Matthew Schmitz

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Breezy Point, Queens. Dated November 2, 2012. Via Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry . . . . Continue Reading »

Protestant Christians have much to teach the rest of us about loving and dwelling on God’s word. One striking new expression of this piety comes in the form of designing one’s own Bible. An early examplar of what we can hope will become a much more common practice is Chad Whitacre, . . . . Continue Reading »

Randall O’Toole, the Cato Institute’s go-to guy on transportation policy, says New York should consider leaving its flooded subways to rot : After Hurricane Katrina, some people  argued  that we shouldn’t rebuild New Orleans, not simply because it was below sea level but . . . . Continue Reading »

Michael J. New highlights a methodological limitation in a recent abortion study promoted by Amanda Marcotte and others: A medical student contacted the authors of the study to ask how they obtained pregnancy and abortion data from study participants. As it turns out, the researchers used telephone . . . . Continue Reading »

Losing power last night in lower Manhattan made it necessary to light all my candles, which gave me occasion to reflect on the wonderful work done by bees. For while paraffin is now more common in making candles, beeswax is still preferred by some, including the Roman church, in which it is . . . . Continue Reading »

Kate Pitrone at Postmodern Conservative criticizes the Obama for America campaign’s creepy “Future Children Project” ad in a post provocatively titled ” Child Abuse .” Jonah Goldberg makes a similar  judgment , writing that the ad constitutes “soft . . . . Continue Reading »

Frank Schubert meets Francois Truffaut. Citizens in seventy-five French cities formed “flash mobs” with a distinctively new-wave aesthetic sensibility to protest prime minister Francois Hollande’s plan to redefine marriage : In every case groups of men dressed in black and . . . . Continue Reading »

Jacques Barzun, who died yesterday in San Antonio at 104, had an intellect that was recognized as widely as it ranged. Yet evident as his erudition was, as powerful his judgment, it was never apparent just what he   believed. He had surveyed the world, but where did he stand? Did his criticism . . . . Continue Reading »

Congratulations to my friend ( and fellow opponent of anti-Sharia laws ) Robert K. Vischer on his appointment as dean of the University of St. Thomas School of Law. Robert’s writing—-at Mirror of Justice and elsewhere—-always rewards attention. . . . . Continue Reading »