No. 126: Too Far Gone?

Good morning, everyone

The vibes are clearly off in the entertainment industry. From this past weekend's hellish Travis Scott concert to Alec Baldwin's shooting of a cinematographer to the dystopian hit show Squid Game to the controversial Lil Nas X music video 'Montero', the things that resonate across large swaths of the population tend to be increasingly depraved. Is it too much to ask that art and entertainment be edifying and cohering rather than destructive and divisive?

Is that a naive question to ask? This is not to say that there are no positive examples of contemporary art and entertainment that do just that (Ford vs. Ferrari comes to mind), only that to a large extent, the popular stories and narratives coming out of the art and entertainment industry emphasize a kind of navel-gazing, self-obsession that encourage the indulgence of one's darkest, most forbidden impulses.

Below, we talk about the vaccine mandate's ramifications for Tennesseans, recap the Infrastructure Bill, and much more.

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⦿ Missing Mandates

The Biden Administration's mandate which would require workers at companies with more than 100 employees to get fully vaccinated or be tested weekly, was set to go into effect Jan. 4. The mandate was put on hold this past Saturday as a Federal appeals court looks into whether the bill is constitutional.

The administration doesn’t even seem to be flinching. In fact, according to Fox News, it appears the language in the summary released by OSHA may indicate that the mandates could trickle down to businesses with fewer than 100 employees in the future. For now, the Biden administration seems confident as they plan on leaning into the fact that this action is taken as an emergency measure. The U.S. government has until 5 p.m. today to respond to the stay.

Speaking of states of emergency, Governor Lee’s office announced on Friday that they will extend the state of emergency for two more weeks. This move gives Lee emergency powers and gives him the ability to continue implementing the mask opt-out in schools as well as buys him more time as he decides on whether to sign the covid legislation that was passed by the state House and Senate during the last Special Session. As we watch the court’s reaction to the Biden Administration’s OSHA mandates, this bought time may prove useful as Tennessee fortifies itself with a strategy to protect businesses, individual liberties, and keep itself not only physically, but economically healthy.

HEADLINES

• New report advocates for conservative budgeting limits in Tennessee (Center Square) In a report released this week, the Beacon Center's proposal sets a maximum budget increase from one year to the next, limiting budget increases to population growth plus inflation.
• Bridgestone Arena Introduces Updated COVID Protocols for Fans, Guests (NHL) Effective Nov. 13, Guests Will No Longer be Required to Show Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination or Negative COVID-19 Test to Attend Nashville Predators Games

DEVELOPMENT

• Italian restaurant sets opening in Gulch hotel (Post)
• Sylvan Park building near Otto’s Bar offered for $1.75M (Post)
• Ritz-Carlton takes its place in Nashville's burgeoning lineup of luxury hotels (Tennessean)
• On-site start looms, new images released for downtown tower (Post)
• Images released for North Gulch building to front viaduct (Post)
• Bellevue apartment complexes sell for $71.5M (Post)
• East Nashville site located near interstate listed for sale (Post)

✻ BIF FTW

Late Friday night, the US House of Representatives voted to approve the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIF). After months and months of negotiations and declarations by Nancy Pelosi that the fate of the BIF was tied to the fate of Biden's ailing Build Back Better Act, leaders successfully sent the bill to Biden's desk for signature. Notably, thirteen Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and AOC's Squad (comprised of six Democrats) voted against it. The Squad cited "trust" concerns after Pelosi decoupled the BIF from the Build Back Better Act.

Chatter on the Hill indicated that Pelosi rushed to get the BIF done against her prior declaration that it be tied to the social spending bill in order to lend more credibility to her appearance in Glasgow this week where she'll lead a congressional delegation for the UN Climate Summit COP26. Whatever the case may be, the Biden administration cut a deal with Moderates still on the fence about the Build Back Better Act that once the costs are better understood, they would vote yes. We'll see how that plays out.

Axios has a readable breakdown of what's in the Infrastructure Bill which will cost $1.2 trillion over eight years and offers more than $550 billion in new spending.

THINGS TO DO

🖼 Medieval Bologna: Art for a Universal City opened at the Frist on Friday. It's the first museum exhibition in the United States to focus on medieval art made in the northern Italian city of Bologna. Home to the oldest university in Europe, Bologna fostered a unique artistic culture at the end of the Middle Ages (Info)

Tonight
💀 Grateful Monday ft Hooteroll? @ Acme, 7p, FREE, Info
🎙 Ruston Kelly @ Ryman Auditorium, 7:30p, Info

Around the Web

⌘ Investors Need An Anti-Reading List It’s what you don’t read that matters. Avoiding newspapers is an addition by subtraction. Outsourcing your thoughts isn’t a valuable life hack.

☢︎ Zone of Repulsion Lab leak discourse disaster, searching for meaning in Chinese propaganda, and an uncomfortable question on the topic of trust.

Political Theater Highlight Reel

1. Joe Biden will be remembered as the father of the great artist Hunter Biden, his art dealer says
2. Republican Edward Durr, Truck Driver Who Spent $153 on Campaign, Defeats New Jersey Senate President
3. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm: "...if you get vaccinated, it will solve the supply chain and inflation crisis."