Nicole Karem
@anthrooptimist.bsky.social
Democracy, urbanism, and transportation policy take up most of the space in my brain
Feeding America seems score relatively well on Charity Navigator. This post is well meaning, but it’s important to recognize that we *have* to pay nonprofit workers and CEOs well or they will leave for for profit businesses. A nonprofit CEO who makes 7 figures is not automatically evil.
I was just thinking about contributing to the "charity" Feeding America. Until I discovered that the salary for its CEO, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, was approximately $949,866 in 2024, with her total compensation being $1,113,502. Apparently, feeding America isn't her top priority.
November 26, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Feeding America seems score relatively well on Charity Navigator. This post is well meaning, but it’s important to recognize that we *have* to pay nonprofit workers and CEOs well or they will leave for for profit businesses. A nonprofit CEO who makes 7 figures is not automatically evil.
Trump liking Mamdani doesn’t change a single thing about how I feel about Trump (he’s terrible) but it does reiterate how charming Mamdani clearly is and it is also objectively hilarious that Trump went from hating him to trying to be buddies with him after one conversation
November 22, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Trump liking Mamdani doesn’t change a single thing about how I feel about Trump (he’s terrible) but it does reiterate how charming Mamdani clearly is and it is also objectively hilarious that Trump went from hating him to trying to be buddies with him after one conversation
Reposted by Nicole Karem
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
![Excerpt from a BBC article: ""We usually work, 10, 11 or 12 hours a day," says a 49-year-old woman from Jiangxi unwilling to give her name. "On Sundays we work around three hours less."
She is in an alleyway, where a dozen people are huddled around a row of bulletin boards.
They are reading the job ads on the board, while examining the stitching on a pair of chinos draped over it.
This is Shein's supply chain. The factories are contracted to make clothes on order - some small, some big. If the chinos are a hit, orders will ramp up and so must production. Factories then hire temporary workers to meet the demand their permanent staff cannot fulfil.
The migrant worker from Jiangxi is looking for a short-term contract - and the chinos are an option.
"We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high," she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to send back to her two children who are living with their grandparents.
"We get paid per piece," she explains. "It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece and I can make around a dozen in an hour.""](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ks3gpa6ftoyaq7hmf6c4qx4c/bafkreiber7g4o5pujmzmjjzsp5dkz7blfexburuwjispfpv6dki7akjb7a@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
This is one of many reasons the United States must build better rail infrastructure. We simply cannot rely on planes for long distance travel. It gives private companies far too much control and leverage over everything else.
This and the airline industry lobbyists are what did it. Not Americans starving and paying twice as much for healthcare.
www.washingtonpost.com/transportati...
www.washingtonpost.com/transportati...
More than 10,000 flights delayed in worst day of disruptions since shutdown
More than 2,800 flights were canceled Sunday, while Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said the shutdown’s impact on airports is “only going to get worse.”
www.washingtonpost.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:39 AM
This is one of many reasons the United States must build better rail infrastructure. We simply cannot rely on planes for long distance travel. It gives private companies far too much control and leverage over everything else.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
Want a party that actually fights back? Run for office. We’ll help you. runforwhat.net
Run for Something
Find offices you can run for
runforwhat.net
November 10, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Want a party that actually fights back? Run for office. We’ll help you. runforwhat.net
Reposted by Nicole Karem
Pay attention to what Democratic candidates are saying right now. Find and support the fighters. Having a spine must be a litmus test issue in 2026 and beyond.
November 10, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Pay attention to what Democratic candidates are saying right now. Find and support the fighters. Having a spine must be a litmus test issue in 2026 and beyond.
Lots of “lol those idiots” going around about Kentuckians who tried to vote yesterday so let me say, as a Kentuckian who loves Kentucky, over enthusiasm that’s a bit confused is *absolutely* better than under enthusiasm, which is what the state has been battling for basically the last 40 years
November 6, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Lots of “lol those idiots” going around about Kentuckians who tried to vote yesterday so let me say, as a Kentuckian who loves Kentucky, over enthusiasm that’s a bit confused is *absolutely* better than under enthusiasm, which is what the state has been battling for basically the last 40 years
Reposted by Nicole Karem
One of the less discussed harms of car-centric planning is that it imposes a serious financial burden on working families. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/b...
Lower-Income Americans Are Missing Car Payments
www.nytimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:21 PM
One of the less discussed harms of car-centric planning is that it imposes a serious financial burden on working families. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/b...
Reposted by Nicole Karem
ICE GOONS, laughing and pepper spraying Pastor after shooting him in the face with pepper balls, proceeded to gas the crowd who were trying to protect him.
October 13, 2025 at 2:19 AM
ICE GOONS, laughing and pepper spraying Pastor after shooting him in the face with pepper balls, proceeded to gas the crowd who were trying to protect him.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
“We can give $20 billion to Argentina but we can’t afford the CDC’s measles experts” is a hell of an argument
October 11, 2025 at 7:03 PM
“We can give $20 billion to Argentina but we can’t afford the CDC’s measles experts” is a hell of an argument
Reposted by Nicole Karem
The Trump administration has been spreading anti-vaccine propaganda for months. Tonight, Trump's physician announced he just received a flu shot and a COVID booster.
October 11, 2025 at 1:30 AM
The Trump administration has been spreading anti-vaccine propaganda for months. Tonight, Trump's physician announced he just received a flu shot and a COVID booster.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
Ladies and gentlemen, we did it. SB 79 has been signed.
October 10, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Ladies and gentlemen, we did it. SB 79 has been signed.
Now that he wants to use them to villainize undocumented immigrants, Mike Johnson cares about pregnant women but when the issue is whether they should be allowed life saving abortions, he’d rather let pregnant women die
Mike Johnson: "If you're a young, pregnant American citizen women who shows up in an ER and you get treated and they pay the hospital less for treating you than some illegal rabble rouser who came in from some South American country to do us harm, that is wrong."
October 8, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Now that he wants to use them to villainize undocumented immigrants, Mike Johnson cares about pregnant women but when the issue is whether they should be allowed life saving abortions, he’d rather let pregnant women die
Reposted by Nicole Karem
BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.
Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.
Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.
October 2, 2025 at 10:42 PM
BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.
Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.
Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
Jeffries: In that Oval Office meeting, which lasted over an hour, the amount of time spent talking about health insurance for undocumented immigrants was less than 10 seconds. You know why? Because they know it’s a lie. They didn’t even bother to bring it up—because the cameras weren’t rolling.
October 2, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Jeffries: In that Oval Office meeting, which lasted over an hour, the amount of time spent talking about health insurance for undocumented immigrants was less than 10 seconds. You know why? Because they know it’s a lie. They didn’t even bother to bring it up—because the cameras weren’t rolling.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
Impressive how one political party can control the White House, the House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court, but not bear responsibility for whether the federal government functions. Neat trick.
October 1, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Impressive how one political party can control the White House, the House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court, but not bear responsibility for whether the federal government functions. Neat trick.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
WATCH: "They are underwater across the board, and they know it. And that is causing them to double down in public. But it is backfiring. That is why—whether it's a shutdown, whether it's all of this—they want us to blink first. And we have too much to save," says AOC.
October 1, 2025 at 1:03 AM
WATCH: "They are underwater across the board, and they know it. And that is causing them to double down in public. But it is backfiring. That is why—whether it's a shutdown, whether it's all of this—they want us to blink first. And we have too much to save," says AOC.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
Reposted by Nicole Karem
We’re at peak greed when the president brags about 24k gold décor for the White House while cutting commissaries, healthcare, and social nets. A palace of glitter for him, an empty pantry and hospital bill for you.
September 29, 2025 at 9:57 PM
We’re at peak greed when the president brags about 24k gold décor for the White House while cutting commissaries, healthcare, and social nets. A palace of glitter for him, an empty pantry and hospital bill for you.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
ICE just chased everyone off the public road by the Broadview facility. They yelled for people to move and immediately began firing gas into the crowd, which included legal observers, press, and medics.
September 28, 2025 at 1:48 AM
ICE just chased everyone off the public road by the Broadview facility. They yelled for people to move and immediately began firing gas into the crowd, which included legal observers, press, and medics.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
What’s more astonishing: 1) that the president clearly believes, and repeatedly suggests, that asylum seekers are people from mental asylums, or 2) that no journalist has ever challenged him on this and no mainstream media outlets have done any deep dives on this story?
September 20, 2025 at 7:11 PM
What’s more astonishing: 1) that the president clearly believes, and repeatedly suggests, that asylum seekers are people from mental asylums, or 2) that no journalist has ever challenged him on this and no mainstream media outlets have done any deep dives on this story?
Reposted by Nicole Karem
I know it's frustrating when lawyers point out when something the administration is doing is not legal. But responding with "the law doesn't matter anymore" is really unhelpful and defeatist. Clarifying the law is important because it reminds us not to comply in advance and to resist and take action
September 18, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I know it's frustrating when lawyers point out when something the administration is doing is not legal. But responding with "the law doesn't matter anymore" is really unhelpful and defeatist. Clarifying the law is important because it reminds us not to comply in advance and to resist and take action
Reposted by Nicole Karem
This is so messed up.
September 18, 2025 at 11:14 AM
This is so messed up.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
Don’t let this make you quieter.
Get louder.
Get louder.
September 17, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Don’t let this make you quieter.
Get louder.
Get louder.
Reposted by Nicole Karem
A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say.
This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.
All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.
This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.
All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.
September 17, 2025 at 11:22 PM
A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say.
This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.
All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.
This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.
All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.