Good morning, everyone.

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Initiatives to rid the world of COVID-19 and hydrocarbons have one thing in common: authorities believe the only way to achieve such ends is through government coercion. Without government, we'd surely be six feet under ocean water with a nasty case of COVID-19 by now. Authorities around the globe seem to think that a return to the Stone Age is the only way to achieve a "carbon-free" existence here on Earth and see the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to reshape the world in this image.

Curiously absent is the well-tread advice to exercise, stay active, and eat well. Where government could encourage citizens to seek out more sustainable food options from local farmers or strive to exercise at least once a day, they instead insist that nothing change except the pesky particulars of what you put in your body and what you're allowed to do. Foucault called this Bio-Politics.

Both efforts involve the restriction of liberties in order to achieve some nebulous, impossible, pie-in-the-sky ends that three-quarters of humanity would not be aware of were it not for CNN and Fox News.

But these "crises" could be launching points for a reinvention of America in the image of the people. More sustainable local food, less unsustainable processed food. More invigorating exercise, less demotivating Netflix. More communal activities, less time online. But instead, due largely to conflicting financial interests, our leaders insist on handling it themselves while depriving citizens of their liberties and poopooing any alternative to whatever advice they produce under the buzzing fluorescent lights of a boardroom.

That said, we can still seek to achieve the ends of a more vigorous, self-reliant life ourselves. The positive side effects from engaging more intimately with local farmers and getting outside and exercising more have less to do with "saving the planet" and "stopping the spread" and more to do with fulfilling your role as an active participant in society.

Government take the wheel? No thanks. We got it.

Thanks for reading.

Nashville

📄 METRO MANDATE MANIA

Besides ordinances regarding the abandonment of old sanitary sewer mains and building back better with new sewer projects—manholes, fire hydrants, and all—here are a few other things coming down the pipe at this week’s Metro City Council Meeting tomorrow night.

The ordinance to require masks to be worn by all individuals in public spaces filed by Councilmembers Bradford, Benedict, Hurt, Styles, and Sepulveda is up for its third and final reading. If approved by the council, it will then land on Mayor Cooper’s desk where he can decide to approve it, disprove it, or do nothing (which approves it by default).

Another ordinance on its final reading Tuesday night involves granting Eureka Entertainment’s documentary filmmakers access to the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. The filmmakers are producing a docu-series called “Justice, USA” which is aimed at painting a portrait of the criminal justice system and “highlights its need for reform.”

Here’s the full October 5th agenda.

🏛 SPECIAL SESSIONS

Gov. Lee called on Tennessee lawmakers to convene a special session on Monday, October 18th to discuss the $500 million grant for Ford's new electric vehicle plant in West Tennessee. Lee insists that the session be limited to a discussion of the plant and not include discussion of repealing controversial COVID-19 measures despite the saber-rattling of Tennessee Republicans.

Development

• Hermitage Café seemingly to close (Post)
• The Factory at Franklin eyed for massive renovation following $56M buy (Biz Journal)
• Details emerge for $300M project planned for east side (Post)
• Midtown property on 15th Avenue sells for $5M (Post)

National

🏗 BIDEN BOBBLES BASICS

At the beginning of last week, everyone was chattering about how Biden's agenda faced a crucial week. As it turned out, the week was one giant lemon. After Pelosi—the best-performing asset manager of the year—delayed a vote on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) under pressure from the Progressive wing of the party, Joe Biden interrupted the confusion to whip against his infrastructure bill in order to gin up support for his $3.5T End-all-pain-and-suffering Bill at the expense of everything else.

Standing against the financial lunacy of Biden's $3.5T monstrosity like a colossus battling the sands of time, Krysten Sinema and Joe Manchin—called Manchema by D.C. insiders—continue to hold strong against lashings from all parts of the Democratic party.

Manchin got imbued with supernatural, climate-shifting strength by Rolling Stone who declared 'Joe Manchin Just Cooked the Planet'. We're not sure what kind of new, hipster pop-up Manchin's running that requires he cook the entire planet, but we're here for it. Sinema, for her part, had a rough weekend. She got the full SNL treatment and had to hide in a bathroom from a group of rabid immigration activists yesterday.

The passage of Biden's social initiatives hinges entirely on Manchema's support. It seems likely we'll see a reduced price tag due to pressure from them.

🌦 CLIMATE FAUX PAS

Around the globe, the negative consequences of an aggressive shift to unreliable renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines begin to rear their head. Globally, energy prices continue to soar.

• In China, authorities continue to use rolling blackouts to shore up their dwindling coal reserves, meet emissions standards, and battle rising energy prices. Analysts expect China's rising energy prices to result in a 15% price increase for consumer goods coming out of China this Spring.
• In Germany, facing a coal and natural gas shortage due in part to China's hoarding of supplies, the nation will need to rely on a mild and windy winter in order to keep the lights on.
• In the UK, a fuel shortage plaguing the island nation lead to the military being called in to drive oil tankers as a worker shortage made procuring what limited supplies they had even more precarious.
• In the US, higher energy prices this winter seem likely and Joe Manchin continues to hammer home how important the inclusion of natural gas in any "green" energy initiative is to maintain the grid's reliability.

Entertainment

Things to Do

You can view our full weekly event calendar here.

Tonight
A big Monday making the case that Monday is the new Friday. Hit up Acme for dinner and some Grateful Dead covers before heading off into the night to catch one of the wide variety of shows.

💀 Grateful Monday ft. The Stolen Faces @ Acme, 7p (Info)
🎸 Modest Mouse w/ Future Islands @ Ascend Amphitheater, 7p (Info)
🏟 WWE Monday Night RAW @ Bridgestone Arena, 7p (Info)
🌾 Drive-By Truckers @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p (Info)
🎙 Motown Mondays @ The 5 Spot, 10p (Info)

Coming this Week

🎥🤵 No Time To Die Opens Thursday, 10/7‌‌The new James Bond flick and Daniel Craig's last as Brittain's finest MI6 agent sees 007's tranquil retirement in Jamaica interrupted by an old CIA agent asking a favor.

🎥🐑 Lamb Opens Thursday, 10/7‌‌The new flick from A24 follows a childless couple who discover a strange and unnatural newborn in their sheep barn. They decide to raise her as their own, but sinister forces are determined to return the creature to the wilderness that birthed her.

COVID Gutter

Trends and news concerning everyone's favorite viral pandemic.

As what used to be described as "flu season" begins around the US, we'll be curious to see who gets the blame for a likely increase in COVID-19 cases around the nation. Where doctors and health administrators used to urge citizens to get exercise, stay active, and wash their hands, we now have new "policies" that dictate what medicine one must take to partake in the sophisticated parts of society.

NATIONAL

📉 The 7-day running average for cases is 106,941 (down 9.4% from 117,975 last week)‌‌
📉 The 7-day running average for deaths is 1,878 (down 8.5% from 2,053 last week)

Headlines

• Despite fears, Tennessee hasn't run low on monoclonal antibodies after all (Tennessean)
• Vaccine Antibodies Decline 7 Months After Second Shot: US Study (Epoch Times)
• Crunch Time Is Here for Players Who Oppose Covid-19 Vaccinations (WSJ)
• Vaccinated older adults far more worried about COVID-19 than unvaccinated: poll (The Hill)
• New jobless claims unexpectedly rise again even as COVID cases fall (NY Post)
• Service members file lawsuit over Pentagon’s coronavirus vaccine mandate, demand exception for those who had virus (Stripes)
• California plans to add the Covid vaccine as a requirement to attend school as early as next fall. (NY Times)
• NYC Restaurant: Business is down 40 to 60 percent due to the vaccine mandate (Outline)
• Arkansas Bill Creates Antibody Exemption for Vaccine Mandate (US News)
• Leader of Australia’s most populous state resigns as corruption watchdog launches investigation (CNBC)

Sports

🏒 The Nashville Predators won 6-1 against the Tampa Lightning in their third preseason game.
🏈 The Tennessee Titans (2-2) lost 24-27 to the New York Jets (1-3)
⚽️ Nashville SC played New York City SC. Match ended 0-0 in a scoreless draw

Around the Web

📖 Grimes seen reading Karl Marx following split with world’s richest man Elon Musk It's a foregone conclusion that her next beau will be poorer than Musk, so maybe it's wise to adopt Marxism as an affectation like everyone else.

🇺🇸 The Conservatives Dreading—And Preparing for—Civil War The Claremont Institute, once again under fire, gets put under the centrist microscope by Emma Green at the Atlantic in her interview with Claremont head-honcho, Ryan Williams.

🗾 How did 30,000 Haitians get to Texas? In short, after bouncing around South America following the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, migrants honed in on the US as the nation with the most forgiving migrant policy.

🎻 How Much Would Bach Make on Spotify? The top three performing classical musicians are, unsurprisingly, Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart.

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Have a great Monday