No. 196: Win Jordan Peterson Tickets
Good morning, everyone.
Straight to the point this morning. Win some tickets. Tell your friends. Was planning to write something about how misguided the belief that Science and Religion cannot coexist is, but duty calls. We have numbers to grow, deadlines to meet, and business plans to execute. Graphs need to be up and to the right. Dollars need to be poured into company coffers. Corporate is breathing down our necks over here. I'm sweating just tapping on this flimsy keyboard.
If you're unsure who Jordan Peterson is, firstly, where have you been, and secondly, just know that he is persona non grata for all the right people.
Thank you to everyone who entered to win tickets to tonight's Tedeschi Trucks Band concert at the Ryman. We hope our winner enjoys himself! If you didn't win, fear not, as mentioned above, our next ticket giveaway kicks off today. Scroll down for more info.
In other news, Jerod Hollyfield checks in with the downtown Nashville Public Library.
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Thanks for reading.
🎫 🎫 🎫 For subscribers only 🎫 🎫 🎫
Win Jordan Peterson Tickets
We're excited to offer our subscribers a chance to win 2 FREE tickets to Jordan Peterson's event on Wednesday, March 2nd at the Ryman. If you want to be entered to win, sign up for our newsletter (if you haven't already) and fill out the short form below (no survey this time).
We appreciate your loyalty and input. Feel free to share with anyone you think might be interested.
More giveaways to come!
✏ TAKE BACK YOUR CHILD'S EDUCATION
Early childhood development is becoming an increasingly important issue in educational institutions and a point of tension among parents. Data shows that in the formative years of a child’s development (ages 3-4) there is significant growth in biological brain development. Tennessee has invested millions of taxpayer dollars in voluntary Pre-K programs known as VDK. The question remains: is this investment helping children to achieve more academically?
Surprisingly, the short answer is no. In a study conducted by Vanderbilt, a large sample of students (2,990) was selected for a study that has followed students from Pre-K through 6th grade and K through 6th grade. All students were enrolled to enter a VDK program, but only half were randomly selected to participate in the Pre-K program. This left a group of children who experienced Pre-K while the control group of students did not. Data was collected from the Pre-K students at the end of Pre-K, while data was collected from both sets of students at the beginning of Kindergarten, at the end of Kindergarten, in 3rd grade, and in 6th grade. It is also significant to note that all of the parents of both sets of students went through the process to enroll their children in Pre-K.
When all was said and done, while Pre-K students showed significant improvement compared to non-Pre-K students' achievement at the beginning of kindergarten (such as letter recognition and reading skills), “by the end of kindergarten, there were no longer any statistically significant differences on most of the achievement measures.” Furthermore, following the study, there was significant deterioration among the Pre-K students in certain areas compared to the non-Pre-K when followed throughout 3rd and 6th grade.
WHAT DOES THIS TELL US?
For one, it shows that academic achievement, along with some behavioral development, is not significantly impacted by a child attending Pre-K. More significantly, all the parents involved in this study were actively involved in enrolling their children in Pre-K regardless of being selected or waitlisted. In past studies that show the significant impact of Pre-K on development, they involved a selection of students whose parents didn’t actively enroll them in Pre-K compared to students whose parents did actively enroll them in Pre-K. This difference shows that the more important impact of childhood development and achievement seems to depend more on the involvement of parents in the interest of their child’s education.
GOING FORWARD
In this year's State of the State address, Governor Lee proposed multiple ways Tennessee will achieve improvement in later educational development. This includes exploring how academic guidance helps middle school and high school aged children and teens regarding specific areas of academic concentration. This is meant to help students explore what skills they want to develop towards their chosen profession. There are also conversations coming from the Department of Education about including elective programs provided by non-profit entities in the curriculum. Lastly, Tennessee has also increased the availability of scholarships in vocational trade programs.
We’ve seen attacks on parents, most recently in Florida, regarding the education of America’s children. The parent movement awakened in the past few years. What parents should take away from the information above is that their child’s development is most significantly impacted by the home and how active a role they take in their child’s education.
⤽ WHAT DOES THE BOSS THINK?
A study from the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee polls business leaders around the state about Tennessee's economy. Generally speaking, the majority of leaders expressed an optimistic outlook over the next 12 months with the majority expecting revenue to grow (62%). Some other interesting findings:
- 75% think Tennessee is currently headed in the right direction.
- Only 37% think the US economy will improve over the next 12 months compared to 70% who expect the Tennessee economy to perform better.
- 58% cited trouble finding workers and the cost of housing was cited as the most common reason for this.
- 53% believe inflation is here to stay and 44% of businesses say they plan to increase prices to offset the effects.
Source: Tennessee Business Leaders Survey
University of Tennesse-Knoxville, Winter 2022, Read Online
ORIGINALS
HEADLINES
- Metro Nashville Public Schools to lift mask mandate after spring break (Tennessean) The Metro Nashville Board of Education voted 7-1 Tuesday night to rescind the universal mask mandate amid scolding from board members and parents alike, heated debate and increased security.
- TWRA offers new option to purchase licenses (Main Street) In the past, licenses expired Feb. 28, and the new license would be good through the following Feb. 28, regardless of when it was purchased. Now, licenses will be good for 365 days from the date of purchase.
- Tennessee Republican leaders renew critical race theory crusade, target universities (Tennessean) A bill sponsored by leadership in the House and Senate would give college students and staff the ability to sue their universities for discriminating against them for not accepting "divisive concepts."
- Tennessee sees 10 years of uninterrupted new business growth (Main Street) The Secretary of State processed 75,300 new business filings in the last year. More than 17,100 new entities filed in the fourth quarter of 2021, marking a 22.2% growth over the fourth quarter of 2020.
- How the Cost of Living in Tennessee Compares to the Nation (Center Square) In Tennessee, the cost of living is 11.0% lower than it is on average nationwide. Overall, the cost of living in Tennessee ranks as the sixth lowest among states.
ELECTIONS
- Pompeo endorses former spokeswoman Ortagus in 5th District (TNJ) Ortagus landed the endorsement of former President Donald Trump before formally announcing her bid earlier this month. Some state lawmakers have chafed at her candidacy because she and her husband have only lived in Nashville for a year.
- See who is running for Metro Nashville school board (Tennessean) These are the first partisan school board elections Nashville will hold since a new state law was passed last fall allowing county parties to choose to hold partisan elections.
DEVELOPMENT
- Update On The 60-Story Tower Addition At The Downtown YMCA, Nashville (Now Next)
- Commercial building in The Nations offered for $3M (Post)
↬ RANDOM ASIDE ↫
Remember when there were videos and instructionals about how to "wash your hands" at the beginning of COVID? Have you ever felt more talked down to in your life?
♣︎ WHAT'S A RUSSIAN INVASION TO YOU?
Well, for one, a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine would spike already increasing energy prices, adding to inflationary pressures and forcing central banks to hike rates to corral inflation, and as a result, push economies into a recession. It's clear that even if Russia chooses not to head into an all-out war with Ukraine, they have the hooks to continue probing the fault lines in NATO to test its will and ability to reign in Russia's excesses.
In response to Germany shuttering the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened a “brave new world” where Europeans would pay €2,000 for 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas. The present price is €830 euros per 1,000 cubic meters. The closure resulted in European natural gas prices rising 11% on the news.
Russia is the single largest exporter of natural gas in the world. What is stopping them from constraining the supply and driving prices up even further? Not much. Why are European nations so reliant on Russian natural gas? Green energy policies that demonize coal and nuclear. Natural gas, the lesser of the three evils, is seen as a compromise between the three, but comes with the large capital-c Caveat that they must rely overwhelmingly on Russia for the natural gas. Germany gets just over half of its natural gas from Russia at present. Nord Stream 2 would increase that number even more.
OTHER NOTES
- The US imports 7% of its oil from Russia
- In the UK oil prices are already at a 7-year high.
- 1 in 4 German businesses now consider energy costs an existential threat
☁︎ GRAPH OF THE DAY: MORE ON OIL PRICES
⚔︎ MISSIVES ⚔︎
- 🇺🇦 Ukraine declared a state of emergency, began to mobilize reservists and called on its citizens to leave Russia immediately because of a growing threat of war, a day after the U.S. and several allies announced a broad range of sanctions against Moscow.
- 🏛 The Supreme Court will hear the case of a Colorado web designer who has refused to create wedding websites for same-sex couples because of her religious beliefs. The case, 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, is the latest example of a clash between LGBTQ rights and religious freedom to go before the Court.
- 📲 Former President Donald Trump’s new social media venture, Truth Social, launched shortly before Presidents’ Day on Apple’s App Store. The app was available to download on Feb. 20 shortly before midnight Eastern time after Trump’s company said in January that it planned a full rollout in the first quarter of 2022.
- 💸 President Biden announced several new economic sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, one day after the Kremlin moved to formally invade two separatist regions of Eastern Ukraine that have long been under the control of its proxies.
THINGS TO DO
View the full calendar here.
⚜ Nashville Mardi Gras celebration guide
🖌 At the Cheekwood, Spanning the Atlantic, The Arts and Crafts Movement, an international trend in the decorative arts that originated in the British Isles during the 19th century.
TONIGHT
🎻 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info
+ Gather, all ye pickers
🎸 Tedeschi Trucks Band @ The Ryman, 8p, $40+, Info
🍸 Electric relaxation @ Bar Sovereign, 9p, Free, Info
GET 'EM WHILE YOU CAN
🔆 Jordan Peterson (03/22) @ The Ryman, 7:30p, $40+, Info
🎸 Buddy Guy (03/26) @ The Ryman, 7:30p, $80, Info
🐷 Primus a Farewell to Kings tour (05/09) @ The Ryman, 7:30p, $55+, Info
🌕 Full Moon Cemetery Lantern Tour (03/18) @ Montgomery Bell State Park, 7:30, $10, Info
NEW TODAY
FROM THE ARCHIVE
Around the Web
⇤ ‘Dumb and lazy’: the flawed films of Ukrainian ‘attacks’ made by Russia’s ‘fake factory’ Bellingcat founder Elliot Higgins says Russia’s propaganda films have got worse but that Russian viewers, especially the older generation, tend to believe fake TV footage
❒ Red Parent, Blue Parent When it comes to masks, vaccines, and curricula, parents are divided over what matters most: parents’ rights, or the common good?
⇢ False Peacemakers The Lie behind the European Union's "75 Years of Peace"
Political Theater Highlight Reel
- Cardi B says she's "not really" on NATO or Russia's side amid Ukraine crisis
- Canadian MP says “Honk Honk is an acronym for Heil Hitler”
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Words of Wisdom
"The problem we face today is because the people that work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living."
George Bernard Shaw