Meredith Farkas
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librarianmer.bsky.social
Meredith Farkas
@librarianmer.bsky.social

😷 🏳️‍🌈 🇵🇸 Community college librarian in Portland, OR. Solidarity, unions, slow librarianship, spoonie, autoimmune, still masking, disability justice. Blogging at Information Wants to be Free since 2004. Subscribe: http://meredithfarkas.substack.com .. more

Education 21%
Computer science 20%
Alex from our time working together, while he was in nursing school. Later, he moved to ICU, working as a nurse to support critically ill Veterans. He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now
“Everyone should be allowed to carry a gun for their safety but the government can murder you in the street if you have a gun” is an incredible endpoint for the conservative moment
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today

Reposted by Meredith Farkas

I can't get over this bit. Jesus tapdancing Christ.

At the library, we get students asking for books to read in their native languages all the time. It'll be nice to have more than just stuff in Western European languages soon!!! 🎉

Hospitals like Adventist need to provide a mechanism for getting these families into (and out of) the hospital without being detected because ICE is clearly just waiting in the parking lot for anyone who looks latine. This is the same place where that ICE shooting happened earlier in the month.
The parents of a 7 year old, all of whom are in the process of applying for asylum, took their daughter to the ER when her nose wouldn't stop bleeding. ICE picked them up near the hospital and they are now in detention in Texas, presumably awaiting deportation. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
ICE detains family seeking emergency care for child at Portland hospital
The Venezuelan parents and their 7-year-old daughter entered the U.S. legally.
www.oregonlive.com

YAY! I got an LSTA Mini-grant through our State Library to buy books for our nascent World Languages collection! Could not be more excited to see this collection really starting to take shape!!!
Many, many thousands of people gathered in The Commons in downtown Minneapolis to march against ICE right now.
The parents of a 7 year old, all of whom are in the process of applying for asylum, took their daughter to the ER when her nose wouldn't stop bleeding. ICE picked them up near the hospital and they are now in detention in Texas, presumably awaiting deportation. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
ICE detains family seeking emergency care for child at Portland hospital
The Venezuelan parents and their 7-year-old daughter entered the U.S. legally.
www.oregonlive.com

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This kid is awesome, actual hero.
“There will be more than enough jobs for the citizens of your nation, esp. those with vocational training,” said Karp. “I do think these trends really do make it hard to imagine why we should have large-scale immigration unless you have a very specialized skill.”

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Palantir CEO Says AI to Make Large-Scale Immigration Obsolete
Artificial intelligence will displace so many jobs that it will eliminate the need for mass immigration, according to Palantir Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp.
www.bloomberg.com

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We’re going thru a transition to authoritarianism and they think poll-testing is the road to victory.

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When you have no values, but only ambition, you end up like Newsom, Buttigieg, Emmanuel, Booker: indulging man’s worst instincts. It allows you to throw trans people under the bus and defend ICE’s continued existence. And everyone sees right through you.
If you live in the Cities, an easy way to help immigrant families in hiding is: laundry! Laundromats are ICE magnets, so people without washers need help.

The People’s Laundry will drop off laundry to your door to wash and dry and pick up a few days later:

thepeopleslaundrympls.com/volunteer/

Reposted by Meredith Farkas

NPR @npr.org · 7d
Some safety experts want California to stop the cutting of quartz countertops saying it can't be done safely. Lawmakers, meanwhile, contemplate a ban on workers' lawsuits against quartz manufacturers.
Kitchen countertop workers are dying. Some lawmakers want to ban their lawsuits
Some safety experts want California to stop the cutting of quartz countertops saying it can't be done safely. Lawmakers, meanwhile, contemplate a ban on workers' lawsuits against quartz manufacturers.
n.pr
The fact that Gavin Newsom is even talking to the likes of Shapiro is a sign that he’s a non-starter. I’ve never forgotten how Shapiro said that Trayvon Martin deserved to die. Not fucking ever.
Ben Shapiro: "Israel did not commit a genocide in Gaza"
Gavin Newsom: "I agree with you."

Noooooooooooooooo!

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Wikimedia Foundation announces new AI partnerships with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Perplexity and others
Wikimedia Foundation announces new AI partnerships with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Perplexity and others | TechCrunch
The AI partnerships allow companies to access the org's content, like Wikipedia, at scale.
techcrunch.com
From a good friend in Minneapolis: "Target is allowing ICE to stage in their parking lots, use their restrooms, and abduct people from inside their stores - so if you weren’t boycotting already, now is the time." They were staging in Chicago as well.
This is the sort of statement that was expected from every university president and law firm partner over the last year. That those statements weren’t made played a huge part in where we are now and people will remember.
Jerome Powell: "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."

I am counting the days until my kid is out of braces and I won't find tiny rubber bands that have been in his mouth all over my house, including in the dryer, on the kitchen table, and (just now) on the pillow I'm lying on on the couch right next to my head. WHYYYYYYYYY?????? 🤢

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This is fabulous because it is all, actually this stupid.

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Our responsibility is to make sure the facts are gathered carefully and lawfully, and the integrity of the investigation process is protected.

If you have information about the January 8 shooting involving federal agents in Portland, leave us a voicemail on our DOJ Tip Line: 971-673-3900

#orpol
Thank you for telling us you neither serve nor protect. Thank you for saying the quiet part out loud. That was state murder in broad daylight, captured from multiple angles by multiple witnesses, and the people of Minneapolis have eyes.

You support murder.
BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!

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Over the holiday season, my son discovered the absurd delights of the Hallmark Channel. While I thought he was mostly watching it ironically, I realized tonight how into Mistletoe Murders he actually is and I am SO THERE FOR IT!

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It was Barack Obama who first appointed Tom Homan as an associate director of ICE and even gave him an award. And as recently as June 2025, 75 Democrats in the House voted for a resolution to show “gratitude" to ICE. Are they still grateful now?
www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-onl...
The Only “Domestic Terrorists” On Our Streets Are ICE Agents
Renee Nicole Good is only the latest victim of this gang of masked thugs. The whole agency has to go.
www.currentaffairs.org

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I am aware of a situation involving CBP agents shooting two people outside of Adventist Health Hospital in Portland this afternoon, and I am in communication with state and local officials. As details continue to emerge, I urge all Oregonians to remain calm and peaceful. [1/2]

Reposted by Meredith Farkas

One of the victims in Portland *called 911 for help and reported the shooting himself*

No call for medical attention came from ICE.
US Border agents shoot, wound two people in Portland, city officials say
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents shot two people in Portland on Thursday afternoon, according to the FBI, Portland police and city officials.Portland p
katu.com