tern

“.. when the strong dominate the weak, the weak try to become strong. .. That can mean alliances with enemies. .. It can also mean that a foolish world once again endures the high cost of forgetting what it’s like when great powers go to war.”

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/o...

The Clement Landport

^ Couldn’t have said it better myself. The eternal question for CM Druffel et. alia: “What’s your plan?”

My point is, if you go to a metro council meeting and say “We should replace McCabe Golf Course with affordable housing,” you will actively hurt the pro-housing cause.

Counterpoint: If you’re serious about solving the housing crisis in Nashville as it exists, a sprawling consolidated metro with a 40-member council, you should emphasize solutions that have a politically viable path from concept to reality.

If you proposed reducing McCabe by 9 holes and turning those into a big splash pad, playground, and picnic pavilions, you might have a winning issue.

But turning our limited recreational space—even underutilized recreational space—into housing is DOA politically.

There is so much underutilized land in Nashville that we should upzone and redevelop before we mess with any golf courses.

I love y’all, but the whole “replace golf courses with affordable housing” is such a political loser IMO. A rhetorical gift to the NIMBYs.

Despite improvements, DCS continues to fail Tennessee children, audit finds • Tennessee Lookout An Tennessee Comptroller audit outlines new and persistent failures in caring for abused kids by the Department of Children’s Services.

An audit conducted by the Tennessee Comptroller found in northeast Tennessee, children spent an average of 18 days housed in government offices during the same six-month period. One child spent 104 days in an office.

I suppose the question is: Do height restrictions encourage developers to build less expensive homes? Or do the height restricted two-story homes end up roughly as expensive as the unrestricted three-story homes, just at a higher price per square foot?

I don’t have data either way.

What do you mean? Doesn’t a three story 3,000 ft² single family home enable more density than a two story 3,000 ft² single family home?

Federal agents arrest citizen observer watching ICE detain neighbors on her north Minneapolis block Susan Tincher, a 55-year-old American citizen, appears to be the first observer arrested by federal immigration enforcement officers since the agency launched an immigration surge in the Twin Cities l...

www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...

Feels weird to say that’s great news, but that’s great news.

Seems like a reductionist take, don’t you think? Hating an entire genre because songwriters use AI to flesh out some demos?

Country music can be bad and it can be great.

Why did they remove them?

The President of the United States is publicly calling for the political prosecution of his political opponents, urging the death penalty because they urged soldiers to uphold the rule of law.

This should be front page news everywhere. It is not, which tells much about how we got to this point.

Sanford grandfather, born in refugee camp, nabbed by ICE after 70 years in U.S. Paul Bojerski never gained official residency, but he checked in regularly with ICE for years. Then in July, at age 79, he was detained and sent to Alligator Alcatraz.

79-year-old Paul Bojerski was born to Polish parents in a WWII German refugee camp. His family legally emigrated to the U.S. when he was 5.

He’s been taken by ICE in Florida.

www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/16/s...

Drop in U.S. Religiosity Among Largest in World The 17-percentage-point drop in U.S. religiosity over the past decade is among the largest declines measured in the Gallup World Poll.

MAGAchurch leaders like to claim Trump is leading a revival of Christianity in US. However, Gallup just reported a large drop in religiosity in US that's one of largest decade drops ever seen in the world.
news.gallup.com/poll/697676/...

“The patient was not vaccinated against measles and reported a recent history of travel”

Easily the story of the year IMO.

Tracking Anticipated Deaths from USAID Funding Cuts Brooke Nichols has launched online tracking tools that capture estimated increases in mortality and disease spread for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases as a result of the near-total...

By this time next week, the estimated deaths due to the illegal destruction of USAID and the shuttering of its aid efforts will breach 400,000.

More than 260,000 will be children.

Source: www.bu.edu/sph/news/art...

Donald Trump is clearly willing to do whatever it takes to stay in power, regardless of what the Constitution says. He “has always told us exactly who he is,” J. Michael Luttig argues. “We have just not wanted to believe him. But we must believe him now.” https://theatln.tc/lcyBbEUr

The U.S. Is on Track to Lose a War With China Modern warfare is decided by production capacity and technological mastery, not by individual valor.

Hi All, Latest piece out in The Atlantic--Why The US Is On Track To Lose A War With China. The US has failed to understand both power and war for most of the last few decades, and it has left the country able to win battles, but generally lose wars. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

“HEPATITAS” 🤡

The pattern here is personalism. Trump views the federal treasury as a discretionary fund for dispensing patronage and largesse; he regards the White House as his private property; he regards DOJ as (literally) his personal lawyers, & the military & law enforcement as his personal security team.

Framing this as a “preferential funding” offer deeply misrepresents the actual contents of the proposal.

It would effectively allow Trump to revoke *all* Vandy’s federal funding on a whim. It would destroy the university’s independence and credibility. Only a fool would sign.

EL PASO — a family says ICE showed up at their house looking for migrants and shot and KILLED THEIR DOG, then didn’t help them as the agent ran away and was not identified.

kfoxtv.com/news/local/e...

Emergency Triad: The Chicago Rubicon and What Comes Next We aren’t at the worst-case scenario yet. But if you squint, you can see it looming out there, just over the horizon.

NEW: "I don’t like sending out 'emergency' newsletters, but I’ve had my eye on the situation in Chicago all day....This moment has elevated the crisis so that it is no longer just a conflict between the federal government and a state, but between two states."
www.thebulwark.com/p/emergency-...

Ahead of the case caption, a handwritten note: "Trump has pardons and tanks . . . . what do you have?" Judge Young's reply: "Dear Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, Alone, I have nothing but my sense of duty. Together, We the People of the United States –- you and me -- have our magnificent Constitution. Here’s how that works out in a specific case –- "

AAUP v. Rubio is out, and look at how it starts. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

I’m still processing what happened this morning.

Is it now the administration’s position that the U.S. military does not observe or adhere to the laws of war?

When the supply of available homes goes down relative to demand, prices increase. This is one of the best established findings in housing policy, and policymakers who don't center this aren't going to fix the housing crisis.