Joan Allen

@jallensf.bsky.social

853 Followers 542 Following

I'm here for health policy, health data, unions, California politics, and Giants baseball. There will also be cat pictures.

Picture of energy vampire Colin Robinson from the show What We Do In The Shadows. He looks eerily like Kevin Hassett, with all the same lack of charisma and charm
Poster from the 1995 movie Waterworld The guy with the eye patch is probably Jeff Bezos
Warning sign style drawing of a person stepping in lava. This will not end well for our protagonist. Picture taken at Lassen Volcanic National Park, where this scenario is a surprisingly real possibility.
Two Canada Geese with three goslings foraging on the bank of the Sacramento River. Surprisingly, there’s a raft of Sea Lions behind them
Extreme closeup of the part of the AI slop image showing a hand with stubby fingers resting on a man’s forehead. The back of the hand is very bright, kinda glowing. Doesn’t at all look necrotic.
Screenshot of the first few google results for the phone number (844) 357-3601. It’s a bunch of companies with different names advertising GLP-1s.
Screenshot of a post by the magazine The Economist. The posted article is titled “Age gaps in relationships are not as bad as you think”
A tabby cat lookin close up at the camera. She is wearing a denim vest with various patches, but clearly more punk than thou.
A tabby cat facing away from the camera and looking out a window. She is wearing a sleeveless denim vest with various metal embellishments and cloth patches, including one patch encouraging us to eat the rich. She is now much more punk than I am
Person facing away from the camera holding protest sign that reads “Hell hath no fury like 165 million women and girls scorned.”
A close up of part of the original post’s image. It shows an AI generated person’s hands in white gloves several sizes too large.
A smattering of people standing around a park holding signs supporting the concept of billionaires. For example, one (apparently unironic) sign reads “Tip your landlord”
Screenshot of a text from San Francisco’s municipal alert system warning of a mountain lion in the city, and my reply text saying that I love that for us as a city
The Wondermark comic titled “The Terrible Sea Lion.” An internet classic about trolls who argue in bad faith. Here’s the original link: https://wondermark.com/c/1062/
Screenshot of one of the guy’s posts. In it he’s really excited that 2025 was the last time he’ll need to do his taxes, because in 2026 he’ll just “dump everything into ChatGPT”
Same Trump statement as in the original post, but with the bit about “metes and bounds” highlighted in blue
Theoretically a closeup of the Trumps holding hands, but more likely a deeply manipulated image of two theoretical people holding hands. That’s not how thumbs work.
Me wearing a black shirt and grey sweater. But more importantly, I’m wearing a guillotine necklace
A tabby cat with reindeer antlers and a scarf. She is looking at the camera as if to convey that this had better be followed by the GOOD treats, or she’s going to call PETA
A stranded Waymo blocking a San Francisco City bus.
A confused Waymo car blocking a city bus. The picture was taken from inside the bus, so there is bus stuff in the foreground.
Screenshot of the dark blue intro slide for a Politico webinar titled “Policy Outlook: Health Care Affordability” presented by Blood Cancer United
Zoom in on part of the original image showing the gold wall art failing utterly to line up vertically. There’s also the top of a Christmas tree and a painting of Lincoln judging everything happening around him.
A tabby cat who appears angry to be wearing a red and white scarf and reindeer antlers
Screenshot from the official website of Versailles. Screenshot shows a room with roof floor, wallpaper, and some cool-looking wood furniture. The text reads: “This second bedroom, with its simple, moulded wood panelling and fireplace of painted stone and fake marble, is designed to look like the bedroom of Marie Thérèse Charlotte, known as Madame Royale, daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, who resided on this floor.”
A gull sitting on a stone wall with water in the background. The gull looks… unimpressed
Picture of a scavenger hunt clue on a clipboard. Text reads: I am a member of NYC-DSA, but I would not be the first member to be elected mayor. Find your next clue at the building named after the man who was. You'll be doing us a really big favor.
A beautiful beach with ocean waves in the background and fluffy clouds. A crow patrols the sky
A drag performer dressed as Red Fraggle from Fraggle Rock. She is wearing yellow dress, a giant red feather boa, and mask covering her head in the shape of Red Fraggle’s face. In the background is a typical bar with customers
Grey t-shirt with text reading “in case of RAPTURE this t-shirt will be empty.”
A picture of a recent paper copy of The Onion. It shows a picture of Pete Hegseth with the headline “Pete Hegseth’s tattoos, explained”
Screenshot of the SF Giants logo and current record of .500 after 138 games
The front grill of an SUV with a license plate indicating that it belongs to the Congressional representative for Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. The driver’s side front wheel is booted, indicating some kind of flagrant parking violation. The picture was taken in Washington DC a while ago
A sticker on a black background that states an incontrovertible fact: “collective punishment is actually a war crime”
Black and white cartoon of a man and woman sitting across a table from each other. The man says "Let me interrupt your expertise with my confidence." The woman looks like she is considering putting her wine glass through his face.
Characters from the 90’s BBC show Chef!
Close up picture of a tabby with green eyes looking super intense. Like, she’s about to put her face through a window screen to get at that bird levels of intense
An AI-generated image of someone’s idea of what Trump would look like if he were 20 years younger and 40 pounds lighter. Also, his hands are much larger than Trump’s actual hands. Even in an idealized AI-generated image, his suit fits badly.
A classic tabby cat on a blue couch with yellow cushions. She has a back foot on her tail in an effort to keep said tail from misbehaving
Screenshot from the WSJ article about Trump’s birthday message to Epstein. The text states that the message was typewritten, and the word “typewritten” is highlighted in yellow.
The San Francisco skyline and waterfront on a lovely summer day
Screenshot of text from the linked article. Text reads: “Micron’s Idaho investment plans will be enabled by the anticipated grants and credits provided by the CHIPS and Science Act, which allows projects like Micron’s to start construction in the U.S. and be cost-competitive with the rest of the world. Micron filed applications for its Idaho and New York projects with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Program Office in August 2023.”
A screenshot of a typo in the video’s AI generated caption: instead of “Franciscans,” the caption reads “Franciscons”
A zoomed in part of the image in the original post. Donald Trump and Laura Trump’s left hands are both showing. Laura Trump’s hand is noticeably larger. Both people are wearing nearly identical blue pant suits and the background is a patterned rug.
A picture of the court at a Golden State Valkyries game shortly before tipoff. The lighting is dramatic
Text from the Senate Finance Committee summary of HR 1. Text reads: Sec. 71110. Alien Medicaid eligibility. Current Law: The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) provides certain non-citizens, referred to as qualified aliens, access to public benefits. Qualified aliens are defined as: (1) lawful permanent residents (LPRs); (2) refugees; (3) aliens granted parole for at least one year; (4) aliens granted asylum or related relief; (5) certain abused spouses and children; (6) certain victims of trafficking; (7) Cuban-Haitian entrants; and (8) Citizens of the Freely Associated States (COFA migrants) residing in states and territories. Qualified aliens are only eligible for Medicaid after the first five years of U.S. residency. Provision: This provision would amend the definition of qualified alien to include: (1) LPRs; (2) certain Cuban immigrants; and (3) individuals living in the United States through a Compact of Free Association (CoFA). Link to source: https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/finance_committee_section-by-section_title_vii3.pdf
Screenshot of an iMessage being written. The words already written are “Happy Father’s,” and the predictive text is offering the unhelpful and nonsensical opinions of “Week,” “and,” and “Month.”
Screenshot of this link: https://www.publicsquare.com/products/dd86cd40-63df-11ee-ad39-e7cf1d852337/V3973621/orgonite-disks--gods-gift-of-emf-protection The text describes a product that purports to protect the user from electromagnetic fields.
Hot pink rhododendron flowers on a background of green leaves
A tabby cat staring at the camera and sticking out her tongue. Whiskers fully at attention. She is not amused.
First paragraph of the findings section from this USTR document: https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/reciprocal-tariff-calculations Text reads: Findings The reciprocal tariffs were left-censored at zero. Higher minimum rates might be necessary to limit heterogeneity in rates and reduce transshipment. Tariff rates range from 0 to 99 percent. The unweighted average across deficit countries is 50 percent, and the unweighted average across the entire globe is 20 percent. Weighted by imports, the average across deficit countries is 45 percent, and the average across the entire globe is 41 percent. Standard deviations range from 20.5 to 31.8 percentage points.
First paragraph of the Findings section from this document: https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/reciprocal-tariff-calculations Text reads: Findings The reciprocal tariffs were left-censored at zero. Higher minimum rates might be necessary to limit heterogeneity in rates and reduce transshipment. Tariff rates range from 0 to 99 percent. The unweighted average across deficit countries is 50 percent, and the unweighted average across the entire globe is 20 percent. Weighted by imports, the average across deficit countries is 45 percent, and the average across the entire globe is 41 percent. Standard deviations range from 20.5 to 31.8 percentage points.
Part of the USTR “justification” for the tariffs. Text reads: Findings The reciprocal tariffs were left-censored at zero. Higher minimum rates might be necessary to limit heterogeneity in rates and reduce transshipment. Tariff rates range from 0 to 99 percent. The unweighted average across deficit countries is 50 percent, and the unweighted average across the entire globe is 20 percent. Weighted by imports, the average across deficit countries is 45 percent, and the average across the entire globe is 41 percent. Standard deviations range from 20.5 to 31.8 percentage points.
A very close up picture of a tabby cat’s face. Her gaze is intent. She is an agent of chaos. In the background is a red coffee mug with “per my previous email, asshole” written on it. The coffee mug is not relevant to the goblin cat, but is nonetheless excellent.
Text taken from a Republican House budget menu of policy proposals from January 2025. Text reads: Medicaid FMAP Penalty for covering Illegal Aliens with State-Only Money TBD on Savings VIABILITY: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW This option would impose a reduction in a state's FMAP if the state uses state-only funding to provide coverage to illegal aliens through the state's Medicaid program. States currently offering Medicaid coverage for illegal aliens include California and New York.
Mountain Lake, San Francisco. Shrubs and water plants in the foreground, the lake in the mid ground, and Mountain Lake playground in the background. A beautiful early spring afternoon.
A screenshot of a zoom meeting link. In the middle of the link is a line and a half of capital As, as if the link itself knows the pain of yet another meeting
Red and black badge with a black cat surrounded by red lettering reading “An injury to one is an injury to all” The cat is arching its back angrily and is ready to make sure the rats all hate and fear it