Melissa Dow ن

LATINISTS! I just discovered that I have the old desktop version of Whitaker's Words still in a folder on my computer. (The online version got nerfed a while back when they tried to upgrade it for a new version of the web.) I'm pretty sure I could just share it. LMK if interested

It was such a delight to be part of this summer institute!

@RedemTheTimes @thejohnpeterson I'd be willing to make a case (as a former national-level debater) that mock trial might be a better way to develop the skills that most people seek from debate.

@RedemTheTimes @thejohnpeterson That's Mock Trial, right? Different beast.

Has anyone done debate well in a classical school? All of the existing formats seem utterly terrible.

@jojo90817789726 @patriarchysons I don't know the exact timing. I live in the southeast and heard about it from friends. They didn't mention that.

Sorry, but there's something odd about this. There's two weeks before New Saint Andrews' Christmas Break, and Jonathan McIntosh has been WIPED off their website. In Immersive Communities, Tony Baker talked about Annie McIntosh's warning them "not to tell ANYONE about what he knew, or it might ruin Doug and Nancy Wilson's reputation." Annie is Jonathan's wife, and the daughter of Doug's personal assistant. What happened?

@patriarchysons *firing Autocorrect fail

@patriarchysons When I found out about the hiring, I was in the middle of finishing my dissertation. Then I moved to a new state and started a 4/4 teaching load. A couple times in there I floated the idea of an open thank-you to some other alumni, but we all agreed to sit with it for a bit.

@patriarchysons In mid November, I was reminded that we hadn't done anything yet and at the start of Thanksgiving week I suggested that we take the occasion of the season to finally make it happen.

@patriarchysons Oh. Do you mean you're curious about why the timing of letter? As one of the authors I could shed some light on that if you like.

@M_Dow Odd timing - why not over the summer when this occurred? We're aware of when he was fired, and the rumors surrounding it.

@patriarchysons What's the significance about "two weeks before Christmas break" then?

@M_Dow Yup - didn't say he was fired, just that this is strange.

@ExaminingMoscow @patriarchysons "Abrupt" might not be accurate. His firing was over the summer (I learned of it in June).

New Saint Andrew professor Jonathan McIntosh seems to have been abruptly fired from New Saint Andrews recently. Hearing of McIntosh’s firing put me in mind of another dramatic firing that took place exactly 10 years ago, also close to Christmas: that of Roy Atwood. From the article: “In the middle of the school year; in the middle of a semester; in the middle of a Monday morning; three weeks before Christmas and without any prospect for future employment: Dr. Roy Atwood resigned his position as President of New Saint Andrews College. And it appears that someone really wanted this to smart because they inserted two arresting sentences about his financial straits in his departure announcement…..” (Source: Truth About Moscow, Dec 2015, link-moscowid.net/2015/12/02/one…) Jonathan McIntosh is the husband of Annie McIntosh, who is the daughter of Doug Wilson’s longtime secretary, Christine LeMoreaux. Annie McIntosh and Christine LeMoreaux were both mentioned by former New Saint Andrews CEO Tony Baker in the Sons of Patriarchy episode entitled “Immersive Communities: Abuse in the CREC, Pt 3,” which can be listened to here - youtu.be/F-L5vGvrhjs?si… Do those connections matter? I don’t know. But it’s curious, is it not? Is a message being sent? And if so, who are the intended recipients?

@DavidHenry2 Thanks! I'm deleting the broken link to avoid any confusion

With the election tomorrow, I would like to re-share this piece I wrote. politicaltheology.com/do-not-fret-ps…

@philmcraig ::bows:: happy to be of service!

@M_Dow Thank you for making my one and only decent Twitter joke live on forever Melissa

Since the embedded ABC tweet has been removed, let us note that one of the major news networks was asserting that London's Bonfire Night fireworks were in celebration of Biden's victory.

In 1936, Tolkien published a Christmas poem called "Noel" in the annual journal of a Catholic school near Oxford. For about 80 years the text of the poem was lost to history until Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull visited the school and found it in the archives. Here is the poem:

It was a pleasure to be able to contribute to this! My story is the first one in the feed ... A selection from Andrew Lang's "Grey Fairy Book" called "The Unlooked-for Prince."

@sometimesalight Phil Christman

Crowdsourcing for an article: Who is someone you disagree with ideologically or theologically but whose character and integrity you respect--someone you trust to "play fair" and keep their word?

It's happening!

I have started one of those "letters" full of "news" that come in a pile--one might even say a "stack". melissaedow dot [redacted] dot com Fans of Dorothy Sayers will want to subscribe before Friday's installment comes out [just trust me].