Nashville Sentinel Meeting

TUESDAY, APRIL 26th.

starting at 6:30 pm

Hyatt House

3501 Mallory Lane

Franklin, 37067

Look for our agenda in the upcoming Daily Letter emails this week.

Major railroad company curtailing shipments of fertilizer ahead of crucial spring planting season

leohohmann

CF Industries, the nation’s largest manufacturer of fertilizers, is warning its customers that fertilizer shipments will be delayed and may not reach farmers in time for the critical spring planting season because of a move by Union Pacific Railroad to limit the volume on private boxcars carried by its rail lines.

The railroad company ordered CF Industries and 29 other shippers cut their volume by 20 percent. Union Pacific says the reductions are needed to reduce congestion, but CF Industries said it would ask federal regulators to intervene and end the railroad restrictions.

Why Union Pacific would single out the nation’s largest fertilizer producer just as it is trying to get its product to farmers in time for spring planting is suspicious, to say the least.

Mike Adams is reporting that rail carriers are also partially halting transportation of livestock feed grain, potentially forcing farmers to slaughter their cows and chickens if they can’t get enough grain to feed them. This would further drive up prices of dairy products such as milk, eggs, yogurt, etc.

The railroad-mandated shipping reductions not only means shipping delays for farmers but CF Industries said it would be unable to accept new orders involving Union Pacific rail transportation for the foreseeable future.

CF Industries announced its dire predicament April 14 on its website. This disruption in the delivery of fertilizers comes at a time of steadily escalating food prices at grocery stores nationwide due to supply chain disruptions, War between Russia and Ukraine, China hording global grain supplies, weather-related crop failures and other issues, all adding up to a perfect storm for global famine.

Unless American farmers produce a bumper crop this fall, the rampant food price inflation will continue to intensify, driving prices up even faster and leading to more shortages on the store shelves heading into late 2022 and 2023.

CF Industries ships to customers via Union Pacific rail lines primarily from its Donaldsonville Complex in Louisiana and its Port Neal Complex in Iowa. The rail lines serve key agricultural states in America’s heartland, including Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas, as well as California.

Products that will be affected include nitrogen fertilizers such as urea and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) as well as diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), an emissions control product required for diesel trucks.

CF Industries is the largest producer of urea, UAN and DEF in North America, and its Donaldsonville Complex is the largest single production facility for the products in North America.

Tony Will, president and chief executive of CF Industries, summed up the direness of the situation in a press release reproduced below:

“The timing of this action by Union Pacific could not come at a worse time for farmers. Not only will fertilizer be delayed by these shipping restrictions, but additional fertilizer needed to complete spring applications may be unable to reach farmers at all. By placing this arbitrary restriction on just a handful of shippers, Union Pacific is jeopardizing farmers’ harvests and increasing the cost of food for consumers.

“On Friday, April 8, Union Pacific informed CF Industries without advance notice that it was mandating certain shippers to reduce the volume of private cars on its railroad effective immediately. The Company was told to reduce its shipments by nearly 20 percent.

“CF Industries believes it will still be able to fulfill delivery of product already contracted for rail shipment to Union Pacific destinations, albeit with likely delays. However, because Union Pacific has told the company that noncompliance will result in the embargo of its facilities by the railroad, CF Industries may not have available shipping capacity to take new rail orders involving Union Pacific rail lines to meet late season demand for fertilizer.”

The application of nitrogen fertilizer is critical to maximizing crop yields. If farmers are unable to secure all the nitrogen fertilizer that they require in the current season because of supply chain disruptions such as rail shipping restrictions, the Company expects yield will be lower. This will likely extend the timeline to replenish global grains stocks. Low global grains stocks continue to support high front month and forward prices for nitrogen-consuming crops, which has contributed to higher food prices.

CF Industries intends to engage directly with the federal government to ask that fertilizer shipments be prioritized so that spring planting is not adversely impacted.

“CF Industries’ North American manufacturing network continues to produce at a high rate to meet the needs of customers, farmers and consumers,” said Will. “We urge the federal government to take action to remove these Union Pacific rail shipment restrictions to ensure this vital fertilizer will be able to reach U.S. farmers when and where they need it.”

Biden has told Obama he’s running again

newsbreak

President Biden has told former President Obama that he is planning to run for reelection in 2024, two sources tell The Hill.

The admission to Obama is the latest indication that Biden is likely to run for a second term, something the president has spoken about publicly.

During a press conference in Brussels last month, he told reporters he’d be “very fortunate” to run against his rival in the 2020 election, former President Trump.

“[Biden] wants to run and he’s clearly letting everyone know,” said one of the two sources familiar with the conversations between Obama and Biden.

The source also said that Biden, despite his faltering approval ratings, remains the most likely Democratic candidate to defeat Trump. This was a key part of Biden’s salesmanship to voters as he sought support for this 2020 bid — and a big reason primary voters rallied to him in South Carolina and “Super Tuesday” states where he sealed his status as the Democratic frontrunner.

“I believe he thinks he’s the only one who can beat Trump. I don’t think he thinks there’s anyone in the Democratic party who can beat Trump and that’s the biggest factor,” the source familiar with the Obama-Biden talks said.

Biden and Obama had lunch together earlier this month, but it is unclear exactly when the two discussed 2024.

The White House did not provide comment on the conversations between Biden and Obama. A Biden adviser pointed to the president’s public comments that he intends to run again.

Beyond the rough political winds and poor approval ratings, it is Biden’s age that has fueled questions about his future.

Biden, 79, was the oldest president to take office at 78 and would be 82 at the start of his second term, should he successfully seek one.

Thomas Jefferson: A True Statesman

americanthinker

The United States has now had 46 Presidents since the inception of the Presidency some 230+ years ago. Of all those men, only a handful were true statesmen, and one of those men, much discounted now thanks to leftism, was Thomas Jefferson.

When I survey the men who have held the office of the Presidency, there are few who meet the mark of being a true statesman. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the noun “stateman” to mean “one versed in the principles of government.” Another definition describes being, “a wise, skillful, and respected political leader.” Of course, many who have held the office of the Presidency have been shrewd at promoting their policies, oftentimes by ignoring the most basic precepts of our Constitutional Republic to advance whatever agenda necessary, often ignoring their constituents’ voices.

This is a behavior pattern echoed by most of those holding the office of the Presidency or, for that matter, any public office straight to the local levels of governing. Being shrewd in politics does not equate to being a true statesman.

No matter on which side of the political aisle one may stand, we all know that our modern political era has had its fair share of elected representatives who have been as crooked as corkscrews. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight to this quandary.

In stark contrast to the corkscrew rulers of the Republic, what a pleasure it is to contemplate a true statesman of the highest degree like Thomas Jefferson.

President Kennedy once remarked at a White House dinner hosting Nobel Peace Prize winners that the event was “probably the greatest concentration of talent and genius in this house except for perhaps those times when Thomas Jefferson ate alone.”

Jefferson was beyond brilliant. He was a downright living genius. Another accurate description summing up his personage is from Ken Burns’s 1997 documentary in which he describes Jefferson as “a scholar, a philosopher, a diplomat, an aesthete, and an architect, a true renaissance man.”

Who today holding public office could match his mental prowess? To list all of Jefferson’s accomplishments would take pages. Hundreds of books and thousands of articles have been written on him over the decades. He held virtues of being unselfish, wise, and knowledgeable in life and throughout his time as a statesman. He championed the yeoman farmer of the early Republic who he believed was the backbone of the young country.

He served the public interest for over six decades, never accepting any pay except for expenses, which he faithfully paid back. After assuming the presidency following the contested election of 1800, he slashed federal taxes in half and paid off half of the national debt through his two terms as President.

It is important to note that Alexander Hamilton was always a strong political influencer in the early days of the Republic. He often had the ears of George Washington and John Adams but not Jefferson’s, as he and Hamilton remained diametrically opposed in their views of government and finance.

Hamilton favored letting the moneychangers into the halls of government as well as large British monarchical styles of governing while Jefferson wanted limited decentralized government and banking practices, as well as always seeing the People as the rightful sovereign. He refused to address Congress for his annual message in public and simply wrote letters to be written aloud to the body members. Furthermore, he kept the young Republic out of foreign confrontations and made brilliant statements that “commerce with all nations, and entanglements with none, should be our motto.”

Perhaps Jefferson’s greatest accomplishment as President was purchasing the vast Louisiana Territory from the French for a reasonable sum. This, of course, allowed the United States to become the nation it is today, with millions of individuals from dozens of foreign lands being able to hold private property while seeking their own fortunes away from oppressive governments around the world.

This lifestyle coming to fruition for millions of hard-working people emulates Jefferson’s phrase of the “pursuit of happiness,” which he coined when writing the Declaration of Independence.

Today, many among the leftist intelligentsia have a ball exclaiming that Jefferson was a complete hypocrite, stating in the Declaration of Independence that, “all men are created equal” and all the while still owning slaves on his Virginia plantation.

While Jefferson did own slaves, as did most of the Virginia gentry at the time, he was completely opposed to the system.

This is evidenced by his defending slaves in Virginia court of law as a young attorney, numerous writings that are conveniently left out from modern “scholarship”, and his 1807 legislation Act prohibiting the importation of slaves, something he had advocated for before the War of Independence, some thirty-plus years before the Act passed. This law made importing slaves a federal crime.

Some also proclaim that Jefferson was the Founder of the modern Democrat party. This could not be further from the truth. Jefferson’s cornerstone philosophy championed the individual, not the collective, one-size-fits-all, regurgitated and recycled Marxist/Socialistic philosophy of today’s Democrat party. It would do well for today’s bottom-feeder media and “Woke” advocates to read a book on Thomas Jefferson and realize that he was a man of his time, which was indeed a complicated and conflicting time, much like our world today.

Sadly, there are extremists who would triumphantly lift their clenched fists of Marxism at the sight of Jefferson’s Monticello plantation being taken down brick by brick as well as the University of Virginia wiping his image forever from its campus. This form of thinking must be met with total head-on resistance from patriots from all walks of life, lest America ceases to exist.

Perhaps one day I will detail more of Jefferson’s accomplishments as a true Statesman and in his personal life. As I mentioned, there have been thousands of articles, hundreds of books, and numerous documentaries detailing this good man’s life. Below are several thought-provoking quotes from Jefferson’s political philosophy and personal worldviews. Who amongst us today would say such things?

• “Those who labour in the Earth are the Chosen People of God.”
• “An honest man can feel no pleasure in exercising power over his fellow citizens.”
• “Truth and reason are eternal and will eventually prevail against error unless disarmed of their natural weapons, free argument and debate.”
• “With all the imperfections of our present government, it is without comparison the best existing, or that ever did exist.”
• “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects that which never was and never will be.”
• “Agriculture, manufacturing, commerce and navigation are the four pillars on which our prosperity rests and thrive best when left to private enterprise.”
• “The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.”
• “If ignorance is bliss, why aren’t more people happy?”

April 17th. was TN State Flag Day, marking the date the General Assembly adopted the flag in 1905. The flag was designed by Col. Reeves, who was a teacher, attorney & TN Infantry veteran from Johnson City.

GOP governors urge Biden to scrap proposed charter schools funding rule

Critics have argued charter schools take away much-needed federal funds from traditional public schools

foxnews

A group of 18 Republican governors urged the Biden administration on Monday to get rid of a proposed rule that they say would restrict federal funding for charter schools.

In a 2-page letter sent to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, the governors, led by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, asked the federal government to reconsider the rule and allow a longer period for public comment. The final day for public input was Monday, just over 30 days from when the mandate was posted March 14 to the Federal Register. 

"We oppose any attempts by the federal government to act as a national charter school board, impose a top-down and one-size-fits-all approach, and undermine the authority of parents to choose the educational option best for their child," the letter said. 

The letter was also signed by the governors of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas. 

Charter schools are privately-run institutions that are given public funding. Critics have argued the schools take away much-needed federal funds from traditional public schools.

The new rule would require such schools to prove that local school districts are "over-enrolled" to qualify for the federal Charter Schools Programs. 

The proposed standard fails to consider "that a driving force in parents' decisions is the desire for their child to attend a school that meets their child's unique needs," the governors said. 

"It cannot be ignored that enrollment is down in many big-city school districts due to parents choosing to leave closed or persistently failing schools," the letter reads. "The Administration’s proposed rule means that charters bringing high quality seats to areas in need would be routinely rejected for funds, despite offering parents a chance to stay in their community without sacrificing their child’s future."

 The governors said charters schools serve 7% of all public school s students but account for less than 1% of total federal spending on K-12 education. 

They said the rule would disproportionately impact minority students. 

"Across the nation, charter schools enroll more students of color and more economically disadvantaged students than their traditional public school counterparts," they said. "The requirements imposed in the proposed rule will put the Department in a position to undermine the decision made by millions of families seeking a better opportunity for their child." 

Catholic Charities Met Abbott’s Bused Migrants with Tickets to Ride Elsewhere

tennesseestar

Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, reports from Washington’s Union Station, where Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott sent migrants who crossed the border into his state.

A social worker from the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington told The Star News Network that she and other staffers from Catholic Charities, including Monsignor John Enzler, the local president provided the migrants with food, clothing, diapers and toys – and tickets to their requested destinations.

Some of the migrants went to New York City, others went to Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Miami.

TRANSCRIPT:

McCabe: Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has begun busing migrants from the Lone Star state to here in Washington, where they were dropped off at Union Station behind me. Roselle Velez, who is a social worker with Catholic Charities, told The Star News Network why Catholic Charities was there.

Roselle Velez: I got here, they were here already. They were waiting at the food court. We have the sisters and Father John was also here as well. So everyone from Catholic Charities in D.C., they were here and they greeted them, they fed them.

McCabe: Abbott directed his Division of Emergency Management to bust border migrants who volunteered to Washington April 6 as a protest against President Joe Biden’s open border policies.

(Greg Abbott clip plays)

The Biden administration and a lot of leaders in Congress have no idea about the chaos they have caused by their open border policies. And they refuse to come down and see firsthand and talk to the people who are really most adversely affected. And if they’re not going to come to the border, I’m going to take the border to them in Washington, D.C.

McCabe: Velez said she helped translate for the migrants, including one mother with two children.

Velez: They are from Venezuela. The mother had a 5-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter. They didn’t have any clothes. They just have the clothes that they came with.

So Catholic Charities got them some clothing, diapers and baby wipes and milk, and toys. Even toys for them, too, so they could just have some toys while they are just going through this transition.

McCabe: If Abbott expected Washington to share the migrant burden Texas now shoulders, he was wrong. After a short rest stop, Catholic Charities sent the migrants on their way elsewhere.

Velez: So there is a group going to New York City, they’re on the way now. There’s one who’s going to Rhode Island, there’s another one who’s going to Miami. There’s another group going to Miami, and they are heading there as well. There’s another bus.

McCabe: Their stop in D.C. was not a total loss. At least the migrants got to see how Americans live two blocks from the Capitol. Reporting for The Star News Network, Neil W. McCabe, Washington.TRANSCRIPT:

McCabe: Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has begun busing migrants from the Lone Star state to here in Washington, where they were dropped off at Union Station behind me. Roselle Velez, who is a social worker with Catholic Charities, told The Star News Network why Catholic Charities was there.

Roselle Velez: I got here, they were here already. They were waiting at the food court. We have the sisters and Father John was also here as well. So everyone from Catholic Charities in D.C., they were here and they greeted them, they fed them.

McCabe: Abbott directed his Division of Emergency Management to bust border migrants who volunteered to Washington April 6 as a protest against President Joe Biden’s open border policies.

McCabe: Velez said she helped translate for the migrants, including one mother with two children.

Velez: They are from Venezuela. The mother had a 5-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter. They didn’t have any clothes. They just have the clothes that they came with.

So Catholic Charities got them some clothing, diapers and baby wipes and milk, and toys. Even toys for them, too, so they could just have some toys while they are just going through this transition.

McCabe: If Abbott expected Washington to share the migrant burden Texas now shoulders, he was wrong. After a short rest stop, Catholic Charities sent the migrants on their way elsewhere.

Velez: So there is a group going to New York City, they’re on the way now. There’s one who’s going to Rhode Island, there’s another one who’s going to Miami. There’s another group going to Miami, and they are heading there as well. There’s another bus.

McCabe: Their stop in D.C. was not a total loss. At least the migrants got to see how Americans live two blocks from the Capitol. Reporting for The Star News Network, Neil W. McCabe, Washington.

April 19th.

1775 - American Revolution begins at Battle of Lexington

At about 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town’s common green. British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, a shot was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead or dying and 10 others were wounded. Only one British soldier was injured, but the American Revolution had begun.

1897 - First Boston Marathon held

John J. McDermott of New York won the first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:55:10.

The Boston Marathon was the brainchild of Boston Athletic Association member and inaugural U.S. Olympic team manager John Graham, who was inspired by the marathon at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. With the assistance of Boston businessman Herbert H. Holton, various routes were considered, before a measured distance of 24.5 miles from the Irvington Oval in Boston to Metcalf’s Mill in Ashland was eventually selected.

Fifteen runners started the race but only 10 made it to the finish line. John J. McDermott, representing the Pastime Athletic Club of New York City, took the lead from Harvard athlete Dick Grant over the hills in Newton. Although he walked several times during the final miles, McDermott still won by a comfortable six-minute, fifty-two-seconds. McDermott had won the only other marathon on U.S. soil the previous October in New York.

The marathon’s distance was changed in 1908 in accordance with Olympic standards to its current length of 26 miles 385 yards.

The Boston Marathon was originally held on Patriot’s Day, April 19, a regional holiday that commemorates the beginning of the Revolutionary War. In years when the 19th fell on a Sunday, the race was held the following Monday. In 1969, Patriots Day was officially moved to the third Monday in April and the race has been held on that Monday ever since.

1876 - Wyatt Earp dropped from Wichita police force

A Wichita, Kansas, commission votes not to rehire policeman Wyatt Earp after he beats up a candidate for county sheriff.

Born in 1848, Wyatt was one of the five Earp brothers, some of whom became famous for their participation in the shootout at the O.K. Corral in 1881. Before moving to Tombstone in 1879, however, Wyatt had already become a controversial figure. For much of his life, he worked in law enforcement, but his own allegiance to the rule of law was conditional at best.