Mike Farnan
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michaelfarnan.bsky.social
Mike Farnan
@michaelfarnan.bsky.social
Minnesotan in the City of Angeles. Proud uncle. Un flâneur.

Honing my nunchucks skills to begin a second career as a ninja.
A few hours ago, I booked my ticket to return to Minnesota specifically to join the protests against ICE violence in my home state.

And in that short time they killed another person.

www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
Live: Federal agents shot and killed Minneapolis man; DHS officials say he was armed
A bystander video shows several agents wrestling with the man on a city sidewalk moments before the shooting. Police chief Brian O’Hara issued a plea for calm as protesters gathered at the scene: “Ple...
www.startribune.com
January 24, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Mike Farnan
The Star Tribune reports that federal agents "attempted to order local police from the scene" where a man was shot and killed by feds this morning, but Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara refused and "instructed his officers to preserve the scene."
Live: Man shot and killed by federal agents in south Minneapolis this morning, police chief says
A video appears to shows federal agents wrestling a man to the ground then shooting him.
www.startribune.com
January 24, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Mike Farnan
saying “Fuck ICE” as a kindly send-off is the new Minnesota goodbye
January 24, 2026 at 1:56 AM
Thanks for the information N.Y. Times!
January 23, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by Mike Farnan
crazy that the website that I randomly decided to put together at 10AM yesterday has had over 25k unique visitors in 24 hours.

please keep sharing with your networks.
Stand With Minnesota
A directory of places to give to as Minnesota defends itself from ICE occupation
www.standwithminnesota.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Let us all remember that the violent, cowardly ICE agent Jonathan Ross had the most training and experience amongst ICE. He still murdered someone, and all of his fellow comrades are even more dangerous than him.

www.minnpost.com/community-vo...
Ex-officer: Renee Good shooting was a failure of ICE tactics, law
It's likely that the behavior and tactics of ICE agents in Minnesota stems from a mix of incompetence and impunity.
www.minnpost.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Reposted by Mike Farnan
Martin Luther King, Jr.

National favorable rating via Gallup:

AUGUST 1966: 33% 👍 to 63% 👎
AUGUST 2011: 94% 👍 to 4% 👎
January 19, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Not even the millionth worst thing that ICE has done in Minneapolis, but notable:

My mom told me that yesterday she was afraid to attend the memorial for her late friend because it was held a few blocks from where Renee Good was murdered. She was terrified of all of the indiscriminate ICE violence.
January 18, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Mike Farnan
I don’t think people quite understand that the occupation by ICE in the Twin Cities has more or less erased non-white people from public life. They cannot safely exist in any space accessible to the public and moving between private places leaves folks vulnerable to kidnapping by armed masked goons.
January 16, 2026 at 10:15 PM
A great sentence:
“In the way some call Harvard a hedge fund with a university attached, the Dodgers are a Japanese advertising firm with a baseball team attached.”

sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/...
Here's how big the Dodgers' payroll is about to get after landing Kyle Tucker
When factoring in deferrals and luxury tax payments, the Dodgers are projected to pay nearly $120 million per year to put Kyle Tucker in right field.
sports.yahoo.com
January 16, 2026 at 7:08 AM
I will never lose my childhood joy of seeing a massive hook & ladder fire truck. (We all had fire trucks with ladders as toys and they were awesome!)

That said, I’m puzzled as to why they’re now currently deployed to park outside any emergency call that doesn’t even necessitate an ambulance.
January 14, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Mike Farnan
New research presents the most compelling evidence yet that generative AI directly stores and reproduces material used to train it—a finding that could have massive legal consequences for the tech industry, Alex Reisner reports.
AI’s Memorization Crisis
Large language models don’t “learn”—they copy. And that could change everything for the tech industry.
bit.ly
January 11, 2026 at 8:15 AM
Obviously not nearly as important as their murder in Minneapolis, but #ICE is also now kidnapping people in my neighborhood in #WeHo.

wehotimes.com/reports-of-a...
Reports of Alleged ICE Detention on Gardner Avenue Under Investigation in West Hollywood - WEHO TIMES West Hollywood News, Nightlife and Events
Reports of possible Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity surfaced in West Hollywood on Wednesday morning after witnesses said a man was taken into custody on Gardner Avenue near Hampton Avenue...
wehotimes.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by Mike Farnan
Man Ray: When Objects Dream at The Met

NYT review: Man Ray’s Mysteries, in Glorious Bloom at the Met

In his “rayographs,” he raved, he was finally “working directly with light itself.” The showstopper is the most expensive photograph ever sold at auction.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/06/a...
Man Ray’s Mysteries, in Glorious Bloom at the Met
www.nytimes.com
January 5, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Mike Farnan
Maduro is a brutal and oppressive dictator of Venezuela.

Trump has no legitimate legal basis for military action against Venezuela under United States or international law.

Both of those facts are simultaneously true.
January 3, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Love this daybill from Australia for “Double Indemnity” (one of the greatest films ever), which includes the label, “Not Suitable For General Exhibition” which is how Australia’s rating system worked at the time.

(h/t FB user Cameron Dey)
December 30, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Tom Brady used the phrase “tight wobbler” to describe a pass today, and I now want introduce that into my lexicon for so many different situations.
December 29, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Reposted by Mike Farnan
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 27, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Let us never forget that on this holiest of days, Die Hard day, that the improbable success of a New York cop against a dozen very smart thieves was due to his incredible knowledge of elevator operations.
December 26, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Once again I feel compelled to share Björk. Genius feels too small a word for her:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXWW...
Björk - Unison (live at Harpa Reykjavik, 11 Oct 2021)
YouTube video by Таня Ларионова
www.youtube.com
December 20, 2025 at 3:58 PM
A perfect description, written decades ago, of last night’s uncommonly hot winds:
libquotes.com/raymond-chan...
Raymond Chandler Quote
There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights...
libquotes.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Covering Björk’s genius songwriting, musical production, and vocal performances is a difficult task, but this cover of “Unison” by Mary May is an amazing cover:

youtu.be/35o2BqINs0k?...
Mary May performs 'Unison' by Björk — Cassette Head Sessions
YouTube video by Cassette Head Sessions
youtu.be
December 13, 2025 at 9:51 AM
My downstairs neighbors have three one gallon tubs of beef tallow that have been sitting outside their door for weeks, and I have questions (which I will never actually ask them). #mystery
December 11, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Random thought: Norah Jones should do a cover version of Sparks’ “The Number One Song in Heaven”.

youtu.be/P6I6yr7WDeg?...
Sparks - The Number One Song In Heaven (Official Video)
YouTube video by S P A R K S
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 9:48 AM