No. 287: And We're Off...

Good morning, everyone.

Before we get started...

Programming Note: We'll be taking next week off from the daily newsletter in celebration of our Nation's Independence and in preparation for things to come afterward. Instead of the newsletter, we'll release an original essay or article each day sometime in the afternoon.

The below is from our Fourth of July newsletter last year. I've mentioned the ideas in the below passage before, but they are an integral part of our outlook here and worthy of emphasis :

We hope everyone has a great Fourth of July weekend. God willing, you have great weather and great people to spend it with. It is cliche to say, but people are what make your life and this country great. America is not an "idea" as Joe Biden and others insists. America is a people, a place, and an institution forged upon the bedrock of individual empowerment and general distrust of government overreach.

There's a great book a friend gave me as a gift in college called Two Cheers for Anarchism by James C. Scott. It's a series of vignettes from the writer's life and, mostly, a tongue-in-cheek nod to anarchy as a sensibility and a playful rejoinder to a world that's more and more comfortable cuddling with totalitarian ideas. At one point, Scott talks about his time living in Germany as a youth. While waiting for the train every weekend to take him into the city, he'd observe a quiet intersection by the station that would hum steadily with cars during the day, but be completely absent them at night. Pedestrians in the area would cross from the train station into the town and locals would stroll the sidewalks, mostly in the evening. Citizens followed the walking signals religiously. Even in the complete absence of car traffic late at night, pedestrians would still wait dutifully for the walk signal before crossing. Anytime someone crossed against the signs, they'd receive a harsh admonishment from the others waiting.

It seemed unnatural to Scott to wait for the light when it was clearly safe to cross. He becomes inflamed with desire to cross against the will of the people who righteously follow the traffic signs. Rehearsing what he might say if reprimanded for doing so and were his German good enough to express it properly, Scott writes:

“You know, you and especially your grandparents could have used more of a spirit of lawbreaking. One day you will be called on to break a big law in the name of justice and rationality. Everything will depend on it. You have to be ready. How are you going to prepare for that day when it really matters? You have to stay ‘in shape’ so that when the big day comes you will be ready. What you need is anarchist calisthenics. Every day or so break some trivial law that makes no sense, even if it’s only jaywalking. Use your own head to judge whether a law is just or reasonable. That way, you’ll keep trim—and when the big day comes, you’ll be ready.”

Practice some anarchist calisthenics this long weekend. Keep yourself in shape.

Onward.

Today, we look at a recent act of vandalism, suggest some Fourth of July activities, and review this most recent SCOTUS session.

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.

𖼥 TERRORISTS ATTACK PRO-LIFE CENTER IN NASHVILLE

Early yesterday morning, some miscreants threw an unignited Molotov cocktail through the front window of the Hope Clinic for Women on Hayes Street and spray-painted 'Janes Revenge' on the side of the building. It's the first act of vandalism we've seen in Nashville since the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

WPLN, that very serious bastion of decency here in town, denoted the event with the headline, 'An anti-abortion pregnancy center in Nashville was vandalized overnight' burying the story below the fold while opining on other abortion related matters at the top of the page.

✺ JULY 4th WEEKEND

July 1st through 3rd:

July 4th

  • Midnight Parade: Downtown Gatlinburg, TN starting at 12 a.m.
  • Musuem of Appalachia Anvil Shoot: Anvil shoots will occur at 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm, and 3 pm.
  • Red, White and Boom: Clarksville, TN, FREE event open to the public, celebrating the 4th of July. The event will begin at 5 pm on Monday, July 4th, and will end with a SPECTACULAR fireworks display!
  • Let Freedom Sing: Nashville, Celebrate Independence Day 2022 with headliner Old Dominion along with Gramps Morgan, Cassadee Pope, Levi Hummon, and more during the FREE Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th event in Downtown Nashville.
  • Maury County Park Fireworks: Come celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks at Maury County Park Sunday, July 4th. Fireworks start at 9 pm and will be shot from the top of the hill creating many viewing points.

FOURTH OF JULY FUN FACTS

  • The vote approving independence was taken July 2nd, but wasn’t published until July 4th - the day we celebrate.
  • The youngest signers of the Declaration of Independence were Thomas Lynch Jr. and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina — both only 26. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania was the oldest signer at 70 years old. The average age to sign the document was 45.
  • Fireworks date back as a tradition of Independence Day as early as the first anniversary in 1777. John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail, that he wanted Independence Day to be celebrated with pomp, parade, shows, and "Illuminations." This original letter was written when Adams presumed Independence Day would be celebrated on July 2.
  • 72 percent of the victims who get injured by fireworks are male.
  • Thomas Jefferson, 82, and John Adams, 90, both died on July 4, 1826 within five hours of each other on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

HEADLINES

POLITICS

DEVELOPMENT

  • Nightscape’s Multisensory Experience Will Usher In The Future Of Nashville Nightlife (Now Next)
  • Sylvan Park commercial property offered for sale (Post)
  • Nashville venture capital firm raises $128M (Post)
  • Asset management giant buys Donelson-area building (Post)
  • Arcade owner buys again on Fourth Avenue (Post)

▲ A WILD SCOTUS SEASON

A highly contentious Supreme Court session drew to a close yesterday as Justice Stephen Breyer officially stepped down and handed off the reigns to Biden's nominee Kentaji Brown Jackson—the one that wouldn't say what a woman is.

Aside from the highly significant overturn of Roe v. Wade through the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, below is a list of other consequential decisions issued over the past week or so.

NOTABLE DECISIONS

▌ GRAPH OF THE DAY: CARBON ECONOMY

⚔ MISSIVES ⚔

  • 🇺🇦 At the end of six days of international summitry, President Biden pledged to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes,” as Russia’s war drags on and Western countries pour billions of dollars in arms and humanitarian aid into the conflict.
  • 🚧 Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday launched a $1 billion first-of-its-kind pilot program aimed at helping reconnect cities and neighborhoods racially segregated or divided by road projects, pledging wide-ranging help to dozens of communities despite the program's limited dollars.
  • 🗽 A bust of President Abraham Lincoln and a plaque of the Gettysburg address have been removed from a Cornell University library.
  • 🏭 Factories around the world are reporting weakening demand for their products, a sign that the consumer-goods boom that kick-started the postpandemic economic recovery could turn into a bust as surging prices and interest rates erode spending power.
  • 📉 U.S. stocks retreated on the final day of a brutal quarter for markets, weighed down by losses among shares of everything from banks to oil producers. Thursday’s losses capped off stocks’ worst first half of the year since 1970, a stunning reversal of the rally that lifted markets around the world the preceding two years.
  • 🏫 The citywide rate of chronic absenteeism among NYC public-school students has risen to a staggering 40 percent. With 938,000 students enrolled in NYC’s schools, that means some 375,000 kids are missing too much school and falling too far behind.

THINGS TO DO

You can view our full calendar here.

🍺 The Pamphleteer hosts Bar Hours on the third Thursday of every month at Lucky's 3 Star Bar from 6-8 PM. The first ten guests get drinks on the company tab.

🎪 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.

⚔️ Knights in Armor at the Frist starting July 1st: European arms and armor from the renowned collection of the Museo Stibbert in Florence, Italy.

TONIGHT

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

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

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

🎻 Bluegrass Under the Stars @ Cheekwood, 7p, $67, Info

🎸 ATF @ The Cobra, 7p, Free, Info

🎹 Cosmic Collective @ Rudy's Jazz Room, 11p, Info

TOMORROW

🎙 Musicians Corner @ Centennial Park, 12p, Free, Info

🏎 Drag Race @ Music City Raceway, 3p, $12, Info

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

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

🎻 Bluegrass Under the Stars @ Cheekwood, 7p, $67, Info

🎺 Big Band Dance Lessons @ Centennial park 7:30p, Free, Info

🎻 David Peterson @ The Station Inn, 9p, $20, Info

🎹 Cosmic Collective @ Rudy's Jazz Room, 11p, $12, Info

SUNDAY

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

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

🎙 Sarah Shook & Emily Nenni @ 3rd & Lindsley, 8p, $15, Info

MOST RECENT POSTS

Nashville’s Best Hidden Cocktail Gems, Pt. II
Just keep it to yourself...
The Third Path Diet
Eat What You Want, But Don’t Make It My Problem
The Personal Performance Artist
Nashville Ultra Runner John Hardin Sculpts Himself into a Self-Mastery Piece
The Exit/In Cashes in on Nashville’s Identity Crisis
One of the city’s oldest indie music venues comes to terms with its role in New Nashville and the self-styled martyrdom that has defined it over the past year.
[Album Review] Dream Machine: Living the Dream
Dream Machine release their long awaited comeback album Living the Dream and share a new video for “Come Along”.
Around the Web

✦ The Story of Water A Deep Dive Into Earth’s Most Seminal Substance

◉ Controversy Continues Over Whether Hot Water Freezes Faster Than Cold Decades after a Tanzanian teenager initiated study of the “Mpemba effect,” the effort to confirm or refute it is leading physicists toward new theories about how substances relax to equilibrium.

➫ The cost of Biden’s racialism Minorities are paying for his progressive failures

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Words of Wisdom
“Bones heal, pain is temporary, and chicks dig scars.”

“I would always rather be in the arena fighting than be a spectator.”

“If a guy hasn't got any gamble in him—he isn't worth a crap.”

“The finest compliment you can pay a man is that his word was as good as gold.”

Evel Knievel


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