Farrah Bostic
@farrahbostic.bsky.social
550 followers 440 following 2.3K posts
Founder of The Difference Engine. Researcher, strategist, truth-teller. Host of Cross Tabs. Asking better questions since forever.
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Reposted by Farrah Bostic
annabower.bsky.social
ICE official testifies that DHS “prematurely” sent Abrego Garcia a notice that he would be removed to Ghana.

Just this morning, Ghana’s foreign minister wrote on X that the country had “directly and unambiguously conveyed to US authorities” that Abrego cannot be deported there.
Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa &
@S
_OkudzetoAblak
X.com
Ghana is not accepting Abrego Garcia.
He cannot be deported to Ghana.
This has been directly and unambiguously conveyed to US authorities.
In my interactions with US officials, I made clear that our understanding to accept a limited number of non-criminal West Africans, purely on the grounds of African solidarity and humanitarian principles would not be expanded.
Ghana strongly objects to these misleading media reports.
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
brian-goldstone.bsky.social
Today is World Homeless Day, and after years reporting on this crisis, I'll just say: homelessness is neither inevitable nor intractable. It's the result of choices—political, economic, moral—that can be unmade.

And this: how we treat the unhoused is a bellwether for the violence we will tolerate.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
Anyway we had a real plan. There was a team from Ashland that had a counter plan that involved consciousness altering substances that would make homelessness, y’know, totally fine.

Not all teen debate nerds are earnest. Some have sociopathic tendencies. As we all know.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
Btw the services included a medical clinic and day care. Because a lot of children are don’t have homes, because their parents don’t have homes.

The plan also included training some residents to work in the ground floor commercial/health care businesses.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
My partner and I proposed redeveloping empty commercial space for residential use with ground floor subsidized retail & services. It was the early 90s recession. Lots of empty commercial.

Basically I was a very early abundance adopter lol.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
Just flashed back to an early 1990s National Forensic League debate topic about homelessness, and the dozens of times I uttered this:
“There are three main causes of homelessness: having no home, having no home, and having no home.”
brian-goldstone.bsky.social
One more thing: people are homeless because they have been deprived of housing.

You solve homelessness with homes.
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
democracydocket.com
The South Carolina GOP is pushing for one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans. If passed, the bill would:
✅Make abortion a felony equivalent to homicide
✅Narrow the legal definition of contraceptives
✅Criminalize sharing information about abortion
https://bit.ly/47ipe5t
New Attack on Free Speech: South Carolina GOP Wants to Criminalize Sharing Abortion Info
Read more here.
bit.ly
farrahbostic.bsky.social
Someone at the end of this clip yelled “you guys look fucking stupid” and honestly, I hope it was someone in an inflatable costume doing the yelling.
golikehellmachine.com
FROGS TOGETHER STRONG is fucking incredible
oregonian.com
Things are happening at Portland's ICE facility tonight.

Read more of our protest coverage here: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
farrahbostic.bsky.social
This is giving nostalgia.

Maybe I should try to go to the Country Fair this year. I fondly remember lemonade with muddled strawberries and rather a lot of body paint.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
It takes until 8:45pm local for a chant to start, “ICE out of Portland” (more of a sing-songy taunt), I finally spotted a guy with a guitar, and PPB show up mostly to stand around & be entertained. More people show up. Our poor Yellow Vest guy has his work gently nudging them out of the street.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
Reminder from this pair of pumpkin heads: it’s spooky season y’all.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
I’m sorry this is just all very chill. There’s like 40 people hanging out and others wandering through.

People high fiving the costumed, taking selfies. A bunch of people with video gear streaming.

Is this all going up on twitch? Do I need to dig up my login?
farrahbostic.bsky.social
There’s an older man in a reflective vest helping remind people to stay on the sidewalk and acting like a crossing guard.

And then a woman in a clerical collar comes to take a selfie with a frog & and thanks them for what they’re doing:
farrahbostic.bsky.social
This image makes it clear how dumb ICE is.
A boomer takes video, two people in hoodies look on, next to people in inflatable costumes, while 5 masked ICE agents hold weapons and watch from a rooftop.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
People keep dancing.
Also I like this person’s umbrella. Red, with the words “Do not obey fascism”.

The holder stops to chat with the Portland Frog Brigade.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
When a car leaves the facility, before the gate opens they play what sounds like a recorded message warning people to stay out of the driveway. Gates open, agents on the roof lift weapons & point them at the crowd. About 20 black clad masked officers provide a corridor for exiting vehicles.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
Above, armed ICE agents.
Below, dancing together, a peacock, a raccoon, a polar bear and a baby shark. I think someone is handing out pizza.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
A couple of guys take selfies with the Portland Frog Brigade, one frog holds a sign that says, “FROGS TOGETHER STRONG”
farrahbostic.bsky.social
Because it sucks to be the only one not in a costume, folks brought extras, by the way.
farrahbostic.bsky.social
Gotta hand it to KATU - they decided to stream for 24 hours from the Portland ICE facility and they got a daytime of Slow TV followed by a dance party in which the inflatable frogs gave proliferated, and people have brought their kids to see the costumes.

www.youtube.com/live/RmJ3YXm...
24 Hours Outside ICE | 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. - Live look at Portland, Oregon ICE Facility for full day
YouTube video by KATU News
www.youtube.com
farrahbostic.bsky.social
One of my dearest and longest loved friends still lives in Portland where we grew up and she sent me this:
The SNL Weekend Update character Stefan (Bill Hader) beneath a caption: “Portland’s hottest nightclub is ICE detention - it has everything… bubble machines, people in blowup costumes, Victorian tea parties, the cha cha slide, and a man in a chicken costume.”
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
mcbridetd.bsky.social
The Nobel Peace Prize Committee surely is sending a message to the world with this award.
Excerpt from their press release:
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace...
Reposted by Farrah Bostic
anneapplebaum.bsky.social
Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - her incredible optimism has already changed her country. I spoke to her, and wrote about her, at the beginning of this year:
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
The ‘Anthropological Change’ Happening in Venezuela
Maduro is still in place, but a pro-democracy movement is transforming the beleaguered country.
www.theatlantic.com