, 2025 at 11:17 PM
2 million more than June and now basically 2% of the entire US population. Which is huge.
It may not seem like a big number, but one in 50 people suggests to me that almost everyone in the US personally knows someone who attended.
It may not seem like a big number, but one in 50 people suggests to me that almost everyone in the US personally knows someone who attended.
Reposted by Rob Arthur
If universities fight, they'll win. If they negotiate, they'll lose. It's pretty simple. share.google/Sx4rRygspcx2...
Majority of Harvard’s Research Funding Has Been Restored
As of Tuesday, Harvard University had recouped most of the federal research funding it lost when the Trump administration froze its access to grants earlier this year, multiple local news organization...
share.google
October 15, 2025 at 5:53 PM
If universities fight, they'll win. If they negotiate, they'll lose. It's pretty simple. share.google/Sx4rRygspcx2...
Reposted by Rob Arthur
'“Can we fix the showers? Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic,” Joe Maligno...wrote'
'Many of the chat members already work inside government or party politics, and one serves as a state senator.'
'Many of the chat members already work inside government or party politics, and one serves as a state senator.'
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.
www.politico.com
October 14, 2025 at 5:42 PM
'“Can we fix the showers? Gas chambers don’t fit the Hitler aesthetic,” Joe Maligno...wrote'
'Many of the chat members already work inside government or party politics, and one serves as a state senator.'
'Many of the chat members already work inside government or party politics, and one serves as a state senator.'
Reposted by Rob Arthur
Reposted by Rob Arthur
If a government tells you that you can’t call it authoritarian, it’s authoritarian.
September 25, 2025 at 5:22 PM
If a government tells you that you can’t call it authoritarian, it’s authoritarian.
fear of losing money is what made ABC suspend Kimmel; fear of losing money due to a boycott seems like a plausible antidote to this kind of behavior as well
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
People are threatening to boycott Disney after ABC suspends Jimmy Kimmel: ‘Let’s do to Disney what we did to Target’
Many believe Kimmel's suspension, done in response to comments made about Charlie Kirk's assassination, is a violation of free speech.
www.yahoo.com
September 19, 2025 at 7:34 PM
fear of losing money is what made ABC suspend Kimmel; fear of losing money due to a boycott seems like a plausible antidote to this kind of behavior as well
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Reposted by Rob Arthur
"MAGA is a social movement and has been since the beginning. What you have is a situation in which a social movement took over one of the dominant political parties. But in this case, the movement that has taken over the party is largely anti-democratic," says @devawo.bsky.social.
September 19, 2025 at 5:39 PM
"MAGA is a social movement and has been since the beginning. What you have is a situation in which a social movement took over one of the dominant political parties. But in this case, the movement that has taken over the party is largely anti-democratic," says @devawo.bsky.social.
Reposted by Rob Arthur
we wrote about this WH tactic recently. they’re asking journalists for expert source names and then using them to look up political donations in FEC records to try to discredit those sources as biased.
www.npr.org/2025/08/18/n...
www.npr.org/2025/08/18/n...
I had this exact same experience this morning. Same reporter as Heidi.
This is *not* normal.
I have spoken to the press on these issues for two decades. No government official has ever demanded to know my identity in order to give a comment on a story.
This is *not* normal.
I have spoken to the press on these issues for two decades. No government official has ever demanded to know my identity in order to give a comment on a story.
I find this extremely chilling:
I spoke w a reporter this morning about Kimmel. (Reporter was / is great) They got back to me a short while ago to say they sought White House comment & WH demands to know first which experts they spoke with. I told reporter I'm happy to be quoted IN THE STORY but 1/x
I spoke w a reporter this morning about Kimmel. (Reporter was / is great) They got back to me a short while ago to say they sought White House comment & WH demands to know first which experts they spoke with. I told reporter I'm happy to be quoted IN THE STORY but 1/x
September 18, 2025 at 8:57 PM
we wrote about this WH tactic recently. they’re asking journalists for expert source names and then using them to look up political donations in FEC records to try to discredit those sources as biased.
www.npr.org/2025/08/18/n...
www.npr.org/2025/08/18/n...
Reposted by Rob Arthur
I really think that Dems should demand firing RFK Jr. as a condition to fund the government
his negative value over replacement cabinet member is undoubtedly the highest in the administration
his negative value over replacement cabinet member is undoubtedly the highest in the administration
September 19, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I really think that Dems should demand firing RFK Jr. as a condition to fund the government
his negative value over replacement cabinet member is undoubtedly the highest in the administration
his negative value over replacement cabinet member is undoubtedly the highest in the administration
Reposted by Rob Arthur
moments ago, ice agents again came out of the broadview detention/“professing” facility to escort a silver suv out of the lot.
one of the agents picked up and threw congressional candidate kat abughazaleh to the ground.
one of the agents picked up and threw congressional candidate kat abughazaleh to the ground.
September 19, 2025 at 11:46 AM
moments ago, ice agents again came out of the broadview detention/“professing” facility to escort a silver suv out of the lot.
one of the agents picked up and threw congressional candidate kat abughazaleh to the ground.
one of the agents picked up and threw congressional candidate kat abughazaleh to the ground.
Reposted by Rob Arthur
A data broker owned by major US airlines, including American Airlines, United, and Delta, is selling access to five billion plane ticketing records to the government for warrantless searching and monitoring of peoples’ movements, including by the FBI, Secret Service, ICE and other agencies
Airlines Sell 5 Billion Plane Ticket Records to the Government For Warrantless Searching
New documents obtained by 404 Media show how a data broker owned by American Airlines, United, Delta, and many other airlines is selling masses of passenger data to the U.S. government.
www.404media.co
September 15, 2025 at 1:20 PM
A data broker owned by major US airlines, including American Airlines, United, and Delta, is selling access to five billion plane ticketing records to the government for warrantless searching and monitoring of peoples’ movements, including by the FBI, Secret Service, ICE and other agencies
Reposted by Rob Arthur
Here are some things that Charlie Kirk said in his life.
The man is dead, and so it only seems fair to share his legacy by cataloguing the values he spread while alive.
The man is dead, and so it only seems fair to share his legacy by cataloguing the values he spread while alive.
September 10, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Here are some things that Charlie Kirk said in his life.
The man is dead, and so it only seems fair to share his legacy by cataloguing the values he spread while alive.
The man is dead, and so it only seems fair to share his legacy by cataloguing the values he spread while alive.
Reposted by Rob Arthur
This citizen and vet was grabbed by immigration agents--and held for three days
He wasn't allowed to contact anyone, not his lawyer, not his family
"No one told me what I was there for. I thought I was gonna just disappear and never see my fucking kids again"
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
He wasn't allowed to contact anyone, not his lawyer, not his family
"No one told me what I was there for. I thought I was gonna just disappear and never see my fucking kids again"
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
A U.S. Citizen Detained by ICE for Three Days Tells His Story
A conversation with George Retes, an Army veteran swept up in a California raid
www.theatlantic.com
September 11, 2025 at 11:45 AM
This citizen and vet was grabbed by immigration agents--and held for three days
He wasn't allowed to contact anyone, not his lawyer, not his family
"No one told me what I was there for. I thought I was gonna just disappear and never see my fucking kids again"
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
He wasn't allowed to contact anyone, not his lawyer, not his family
"No one told me what I was there for. I thought I was gonna just disappear and never see my fucking kids again"
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...