Jessica Kant
@jessdkant.bsky.social
Researcher, therapist, heavily caffeinated. Frequently described as a bit of a handful. 🖤 (She/her) 🏳️⚧️ jessk.org/blog
Pinned
On the accelerating crisis of vaccine preventable disease, the significance of the drop in vaccination rates, and how this relates to differing responses across the US. This week, an entire school district in Iowa closed to stop a measles outbreak, while hundreds are in quarantine in South Carolina.
The signal in the noise: pertussis, measles & the cost of anti-vaccine rhetoric — Jessica Kant
In the year 2000, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that measles, a deadly and highly infectious disease which disproportionately harms children, was successfully declared eliminated. Tw...
jessk.org
Reposting this as the US breaks 2,000 measles cases for 2025, the highest recorded domestically since 1992.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
"listen, we have these 'kidnap a foreign leader' forms for a reason. why do we even have them if no one's ever gonna fill them out?"
January 3, 2026 at 11:16 PM
"listen, we have these 'kidnap a foreign leader' forms for a reason. why do we even have them if no one's ever gonna fill them out?"
Tim Kaine using “unauthorized” instead of “illegal” to describe invading a sovereign country is such a clear signal that his objection is only that no one asked him first.
January 3, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Tim Kaine using “unauthorized” instead of “illegal” to describe invading a sovereign country is such a clear signal that his objection is only that no one asked him first.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
If your position is that regime change should be forced on countries where the president does not respect democratic norms and regularly kidnaps opponents using an officially sanctioned paramiliatary, have I got news for you about your position on the United States
January 3, 2026 at 1:45 PM
If your position is that regime change should be forced on countries where the president does not respect democratic norms and regularly kidnaps opponents using an officially sanctioned paramiliatary, have I got news for you about your position on the United States
Never forget that if the last fifty years have shown us anything, it’s that war is terrorism with better public relations.
January 3, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Never forget that if the last fifty years have shown us anything, it’s that war is terrorism with better public relations.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
Just woke up even angrier. Impeach, convict, remove. Draft articles now. Either we have a representative government or we don’t. Do not shut up about this until there’s a vote.
January 3, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Just woke up even angrier. Impeach, convict, remove. Draft articles now. Either we have a representative government or we don’t. Do not shut up about this until there’s a vote.
The only solution is for corporations who manufacture systems that do this and demonstrate no interest in preventing it to be legally on the hook. “Oops” is not a legal defense, and “we tried” isn’t enough. There’s no alternative that makes sense.
For the last few days on X, people (mainly women, and sometimes children) have had nonconsensual images of them in swimsuits (or much worse) requested by users and created by Grok.
Musk's only apparent response thus far has been to crack jokes about it.
Musk's only apparent response thus far has been to crack jokes about it.
so x dot com’s ai generated CSAM and they admitted it may violate US law and … i haven’t seen in anyone in power say much at all or call to stop using the platform
January 2, 2026 at 6:16 PM
The only solution is for corporations who manufacture systems that do this and demonstrate no interest in preventing it to be legally on the hook. “Oops” is not a legal defense, and “we tried” isn’t enough. There’s no alternative that makes sense.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
January 1, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
Reposted by Jessica Kant
Narrator voice: despite the trans community’s decades long warnings, the general public did not in fact pay attention.
We tried so hard to raise the alarm. Is anyone paying attention yet?
30 Dec 2025 @rikiwilchins.bsky.social -- MA removes rules requiring foster parents support LGBTQ+ youth after threats from administration & lawsuits by 2 families denied licenses for refusing to agree they would not discriminate or try to change gender/sexual orientation of kids in their care.
January 2, 2026 at 1:44 AM
Narrator voice: despite the trans community’s decades long warnings, the general public did not in fact pay attention.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
If the subsidies hadn’t lapsed, my premium would have been $151/month… now it’s $391/month
January 1, 2026 at 9:50 PM
If the subsidies hadn’t lapsed, my premium would have been $151/month… now it’s $391/month
Reposted by Jessica Kant
In order to keep insurance, we have to pay $500 more a month for a shittier plan that we will use less often because of the obscenely high deductibles.
Somehow, we are the lucky ones. The goal of Republicans is to kill those of us who are sick and/or disabled.
Somehow, we are the lucky ones. The goal of Republicans is to kill those of us who are sick and/or disabled.
The Affordable Care Act, even after it was decimated by Republican amendments and relentless court challenges, was still at this time last year one of the greatest advances in US healthcare since the mental health parity bills of the oughts. This is criminal.
Health subsidies expire, launching millions of Americans into 2026 with steep insurance hikes
Enhanced tax credits that have helped Americans offset the cost of Affordable Care Act health insurance for the last four years expired overnight.
apnews.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:11 PM
In order to keep insurance, we have to pay $500 more a month for a shittier plan that we will use less often because of the obscenely high deductibles.
Somehow, we are the lucky ones. The goal of Republicans is to kill those of us who are sick and/or disabled.
Somehow, we are the lucky ones. The goal of Republicans is to kill those of us who are sick and/or disabled.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
By the end of 2025, @jimalwine.bsky.social and I were writing about the U.S. being on the cusp of losing its measles elimination status.
The US is on track to lose its measles elimination status in months. RFK needs to go.
Canada has lost its measles elimination status and the U.S. is likely to be next. These failures are the result of the anti-vaccination movement, bolstered by the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ...
www.livescience.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:06 PM
By the end of 2025, @jimalwine.bsky.social and I were writing about the U.S. being on the cusp of losing its measles elimination status.
We tried so hard to raise the alarm. Is anyone paying attention yet?
30 Dec 2025 @rikiwilchins.bsky.social -- MA removes rules requiring foster parents support LGBTQ+ youth after threats from administration & lawsuits by 2 families denied licenses for refusing to agree they would not discriminate or try to change gender/sexual orientation of kids in their care.
Massachusetts removes rule requiring foster parents to support LGBTQ+ youth
<p>Massachusetts has removed state rules requiring that foster parents not discriminate against LGBTQ+ youth.</p>
www.advocate.com
January 1, 2026 at 3:56 PM
We tried so hard to raise the alarm. Is anyone paying attention yet?
The Affordable Care Act, even after it was decimated by Republican amendments and relentless court challenges, was still at this time last year one of the greatest advances in US healthcare since the mental health parity bills of the oughts. This is criminal.
Health subsidies expire, launching millions of Americans into 2026 with steep insurance hikes
Enhanced tax credits that have helped Americans offset the cost of Affordable Care Act health insurance for the last four years expired overnight.
apnews.com
January 1, 2026 at 3:34 PM
The Affordable Care Act, even after it was decimated by Republican amendments and relentless court challenges, was still at this time last year one of the greatest advances in US healthcare since the mental health parity bills of the oughts. This is criminal.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
Republicans did this. We must keep reminding people of that.
January 1, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Republicans did this. We must keep reminding people of that.
Watching Mayor Zohran Mamdani and AG James together feels really good for the soul. So many powerful people are going to do literally everything they can to thwart them— but also they’ve already been trying and look where we are? Nervous, but tremendously excited to see what happens next.
January 1, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Watching Mayor Zohran Mamdani and AG James together feels really good for the soul. So many powerful people are going to do literally everything they can to thwart them— but also they’ve already been trying and look where we are? Nervous, but tremendously excited to see what happens next.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
“Can’t believe NYC elected a Muslim as mayor.”
In truth—a Black American Christian woman swearing in a Ugandan American Muslim of South Asian ethnicity as his Syrian American wife holds the Qurans he swears in on, all while standing on the steps of a subway station—is the most NYC thing imaginable.
In truth—a Black American Christian woman swearing in a Ugandan American Muslim of South Asian ethnicity as his Syrian American wife holds the Qurans he swears in on, all while standing on the steps of a subway station—is the most NYC thing imaginable.
January 1, 2026 at 11:43 AM
“Can’t believe NYC elected a Muslim as mayor.”
In truth—a Black American Christian woman swearing in a Ugandan American Muslim of South Asian ethnicity as his Syrian American wife holds the Qurans he swears in on, all while standing on the steps of a subway station—is the most NYC thing imaginable.
In truth—a Black American Christian woman swearing in a Ugandan American Muslim of South Asian ethnicity as his Syrian American wife holds the Qurans he swears in on, all while standing on the steps of a subway station—is the most NYC thing imaginable.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
They tried to push out of society, they tried to erase us and they failed. We will always be here. We aren't going anywhere.
Being trans is the biggest blessing of my life and I will fight for our community with everything I have. I love you all so much.
Being trans is the biggest blessing of my life and I will fight for our community with everything I have. I love you all so much.
January 1, 2026 at 5:27 AM
They tried to push out of society, they tried to erase us and they failed. We will always be here. We aren't going anywhere.
Being trans is the biggest blessing of my life and I will fight for our community with everything I have. I love you all so much.
Being trans is the biggest blessing of my life and I will fight for our community with everything I have. I love you all so much.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
honestly excited to have a mayor
They've started replacing the "welcome to the borough" signs so they say Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani instead of Mayor Adams.
December 31, 2025 at 11:22 PM
honestly excited to have a mayor
Rolling into 2026 is what I imagine it would have felt like to knowingly book a holiday in Pompeii in 79 AD as a wooden table.
December 31, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Rolling into 2026 is what I imagine it would have felt like to knowingly book a holiday in Pompeii in 79 AD as a wooden table.
This USA Today 2025 retrospective is how America will be remembered forever.
www.usatoday.com/picture-gall...
www.usatoday.com/picture-gall...
December 31, 2025 at 5:04 PM
This USA Today 2025 retrospective is how America will be remembered forever.
www.usatoday.com/picture-gall...
www.usatoday.com/picture-gall...
Tesla at the moment is a company without a customer base, and running on illusion and fumes.
As the link notes, I'm the world's biggest fan of the Tesla Takedown.
And I think it's more important than ever with Musk looking poised to be the GOP's biggest donor again in 2026.
And I think it's more important than ever with Musk looking poised to be the GOP's biggest donor again in 2026.
December 31, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Tesla at the moment is a company without a customer base, and running on illusion and fumes.
Well, they took all the jobs, arts, land, water, minerals, nutrients, clean air, precious metals, lumber, old-growth forest, crude oil, coal, natural gas, flora, fauna, both culture and history, so yeah.. they’re going to just go to town on reality itself in order to have a better quarter.
“This could look like a user asking how much ibuprofen to take for a headache receiving a promoted ad for Advil in the chatbot’s response. Meanwhile, actual results on correct dosage may be brushed to the side, or buried under a mountain of ad text…”
OpenAI Reportedly Planning to Make ChatGPT "Prioritize" Advertisers in Conversation
OpenAI employees working on ChatGPT report plans to unleash sponsored advertisements above organic results.
futurism.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Well, they took all the jobs, arts, land, water, minerals, nutrients, clean air, precious metals, lumber, old-growth forest, crude oil, coal, natural gas, flora, fauna, both culture and history, so yeah.. they’re going to just go to town on reality itself in order to have a better quarter.
Sending so much love to our Somali siblings right now. What is happening right now is disgusting and directly out of the worst pages of history.
December 30, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Sending so much love to our Somali siblings right now. What is happening right now is disgusting and directly out of the worst pages of history.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
OK, listening to this guy right now. He's good.
So excited to learn about musicians I should follow by seeing who is living their values.
apnews.com/article/kenn...
apnews.com/article/kenn...
December 30, 2025 at 9:12 PM
OK, listening to this guy right now. He's good.
Reposted by Jessica Kant
It needs to be normalized for writers to put a “no AI” statement on their site. Going to add one to the blog later. Our rejection of this shit needs to be unignorable
December 30, 2025 at 5:56 PM
It needs to be normalized for writers to put a “no AI” statement on their site. Going to add one to the blog later. Our rejection of this shit needs to be unignorable