Showing posts with label Dennis Altman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dennis Altman. Show all posts

Monday, May 25, 2015

Notes: Tuesday, February 3-Monday, May 25, 2015 (part 1 of 2)

1. A court judgement which might prove useful for countering the diversion of public discourse about Gaiety away from behaviour towards 'identity'

See the article "'Polyamorous' woman loses fight with Catholic Church", by Marianna Papadakis, dated February 17, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

Warning: This article contains references which might scandalise some readers:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/polyamorous-woman-loses-fight-with-catholic-church-20150217-13gtv9.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Dennis Altman, G.L.B.T.

2. Dr. Himmelfarb on a couple of the principles of Liberalism

2.1 "Inevitably the elevation of the idea of liberty has led to the debasement of the idea of authority. As particular authorities have become suspect, so also has the very idea of authority. Deprived of legitimacy, of any presumption of right, authority is reduced to nothing more than the exercise of power or force."

The quotation in that headline comes from p. 8 of the introduction to John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, edited with an introduction by Dr. Gertrude Himmelfarb, published, in Pelican Books, by Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1974. Cf. error no. 60 of the Syllabus of Errors:
Auctoritas nihil aliud est nisi numeri et materialium virium summa.
[p. 174, Acta Sanctæ Sedis Vol. III (A.D. MDCCCLXVII):
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ass/documents/ASS-03-1867-ocr.pdf
Dr. Deferrari translated that as
Authority is nothing more than numbers and the sum of material strengths (26).
(the "(26)" is a reference to the Allocution Maxima quidem, whence the error was proximately derived)
Dz. 1760, p. 440, The Sources of Catholic Dogma, translated by Roy J. Deferrari from the Thirtieth Edition of Henry Denzinger's Enchiridion Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, published by Loreto Publications, Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, U.S.A., third Loreto printing 2007]
That quotation from Dr. Himmelfarb led me to see that error in a slightly different light to that in which I had previously viewed it. Previously, I had seen it as a condemnation of an error about the nature of authority, but that quotation makes me think that, although the condemnation does of course apply to such an error, it can also be seen as a condemnation of a denial of the very existence of authority, so that the condemned error could also by expressed as something like 'There is no such thing as authority; when people talk about authority, they really only mean the possession of physical force'.

Labels: liberalism, morals

2.2 "Against the [Wolfenden ]Commission’s claim that private morality and immorality were ‘not the law’s business’, [Lord ]Devlin argued that ‘the suppression of vice is as much the law’s business as the suppression of subversive activities; it is no more possible to define a sphere of private morality than it is to define one of private subversive activity’."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolations, in that headline comes from p. 41 of the introduction to John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, edited with an introduction by Dr. Gertrude Himmelfarb, published, in Pelican Books, by Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1974. Cf. the following:
With his customary intuition, Marcel Lefebvre immediately got to the heart of the CDF theologian’s argument[ in the C.D.F.'s March 9, 1987 reply to Msgr. Lefebvre's Dubia concerning Dignitatis humanæ which were submitted in October 1985]: it was the so-called “social space of autonomous activity” where because of his dignity the person can act publicly in religious matters without the State intervening."
[p. 546, Marcel Lefebvre, by Msgr. Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, translated from the French by Brian Sudlow, with additional material from Rev. Sebastian Wall of The Society of St. Pius X., published by Angelus Press, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A., first printing—April 2004]
For more discussion of Lord Devlin's thesis, see the article "The Limits of Law" (especially §2), by Dr. John Stanton-Ife, downloaded from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's website:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/law-limits/

Labels: law, liberalism, morals

3. "Women dance in St Mary's Cathedral last Sunday, 8 February, as members of Sydney's Sudanese Catholic community celebrate the feast of St Josephine Bakhita[. … ] The Mass, presided over by the Archbishop of Sydney, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP, and attended by more than 1000 worshippers, was both a colourful and proud occasion in typical African style, full of singing and dancing as the community came together in celebration."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation replacing some of the original text, in that headline is part of the three-line caption of a half-page photograph, in the centre of its page, headlined "Sudanese sing, dance on their saint's day", no byline (though the photo was credited to "GIOVANNI PORTELLI", i.e., Giovanni Portelli Photography), p. 3 (though really the front cover, because the first, second, second-last, and last pages (the latter two were pp. 27 and 28, respectively) of that week's issue of The Catholic Weekly were an advertising wrap-around), The Catholic Weekly, February 15, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4762, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.

See also
  • the Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese, report "Sydney's Sudanese Community to Celebrate Their Feast Day With Archbishop at St Mary's Cathedral", dated February 5, 2015, downloaded from The Archdiocese of Sydney's official website, which (report) mentions that "the Mass will feature more than 50 Sudanese dancers" who "have been in rehearsals for more than eight weeks" (the latter quotation is part of one attributed to "Sudanese-born Anna Dimo, the Archdiocese of Sydney's full-time Pastoral Worker for the Sudanese Catholic Community"; see also the accompanying photo of the dancers rehearsing in a church):
    http://www.sydneycatholic.org/news/latest_news/2015/201525_1572.shtml
  • the Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese, report "Sudanese Catholic Community give Thanks to Archbishop Anthony", dated February 9, 2015, downloaded from The Archdiocese of Sydney's official website, in which (report) Ms Dimo is quoted as saying that "[w]e thought there'd be 50 Sudanese dancers but on the day we had 66 dancers" and that the "choir, dancers and musicians have been rehearsing since last November":
    http://www.sydneycatholic.org/news/latest_news/2015/201529_1659.shtml
  • the Giovanni Portelli Photography page on Facebook (I'm not on Facebook, so I haven't seen that page myself, but it came up on Google)
Labels: Anthony Fisher, liturgical dancing, liturgy, N.O.M.

4. Some recent Gay/sport items

4.1 "Mardi Gras 2015: Anti-homophobia sports float will be highlight of parade"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an article by Mr. Michael Koziol, dated March 4, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/mardi-gras-2015-antihomophobia-sports-float-will-be-highlight-of-parade-20150306-13upsz.html?skin=text-only

Labels: G.L.B.T., sport

4.2 "NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn said the bank approached the AFL last year about using the NAB Challenge as a platform to raise awareness of the LGBTI community", and now "footy’s first [Gay ]“Pride Cup” match will be played between Sydney and Fremantle during this month’s NAB Challenge" (and such a match might become an annual A.F.L. event)

The quotations (excluding my square-bracketed parenthesis) and other information in that headline come from the article "AFL set to launch gay pride game to tackle homophobia during NAB Challenge", by Mr. Michael Warner, dated March 4, 2015, downloaded from the Herald Sun's website:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-set-to-launch-gay-pride-game-to-tackle-homophobia-during-nab-challenge/story-fni5f22o-1227248255109

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "AFL's rainbow warriors", with the same author, on p. 71 in the "SPORT" section of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Thursday, March 5, 2015, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

There are some hearty laughs to be had in the comments section there, though some of it is low-brow.

Labels: G.L.B.T., sport

4.3 "Getting sportsmen together on a [Gay Mardi Gras ]float was an idea that came from NSW Sports Minis-ter Stuart Ayres"; he "wrote to all the major sports' CEOs late last year to encourage them and their athletes to participate."

The quotations, excluding my square-bracketed parenthesis, in that headline (note that the dash in "Minister" was because the word spanned two lines) come from the article "Sports stars get on board in Mardi Gras show of support", by Mr. Phil Rothfield ("SPORTS EDITOR-AT-LARGE"), on p. 108 in the "NRL" pages of the "SPORT" section of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Friday, March 6, 2015, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., apparently not available at the Tele's website.

Labels: G.L.B.T., sport

4.4 "Football Federation Australia is set to unveil an advisory group focusing on anti-homophobia and the organisation's Head of Community and Women's football, Emma Highwood, says the next stage will turn its attention towards the A-League which has the greatest reach to football's widest audience."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Football gets onboard with other athletes to support the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras", by Mr. Dominic Bossi, dated March 6, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/football-gets-onboard-with-other-athletes-to-support-the-gay-and-lesbian-mardi-gras-20150306-13wxdw.html?skin=text-only

(I first read that article in the version printed under the headline "FFA set to lead way in battle against homophobia", with the same author, on pp. 52 f. in the "FOOTBALL" pages of the "SPORT" section of The Sydney Morning Herald, weekend edition, March 7-8, 2015, Issue No. 55351, ISSN 0312-6315, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., sport

4.5 "Three weeks ago the game's[, i.e., rugby union's,] governing body internationally, World Rugby, signed a historic memorandum of understanding with International Gay Rugby, to work together to promote equality and eliminate homophobia in rugby."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the article "Stephen Moore, Michael Cheika back David Pocock on homophobia stance", by Georgina Robinson, dated March 24, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/stephen-moore-michael-cheika-back-david-pocock-on-homophobia-stance-20150324-1m6i6t.html?skin=text-only

See also
  • the press release "World Rugby signs historic agreement with International Gay Rugby", dated March 5, 2015, downloaded from World Rugby's official website:
    http://www.worldrugby.org/news/59705
  • the news item "2015-03-05: World Rugby signs historic agreement with International Gay Rugby", downloaded from International Gay Rugby's official website:
    http://igrab.net/news-2015-03-05.htm
Labels: G.L.B.T. sport

5. "for the first time, we have ensured that 80 per cent of Australian foreign aid investments must address gender issues"

The quotation in that headline was attributed to The Hon. Sen. Michaelia Cash (Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women) in the opinion piece "Deadline: 2015 the year to end violence against women", by Dr. Anne Summers A.O., dated March 6, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/deadline-2015-the-year-to-end-violence-against-women-20150305-13wbws.html?skin=text-only

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Our top 2015 non-negotiable priority", with the same byline, on p. 36 in the "NEWS REVIEW" section of The Sydney Morning Herald, weekend edition, March 7-8, 2015, Issue No. 55351, ISSN 0312-6315, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: feminism, foreign affairs

6. Some recent items regarding 'established religion'

6.1 March 9, 1826: "Letters patent issued in London form a Church and School Corporation, giving the Anglican Church the status of an established religion in NSW with the right to Crown land and control of the school system."

The quotation in that headline comes from the item for the year 1826 in the "ON THIS DAY" column, no author credited (though Mr. Troy Lennon is credited as the history editor in the page's main article), of the history page (p. 28 of the relevant issue) of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Monday, March 9, 2015, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.

See also item 10.2 of this "Notes" post.

Labels: Anglicans, colonialism, N.S.W.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Whitmonday, A.D. 2015

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Notes: Tuesday, January 1-Tuesday, February 12, 2013 (part 1 of 2)

1. "With developments in philosophical thought and in ways of understanding the modern State, the doctrine of tolerance, as worked out in detail by Pius XII, no longer seemed sufficient."

The quotation, including its hyperlink, in that headline comes from ""It was a splendid day" - Reflections of His Holiness Benedict XVI, published for the first time on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council", from "Castel Gandolfo, on the Feast of Saint Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli, 2 August 2012", appearing in L'Osservatore Romano on October 11, 2012. (I found that web-page at the Vatican website's page for the Year of Faith, which (Year) began on the same day (October 11, 2012, the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the II. Vatican Council).) The Catholic World Report said that that L'Osservatore Romano essay/article "is the introduction to a collection of [H]is[ Holiness's] writings on the Council, to be published in German next month[, i.e., November 2012]". Vatican Radio said that
Penned this past summer in Castel Gandolfo, the article is in fact the preface to a collection of writings by the young Prof. Joseph Ratzinger at the time of the Council, which, however, have never been published. Edited by Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, [current Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – ed], the complete collection is due to be published in Germany , by Herder.
[square-bracketed interpolation in the original,
"Pope pens rare article on his inside view of Vatican II", Vatican Radio, October 10, 2012]
And judging by that Vatican Radio article, the Holy Father's article was published not on Thursday, October 11, 2012, but on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, in "a special edition[ of L'Osservatore Romano] dedicated to Vatican II", though L'Osservatore Romano's website has a version of the article dated October 11, 2012, with the body of the article under the headline "It was a splendid day, Benedict XVI recalls".

For discussion of that article, see AQ, Ignis Ardens, or Rorate Cæli (which gives the date of the relevant issue of L'Osservatore Romano as October 10-11, 2012).

(It was a splendid day came to my attention via the printing of excerpts from it in the "THE CHURCH AROUND THE WORLD" item "Pope Benedict XVI recalls Vatican II" on p. 4 in AD 2000, Vol. 25, No. 11, December 2012-January 2013, published by Peter Westmore for the Thomas More Centre in Balwyn, Victoria, Australia; the item's stated source was L'Osservatore Romano. That "CHURCH AROUND THE WORLD" report is available online at the AD 2000 website here.)

Labels: Americanism, Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Dignitatis Humanæ, religious liberty, Vatican II

2. "The QUEEN has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 31 December 2012 to declare that all the children of the eldest son of The Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of Royal Highness with the titular dignity of Prince or Princess prefixed to their Christian names or with such other titles of honour."

The quotation in that headline is the body of a notice (Notice Code: 1108) in The London Gazette, Issue No. 60384, p. 213, Tuesday, January 8, 2013. (One can also find the text of the notice by going to the "Advanced Search" page of The London Gazette website and entering part of the quotation in the "With the exact phrase:" field.)

(That notice came to my attention via the article "If it's a girl, Kate's baby to be a princess", no byline, on p. 24 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Friday, January 11, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2743, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., apparently not available online.)

Labels: styles and titles

3. "As far as I[, Michael Costigan,] know there is no special significance in the fact that some of the [Vatican II ]documents are introduced in this publication [, namely, THE DOCUMENTS OF VATICAN II: With Notes and Index ("Vatican Translation"), 2009 edition, St Pauls Publications ]as “solemnly promulgated”, others as “promulgated” and several as “proclaimed”."

The quotation in that headline comes from the book review "Up-to-date collection of Vatican II documents", by Michael Costigan, dated January 13, 2013, downloaded from the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=3&subclassID=20&articleID=11537&class=Features&subclass=Books

(That book review came to my attention via the version printed with the same headline and the same byline on p. 14 (the "Books" page) of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, January 13, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4655, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd. The quoted portion of the online version is the same as the corresponding part of the print version except that the latter has a dash after the "u" in "documents".)

Labels: Vatican II

4. "In 1985 when the Australian Human Rights Commission bill passed the House of Representatives, it was intended to be the enforcement mechanism for cognate legislation, the Australian Bill of Rights Bill."

The quotation in that headline comes from a letter by Peter Breen to The Sydney Morning Herald, dated January 15, 2013, downloaded from the Herald's website where it is available with other letters under the headline "Distorted analysis adds fuel to the racial hatred fire":

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/distorted-analysis-adds-fuel-to-the-racial-hatred-fire-20130114-2cppf.html?skin=text-only

Labels: A.H.R.C.

5. "There were about 29,000 Medicare-supported terminations in 2009 in NSW/ACT."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Using science to give birth to a better world", by Nicky Phillips , dated January 19, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/using-science-to-give-birth-to-a-better-world-20130118-2cykz.html?skin=text-only

That article also reports that "The highest proportion of women who terminate a pregnancy are at either end of their reproductive life - in their teens or above 40." The second part of that disjunction came as a surprise to me, for the reason given at the beginning of the article:
Most women think their fertility slowly declines with age.

''But it's actually a precipitous cliff from about age 34,'' reproductive biologist John Aitken says …
(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline (as part of the "LUNCH WITH" series of profiles) and with the same byline on p. 10 of the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, January 19-20, 2013, No. 54690 (presumably, though the front cover said "54,69"), ISSN 0312-6315.)

(While searching unsuccessfully on Google for the ultimate source for the quotation in the headline of this item (item 5), I found a document whose publication details I wish to record for possible future reference to it; it is Briefing Paper No. 9/05 ("Abortion and the law in New South Wales"), by Talina Drabsch (from, and written for, the New South Wales Parliamentary Library Research Service), August 2005, © 2005, ISSN 1325-4456, ISBN 0 7313 1784 X:

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/4b0ec8db3b4a730dca2570610021aa58/$FILE/Abortion%20&%20index.pdf

Labels: abortion, Medicare

6. "It's also about[, i.e., "special rights being claimed by religious groups" are "also about"] the ongoing push by the religious right to define homosexuality as behaviour and to prevent it being protected as an innate part of a person's identity, as is gender and colour."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Exemptions for religious groups keep fears alive", by Brian Greig, dated January 22, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/exemptions-for-religious-groups-keep-fears-alive-20130121-2d2f8.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Dennis Altman, G.L.B.T.

7. "Worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation, the abortion rate has dropped from 50-60 million a year to an estimated 46 million a year, a figure that includes 20 million illegal abortions."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "A woman's right to choose still a public battlefield", by Miriam Claire, dated January 22, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/a-womans-right-to-choose-still-a-public-battlefield-20130121-2d31w.html?skin=text-only

Labels: abortion

8. Mr. Nicholls on Mr. O'Farrell's motive for calling "an inquiry into how the state's racial vilification laws are operating in NSW"

See the article "Look behind Premier's motive", by Sean Nicholls, on p. 11 of the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, January 26-27, 2013, No. 54696 (presumably, though the front cover said "64,696"), ISSN 0312-6315, available online under the same headline and with the same byline, dated January 26, 2013, at the Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/look-behind-premiers-motive-20130125-2dbz9.html?skin=text-only

See also the follow-up article "Failure to prosecute rioters means laws need closer look - O'Farrell", by Sean Nicholls, dated January 28, 2013, downloaded from the Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/failure-to-prosecute-rioters-means-laws-need-closer-look--ofarrell-20130127-2dey4.html?skin=text-only

That follow-up article reported that Mr. O'Farrell "nominated the Muslim riot in central Sydney last year as one reason why an inquiry is needed into whether the state's racial vilification laws need strengthening." But the author of the Middle East Reality Check blog says that
… Sydney's so-called Muslim riot* occurred on September 15 last year. [Mr. O'Farrell], however, first announced his inquiry months before at an "Israel Independence Day cocktail event" in May. …
[asterisk, bold type, and italics in the original,
"Not So Fast, Baruch O'Farrell", no author credited, Tuesday, January 29, 2013,
http://middleeastrealitycheck.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/not-so-fast-baruch-ofarrell.html]
Labels: Barry O'Farrell, racism, State of Israel

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order, Confessors, A.D. 2013

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Notes: Tuesday, July 17-Tuesday, July 31, 2012

1. A couple of points of interest from "Partnership of dioceses leads to witness in schools", by Tracey Edstein, on p. 6 of the June 2012 issue (No. 114) of Aurora, the magazine of The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle

(It's available from that Diocese's website, and came to my attention via the version published under the headline "Catholic, Anglican bishops renew tri-diocesan pact" on p. 21 in the "Regional Round-up" section of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, Vol. 71, No. 4624, June 3, 2012.)

1.1 An amusing definition of ecumenism

by The Lord Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle (though His Lordship disagrees with it):
Our ecumenical people meet with your ecumenical people and we have a lovely time together!
Labels: ecumenism

1.2 Msgr. Wright's "message of Christian care and service rather than a message of belief or conversion"

This is the last paragraph of that article:
A feature of the Service of Worship was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, giving expression to the Covenant through a pastoral care partnership. This partnership sponsors and supports Chaplains/Pastoral Care Workers in the schools of the regions served by the three dioceses. Bishop Bill said, "It is our prayer that through this ministry, students, their families and school staffs will come to experience the loving compassion of Jesus Christ: a message of Christian care and service rather than a message of belief or conversion."
Labels: Bill Wright

2. Some links to reports which contain recent Papal mentions of the Second Vatican Council or its Catechism or both

http://www.news.va/en/news/presentation-of-the-year-of-faith

http://www.news.va/en/news/papal-message-closes-fiftieth-international-euchar

http://www.news.va/en/news/blessed-are-the-peacemakers

http://www.news.va/en/news/the-church-must-preach-truth-and-justice

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-recalls-time-as-conciliar-expert-in-nemi

Labels: C.E.C., Vatican II

3. "Obama admin video tells Pentagon ‘Being gay isn’t about sex; it’s about life’"

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/obama-admin-video-tells-pentagon-being-gay-isnt-about-sex-its-about-life

(That article came to my attention via this AQ post of it.)

I log that quotation in relation to the observation by the Australian Gay activist Prof. Dennis Altman that
The greatest single victory of the gay movement over the past decade has been to shift the debate from behavior to identity, thus forcing opponents into a position where they can be seen as attacking the civil rights of homosexual citizens rather than attacking specific and (as they see it) antisocial behavior.
[http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2008/05/01/on-relationship-recognition/]
Labels: Dennis Altman, G.L.B.T.

4. On some recent developments regarding 'family planning'

4.1 "the Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, said Australia would double its overseas aid for family planning programs to more than $50 million a year by 2016"; "[a]t least $70 million over the next four years will go to the United Nations Population Fund to promote equitable access to family planning", and "[a]n extra $10 million will be given to the International Planned Parenthood Federation program to ensure people caught in disasters can gain access to reproductive health services." Furthermore, a "London conference, organised by the British government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is set to refocus on the issue and garner $2 billion in pledges by 2020."

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/focus-on-family-planning-as-carr-doubles-foreign-aid-20120711-21wdw.html?skin=text-only

See also "Abortion aid 'won't help save lives of mothers in childbirth'", by Damir Govorcin, p. 7, the Sydney Catholic Weekly, Vol. 71, No. 4631, July 22, 2012, apparently available on-line, but behind a paywall, here; the following is my transcription:
Mr[ Paul] Hanrahan[, executive director of Family Life International, "Australia's largest Catholic pro-life org-anisation"] said the Rio +20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in Brazil recently failed to deliver what the population controllers wanted - a univer-sal 'right' to abortion.
"Obviously, the 'major fam-ily planning summit' in Lon-don which Mr Carr will at-tend, is a pathetic attempt to carry out the Rio + 20 agenda by a circuitous route, via friendly diplomats and gov-ernments, mainly in the West-ern world," he said.
Labels: contraception

4.2 "The British government is pledging to double its efforts on family planning, raising its spending from £90 million ($137 million) a year to £180 million."

http://www.smh.com.au/world/faith-in-contraception-puts-gates-on-collision-course-with-the-vatican-20120712-21yx7.html?skin=text-only

Labels: contraception

5. "The 2011 annual surveillance report into HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia, compiled by The Kirby Institute at the University of NSW" says that while "HIV transmission primarily occurred through sexual contact between men, about 25 per cent occurred through heterosexual contact."

http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/hiv-no-longer-means-certain-death-20120714-222rn.html?skin=text-only

Labels: G.L.B.T., H.I.V./A.I.D.S.

6. The text of an interview with Msgr. Di Noia

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articolo/society-of-st-pius-x-di-noia-16482/

(That came to my attention via this AQ post of it.)

Labels: Augustine Di Noia

7. Mr. Copland—"the political editor of ACT queer magazine FUSE" and "the convenor of the ACT Greens"—on "an ongoing problem with the queer movement where people[ such as polyamorists] who don’t fit into the mainstream queer mould are being excluded from the debate, with claims that they are ruining our chances to reach equality"

http://www.starobserver.com.au/opinion/soapbox-opinion/2012/06/14/we-need-to-return-to-our-liberation-roots/79005

(That came to my attention via this Australian article.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., polyamory

8. The Statement, given at Ecône, on July 14, 2012, of the General Chapter of The Society of St. Pius X. to Rome

http://www.dici.org/en/news/society-of-st-pius-x-general-chapter-statement/

The Statement has also been posted on the "Announcements" page of the S.S.P.X.'s District of Australia website.

Labels: S.S.P.X.

9. Dr. Feser on, among other things, how he "came to see that existing naturalistic accounts of language and meaning were no good"

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/road-from-atheism.html

See also this interview with Dr. Feser, which came to my attention via the version published as "New Atheism 'is devoid of moral, intellectual merit'", "A conversation with Dr Edward Feser, university professor, author, philosopher and former atheist", by Damir Govorcin, on pp. 11 f. in the "Connections" section of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, Vol. 71, No. 4631, July 22, 2012.

Labels: languages

10. "Men work twice as long as women in paid employment; women work twice as long as men in unpaid employment at home."

http://www.smh.com.au/national/statistics-confirm-its-still-a-mans-world-20120727-22zki.html?skin=text-only

(That article came to my attention via the version published as "Statistics confirm it's still a man's world", by Tim Colebatch "with Andrew Stevenson", p. 10, "News" section, The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, July 28-29, 2012, No. 54542, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Presuambly the source for the quotation in that headline is ultimately the "Engagement in work (employment related and unpaid)" page at the website of The Australian Bureau of Statistics (A.B.S.), where it says that
While in 2006 males spent nearly twice as long as females on employment related activities, females on average spent nearly double the time spent by males on primary activities associated with unpaid work.
and proximately the A.B.S.'s media release "Men fare worse than women in education, health and crime", July 27, 2012, which has a link to the "Gender Indicators" page, which in turn has a link to a "Time use" page (in the context of "Work and Family Balance"), where there is a link to the ultimate source.

Labels: work

11. Mr. Creighton on the intentions of the Federal Government's childcare policies:
JUDGED by its intentions, the Australian government's childcare policies are superb.

"Gone are the days when this sector was considered a babysitting service," trumpeted Childcare Minister Kate Ellis this week, as she foreshadowed $22.3 billion of spending on early childhood services over the next four years.

[… ]According to the federal government, that money aims to ensure "nurturing, culturally appropriate, safe and socially inclusive" care for children in "approved childcare services", whose parents in turn enjoy "workforce participation choices".

[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/broken-puzzle-of-childcare/story-fn59niix-1226431226541]
(That article came to my attention via its publication under the same headline ("Broken puzzle of childcare"), by the same author (Adam Creighton), on p. 15 in the "Inquirer" section of The Weekend Australian, Second Edition, No. 14866, ISSN 1038-8761, July 21-22, 2012, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: childcare

12. Mr. Unwin on historical Masonic influence in Manitoba, Canada:
I spend my final evening creeping through the corridors of the Manitoba Legislative Building. Built between 1913 and 1920 by British architect Frank Worthington Simon, this grand edifice is the ultimate monument to Winnipeg's good times. My guide is local author Frank Albo, whose bestselling Hermetic Code unlocks a world of occult mystery smuggled into the architecture.

"Everything is hidden in plain view," he tells our wide-eyed tour group as he reveals Masonic codes, hieroglyphic inscriptions and an intriguing hotchpotch of Christian and pagan symbolism.

Manitoba's legislators (all Freemasons, it turns out) believed they were reconstructing nothing less than Solomon's Temple amid the prairies. It's gripping stuff. But what really catches my eye are the two magnificent stone bison either side of the great marble steps to the upper chamber - a Manitoban take on the totemic wild boars of classical temples.

[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/holiday-at-the-heart/story-e6frg8rf-1226430230929]
(That article came to my attention via the version published under the same headline ("Holiday at the heart"), by the same author (Mike Unwin), on p. 8 of the "Travel & Indulgence" supplement of The Weekend Australian, Second Edition, No. 14866, ISSN 1038-8761, July 21-22, 2012, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: Freemasons

13. "A study published in medical journal Psychosomatic Medicine found mums and dads were 52 per cent less likely to catch a cold compared to those couples without children", "[a]nd the bigger the family, the better mum and dad's odds of staying healthy, research by Carnegie Mellon University found."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/parents-less-likely-to-catch-their-childs-cold/story-e6freuy9-1226422949125

(That article came to my attention via the version published under the same headline ("Parents less likely to catch their child's cold"), by the same authors (Lisa Power and Samantha Malagre), on p. 07 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Vol. 1, No. 2589, ISSN 1038-8745, Wednesday, July 11, 2012, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: families, health

14. "Secret minutes of a meeting on June 30 also revealed that the leadership of the Australian Young Greens party wanted to push for a public debate on polyamorous marriage, which allows people to have several wives or husbands."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/greens-caught-recruiting-youth-on-refugee-issue/story-fnejm6bt-1226423536728

(That article came to my attention via the version published under the headline "Greens use refugees as lure", by the same author (Simon Benson), on p. 11 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Vol. 1, No. 2589, ISSN 1038-8745, Wednesday, July 11, 2012, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: Greens, polyamory

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Confessor, A.D. 2012

Monday, February 6, 2012

Notes: Wednesday, January 18-Monday, February 6, 2012 (part 2 of 2)

9. "Toonen v Australia (UN Human Rights Committee, 1994) established the important international precedent that anti-sodomy laws are a human rights violation"

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/putting-ideals-into-practice-20120125-1qi4k.html?skin=text-only

Labels: G.L.B.T., human rights, U.N.O.

10. "'For a much older generation, gay is the act of having sex with someone of the same gender. But the post-Stonewall generation defines gay or lesbian as someone's nature. Who they are attracted to, who they connect with. It's something much deeper than just a sexual act"

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/macho-maestro-milks-the-fbi-legend-20120125-1qhmc.html?skin=text-only

I log that quotation in relation to the obervation by the Australian Gay activist Prof. Dennis Altman that
The greatest single victory of the gay movement over the past decade has been to shift the debate from behavior to identity, thus forcing opponents into a position where they can be seen as attacking the civil rights of homosexual citizens rather than attacking specific and (as they see it) antisocial behavior.
[http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2008/05/01/on-relationship-recognition/]
Labels: Dennis Altman, G.L.B.T.

11. Mr. Verrecchio on Dignitatis humanæ, the Social Reign of Christ, religious liberty, and (on) some observations by Fr. Murray

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40534

Labels: Church and State, Dignitatis Humanæ, John Murray, religious liberty, Social Reign of Christ

12. Part of the reason why an ordinary woman, unlike, mutatis mutandis, an ordinary man, cannot necessarily provide at least the necessities of life for herself, her husband, and those of their children who are too young to marry:
… A woman committed to following the World Health Organisation guidelines must be in almost continuous contact with her child as its exclusive food source for six months. She must then commit extensive time and effort to breast-feeding (or pumping) as a supplement for an-other 18 months or more. (It's worth bearing in mind that WHO guidelines have developing countries particularly in mind, where formula is often prepared in unsanitary conditions, using dirty water, with predictably bad health out-comes for babies.) …
[dashes in the original,
I transcribed that from the article "The Mother Load" in The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Weekend magazine of January 28, 2012; the quotation comes from page fourteen.
Fairfax's "Essential Baby" website has an edited extract from that article, which (extract) seems to contain the same text as that in my transcript (except for the dashes, which, in the print edition, occured when a word spanned two lines of text).]
Labels: economics, families

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Titus, Bishop, Confessor, and of St. Dorothy, Virgin, Martyr, A.D. 2012

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Notes: Wednesday, July 13-Tuesday, July 19, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. Interesting discussion on Assisi III

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/07/card-levada-opines-about-the-upcoming-assisi-meeting/#comments

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue

2. Mr. Muehlenberg on the A.B.C. and its recent Compass episode on so-called gay marriage

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/07/11/the-abc-should-be-put-out-of-its-misery/

(See also Mr. Clarkson's comment of 13.7.11 / 2pm in that post's combox; his comment deals with the first episode of what was apparently a two-part series.) The remarks by Prof. Altman as recorded in the episode transcript are of particular interest. (See this web-page for a follow-up piece by Mr. Muehlenberg on one of those remarks and gay polyamory.)

Labels: A.B.C., Compass, Dennis Altman, Frank Brennan, G.L.B.T., marriage, morality, polyamory

3. Msgr. de Galarreta with some quotations from then-Cardinal Ratzinger

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38113

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger

4. Fr. Zuhlsdorf on the nine ways in which one might "participate in the sin of another person"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/07/quaeritur-participation-in-the-sins-of-other-people/

Labels: morality

5. "[Ireland's] Justice Minister Alan Shatter vowed to bring in ... new laws" under which priests "will be jailed for up to five years if they fail to report paedophiles to gardai -- even if they are told of the abuse in the confession box"

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/priests-will-be-jailed-if-they-dont-report-abuse-2821151.html

(That web-page came to my attention via this AQ comment.) Related coverage:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/vatican-ignored-abuse-guidelines-irish-report-finds-20110714-1hfxt.html?skin=text-only

http://www.smh.com.au/world/irish-child-abuse-report-attacks-vatican-and-powerful-bishop-20110714-1hfzy.html?skin=text-only

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=27239

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38149

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38195

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38200

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=27270

Labels: Alan Shatter, Ireland, sexual abuse

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Notes: Thursday, December 2, 2010


4. Cardinal Bertone on religious liberty

I would be interested to learn what the ellipsis in the third paragraph replaced:

CARDINAL BERTONE ADDRESSES OSCE SUMMIT IN KAZAKHSTAN

VATICAN CITY, 1 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Made public today was the address delivered by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. before the summit meeting of heads of State and government of the fifty-six members of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), being held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 1 and 2 December.

Cardinal Bertone affirmed that the Holy See "does not cease to reiterate that the aim of States should be to protect and respect that human dignity which unites the entire human family. This unity is rooted in four fundamental principles: the centrality of the human person, of solidarity, of subsidiarity and of the common good. These principles harmonise well with the overall concept of security, which is the foundation of our organisation, and are a constant reminder which the political community must bear in mind".

"The CSCE and the OSCE have always had the promotion and protection of human rights in their respective agendas", said Cardinal Bertone. "These fundamental freedoms include the right to religious freedom. ... Developments of recent years and the progress made in drafting the various texts adopted by the OSCE show, with increasingly clarity, that religious freedom can exist in different social systems".

"Closely related to the denial of religious freedom is religiously-motivated intolerance and discrimination, especially against Christians. It is well documented that Christians are the most discriminated and persecuted religious group. Over 200 million of them, belonging to different denominations, live in difficult conditions because of legal and cultural structures".

[...] Finally the cardinal underlined the ongoing validity of the "ten principles" of the Helsinki Conference, stressing that "the commitments agreed by the OSCE are strong and noble. They are supported by a robust mandate and by the principle of consent. The Holy See reaffirms these commitments and encourages the organisation to stand firm on them".
SS/ VIS 20101201 (420)

5. More from Prof. Altman on gay strategy: The nexus between 'gay rights' and 'multiculturalism'

On several occasions, Mr. Muehlenberg has quoted at his blog the following observation by Australian 'gay rights' activist Prof. Dennis Altman:

The greatest single victory of the gay movement over the past decade has been to shift the debate from behavior to identity, thus forcing opponents into a position where they can be seen as attacking the civil rights of homosexual citizens rather than attacking specific and (as they see it) antisocial behavior.
[http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2008/05/01/on-relationship-recognition/]

In a book review in late 2008, Prof. Altman elaborated a little, in passing, on how that "shift" occurred successfully:

Sharman was of the generation [the person to whom Prof. Altman refers "[grew] up gay in the '50s"] that saw homosexuality move from a hidden and illegal activity to a social movement and now as yet another identity within multicultural Australia. He stood aside from gay politics and his autobiography rarely mentions the political explicitly. Yet his work has always been of political significance in the broader sense and Blood and Tinsel reminds us how much of his work helped us reimagine sexuality and gender.
[my emphasis,
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/anna-bemrose-robert-helpmann-a-servant-of-art/story-e6frg8no-1111118266435]

Interesting the way in which the rise of the Sodomites' League ties in with 'multiculturalism'.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Bibiana, Virgin, Martyr, A.D. 2010