What is an Oscars goodie bag for the top stars worth?
How much rent, utilities, and food could one bag cover for a family?
In Bench Solidarity.
A WeGo customer waiting for the bus had just been sitting there. These benches were the only seating available.
-A living wage
-Guaranteed healthcare
-The right to join a union
-The right to vote
-The right to choose when, how, and with whom you start a family
-The right for you and your family to live free from gun violence
Remember: These are the foundations of real freedom.
Trump does not have the authority to start a war in Iran. And yet, he’s moving in the direction of committing ground troops.
If Republicans in Congress do not want to serve their constituents or their constitutional duty, they should just resign.
How to start a war?
First step: Kill a bunch of children!
Second step: Ignore that you just killed children.
Third step: Double down that killing civilians is great.
Who does that, you ask?
The United States of America.
I listen to podcasts mostly when I'm driving, which means for me - today is catch up day! starting with @citycastnash.bsky.social, then hopping over to Banner & Co, @nashvillebanner.bsky.social and @thisisnashville.bsky.social. (No worries, @bradengall.bsky.social, you're start-of-the-week material)
Furball Friday!
Marty is too cute lying on his back like that! Thanks @citycastnash.bsky.social for helping me start my day with a smile.
We used to have an interdepartmental Metro encampment protocol that helped with communications, even about closures on property not owned by Metro. What happened to that?
Saying, "We didn't know about it," especially when OHS has the largest street outreach team in the city, is not good enough!
Hundreds of mental health professionals have left the Department of Veterans Affairs since President Donald Trump took office, leaving staff “at a breaking point” and some veterans waiting as long as six months for help.
Hegseth said there would be no stupid rules of engagement for Trump's war against Iran.
So they blew up a school full of children and have shown no remorse. How Christian.
Medicare for All - "That's socialism!"
Social Security - "That's socialism!"
Debt free education - "That's socialism!"
Universal childcare - "That's socialism!"
$1 billion per day on a war in the Middle East that no one wants, while millions of people at home struggle.
"That's just how it is."
While millions are struggling to make ends meet, Donald Trump is exploiting the presidency to get even richer through shady crypto deals and blatant self-dealing.
New "Golden Age" for whom, exactly?
The Trump administration announced an effort to initiate legal guardianships for homeless veterans, which could be used to force more of them into involuntary or institutional care.
From one perspective, this is a story about grit and determination.
From another, it's a damning portrait of a country where someone working full-time at $11/hour lives in a $60-a-night motel with her toddler—then spends evenings DoorDashing with her kid because affordable childcare is nonexistent.
This is how our government has been corrupted:
1) Donors give huge sums to elect politicians
2) Elected officials rewrite rules in donors' favor
3) Donors make huge profit
4) Repeat
We must get big money out of politics. It’s the root of all evil in Washington.
If we turn our heads, we continue to support building more unnecessary local bureaucracy, more political talking points, and we keep forgetting that investing this energy into transparent and accountable conversations could actually help shift the focus back on our missions and help more people!
I just think with the increasing top-down control and propaganda led by local government, with the priorities to tell falsehoods focused to look good rather than lead honest conversations, and with many nonprofit leaders standing by for fear of losing grant $s, it's time for self-reflection.
Having been part of working within the Nonprofit Industrial Complex, writing this column has made me feel uncomfortable.
But over the years, there are so many of us who have struggled with this issue. Who are we really serving?
Who controls the flow of money in Nashville?
A new issue of the @Contributor is out today!
In it, I wrote a column about the Nonprofit Industrial Complex. If you think you know what that means - or if you think nonprofits act or are at times able to act independently based on the purity of their mission statements, come learn along with me.
Consider signing up for your daily @citycastnash.bsky.social newsletter!
You get everything from top news summaries to where to eat and what to do in Nashville.
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The ultimate poverty reduction and prevention lies in the foundation of a solid education system.
When healthy, housed, educated kids grow up with dreams and goals, the sky is the limit.
Read Lillian Avedian's article in @nashvillebanner.bsky.social
WATCH — @jamestalarico.bsky.social : “Every dollar we spend bombing people in the Middle East is one we’re not spending here at home. We’re always told we don’t have enough money for schools or healthcare or for veterans, but there’s always enough to bomb people on the other side of the world.”
Chaplain @dahron-anneliese.bsky.social joins the show today to look at legislation targeting our LGBTQ+ community, proposals impacting our immigrant neighbors, and the common thread that ties them all together. Here or wherever you get your pods:
If I hear one more time from a government official, "We can't do it alone. It takes all of us." I might just scream!
If this government has enough money to start illegal wars at a cost of billions of $s, then YES, GOVERNMENT SURE COULD HOUSE OUR OWN PEOPLE AT HOME!
I seriously thought the finale would be that Wally stole it from your plate and ate it before you even had a chance to taste it.
It doesn’t matter whether the rate of global warming is increasing. It’ll never cease to amaze me that people don’t care that it’s happening at all. It should be the most alarming thing ever.
"Rodríguez, who was in the car with her husband — a U.S. citizen — has been following all the legal steps to citizenship. In her job, Rodríguez has reported several stories that hold ICE accountable, and it’s unclear whether her detention was retaliation."
Plus updates on East Bend/PSC scrapyard site, Buchanan Street overlay and Choose How You Move progress:
A Nashville reporter who has reported on ICE was detained at a stop in South Nashville yesterday. Estefany Rodríguez fled Colombia after getting death threats and is awaitng an asylum hearing.
nashvillebanner.com/2026/03/05/j...
