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J.Crants

@jimcrants.bsky.social
361 followers 95 following 1.7K posts

Ecologist, soil scientist, runner, gardener, wannabe writer, crank.

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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
I hope they throw the book at James O'Keefe for impersonating a Minnesota voter in a failed attempt to prove our election system is vulnerable to fraud. This clown hurts a lot more people than just the victims he targets.
cbsnews.com
Activists who filmed themselves posing as Minnesota voters during primary elections may be in legal trouble
An undercover video could land a handful of activists in legal trouble. They pretended to be Minnesota voters during the primary.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
If I were conspiracy-minded (and under Trump, it's hard not to be), I might think making our elections vulnerable to foreign cyber attacks is part of a plan. Either because attacks that favor Trump are in the offing or because it would cast doubt on the validity of the 2026 elections.
rawstory.com
'Keeps me up at night': States warn Trump slashed crucial security against foreign threat
State election officials say they have lost access to federal cybersecurity support they once relied on to defend against foreign threats, leaving them increasingly on their own just months before the...
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
The prosecution is weakening because (1) the damage to the pool liner appears to be consistent with improper sealing, not vandalism, and (2) in repairing the liner, the government is destroying the physical evidence before anyone can document it.
thewellnews.com
Prosecution of Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Vandalism Suspects Begins to Weaken
WASHINGTON — A former Olympic athlete was bound over Monday in Washington, D.C., for a trial that might never happen as repair work at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool demonstrates allegations of ...
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Yes, we already knew Versailles was an inauspicious place to sign a peace treaty, but nobody had tried signing a memorandum of understanding there. Now, with the failure of the Memorandum of Understanding of Versailles, we know one more thing not to do at Versailles in the future. Thanks, Trump!
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
We should keep daylight savings. The alternatives are: (1) standard time all the time and sunrise at 4:30 am in the summer, with one hour less in our long summer afternoons, or (2) sunrise at 8:45 am in the winter (albeit with sunset at a more reasonable 6:15 pm).
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
I haven't been following the World Cup closely. Last I looked, the US had managed to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina despite having a player wrongfully red-carded. Now, Trump has managed to turn that into Belgium beating the USA despite his meddling to force FIFA to nullify that player's suspension.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
According to an email newsletter from the organizers, starting next year, the Twin Cities Marathon will be moving from early October to mid October. This is a response to climate change in order to increase participant safety. I assume decreasing the risk of race cancellation is also a factor.
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Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl @deardara.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
One thing in America explains everything in America, and it's: 54% of adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level (20% are below 5th-grade level). All the GOP does is take candy from babies, while demanding the babies never get educated. www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/2024-2025-li...
thenationalliteracyinstitute.com
2024-2025 Literacy Statistics | National Literacy Institute
Literacy Statisitics
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Today, I learned that there is a creature called a Bathroom Moth Fly. Its larvae live in aquatic environments and feed on decaying organic matter, so they're common around sewer drains and sewage treatment plants. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clogmia...
en.wikipedia.org
Clogmia albipunctata - Wikipedia
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
I started reading a commentary about Americans being surprised at the positive reaction many World Cup fans visiting from Europe are having to our country, and . . . Does anyone else have an almost violent aversion to the term "coastal elites"? It's not like they're the only ones surprised here.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
If you ever hear that former solar farms can't be used to grow potatoes, either because of leached toxins or because potatoes "engulf" debris left behind after removal, there is zero evidence for that claim.
canarymedia.com
In new attack on solar, lawmakers spread myths about potato farms
Misinformation about renewable energy fuels local pushback to proposed energy installations and could threaten farmers’ livelihoods.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
GOOD. At the beginning, she claimed people were only asking questions because she was "helping" Somali children. At the end, she said she should get off easier because others got richer and the state didn't investigate like it should have. She was the ringleader, and she's still deflecting.
startribune.com
Live: Aimee Bock sentenced to more than 41 years in prison
“This is a vortex of fraud, and you were at the epicenter,” judge told Feeding Our Future ringleader at sentencing.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
If "Tyrannosaurus" means "king lizard," does "Thesaurus" mean "THE lizard"?
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
After all that garbage about how everyone who protests Trump and ICE is a "paid agitator," we learn that they had to pay people to attend a Vance rally in Iowa. (Also available here: www.queerty.com/jd-vances-hu...)
iowastartingline.com
Reynolds-connected lobbyist recruited paid attendees for JD Vance's Iowa rally on behalf of ‘an ethanol company’ -
An Iowa lobbyist was caught offering $100 cash payments—plus referral bonuses—to pack JD Vance's Des Moines rally this week.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
It's important to understand a claim before you try to debunk it. Nobody says the shooter in Butler intentionally drilled Trump's ear at 140 yards. The claim is that the whole thing was faked. No shot, no ear damage, one dead patsy. Not saying I believe that, but it's not that stupid, either.
newsweek.com
Joe Rogan refutes Trump assassination attempt “setup” claims
Anyone claiming the 2024 assassination attempt was a hoax “doesn’t know anything about guns,” Rogan said on a new podcast episode.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
The cost of interest on the national debt is expected to reach $1 trillion this year. More than defense or Medicaid, similar to Medicare. This is our return on investment for cutting taxes on the rich for 45 years. Our other major expenses were much less optional and much more worthwhile.
pgpf.org
Interest Costs on the National Debt Are Reaching All-Time Highs
The most recent CBO projections confirm once again that America’s fiscal outlook is on an unsustainable path — increasingly driven by higher interest costs.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Seashells in the sand arranged to spell "86 47"
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Brandy @3dogz.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
There's a phenomenon in traffic where slower cars often catch up to faster cars after being overtaken. It's called the "Voorhees law of traffic," in reference to how Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th often catches people who are clearly going faster than he is. I love that.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
The Iran War is a contender for dumbest thing Trump has done as president. He's now talking about leaving, and he could never articulate why we were there to begin with. We are in a much weaker position than we started with, having gained nothing. Governing America is not a reality show.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Trump may pull out of Iran without getting the Strait of Hormuz re-opened first. He's "bored" with his war. One might wonder what military objectives were achieved in this "excursion," if one believed there were any to begin with. He wanted to see a surge in the polls; he didn't; he's done.
thedailybeast.com
Trump Secretly Admits Humiliating Defeat on Major War Aim
The president is happy for the world to suffer an oil crisis rather than trying to fix the problem he caused.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
The Trump administration says we are in talks with Iran. Iran says that's not true. If Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan weren't confirming the US position on this, I wouldn't know whom to believe. The federal government has always lied to us about some things, but under Trump, it could be anything.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
If you want to understand Trump, understand that he is nothing but ego. Think of every stupid or nasty thing you've ever done out of selfishness, defensiveness, or the need for approval. Imagine those same traits preventing you from regretting or learning from those things. That's Trump.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
To Kristi Noem: Let the door hit you on the way out. You deserve to be hit by a door.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
I just saw an article in The Motley Fool that twice asserts, ". . . the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite have soared under President Trump." Would it shock anyone to know that none of these funds have grown any faster under Trump than under Obama or Biden?
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Terrible headline in the Sigma Xi SmartBrief yesterday: "Data show HIV, syphilis co-occur in 1 in 12 US adolescents." They mean that 1 in 12 US adolescents with syphilis also have HIV. The overall syphilis rate among U.S. adolescents (8.5 per 100,000) is about 1000-fold lower than 1 in 12.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Still my favorite Minneapolis-inspired song.
youtu.be
ICE, F**K You - A Protest Song for Minneapolis
YouTube video by scaredketchup
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MotherSkadi 🏴‍☠️ @motherskadi.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
On the streets of Minneapolis, protesters call out ICE forces. Cellphone videos are a powerful ally. Bill Kurtis, remember him, is the author.
kansasreflector.com
On the streets of Minneapolis, protesters call out ICE forces. Cellphone videos are a powerful ally. • Kansas Reflector
The siege of Minneapolis differed from the Irish “Troubles” in one important respect. Day after day, each scenario was recorded.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Since Metro Surge was SO popular and effective and the whole country loves ICE now, they're apparently planning to do the same thing in CA and NY. Several cities are listed in the article.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Border Patrol's now-familiar tactics under Greg Bovino. "ICE" had been a convenient shorthand for the two agencies combined, but CBP is, if anything, even more reckless and dangerous.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
I don't know how one moves from regressive Christianity to progressive Christianity, especially in adulthood, especially as a minister, but this resonated anyway. Minneapolis has shown what beloved community might look like.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
A design by my neighbor Ellen.
A Minnesota state flag (new design) with "love is our superpower" in the light blue field at the right.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
The administration lies constantly. This particular lie is the off ramp they have to create for themselves in order to get out of this fiasco without admitting any failure. But Trump's entire approach to immigration is both stupid and cruel, much like its architect, Stephen Miller.
startribune.com
Border czar credits ‘significant cooperation’ for end of ICE surge, but sheriffs say policies haven’t changed
Hennepin County says it still will only notify immigration officials if they produce a judicial warrant.
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conifergirl.bsky.social @conifergirl.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
The arrogance of these agents is fueled by a sense of impunity that comes from the top. In Florida agent Scott Deiseroth was stopped for driving drunk with his two children in the car. Instead of showing remorse he tried to intimidate the deputy arresting him.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
I just read that the idea that the frontal lobe doesn't reach maturity until age 25 is a misinterpretation of a study in which the maximum age of the subjects was 20. Based on later studies, if there can be said to be a time when the frontal lobe reaches maturity, it's in the 30s.
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MdDoogie3 @mddoogie3.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it. I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.” 1/
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
The Minnesota Department of Corrections has a website dedicated to combating misinformation from the federal Department of Homeland Security. They shouldn't have to, but they do.
mn.gov
Combatting Department of Homeland Security Misinformation / Department of Corrections
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
The Minnesota Department of Human Services has a website that debunks myths about them spread by the federal government and right-wing influencers. They shouldn't have to, but they do.
mn.gov
Fact check / Program Integrity - Department of Human Services
Minnesota Department of Human Services busts myths told about Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse.
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Andrew Karre @andrewkarre.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Seriously, watch this. It will be well worth 7 minutes of your time. Aliya Rahman's determination is as inspiring as ICE agent's abuse of her was disgusting.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
ICE keeps detainees in undisclosed location, some for days at a time, without "access to clean clothes, edible food, and calls with their attorneys."
rawstory.com
Judge 'bewildered' as ICE reveals detention areas hidden from the court
A federal judge was blindsided on Monday upon learning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been storing detainees on floors of a Manhattan facility that it hadn't disclosed to the court prior...
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
The right-wing media need their rural and small-town viewers to believe that American cities are post-apocalyptic hellscapes, their hellishness in proportion to the progressiveness of their politics. The myth rarely survives a couple days' visit to the actual place.
salon.com
Super Bowl bursts popular right-wing media myth
Conservative commentators and podcast bros backtrack on what they've said about San Francisco
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Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 09/02/2026
A Mexican immigrant was left with severe head injuries after ICE agents beat him during a Jan. 8 arrest in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Associated Press reports. Alberto Castañeda Mondragón, 31, was pulled from a car, handcuffed, & struck in the head w/ a metal baton, then beaten again at a detention...
A Mexican immigrant was left with severe head injuries after ICE agents beat him during a Jan. 8 arrest in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Associated Press reports. Alberto Castañeda Mondragón, 31, was pulled from a car, handcuffed, and struck in the head with a metal baton, then beaten again at a detention facility. A CT scan showed eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages, injuries doctors said were inconsistent with ICE claims he ran into a wall. ICE later said he had overstayed a 2022 work visa, a finding made only after the arrest. A federal judge ruled the arrest unlawful and ordered his release. Now recovering in Minnesota, Mondragón has lasting memory loss and balance problems, cannot work, and relies on community support with an online fundraiser organized for him.

 📸 Photo: Alberto Castañeda Mondragón in St. Paul, Minn. February 2036.
Mark Vancleave/AP


See new posts
Conversation
Jim Mustian
@JimMustian
·
Jan 31
“It was laughable," a Minnesota nurse said of 
@ICEgov
's acct of how a man received a fractured skull and brain hemorrhages 

ICE initially said he ran into a brick wall

Then an officer said the man "got his shit rocked"

@NewsDudeAP
 
@jack_brook96
From apnews.com
Jim Mustian
@JimMustian
UPDATE: We spoke with Alberto, the man whose 8 skull fractures ICE blamed on a brick wall  

He says 
@ICEgov
 beat him with the same metal rod they used to smash his friend's car windows

"There was never a wall" 

w/
@NewsDudeAP
 
@jack_brook96
 
@APCedar

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minneapolis-hospital-ice-beating-assault-4e77742e0629fc7f127c0aa38b3d2a70
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Marly Marie @marlymarieport.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
No this is the problem
Ice invasion of MN is 25x worse than Chicago was
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Watching the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, where, according to closed captioning, Andrea Bocelli is "singing in a non-English language."
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Morale is LOW at ICE. They're not all mindless thugs who can't see the situation is fucked up. The administration likes to call them heroes, and they're treating them the way Republicans have always treated their working-class heroes.
independent.co.uk
Thousands of ICE agents complain about their jobs in online forum, report says
Immigration agents have taken to venting about their frustrations online as they have been placed at the center of the Trump administration’s crackdown
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
The Trump administration's supposed "pivot" notwithstanding, conditions on the ground in Minneapolis continue to worsen. It's not everywhere around here, either. In my very white neighborhood, ICE isn't very perceptible. On the other side of Hiawatha, it's life during wartime.
deardara.com
Dara's Guide to Handling Reality
Minneapolis, inside the economic blockade zone where we are pioneering nonviolence, whistle edition
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Laurie Em @laurieem.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
@jessesingal.com "In light of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis, I’m worried that it’s getting harder and harder to make the standard anti-violence argument in good faith." Is that what you would have said to Gandhi and MLK?
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
A story of three ICE vehicles following a white woman around North Minneapolis as she tries to bring medicine to an asylum seeker.
scottandrewfulks.substack.com
I am a Minneapolis immigration lawyer. Yesterday, my wife was followed by ICE. And you should be afraid.
We live in a more affluent neighborhood in the suburbs of the Twin Cities.
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J.Crants @jimcrants.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Metro Surge is a major screw-up on fraud in at least two ways. First, as this article details, it has undermined legitimate efforts to investigate welfare fraud in Minnesota. Second and more positively, it has also undermined the GOP strategy of using this fraud as an issue in the midterms.
startribune.com
Backlash from Minnesota immigration actions sets back federal fraud cases
A mass resignation by federal prosecutors who quit over the investigation of Renee Good’s killing is now leaving the fraud investigation short-staffed.
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