J.Crants
@jimcrants.bsky.social
Ecologist, soil scientist, runner, gardener, wannabe writer, crank.
Essentially nobody is asking white people to be ashamed of being white, or asking Americans to be ashamed of being Americans. America has made mistakes, and we want people to learn from them. Racism has real effects, and we want people to reverse them. Shame has no value to anyone.
December 22, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Essentially nobody is asking white people to be ashamed of being white, or asking Americans to be ashamed of being Americans. America has made mistakes, and we want people to learn from them. Racism has real effects, and we want people to reverse them. Shame has no value to anyone.
The irony of any Republican leader accusing anyone else of "pitting us against each other" is painfully sharp. Nobody is putting down blonde girls with blue eyes. That is a fiction conservatives have fabricated for decades to pit poor white kids against poor brown kids.
December 22, 2025 at 8:22 PM
The irony of any Republican leader accusing anyone else of "pitting us against each other" is painfully sharp. Nobody is putting down blonde girls with blue eyes. That is a fiction conservatives have fabricated for decades to pit poor white kids against poor brown kids.
That law was the Minnesota READ act. My son started reading around 2015 or 2016, so it came too late for him.
Fortunately, he and I read to each other at bedtime up until earlier this year, with him taking on a larger share of the reading as his skills developed. He's a strong reader now.
Fortunately, he and I read to each other at bedtime up until earlier this year, with him taking on a larger share of the reading as his skills developed. He's a strong reader now.
December 22, 2025 at 8:10 PM
That law was the Minnesota READ act. My son started reading around 2015 or 2016, so it came too late for him.
Fortunately, he and I read to each other at bedtime up until earlier this year, with him taking on a larger share of the reading as his skills developed. He's a strong reader now.
Fortunately, he and I read to each other at bedtime up until earlier this year, with him taking on a larger share of the reading as his skills developed. He's a strong reader now.
My son is in MPS, and he was taught with a combination of whole-language and phonics. At first, he would make some really strange guesses at what a word was - it would fit the context, but look nothing like the word on the page. A 2023 law mandated a stronger emphasis on phonics in Minnesota.
December 22, 2025 at 8:05 PM
My son is in MPS, and he was taught with a combination of whole-language and phonics. At first, he would make some really strange guesses at what a word was - it would fit the context, but look nothing like the word on the page. A 2023 law mandated a stronger emphasis on phonics in Minnesota.
When people write it that way, I like to pronounce it "Mupples."
December 20, 2025 at 12:01 AM
When people write it that way, I like to pronounce it "Mupples."
The article mentions cuts in federal support as part of the problem. I wonder what else is involved in these repeated shortfalls. Declining enrollment? Shrinking tax base? Increasing medical insurance costs? Rising maintenance costs? Salaries? It's vexing when the same service costs more and more.
December 19, 2025 at 6:57 PM
The article mentions cuts in federal support as part of the problem. I wonder what else is involved in these repeated shortfalls. Declining enrollment? Shrinking tax base? Increasing medical insurance costs? Rising maintenance costs? Salaries? It's vexing when the same service costs more and more.
In so many of these cases of seemingly political violence, the attacker's ideology defies classification, except perhaps as "nihilist." Maybe "chaotic neutral."
December 19, 2025 at 6:48 PM
In so many of these cases of seemingly political violence, the attacker's ideology defies classification, except perhaps as "nihilist." Maybe "chaotic neutral."
I'm not sure the political right will ever recognize that. They still think the man who shot Trump was a leftist. He was even misidentified as a leftist in the Cato Institute review that found that right-wing violence is vastly more prevalent in America than left-wing violence (but still rare).
December 19, 2025 at 6:47 PM
I'm not sure the political right will ever recognize that. They still think the man who shot Trump was a leftist. He was even misidentified as a leftist in the Cato Institute review that found that right-wing violence is vastly more prevalent in America than left-wing violence (but still rare).
Now that they've found the suspect (dead from a self-inflicted wound), it looks very unlikely that he was motivated by leftist ideology, still less by Islamist ideology. The motive is unclear, but it is most likely both personal and irrational, not political.
December 19, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Now that they've found the suspect (dead from a self-inflicted wound), it looks very unlikely that he was motivated by leftist ideology, still less by Islamist ideology. The motive is unclear, but it is most likely both personal and irrational, not political.
Naturally, the one thing they all agree on (that leftists want to murder them all) is a convenient lie. Leftist violence remains very rare in this country, even as the right uses the federal government to try to silence us. They have more to fear from each other, in that respect.
December 19, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Naturally, the one thing they all agree on (that leftists want to murder them all) is a convenient lie. Leftist violence remains very rare in this country, even as the right uses the federal government to try to silence us. They have more to fear from each other, in that respect.
Reform efforts go back at least to 1975, when the city council established a civil rights commission to deal with discrimination complaints.
December 18, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Reform efforts go back at least to 1975, when the city council established a civil rights commission to deal with discrimination complaints.
A decade ago is just when Black Lives Matter brought the problem to the attention of white people across the country. I don't know how far back it actually goes, but a 1922 Minnesota Messenger article had the headline, "Negroes Protest against Police Atrocities in the City." So, over 103 years.
December 18, 2025 at 11:16 PM
A decade ago is just when Black Lives Matter brought the problem to the attention of white people across the country. I don't know how far back it actually goes, but a 1922 Minnesota Messenger article had the headline, "Negroes Protest against Police Atrocities in the City." So, over 103 years.
Thus, responding to the terrorist attacks seems to be a pretext for genocide in Gaza. It is appropriate to condemn this Israeli government for apparently genocidal behavior, and to withdraw our support until the Israeli people use their democratic power to choose a better path.
December 18, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Thus, responding to the terrorist attacks seems to be a pretext for genocide in Gaza. It is appropriate to condemn this Israeli government for apparently genocidal behavior, and to withdraw our support until the Israeli people use their democratic power to choose a better path.
I fully support Israel's right to exist and defend itself. I think they had to respond to the October 7 attacks in a forceful way and that bringing down Hamas is a reasonable objective. However, their response has done far more harm to innocent Palestinians than it has to Hamas.
December 18, 2025 at 10:59 PM
I fully support Israel's right to exist and defend itself. I think they had to respond to the October 7 attacks in a forceful way and that bringing down Hamas is a reasonable objective. However, their response has done far more harm to innocent Palestinians than it has to Hamas.
I disagree that it's a moral mistake to say that there must be negative consequences for using a horrific terrorist attack as an pretext for genocide. And so far, I'm sorry, but genocide still seems to be the end game for Israel in Gaza.
December 18, 2025 at 10:52 PM
I disagree that it's a moral mistake to say that there must be negative consequences for using a horrific terrorist attack as an pretext for genocide. And so far, I'm sorry, but genocide still seems to be the end game for Israel in Gaza.
This just reminded me of how Google Maps likes to tell me to turn onto "Great River Road" when I'm driving around Minneapolis. The signs here in reality say "Hiawatha Avenue" or "West River Parkway," never "Great River Road." It's kind of amusing, kind of a pet peeve.
December 18, 2025 at 10:44 PM
This just reminded me of how Google Maps likes to tell me to turn onto "Great River Road" when I'm driving around Minneapolis. The signs here in reality say "Hiawatha Avenue" or "West River Parkway," never "Great River Road." It's kind of amusing, kind of a pet peeve.
And they're praising US for electing him, which, hey, I did my part NOT to.
December 18, 2025 at 8:03 PM
And they're praising US for electing him, which, hey, I did my part NOT to.
Yeah, Jacob, too. I mostly follow Minneapolis Blue Sky, so the shift in my feed from local progressives criticizing him to people across the country praising him is giving me whiplash.
December 18, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Yeah, Jacob, too. I mostly follow Minneapolis Blue Sky, so the shift in my feed from local progressives criticizing him to people across the country praising him is giving me whiplash.
I don't know what his motives are, but criticizing ICE right now seems like the wrong play if you ever want to work for a city that isn't leftist. I'd expected him to keep his head down and his mouth shut, so I'm surprised he's saying anything that will make enemies he doesn't want to have.
December 18, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I don't know what his motives are, but criticizing ICE right now seems like the wrong play if you ever want to work for a city that isn't leftist. I'd expected him to keep his head down and his mouth shut, so I'm surprised he's saying anything that will make enemies he doesn't want to have.
Anyway, it's weird, after living with the constant tension between the MPD and the people of Minneapolis for 18 years, through murders and riots and settlements and failed reforms and "Cops for Trump," to see leftists saying more police departments should be like the MPD.
December 18, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Anyway, it's weird, after living with the constant tension between the MPD and the people of Minneapolis for 18 years, through murders and riots and settlements and failed reforms and "Cops for Trump," to see leftists saying more police departments should be like the MPD.
Which I say because only 6% of MPD officers live in Minneapolis. It's not because they can't afford to live here; their starting salary is $90k a year. So I assume they choose to live elsewhere, and I have assumptions about the perspective of someone who polices people they won't stoop to live with.
December 18, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Which I say because only 6% of MPD officers live in Minneapolis. It's not because they can't afford to live here; their starting salary is $90k a year. So I assume they choose to live elsewhere, and I have assumptions about the perspective of someone who polices people they won't stoop to live with.
I truly think that his willingness to defy the illegal actions of ICE under Trump's authoritarian regime is courageous, but I don't believe most of the MPD is on board. I would LOVE for them to prove me wrong, but I think they'll see it as him choosing the animals over the zookeepers.
December 18, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I truly think that his willingness to defy the illegal actions of ICE under Trump's authoritarian regime is courageous, but I don't believe most of the MPD is on board. I would LOVE for them to prove me wrong, but I think they'll see it as him choosing the animals over the zookeepers.
For another thing, people are crediting MPD for statements issued by Chief Brian O'Hara. O'Hara is in the unenviable position of trying to bridge the chasm between a right-wing police force and a left-wing city. Naturally, everyone thinks he's on the other side.
December 18, 2025 at 3:16 PM
For another thing, people are crediting MPD for statements issued by Chief Brian O'Hara. O'Hara is in the unenviable position of trying to bridge the chasm between a right-wing police force and a left-wing city. Naturally, everyone thinks he's on the other side.
The city is paying tens of millions of dollars in settlements for various acts of police misconduct, and MPD has vigorously resisted every effort at reform. The effort to disband the MPD a few years back was a desperate union-busting move, not a misguided attempt to live without law enforcement.
December 18, 2025 at 3:14 PM
The city is paying tens of millions of dollars in settlements for various acts of police misconduct, and MPD has vigorously resisted every effort at reform. The effort to disband the MPD a few years back was a desperate union-busting move, not a misguided attempt to live without law enforcement.
For one thing, MPD officers murdered George Floyd and were well on their way to covering it up when the video went viral. Later, other officers from the same precinct fired non-lethal projectiles randomly into an angry crowd, triggering days of riots that we're still recovering from.
December 18, 2025 at 3:11 PM
For one thing, MPD officers murdered George Floyd and were well on their way to covering it up when the video went viral. Later, other officers from the same precinct fired non-lethal projectiles randomly into an angry crowd, triggering days of riots that we're still recovering from.