Massachusetts and New Jersey tie for the lowest rate of gun ownership in America where only 14.7% of the household have guns, followed by Rhode Island, Hawaii, and New York.


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A right-leaning disgruntled Republican comments on the news of the day and any other thing he damn-well pleases.
Massachusetts and New Jersey tie for the lowest rate of gun ownership in America where only 14.7% of the household have guns, followed by Rhode Island, Hawaii, and New York.
by Rod Williams - Mayor Cooper has proposed a new $1.5 billion transit plan for Nashville just as if we were awash in money and people were clamoring for more public transportation options. I don't guess he has noticed. The Corona-19 government shut down has caused a $200 million hit to revenue projections this year. And, in December we may very likely see a referendum pass that rolls back the 34% (37% in the General Services District) tax increase passed in June.
Also, the public is not on board. In 2018 the public voted against a $9 billion transit plan that would have build a light rail, bus rapid transit, downtown tunnel system. Since the government imposed the economic shutdown, WeGo has been losing millions of dollars. Not only are fewer people riding because they are working from home or have no place to go, but mass transit is a spreader of the disease. On a train or plane or bus, you are breathing the expelled breath of every other person in the conveyance vehicle. Mass transit is a health hazard.
I walk almost every day a trek that takes me down 8th Avenue South over to 12th Avenue South to Belmont Avenue and back. I am not walking at rush hour so I don't know if anyone is riding the bus then but I always notice if anyone is riding the bus. Almost every bus I see is empty except for the driver. Sometimes there may be one or two people on the bus but most of the time they are empty. Why take these big buses to the suburbs and back just as if there were riders for these busses?
Would this not be a good time to think outside the box of doing things the way they have always been done and consider something innovative? Nashville could take the lead in creating a mostly private, paratransit, demand-driven, public transportation system. Now when riding the bus is a health hazard and demand is down would be the time to innovate and experiment.
For more on the Mayor's transit proposal, see this link. For more on my thoughts on pubic transportation see, What to do about Mass Transit and traffic congestion.
by Rod Williams, 8/30/2020 - On Wednesday of this week the State government denied Vanderbilt University Medical Center permission to build a 48-bed medical center in Murfreesboro. Instead, the government decided that St. Thomas could build a hospital in Murfreesboro.
State law requires the construction of new hospitals to be approved by the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency. The logic of this is that by requiring government approval, the government will prevent the construction of unnecessary or redundant facilities. Once they decide a hospital can be built, I do not know what criteria they use in choosing one company over another.
by Guest columnist Justin Owen, The Tennessean- We have witnessed many unprecedented moments over the past few months. And most of the news has been grim. But as we battle the COVID-19 pandemic, a silver lining is appearing on the edge of the dark clouds. We are witnessing some of the most rapid and exciting improvements in innovation in the history of the world. Justin Owen
by Rod Williams - The petition to put the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act referendum on the December ballot has been turned in to the election commission.
If passed, the Act would roll back Nashville’s 34% property tax increase and limit Metro Council's ability to raise property taxes. If passed, tax increases would be limited to 2% annually, without voter approval. Any effort to raise taxes by more than 2% would have to go on the ballot for approval by the voters.by Rod Williams, 8/26/2020 - The Tennessee Star reports that several members of the Tennessee Republican Party Executive Committee have received death threat letters. Among those identified as receiving the letters are members Betty Fain, Bobby Wood, Rob Ailey, and Matthew Coleman. Woods says the letter he received says of Republicans, ‘We will kill you all."
I first reported that members of the Republican Executive Committee were receiving these death threat letters on August 21st in a post titled Republican State Executive Committee members getting death threats, targets of vandalism. In that post I reported that Terri Richman Nicholson, Tennessee State Republican Committeewoman for District 17, had her car badly keyed while parked outside the local Republican Party headquarters.
Members of the State Executive Committee and other prominent Republicans need to be aware of the increased threat of violence from radicals. Radicals have become emboldened. We have witnessed innocent people being pulled from their cars and beaten in cities across America. Churches that lean conservative are being vandalized. While I hate to give in to intimidation, now may not be a good time to wear a MAGA hat out in public. Perhaps one ought to think twice before putting a political yard sign in one's yard or a bumper sticker on one's car that identifies oneself as Republican.
If you live in a county that is overwhelmingly Republican or a rural area or even a typical suburban area you may be perfectly safe expressing your political preference. If you live in the more urbanized areas of Davidson County, it may be prudent to keep a low profile. I live in an area of white, educated, liberals and almost every block for miles around will have one or more "Black Lives Matter" signs. I would not feel safe walking in my neighborhood wearing a Trump tee-shirt. Even non-radical liberals have adopted an attitude of intolerance for different points of view and have been complicity silent of the violence sweeping America. It has become acceptable to silence conservative voices and violence against Trump supporters is considered justified.
In the Star article Betty Fain says she has recently bought a gun, partially motivated by the death threat letter and the general civil unrest in America. I have recently taken steps to increase my personal security. Be prudent, stay safe, stay aware and be ready to defend yourself if you must.
by Rod Williams, 8/25/2020 - Ever since the advent of the Coronavirus and the use of government authority to combat it, questions have been raised about the limits and source of the authority for a governor or mayor to impose restrictions such as stay-at-home orders and mask mandates. It is pretty clear that a mayor or local Directors of Health get their authority from the State. However, that does not determine if the State authority is legitimate.
by Rod Williams - In an editorial today in The Tennessean, David Plazas explains that Tennessee is one of 46 states that received a letter from the U.S. Postal Service warning that absentee/mail-in ballots may not be delivered by the deadline. They must arrive by the time polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day or they will not be counted.
There may be some people who think they are voting absentee in a timely manner who are not going to have their vote counted because it will not be retuned by the deadline. The deadline to request an absentee ballot for the Nov. 3 presidential election is Oct. 27. If people wait until the deadline to request the ballot, it is doubtful it can be mailed to the person requesting the ballot, they can fill out the ballot and it can be returned to the election commission by Election Day. If you wait until the deadline to request your ballot, you have waited too late.
I voted in the recent primary and it was a easy and the Covid-19 precautions were the best I have seen anywhere. I closely observed. Poll officials would not let anyone enter without a mask. The poll officials themselves had on mask and paper disposable gowns and disposable gloves. The floors everywhere were marked so one knew where to stand so there was no danger of getting within six feet of another person. Crowd control was maintained so their was no bunching up waiting in the polling place. I have been lots of places where when someone asked a question and the person asking was having difficulted hearing through the gabble of a mask, the speaker would pull down their mask and repeat themselves. I did not see that happen.
When one approached the poll official to request the ballot, the poll officials did not touch the identification of the voter. If was placed on a piece of paper by the voter, the poll official then pulled the paper to himself, looked at the Id then pushed the paper back to the voter. Little cocktail straws were used by the voter to make their selection on the screen. Voters did not touch anything. Then the voter took their ballot and placed it in the ballot box touching noting but their own ballot. I was impressed.
The only place where I could see there might be problem is if people are waiting outside in long lines. Poll officials would have a hard time enforcing social distancing outside the door of the polling place. If one goes during slack times, that should not be a problem and more than likely people will observe the social distancing while in line. During early voting, I was working the polls trying to get signatures for the petition to recall the mayor. At Howard School, there were lines of people outside the polling place but they were orderly and masked and maintaining their distance.
If you are maintaining strict quarantine and just too fearful to go vote and you live in Tennessee don't worry about it. Your vote is not going to affect the outcome of the election. If we had popular election of the president, then that would be a different story. If we lived in a battleground state, that would be a different story, but we know Tennessee is not in play. Tennessee has eleven electoral votes and they are not proportionately distributed; the winner gets them all. Tennessee will vote for Donald Trump. If you are just too fearful to go vote, don't do it and don't feel bad about it. It is just not that important to the outcome.
by Rod Williams - The distrust of the media is overwhelming among those on the right. It is so pervasive that simple facts are often not accepted. Sometimes I will post some commentary on Facebook about some item in the news and link to the story and instead of getting a reasoned comment in response, the facts about which I am opining are simply dismissed with comments such as "consider the source," or "you need new sources," or just "fake news." Other times what I have posted is simply dismissed with a "Washington Post?" or "Huffpost?"
The other day I had a dismissive reply of "Wkrn? Seriously?" to something I posted. The story was carried in any number of sources and the facts and quotes were not in doubt. There was even video of the President saying the thing about which I opined about. One may disagree about how one interprets what he said. I may respect your opinion even if we don't agree but to dismiss the whole topic because it was carried by WKRN is just irrational.
Sometimes it seems the only acceptable source for those on the right is Brietbart News and locally Tennessee Star. Of course if Rush or Hannity said it, it is gospel. Even Fox News is being called into question as a reliable source for some on the right. Of course those on the left dismiss anything covered by Fox News as simply propaganda and I doubt they will even read the story.
This is disheartening. I certainly think the mainstream news has a liberal bent. We know that most reporters are liberal. Studies of campaign contribution from journalist and content analysis have demonstrated this bias again and again. However, that does not mean that a liberal journalist cannot get the facts right in reporting. Trained journalist normally get the who, when, what, and sometimes the why right even if they have liberal opinions. Even if the liberal bias slips into a story, it is better to be informed rather than uninformed. I don't think even liberal journalist just make stuff up.
It seems there is a lack of critical thinking across the spectrum and critical reading skills. If a news story confirms ones biases then it is believed; if it does not, it is dismissed. Critical thinking has been replaced by the shortcut of asking is this publication on my side or the other side. There also seem to be an attitude that my mind is made up, don't confuse me with facts and don't make me think.
Having said all of the above however, there are reasons why the media is so distrusted. The attached snippet is from a story appearing the Monday August 24th USA Today about who the speakers would be at the Republican convention. If that is all you knew about this story you would think that peaceful protestors where strolling down a residential street and these people came out on their porch to threaten them. There is more to the story.
The protestors had invaded a gated community. The entry was posted "private property," and "no trespassing." The protestors forced open the gate and in the process damaged it. The were not on a public street. The roads in a gated community are private property and everything within the boundary of a gated community is private property. Obviously, one does not have the right to protest on someone else's private property. The mob had already trespassed and damaged property. A mob of at least 100 had broke into the couple's gated community and came rushing toward their house, causing the couple to fear for their lives. The McClosky's were taking reasonable precautions to protect their property and maybe their lives. They had every reason to be reasonably afraid of being in imminent danger.
It is reporting like this snippet from USA Today that causes many people to have an almost kneejerk reaction of rejection of almost everything reported by a mainstream press.
For video of the episode described follow this link. For more see these links: here, here, here.
Senator Blackburn is scheduled to speak Wednesday night. This will be the fourth time she has spoke at a Republican convention. The convention will stream live all week on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Twitch and Amazon Prime. For more on this story follow this link.
by Rod Williams - Biden gave a very good speech last night. For people who base their vote on how much they like the candidate and are not too concerned with policies, Biden will win some votes. And, there are a lot of people who use criteria like that to pick a candidate.
From Davidson County Republican Party :
Well, not much of a surprise. This survey even included small cities. I thought maybe there was
some depressed fading town in west Tennessee where the one local plant had closed, or maybe some poor town in the mountains of east Tennessee hit hard by the meth epidemic and then the opioid epidemic that could rate lower than Memphis, but no, it's Memphis.This was the last painting my mother ever painted. It was painted in 2008 as a gift for my daughter Rachel. It was based on a photograph Rachel had taken when she was living in India. Rachel spent several months in India in 2004 studying anthropology while at UT Chattanooga.
The Tennessean - Nashville businesses have so far lost $2.45 billion in visitor spending due to COVID-19 and are losing more than $100 million per week as the pandemic continues, according to the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp.
by Rod Williams - Last night the council passed two bills on first reading that would expand the authority of Metro government to enforce Covid-19 health orders. One would allow Metro employees who are not police officers or employees of the Metro Health Department to issue citations. The other bill would allow Metro Codes and the Fire Marshal to post stop work orders on construction projects where health orders are not being followed.
Both of these were late filled resolutions. While I oppose both, I do not criticize council members who voted for them on first reading. First reading is a formality that allows the bills to be considered. To become law the bills must be voted on two more times. I hope both are defeated on second reading.
I oppose these bills because I do not want to expand the capability of the city to harass citizens. Also, Metro can not be trusted with more power. The enforcement of health orders is not applied uniformly. If thousands of people stage a sit-in on lower Broadway, the health orders are not enforced. If more than 25 people gather from some other purpose, or if a person is not wearing a mask and the wearer is not engaging in a favored political protest, then the order is enforced.
by Rod Williams - Andy Ogles, mayor of Maury County posted the meme show here on his Facebook page. Liberals have gone nuts! He got over a thousand comments and the meme was shared over 500 times. I have posted a sample of some of what was posted as a reply. He is being denounced as a racist and getting "hate" post. The Columbia newspaper and The Tennessean found it newsworthy. The Tennessean called it a "racist meme" in their article headline.
I find it humorous. I am sick of people being so "woke" and politically correct that they are offended by the least little thing. If I were an elected official, I would probably not have posted this, but that is more a matter of style than of finding this unacceptable.
Nashville for Rational COVID Policy acknowledges the need to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic safely, and to minimize the risk of infection for those at highest risk: The elderly, and those with significant pre-existing conditions. Simultaneously, however, it is important for policymakers to acknowledge and account for the costs of mitigation efforts, so as to balance these costs against the perceived benefits.
Curtis Halford is a state representative representing District 79 which is Carroll and Gibson counties. He was elected the House of Representatives in 2008. This is his first person account of his encounter with protestors outside the capitol building. This was posted on Facebook.
By Susan Lynn, State Representative, District 57 - This week, the General Assembly reconvened in Nashville for the 61st
Extraordinary Session in Tennessee history. As part of this historic special
session, four new committees were created so that every House member had the
opportunity to work on the three issues that comprised Governor Lee’s call for
the session. These panels focused on setting new standards to address the possibility of frivolous lawsuits
related to the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing access to telehealth services for Tennessee patients
during these unprecedented times, and holding those who promote lawlessness or who attack law enforcement and
first responders accountable. Susan Lynn
by Rod Williams - I have been very disappointed in Mayor Cooper up until this point. I have disapproved of the way he tolerated rioters almost burning down the courthouse and how he was slow to protect downtown businesses from vandals and arsonist. I have been disappointed that he called for a massive tax increase rather than austerity to deal with the financial crisis facing the city. However, I have tried to retain some respect for him and rationalize that our differences were simply policy differences. For example, I think it was a mistake to close down lower Broadway, but he has the burden of deciding what is the best approach. None of us know enough to be sure we are making the right decision in how to deal with this virus. I can question if he made the right decision and still respect his decision. Maybe, if I had the awesome responsibility of making that decision and had gone through the same process of evaluation and felt the same burden of making a wrong decision, I would have decided the same way. I don't know.
There is a push to paint a Black Lives Matter street mural downtown. Advocates want it painted on Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Boulevard in front of the Tennessee Capitol. I hope Mayor Cooper does not allow this to happen. After a 34% tax increase, if he can allow city funds to be spend to paint a divisive propaganda mural downtown, also in a location intended to give the State the middle flinger, then all respect I had for Mayor Cooper is gone. I will no longer believe that he is a good man with whom I simply have policy differences. If he panders by allowing the mural to be painted and uses city funds to do it, then he is more than just a disappointment; he is deplorable.
In many other cities where similar street murals have been painted, they have quickly been vandalized. Tossing paint-filled balloons out of their car as they cruise down the street is one method of vandalizing this government-sponsored propaganda. If painted in Nashville, I wonder if Nashville's BLM mural will also be vandalized?
by Rod Williams. 8/12/2020- The state legislature passed a bill today that would increase the penalty for protesters illegally camping out on legislative plaza or other state property, require arrested protesters to spend a 12-hour minimum before making bail, create a misdemeanor offense of assault for spitting or throwing bodily fluids on a first responder, create a felony offense for using a weapon or causing serious injury to a first responder, make it a felony to trespass on the property of an elected official, law enforcement officer or judge with the intent to harass, charge with theft and pay restoration for vandalizing state buildings or entrances, make it a felony to block an emergency vehicle from accessing a street or highway while responding to an emergency call or from blocking an emergency exit door in a building if there is a threat to the health or safety of someone inside.
by Seeker of Liberty - “Defund the police” has become the clarion call of some but not among the vast majority of Americans, especially, African Americans. Two polls taken in late June and early July, 2020 found strong support for law enforcement with 73% opposing abolition of police in one poll[i]. Meanwhile, Gallup found that 81 percent of African Americans support either the same amount or an increased police presence in their communities.[ii] Defunding the police is clearly not a solution to problems faced by law enforcement, many of which are the result of poor government policy which is then thrust on law enforcement to handle. Better ideas and better solutions need to be discussed and vetted for implementation rather than just imposing an unpopular solution which clearly lacks public support despite what a loud minority would have us believe.
As it is practiced today, forensic science does not extract the truth reliably. Forensic science expert evidence that is erroneous (that is, honest mistakes) and fraudulent (deliberate misrepresentation) has been one of the major causes, and perhaps the leading cause, of erroneous convictions of innocent persons.[ix]In the wake of DNA exonerations, an extensive literature has developed on the limited reliability of forensic testimony. The institutional structure of forensic work is an important source of error, insufficiency, and occasionally, malfeasance. Our adversarial criminal courts organize disputes between the prosecution and the defense. But the current institutional structure of forensic science places the results of forensic scientists largely beyond dispute.