iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 08/09/2026

But obviously that was my second choice behind the best submission of the batch.

A flag that says, "Minnesota," that looks like it was made with MS Paint. It includes a fish, look, hockey player, and other random Minnesota things.

Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 08/09/2026

The flag is unpopular among many people for very dumb reasons. But aesthetically, it is pretty basic. I would have preferred going with an expand d version of the center area of the seal. That loom is bad ass.

The seal of Minnesota, with a loon, some wheat, a couple trees, and the North Star.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 12/08/2026

This is aggravating. I submitted a request for a new plan over a year ago, and it's still "under review."

Email from Mohela saying I have 90 days to select a new student loan repayment plan

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 28/06/2026

Anyway, the real State Fair begins in exactly 60 days.

A photo of a very crowded entrance to the Minnesota State Fair.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 13/05/2026

What in the world? Not only is this obnoxiously lazy, all the "AI tools" are doing is running web searches. They don't have any magical access to realtime knowledge. This is embarrassing, especially for an organization that has been such a well regarded news source.

Screenshot from an MPR News article:

"What cities are flying the old state flag?
MPR News used AI tools LocalLens and ChatGPT to identify cities and towns across Minnesota where city councils discussed the state flag or local news outlets covered debates around the flag and then verified each instance. It’s possible there are more areas debating the flag than are covered in this story."

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 11/05/2026

Games like this (par for the course with MN sports teams) may be one contributing factor for high rates of hypertension in MN.

Map showing age-adjusted hypertension mortality rates by U.S. state in 2024 (deaths per 100,000). Minnesota stands out as one of the highest-rate states in the upper Midwest, falling in the 16.32–<20.4 range (darkest red), alongside Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. Most surrounding states are in lighter orange or yellow tiers, making Minnesota’s rate notably elevated for its region.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 01/04/2026

Justinian makes an appearance!

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 24/02/2026

Also, these are definitely bumper plates.

Pete Hegseth bench pressing what he claims is 315 pounds, but they look like bumper plates (that is, probably more like 105 pounds)

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 17/02/2026

* About the e cold: in many states, schools close because of excess snow. At least when I was growing up, that was rare. School only closed for us when it got really cold, like -10 F or lower. No school meant we got to stay home, which generally meant we spent the day playing outside in the snow.

Meme with Bane from The Dark Knight Rises:

You think the cold is your ally?

You merely adopted the cold. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see warmth until I was already a man.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 14/02/2026

Hockey parents are the best.

Sign at a hockey rink:

"Please remember, they are kids; this is a game; coaches are volunteers; refs are human; your kid does not play for the Wild.

Thank you

South St. Paul Youth Hockey Association"

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 04/02/2026

Also, if you're interested, the MNGOP ran a straw poll for governor at their caucuses tonight, with results populating this page: mngop.com Demuth is the current speaker of the house. Qualls ran against Dean Phillips in 2022 and lost by 11. Lindell is the MyPillow guy.

2026 MNGOP Caucus Gubernatorial Strawpoll Results with 26% reporting:

Lisa Demuth in the lead with 1069, Kendall Qualls in second with 1020, Mike Lindell in third with 611, "undecided" in fourth with 339, then Scott Jensen, Phil Parrish, Kristin Robbins, Patrick Knight, Jeff Johnson, Peggy Bennett, Brad Kohler, Raul Estrada, Write-ins, and John Krhin in last.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 04/02/2026

Looks like Duluth, Crow Wing County (Brainerd), and my old stomping grounds of Douglas County (Alexandria). Also seeing lots of uncommitted support vs Klobuchar. Will be interesting to see how that turns out.

Facebook post that reads, "DFL Caucus Night... it's 7pm and there are dozens of people still in line... I've never seen larger crowds. This is at Duluth East High School," accompanied by a photo of the line to get in and people filling out forms.

Facebook post from Crow Wing County DFL: "Over 330 caucus attendees :)"

Facebook post: "Good turnout at the Douglas County DFL caucus," with two comments, "Here in Kandiyohi too," and "Same in Beltrami County." Post includes photo of a large group of people sitting in a large meeting space.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 22/01/2026

Just received this email from my university about impending "inclement" weather. This will never not be strange to me.

A snippet from an email from UMD administration about possible inclement weather:

"Dear Terrapin Community,

Campus leadership is closely monitoring the weather forecast for this weekend, tracking meteorological models as conditions develop. We have adjusted our Residence Hall move-in schedule this weekend and have urged all students to return before Sunday.

Our outstanding Facilities Management team is making preparations for snow removal, and faculty will be issued guidance on options to offer asynchronous instruction to maintain continuity of learning, particularly in the event of a multi-day campus closure. More details about the forthcoming storm can be found below."

A weather forecast for College Park, MD, where UMD is located. It predicts a 45% chance of snow on Saturday, rain on Sunday, and 80% chance of snow on Monday

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 19/01/2026

This is also where Minnesota came into possession of Virginia's battle flag. Since at least the 1960s, VA has been trying to get it back. In 2000, the VA Senate passed a resolution requesting back. Gov. Jesse Ventura's response: "Why? I mean, we won...We took it, that makes it our heritage."

The confederate battle flag of Virginia's 28th Infantry Regiment

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 19/01/2026

20 years?!? At least 160! Which reminds me, now's a good time to remind people of the tale of the brave 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment, without whom this country would not have persisted! www.civilwarmed.org/1st-minnesot...

Painting of the First Minnesota charging the field at Gettysburg, by Don Troiani

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 18/01/2026

The MN National Guard had an opportunity to do something awesome.

Headline: "Minnesota National Guard members will wear yellow reflective vests to distinguish themselves from other law enforcement if activated during anti-ICE protests."

Photo: Two National Guard soldiers in camouflage and yellow vests.

Luke Skywalker dressed in a rebel snow uniform on Hoth standing in front of a tauntaun

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 17/01/2026

Update... the gray numbers is wind chill. Ope, looks like we might need to break out the winter coats.

Forecast for the next 9 days but with wind chill highs ranging from -22 deg to 3 deg

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 17/01/2026

Apropos of nothing. "I will always live in Minneapolis. It's so cold, it keeps the bad people out." - Prince

A weather forecast for the Twin Cities showing the next nine days will have highs ranging from -2 degrees to 18 degrees

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 17/01/2026

Or is the plan just to move ahead business as usual and have only White people caucus? Meanwhile, Carlbom is happy to alienate his own base writing screeds attacking GOP candidates with no chance to get nominated for repping clients and defending their rights while ICE IS SHREDDING THE CONSTITUTION

Screenshot of a statement from DFL Chair Richard Carlbom:

“Chris Madel built his career defending violent and exploitative criminals. He represented fraudsters, rapists, and pedophiles, getting many of their charges and cases thrown out along the way. Madel desperately wants to be seen as a pragmatist, yet he jumps to defend criminals charged with hate crimes against our communities. With such a checkered history of clients, he lacks a moral compass to be Governor. He would take Minnesota in the wrong direction,” said Minnesota DFL Chair Richard Carlbom. “The contradictions continue. Despite claiming to be ‘tough-on-crime,’ Madel fights to let criminals get out with little consequence. The platform of law-and-order that Chris Madel campaigns on is a farce built on years of defending Minnesota’s worst.”

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 15/01/2026

Finally, the White House is dripping with class! I'm hoping we can get a Trump-original inspirational quote on the wall!

A photo of the White House walkway from the mansion to the West Wing that features pictures of previous president and The Rose Garden" written in gawdy-as-hell script above the walkway.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 26/11/2025

...we don't find evidence that people with felony records overwhelmingly identify as Dems. Although we do find that ppl with felony records are more likely to identify as Dems compared to the general population, demographics and local political context are considerably more salient.

A figure with three panels labeled Felony, Matched, and CES show predicted party ID for Black (orange dashed line) and White (blue solid line) respondents from R+30 to D+30 contexts. The y-axis runs from Strong Republican to Strong Democrat. In all panels, both groups become more Democratic as the context shifts toward D+30, and the Black line is consistently higher than the White line, indicating stronger Democratic identification among Black respondents at every point.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 17/09/2025

The STFU PAC? Ok take my money

Screenshot of a super pac text message:

"California's Governor just dropped a MAJOR warning:
"We could lose"

ACT NOW >> st-fu.org/25k-goal?t=J7Yio2

-STFU PAC
Text STOP to quit"

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 09/07/2025

The congressman who represents my hometown district in southern MN wants to know what Canada plans to do to control the smoke from their wildfires so it doesn't put a damper on Minnesota's cabin season. It's entitlement and grievance all the way down.

Letter from representatives Brad Findtad and Tom Tiffany asking Canada what their plan is to control the smoke from their wildfires.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 08/07/2025

This is exquisite. And embarrassing.

A screenshot of a facebook post by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office with a picture of emojis they say are codes kids use to talk about drugs and the caption, " Parents: Did you know that drug dealers are using emojis to sell drugs on social media?

According to @DEA, emojis like dragon (heroin), diamond (meth), plug (dealer) are being used as secret codes for illicit drug sales.

If your child is on social media, it’s crucial to:
• Stay informed about these and other suspicious emoji codes – don’t forget peer-to-peer payment applications (Zelle, Cash App, Venmo).
• Monitor for out-of-place messages
• Start open, judgement-free conversations with your children about drugs

Talking to your kids early, and often, can help protect them in an increasingly complex digital world."

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 30/06/2025

Bourdieu strikes again! Now I need to see @veronicalhorowitz.bsky.social's! www.idrlabs.com/food-choice/...

Decidedly lower and middle class preferences

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 18/06/2025

As we argue in the piece, the FTC should call their bluff... thehill.com/opinion/tech...

We urge the FTC to aggressively apply this law to people-search websites that aggregate public information without any accuracy verification, quality control measures or clear options for people to have their information immediately removed. These companies sell our personal information to anyone willing to pay, including those who will use the information to stalk, harass or dox people. It is time to let us gain control over our personal data.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 02/06/2025

This is what I do. I have an upper-level class that includes writing several analytical op-eds through the semester, and I've been requiring they use Google docs for the last year. It's worked really well, though I sometimes have to remind them to share them with editor permissions.

A screenshot of a bluesky thread in which a user shares a story about a student avoiding using an em dashes because professors see them as an AI “tell.” Another user replies defending em dashes and criticizing this implication, and a third user suggests using Google Docs to show revision history to prove they wrote it.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 14/03/2025

George Mason out here catching friendly fire

A snippet of the list of universities the Ed Dept is investigating for race-conscious admissions, with George Mason University highlighted.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 15/02/2025

This person on Love is Blind Minneapolis just went deep into their "Ancient Aliens"-esque beliefs. Making Minny proud for sure.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 22/01/2025

Figured keeping my account on twitter to reserve my username (albeit after deleting all my tweets) isn't any different than reserving my username on 4chan or stormfront.

Message from twitter following deactivation:

"Deactivated
Your account is deactivated
Sorry to see you go. #GoodBye"

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 20/01/2025

Also got this letter, so I hopped onto studentaid.gov to see which plan I should switch to since SAVE was blocked (I wouldn't get PSLF credit for the next year if I don't switch). It suggested the SAVE plan. And now it keeps giving me errors when I try to switch. Thanks, Joe.

Screenshot from studentaid.gov loan simulator recommending the SAVE program (even though it was blocked)

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 15/01/2025

I teach undergraduate and graduate students. I also regularly struggle trying to interpret my 1st grader's homework worksheets.

A worksheet showing two kids making a puppet and then playing with it (I guess?) and someone making a sundae. The child is supposed to "write what happens in each picture," but it's unclear what the child is supposed to write.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 18/12/2024

Sat by a guy having dinner with his family and wearing a 1488 at Disney World a few weeks ago.

Guy wearing a shirt with "1488" in large characters across the front at Disney World

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 03/12/2024

Doubling down! Love to see it!

A snippet from the story in the quoted post describing how Hancock used GPT-4 to survey academic literature on deep fakes and draft a declaration. He explains that he prompted the program to generate paragraphs on AI arguments but notes the program misinterpreted his notes to add citations later. Hancock states, “I did not mean for GPT-4 to insert a citation,” but the program mistakenly took his note as a command during the transfer between MS Word and GPT-4.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 05/11/2024

Nothing like ol' USPS to screw up your field experiment by not delivering the last batch of your voter education mailers by Election Day (even though they were dropped off sorted and ready to go before the drop dead date over a week ago!) cc @hlw.bsky.social @arielrwhite.bsky.social

Cartoon meme with a person holding a piece of paper in the top panel that says, "USPS Tracking Number" and saying, "Woah." In the bottom panel, the person is holding the paper and smiling and says, "This is worthless."

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 11/10/2024

The NE AG argued that only the pardon board (and not the leg) has the authority to restore voting rights, thus even the two year waiting period was unconstitutional. The NE Supreme Court heard the case in August but has yet to release a decision (and boy are they dragging their feet).

Image titled "Felony Voting Rights Update"

Text from the ACLU Nebraska reads:

"The Nebraska Supreme Court has indicated that they will not be releasing published opinions tomorrow, meaning our next chance at a decision that will impact thousands of Nebraskans’ voting rights is likely Oct. 18, the day of the online voter registration deadline. That’s also one week out from the in-person registration deadline, Oct. 25. If you have completed all terms of a felony sentence and are not yet registered, or if you’re registered and uncertain of your voting rights, please follow us and local media closely these next two weeks. We will share news as soon as we have it."

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 11/10/2024

Here are estimated state-level disenfranchisement rates for African American, Latino, and female.

Figure 2. Overall State Felony Disenfranchisement Rates, 2024

This U.S. map shows state felony disenfranchisement rates in 2024. States are shaded based on the percentage of disenfranchised individuals in each state. The Southeast generally shows higher disenfranchisement rates, with other regions varying in shading.

Figure 7. African American Felony Disenfranchisement Rates, 2024

This U.S. map illustrates African American felony disenfranchisement rates by state in 2024, with varying shades. The map indicates that Southern states have particularly high disenfranchisement rates for African Americans.

Figure 8. Latino Felony Disenfranchisement Rates (Available Data), 2024

This U.S. map displays Latino felony disenfranchisement rates by state in 2024, where data is available. The states are color-coded. The map shows varying levels of disenfranchisement, with some concentration in the South and Southwest.

Figure 9. Female Disenfranchisement Rates, 2024

This U.S. map represents felony disenfranchisement rates for females in 2024, with different shades. Higher disenfranchisement rates for females appear predominantly in the Southeast, with the rest of the country showing generally lower rates.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 11/10/2024

States have moved toward more narrow disenfranchising restrictions over the last ten years, resulting in a significant decrease in the disenfranchised population over time. As in previous years, a plurality of the disenfranchised population are post-sentence.

Table 1. State Felony Disenfranchisement Restrictions in 2024

This table categorizes U.S. states based on felony disenfranchisement restrictions into four groups:

No restrictions (2 states):
Maine
Vermont

Prison only (23 states):
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington

Prison, parole, & probation (15 states):
Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Prison, parole, probation, & post-sentence (10 states):
Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, Wyoming

Figure 5. Number Disenfranchised for Selected Years, 1960–2024

This line graph shows the trend in the number of disenfranchised people (in millions) in the United States over selected years from 1960 to 2024:

1960: 1,762,582
1980: 1,176,254
1996: 3,342,586
2004: 4,550,615
2008: 5,096,172
2012: 5,650,505
2016: 5,884,215 (peak)
2020: 4,993,476
2022: 4,399,983
2024: 4,049,978

The graph shows a general increase in disenfranchised individuals, peaking in 2016, followed by a decline in recent years.

Figure 1. Disenfranchisement Distribution by Correctional Status, 2024

This pie chart displays the percentage distribution of disenfranchised individuals in 2024 by correctional status:

Post-sentence: 40%
Prison: 26%
Felony probation: 25%
Parole: 7%
Jail: 3%

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 26/09/2024

Just did a YouGov survey that was focused on VP candidates, and this was one of the questions. (If you answer yes, it asks if it's a cat, a dog, or something else!)

YouGov survey question, "Do you have an animal as a pet?" with Yes or No as response options.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 18/09/2024

Nope, you and I are the same. There's no differentiation. We're 10%ers and that's it!

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 18/09/2024

Finally the tech has caught up with the vision.

A scene from Star Trek TNG where holodeck Leah Brahms is giving Geordi a shoulder massage

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 13/09/2024

I fielded a *very scientific* poll of students in my "Courts" class (n=56). Most of them watched some or most of the debate live (70%). However, Taylor Swift didn't seem to affect their vote choice (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree).

A poll asking, “Did you watch any of the presidential debate?” The top answer, chosen by 46.3% of respondents, is “Yes, I watched almost all of it live.” Below the question, there is a circular pie chart with different colors representing the following options:

• “Yes, I watched almost all of it live” (44.6%)
• “Yes, I watched some of it live” (25.0%)
• “I watched a few clips of it later” (17.9%)
• “I did not watch any of it” (8.9%)

The poll indicates that 54 out of 56 people responded, with 3.6% choosing “Didn’t answer.”

A Likert scale question that reads, “Taylor Swift’s endorsement has an affect on who I plan to vote for.” The image shows a picture of Taylor Swift holding a cat and part of her Instagram post. The average score on the Likert scale (1-5) is displayed as 1.2.

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Robert Stewart @robertstewart.io · 27/08/2024

I see the semester is starting off on a great note!

Screenshot of part of a reddit post in r/UMD with the title, "Please shower people."

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