I've been feeling really bummed out lately about the world. You probably feel the same. So, aside from the bulk of Charlotte's Web Thoughts (my essays), I decided to launch a weekly newsletter component that focuses on good things happening in the world!
The newsletter component is called "The Goods", and I intend for it to be the kind of thing that makes readers smile every week and reminds them why we're fighting for a better world.
The stories featured in "The Goods" this week:
1. Amy Schneider's historic (and ongoing) winning streak on Jeopardy.
2. Rachel Balkovec's hiring as the first woman professional baseball team manager in the minor leagues.
3. Councilmember Andrea Jenkins makes history AGAIN.
Here's the cool thing: if you think something should be featured in "The Goods", send it to me! If I use it, I'll give you a shout-out and a free annual subscription to Charlotte's Web Thoughts.
My email: cmclymer@gmail.com
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I've worked numerous minimum wage jobs, and I've worked in salaried positions. I know for a fact the colleagues I had in "low skilled" positions could do office work. I'm rarely as certain that some salaried colleagues I've known would last more than a week in a minimum wage job.
It takes considerable skill to deal with asshole customers on a daily basis. It takes considerable skill to navigate work environments with mediocre HR policies. It takes considerable skill to juggle minimum wage labor when it's not even enough to live on most of the time.
And by the way: all this labor is needed to keep this country afloat. Many people who haven't worked minimum wage jobs forget that their standard of living would cease to exist without the millions and millions of low wage workers propping up the American economy.
I believe it’s impossible not to like @NidaAllam. In our conversations, the 28 year-old elected official comes across as thoroughly honest, hardworking, and brilliant.
Did I mention she’s a genuinely kind person? That, too.
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Last year, Allam was elected to the Durham County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina, receiving the most votes of any commission candidate (voters could choose five), the first Muslim woman elected to any office in the state AND completing the first all-woman Board.
This followed her historic election in 2017 as one of the Vice Chairs of the North Carolina Democratic Party and appointment as Chair of the Durham Mayor’s Council for Women, the first Muslim American to achieve both.
The thing about the guy who chose to say "Let's go, Brandon" on a Christmas call with his kids and the President of the United States and the First Lady is that he clearly made a choice. He knew it'd be controversial and offensive. He did it anyway. What more needs to be said?
Yeah, I'm angry that the President and First Lady were disrespected, especially given the occasion. Yeah, I think "let's go, Brandon" is very cringey and pathetic.
But mostly, I feel bad for his kids, who will fully understand this all later. Such a bonehead move. Embarrassing.
Purely from a comms standpoint, since he wanted to embarrass Pres. Biden, he could have gone on there and gave an earnest testimony on something like how inflation is hurting families. Doesn't matter if it's accurate. It would have been effective.
Although I thought "Licorice Pizza" is otherwise very charming and lovely and the acting by Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman was fantastic, the age difference (25 vs. 15) was unnecessary and really weird and kinda gross and I don't get why he wrote it this way. It's confusing.
I know, wet blanket and all that, but I kinda tend to think grown ass adults and teenagers shouldn't date and it's very strange for a filmmaker to pretend this is hunky dory. It's not.
I have no problem with Paul Thomas Anderson loving a character as much as he loves Gary. That's fine. He's a fun character. But he's a fucking kid. He's 15. And I don't care how enterprising he is, he's still a damn kid and shouldn't be making out with adults. No. Stop that.