Nashville Bits and Pieces

[titanhog]

2 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

 

To be honest I feel like both parties should just do a virtual Zoom convention of some sort this year.  Why even bother having a convention anyway given the current climate and also the fact that both party's nominees are decided?  

I actually agree.  Why waste the money and time.  We should vote next week and get this over with.

[LA_TN]

Antioch is on lock down. A lot of stores (Walmart, most restaurants, etc) closed at 5pm. Mt. View shopping center (Kroger, restaurants, shops) are boarded up. Same for portions of the old Hickory Hollow Mall area. A LARGE police presence in the area now 

Riots are planned for the Mt. View area tonight. Hopefully, that doesn't happen

[MLBrumby]

Wow! Why? If I had a business there, I'd never return. So sick of this... and I'm a very chill guy. 

[PaulChinetti]

Imagine how people of color feel, constantly. 

[Nashvillain]

"Riots are planned...?" I kind of think that if people were openly planning riots, then the police would be able to stop that before it happened.

[dReAmWiELdEr]

"Riots are planned...?" I kind of think that if people were openly planning riots, then the police would be able to stop that before it happened.

Who said it was open planning?

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

[ruraljuror]

12 hours ago, dReAmWiELdEr said:

Who said it was open planning?

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk
 

Well, the Department of Homeland Security - for one - says that inciting violence in the protests was being planned by a bunch of white supremacists on social media. Here's the headline and link from Business Insider: A white supremacist channel on Telegram encouraged followers to incite violence during police brutality protests by 'shooting in a crowd,' according to internal DHS memo. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/white-supremacist-telegram-channel-encourages-violence-george-floyd-protests-2020-6

 

Here's another couple articles about another white supremacist (from Identity Europa -see my post about the Unite the Right rally above) who created a fake Antifa twitter account that was openly inciting violence, as well. This fake account had the honor of being retweeted by our very own president's first born son Don Jr.  Here are the headlines and a couple links: White supremacists pose as Antifa online, call for violence in post Trump Jr. drew attention to: Twitter

White nationalist group posing as Antifa called for violence on Twitter

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/twitter-takes-down-washington-protest-disinformation-bot-behavior-n1221456

https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/white-supremacists-pose-as-antifa-online-call-for-violence-in-post-trump-jr-drew-attention-to-twitter/

 

While we're at it:

Here's the FBI saying that they had no evidence of any Antifa involvement in the DC demonstrations/protests/riots: The FBI Finds ‘No Intel Indicating Antifa Involvement’ in Sunday’s Violence

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/antifa-trump-fbi/

And regarding our own home grown riots here in Nashville, @JoeyX and @titanhog do y'all want to take bets about whether or not the guy who torched our courthouse has a tattoo of the Monster Energy Drink logo or whether he's a member of the right wing 3 percenters (see my previous Unite the Right post) or The Base (yet another group of white supremacists who want to start a race war)?  

https://heavy.com/news/2020/06/wesley-somers-nashville-courthouse-fire/

https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/the-base

A tattoo of three vertical lines on Somers’ right wrist caused many to speculate that Somers is a member of the Three Percenters, a far-right paramilitary group that employs the roman numeral “III” as an insignia. It’s unclear whether Somers’ tattoo is “III” or something else, like the Monster energy drink logo.

Stay safe and informed out there urban planeteers. 

Edited June 3, 2020 by ruraljuror

[LA_TN]

17 hours ago, LA_TN said:

Antioch is on lock down. A lot of stores (Walmart, most restaurants, etc) closed at 5pm. Mt. View shopping center (Kroger, restaurants, shops) are boarded up. Same for portions of the old Hickory Hollow Mall area. A LARGE police presence in the area now 

Riots are planned for the Mt. View area tonight. Hopefully, that doesn't happen

Nothing happened last night, either it was a false rumor or they backed off due to the large police presence in the area last night. Of course, we'll never know. But a lot of $$ got dropped on armed security and boarding up stores. It will be interesting to see how long these measures stay in place

[Nash_12South]

The two things might not be related but, there is walk planned for 12 South tomorrow related to recent events. In walking down 12th just now, a business is putting plywood over it's windows.....

[titanhog]

3 hours ago, ruraljuror said:

Well, the Department of Homeland Security - for one - says that inciting violence in the protests was being planned by a bunch of white supremacists on social media. Here's the headline and link from Business Insider: A white supremacist channel on Telegram encouraged followers to incite violence during police brutality protests by 'shooting in a crowd,' according to internal DHS memo. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/white-supremacist-telegram-channel-encourages-violence-george-floyd-protests-2020-6

 

Here's another couple articles about another white supremacist (from Identity Europa -see my post about the Unite the Right rally above) who created a fake Antifa twitter account that was openly inciting violence, as well. This fake account had the honor of being retweeted by our very own president's first born son Don Jr.  Here are the headlines and a couple links: White supremacists pose as Antifa online, call for violence in post Trump Jr. drew attention to: Twitter

White nationalist group posing as Antifa called for violence on Twitter

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/twitter-takes-down-washington-protest-disinformation-bot-behavior-n1221456

https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/white-supremacists-pose-as-antifa-online-call-for-violence-in-post-trump-jr-drew-attention-to-twitter/

 

While we're at it:

Here's the FBI saying that they had no evidence of any Antifa involvement in the DC demonstrations/protests/riots: The FBI Finds ‘No Intel Indicating Antifa Involvement’ in Sunday’s Violence

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/antifa-trump-fbi/

And regarding our own home grown riots here in Nashville, @JoeyX and @titanhog do y'all want to take bets about whether or not the guy who torched our courthouse has a tattoo of the Monster Energy Drink logo or whether he's a member of the right wing 3 percenters (see my previous Unite the Right post) or The Base (yet another group of white supremacists who want to start a race war)?  

https://heavy.com/news/2020/06/wesley-somers-nashville-courthouse-fire/

https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/the-base

A tattoo of three vertical lines on Somers’ right wrist caused many to speculate that Somers is a member of the Three Percenters, a far-right paramilitary group that employs the roman numeral “III” as an insignia. It’s unclear whether Somers’ tattoo is “III” or something else, like the Monster energy drink logo.

Stay safe and informed out there urban planeteers. 

Even many Dems are admitting that Antifa is behind most of the rioting.  And Somers was not the only one arrested this week for the courthouse fiasco.  Go check and see...and I doubt they were white supremacists.  That's not to say there haven't been white supremacists up in all of this mess.  I'm sure they've taken advantage of this rioting just like all the other hate groups on the left and right.

[ruraljuror]

7 minutes ago, titanhog said:

Even many Dems are admitting that Antifa is behind most of the rioting.  And Somers was not the only one arrested this week for the courthouse fiasco.  Go check and see...and I doubt they were white supremacists.  That's not to say there haven't been white supremacists up in all of this mess.  I'm sure they've taken advantage of this rioting just like all the other hate groups on the left and right.

If you have any documentation or any sources to back up your assertions, I'm more than willing to evaluate them and respond accordingly.  As it stands, I'm backing up my assertions with the best information I've got available and you're blowing hot air in return. I'd love for you to prove me wrong - maybe we'd both learn something. 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by ruraljuror

[satalac]

Oh for F#*$S sake, can we drop the political crap? I'm tired of seeing it on here. I used to really enjoy this place, but now it's like we can't go a page or two with partisan bickering. Can't we go back to talking about this city and it's growth without talking about our political views and attacking other's? 

[MLBrumby]

^ Agreed. There's a thread for the economic talk, and there's the Coffee House for the other jazz. I welcome people expressing their opinions, but best when they're put in their proper place. 

[LA_TN]

Y'all all need to stop now. Thanks

[titanhog]

1 hour ago, ruraljuror said:

If you have any documentation or any sources to back up your assertions, I'm more than willing to evaluate them and respond accordingly.  As it stands, I'm backing up my assertions with the best information I've got available and you're blowing hot air in return. I'd love for you to prove me wrong - maybe we'd both learn something. 

 

 

You're right.  I can not prove that Antifa is behind most of the rioting...nor can you prove white supremacists are behind most of the rioting.  I would imagine it's an amalgamation of far-left...far-right...and angry African Americans who are causing the violence...with more of one in some cities and more of another in other cities.  Most news outlets say the same thing...that no one knows for sure who is causing most of the destruction (yet)...but much of the blame falls upon party lines.  Just like you...I can post one article after another blaming Antifa (you blaming white-supremacists)...but in the end...don't we both denounce both of these groups?  I know I do.  White supremacists are vile (racist POS).  Antifa is vile (hiding behind the guise of being "anti-fascist" when they are really just a terrorizing group of punks who try to destroy anyone they disagree with and calling anyone they disagree with a "fascist"...including many on the left).

As for the Wesley Somers guy being a white supremacist...who knows for sure?  I haven't seen the police list him as white supremacist...and his wife and brother say he doesn't belong to any white supremacist group...but who knows...they could be lying.  Until the Nashville police / administrators call him a white supremacist...I'll believe he's just another dumb punk out there causing havoc like the other 28 they've arrested so far.  And...Somers is definitely not the only one who set the courthouse on fire.  I watched live while Sky 5's camera was focused in on the windows with numerous people lighting fires through the windows...including at least 2-3 who jumped through the windows and went inside to light fires.  If I could find that footage, I'd share it.  Pretty damning evidence...and I'm sure the police are using right now to identify all of those who set the courthouse on fire.  Odd enough, I think they caught Somers from a photograph a photojournalist took.

https://wpln.org/post/28-arrested-and-30-buildings-damaged-in-saturday-protest/

Police tell The Tennessean that they’re uncertain what motivated a group of demonstrators to riot in the downtown. They suspect antifa or white supremacists could have infiltrated the initial rally held Saturday afternoon, in a bid to stoke unrest.

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/vincent-hamer-arrested-on-charges-of-rioting-vandalism-in-courthouse-damage

https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-protest-monday-george-floyd-police/293-150fdd2f-9a7e-4fa5-bcf6-e760e01e96ca

 

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said on Monday that Antifa groups are believed to be responsible for the civil unrest downtown on Sunday night.

While Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl had previously said that militias and Proud Boys groups were part of the chaos downtown along with Antifa groups Sunday night, Knezovich said that Proud Boys groups didn't cause damage and that militia members present at the demonstration left when asked.

Knezovich also said the FBI was involved and investigating the involvement of groups from out of the Spokane area. However, he also called on Spokane Antifa to condemn what happened on Sunday night after the peaceful protests.

"If you’re so innocent, condemn it, because I don’t see any innocence here," Knezovich said.

https://www.kxan.com/austin-george-floyd-mike-ramos-protests/antifa-type-groups-blamed-for-violence-in-austin-protests/

Stratfor Global Security Analyst Ben West said the type of violence he saw in Austin the past few nights points to an anti-fascist group known as ANTIFA.

“They try to portray themselves as the good guys, fighting fascism and fighting police violence, obviously all things people look at say oh, yeah…we should all fight fascism and not tolerate police violence, but obviously ANTIFA is associated with more violent tactics, property damage even attacks on individuals,” West told KXAN.

Stratfor describes itself as a “geopolitical intelligence” firm and has studied and tracked ANTIFA groups across the country, according to West. Much of the violence West monitored over the weekend can be attributed to groups who share what he calls ANTIFA “ideology.”

“It’s certainly no kind of central command and control structure here and it’s very much like a grassroots effort,” West said, “So, you might have like-minded individuals in Austin who kind of give themselves the ANTIFA name, or they might adopt other leftist ideological names.”

Typically, members of these groups wear black and red, cover their faces with masks, wear hoodies and often outfitted in tactical gear. With no formal organized structure, West said the group operates from cells and chapters spread across the country.

https://www.10tv.com/article/officials-see-extremist-groups-disinformation-protests-2020-may

An antifa activist group disseminated a message in a Telegram channel on Saturday that encouraged people to consider Minnesota National Guard troops “easy targets,” two Defense Department officials said. The message encouraged activists to steal “kit,” meaning the weapons and body armor used by the soldiers. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

As a result, soldiers with the Minnesota National Guard were armed during their mission at protests across the state Sunday, the officials said. The soldiers are sometimes armed but had not been since they moved into parts of the state that had been besieged by riots in the last few days. The troops do not have the authority to make arrests, and are there to act mostly as extra security for police.

https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/metro-courthouse-arson-suspects-brother-in-law-says-they-intended-to-protest-peacefully/

“He’s definitely not part of a white supremacist group. We went down there as individuals. He’s not getting paid, I see this stuff all over the internet. I know we was not part of that. It just turned violent and next thing I know we were in a crowd that was rioting. It just kind of happened. I don’t know what else to say about it, nothing was planned, nothing was organized, it wasn’t like we were going down there to hurt people.”

42 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

^ Agreed. There's a thread for the economic talk, and there's the Coffee House for the other jazz. I welcome people expressing their opinions, but best when they're put in their proper place. 

I agree.  I did do my rebuttal and post it before I saw the responses...and I have no issue with my rebuttal be moved / removed.  I actually hate the political talk on here...but I'm also not going to allow just one side to be mentioned when things turn political.  If you'll notice, I've never once started a political topic...but I have no issue jumping in.

[markhollin]

Metro Council could be on the cusp of making commercial and residential developers pay a new fee to do their work — that is, if the state also agrees to allow it.

The proposed development impact fee faces a final vote at either the council's June 9 or June 16 meeting, said Councilman Jonathan Hall, who co-sponsors the legislation. An updated version of the bill changes how the fee will be assessed: Developers would pay $1 per gross square foot of a new residential project, and $2 per gross square foot for any new "non-residential" development. The council's 12-member budget and finance committee endorsed the changes in a unanimous vote, with two abstentions.

"Outside of a small number of smaller builders or real estate agents, I've not had virtually any pushback," said Hall, whose district includes Bordeaux, Joelton and Whites Creek. "People realize that it's past time. You see the struggle we're having with the budget. This is something Nashville's got to do. … When developers say 'we want to be part of your community,' this is how they prove that."

There's a catch: Such a fee is currently illegal for Metro to impose. The city needs the state's permission to do so. Mayor John Cooper and his finance director, Kevin Crumbo, unsuccessfully lobbied state legislators earlier this year, though Hall and other sponsors of the Metro bill are hopeful state legislators will revisit the issue — particularly if Metro Council passes a bill that shows support for such a fee, mirroring language from the proposal at the state level.

As written, the Metro legislation "shall only become effective upon the enactment of enabling legislation by the Tennessee General Assembly." Without that, Metro could not enforce this would-be local law.

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2020/06/03/development-impact-fee-bill-faces-june-vote.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

[ruraljuror]

27 minutes ago, satalac said:

Oh for F#*$S sake, can we drop the political crap? I'm tired of seeing it on here. I used to really enjoy this place, but now it's like we can't go a page or two with partisan bickering. Can't we go back to talking about this city and it's growth without talking about our political views and attacking other's? 

Is there anything in particular you'd like to talk about, Satalac?

We could talk about the tornadoes that tore up a couple of historic Nashville neighborhoods and killed a bunch of people here an in surrounding counties. Then we could talk about that freak windstorm that knocked out power for another 100k Nashvillians the next month.  But I guess we probably shouldn't talk about any shortcomings in the FEMA response, and we definitely shouldn't talk about anything that might be causing changes in our climate systems that could lead to an increase in the regularity and severity of these kinds of weather events. I probably shouldn't even mention the word climate in fact. 

We could talk about the global pandemic and how it's making the effort to rebuild from the tornadoes all the more difficult, but then again we shouldn't talk about why we got hit harder than any other country in the world and how some of the worst effects might've been avoided from a policy standpoint. We'll just stick to the same game plan I suppose if/when a second wave of virus comes our way. 

Of course the pandemic is also leading to record unemployment and has put us on the cusp of the worst economic climate...erm....I mean the worst economic 'position' in 100 years , but we would be better off not discussing the fact that the Fed has pretty much used up all of the 'depression-avoiding' tactics from its bag of tricks during the prosperous times for some reason, so who knows what the hell we're going to do if things get worse.  I wonder if any of that will affect Nashville's urban development prospects? Maybe the low interest rates will lead to a develop boom! I guess we'll see...

Then there are our elected officials, of course.  Locally, one executive in particular has deliberately run off a bunch of major relocations which would be coming in really handy right about now, but best not address the constituency that voted for him or why they made that choice. On a national level, we're also now on a very short list of places being considered for a national nominating convention, but that doesn't seem like it'll be relevant to our national/international reputation for potentially years to come.  The Convention Center is empty anyways, so it's win/win for everyone.

And yes, there are obviously nationwide protests across the entire country that have been co-opted by opportunists of all stripes and turned into rioting/looting extravaganzas that have resulted in fires in Nashville government buildings and broken windows all along Broadway, but we'd probably be better off not to touch that 'third rail' and get back to the topic at hand....

Hey, look at that - the Virgin Hotel sign just got turned on for the first time.   Discuss, Discuss!! Nashville Bits and Pieces is back, baby!  

[ruraljuror]

15 minutes ago, titanhog said:

You're right.  I can not prove that Antifa is behind most of the rioting...nor can you prove white supremacists are behind most of the rioting.  I would imagine it's an amalgamation of far-left...far-right...and angry African Americans who are causing the violence...with more of one in some cities and more of another in other cities.  Most news outlets say the same thing...that no one knows for sure who is causing most of the destruction (yet)...but much of the blame falls upon party lines.  Just like you...I can post one article after another blaming Antifa (you blaming white-supremacists)...but in the end...don't we both denounce both of these groups?  I know I do.  White supremacists are vile (racist POS).  Antifa is vile (hiding behind the guise of being "anti-fascist" when they are really just a terrorizing group of punks who try to destroy anyone they disagree with and calling anyone they disagree with a "fascist"...including many on the left).

As for the Wesley Somers guy being a white supremacist...who knows for sure?  I haven't seen the police list him as white supremacist...and his wife and brother say he doesn't belong to any white supremacist group...but who knows...they could be lying.  Until the Nashville police / administrators call him a white supremacist...I'll believe he's just another dumb punk out there causing havoc like the other 28 they've arrested so far.  And...Somers is definitely not the only one who set the courthouse on fire.  I watched live while Sky 5's camera was focused in on the windows with numerous people lighting fires through the windows...including at least 2-3 who jumped through the windows and went inside to light fires.  If I could find that footage, I'd share it.  Pretty damning evidence...and I'm sure the police are using right now to identify all of those who set the courthouse on fire.  Odd enough, I think they caught Somers from a photograph a photojournalist took.

https://wpln.org/post/28-arrested-and-30-buildings-damaged-in-saturday-protest/

Police tell The Tennessean that they’re uncertain what motivated a group of demonstrators to riot in the downtown. They suspect antifa or white supremacists could have infiltrated the initial rally held Saturday afternoon, in a bid to stoke unrest.

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/vincent-hamer-arrested-on-charges-of-rioting-vandalism-in-courthouse-damage

https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-protest-monday-george-floyd-police/293-150fdd2f-9a7e-4fa5-bcf6-e760e01e96ca

 

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said on Monday that Antifa groups are believed to be responsible for the civil unrest downtown on Sunday night.

While Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl had previously said that militias and Proud Boys groups were part of the chaos downtown along with Antifa groups Sunday night, Knezovich said that Proud Boys groups didn't cause damage and that militia members present at the demonstration left when asked.

Knezovich also said the FBI was involved and investigating the involvement of groups from out of the Spokane area. However, he also called on Spokane Antifa to condemn what happened on Sunday night after the peaceful protests.

"If you’re so innocent, condemn it, because I don’t see any innocence here," Knezovich said.

https://www.kxan.com/austin-george-floyd-mike-ramos-protests/antifa-type-groups-blamed-for-violence-in-austin-protests/

Stratfor Global Security Analyst Ben West said the type of violence he saw in Austin the past few nights points to an anti-fascist group known as ANTIFA.

“They try to portray themselves as the good guys, fighting fascism and fighting police violence, obviously all things people look at say oh, yeah…we should all fight fascism and not tolerate police violence, but obviously ANTIFA is associated with more violent tactics, property damage even attacks on individuals,” West told KXAN.

Stratfor describes itself as a “geopolitical intelligence” firm and has studied and tracked ANTIFA groups across the country, according to West. Much of the violence West monitored over the weekend can be attributed to groups who share what he calls ANTIFA “ideology.”

“It’s certainly no kind of central command and control structure here and it’s very much like a grassroots effort,” West said, “So, you might have like-minded individuals in Austin who kind of give themselves the ANTIFA name, or they might adopt other leftist ideological names.”

Typically, members of these groups wear black and red, cover their faces with masks, wear hoodies and often outfitted in tactical gear. With no formal organized structure, West said the group operates from cells and chapters spread across the country.

https://www.10tv.com/article/officials-see-extremist-groups-disinformation-protests-2020-may

An antifa activist group disseminated a message in a Telegram channel on Saturday that encouraged people to consider Minnesota National Guard troops “easy targets,” two Defense Department officials said. The message encouraged activists to steal “kit,” meaning the weapons and body armor used by the soldiers. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

As a result, soldiers with the Minnesota National Guard were armed during their mission at protests across the state Sunday, the officials said. The soldiers are sometimes armed but had not been since they moved into parts of the state that had been besieged by riots in the last few days. The troops do not have the authority to make arrests, and are there to act mostly as extra security for police.

https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/metro-courthouse-arson-suspects-brother-in-law-says-they-intended-to-protest-peacefully/

“He’s definitely not part of a white supremacist group. We went down there as individuals. He’s not getting paid, I see this stuff all over the internet. I know we was not part of that. It just turned violent and next thing I know we were in a crowd that was rioting. It just kind of happened. I don’t know what else to say about it, nothing was planned, nothing was organized, it wasn’t like we were going down there to hurt people.”

I agree.  I did do my rebuttal and post it before I saw the responses...and I have no issue with my rebuttal be moved / removed.  I actually hate the political talk on here...but I'm also not going to allow just one side to be mentioned when things turn political.  If you'll notice, I've never once started a political topic...but I have no issue jumping in.

This is a good post, Titanhog - Thank you!!  

I will note that attributing violence to "Antifa" ideology is a bit problematic given that there is no central organization to dictate that ideology (beyond fighting fascists). It's also hard to get them to condemn the behavior of others since there isn't really a figurehead 'them' to do the condemning. 

And I'm still down for a bet about what groups/ideology Sommers is involved with despite his brother's claims if you're interested?

But good post overall, thanks again - that was productive!

[titanhog]

13 minutes ago, ruraljuror said:

This is a good post, Titanhog - Thank you!!  

I will note that attributing violence to "Antifa" ideology is a bit problematic given that there is no central organization to dictate that ideology (beyond fighting fascists). It's also hard to get them to condemn the behavior of others since there isn't really a figurehead 'them' to do the condemning. 

And I'm still down for a bet about what groups/ideology Sommers is involved with despite his brother's claims if you're interested?

But good post overall, thanks again - that was productive!

I wouldn't put it past Somers being a skinhead...but I just don't know.  He could just be another stupid redneck. 

[Nashvillain]

Why do some get to set the rules for discussion on this forum? Urbanplanet does not prohibit discussions that are political in nature unless they get out of hand and lead to behaviors that are prohibited. As Ruraljuror very smartly points out above, it really is hard to separate a forum devoted to "discussion" (if what happens on this site could be called that) of the built environment from politics. It really is hard to separate anything that happens in the world, in the public and private sectors, from politics. Nothing pertaining to the built environment happens in the city in the absence of politics--which is why so many of us value Councilmember Brett Withers presence on this forum so much.

It seems that some are only comfortable with boosterism and celebrating Nashville's supposed accomplishments and its ascent up the ranks of click-bait top-10 lists. That's fine. I don't think those kinds of posts are going anywhere. On the other hand, I don't see a whole lot of pushback from the relentless piling on of John Cooper. So that politics is OK, as long as it confirms your own view? 

I've been a member of this group for 15 years (holy crap). I don't post that frequently, only when I have something that I feel is important or valuable to say or if I have some cool pictures to share. I don't want to waste my time nor anyone else's time. So I absolutely resent the gatekeepers who think this forum has to conform to what they want it to be. After all, no one is forcing you to read posts that you don't want to read!

[MLBrumby]

I think it's not the "What" but the "Where".  This is Bits and Pieces... which I thought were smaller projects that didn't have dedicated threads. 

[satalac]

4 minutes ago, Nashvillain said:

Why do some get to set the rules for discussion on this forum? Urbanplanet does not prohibit discussions that are political in nature unless they get out of hand and lead to behaviors that are prohibited. As Ruraljuror very smartly points out above, it really is hard to separate a forum devoted to "discussion" (if what happens on this site could be called that) of the built environment from politics. It really is hard to separate anything that happens in the world, in the public and private sectors, from politics. Nothing pertaining to the built environment happens in the city in the absence of politics--which is why so many of us value Councilmember Brett Withers presence on this forum so much.

It seems that some are only comfortable with boosterism and celebrating Nashville's supposed accomplishments and its ascent up the ranks of click-bait top-10 lists. That's fine. I don't think those kinds of posts are going anywhere. On the other hand, I don't see a whole lot of pushback from the relentless piling on of John Cooper. So that politics is OK, as long as it confirms your own view? 

I've been a member of this group for 15 years (holy crap). I don't post that frequently, only when I have something that I feel is important or valuable to say or if I have some cool pictures to share. I don't want to waste my time nor anyone else's time. So I absolutely resent the gatekeepers who think this forum has to conform to what they want it to be. After all, no one is forcing you to read posts that you don't want to read!

It's not about being a gatekeeper, it's about staying on topic and being respectful to each other. Lately it seems that this forum had gotten a lot more on edge, and hell, with everything going on in the world, that's understandable. I just don't see the benefit of bickering about political beliefs here. It almost always ends up badly. Talking politics is going to happen as it's a big part of what's going on in Nashville, I'm just wishing we can stop going after each other's views. Asking for civility shouldn't be seen as a negative. 

[dragonfly]

Can I say something about our country? So far as how "people of color feel constantly" and whether or not we should imagine it "constantly" I do know how one person of color feels about the country, by the name of Wynton Marsalis.  A guy who has spent decades traveling and performing on every country on the planet. I don't remember the context and whether some person resenting the USA was baiting him but he responded with his opinion. And from his knowledge of other countries he definitively declared this country to be the best in existence, period.  I know that negating that is supposed to help a sector attain power, but there is an example of a guy feeling what he feels without the swaying from power plays of people wanting to refute or recruit him. And beyond all that I myself feel (at the moment) a need to  defend the nation and will post here a 2019 paper from the National Academy of Sciences that does the same:  "Officer characteristics and racial disparities in fatal officer-involved shootings"    ---->  https://www.pnas.org/content/116/32/15877.short

Edited June 5, 2020 by dragonfly

[nashvylle]

2 hours ago, dragonfly said:

Can I say something about our country? So far as how "people of color feel constantly" and whether or not we should imagine it "constantly" I do know how one person of color feels about the country, by the name of Wynton Marsalis.  A guy who has spent decades traveling and performing on every country on the planet. I don't remember the context and whether some person resenting the USA was baiting him but he responded with his opinion. And from his knowledge of other countries he definitively declared this country to be the best in existence, period.  I know that negating that is supposed to help a sector attain power, but there is an example of a guy feeling what he feels without the swaying from power plays of people wanting to refute or recruit him. And beyond all that I myself feel (at the moment) a need to  defend the nation and will post here a 2019 paper from the National Academy of Sciences that does the same:  "Officer characteristics and racial disparities in fatal officer-involved shootings"    ---->  https://www.pnas.org/content/116/32/15877.short

I’m trying to make an effort to not just read what the media puts out, but actually talk to my black friends, whom I’ve been friends with for decades, about these issues. 

one point I’m hearing is officer involved shootings is not the only data point to examine. Everyone seems to point to harassment from cops towards black Americans (be verbal questioning or physical harassment) that does not show up in statistics but is remembered forever. 
 

Honestly I think if we had more cops of color from the neighborhoods they patrol it simply would go a long long way. 
 

praying for peace. 

[AsianintheNations]

On 5/21/2020 at 3:43 PM, jmtunafish said:

The 2019 city population estimates were released today by the Census.  As can be expected, the bulk of Tennessee's fastest-growing cities are in Middle Tennessee.  The ones in the Nashville MSA are in bold, the ones in Middle Tennessee are in italics.

rank...city...2019 pop...1-yr change

1. Nashville...670,820...3,814

Sorry if this has already been mentioned elsewhere on this board or at the meetup I missed, but with the 2019 ACS estimates, Nashville's balance population has passed Detroit to become the 23rd largest city in the U.S. by population. This is unfortunately helped as much by Detroit's ongoing decline as Nashville's growth (as a city proper .. metro Detroit remains much larger than metro Nashville and is stable to growing), which I obviously wish weren't the case. Presumably, Nashville can pass El Paso for #22 at some point based on current trends, but is unlikely to pass my former home of Boston after that, which has grown faster in the last decade than Nashville despite 10x population density at baseline. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised since Boston's current population only matches its World War I-era level and is still far off from its peak.