Michael Bates: April 2019 Archives
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"The Rush to Oklahoma," an eyewitness account of the 1889 Land Run by William Willard Howard, published in Harper's Weekly, Issue 33 (May 18, 1889), pages 391-94. Transcribed by John W. Reps, Professor Emeritus, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, as part of a collection of historic documents on urban planning.
"When the passengers from the first train reached the spot where the deputy-marshals had ceased laying out lots, they seized the line of the embryo street and ran it eastward as far as their numbers would permit. The second train load of people took it where the first left off, and ran it entirely out of sight behind a swell of ground at least two miles from the station. The following car of home-seekers went north and south, so that by the time that all were in for the day a city large enough in area to hold 100,000 inhabitants had been staked off, with more or less geometrical accuracy. A few women and children were in the rush, but they had to take their chances with the rest. Disputes over the ownership of lots grew incessant, for the reason that when a man went to the river for a drink of water, or tried to get his baggage at the railway station, another man would take possession of his lot, notwithstanding the obvious presence of the first man's stakes and sometimes part of his wearing apparel. Owing to the uncertainty concerning the lines of the streets, two and sometimes more lots were staked out on the same ground, each claimant hoping that the official survey would give him the preference. Contrary to all expectations, there was no bloodshed over the disputed lots. This may be accounted for by the fact that no intoxicating liquors of any kind were allowed to be sold in Oklahoma. It is a matter of common comment among the people that the peaceful way in which Oklahoma was settled was due entirely to its compulsory prohibition. Had whiskey been plentiful in Guthrie the disputed lots might have been watered in blood, for every man went armed with some sort of deadly weapon. If there could be a more striking temperance lesson than this, I certainly should like to see it. "
Folau case puts religious debate in danger, says bishop -- The Australian
"'If a rugby player can be sacked by doing nothing more than posting on his social media page what is essentially a summary of the Bible then it's a signal to the rest of us that we better keep our mouths shut,' Anglican Bishop Michael Stead, who leads the south Sydney diocese, told The Australian yesterday.
"The Sydney Catholic Archdiocese was also critical of RA's decision to terminate [Israel] Folau's contract, accusing the sport's governing body of bowing to pressure from corporate sponsors to adopt certain positions on social issues.
"'It not only highlights the influence a major corporate sponsor can have on the decisions of sporting codes, but shows the pressure on businesses to take social and moral positions unrelated to their core business,' said Monica Doumit, director of public affairs at the Archdiocese of Sydney.
"Former Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Keysar Trad said the Folau matter showed Australia has 'lost the art of respectful debate'.
"'They've kicked Folau off the rugby team and stopped him from doing something he loves based on something that has nothing to do with his professional ability,' Mr Trad said.
"'It was always known he was a religious person. Are they asking him to rip out the pages of the Bible they believe aren't politically correct just so he can continue to play the sport?'"
On Religion - Ten years of reporting on a fault line - Columns
Terry Mattingly, writing in 1998:
"Back in the 1980s, I began to experience deja vu while covering event after event on the religion beat in Charlotte, Denver and then at the national level.
"I kept seeing a fascinating cast of characters at events centering on faith, politics and morality. A pro-life rally, for example, would feature a Baptist, a Catholic priest, an Orthodox rabbi and a cluster of conservative Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Lutherans. Then, the pro-choice counter-rally would feature a "moderate" Baptist, a Catholic activist or two, a Reform rabbi and mainline Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Lutherans.
"Similar line-ups would appear at many rallies linked to gay rights, sex-education programs and controversies in media, the arts and even science. Along with other journalists, I kept reporting that today's social issues were creating bizarre coalitions that defied historic and doctrinal boundaries. After several years of writing about 'strange bedfellows,' it became obvious that what was once unique was now commonplace....
"The old dividing lines centered on issues such as the person of Jesus Christ, church tradition and the Protestant Reformation. But these new interfaith coalitions were fighting about something even more basic - the nature of truth and moral authority.Two years later, [James Davison] Hunter began writing 'Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America,' in which he declared that America now contains two basic world views, which he called 'orthodox' and 'progressive.' The orthodox believe it's possible to follow transcendent, revealed truths. Progressives disagree and put their trust in personal experience, even if that requires them to 'resymbolize historic faiths according to the prevailing assumptions of contemporary life.'"
J. Gresham Machen identified this fault line within Protestantism in his 1923 book Christianity and Liberalism. Even then, orthodox Protestants who agreed on fundamentals of the faith -- the inerrancy of Scripture, the deity of Christ, His virgin birth, bodily death and resurrection, the reality of miracles -- were linking arms across denominational divisions while religious liberals were creating ecumenical initiatives of their own, gradually expanding them into interfaith organizations. What's changed, starting in the 1970s, is the development of the broader conservative coalition that Mattingly describes above, reaching beyond Protestantism and beyond the boundaries of Christianity.
Sexular Colonialism - Stephen McAlpine
Stephen McAlpine on the recent persecution of Christian professional rugby players who are of Pacific Islander heritage. He sees a pattern -- white progressives imposing their morality on brown and black believers, whether Fijian Christians, Pakistani Muslims, or indigenous Australians. You could add the recent Methodist conclave as another example.
"The progressive narrative has created, and is the process of enforcing, a new colonialism and, in a great irony, is enforcing it upon those it once championed. For so long the progressive side of politics accused the historical nations of the West of colonising ethnic minorities, but suddenly they've signed up to the agenda.
"And it's all come down to sex. The progressives have their own version of cultural assimilation - let's call it Sexular Colonialism....
"For Billy [Vinupola], for Israel [Folau], and for a host of other players in the spotlight, they've come to realise that their deep ethno-religious frameworks upon which they have built their lives have to bow down the idol of sexual identity. There is no option if they wish to continue in their employ.
"These other markers - ethno-religious -, for so long championed by the Left, are now being viewed as barriers to progress. And we know how the Left treats barriers to progress. There is a pecking order when it comes to identity, and race and religion sit squarely below sex. It must be quashed.
"Sexular Colonialism right there.
"Still not convinced? So a friend working in the public service in our home state tells me that after a long intense PD day on how to promote sexual diversity in his workplace, he approached the organisers and said that many people within the Australian indigenous community would have a problem with this. The response? 'Well they will just have to get on board.'
"Get on board. The bulk of the indigenous community who hold to traditional values in terms of marriage, will have to get on board the whitefella's agenda. Since when did that become anything but colonialism? If they don't get on board, they're gonna get run over."
What Should I Read to Understand Zoning? - Market Urbanism
Nolan Gray writes:
"We are blessed and cursed to live in times in which most smart people are expected to have an opinion on zoning. Blessed, in that zoning is arguably the single most important institution shaping where we live, how we move around, and who we meet. Cursed, in that zoning is notoriously obtuse, with zoning ordinances often cloaked in jargon, hidden away in PDFs, and completely different city-to-city.
"Given this unusual state of affairs, I'm often asked, 'What should I read to understand zoning?' To answer this question, I have put together a list of books for the zoning-curious."
Interesting list. I've read, and I recommend The Death and Life of Great American Cities. I'm intrigued by Zoned in the USA, Zoned American, and Land Use without Zoning. The blurb about The Zoning Game contains an important note: The zoning code and zoning map don't tell the whole story of how zoning is applied in your city.
Why We Talk Past Each Other at Work: The 7 Decision Languages - The Manasclerk Company
E. Forrest Christian writes:
"I recently sat through a meeting where the discussants, all intelligent people who care deeply about the work under discussion, argued deeply and long without much actually happening. You've been in these, too, and you've also been frustrated by how people don't understand when you start talking about what we need to do.... People talk past each other about work because they are have fundamentally different modes of decision-making. People simply talk about action differently.... Jimmy Algie did some of the groundwork, which he and Warren [Kinston] then developed further into 7 different modes of decision making. Each one thinks that its way of getting to action is the best. It may accept a couple of the others, but everyone I've ever met thinks that at least a couple of the others are complete fools wasting everyone's time. You can reduce that a good deal by learning each of the seven."
There follows a brief description of each decision language and pointers to more in-depth information.
New York Times report on the 737 MAX republished in the Brisbane Times.
"Some engineers were frustrated they would have to again spend years updating the same jet, taking care to limit any changes, instead of starting fresh and incorporating significant technological advances, the current and former engineers and pilots said. The Max still has roughly the original layout of the cockpit and the hydraulic system of cables and pulleys to control the plane, which are not used in modern designs. The on-board computers have the processing power of 1990s home computers. A Boeing spokesman said the aircraft was designed with an appropriate level of technology to ensure safety.
"When engineers did make changes, it sometimes created knock-on effects for how the plane handled, forcing Boeing to get creative. The company added a new system that moves plates on the wing in part to reduce stress on the plane from its added weight. Boeing re-created the decades-old physical gauges on digital screens....
"While that design solved one problem, it created another. The larger size and new location of the engines gave the Max the tendency to tilt up during certain flight manoeuvres, potentially to a dangerous angle.
"To compensate, Boeing engineers created the automated anti-stall system, called MCAS, that pushed the jet's nose down if it was lifting too high. The software was intended to operate in the background so that the Max flew just like its predecessor. Boeing did not mention the system in its training materials for the Max....
"'They wanted to A, save money and B, to minimise the certification and flight-test costs,' said Mike Renzelmann, an engineer who worked on the Max's flight controls. 'Any changes are going to require recertification.' Renzelmann was not involved in discussions about the sensors."
