Richard Posner’s Delusions

The Seventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals put out its ruling on same-sex marriage yesterday. A unanimous three-judge panel declared that Wisconsin and Indiana’s refusal to recognize same-sex marriage (misdescribed by the press as a “ban”) is unconstitutional. Continue Reading »

Grace at the U.S. Open

Last night, when Roger Federer broke Gael Monfils in the third game in the fourth set in their quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open, he let out his now characteristic “come on”—no over the top combustion here, but a controlled burn, just hot enough to last for hours without exhausting itself. Fans have come to take his reserved passion for granted, but the fact that Federer always seems in control should surprise more and more as time goes on, not less and less. And last night, the superiority of his mental composure was on full display. Continue Reading »

Bare Facts

Ever since the 1965 Moynihan Report on “The Negro Family,” the rate of children born in African-American homes without fathers has been a key statistic in social science discussions and policy debates. Back then, it was 25 percent. Today, it’s 70 percent, a rate extraordinary enough to have become a standard citation in discussions ranging from rap music to African-American test scores to Ferguson, Missouri. Continue Reading »

Liberalism’s Parochialism

I remain struck by the character of the many responses I’ve read to my postings on women and politics (as well as those on race and violence). There’s been a strong tone of horror and denunciation. Of course, when it comes to social media and blogging, there’s a bias in favor of shrillness and extremism. But what I’ve been reading accords with my experiences in higher education where certain thoughts trigger an almost primitive response from liberal intellectuals. Continue Reading »

U.S. Rescues Turkmen—Christians Still Waiting

This past weekend, the United States intervened to rescue some 15,000 Shia Turkmen trapped in the northern Iraqi city of Amerli. ISIS, the Sunni Islamist group, had besieged the city for three months, and residents were without electricity and running low on food, water, and necessary medical supplies. So, on Saturday, American planes dropped more than a hundred bundles of emergency supplies to the Turkmen. British, French, and Australian military aircraft also dropped supplies. Continue Reading »

The Last Armenian Church in Myanmar

From the BBC’s News Magazine, here’s a lovely essay, “The Last Armenians of Myanmar,” about a small Armenian parish church, St. John the Baptist, in the capital city of Yangon. The Armenian community built the church in 1862, when the country was still known as Burma, and the city as Rangoon. The Armenians had come to Rangoon in the 18th century from Iran, by way of British India, following the trade routes.They established close ties to the Burmese monarchy, which donated the land for the church in the center of the city. Continue Reading »