Patron Saint of Innocence

Well, it's been one year since the Patron Saint of Innocence, George Floyd, sacrificed himself for progressivism. In celebration at George Floyd Square yesterday, they shot someone to appease the Liberal Diety's demand for "more blood." It's all very religious if you're into that sort of thing. I hear they're even selling indulgences to white people—sponsored by IBM and Uber, among others—that grant them an N-word pass. Real progress, for sure.

Lenin's line that "there are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen" seems appropriate, so let's look at where we are today.

In Nashville, despite all the hoopla about "defunding the police," the city promotes its property tax hike by pointing out that it will help them hire 40 more police officers.

In St. Louis, the worst-in-country murder rate is at a 50-year high, but newly elected mayor Tishaura Jones maintains her intent to defund the police and shut down a city jail. She also doubled the size of her personal security team. Police for me, but not for thee.

And Vice ponders the quite profound question of "What if we just stopped calling the cops?" to which many common sense, red-blooded Americans quietly replied: the Second Amendment.

If the past year showed us anything, it's that America's politics are fake. In the midst of lockdowns, mask mandates, and business closures, we were told to "Trust the Science." Science that did not apply to you if you were in a large enough group protesting a particular set of grievances connected to the death of George Floyd. If you have your head screwed on correctly, it's been difficult to watch.

🔋 Breaking the Electric Ceiling

Much of the technology needed for a "carbon neutral" future has not been invented yet. A substantial paradox to an all-electric vehicle future is the expectation that energy demand will double over the next decade in order to accommodate charging stations; for perspective, a Tesla running on the interstate for an hour and a half uses as much electricity as the typical American home burns in one day. Tennessee, for its part, expects a bump in the state economy as result of the $200 billion Electric Vehicle initiative propped up by the American Jobs Plan.

🐴 Suspicious Packages

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul received a suspicious package full of white powder at his home, and the only thing the press chose to underscore was his speculation that an 80s pop star was behind the gag. Since it was Rand Paul (e.g., a Republican), no one seemed overly concerned. The package arrived days after Paul declared he would forgo the vaccine. Where once we had horse heads, we now have Prime delivery packages. A fallen world indeed.

New this week

In case you missed it:

• Burt Reynolds' Southern Vision: How a Legend Chronicled the Region’s Potential (Read)
• The Last Action Heroes: 'Nobody' and 'Fatman' Face the Twilight of the Genre Star (Read)
• Ordinary People, Pt. I: On Artistry and Hollywood’s Insular Diversity (Read)
• Ordinary People, Pt. II: An Oscars Postmortem (Read)

Nashville Politics

• Nashville DA won’t prosecute new bathroom bill (WSMV)
• Critics say proposed referendum wouldn’t lead to much tax relief (Lookout)
  • Who wants to pay more taxes? Not taxpayers.
• Here’s how Tennessee plans to spend $4.2 billion of federal stimulus funds on education (Chalkbeat)
  • Typically, the state spends ~$6 billion on education yearly
  • Of the $4.2 billion, $491 million allocated to the state
  • The rest is distributed to the 93 school districts in the state
  • Schools cannot use the money on recurring expenses such as teacher raises
  • Most of the money at the district level will go to shoring up and improving facilities

Nashville News

• Husk names new executive chef (Post)
• How Tennessee’s Economy Compares to Other States (Center Square)
• City Plans to Close Jefferson Street Bridge Encampment (Scene)
• While battles loom over landfills, Middle Tennessee hurtles toward a trash crisis (Lookout)
• Where Nashville ranks among America's top 'beer cities' (Biz Journal)
  • Nashville ranked 36th out of 50 cities
  • San Francisco came in at number one
• FirstBank Amphitheater announces inaugural show lineup (Post)
  • Includes Santana, Greta Van Fleet, Lady A, among others

Nashville Development

• East Nashville site of ex-church sells for $1.3M (Post)
• Berry Hill building offered for sale for $2.2M (Post)
• Hillsboro Village building sells for $1.8M+ (Post)
• One Nashville Place office tower steps into 21st century with $7 million renovation (Biz Journal)
• Southwest Value Partners plans renovations to Union Station hotel (Biz Journal)

Nashville Events

Good to Know

🛰 An interactive map to help you see a satellite tonight (See)

Two Good Reads

🪕 In celebration of Bob Dylan's 80th birthday, musicians from Mick Jagger to Tom Jones talk about their favorite Dylan song (Read)

🧠 Ross Douthat's column in the New York Times talks about the curious absence of Foucault from the Left and his more curious emergence on the Right (Read)