Covid Chronicles – Zip it

I have repeatedly mentioned I am no fan of Dr. Fauci. I find him annoying. He has a lot of baggage and frankly its time at age 80 to retire. He has validated his creds and he is respected but of all the spokesmodels one could have to educate, inform and discuss Covid, this is the best we got? I call him the Christy Tiegen of the med world. God he needs to zip it.. and frankly does she.

As we have now a third vaccine added to the list the reality that we are coming closer to reducing the spread or to use the catch phrase – flattening the curve. Despite that there are two new variants that are “more contagious” in and of itself vague as what does that mean exactly, have seen numbers of positive cases declining. Death count is now at 500K unless Cuomo is counting so that could be less or more dependent upon the real numbers that were never tallied early on in the pandemic as they were never tested nor confirmed as POS. And we will never know the true number of Covid POS cases as many have never been tested nor confirmed either by choice or because it was again in the early days and the lack of tests and the stringent protocol criteria did not allow them to get tested and as a result they recovered or again died without true accounting of cause of death.

What is still transpiring is the endless misinformation and inaccuracies with regards to Covid and the vaccines. And what that means after one is vaccinated and how they are to proceed until we reach an appropriate level to determine herd immunity. And if Fauci is still the town crier I suspect a great deal of off switches will be used as to the right he will never be anyone worth listening to.

I read this in the Tennessean as a reflection of a year gone by and lack of listening that went down when it came to Covid response in the region. The area is ripe with religion, we know that many of the insurrectionists came from that area, fueled with lies and a lack of respect for science and fact that comes from any source other than behind a pulpit or screen. Lies are best swallowed with some sweet tea and biscuits the better to choke them down and they love their sweet tea. It is also explains the numerous health issues faced by that population so Covid and pre-existing conditions are why that region took a big death toll. That may be the morbidity issue we are trying to understand why faces of color seemed to have higher fatalities, poverty, poor health and lack of access of preventative medical care are massive public health issues in non-pandemic times.

Then let’s face the ugly truth about education, it sucks overall but in the South it is a hot mess of Covid fever. These are people whose academic level of success is largely confined to K-12 and even that is hit and miss. The largest sector of education is secular and that too means a selective approach to matters concerning Science, especially those matters surrounding Biology. It is the sex part kids that set them off. Literacy and ability to read at or above grade level is middling and few do read. There is the landscape itself with concentrated cities that are hardly world class surrounded by largely rural areas with little access to health care, education, let alone bandwidth. The social and physical isolation was long in existence before Covid and the tribalism alone contributes to further segregate people.

The rest of the country in largely rural economies also suffer from this and the Dakotas are certainly another example with a crazy Governor who is determined to be like Trump down to the deaths and destruction of communities rather than admit science may be right and while there were wrong steps made it can be righted. Nope, shame is a factor here that leads people to refuse to apologize and right wrongs. I am no less guilty.

Denial is another. The hoarding of cold and flu medicines did contribute to many who were POS spreading the virus as again getting tested for simply having a fever but no cough, having the shits. Not knowing anyone who had COVID or been in contact with one who had was impossible in the beginning and still is as there is little to no contact tracing and it turn more lies and misinformation. So why any reason, sole reason to be tested should have been enough but that like the vaccines there is never enough so we lie. And we deny and we go on as if we are fine.

Dr. William Schaffner, a prominent infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University who’d watched all year as ill-advised gatherings spread the virus over and over.

Throughout the pandemic, Schaffner gave thousands of interviews to hundreds of news publications, offering expertise that was calm, polite and peppered with the folksy charm. But by December, faced with the same questions about yet another preventable surge, he’d finally grown exhausted of repeating himself.

“We paid a price after Memorial Day. We paid a price after July 4. The same thing happened, more or less, after Thanksgiving,” Schaffner said. “I don’t know how many lessons we need. How many times do we have to do this experiment to convince ourselves of the result?”

Denial and anger seems to be perfectly demonstrated by our Congressional reps. Irony or tragedy, a North Dakota man was elected to his State’s Congress post-humously. And since that two more have died. What more do you need to know with regards to Covid? That it is a virus, it is contagious and it can be deadly. Congress had to learn the hard way being trapped in a room with deniers (not just of the election) and in turn the CPAC convention this weekend will I sure rival any prior super spreader event.

Covid has reminded more and more of AIDS with each passing day. Shame, guilt, retributions and repercussions. The shame and frustration and of course the anger about condoms is the same expressed about masks. I am exhausted from hearing the endless excuses, stories and pleas to encourage safety and health. I have been down this road before and yet we are much like the Doctor in Nashville said, just not able to learn and alter our behavior. Why is that so hard? I assume being an asshole is simply easier.

This article from The Washington Post talks about a small town in Illinois, and its awareness that Covid was not just a big city disease is just one of many as Covid ran amok across the country. The article in the Tennessean ends with this note: And the second year of coronavirus in the American South began the same as the first – with a party. (This was over the cherished hysteria over College Basketball another Southern ritual) But like anywhere in America it is not just the South that feels the need to spread cheer and with it disease.

Red State Blue State Wage State

I lived in Seattle which was one of the few cities that jumped early on the bandwagon to raise minimum wage and little has been proven that it discourages customers from eating or using businesses that pay their workers more than the current minimum wage that in turn results in rising prices. In fact the current economy seems to be tied right now to consumer spending despite the fact that the tariffs may be causing some prices to increase.  That said overall spending is being I suspect fueled by credit thanks to the Fed Reserve not raising rates and in turn keeping credit costs lower than they were just a year ago and while overall hiring is up wages are still largely stagnant in many fields and that is again the food service one.

I live in Nashville where despite their histrionics over being an it city, the largest employer is Vanderbilt, then the Municipal Government followed by the Hospitality Industry.  And those together are the lowest paid gigs currently on offer.  To be competitive you have to offer a better than average wage packet but most of the workers are highly mobile and the revolving door is constantly in motion.  When they speak of jobs here they mean at the mall or the Subway, the sammy shop not mass transit. In fact our mass transit service is facing huge cuts due to the city seemingly failing to fill its budget coffers, so much for it I guess.

The State legislature which is also in our backyard is another significant employer who seems to also have a turnstile affect when it comes to Government as the current speaker is leaving later or maybe sooner if the special session called to order comes to fruition and they kick his slimy ass out the door. He quit his pharmaceutical gig so he may be needing to hit up a fast food place for a quick meal or gig if he can’t get a new one right away.  It will tide him over. Maybe he could clean the cans at Party Fowl where his assistant fucked some girl for 10 minutes once.  How hard are cum stains to get rid of?

Well enough about the local gossip machine.  Let’s talk about wages shall we?  Here in the Volunteer State you might as well volunteer as despite efforts by the City Council to raise wages it was quickly overturned by the Legislature along with anything else progressive or of self rule as decided by the electorate who voted in these individuals to act upon their campaign promises. Fuck that shit!

Red states like their poverty as it enables racism and sexism and of course maintains the status quo of classicism which is the real bullshit here.   And their is a lot of bullshit here, I wear Hunters everyday in order to step through it.

Why nearly 350,000 workers in mostly red states aren’t seeing wage increases, even though their local lawmakers passed them

The Washington Post
By Tracy Jan
July 3

For most of her 13 years working the grill and cash register at McDonald’s, Bettie Douglas earned just over $7 an hour. Then in 2017, the St. Louis resident’s hourly pay rose to $10 after the city increased its minimum wage.

But the Missouri legislature soon invalidated the local wage ordinance following opposition from business groups, despite the state Supreme Court having already upheld the increase. Pay for tens of thousands of low-wage workers in St. Louis reverted to the state’s then-minimum of $7.70 an hour.

Missouri is among 25 states that expressly block local municipalities from adopting their own minimum-wage laws. State legislatures in Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky and Wisconsin have also invalidated local wage increases, costing nearly 350,000 workers a total of $1.5 billion per year, according to a study by the National Employment Law Project that quantifies for the first time the economic impact of prohibiting local wage increases.

State laws preempting or nullifying higher local wages perpetuate economic inequality in American cities, hurting women and minority workers who are disproportionately employed in low-wage jobs, researchers say. More than 60 percent of affected workers affected in St. Louis, Birmingham and Miami Beach are people of color, according to the study.

“Missouri was one of the most egregious examples of an overwhelmingly white legislature undoing the will of local communities,” said Laura Huizar, a senior staff attorney for NELP and co-author of the report. “Preemption has been used as a tool to undermine higher wages, protect corporate profits, and cancel the voices of blacks and Latinos.”

In addition to invalidating the local pay increases in St. Louis and Kansas City, the Missouri law blocked the introduction of new employment benefit requirements such as paid sick leave and health, disability and retirement benefits. The St. Louis minimum wage had been scheduled to rise to $11 an hour by 2018. Kansas City’s was supposed to go up to $13 by 2020.

On average, workers in the 12 municipalities where wage increases were overturned by state legislatures are losing almost $4,100 individually per year, the study found. Between 20 and 71 percent of the affected workers in these cities and counties live below the federal poverty line.

Despite the strong economy and historically low unemployment rates, real wages for the majority of workers have flatlined over the past decade. Since the “Fight for $15” minimum-wage movement began in 2012, more than 40 cities and counties have passed laws raising the local wage floor — leading to a corporate-fueled backlash in many legislatures, Huizar said. Minimum-wage increases in 20 municipalities, including the District of Columbia and two states, went into effect July 1.

Douglas, the McDonald’s worker in St. Louis, is the sole breadwinner in her family. At 61, she’s supporting her eldest son, who is recovering from a brain tumor; her youngest son, who has autism; and her brother, who is disabled. Each weekday morning, she catches two buses and a train to work because she cannot afford a car.

“Anybody who gets up and goes to work every day should be able to earn a living wage to take care of their families and pay their bills,” said Douglas, who began working at age 12 in her parents’ janitorial business. “I’m not asking for a handout. I’m saying just give me my due.”

Douglas said her boss at the fast-food restaurant allowed her to keep her $10 hourly wage as a recognition of her long service, but many of her colleagues lost their raises.

Still, she said she has no health insurance, no paid vacations or sick leave, and no retirement benefits. She said she hasn’t been to a doctor in the 18 years since she gave birth to her youngest son.

Missouri voters last fall approved a ballot measure to raise the state minimum wage from $8.60 to $12 an hour by 2023. Douglas says she’s fighting for $15, which still falls short of the $16.32 hourly wage required for a single adult in St. Louis to meet his or her basic needs — let alone the $18.99 required for a family of four.

“We are all just one paycheck away from being homeless,” Douglas said. “No one in America should live like that.”

Sharks Circling

The reality is that living in Nashville is much like living in the ocean, you have moments of calm beautiful water followed by crashing waves that knock you out of the water only to find the shore even more discomforting and less secure so you jump back in hoping that a current will take you a new pier, a ship will pass or the undercurrent will be so perfect you won’t even know you are drowning.

I often feel that way that I am drowning only to come back spitting up water, blood and choking for air.   Ah here in the Bible Belt there is no savior only self reliance, the old boot straps and other myths that are there to remind you to stay afloat.  I see the lighthouse on the horizon and it is winking at me to remind me that the doors are not open for those like me and I will not be saved so keep swimming.

So I swim on and find that the water is red, deep red, blood red, it is salty, it tastes toxic like the sweet tea that is offered by a passer by, the one on a yacht or is that a pedal tavern?   I can no longer tell the difference but they serve the same purpose, to remind those that this is where you come to drink what is on tap, listen to the call of the siren and then leave the way you came in, or in this case just married.

Around me I see Sharks, but their fins are Bibles and they are circling for blood.  Is this the blood of Christ or mine? Is there a difference?   Money is the blood they seek but I left my wallet ashore and they keep circling.

Poverty is a blessing according to the book of stories they read aloud when I do come ashore and sit to rest.  They sing them, the preach them, they speak them.  No one talks to anyone but they speak at you, lecture you or they simply ignore you as they walk away their thoughts are clear and written on the backsides of the boats they sail away with.    The markers that align the shore tell of the history not as a reminder but as a warning to all those who come now what happened to those who came before.

Come to Nashville the fastest growing city, the biggest city, the “it” city, the city of hopes, dreams, the city of music, jobs and whateverthefuck the current list of top ten they claim leaving the negative ones to toss around like plastic in the ocean waiting to choke the fish.  Here in  the city the true bosses of tourism sit along the shore like a Lifeguard on his chair watching the swimmers drown as the waves crash in around him.

This week the issue about who can use the toilets was placed once again on the table of the Captain of the Ship but it is still dripping wet so it will get tossed back into the water when the next chance arises, bless it’s heart will be dried out and pushed forward again.  The next hate crime bill will come along that will make sure that whatever Jesus wore it was not a dress nor hung out with anyone who was not sure of their sex and sexuality.  The sharks love the smell of blood and they swim faster to get the fresh meat.  Funny that is a prison expression and it is not lost that the largest private prison corporation is located just on that right side of the shore.  The right side is the only side in these waters.  And anyone who tries to stop the right will be told to get in their own lane as they are crowding the field of hate and hate rises like the foam of the water to the top.

Wages and earnings make a man but in Nashville they will break you.  The ever cost of living in rising in these seas thanks to the warming of the economy but the reality is that wages here have not been raised in a decade. The bosses feel that fighting for wages makes you a stronger swimmer. No it just makes you bait.    Minimum wage for maximum work is why we have floats to stay in the water when all else around you drown.  That horizon seems further away maybe someone will let me on board their boat or raft so I can breathe.  I can’t the air is no cleaner or safer as the environment is not man’s doing but God’s and we can only rely upon him to clear that air.  Prayer always reliable or so I’ve been told, repeatedly.  The sharks keep swimming.

Perhaps that is why Jesus was a Carpenter as he could build a dock to come out and be our savior as we have fish and bait and they love to bait you here.  The concept of science is lost in  a city that has less than a third who are schooled and not just fish.  Every action is designed to cause a reaction and   the schools only exist to remind you that you are not their kind and they do whatever they can to make sure you are the one the bigger predators get to first.   Ah the Predators, a wise name for a hockey team here as the ice is the only thing colder than the people.  Perhaps that is why the tea tastes so bitter as in Nashville they put the SPIT in Hospitality.

While the schools on land are for learning but what they learn and who from is debatable and they debate endlessly with no resolution on the horizon so they just call in sick, few finish and few care in these institutions of learning.  They are more like dumpsters where they throw the trash, the sick, the poor, the faces of color that are not pretty like the best fish in the best aquariums.  These are waters that when the tears from heaven fall they overflow and run deep into the city to wash away the sins that line the streets of the sinners who come to put down their money and drink the water regardless that it is poison.   I like my shaken not stirred as when you stir it all the vermin rises to the top.

Swimming with the sharks is just that swimming for if you stop moving you are dead.  There are many days I feel more like the Walking Dead, a Zombie, whose soul and mind left a long time ago which puts me half way between the Survivors and the Faithful; they have no minds other than those they surrendered to the book of stories and the Prophets who read them.  When you are read to as a child it is believed to increase one’s intellect and vocabulary, funny how that works out as it must be the type of book that contributes to that perception.   But I have no times for stories as the storytellers here are singers who make promises, apologies and resolution but the reality is that are as real as the sirens song which was to guide those at sea away from the rocks.  Here they simply await for you to crash into them as that is a Pirate’s Booty they wish to plunder.

Money is the key to the heart, the soul and the mind and they obsess over them equally here and pray for forgiveness it is just what they are asking to be forgiven for that is the issue.  Sex and sexuality here is predatory like sharks and no one and nothing is off our out of reach.  Again it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission and nowhere have I ever been seen more disturbing sexual behavior than any stage on Vegas the city of sin.

The fish tales are endless here to say the expression “lie like a rug” does a disservice to rugs as they provide a warm place to rest one’s feet, to add to the decor and lend to comfort.  There is no comfort with lies that are told as stories tossed out as food to feed the fish and they race to get whatever they can and will eat until bloated. Cream rises to the top so do dead fish.  

Every day every day and every day there is another story about racism, repression, regression and rage.  The endless narrative here is “Be Safe” and from whom or what is not specific but the inference of they is clear and is black as the sky that hangs above the water of blood.  Denial is not just a river in Egypt as it goes it is here in spades and by that I am not sure I mean as in shovels or cards.   Every nuance, gesture and look is thought Racist that card is the one played out daily as it is the only narrative that requires a response.  Any other question, reflection or comment is met with derision and false blessings as if you are an ignorant rube not worthy of one.  I thought of the phrase the underground and how that meant once those who chose alternatives but wanted to do so out of the spotlight,  it was the followers of Warhol who wore velvet and cast themselves as offs but were far from it.  Coolness is lived and is and here in these waters there is only humid hot sticky air and it inspires rage and violence that the honor code is more lived and not learned only something done in a laundry – lather, rinse, repeat.  That  is the spin cycle here in the washing machine from hell and I have never felt closer to what that is like in this place that believes they have the highway to heaven non stop direct flight.  Someone forgot to mention that the Boeing 737 Max is built in the South.

There is no place safe on the shores of the Cumberland as Nashville has made sure they remain rocky and rough, the better to cut your feet and bleed.   Ah yes Jesus bathed feet but here that spa is closed for business keep walking.    Dip your feet in these waters and it is not just shark filled but the Piranha of the Amazon and they feed off your flesh or was that again another religious metaphor.  I can’t see or hear my thoughts anymore as they are filled with remands, demands and lectures that I am not good enough to swim in these waters and to that I say I agree but how do I get out?

Gay? Tennessee Says Stay Away

I have said repeatedly that living in Nashville is like living in a 1950 town.  There are some actual progressive people but like Gay folks in the 1950s you are firmly in the closet.  Just the reality that only 1/3 of the population vote means a minority rules a majority and in this state it ironically parallels the same number who possess post secondary education.  Hmm should that not be the opposite then, that with that you have a progressive educated minority who also vote and in turn change the tide of the red waters that surround the area?  No.

Those that are from the region that are educated are in self preservation mode so they exist but they need to keep sanity, employment and frankly it is just easier to get along with the tribe as they are very tribal here.  The outsiders arrive and most are young, few are registered to vote and are disengaged from the political process.  So the voting population is largely the elderly, the angry and the disenfranchised religious right who have an agenda to bring hell on earth to fruition by electing one asshole over another.  Here in Tennessee it begins with the Plumber we have as Governor and his henchman, Glen Casada.  The strong arm tactics and bullshit that has led these two to push through bill after bill that targets the poor, minorities and that includes those whose sexual identity leans left of standard hetero normal identities.

It is times like these I wish I was Gay but alas it is not a choice it is not an option as I was not born that way.  Nope, pretty damn dickly but if I switched my gender I would be a great Gay man!  Another problem solved!

The current bill regarding the toilets appears to have been flushed but the issues surrounding adoption not so much and like all the anti-gay bills that have passed and failed nothing is ever off the table here in the Bible Belt.  There are plenty of hate bills that should be crimes in the rest of America. And to that Glen Casada has two words: Fuck off.  Well no not those exact two words as those are curse words and we cannot use them here which may explain that I now employ the word “Fuck” as a noun, verb, adjective and adverb in almost every sentence.  Remember when Dennis Miller used to and was liberal? No, me either.

Don’t get ‘involved in politics,’ Casada tells businesses opposed to Tennessee’s anti-LGBT bills
Joel Ebert, Nashville Tennessean Published April 30, 2019

As an increasing number of businesses speak out against a series of bills critics say would hurt members of the LGBTQ community, House Speaker Glen Casada says the companies should stay out of politics.

Casada’s remarks are markedly different than his Senate counterpart, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, who has expressed concerns about the financial implications that could come in response to the legislation.

Over the weekend, the Tennessee Titans said they opposed a slate of bills and questioned whether Nashville could host another NFL Draft in the future if the measures were enacted.

The bills in question include one that would allow adoption agencies to deny same-sex couples service on religious grounds and another that requires the state’s attorney general to defend school districts determining bathroom use for transgender students. Another measure would enhance the state’s indecent exposure laws and was originally written to target transgender people.

In addition to the Titans, businesses including Amazon, Ikea, Nike, Marriott, Lyft, Hilton, Warner Music Group and AllianceBernstein have signed onto a letter criticizing the various bills. The Nashville Predators and Nashville SC have also come out in opposition to the bills.

Casada, R-Franklin, said Monday he was not concerned about the potential financial implications of such businesses being opposed to the various bills.

“I don’t. Tennessee provides a fertile ground for them to make money and be prosperous,” Casada said. “And that’s what they should do. They should take care of their stockholders and not get so much involved in politics.”

Throughout the current legislative session, Casada, along with other members of the General Assembly, have participated in various events hosted by businesses, including the Titans and Comcast.

Lawmakers also receive significant campaign donations from businesses every year.

Casada said he had no concerns that Tennessee could face a backlash similar to what occurred in North Carolina in 2016 when lawmakers there approved a law that restricted bathroom use for transgender people.

As a result of the law, which was rescinded in 2017, North Carolina was boycotted by many businesses and saw the NCAA and NBA move previously scheduled basketball games to different states.

As he said earlier this year, McNally, R-Oak Ridge, took a different approach Monday.

Adam Kleinheider, McNally’s spokesman, said the lieutenant governor was concerned about the economic impact of the various bills.

“While economics should not be the guiding principle in all things, Lt. Gov. McNally prefers to focus on legislation that advances economic growth rather than distract from it,” Kleinheider said.

Either way, he is hopeful that businesses will continue to be attracted to Tennessee’s pro-business environment and top-notch workforce regardless of politics.”

In early April, McNally offered a similar assessment, saying the state needed to be sensitive to the business implications of the various bills.

Several measures critics say target the LGBTQ community have failed to gain adequate support this year. But several more remain in play this year.

With the legislature eyeing the end of session, the two bills pertaining to restrooms and the adoption measure were scheduled to be considered by both chambers Tuesday.

The Senate approved the bill to enhance the state’s indecent exposure law with a 21-5 vote. Sen. Paul Rose, R-Covington, who is sponsoring the same-sex adoption measure, opted to delay its consideration until 2020.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Bill Lee declined to comment on the various bills.

Now this again explains how the city of Nashville courts and blows (figuratively of course as there is no gay sex here) white collar companies as Alliance Bernstein, Ernst and Young, and the big ole man river, Amazon, to set up shop here.  The idea is to add educated, white and well off individuals to the population and in turn the tax rosters.  So while they tout no income tax and seriously few other taxes applicable to the rich, they will find ways to tax you from food, newspapers and magazines (which is why no one reads here), exercise studios (better to make you fatter),  and any other means to make Tennessee the most regressive tax structure in the nation.   

Meanwhile the seat-filler Mayor seems to come up with one more bewildering idea to balance the City budget without raising taxes as that is the death knell here in the Volunteer State.  Meanwhile all of this as residents across the city are finally starting to express dissatisfaction with the way the City is growing without any real substantial gains to the city residents, such as transit, infrastructure and of course schools.  Well shit be damned, bless you’re heart we solved that with another convoluted plan for vouchers!  

This all comes at a time when the City is now leveled off with the population growth and the stagnant real estate market coincides with this as once again what people earn and what people can afford seems to have finally hit a reality.   As I have said that my building going condo is ludicrous and the cost per square foot is absurd, it follows the reality that being declared an opportunity zone is not beneficial to build affordable housing, the real crisis here.  And as I hear one more lie about how they are selling these off at a clip I find it funny that I can find no actual closed sale transaction in the assessors office.  Wow bank financing is slower than I thought!   Lying here is the second largest past time, next to praying which is praying about money and then they can lie about that without guilt.

I think this Governing article: What Kind of Place does Nashville Want to Be? is still relevant a year later.  I thankfully will gone within in the year, ending the worst seven year cycle in my life I have ever experienced.  And ending on high note will be flying out of this shithole as who would drive out? You can’t and I don’t want to see this in my rear view mirror, I just hope it is not on a Seattle export a Boeing 737.  Oh wait none of those deadly planes were built there in a union town with a skilled and compensated workforce.  No it is built in the South, as in Carolina, with a workforce poorly supervised, poorly trained and not unionized.   You get what you pay for in the South and you pay a lot to be conned, abused and robbed.  And that is by the white collar criminals I am not addressing the ever increasing crime and violence  largely committed by the youth here.

The Plumber went to Chattanooga where VW has set up shop and despite the company’s willingness to unionize the workforce it has been systemically blocked by our former moron Senator, Bob Corker, and the now current dimwit, Marsha Blackburn,  to make sure you keep the wages systemically down and the voice of the working class silent.  A workforce of largely faces of color and of course poorly educated.  Just the kind of people who need a lift into the working class; however, they are building things that need to be carefully monitored to address safety and health concerns.  Whoops, too late!  

I write about this as the media just lather rinse and repeats varying press releases and quotes the same sources repeatedly.  Even the most cursory check, such as websites with company info, seems to be out of their depth and responsibility.  It is why when the News 5 Reporter, Phil Williams, who seems to unveil scandal after scandal, from the Mayor’s affair to the School Director’s negligence, is often lumped into the Trump classifications for Journalists – fake, racist, threat to society.

So come to Tennessee, experience for yourself the name calling, the abuse, the neglect, the endless lying and the culture of oppression and institutional racism that has enabled the South to be the South – hot and sticky, like the Chicken.  Utterly tasteless and sickening.  

Chain of Fools

I have been resolute in my disdain for the “city” of Nashville and true that bias is much like a Starbucks employee who sees two black men and one who has the audacity to ask for the bathroom code is then asked to leave,  he refuses so the Starbucks employee calls the cops to have this interloper,  transient, this carpetbagger removed.

Seems bizarre doesn’t it?  I am from Seattle the city that gave the world Starbucks and in turn over roasted horrible tasting coffee and  a multitude of over sweetened beverages that contribute to America’s ever expanding waistline and health problems.  Drinks that I see appeal to more customers of color and in turn add to their bottom line – just which ones is the question.

The coffee culture that dominates across the country is attributed to Starbucks, the sitting for hours using the free wi-fi and hanging out to work and in turn have a life that used to be confined to one’s office or home.  So sitting in a Starbucks drinking a $5 dollar half calf decaf Espresso that you call EXPRESSO is a way to spend idle hours in a positive way.  I am no less guilty as I spend $7 bucks a day at Barista Parlor and spend at least two hours reading my newspaper and harassing the staff, who I adore!  The earn that dollar tip people and I double down on holidays! Hey I’m cheap but not black so maybe that is why they let me use the bathroom.

In the South Walmart is the go to.  And in California it is of course considered a reason why local businesses went out of business. Maybe that is why Police felt compelled to shoot a black man who was there with family as he simply refused to buy local!

As one who had the Police come to one’s home on a “wellness check” I did not end up dead but then again I am white and a woman so they simply diagnosed me as depressed and anxious.  Wow ya think, aren’t all white women?   But killing black men in one’s home, in one’s car, in one’s yard, in front of one’s home, standing on the sidewalk, or crossing the street..  It is like a new version of Dr. Seuss.

But you know it is a whole new day when the Police assault a Harvard man.

I have frequently said that while we have racial issues, since I have lived here I am aware of only  w one shooting, Jacques Clemmons; Which may have also been a contributory factor in the resignation of Mayor Barry as she was banging a fellow cop at the time, thin blue line and all that.  The racial divide here is complex and of course always tied to the top two – Money and Religion.

I have an upcoming blog post on homelessness as the Washington Post came to Nashville to talk about the issue and document the reality of that situation a city that is undergoing massive gentrification and in turn all that it brings to a city when it comes to this.  In Seattle I saw the reality of a city that has immense wealth and in turn growth but when it comes to liberalism and the issue of how social services and in turn the role of Government when it comes to aiding those at risk.  Nashville has no such interest as it sits in the shadow of the State Government and that entity takes precedent over any rules or laws the city puts in place.    It is as if the city is the bad step child and the Daddy wants to make sure that this child is not treated favorably.

But we don’t need Police to shoot anyone as the children of Nashville and some adults have no problem doing so. Today I woke up to the news that an 11, 12 and 13  year olds had been assaulting, robbing and shooting individuals with a BB Gun in the money making section of the city.  I drive through that section or walk through it all the time just never at night. I never go out at night anymore here.    (Not that this doesn’t happen anywhere else just ask Stockton about that one).   And this is one of many stories that proliferate the news cycle daily.   We never hear what schools the kids attended or any info other than age and what transpired and we never hear any follow up about what happened to them.  They apparently go to a juvenile detention center where the history of escapes is another news story.  The cycle continues like a tornado warning with about the same damage.

My favorite news story this week is the middle school Teacher who was a screaming racist, literally screaming at kids about Muslims, Trump and LGBQT issues.  I have a friend looking for a job and I suggested the town that gave us Mae Beavers and other religious kooks as it is about a 20 minute train ride outside Nashville and has great potential to be a workable affordable suburb with an already established transit system – the train – that could be doable if funded properly.  Best part is that it is not part of the Davidson County/Nashville school district.

As I sit here I am in an “intervention” class normally run by the Football Coach, who I presume isn’t here this week due to the TNReady testing that is ongoing for the next three weeks.  And third time a charm proves that maybe TNReady is not so ready.  The blog Tennessee Education Report does a great job breaking down the history of this lamentable tests and they should give themselves a big F for failing once again.   And the current Director already under fire for budget shortfalls was counting on said test scores to prove his readiness for the job.  But regardless in the So Nashville way the budget was approved despite another program cut.   Ah irony, from the man who began his career as a reading specialist.

As for revenue in the State that would help fund schools and said crumbling infrastructure via property and business taxes this is a subject that the State has an aversion to.  Recall that States are in arms over Amazon and sales taxes (the regressive tax) but corporate and business ones not so much. And when you fail to make demands from those who are the largest shareholder in the state –  it shows.  Even the wealthy are busy filing exemptions for property taxes and are getting them approved. Meanwhile the Retired Teacher I met claimed she did not know and it was too late.  I told her to call them anyway as I thought there was more time and when I saw her she had not.  I am amazed at the martyr life they love here – money and religion – they go hand in hand.

Children robbing, shooting, harming adults and other children. Excessive and daily violence. Literacy rates hovering about 25% of the population as illiterate and cutting courses and individuals who are experienced in helping these situations is the solution. But STEAM baby STEAM and SEL or social emotional learning without trained personnel, adequate funding and allocation of resources to implement any of these concepts properly is par for the course here.  It is as if I live in a surreal world where money grows on trees and the people who deserve it are in Eden.  Yes we are all Adam and Eve only properly dressed as we cannot have those sex bits showing.

Oh wait that may explain why the South has seemingly endless Teachers molesting students, Child porn freak , Governors tying up hairdressers, or wanting doors locked to maul their aids, or Attorney Generals being banned from malls.  No wonder the Kentucky Governor was sure that during the recent Teacher strike kids were being drugged up and/or raped. This is Dr. Seuss the porn version.
 
Even the women here have busted the glass ceiling on that one, right former Mayor Megan Barry? Ah the South shall rise again and by what I am sure Viagra can help with that one. We are up and ready for takeoff.  Such a chain of fools.

They Crazy Here

I have frequently compared Trump and his White House to the South.  There is arrogance, confusion, denial, lies and brags far from humble. Add to this the classicism which clouds the racism and of course the sheer lack of intellect.

Living in Nashville has been an education, not one I would pay for nor actually list on my curriculum vitae as I am not sure how to describe it.   Degree: B.S. as in bullshit.  Course of study: Lying while talking.  Paranoia.  Bullying.  Attention Seeking and Anger Un-management.

When I arrived the population stats were that 85 people a day were moving to Nashville.  This last week I heard the number 100, 80 and now 70.  As the line marker is in pencil here it makes it easier to change this to suit the individual quoting the number.   Actual statisticians and demographers who would know this say it is a fluctuating number that is based on several components but is not a fixed one.   And in turn this is why neighboring communities are attempting to do a local census to determine population in which to plan for the communities needs for both taxes and in turn infrastructure – roads, schools, utilities.  You know the stuff that Governments do in response to populations – well other than gerrymandering.

These two issues are the Siamese Twins that Ben Carson would love to dis join.  The lack of funding for the U.S. Census will contribute to ensuring that population numbers will not be accurate and in turn enable Congress to continue their slow slide to chaos by cutting every Government program which ironically means their jobs.  The House is based on representation and if the population declines their positions go with it.  But wait! They save it by gerrymandering or redistricting to ensure their job security!  And this is a skill set that Republicans have mastered.  So Democracy, the two party system may be gone without any further Russian interference!  Dosvadanya!

The issue is that most outlying suburban or rural areas are declining in populations and in turn is the contributory factor in the migration into central core areas in which Nashville falls.

Most jobs are in the Davidson County region and when population stats are quoted that encompasses the entire area within Nashville including even smaller towns that are simply adjacent by crossing a County line.  They love their Counties here!  And this was the reasoning behind the recent Amazon bid while coming up with a Transit plan that literally stops without incorporating any of the transportation needs outside of Nashville, the true problem in the commuting issue.  And the reasoning behind why Nashville is developing every square foot of land to get people to move out and away from said areas such as Murfreesboro or Spring Hill and into Nashville proper!  Viola back to the 100 people a day are moving here!  Sure from an hour commute time away to no commute time thanks to transit.  And pay more for it all.  It’s hide the penny under the walnut!  Look kids watch my hands.

And we have our own Governor, he of truck stop money – family built, he not be smart enough to be self made as they tout here – believes that the current shitty GOP tax bill will benefit Tennessee as low and behold it punishes oddly, coincidentally, ironically, blue states and benefits red ones.  Gee that gerrymandering is sort of cool isn’t it?   Yes Amazon welcome. Or your welcome! Please come here as we will do whatever it takes including no taxes for ever! 

Then we have the real ugly truth of Nashville, it’s public schools, the fucked up system across the state that has finally had State Legislator’s becoming involved to ask questions and wonder what the hell is going on.  The obsession with testing, the idea of school choice is largely ground zero here and it explains the schools here as they are worth nothing.

And as we enter the Holidays I went to a school that is not on my normal list.  I had cancelled a gig for a school where I was familiar as I wanted to go shopping to Opry Mills and like Donelson.  It is a shame their schools are not something of which to be proud. As sadly they fall under the purview of Nashville Public Schools and in turn they reflect the dumps they are.  The local high school just down the road had 14 kids arrested this week for a car theft ring which is a step down from earlier this year when the FBI raided the school for counterfeit money laundering.  The school is just slightly smaller than the mall and way less interesting.

This class was for a a Special Ed cell. And by cell I mean cell. It was an interior room the size of a cell, no windows, nothing of warmth or an environment that led itself to at least one conducive to learning  and respect of the special need kids that were shuttled in and out throughout the day.   One boy who is there the entire day is a Dylan Klebold (of Columbine)  level of Sociopath.  His drawings and personality changes were so severe it was like be trapped with Sybil during each transition only in body of a 13 year old boy.  I have never seen this in many years and the closest was young girl in Seattle many years ago who I think now is less severe or dangerous as this child.   It was distressing if not upsetting to witness.

The last day of school (today) was so horrific I could not believe what was happening.  The regular Teacher I suspect does nothing but house them and the neighboring Teachers seemed oblivious as to what went on in the room but they knew the kids were troubled.  They had no idea that there was zero to no learning transpiring and the day was spent surfing the net and doing little else but going to the gym.   I got that much out of the kids as I watched the future serial killer cry, rage, suck his thumb, abuse people, act rational, play like a 10 year old and draw violent dangerous pictures one after another.    The day was until 12 and at 10:30 we were take the kids for a take out box lunch that to say was junk could not describe what the bag possessed.  It was some type of cheese covered broccoli and a slice of bread.  It was garbage which my kids, all three of them tossed. They were to eat in the room with me.  The irony was that the school had carts with ice cream, toppings, and popcorn wheeled around and yet they avoided our room. We got nothing other than the rolls I had purchased myself earlier on my way to school.  I went to the room next door and asked the ice cream eating Teacher if he could mind the room while I went to the toilet.   I had not one minute to myself, to eat, to go the bathroom to take a break away from them for over three hours.  I wanted to become a serial killer myself after this.

I finally took them outside and we walked the field in a cold day.  I was running out of options, I wanted to leave so  when we came back to the classroom I opened my purse declared my cell phone stolen and demanded to leave to see if I left it at the places I went en route to school that day. There was about a half an hour left and I knew the phone was at home but I just wanted out.  I came home and found the phone and spent the day doing errands wishing I had never set foot in that school and then I realized they are all some variations of this.  A Teacher right at the top of the day there whom I had met decided right at 9 am to walk out. I am not sure she quit but she was gone.  This is the state of the schools here and it is everywhere in this shit hole state.  So please tell me why anyone would move here? Taxes are you fucking kidding me?

The reality is that Tennessee is one step above Alabama and that is because we don’t have a child molester running for office.  But the belief that Government is the problem and that Jesus is the way to go, to pray and to avoid reality is the mantra of the South is very much the reality here.  We have no true Democrats to offer change and a potential to show that being Liberal is not something to fear.  I have never seen anything like this in my life and to see these children today and the slop they were served, forced to sit in classrooms all day watching movies and doing nothing but feel trapped and be trapped.  This is Tennessee, they be crazy here.

Daze of Nashville

As I try to navigate my way through swimming in the deep red sea I spend most of my time shaking my head or simply bursting out laughing. A much better improvement than what was tears, rage and confusion. I truly want to point out that most of that is connected to the public schools here and what I experience as the farce of education but there are other elements that lend to those feelings.

Yesterday I had to run an errand to the Jewelers to get my watches repaired. The woman behind the counter was “nice” but of course a moron. When she asked what I do I said, “For now I Substitute Teach.” I explained I just moved here and in the process discovered what a swamp mess that the school system is and for now it is job I do but as my sell by date and license conveniently expire in three years that will mean time to move on and out.  This confused her and then proceeded to do what most people do when they hear I teach, inform me about kids these days and then in turn trash talk them.  Which my response is, “Children are only mirrors of the adults around them.” Here that confuses them and they don’t see it as the insult it is intended to be.  I say it regardless of whom says it to me, it must be akin to when someone finds out that they are a Doctor and then proceed to ask for medical advice.  It is presumptive if not boring to talk about work when you are not at it and expect to give advice to someone about a child they know nothing about.

The woman also shared her fear about me walking around taking buses and such as how “safe” is that.  I said well if taking public transport and walking on public sidewalks is that much of a risk then am I the problem or is there something wrong here where one cannot do so and do safely.  As the real risk is that over 300 pedestrians were killed here last year and the transit is only part of the problem as also getting to it requires crosswalks and access, two other things missing here, so getting car jacked and robbed as that is the real crime happening here is what less worse?  She, like all the residents I meet here are totally unaware of any news or facts in their own community.  No wonder they are afraid, they are stupid and uninformed.  Hmm so are Trump voters.

She also did not understand why I moved here and why I will be leaving once my purpose here is done.  As if any of that is her business. Could you just fix my watches?  People are not used to anyone who moves as I do. I met one man from New York and his response to me in just a brief conversation was, “you’ll be gone in 4 years.” Yes I agreed and had the sole singularly pleasant exchange with a random stranger since moving here.

I am exhausted in trying to figure out the script to introduce myself of even have pleasant exchanges with the populace here but I am at odds. Unless I am “on” as in performing a false speech and fake smiling and dancing like a minstrel, shows clearly once popular here, I lose the audience. My tone, my resting bitch face, my black clothing and just my overall personality is not something the Southern folk get at all.

I do believe that age and gender have a lot to do with it and that those who recall me actually call me by name at the coffee shops, planting stores and other retail outlets I frequent. At first I was shocked now I just realize they do actually note that and do respect when you communicate with them as I do with anyone who serves and assists me. That said you find yourself exhausted trying to find the right tone and demeanor to please everyone all of the time.

Tuesday brought me to my hairdresser who is a nice gal but dumb as a rock. She and her husband who wants to be a Teacher/Artist/Musician/Lyft Manager/Band Manager/fill in the blank are like many of the people I meet here. The pull to be in the industry is the prime reason most relocate here. The others are from businesses literally who relocate their employees as there are few skilled workers to do the work they need to run them. I had to explain to her that the wages and housing costs are not coinciding and that the wages which have remained stagnant for a decade and with the great approval by the Chamber of Commerce who really run the show here.    She truly did not understand the basic math of costs of living and how the costs for housing can reflect a bubble and most of it due to the outside investment (as the property across the street from the salon is by the rich son of an out of state real estate developer who is making a sound studio.. a business he has no experience, training or familiarity with. Again that is So, Nashville) who are buying and flipping properties right and left which adds to inflated costs and hysterical buying.   When you have people getting mortgages underwritten  and/or co-signed by parents, the income or stated income “belief” is akin to fraud.    And when you see this much property turnover and the costs being over financed by largely out of state banks this is 2008 all over again, but in largely commercial real estate. It is as if Donald Trump is running it here!

She truly expressed confusion when I explained what a median wage is and what that means with attracting the kind of educated and trained individuals who would willingly relocate here and be able to build a business or industry that attracts again more educated and trained individuals. And that the appeal of no state income tax is not enough as Washington State has that and in Seattle the median wage is now 75K up 10K from just two years ago; that Portland has no sales tax and is one of the top draws for new residents and of course San Francisco Bay area that has yes a state income tax and sales tax and sees no slowing of growth with regards to industry or business. Why would anyone come here with a red state government, average public schools and okay Colleges, no legal Marijuana, no open minded attitude about sexuality and of course the whole Christian thing and race thing. So unless you are in the “industry” there is no draw here. She seemed confused about what a median wage is. That sums it up. She and her husband are from Arkansas, that proves my point

Which brings me to the largest employer – Vanderbilit. And that is not about actual education or even medical treatment, their focus is the research field and that is their biggest concern over the Trump Budget, not the ACA as one would believe. The cuts to the NIH affects them in a greater magnitude versus the ACA as well Tenneesse never expanded Medicaid and 35% of Nashville residents have no insurance as we have zero choice regarding insurance. This is again the constant quandary that exists – the reality and the possible – they are not in the least connected. And it is why the care is affordable but also challenging to get done. The lack of qualified professionals assisting the heavy lifters is a never ending rotating cast of characters.

As the week wore on and they do here despite perhaps having the most perfect weather I could wish for, the schools were the same and the kids are in their testing mode which is laughable as again the reality is that again less than than 30% of them will go on to College and that is based on those who finish. And this is despite the sheer magnitude of Colleges/Universities that align the roads here giving the City another moniker other than Music City, the Athens of the South.

Last night I went to the Frist to Volunteer again, the last three times were a fiasco. For a special event I sat in the volunteers room and waited for 30 minutes for the coordinator to come to assign me and that was a no show so I left. I was not sure what I expected for this was a showcase for the Nashville Public Schools Art and as I had subbed in many of the schools in those very classes so I was curious if not excited. Of course the other volunteers were a no show and that is largely due to the reality that they are trying to staff an entire “Museum” with volunteers and with wages, traffic and the reality of how boring it is, few show up. But I put on my best Liza and met many excited families, some Teachers and the great Artists whose worked lined the walls. It was for me a joyous 90 minutes that I had game face and great speech and felt better about once again trying to make small talk with the locals.

The reality is that they want to know what brought you here. And I am in an uncomfortable reality that telling people I am here for cheaper oral maxxofacial surgery and to run away from the horrid memories of living in Seattle that I could never escape unless I left, so I did. So in other words: None of your fucking business. I am still experimenting with that script.

The Mayor who was hat the Art show as it was named after her was an engaging presence from what I observed and she had come from her State of the City (well Town) speech reflecting on the growth the city-town has had the last decade.  The 8% annual growth (which does not mean 85 people a day moving here as frequently cited) means new demands on both infrastructure as in transit, roads and sidewalks and schools.  I applaud one and thought “don’t go there on schools it is a lost cause.”  But once again as I read a normal transit plan that two years ago hit the wall is again facing a challenge. By whom? Again, a non resident who does not live in the county but cares about how we spend our money here.  He wants to propose a non-debt referendum in the State Legislature.  Gee thanks.  And as the local paper interviewed the real community about the plan they found the one naysayer, ironically again an owner of a bike store so it was highly amusing that he was anti transit, and he concluded with the the mantra here: Who’se gonna pay for it?  Uh we will asshole or we will in other ways but again math, logic and critical thinking not a strong suit here.

And yesterday I read more about our local news and of course the State Legislature is as busy as a Beaver could be as they “inadvertantly” passed legislation that honors a slave trader and infamous statue on I-65, Bedford Forrest. The other was the “natural and ordinary” law that is typically So, Nashville, in that passive aggressive manner that claims one thing does another.

All of this I was reading while in a “fake” Magnet school during a test and I busted out laughing at the irony of how idiotic that once again our legislature demonstrates they are as good as the idiots who elect them. The kids asked if I was reading the comics and I said no the news and then I was asked if there was a word call prejudicism. And he is in honor AP class! What an honor.

There is some good out of this. Two books, one about being a Substitute Teacher and the material at this point writes itself. The other about living and swimming in the deep red sea. That I think will be flash fiction just short bursts of tales of the people I meet. They are not worth more than a passing glance and then I just need to let you all swim by.

What more can I say about living in Tennessee? Well it’s So, Nashville. And that is one thing means another and it always contradicts never compliments the other. It is a permanent state of daze in which I function. And I learned you can’t run from something you are only running into something else. So my next move will be more of a stroll and not a race. Turtles were always my spirit animal.

Then

Point Counterpoint

I get why I am not beloved in Nashville as I call out their bullshit.  I wrote my overwhelming sadness about my efforts to get along here in my blog piece, Dear Nashville.  But truth like facts are things the South sweeps it under the rug along with their immense class based racist system that places people of color in a strange passive aggressive co-dependency that has worked for over a Century. By keeping people immersed in the past by not actively talking about the past and moving into the present it seems to have an amazing ability to freeze time. I have said repeatedly Nashville is a 1953 town trapped in a 2017 present.

Nashville the aka “city of now” struggles with what that means. It means actually 2008 as that is when the real estate market was at its peak and then crash crash boom boom. The media insatiably discusses all property deals with lavish attention when they occur, such as the headquarters of LifeWay (one of the top 10 employers in the area, yes a Christian publishing company) and The Tennessean/USA Today headquarters being sold for millions; however, when the deal recently fell through it was not even reported in its own paper. I read it in the business journal printed in really really small print.

The bragging about the May Hosiery company building sold that is next door and the announcement we were getting a major tenant that was the La Roux food emporium from NOLA within a year to 18 months. That year mark has hit and unless they pull permits and get moving the 18 month mark will pass. Odd given that they kicked out the artists renting space there and now have big banners out front notifying that leasing space available. Not a word updating anyone regarding that future. But meanwhile the adjacent buildings that have been empty and pending tenants still sit empty and the future apartment projects which kicked out all the lower income tenants are also finally being open to a hearing regarding the project. This is the second one now for the same space. And the neighborhood “activist” group does nothing to inform residents/businesses of any current plans. I find them culling multiple sources in order to know what is going on in my own neighborhood.

Then we have the city itself. The supposed liberal bastion in the sea of red. I will gracefully say yes and there are probably liberals in Memphis, Chattanooga and where there are people anywhere. I lived in Seattle and to say that it was a blue state ignored the eastern section of the state that was not. It is largely agrarian and so it is under populated and largely of migrants who may or may not be documented or even citizens so the heavily populated western half dominate the political arena until you actually go to the State legislature and find otherwise. That said, yes pot is legal and it is in Colorado a state with a very similar composition and yet it took much longer in California and that is a large state with really only two pocket of liberalism, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Again they are heavily populated and they suck the air out of the room to the point one realizes that some of the most powerful representatives in Congress are in fact California REPUBLICANS.

But Washington and California as well as Oregon and the Southwest corridor – including Arizona as well as the Sunbelt states are rising in population overall. After years of stagnant migration people are moving in the United States and they are moving there. Gee I thought Nashville was number one! No, Nashville did not even make the top 25 on the U.S. Census list. Shh don’t tell anyone.

Who is moving here? Most of the transplants I meet are from within Tennessee itself as this is where there are jobs. The rest are from the 5 corners, Kentucky, Virginia and some from Indiana and Ohio. The reality is people go where there are jobs and there are plenty of low end service jobs and largely medical ones (until that crashingly ends with ACA) and some manufacturing ones just outside the Nashville corridor. If this city was so great we would have higher percentage of educated professionals, higher wages and well less bullshit. That is not going to happen. You come here and realize that regardless of what happens here it stays here and then is promptly overridden, ignored or made illegal thanks to the oppressive regressive State Legislature. This is a State that did not benefit the actual people of Tennessee with regards to the ACA but the business and colleges made out like gangbusters. Remember access is not the same as availability. So no we don’t have any expansion of Medicaid and our health problems demonstrate that as there was only one provider on the Health.gov site as the other major providers, Blue Cross/Blue Shield pulled out, further limiting choices and availability.

We are one of the ground zero red states in school choice for quite some time. If it really worked again that number of educated would rise. Well we have graduated them from high schools but the ones who make it to college 40% are in need of remedial education. So instead of realizing we just pushed them out Tennessee has made those courses actual credit worthy classes that go towards their degree/certificate. So instead of 80 credits in college courses that expand skills or knowledge some of them are actually basic classes that are for reading/writing and math. And that does what exactly? It enables kids to get through college and falsely elevate the college “completion” rates. Gosh could I get the same towards a Ph.D? Well this is the State that rejected a woman’s Master’s Degree from Harvard so she could be a school principal. We could use her here as she is from here but how dare she go to the Ivy League! But this may also explain all these inflated Ph.d’s I encounter here. They are like candies passed out to anyone stupid enough to spend the money on a degree where the salary rates are the lowest in the Country for educators. Sure makes sense. But then we also have Nashville School of the Law which only enables graduates to practice law in where? Tennessee. However, after 5 years they are welcome to try to pass the bar in other states. Good luck with that one. I would love to see those numbers of those who do.

So as we wait for more Mae Beavers exciting new religious oppressive discriminatory laws, while also pending the notion of running for Governor (I for one can’t wait!!) the issue is not the law but how much it will cost the State. Not that the Supreme Court settled the matter and that is in fact utterly discriminatory, no it is about money. This is the point I have said repeatedly it is always about money here, anything or anyone else is collateral damage.

‘Natural Marriage’ bill could cost Tennessee over $9B
Kirk A. Bado , USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee 8:48 a.m. CT March 23, 2017

Legally recognizing only marriages between a man and a woman could cost the state over $9 billion, according to the Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act’s extensive fiscal note.

Sponsored by Rep. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, and Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, the bill states that it is the policy of Tennessee to defend only “natural marriage between one man and one woman regardless of any court decision to the contrary.”

This is a direct contrast to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legally recognizes same-sex marriages across the nation.

“The bill will result in marriages of same-sex couples being null and void in Tennessee, whether married in Tennessee or in another state; and will also result in same-sex married couples being denied services offered to different-sex married couples,” the fiscal note concludes.

This means that over $7 billion in federal funds to TennCare could be jeopardized if the health service organization denies coverage to same-sex couples that would otherwise be eligible under federal law. Additionally, over $2 billion in funds from the Department of Human Services would also be at risk.

The $9 billion price tag does not include the decrease in state and local revenue on marriage licenses or loss of business, nor does it include legal fees that the state would incur from any lawsuits stemming from the new law.

“I’m a fiscal conservative, I want to fight for every single dollar we have up here, but I’m not going to be bullied by potential threats by the federal government,” Pody said.

The Wilson County lawmakers are familiar with wading into contentious social issues.

Both Beavers and Pody were sponsors of the controversial “bathroom bill” which could have put over $1 billion in federal funds at risk as well. The bill, which would have required students in public schools to use the bathroom corresponding with the sex listed on their birth certificate, failed died for the session in a Senate committee on Wednesday.

Earlier this session, the lawmakers were both run out of their own news conference announcing their controversial bills by protesters. Beavers is also mulling a run for governor as a conservative option after the news surfaced that gubernatorial candidate Sen. Mark Green, R-Clarksville, is under strong consideration to be named secretary of the Army.

LGBT rights advocates have condemned the marriage bill as another example of the “slate of hate,” the state legislature has proposed this session.

“We have watched again and again as lawmakers propose legislation that sends the clear message that LGBT Tennesseans are less than — that they and their families deserve fewer rights than others,” Hedy Weinberg, the executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee, said at a news conference earlier this month.

The bill will be heard in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee on Tuesday.

The bathroom bill that the Beav had tried to pass took a pisser and died. So come to Nashville and pee wherever you want! But get high, no.

House approves bill to block Nashville, Memphis marijuana laws
Joel Ebert , USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee March 23, 2017 |

Nashville’s Metro Council made history Tuesday by approving the city’s first measure to allow lesser civil penalties for people caught with small amounts of marijuana.

The House of Representatives approved a bill on Thursday that would nullify the partial marijuana decriminalization laws approved in Nashville and Memphis last year.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. William Lamberth, R-Cottontown, would repeal any local law that is inconsistent with penalties in state statues pertaining to drug control and narcotics. The bill would also prevent local governments from creating their own sanctions.

The legislation was introduced in response to ordinances passed by city councils in Memphis and Nashville.

The local laws gave police in Nashville and Memphis the discretion to hand out lighter civil citations for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Nashville’s lighter civil citation had been issued only 39 times for possession of small amounts of marijuana since the law’s adoption, according to Metro police spokesman Don Aaron, compared to 963 state citations.

Last year, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery said the Memphis and Nashville ordinances violated state statute.

The House voted 65-28 in favor of the bill.

Six Republicans, including House Speaker Beth Harwell, who is weighing a bid for governor, were among the dissenting votes.

Much of the chamber’s debate centered on arguments about local control, with several Democrats saying the state should not be making decisions that overrule local governments.

Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, said during the 2017 legislative session there’s been an “onslaught” of efforts by lawmakers to dictate to local governments what they can do.

“The individuals that were elected by those cities, by those communities, by those voters know what’s best at the local level,” he said.

Aside from the discussion about local control, others, including Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, and Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, said the matter should not be settled by lawmakers but in the court system.

Lamberth pushed back against many of the arguments he faced, saying his legislation was merely an effort to provide uniformity across the state while also working to curb any potential discrimination.

Lamberth has frequently argued that the local ordinances could let police officers to issue citations unfairly to certain people while letting others walk away.

“Lady justice is blind sir, and Nashville took that blind off and insisted that their officer choose on the side of the road what penalties should be meted out. That is a decision for a judge under our law and that ordinance set back criminal justice a hundred years,” he said.

Although most Republicans voted in favor of the legislation, a few, including Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, openly criticized the measure. Faison, who has advocated for medical marijuana legislation, said because of inaction by federal and state lawmakers, local governments have been forced to make changes to marijuana laws.

“We have informed lawmakers that we are opposed to this piece of legislation and we are disappointed that the House voted to approve it today,” said Sean Braisted, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s press secretary. “We will continue to monitor its progress in the state Senate.”

Metro councilman Dave Rosenberg, who sponsored Nashville’s marijuana ordinance, characterized the chamber’s action as an overreach and disregard of local authority.

“The majority in the Tennessee House abandoned the principles of limited government and local control and ignored the will of the people of Nashville, instead yielding to the archaic Nixon-era hysteria of a small group of legislators who live outside of Nashville.”

Rosenberg said there’s likely little Metro can do to keep the city’s decriminalization ordinance in tact if the state bill is signed into law by Haslam.

“Honestly, I think this is within the state’s rights to stomp on our throats like this, and there’s not a lot we can do about it.”

The Senate delayed voting on its version of the bill until Monday.

This is how it works in a deep red sea state. In Washington there were many cities that enacted laws regarding the use of Marijuana and that debate will always be an ongoing one until it won’t. Either the lobbying groups that really run legislation fund an opposition issue or a victim group finds a way to coerce a Legislator, as in the case of MADD, don’t drive drunk but high is not their area of import, this issue is now simply a matter of law. And other states are now finding out the same. Do I think pot will ever be legal in any red sea state? Youhavegottobefuckingkiddingme

I live in a bubble. I am exhausted trying and that I would have to become like these people in order to fit in clearly an idiot.

He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away. ~Raymond Hull