No. 263: More Talk About Pants

Good morning, everyone.

We're thinking about pants again this Memorial Day weekend, continuing to lament the Fall of Men's Waistlines. Around The Pamphleteer office, the rise of a good pair of trousers is something of a dogmatic conviction. Pants should sit just below the waist, not on the hips.

We're fond of Wrangler Cowboy Cuts tailored by a seamstress. The jeans cost about $50 and a quick trip to the seamstress will run you about $15-$20 which will yield you the best, most comfortable pair of work pants you can get your hands on that sit nicely just under the waist.

For more social situations, we just discovered Jack Donnelly. Run by a designer based out of Austin, Jack Donnelly produces the highest quality pair of chinos you can get your hands on with a rise that'll put the pants just below your waist where they should be.

This weekend, consider your role in the Sinking Waistlines Crisis and do your part in righting this wrong.

We'll be taking Memorial Day off.

Onward.

You can follow us on Twitter (@realpamphleteer), LinkedIn (@realpamphleteer), or Instagram (@realpamphleteer) for additional content.

Also, be sure to check out our podcast. New episodes every Monday. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks for reading.

➢ NASHVILLE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND EVENTS

In addition to our standard offering of concerts and events, here are some Memorial Day specific activities this weekend.

The Isaacs Memorial Day Concert: May 30, 2022 @ 3pm in Veterans Park 140 Scotch Street, Hendersonville, Tennessee 37075
Memorial Day Weekend at Music City Food Truck Park: May 28 @ 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Come celebrate Memorial Day Weekend at the Music City Food Truck Park and Flea Market! The Marketplace in East Nashville - 400 Davidson St., Nashville, TN 37213
Annual Spring Hill Memorial Day Celebration: A Memorial Day Celebration will take place on Friday, May 27 @ 6 pm at Fischer Park Port Royal, 4285 Port Royal Road SpringHill, TN, 37174. Join Brigadier General Richard Winn Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Mayor Jim Hagaman as Spring Hill Parks & Recreation honors our fallen heroes with patriotic music and recognition of our six branches of service. Family friendly event, rain or shine.
Memorial Day Service at Stones River National Cemetery: Sunday 05/29/2022 @1:30 PM Stones River National Battlefield at 3501 Old Nashville Highway Murfreesboro, TN, 37129. Visitors are invited to gather at the national cemetery rostrum to remember the sacrifices of soldiers, past and present. The event will include patriotic music and a wreath laying ceremony.
Memorial Day Weekend 6 pack of Fun! Motorcycle meetups/rides: Fri May 27 2022 at 08:00 am to May 29 2022 3:00 pm. 401 Fesslers Ln, Nashville, TN 37210-2907
Memorial Day Service sponsored by the Williamson County Office of Veterans Services: The Annual Williamson County Memorial Day Ceremony will be Monday, May 30th at 10:00 a.m. at Veterans' Memorial Park (Five Points in downtown Franklin). The program will last approximately 45 minutes. Williamson County Veterans Park Five Points, 611 Main Street Franklin, Tennessee 37064.

HEADLINES

9 Historic Places to Visit to Celebrate Memorial Day (Williamson Source) Memorial Day is a sacred day when the United States celebrates the people who died while serving in our country’s armed forces. These historic places will educate, inform and help you to reflect on our nation’s history this Memorial Day.
TDOT to suspend all lane closure activity for holiday weekend (Main Street) Road construction will not delay motorists as they travel Tennessee’s highways this Memorial Day weekend. The Tennessee Department of Transportation will suspend all construction-related lane closures on interstates and state routes beginning at noon Friday through 6 a.m. Tuesday.
After controversy, shakeup at Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (Lookout) A shakeup inside the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has led to the abrupt terminations of key leadership staff after a months-long stretch in which the agency drew the ire of both Republican and Democrat lawmakers over plans to clearcut forests — and lost a major legal fight.
How Metro Nashville Public Schools are responding after school shooting in Texas (Tennessean) Nashville schools saw an increased law enforcement presence on campuses Wednesday following Tuesday's mass shooting in Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

POLITICS

Lee signs new Nashville hotel tax to help fund Tennessee Titans stadium along with two other bills (Center Square) Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed several bills into law on Wednesday that include an allowance for a 1% hotel-motel tax increase in Davidson County to pay for a new estimated $2.2 billion Tennessee Titans Stadium.

BY THE NUMBERS

Spring Hill, Tennessee one of 10 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. according to new Census numbers (Center Square) Spring Hill has been one of Tennessee's fastest growing cities since the General Motors plant, its largest in North America, opened in 1990, when the city's population was 1,464. The 2021 numbers show that population is now 53,339 and still growing.
Tennessee Colleges See Record Decline In Enrollment Of High School Graduates (TCN) Recent reports show that only about half of high school graduates in the state are going to college. More and more students are looking at trade schools as a much more viable option for post-secondary education.

DEVELOPMENT

Nashville Yards developer secures construction loan for future Pinnacle tower (NBJ)
Recently Announced Marathon Village Development Is Starting To Take Shape (Now Next)

➫ FROM THE ARCHIVE: TWO SHOTS, FREE CHASER

A look back at The Pamphleteer's 2 June 2021 newsletter a year on.

To incentivize vaccination, states around the country have adopted different strategies:

Mayor Bill De Blasio (NYC) offered citizens a free hamburger and french fries
In Nashville, vaccinated citizens qualify for a free cup of coffee or a beer
California has created a $116.5 million lottery for the vaccinated
Krispy Kreme offers vaccinated citizens a free donut
And, in West Virginia, they're offering guns as prizes

Generally, when training a dog, you positively reinforce desired behaviors by dispensing a treat to your furry little friend every time he does something good or follows a command that you give him. Before long, your dog begins to prompt you. Maybe, he notices every time you wear that beat up pair of tennis shoes you take him outside for training, so he begins to bring these shoes to you, associating the shoes with a treat. This appears to be the attitude the US government adopts when it comes to encouraging people to get vaccinated. If you provide a treat, the likelihood of someone following your orders increases.

The flip side is negative reinforcement whereby dogs (and citizens) are punished for exhibiting undesirable behaviors. Both derive their logic from the same perspective: that animals (and people) respond to positive or negative incentives. In the case of positive reinforcement, you encourage a behavior. In the case of negative reinforcement, you discourage a behavior.

The USG reflects the punitive perspective in its use of the "sin tax" on goods such as tobacco and alcohol. By increasing the price of a good, there is an expectation that people will buy less of it.

These assumptions also play into the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures changes in the price of goods and services. The primary purpose of the CPI is to monitor inflation. But, instead of simply representing the total cost of a basket of goods and services, CPI includes weighted calculations and adjustments to account for changes in consumer preference when, for example, beef prices increase. Instead of representing beef at its market price, CPI adjusts the price of beef under the assumption that people will likely stop buying as much beef and, instead, buy chicken or some other, cheaper meat. CPI accounts for changing consumer preferences in response to price changes.

Curiously, such an assumption is completely absent from the USG's calculation of expected tax revenue. Government determines expected tax revenue using a method called static scoring. Crudely put, static scoring assumes that an increase in the level of taxation corresponds directly with an increase in tax revenue. Static scoring fails to account for changes in behavior in response to increased taxation. As exhibited above, the assumption that citizens adjust their behavior based on incentives is a widely agreed upon aspect of human nature. To politicians debating tax rates, however, it is curiously absent.

In Nashville, the heated debate about property tax increases has reached the point where Metro Nashville dangles the prospect of a city in disrepair without a property tax hike. Undoubtedly, the expectation that a 34% increase in property taxes will lead to an additional $40 million in revenue fails to account for the decrease in purchasing power home and business owners will see in response. The number will likely come to less than $40 million as citizens cut back in other areas to compensate which, of course, will lead to more tax increases to make up for the "lost revenue".

It's worth noting that Metro Nashville's bloated bureaucracy has roughly 35% more employees on the dole than comparably sized cities like Indianapolis. Additionally, the budget deficit largely arises from the city's generous pension fund that offers lifetime benefits to city employees. Steps have been taken to reduce the cost of the pension system, but nothing has been done to address the bloat that would likely free up cash for the services promised via a tax increase.

We've dovetailed into a commentary on Nashville's financial situation, but if nothing else is clear from this tour through government's trust/distrust in people's response to incentives, let it be known that, by and large, government will play dumb when it comes to cutting back its size or restricting its largesse. The government's basic—and, frankly, offensive—view that a person is more likely to receive a vaccine in exchange for a donut, but will not adjust his lifestyle in response to a tax increase should give you pause.

⚔ MISSIVES ⚔

🌴 A former dashboard manager at the Florida Department of Health made “unsubstantiated” claims that Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration fired her because she refused to obey her superiors’ instructions to fudge the state’s Covid-19 data, a new investigation has found.
🫵 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) blocked a school safety bill introduced by Republicans but supported by members of both parties hours after chastising the GOP for allegedly doing nothing to prevent gun violence in schools.
🇨🇳 The U.S. will bolster domestic investment and strengthen collaboration with foreign partners, advancing a vision of an inclusive, transparent international order that stands in contrast to China’s approach, the country’s top diplomat said Thursday.
💨 Natural-gas prices are heating up ahead of air-conditioning season, hitting the highest level in about 14 years. Prices topped $9 per million British thermal units for the first time since 2008. The cost of the power-generation fuel has added more than 20% this month and tripled over the past year, adding pressure to household budgets and manufacturing costs.
🏅 Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are laying the groundwork for a probe into Hunter Biden’s finances, part of efforts to keep the president’s son in the spotlight ahead of midterm elections.
🌬 Regulators proposed new disclosure and naming requirements for investment funds that tap into public angst regarding climate change or social justice, in an effort to address concerns about “greenwashing” by asset managers seeking higher fees.
🦉 Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is introducing legislation aimed at curtailing the power of the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure that the public health matters are handled by the U.S., not "puppets" for Communist China.

THINGS TO DO

View our full event calendar here.

📷 It's flea market weekend at the Fairgrounds: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday starting at 8am

🎪 Check out our favorite driving distance festivals this summer.

👨🏻‍🌾 The Pamphleteer farmer's market guide.

👂 Listen to The Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of the bands featured in this week's calendar.

TONIGHT

🎻 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info

🎙 Musicians Corner @ Centennial Park, 5p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌

🗿 Guided Tour of Sellars Farm @ Long Hunter State Park, 5:30, $3, Info
+ Sellars Farm was occupied by Native Americans from 1100 - 1300 A.D.

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

🧛🏿‍♂️ Dracula A.D. 1972 @ Full Moon Cineplex, 7p, $8, Info

🎸 Justin & The Cosmics @ The 5 Spot, 9p, Free, Info

TOMORROW

⚔️ TN Renaissance Fair @ Covington Glen, 10a, $25, Info

🎙 Musicians Corner @ Centennial Park, 12p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌
+ Look out for Cara Louise

🏎 Drag Race @ Music City Raceway, 2p, Free, Info

🏮 Water Lantern Fest @ The Parthenon, 5:30, $32, Info

🛋 Live in the Living Room @ The W Hotel, 5p, Free, Info

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

💣 Cherry Bomb, an Improvised Musical @ Third Coast Comedy Club, 9p, $14, Info

SUNDAY

🎻 Bluegrass Brunch @ Von Elrod's, 10a, Info

⚔️ TN Renaissance Fair @ Covington Glen, 10a, $25, Info

🎙 Musicians Corner @ Centennial Park, 12p, Free, Info‌‌‌‌
+ Look out for Andrew Leahey & The Homestead

🎅🏽 Santa's Ice Cold Pickers @ Santa's Pub, 7p, Free, No Info‌‌

💀 Keller Williams & Grateful Grass @ Further Farms, 7p, $48, Info

🎙 Chaka Khan @ The Schermerhorn, 7:30p, $50+, Info

⚡️ Lightning 100 Nashville Sunday Night @ 3rd & Lindsley, 8p, $15, Info

ON THE RADAR

🎻 Town Mountain (6/2) @ 3rd & Lindsley, $20, Info

👁 Beethoven's 9th (6/2-5) @ Schermerhorn, $25+, Info

🍳 Big K.R.I.T. (6/5) @ Brooklyn Bowl, $25, Info

🚨 Eprom (6/25) @ Eastside Bowl, 9p, $25.50, Info

🎸 My Morning Jacket (9/23) @ Ascend Amphitheater, 7p, $22.88, Info

🎸 Smashing Pumpkins (10/10) @ Bridgestone Arena, 6:30p, $133+, Info

⏚ Transmission from the Ground: Chelsea Lovitt

Chelsea Lovitt makes excellent country music for slugging alcohol at a bar — or anywhere, really. I strolled in late after Bar Hours at Lucky's, took a stool on the open floor with gaggling hipsters in the background, and listened intently to a Doors-y song called "If Stupid People Could Fly." Thin crowd for Chelsea at The 5 Spot, though I thought she was the only one worth seeing on the lineup. That venue doesn't quite do her justice. In my imagination, she's playing at an intimate country bar with dedicated, but lively, drinkers. The next best thing would be Chelsea playing in a field, which is happening at the Cornelia Fort Pickin' Party in June.

Afterward, I sat with the band outside as some ate and some smoked. I interrupted their excited chatter to pitch some things to Chelsea, then ran off to the other side of the river. Chelsea's an interesting gal. We'll hear more from her in the future.

Listen to Chelsea Lovitt on Spotify and Apple Music and check her out on Instagram.

Around the Web

↕ The Great Debasement The institutions tasked with the preservation of art are reducing great works to moralizing message-delivery systems

↯ Meet the Man Who Virtually Invented Computer Art Rejected and scorned in the 1950s, Herbert W Franke’s digital work is finally being recognised as revolutionary.

➢ Brave Men or Butchers? A Review of Doctors in Gray: The Confederate Medical Services

Words of Wisdom

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."

Cicero

Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Edward Landstreet (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).