In no well-regulated community, under a proper system of police, could the Virgin feel at home, and the same thing may be said of most other saints as well as sinners.–Henry Adams, according to this guy Read more

INSEPARABLE: I review A Separation for First Things. Please take their headline lightly (otherwise it’s pushier than I intended), and I should have proofread this piece better! But the main thing is that this is a terrific movie which you all should see if you get a chance… if you like depressing familial naturalism, I guess. Yours ’til the kitchen sinks etc etc. Read more

MY AMCONMAG ARTICLE ABOUT THE CULTURE OF FEAR OF DIVORCE is online! Like I said, I’m basically happy with how this turned out. If America has endured a “divorce revolution” since California passed no-fault divorce in 1969, we’ve now entered the counterrevolutionary phase. Divorce rates have fallen from their peak in the early ’80s, the deep pain often felt by children of divorce is openly acknowledged, and young Americans typically express both fear and a moral horror at divorce. They... Read more

THE COMMENT SECTION FOR EVERY ARTICLE EVER WRITTEN ABOUT PETA. Yes, it goes 0 to Israel in 60 seconds; and there’s much, much more. Via Rod Dreher. Read more

SCOTS WITH STICKS COME. Scots with stocks come. Scots with sticks and stocks and glocks come. Via Unequally Yoked. Read more

IT’S A LONG ROAD FOR A BOX OF CHOCOLATES: Words from a champion… skier? Possibly a skier. I don’t sport. …All of this means it’s the ideal occasion for the “Long Road” speech. As in, it’s a long road we’re traveling, people. As parents cheering from the sidelines we can’t help but want our kids to succeed at everything they do, on every outing. We understand that real progress is often a barely perceptible crawl, and that what we really... Read more

The House of Life,insinuate,incarnadine. An avariceof sleep. Of brightregard. Had tender eyes,the demoiselleof dusk. Rehearsing love,the beads of avenir.—here Read more

“DEAR EVE TUSHNIK….” I feel like I shouldn’t enjoy this as much as I do. Via Mark Shea. Read more

“THE GUILTY CAN FORGIVE–THE INNOCENT TAKE REVENGE!” Before the first movie in the National Gallery of Art’s Robert Bresson series started, we were warned that it was uncharacteristically melodramatic. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much! I find Bresson’s “mature” style emotionally battened-down to the point of catatonia, and it’s really hard for me to get on board with his work, whereas in the early movie Les Anges du Péché (The Angels of Sin–!!!) I was totally engaged and... Read more

THE BOOKS OF “AMONG OTHERS.” I’ve read maybe 28 of these, but my real interest is in the changing–often sublimely weird–conventions for sci-fi pulp paperback covers. Via Jesse Walker. Read more