Michael Bates: May 2023 Archives
Emily Zanotti's Bolognese sauce recipe
From the first installment of her Substack newslettter "Because, Obviously," Emily Zanotti shares her family recipe for Bolognese sauce (meat sauce for pasta).
Conversation Catoosa | Oscar Hammerstein's map of Rogers County | Facebook
While in NYC for vacation, Tim Brown spotted Oscar Hammerstein II's hand-drawn map of Rogers County in a New York City museum, showing railroads, towns, and creeks, a reference for Hammerstein as he wrote the libretto for Oklahoma!
Romano-Britons: a strange brand of reactionaries
From Byzantine Ambassador Henry Hopwood-Phillips:
"These theories, however, were based on a criminal omission. They missed the fact that the Britons were not crypto, sub or pseudo-Roman but Romani Britanni and conservatively so. Britain did not bask in the afterglow of the continent's late antiquity, it formed a sublime source of Romanitas. In fact, if Britain diverged from the continental path even a whisker it was because so much more of its Roman heritage survived than on the chaotic mainland where Germanics were footloose, fancy free, making polities on the hoof, and most importantly ruling over a thick sponge of passive subjects rather than roiling reactionaries....
"Britain certainly started very Roman. A villa at Woodchester, Gloucestershire, has the largest mosaic north of the Alps and the second largest in Europe (see image). Moreover, few villas were fortified giving the impression that the countryside was either exceptionally naive or free from regular violence. A dearth of mosaics can be explained by appealing to Britain's preference - given its chilly climate - for wall-hangings, carpets and patterned rugs to cold tesserae. It was also well-Christianised given the number of bishoprics in provincial capitals such as London, York, Cirencester and Lincoln, and the faith's exceptional popularity in the countryside - a rare achievement in late antiquity....
"While occasionally missing a beat in the 400s - due mainly to the piratical antics of the Irish and Saxons - the Roman heart remained strong during St Patrick's - Patricius' - lifetime. The saint, for example, was the son of decurion suggesting some form of Roman local government was retained, wrote at length in Latin, referred to lots f grammatici, and expected his readers to be cultured. Like his contemporary Sidonius Apollinaris he was a third-generation Christian and well-acquainted with the ecclesiastical hierarchy and monasticism....
Scott Sauls, author and Nashville pastor, placed on indefinite leave of absence
"In a video message to the congregation, Sauls apologized for an unhealthy leadership style that harmed the people who worked for him and the church.
"'I verbalized insensitive and verbal criticism of others' work,' he said, according to a recording of the meeting shared with Religion News Service. 'I've used social media and the pulpit to quiet dissenting viewpoints. I've manipulated facts to support paths that I desire.'"
This is what happens when ruling elders don't rule. Sauls is part of a generation of PCA pastors that has been taught to crush any resistance to change among the laity, to look at long-time members and leaders as obstacles to be steamrolled, not partners to be persuaded, much less sources of prudence. The small-p presbyterian (elder-led) form of government is supposed to act as a check on pastoral ego, but too often lay ruling elders are selected for their submissiveness to the pastor's will.
Some parents warn of conservative culture wars in NYC's education council elections - Gothamist
A group that seeks to preserve selective admissions for New York City's top academic high schools has progressives worried about elections to a parental advisory council. "They point to some group members' public support for book bans, transphobic internal group messages, and anti-'woke' tweets." (Read that as many parents who support academic excellence also oppose grooming children into early sexual experimentation and gender confusion, leading to mutilating surgeries and growth-stunting hormones. These same parents also oppose teaching racially based defeatism and racial scapegoating.)
"'We look for candidates who support merit-based education rooted in strong academics, ones who want more access and opportunities to challenge students' intellect and readiness, and won't undermine it by lowering expectations,' said parent Yiatin Chu, co-founder and co-vice president of PLACE...."
CNN: Why did this cop turn up dead?
A surprising, shocking, largely unknown story from the Murrah Building bombing, by CNN senior writer Thomas Lake, published March 3, 2023. Related Twitter thread by Mises Caucus here (unrolled here).
"Terry Yeakey... was an Oklahoma City police officer and a military veteran. Yeakey saved at least three people from the ruins of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995, the day a terrorist attack killed 168 people and injured hundreds of others.
"Something happened to Yeakey in those hours in the wreckage. He was badly shaken, and his worldview seemed to change. In time, he grew suspicious and afraid. He ran afoul of his supervisors. He went on secret missions, withholding his motives and plans from fellow officers. He seemed to be conducting his own investigation.
"And then, 385 days after the bombing, his body was found near some trees in a field off a country road. His wrists were cut. His neck was cut. He'd been shot through the head.
"The authorities said it was suicide. But among those who knew Terry Yeakey, not many believed he had killed himself."
Hillsdale's Common Reading Program by David Randall | NAS
"Fundamentally, Hillsdale believes that a liberal arts education is designed to liberate the human person. Hillsdale's curriculum teaches a willing acceptance of the discipline and virtue that enables students to live a fully human life and prepares them for self-government and civic participation. The College's two summer readings introduce students to this life of liberty and virtue.
"In the Nicomachean Ethics (ca. 330 BC), Aristotle introduces the famous concept of 'the golden mean'--the understanding that virtue is the middle ground between two extremes, such as courage, which lies between recklessness and cowardice. Richard Brookhiser's 1996 biography of George Washington, Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington, narrates how Washington's virtue allowed him to navigate the challenges not only of forging a new nation on the battlefield but also of founding it through laws and leadership."
