Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
@kvassilakos.bsky.social
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
I am supposed to be a 'words' guy, yet I find that I lack the words to fully express the sense of rage and betrayal that I feel, having been raised to believe in the beauty of the United States as an - imperfect - pluralistic republic, to see these quislings try to turn it into a boring ethnostate.
December 28, 2025 at 3:57 AM
I am supposed to be a 'words' guy, yet I find that I lack the words to fully express the sense of rage and betrayal that I feel, having been raised to believe in the beauty of the United States as an - imperfect - pluralistic republic, to see these quislings try to turn it into a boring ethnostate.
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
'Heritage American,' noun.
1) An American insufficiently committed to the founding values of the United States.
2) An American actively betraying those principles.
3) A white supremacist euphemism used by [2] to mean 'white people.'
1) An American insufficiently committed to the founding values of the United States.
2) An American actively betraying those principles.
3) A white supremacist euphemism used by [2] to mean 'white people.'
December 28, 2025 at 3:53 AM
'Heritage American,' noun.
1) An American insufficiently committed to the founding values of the United States.
2) An American actively betraying those principles.
3) A white supremacist euphemism used by [2] to mean 'white people.'
1) An American insufficiently committed to the founding values of the United States.
2) An American actively betraying those principles.
3) A white supremacist euphemism used by [2] to mean 'white people.'
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
"Love drug users while we're alive" is as important a point in supporting people who use drugs as it is devastatingly sad.
Reminds me of:
"For one hundred years now, we’ve been singing war songs about addicts. I think all along we should have been singing love songs to them."
Reminds me of:
"For one hundred years now, we’ve been singing war songs about addicts. I think all along we should have been singing love songs to them."
when a person who has saved so many people's lives (and in many different ways) dies, something in all of us (and in all of you, whether you know or not) dies too
love drug users while we're alive
beautiful work ↓ by dan fumano
vancouversun.com/news/obituar...
love drug users while we're alive
beautiful work ↓ by dan fumano
vancouversun.com/news/obituar...
'Boundless care and compassion': Trey Helten was on a mission to help others in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
"There is nothing to replace him." The sudden death of Trey Helten has shocked the Downtown Eastside, where he was widely known and loved.
vancouversun.com
December 28, 2025 at 1:16 AM
"Love drug users while we're alive" is as important a point in supporting people who use drugs as it is devastatingly sad.
Reminds me of:
"For one hundred years now, we’ve been singing war songs about addicts. I think all along we should have been singing love songs to them."
Reminds me of:
"For one hundred years now, we’ve been singing war songs about addicts. I think all along we should have been singing love songs to them."
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
Performer pulling out of Kennedy Center gig over Trump’s big-footing of the venue accused of “bullying tactics” for boycotting and told the “basic duty of a public artist [is] to perform for all people”
Deranged. Free speech debate has now become a forced-labour argument
www.npr.org/2025/12/27/g...
Deranged. Free speech debate has now become a forced-labour argument
www.npr.org/2025/12/27/g...
Kennedy Center vows to sue musician who canceled performance over Trump name change
The Kennedy Center is planning legal action after jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled an annual holiday concert. Redd pulled out after President Trump's name appeared on the building.
www.npr.org
December 28, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Performer pulling out of Kennedy Center gig over Trump’s big-footing of the venue accused of “bullying tactics” for boycotting and told the “basic duty of a public artist [is] to perform for all people”
Deranged. Free speech debate has now become a forced-labour argument
www.npr.org/2025/12/27/g...
Deranged. Free speech debate has now become a forced-labour argument
www.npr.org/2025/12/27/g...
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
How effective is protesting? According to historians and political scientists: very
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
How effective is protesting? According to historians and political scientists: very
From emancipation to women’s suffrage, civil rights and BLM, mass movement has shaped the arc of US history
www.theguardian.com
December 28, 2025 at 1:25 AM
How effective is protesting? According to historians and political scientists: very
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
Breaking the law and desecrating a memorial to an assassinated national leader for the glorification of a violently repressive bigot?
No biggie, why would you care.
Reacting to that by declining to perform a concert for free?
How dare you! This offense, this dereliction of duty cannot stand!
No biggie, why would you care.
Reacting to that by declining to perform a concert for free?
How dare you! This offense, this dereliction of duty cannot stand!
December 28, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Breaking the law and desecrating a memorial to an assassinated national leader for the glorification of a violently repressive bigot?
No biggie, why would you care.
Reacting to that by declining to perform a concert for free?
How dare you! This offense, this dereliction of duty cannot stand!
No biggie, why would you care.
Reacting to that by declining to perform a concert for free?
How dare you! This offense, this dereliction of duty cannot stand!
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
And it gave us an amazing pic of a passed out raccoon to use in memes.
December 28, 2025 at 1:59 AM
And it gave us an amazing pic of a passed out raccoon to use in memes.
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
Fucking hell
The Washpost edit board calls Trump’s bombing in Nigeria “a welcome change in a part of the world that has always been little more than an afterthought for the president” — and has zero mention of the thousands in Africa facing starvation because of USAID cuts
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Why West Africa is worth worrying about
Strikes on ISIS targets in Nigeria are welcome but insufficient.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 28, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Fucking hell
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
exactly this
fantastic to have re-invented from first principles the position that women must price in unhinged commentary on how they look if they want to have any cultural role *at all*, with a side order of ‘it is now very very easy for comment section creepos to make weird porn of you’
December 27, 2025 at 6:13 PM
exactly this
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
Imagine it being easier to just pay the 8 billion dollars and it won't affect you in the slightest. Man what have we done lol
Zuckerberg settles $8 billion lawsuit over Cambridge Analytica scandal, avoids testifying www.france24.com/en/americas/... @carolecadwalla.bsky.social
Zuckerberg settles $8 billion lawsuit over Cambridge Analytica scandal, avoids testifying
Mark Zuckerberg and current and former Meta executives agreed on Thursday to settle a $8 billion shareholder lawsuit alleging the company’s directors failed to prevent billions of dollars in fines and...
www.france24.com
December 28, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Imagine it being easier to just pay the 8 billion dollars and it won't affect you in the slightest. Man what have we done lol
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
Insane NY Post column suggesting that the new First Lady who is sad about leaving her longtime neighbors in a not fancy NYC neighborhood is an ungrateful brown woman
December 28, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Insane NY Post column suggesting that the new First Lady who is sad about leaving her longtime neighbors in a not fancy NYC neighborhood is an ungrateful brown woman
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
SUVs and big Utes "are 44 per cent more likely to kill an adult pedestrian or cyclist in a crash compared with a sedan, and 82 per cent more likely to kill a child" www.theage.com.au/national/vic...
Pedestrian fatalities reach 17-year-high. This trend could be why
Fifty-one pedestrians had been killed on the state’s roads this year as of Saturday – the most in any calendar year since 2008.
www.theage.com.au
December 27, 2025 at 9:30 PM
SUVs and big Utes "are 44 per cent more likely to kill an adult pedestrian or cyclist in a crash compared with a sedan, and 82 per cent more likely to kill a child" www.theage.com.au/national/vic...
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
A year ago, I came up with the phrase Doom Dopamine: the unconscious reward we give people for spreading doom.
Take a minute to like positive posts.
Cause when alarmist content goes viral & positive posts get 5 likes, it engineers our brains to think doom is rewarding & positivity is not. 🧵
Take a minute to like positive posts.
Cause when alarmist content goes viral & positive posts get 5 likes, it engineers our brains to think doom is rewarding & positivity is not. 🧵
December 27, 2025 at 8:31 PM
A year ago, I came up with the phrase Doom Dopamine: the unconscious reward we give people for spreading doom.
Take a minute to like positive posts.
Cause when alarmist content goes viral & positive posts get 5 likes, it engineers our brains to think doom is rewarding & positivity is not. 🧵
Take a minute to like positive posts.
Cause when alarmist content goes viral & positive posts get 5 likes, it engineers our brains to think doom is rewarding & positivity is not. 🧵
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
I had heard "squaring the circle" before, but I never knew the significance of that phrase.
Today I learned that mathematicians had been trying to solve this problem for 4000 years.
So what is "squaring the circle" & how did we prove *in 1882* that it's impossible?
Today I learned that mathematicians had been trying to solve this problem for 4000 years.
So what is "squaring the circle" & how did we prove *in 1882* that it's impossible?
December 27, 2025 at 8:33 PM
I had heard "squaring the circle" before, but I never knew the significance of that phrase.
Today I learned that mathematicians had been trying to solve this problem for 4000 years.
So what is "squaring the circle" & how did we prove *in 1882* that it's impossible?
Today I learned that mathematicians had been trying to solve this problem for 4000 years.
So what is "squaring the circle" & how did we prove *in 1882* that it's impossible?
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
It's annoying to see the hand-wringing over a small number of wealthy people making empty threats to move because of tax increases, when there are actually people leaving desirable places en masse because they can't find affordable places to live
Forever renters: For many in Greater Boston, the American dream of homeownership ‘no longer exists’ - The Boston Globe
Home prices in Greater Boston have surged far faster than incomes, pushing ownership out of reach for many.
www.bostonglobe.com
December 27, 2025 at 1:09 AM
It's annoying to see the hand-wringing over a small number of wealthy people making empty threats to move because of tax increases, when there are actually people leaving desirable places en masse because they can't find affordable places to live
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
"Protecting" Nigerian Christians was a nakedly political move. If he wanted to save lives he could save 600,000 by reinstating USAID without firing a shot. This was not a Christian act, this was a play for Christian votes in the face of massive moral and ethical failure.
December 27, 2025 at 4:53 AM
"Protecting" Nigerian Christians was a nakedly political move. If he wanted to save lives he could save 600,000 by reinstating USAID without firing a shot. This was not a Christian act, this was a play for Christian votes in the face of massive moral and ethical failure.
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
Jasper Nathaniel is an excellent reporter who has lived for a while in the occupied West Bank and he's right on the money here: a lot of people who are naturally predisposed towards the Israeli narrative flip entirely once they actually witness what occupation and apartheid look like with their eyes
December 27, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Jasper Nathaniel is an excellent reporter who has lived for a while in the occupied West Bank and he's right on the money here: a lot of people who are naturally predisposed towards the Israeli narrative flip entirely once they actually witness what occupation and apartheid look like with their eyes
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
People who want to get morally superior about how they hand-wash everything really gotta reckon with the fact that machine dish-washing uses considerably LESS water and emits considerably fewer greenhouse emissions than standard handwashing practices do.
(And you save a lot of time...)
(And you save a lot of time...)
December 27, 2025 at 5:40 PM
People who want to get morally superior about how they hand-wash everything really gotta reckon with the fact that machine dish-washing uses considerably LESS water and emits considerably fewer greenhouse emissions than standard handwashing practices do.
(And you save a lot of time...)
(And you save a lot of time...)
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
But he's presidenting while a white man, and our legacy media that disproportionately "journalisms" while white men, pays far less attention to this than it did about Obama.
Donald Trump, who disparaged Obama’s golf-playing and who said he’d be too busy to play himself, has surpassed Obama’s eight-year total in less than five years and is on pace to play twice as often — once every five days on average. www.howtoreadthisch.art/president-ho...
December 27, 2025 at 5:18 PM
But he's presidenting while a white man, and our legacy media that disproportionately "journalisms" while white men, pays far less attention to this than it did about Obama.
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
"Local safe streets advocate not sure what to complain about after finding a cleared sidewalk and unplowed road on morning run."
December 27, 2025 at 3:22 PM
"Local safe streets advocate not sure what to complain about after finding a cleared sidewalk and unplowed road on morning run."
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
My friend and I both had postpartum pre-eclampsia. I am white. My concerns were validated and I was treated promptly. My friend was Black. She was dismissed and sent home...and died.
I will never forgive that.
I will never forgive that.
Black women in America are more than twice as likely as white women to have a stillbirth.
Getting physicians to take their concerns seriously is one reason for this disparity, they say: “If you’re a Black woman, you get dismissed.”
(Published Dec. 2022)
Getting physicians to take their concerns seriously is one reason for this disparity, they say: “If you’re a Black woman, you get dismissed.”
(Published Dec. 2022)
She Says Doctors Ignored Her Concerns About Her Pregnancy. For Many Black Women, It’s a Familiar Story.
Black women in America are more than twice as likely as white women to have a stillbirth. Getting physicians to take their concerns seriously is one reason for this disparity, they say: “If you’re a B...
www.propublica.org
December 27, 2025 at 4:03 AM
My friend and I both had postpartum pre-eclampsia. I am white. My concerns were validated and I was treated promptly. My friend was Black. She was dismissed and sent home...and died.
I will never forgive that.
I will never forgive that.
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
I don't actively use AI but to the extent it's thrust upon me in searches and such, I find it does a decent job of summarizing something when sources with complete and accurate info are easy to find anyway. when things are less clear cut (i.e. when AI would theoretically be helpful), it's a mess.
December 26, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I don't actively use AI but to the extent it's thrust upon me in searches and such, I find it does a decent job of summarizing something when sources with complete and accurate info are easy to find anyway. when things are less clear cut (i.e. when AI would theoretically be helpful), it's a mess.
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
Casual reminder that the myth of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a cruel hoax designed to convince poor people from all walks of life that the injustices they face are a result of their own actions, rather than an oppressive system rigged against them.
December 27, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Casual reminder that the myth of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a cruel hoax designed to convince poor people from all walks of life that the injustices they face are a result of their own actions, rather than an oppressive system rigged against them.
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
Annette Dionne, the last of the Dionne Quintuplets, has passed away.
For a time, they were Ontario’s biggest tourist attraction and heavily exploited.
Learn their story in my Deep Dive 👇
canadaehx.com/2023/10/24/t...
For a time, they were Ontario’s biggest tourist attraction and heavily exploited.
Learn their story in my Deep Dive 👇
canadaehx.com/2023/10/24/t...
The Dionne Quintuplets
Support Canadian History Ehx with a donation at Callander, Ontario was a small and quiet community in central Ontario, 280 kilometres north of Toronto.On May 27, 1934, if you asked someone outside …
canadaehx.com
December 27, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Annette Dionne, the last of the Dionne Quintuplets, has passed away.
For a time, they were Ontario’s biggest tourist attraction and heavily exploited.
Learn their story in my Deep Dive 👇
canadaehx.com/2023/10/24/t...
For a time, they were Ontario’s biggest tourist attraction and heavily exploited.
Learn their story in my Deep Dive 👇
canadaehx.com/2023/10/24/t...
Reposted by Kathy Vassilakos (she/her)
To elaborate: The FIRE/Manhattan Institute brief frames pronoun use as a matter of personal opinion—and therefore the policy is compelling speech.
But medical consensus supports the existence of transgender individuals—that their identities are medically valid and evidence-based.
But medical consensus supports the existence of transgender individuals—that their identities are medically valid and evidence-based.
December 27, 2025 at 5:11 AM
To elaborate: The FIRE/Manhattan Institute brief frames pronoun use as a matter of personal opinion—and therefore the policy is compelling speech.
But medical consensus supports the existence of transgender individuals—that their identities are medically valid and evidence-based.
But medical consensus supports the existence of transgender individuals—that their identities are medically valid and evidence-based.