No. 396: New Words

Good morning, everyone.

It doesn't bring me pleasure to report on these things, but sometimes the lunacy emerging from the bowels of today's American institutions is too much to ignore. The latest road marker along our long detour through hell comes courtesy of Stanford University and its Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative (the website was down for unknown reasons at press time, but you can find an archived copy here).

I'm sure you can guess the intent of the initiative. So, to make sure none of you say bad words in front of mixed company, we've distilled the key no-nos for you here. We don't want any of our readers to say the wrong thing. Oh, the horror!

When referring to a whitelist for your Christmas cocktail party, please use "allowlist" instead. When you say whitelist, people subconsciously think about the race of man that's descended from the Europeans, thus imposing a racial image in their minds and assigning a value (good, in this case) to it. We can't have that.

Conversely, when referring to the blacklist for your Christmas cocktail party, please use denylist instead for the same reasons as above, but change out white for black, European for African, and good for bad.

Moving on.

We all remember the antiquated pejorative "Indian giver" (which has been out of style since I was in fourth grade). If you're feeling nostalgic and looking for a replacement, consider Stanford's suggestion: "person who takes something back that was given" or the more lyrical "one who expects an equivalent gift in return for one that was given."

And if you're impressed with your own ability to talk on the phone, drive, and eat a cheeseburger at the same time, drop the old hat "kill(ing) two (or three) birds with one stone " and replace it with "accomplish(ing) two things at once.” We can't have you normalizing violence against animals.

And finally, if you ever refer to someone as not "having the balls" to do something? Check yourself. You're attributing personality traits to anatomy, and that's a big no-no

Not that hard, is it?

Onward.

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❊ CANNABIS ENTERS THE CHAT

So far, we’ve seen the new Republican majority leadership set the tone for the 113th General Assembly’s upcoming session by filing bills such as HB0001, which addresses gender-affirming surgery; now, Sen. Campbell (D-Nashville) and Rep. Freeman (D-Nashville) are laying the groundwork for the Democrats as they move to legalize marijuana–specifically, the recreational use of cannabis.

Last week, WKRN reported on a bill that will soon be filed by Campbell and Freeman– which, according to Campbell, may not pass but “[keeps] the conversation at the forefront.”  Though the minority leadership hasn’t filed any legislation, this bill gives us a nice glimpse into the party’s 2023 priorities.

“It’s a full legalization of cannabis across the state,” Freeman told WKRN. Campbell and Freeman see legalization as a boon for the state for a few reasons, one being that Tennessee will miss out on income: “Let’s not delude ourselves that people aren’t crossing the border and getting cannabis from other states,” said Campbell. Reducing the number of marijuana-related arrests in low-income areas is another: “If you live in a poorer neighborhood and you get picked up with cannabis, you’re going to jail,” Freeman claimed.

(Regarding Freeman’s statement, it’s worth noting that District Attorney Glenn Funk  has gone on record stating that he does not prosecute low-level cannabis possession in Davidson County– unless it’s linked with other criminal activity, such as violent crime.)

Campbell and Freeman are simply following up on what has long been a party priority: over the past couple of years, other Democrats have made it clear that legalization is top of mind. This November, in the final days of his campaign, gubernatorial candidate Jason B. Martin listed it as one of his top issues:

“7 days until the November election. Women’s rights, healthcare, public education, legalizing cannabis — every single one of these issues is on the line this election.”

LOBBYISTS AND SUPPORTERS IN TENNESSEE

Driving home Sen. Campbell’s quote from earlier, the conversation surrounding legalization has indeed been “at the forefront” of Tennessee politics for a while. Tennessee Growers Coalition (TGC) lobbied for three separate bills in 2020. And, starting in 2015, the Tennessee Cannabis Coalition (TCC) has also been an active advocate for recreational marijuana across the state. Recently, we’ve started seeing some new approaches to grassroots activism. Iron Light Labs set up shop in Nashville in 2020 and has equipped homegrown movements with tips on how to garner attention and influence public opinion around the plant and its benefits.  At present, aside from an exception which allows the use of “high-CBD, low-THC oil for seizure patients,” cannabis is illegal in Tennessee.

HEADLINES

• 2023 Pollstar Concert Market Rankings Hub (Pollstar) Nashville ranked twelfth on Pollstar's 2022 Concert Market Rankings bringing in $168,859,507 in gross revenue and selling a total of 2,074,789 tickets at an average price of $81.39 for 896 shows.
• Tennessee Sets Record with $439.5 Million in Sports Wagers in November (Star) There was more than $9 million in taxes collected on $439.5 million wagered in the state in what has been consistently one of the strongest months of wagering in the state due to betting on college and NFL football.
• 'Dangerous cold air outbreak' bringing sub-zero wind chills, holiday travel impacts to Nashville area (Tennessean) Temperatures will plummet Thursday night and stay below freezing until after Christmas, the National Weather Service in Nashville said. The coldest wind chills are expected just before sunrise Friday, when it'll be -8 degrees.

POLITICS

• Gov. Lee: Execution report complete, will release later (AP) Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Friday that the independent review into the state’s lethal injection procedure has been completed, but he refused to immediately release the findings.

DEVELOPMENT

• Developer CA South Nearing 50% Occupancy At Allston Office Condos In Franklin TN (Now Next)
• Austin company buys again in Nashville (Post)
• Lipscomb continues buying campus-area homes (Post)
• Minnesota developer pays $7.3M for Midtown parcels (Post)
• General Machine and Tool Company Announces $3.7 Million Expansion Project in Carter County (Star)

𝓧 CHART OF THE DAY: TESLA ON THE ROCKS

⚔ MISSIVES ⚔

• 🗺 The city of El Paso declared a state of emergency Saturday a week after the start of an influx of asylum seekers crossing the border illegally, which quickly overwhelmed federal immigration and city authorities.
• 🐦 The FBI frequently communicated with Twitter’s Trust and Safety team before Elon Musk acquired the company, the sixth installment of the “Twitter Files” exposé series reveals.
• 🗳 Big cities faltered this year in producing the large vote totals that Democrats have traditionally relied on for election wins in many states, a troubling sign for the party despite its unexpected midterm victories.
• 🇬🇧 British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to announce a new $304m package of military aid for Ukraine to bolster its counteroffensive against Russia.
• 🏨 The new mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said Sunday her administration will start moving homeless people from tent encampments into hotels and motels through a new program that launches Tuesday.

THINGS TO DO

View the full calendar here.

👨🏻‍🌾 See your best options for winter farmer's markets on our farmer's market guide.

🎧 Listen to the Pamphleteer's Picks on Spotify, a playlist of our favorite bands in town each week.

🕯 It's a Wonderful Life is playing at the Belcourt everyday from Tuesday till Christmas day.

Check out the following Nashville event guides...
🎄 Christmas events
✨ New Years parties
⚽️ World Cup watch parties

TONIGHT

💀 Grateful Monday @ Acme Feed & Seed, 7p, Free, Info

⛸ Predators vs. Oilers @ The Bridgestone, 7p, $35, Info

🕺 Motown Monday @ The 5 Spot, 9p, $5, Info

🎹 Jazz Jam @ The Villager, 11p, Free, Info

ON THE RADAR

🎸 Widespread Panic @ Bridgestone, 12/30-31, Info

🎻 Sierra Farrell's NYE Circus Spectacular @ Brooklyn Bowl, 12/31, $35+, Info

🎻 Chopin & Rachmaninoff @ The Schermerhorn, 1/6-8, $43+, Info
+ Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1  &  Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances

🎸 Tedeschi Trucks Band @ Ryman, 1/23-25, 8p, $49.50, Info

🎻 Billy Strings @ Bridgestone, 1/24-25, 8p, $TBA Info

🎻 Billy Strings @ Ryman, 1/26, 8p, Info
+ Only elligible if you purchased a ticket to one of his previous nights' Bridgestone shows

🎙 Weyes Blood @ Brooklyn Bowl, 2/22, 8p $23+, Info

NEW PODCASTS

• In Conversation: Texas Slim (The Beef Initiative) (Listen)

RECENT ARTICLES

Around the Web

Older, crustier greenies like me, labouring under the yoke of a pre-modern sensibility which makes us reluctant to eat the sludge and live in the pod, might feel that something has gone terribly wrong with the numbers-obsessed rationalism that underlies this new, corporate-friendly green technocracy. But we have no five point plan of our own, and we can’t peer-review our intuition, so our complaints don’t convince anybody who matters. And now that the localists, the distributists, the deep ecologists, the neo-Luddites, the peasants, the small farmers and anyone else whose human-scale vision actually interferes with the march of Progress have been usefully designated as ‘eco fascists’, we are able to behold the only legitimate form of environmentalism which remains: a globalised, technocratic, ‘progressive’ push for ‘sustainability’, led by intellectuals, entrepreneurs and professional activists, following The Science down a path which just happens to lead to the triumph of the Machine.

Source: The Fourth Revolution
Paul Kingsnorth, 2 November 2022, Read Online

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Arthur Schopenhauer

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