Notes: Wednesday, January 1-Monday, February 10, 2014 (part 1 of 2)

1. "Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning abortion advertising"

The quotation in that headline comes from the blog post "Russia Chooses Life", by Steven W. Mosher, undated (though posted some time in 2013), downloaded from the Population Research Institute's website:

http://www.pop.org/content/russia-chooses-life

(That blog post came to my attention via this True Catholic
thread.)

Labels: abortion, Russia, Vladimir Putin

2. According to Sir Paul Coleridge, in the U.K. "cohabiting parents account for only 19 per cent of all couples — but the separation of cohabiting parents makes up 48 per cent of all family breakdowns", and "a child born today has only a 50% chance of living with both parents by the time they are 15"

The quotations, including the bold type, in that headline come respectively from the opinion piece "What does it say about our values when a judge is rebuked for speaking up for marriage?", by Stephen Glover, dated December 18, 2013, downloaded from the MailOnline:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2526082/What-does-say-values-judge-rebuked-speaking-marriage.html

and from the text of the Welcome and Introduction (for the Marriage Foundation Conference "For the Sake of the Kids — Relationships Education: the problem, policy and practice"), by The Hon. Mr. Justice Paul Coleridge Q.C. (the English High Court's family division judge), downloaded from The Marriage Foundation's website:

http://www.marriagefoundation.org.uk/Web/Content/Default.aspx?Content=452

(The latter came to my attention via the article "Teach married couples about monogamy for sake of the children, says High Court judge", by John Bingham, dated December 5, 2013, downloaded from the London Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/divorce/10497368/Teach-married-couples-about-monogamy-for-sake-of-the-children-says-High-Court-judge.html)

Labels: cohabitation, demography, families, vice

3. Some figures on abortion in Australia

See the inset "Abortion statistics in Australia" in the article "Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi hits out at 'pro-death' abortion, step-families, IR laws", by Latika Bourke, dated (or, at least, last updated) Monday, January 6, 2014, downloaded from the A.B.C.'s website:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-06/cory-bernardi-says-pro-choice-is-pro-death/5183852

Labels: abortion

4. "Update on 'Justice Equality Defense and Immigration Minister' of Ireland, Israeli Nationalist, Alan Shatter"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of a blog post by Maurice Pinay, dated Thursday, January 2, 2014, downloaded from his eponymous blog:

http://mauricepinay.blogspot.com/2014/01/update-on-justice-equality-defense-and.html

Labels: Alan Shatter, Ireland

5. "Husbands living in a "harem" with multiple wives have been cleared to claim state benefits for all their different partners."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Muslim husbands with more than one wife to get extra benefits as ministers recognise polygamy", no byline, dated February 3, 2008, downloaded from the MailOnline:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512043/Muslim-husbands-wife-extra-benefits-ministers-recognise-polygamy.html

(That article came to my attention via this blog post by Mr. Muehlenberg.)

Labels: families, law, marriage, polyamory, U.K.

6. "The lesbian couple are the girl's legal parents because they were in a defacto relationship when she was born and therefore the "father" is not considered a parent under the law"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Gay man fights to be recognised as father of child to lesbian couple", by Janet Fife-Yeomans, dated January 8, 2014, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/gay-man-fights-to-be-recognised-as-father-of-child-to-lesbian-couple/story-fni0cx12-1226797386537

(That article came to my attention via the version printed in Thursday, January 9, 2014's issue of The Tele.)

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., law

7. Dr. Oriel on scientific findings regarding fetal pain (and on the implications of those findings for abortion law)

See the opinion piece "Abortion laws must recognise scientific changes", by Dr. Jennifer Oriel, dated January 11, 2014, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/abortion-laws-must-recognise-scientific-changes/story-e6frg6zo-1226799220817

(That opinion piece came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, with the same author, on p. 17 of the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, January 11-12, 2014, First Edition, No. 15313, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: abortion, pregnancy

8. "Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed a bill that criminalises same-sex relationships"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Nigeria criminalises same-sex relationships", by Felix Onuah, dated January 14, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/nigeria-criminalises-samesex-relationships-20140114-30raz.html?skin=text-only

Labels: G.L.B.T., law, Nigeria, vice

9. A couple of recent items regarding the risk factors for sexual abuse of children

9.1 Prof. Goodman-Delahunty on sexual abuse of children by their respective parents

See "Profiling parental child sex abuse" ("Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 465"), by Prof. Jane Goodman-Delahunty, Australian Institute of Criminology (A.I.C.), Canberra, A.C.T., Australia, January 2014, ISSN 1836-2206, downloaded from the A.I.C.'s website:

http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/461-480/tandi465.html

According to that paper, "non-biological fathers (55%) predominated"; the natural question to ask, then, is something along the lines of What percentage of fathers are non-biological? The paper seems neither to ask nor to answer such a question, but my best guess at an answer would be Significantly less than 55%.

(That paper came to my attention via the article "Sex abuse dads not victims of molesters", by John Ferguson, dated January 14, 2014, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/sex-abuse-dads-not-victims-of-molesters/story-fngburq5-1226801004198)

Labels: crime, families, sexual abuse

9.2 Dr. Sammut on non-traditional family structure as a risk factor for child sexual abuse

See the paper "The New Silence: Family Breakdown and Child Sexual Abuse" (Issue Analysis (ISSN 1440 6306) No. 142), by Dr. Jeremy Sammut, dated January 30, 2014, published by The Centre for Independent Studies, St. Leonards, N.S.W., Australia, downloaded from that Centre's website:

http://www.cis.org.au/publications/issue-analysis/article/5043-the-new-silence-family-breakdown-and-child-sexual-abuse

See also the article "Political correctness dooms kids to abuse" by Rick Morton (which brought Dr. Sammut's paper to my attention) and the opinion piece "Abuse a bigger danger in non-traditional families" by Dr. Sammut, both dated January 30, 2014, both downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/political-correctness-dooms-kids-to-abuse/story-e6frg6nf-1226813368985

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/abuse-a-bigger-danger-in-nontraditional-families/story-e6frg6zo-1226813360929

Labels: crime, families, G.L.B.T., sexual abuse

10. "Russians attack EU stance on gay rights"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an article by Ben Hoyle, dated January 17, 2014, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/russians-attack-eu-stance-on-gay-rights/story-fnb64oi6-1226803500883

Labels: E.U., G.L.B.T., Russia, Vladimir Putin

11. The latest figures on the number of Catholics in England and Wales

See the article "Roman Catholics decline in England, Wales", by Trevor Grundy, dated January 7, 2014, downloaded from the Religion News Service's website:

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/01/07/roman-catholics-decline-england-wales/

(That article came to my attention via CathNews.)

Labels: demography, social trends, U.K.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Scholastica, Virgin, A.D. 2014

Notes: Tuesday, May 21-Thursday, June 20, 2013

1. "But the State can preserve a religious identity provided it acts with neutrality and justice toward all religious groups in its territory."

The quotation in that headline comes from the Statement of His Grace The Titular Archbishop of Acelum C.S. in His Grace's capacity as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organisations in Geneva at the Twenty-Second Session of the Human Rights Council, Item 3, "Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief", dated March 6, 2013, downloaded from the official website of the Holy See Mission to the United Nations in Geneva:

http://www.holyseemissiongeneva.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14396:22nd-session-of-the-human-rights-council-report-of-the-special-rapporteur-on-freedom-of-religion

Msgr. Tomasi's Statement came to my attention via this AQ post, one of the sources for which was this CatholicCulture.org article.

See also the Vatican Radio articles "Religious freedom: cornerstone of dialogue and collaboration" (also available here) and "Archbishop Silvano Tomasi speaks on the abuse of Religious minorities in the world".

Labels: Confessional State, religious liberty, Silvano Tomasi

2. "Wealthy Russians dominate the purchase of country houses[ in England] and make up a quarter of buyers in the above-£5m bracket."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Mind your manors", by Ben Power, dated May 25, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/prestige-property/mind-your-manors/story-fn6njxlr-1226649405628

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline (though with all the letters capitalised), by the same author, on pp. 12 f. in the "WEEKEND PROPERTY" section of the "WEEKEND A PLUS" supplement of The Weekend Australian, May 25-26, 2013, First Edition, No. 15125, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: Russia, U.K.

3. A couple of recent items on income distribution in Australia

3.1 Prof. Ergas on income distribution in Australia

See the opinion piece "Taxes put bite on middle-class families", by Prof. Henry Ergas, dated May 27, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/taxes-put-bite-on-middle-class-families/story-fn7078da-1226650920952

Labels: economics, families

3.2 Prof. Whiteford on income distribution in Australia

See the article "Who gets what? Who pays for it? The welfare state debate revisited", by Prof. Peter Whiteford, dated June 4, 2013, downloaded from the Inside Story website:

http://inside.org.au/who-gets-what-who-pays-for-it-the-welfare-state-debate-revisited/

(That article came to my attention proximately via this webpage and ultimately via this blog post by Miss Edwards.)

Labels: economics, families

4. Mr. Russell on euthanasia

See the article "EUTHANASIA: NSW parliament rejects euthanasia bill", by Mr. Paul Russell, dated June 8, 2013, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=5603

Labels: euthanasia

5. "While it is estimated that 70-80 per cent of Australians with HIV were infected through homosexual contact, about 15 per cent were infected through heterosexual contact, and 3 per cent through unsafe injecting practices."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "At-risk groups focus of concern for HIV", by Sean Parnell, dated June 3, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/foi/at-risk-groups-focus-of-concern-for-hiv/story-fn8r0e18-1226655484603

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

6. A couple of points of interest from the article "Children of same-sex couples thriving: study", by Vince Chadwick, dated June 6, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

Most same-sex couples are now having children through assisted reproductive technology. Dr Crouch said that 10 years ago most children came from previous heterosexual relationships.

According to the 2011 Census, there were 6120 children under 25 in same-sex-couple families. However, Dr Crouch said due to under-reporting, the true figure could be more than double this.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/children-of-samesex-couples-thriving-study-20130605-2nqjy.html?skin=text-only]

(For more on the Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families, see the National Review Online article "Assessing the Australian Study", by Associate Professor Mark Regnerus, dated June 6, 2013 (which came to my attention via this Australian Christian Lobby post), and this post at MercatorNet's "Conjugality" blog.)

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

7. "For the first time [in Australia ]more than one million children (1,030,970) attended approved child care during the [September ]quarter, an increase of 3.9 per cent since the September quarter 2011."

The quotation in that headline, excluding my square-bracketed interpolations, comes from p. 1 of Child Care Update, September quarter 2012, ISBN: 978-1-74361-057-2, © Commonwealth of Australia, 2013, produced by the Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations (D.E.E.W.R.) on behalf of the Australian Government, and published by the D.E.E.W.R., downloaded from the "Reports" page of the Australian Government's mychild.gov.au website:

http://mychild.gov.au/pages/ResourcesReports.aspx

(Child Care Update, September quarter 2012 came to my attention via an article at The Australian's website which (article) is apparently no longer available there.)

Labels: childcare, families, social trends

8. Mr. Baker on religious liberty in America

See the article "AMERICA’S PROBLEMS WITH RELIGIOUS LIBERTY", by Mr. Michael Baker, dated May 19, 2013, downloaded from his Super flumina Babylonis website:

http://www.superflumina.org/America_problem_rel_freedom.html

Labels: religious liberty

9. "the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new LGBT Global Development Partnership" which (Partnership) "will strengthen the capacity of LGBT civil society organizations, train LGBT individuals to participate more fully in democratic processes, and undertake research on the economic impact of discrimination against LGBT individuals"

The quotations in that headline come from the press release "USAID Announces New Partnership to Promote LGBT Human Rights Abroad", from the USAID Press Office, dated Monday, April 8, 2013, downloaded from the official USAID website:

http://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/usaid-announces-new-partnership-promote-lgbt-human-rights-abroad

(That press release came to my attention ultimately via this blog post by Mr. Muehlenberg and proximately via the LifeSiteNews.com articles "Obama administration begins training homosexual activists around the world" and "Despite sequestration, Obama funds homosexual groups in other countries".)

Labels: G.L.B.T., U.S.A.

10. The Australian's position on abortion: "Our view on this matter reflects the view of the vast majority of Australians: all women should legally have access to a safe abortion if they need it, but we hope they never do."

The quotation in that headline comes from the editorial "Leave abortion out of politics", dated June 14, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/editorials/leave-abortion-out-of-politics/story-e6frg71x-1226663471678

Labels: abortion, Australian

11. Past Theological Studies articles are available here:

http://www.ts.mu.edu/readers/content/get-past-articles.html

(That came to my attention via the second comment at this Mirror of Justice post.)

Labels: theology, morality

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Silverius, Pope, Martyr, A.D. 2013

Notes: Tuesday, October 9-Monday, December 31, 2012 (part 2 of 2)

10. "The total fertility rate in Australia for 2011 was 1.88 babies per woman"

The quotation in that headline comes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (A.B.S.) media release "Record number of women over 40 having babies", dated Octoer 25, 2012, numbered 164/2012:

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/latestProducts/3301.0Media%20Release12011

See also the A.B.S. website's web-page for "3301.0 - Births, Australia, 2011":

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3301.0?OpenDocument

The "Births" page to which that web-page links says that "[o]f all births registered in 2011, 66% of births were to parents in a registered marriage".

Labels: demography, families, marriage, social trends

11. "Australia had the most generous public subsidy of assisted reproductive technology in the world, with no restrictions on maternal age, marital status, social health issues such as weight and smoking, or the number of cycles that were payable under Medicare, the spokeswoman[ "for the Department of Health and Ageing"] said."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Medicare cuts mean 1200 babies not conceived, says IVF professor", by Peter Jean and Amy Corderory, dated October 26, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/medicare-cuts-mean-1200-babies-not-conceived-says-ivf-professor-20121025-2888l.html?skin=text-only

Labels: A.R.T., Medicare

12. "Americans combine the notions of religion and liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other."

The quotation in that headline, which (quotation) is itself a quotation from Alexis de Tocqueville, comes from the opinion piece "Cup day: a race result with a difference . . .", by Mike Bailey, dated November 4, 2012, downloaded from the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=2&subclassID=81&articleID=11118&class=Comment&subclass=The Bailey Beat with Mike Bailey

(That opinion piece came to my attention via its printing under the same headline, in the same column ("The Bailey Beat with Mike Bailey"), by the same author, on p. 4 of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, November 4, 2012, Vol. 73, No. 4646, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: religious liberty, U.S.A.

13. Dr. Furtado on abortion

See the comments section here:

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=33745

and here:

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=34070

Labels: Michael Furtado

14. On November 10, 2012, by the Motu Proprio whose incipit is Latina lingua, H.H. The Pope "established the Pontifical Academy for Latin, which will be part of the Pontifical Council for Culture. The new academy will be directed by a president assisted by a secretary, to be appointed by the Pope, and will comprise an academic council. It will supersede the foundation "Latinitas", established by Paul VI with the Chirograph "Romani Sermonis" of 30 June 1976."

On the same Saturday, His Holiness "[a]ppointed Ivano Dionigi and Fr. Roberto Spataro S.D.B., respectively, as president and secretary of the Pontifical Academy for Latin." (These quotations come from the V.I.S. bulletin items "POPE ESTABLISHES PONTIFICAL ACADEMY FOR LATIN" and "OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS", respectively.)

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Latin, Roman Curia

15. "Mr Putin, presenting his first state-of-the-nation speech since his election in March, set out a program of cautious modernisation that he said rejected any foreign interference and which would go hand in hand with a revival of traditional values."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Vladimir Putin outlines vision for Russia's rebirth", by Roger Boyes, dated December 14, 2012, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/vladimir-putin-outlines-vision-for-russias-rebirth/story-fnb64oi6-1226536380363

Labels: Russia, Vladimir Putin

16. A couple of recent examples of G.L.B.T. propaganda:

16.1 "$2.5 million will be committed to sensitivity training for aged care workers"

The quotation in that headlne comes from the article "Call to action as gays go grey", by Dan Harrison, dated December 20, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/call-to-action-as-gays-go-grey-20121220-2bo5y.html?skin=text-only

See also the earlier posts with my "aged care" label.

Labels: aged care, G.L.B.T.

16.2 "The ADF also said that the Air Force has also introduced diversity handbooks for lesbian, gay and bisexual members and commanders which will rolled out to the rest of the military."

The quotation in that headlne comes from the article "Australian soldiers to march in uniform at Mardi Gras", by Natalie O'Brien, dated December 22, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-soldiers-to-march-in-uniform-at-mardi-gras-20121222-2bsbv.html?skin=text-only

See also item 1 of this Notes post.

Labels: A.D.F., G.L.B.T.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Monday in the Octave of Christmas, A.D. 2012

Notes: Thursday, August 30-Monday, October 8, 2012

1. On Wednesday, August 29, 2012, Ms Gillard launched "Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development", which is an initiative—reportedly a personal one of hers—for propagating Feminism throughout the Pacific Islands at a cost of $320 million (over a decade) to Australian taxpayers, part of which sum will be spent on "reproductive health (including family planning) education, awareness and service programs".

My source for saying that Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development is a "personal initiative" by The Hon. Jullia Gillard M.P. is the article "PM gets lift on way to raise status of women", by Daniel Flitton, dated August 30, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/pm-gets-lift-on-way-to-raise-status-of-women-20120829-2512n.html?skin=text-only

My inference that part of that $320 million will be spent on "reproductive health (including family planning) education, awareness and service programs" follows from the identification, in the "PACIFIC LEADERS GENDER EQUALITY DECLARATION" (Annex 1 to the "43rd Pacific Islands Forum Communique"), of "[e]nsur[ing that] reproductive health (including family planning) education, awareness and service programs receive adequate funding support" as one of the "specific national policy actions to progress gender equality in the areas of gender responsive government programs and policies, decision making, economic empowerment, ending violence against women, and health and education"; one can also infer it from Ms Gillard's media release of Wednesday, August 29, 2012 titled "Addressing gender inequality in the Pacific", which says that

We know that violence against women and poor maternal health outcomes persist in this region.

Promoting gender equality is about addressing these injustices. …

See also this AusAID web-page and the downloadable brochure there:

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/Publications/Pages/brochure-pacific-women-development.aspx

and "‘Shaping Pacific development', speech at the Pacific Islands Forum", given by Ms Gillard, Wednesday, August 29, 2012, downloaded from the "Press Office" section of the Prime Ministerial website:

http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/%E2%80%98shaping-pacific-development-speech-pacific-islands-forum

Labels: abortion, contraception, Julia Gillard

2. "Greater Exposure to Sexual Content in Popular Movies Predicts Earlier Sexual Debut and Increased Sexual Risk Taking"

The quotation in that headline is the title of an article (doi: 10.1177/0956797611435529) by Ross E. O'Hara et al. in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science; that article's abstract is available here:

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/23/9/984

(That article came to my attention via Adam Taor's "PULSE" column on p. 5 of the "HEALTH" section of the "WEEKEND PROFESSIONAL" supplement in The Weekend Australian, September 1-2, 2012, First Edition, No. 14901, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited, a version of which column is available on-line, but behind a paywall, here.)

Labels: films, vice

3. "Israel and Taiwan are the biggest national supporters of trips by Australian politicians, recording 44 and 16 partly or fully funded trips respectively."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "All the little extras in an MP's grab-bag", by Stuart Washington, Tom Allard, Lawrence Bull, and Frances Mao, dated September 1, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/all-the-little-extras-in-an-mps-grabbag-20120831-255mu.html?skin=text-only

(That article came to my attention via the version of it, with the same headline and by the same authors, which was printed on p. 3 of the "News Review" supplement in The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, September 1-2, 2012, No. 54572, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Labels: State of Israel

4. "only 2 per cent of the population is gay"

The quotation in that headline was attributed to "Andrew Grulich, head of HIV epidemiology and prevention programs at the Kirby Institute at the University of NSW," in the article "Suicide a bigger danger to gays: health experts", by Adam Cresswell, dated September 13, 2012, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/suicide-a-bigger-danger-to-gays-health-experts/story-e6frg8y6-1226472976036

For more on the homosexual proportion of the (Australian) population, see the "Sex in Australia" report in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, April 2003, Volume 27, Issue 2, pp. 103–256, available on-line here, the most relevant—in the present context—parts of which are "Sex in Australia: Sexual identity, sexual attraction and sexual experience among a representative sample of adults" and "Sex in Australia: Homosexual experience and recent homosexual encounters", both of which have Prof. Grulich as one of their co-authors.

(Those "Sex in Australia" U.R.L.s came to my attention via the Frequently Asked Questions page at the Australian Marriage Forum website. (And the Australian Marriage Forum came to my attention via the opinion piece "Gay marriage is not the cure", by Dr. David van Gend, dated Sepember 14, 2012, downloaded from The Australian's website.))

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

5. "''When they're younger both men and women tended to aspire to a larger family size. When they were older they tended to revise down their expectations,'' Dr[. Daryl] Higgins[", the deputy director of research at the Australian Institute of Family Studies,"] said."

The quotations in that headline come from the article "Just your average couple: one for mum, one for dad … and none for the country", by Stephanie Gardiner, dated September 14, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/just-your-average-couple-one-for-mum-one-for-dad-8230-and-none-for-the-country-20120913-25v8x.html?skin=text-only

Labels: contraception, demography, families

6. On recent Russo-American relations

See the article "Russia boots US aid out amid accusations of meddling in elections", by Alan Cullison, dated September 21, 2012, and the comment piece "Vladimir Putin doesn't want to be buddies", by Tony Halpin, also dated September 21, 2012, both downloaded from the The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/russia-boots-us-aid-out-amid-accusations-of-meddling-in-elections/story-fnay3ubk-1226478359601

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/vladimir-putin-doesnt-want-to-be-buddies/story-fnb64oi6-1226478312416

Labels: Russia, Vladimir Putin

7. "When [equally ]well-educated families were compared, marriage lifted a child's chance of avoiding poverty by 75 per cent."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Stability a big factor in poverty", no by-line, p. 15, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, September 18, 2012, Vol. 1, No. 2646, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd. That article is not available at the Tele's website, but a longer version of it is available at the British Daily Mail's website under the headline "Growing up with married parents is as important as a good education to escaping poverty", by Simon Caldwell, dated September 16/17, 2012:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204263/Growing-married-parents-important-good-education-escaping-poverty.html

The report on which those articles are based—"Marriage: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty", by Mr. Robert Rector for The Heritage Foundation, dated September 5, 2012—is available here:

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/09/marriage-americas-greatest-weapon-against-child-poverty

See also the LifeSiteNews.com article "Marriage is the most effective weapon to fight child poverty, study finds", by Ben Johnson, dated Thursday, September 13, 2012:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/marriage-is-the-most-effective-weapon-to-fight-child-poverty-study-finds

Labels: marriage, poverty

8. "Bottle-fed infants experienced a 4.6-fold higher risk of PS[, i.e., pyloric stenosis,] compared with infants who were not bottle-fed."

The quotation in that headline comes from the abstract of a Pediatrics article titled "Bottle-feeding and the Risk of Pyloric Stenosis" (doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-2785) by Camilla Krogh et al. That article is available on-line here:

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/08/28/peds.2011-2785

(That article came to my attention via the second item in Adam Taor's "PULSE" column on p. 47 of the "HEALTH" section of the "WEEKEND PROFESSIONAL" section in the "SPORT" pages of The Weekend Australian, September 15-16, 2012, First Edition, No. 14913, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited. According to Dr. Taor, pyloric stenosis is "a narrowing of the opening from the stomach to the first part of the small intestine", and it "can cause severe vomiting." (Apparently, that installment of "PULSE" is not available on-line.))

Labels: breastfeeding

9. "Schools in sex education revolution"

The article "Schools in sex education revolution", by Natasha Bita (national social editor for the Sydney Daily Telegraph (among other newspapers?)), dated September 17, 2012 is available at the Tele's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sex-educaction-gets-physical/story-e6freuy9-1226475402901

(It came to my attention via the version of it which was published under the heading "Sex ed revolution in schools", by the same author, on p. 03 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph of Monday, September 17, 2012, Vol. 1, No. 2645, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

See also the article "Puberty lessons to begin in grade five", no by-line, dated September 17, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/puberty-lessons-to-begin-in-grade-five-20120917-261yd.html?skin=text-only

Labels: A.C.A.R.A., education, sex ed, vice

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Bridget, Widow, A.D. 2012

Notes: Some previously-unpublished items from 2011 (part 1 of 2)

In no particular order:

1. "HUMANITAS MAGAZINE TO HAVE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE EDITION"

"HUMANITAS MAGAZINE TO HAVE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE EDITION"
VIS 20111129 (280)
http://www.news.va/en/news/humanitas-magazine-to-have-english-language-editio

This is the linked U.R.L. for Humanitas Review's website:

http://www.humanitas.cl/

Of particular interest in the first issue of Humanitas Review is the posthumous contribution on pp. 27-41 by His late Eminence Avery Robert, Cardinal Dulles S.J. on Bl. John Paul II. and Dignitatis humanæ (though you might be familiar with the content of that contribution already, since that contribution is based, according to footnote 21, on a lecture given at Oxford University under the sponsorship of the Becket Fund on October 26, 2000).

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, Dignitatis Humanæ, John Paul II. Wojtyla, religious liberty

2. Some points of interest from a recent AD2000 article on Russia:

[…] In early July this year, the Russian Orthodox Church declared it was against becoming the state religion: "The Moscow Patriarchate's position on what relations between the state and the Church should be is invariable. We do not want the Church to become part of the state apparatus, state machinery, to assume secular functions," Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, said.

He was commenting on a poll conducted by the Sreda Agency along with the Public Opinion foundation, of 1,500 people across 44 Russian regions, 100 towns and villages. According to the poll, 30% of Russians want Orthodoxy to become the state religion, 48% are against it and 23% did not have an opinion.

[…] According to Russia's census, the country's population plummeted by more than 12 million between 1992 and 2008, and stands at around 143 million today. Legalised abortion has accounted for a significant part of that drop, with some 1.5 million abortions reported in the country in 2007 - nearly the same as the number of children born in that year. Unofficial estimates indicate that there are nearly four million abortions per year in Russia yet only 1.7 million live births. The UN has predicted that by 2050 the Russian population will have dipped to 116 million. Russia's population will not be able to support its elderly citizens and the nation faces an acute worker shortage.

[…] WCF [World Congress of Families] Managing Director, Larry Jacobs, noted the Summit was coming at a crucial time. "It's not Russia alone that's experiencing demographic winter," Jacobs observed. "Worldwide, birthrates have declined by more than 50% since the late 1960s. By the year 2050, there will be 248 million fewer children under five years of age in the world than there are today. This birth dearth will be one of the greatest challenges confronting humanity in the 21st century," he said.

[…] A member of the Duma (Russia's parliament) Viktor Zvagelsky, said ads for abortion had made "young girls believe they won't have any problems interrupting a pregnancy." Another Duma member, Valery Draganov, said the "number of abortions in our country reaches six to eight million a year. Every minute, two abortions are carried out in Russia. Due to botched abortions, 20 percent of families lose the ability to become parents. One in every five pregnant women who dies, dies as a result of abortion. These are catastrophic statistics."

[…] Russian lawmakers have now passed a bill requiring all abortion advertisements to carry health warnings. Under this law, passed by the the Duma in early July, ten percent of the space used in abortion ads must carry a list of possible negative consequences for women, including infertility. The bill also stipulates that mothers who don't want to keep their babies will be able to leave their newborn children anonymously in special adoption centres.

Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, followed the Duma in approving the measure and President Dmitry Medvedev signed the legislation into law in mid-July.

[…] One of Russia's most visible pro-life leaders, is Svetlana Medvedeva, wife of Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev. At a "Sanctity of Motherhood" forum last year Mrs Medvedeva spoke about the "rights of a child to life," and about the "general lack of support" that usually drove women to "artificial termination of pregnancy."

[…] In a recent speech, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged to raise the nation's birthrate by up to 30% in just three years. Putin's plan calls for spending the equivalent of $53 billion to encourage Russian families to have more children. But Larry Jacobs says that more than cash incentives and government benefits will be needed to raise Russia's well below replacement birth rate. Family & Demography Foundation, which represents the World Congress of Families in Russia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has announced the launch of its latest project: The Life-Family Medical Centers Network. These will be opened in all of the major cities in Russia and the CIS.
[My square-bracketed interpolations, everything else as in the original,
"Glimpses of a new dawn in Russia", by Babette Francis, from the September 2011 issue of AD2000, downloaded from the AD2000 website:
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2011/sep2011p8_3606.html]

Labels: abortion, Church and State, Confessional State, demography, R.O.C., Russia, Vladimir Putin

3. Fr. Harrison on God's creation of Eve

"Old or young earth?", a letter by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., from the October 2011 issue of AD2000, available on-line here:
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2011/oct2011p14_3634.html

"First Parents", a letter by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., from the November 2011 issue of AD2000, available on-line here:
http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2011/nov2011p13_3657.html

"DID WOMAN EVOLVE FROM THE BEASTS?[:] A DEFENCE OF TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC DOCTRINE - PART I", by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., in Living Tradtion, No. 97, January 2002
http://www.rtforum.org/lt/lt97.html

"DID WOMAN EVOLVE FROM THE BEASTS?[:] A DEFENCE OF TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC DOCTRINE - PART II", by The Rev. Fr. Brian Harrison O.S., in Living Tradtion, No. 98, March 2002
http://www.rtforum.org/lt/lt98.html

I was glad to see that there was someone else who agreed with me that "we must necessarily admit the special creation of … Eve" (source). For convenience, here are Fr. Harrison's sources, taken from those two letters to AD2000, for his contention:

• the Profession of Faith of Pope Pelagius I., DS 443, Dz. 228a, available here:
  http://www.catecheticsonline.com/SourcesofDogma3.php

• the Profession of Faith of The Ecumenical Council of Vienne, DS 901, Dz. 480, available here:
  http://www.catecheticsonline.com/SourcesofDogma5.php

• the Encyclical Letter Arcanum, Leo XIII., A.D. 1880, available in English here:
  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_10021880_arcanum_en.html
  and in the original Latin, from the Acta Sanctae Sedis, 12, 1879-1880, p. 386, available here:
  http://www.vatican.va/archive/ass/documents/ASS%2012%20[1879]%20-%20ocr.pdf

• the Response of the Biblical Commission, June 30, 1909, to Question III, Dz. 2123, available here:
  http://www.catecheticsonline.com/SourcesofDogma22.php

• I Cor. 11:8, 12

Labels: Adam (Patriarch), Creation, theology

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Anthony, Abbot, A.D. 2012

Notes: Tuesday, November 1-Tuesday, November 8, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

6. "Kyrgyzstan returns to Kremlin fold"

IT is the only country that hosts both Russian and American military airbases.

But the first act of the new President of the highly strategic central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, within hours of his election victory, has been to serve notice that Washington must leave its big supply and transit hub close to Bishkek, the capital.

[...] But there's another alarming element in Atambayev's decision - the extent to which Russia, skilfully using Putin's plans for a Eurasian Union, is again asserting itself in Central Asia, exerting influence over highly strategic recent converts to democracy such as Kyrgyzstan, enticing them back into the Kremlin's fold.
[bold type in the original
"Kyrgyzstan returns to Kremlin fold" by Bruce Loudon
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/kyrgyzstan-returns-to-kremlin-fold/story-e6frg6ux-1226187004545]

Labels: Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Vladimir Putin

7. "ADL Releases New Book On Pope John Paul II and His Historic Accomplishments in Catholic-Jewish Relations"

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/VaticanJewish_96/6150_96.htm

(That came to my attention via this AQ comment.)

Labels: A.D.L., Assisi III, inter-religious dialogue, Jews, John Paul II. Wojtyla

8. Mr. Baker on usury

http://www.superflumina.org/usury_1.html

Labels: economics, morality, usury

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Four Crowned Martyrs, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday, October 11-Tuesday, October 18, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

8. "Patriarch Kirill lauds Putin for ‘enhancing Russia’s international authority’"

http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39294

(See also the first comment after the thread-starter for information about recent developments in the Russian Orthodox Church.)

Labels: Cyril of Moscow, R.O.C., Russia, Vladimir Putin

9. "Princess wants stunning before slaughter"

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/princess-wants-stunning-before-slaughter-20111017-1lt1g.html?skin=text-only

I was surprised to learn, from Australia's Agriculture Department's acting deputy secretary for the live animal export taskforce, quoted in that article, that in Australia,

For cattle we do allow for ritual slaughter purposes, for stunning to occur after the cut has been done, so it's a post-cut stunning.

Labels: Islam, Jews

10. "Last Wednesday [two Lesbians] organised a forum for gay and lesbian parents with school-age children to address what they see as a stereotypical and heterosexual representation of family at their schools"

[...] The forum included representatives from the Board of Education and the Board of Studies, as well as 70 gay, lesbian and heterosexual parents.

[...] A group calling themselves Rainbow Schoolies have set up a work party to produce a program for principals and teachers on how they should include a child from a gay family in the school environment.

Although the program will initially be aimed at [one] primary school, the group hopes to extend the program to other schools in in Australia, and is planning a national conference next year.

[...] [One panellist at that forum, who is "an associate professor in the school of education at the University of Western Sydney" and "specialises in issues of gender and sexuality within education"] said the changes to the curriculum next year would be a chance to address issues of diversity and inclusion within the school environment, with a platform for members of the public to voice their concerns.
[http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/happy-fathers-day-mum--gender-restriction-a-challenge-for-gay-families-20111016-1lrfi.html?skin=text-only]

See also item 3 of this edition of Notes.

Labels: education, families, G.L.B.T., N.S.W., Rainbow Schoolies

11. "Growth [in the world's population] has been so rapid that the US Population Reference Bureau estimates that about 5 per cent of all the people who have ever lived are living now"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/coming-soon-7-billion-reasons-to-rethink-how-we-use-the-planet-20111016-1lrdu.html?skin=text-only

Labels: demography

12. "Toowoomba GP and pro-family activist David van Gend found himself in conciliation before the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland over a complaint that an article he wrote for Brisbane's The Courier-Mail, as part of a debate about same-sex marriage, vilified the homosexual community"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/discrimination-police-indulging-in-gay-abandon/story-e6frg6zo-1226167016741

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/10/17/truth-the-telling-is-now-hate-speech/

Labels: David van Gend, discrimination, families, G.L.B.T., marriage

13. A blast from Australia's 'sectarian' past

I was intrigued when I read a very short biography of one "Sister Liguori", of whom I didn't recall previously hearing, on the Sydney Daily Telegraph's history page yesterday, and planned to see if I could find out, on the Internet, more about her and the episode of Australian 'sectarian' history in which she featured so prominently. I've found that the Australian Dictionary of Biography's article "Partridge, Bridget (1890–1966)" is available here.

Labels: Bridget Partridge

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist, Martyr, A.D. 2011

Notes: Wednesday, October 5-Monday, October 10, 2011

1. A key for understanding one of the most contentious parts of Dignitatis humanæ?

One of the most objectionable parts of Dignitatis humanæ is where one reads that, in dealing with matters which do not belong to the component of the common good which (component) that Declaration calls "public order", "the usages of society are to be the usages of freedom in their full range: that is, the freedom of man is to be respected as far as possible and is not to be curtailed except when and insofar as necessary". But Pius XII. spoke for Tradition when he said, in the Allocution Ci riesce, that “religious and moral error must always be impeded, when it is possible”, so when it comes to man's (psychological and physical, but not moral) freedom to disseminate error, it should be curtailed, not 'respected', as far as possible, and only 'respected' when and insofar as necessary. Now in the text of a recent lecture by The Rev. Fr. Frank Brennan S.J. A.O. (brought to my attention by a comment by Fr. Brennan at the CathNews post on that lecture), I was interested to read this quotation from The Rev. Fr. Robert Drinan S.J., writing in Theological Studies in 1970:

This author has no easy solutions or ready options for the Catholic legislator, jurist, or spokesman on the question of abortion and the law. Perhaps the central issue was described in the reasoning of John Courtney Murray SJ, who, while not addressing himself to the question of abortion, wrote as follows about the criminal law: 'The moral aspirations of law are minimal. Law seeks to establish and maintain only that minimum of actualized morality that is necessary for the healthy functioning of the social order ... It enforces only what is minimally acceptable, and in this sense socially necessary ... Therefore the law, mindful of its nature, is required to be tolerant of many evils that morality condemns.'
[ellipses in the original]

Labels: Dignitatis Humanæ, John Courtenay Murray, political science, religious liberty

2. "Putin eyes new economic Soviet Union"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/putin-eyes-new-economic-soviet-union-20111005-1l9jc.html?skin=text-only

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/vladimir-putin-plans-new-superpower-from-old-soviet-republics/story-e6frg6so-1226159572404

Labels: Russia, Vladimir Putin

3. Msgr. Pozzo on, among other things, a future "reunification of the two forms[, i.e., the Traditional Latin Mass and the Novus Ordo Missæ], with elements that come together and complement one another"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/10/video-interview-with-the-secretary-of-the-pont-comm-ecclesia-dei/

http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39160

Labels: Guido Pozzo, liturgy, N.O.M., T.L.M.

4. Dr. Farrell on how "[t]he demographics of women giving birth in Australia have changed dramatically in the past 50 years":

... The total number of babies a woman has in her lifetime has declined from a peak of 3.5 in 1961 to 1.9 in 2009. There has also been a tendency for women to have their babies at older ages. The median age of women giving birth in Australia reached a low of 25.4 in 1971 and rose to a peak of 30.8 in 2006. The proportion of older women giving birth has also risen, with mothers aged over 35 rising from 11 per cent in 1991 to 23 per cent in 2008.
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/life-choices-for-women-20111006-1lbkv.html?skin=text-only]

Labels: demography

5. "Ireland Justice Minister fails to defend nation’s pro-life laws at UN hearing"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39210

Labels: Alan Shatter

6. "A clause [of the Sovereign Grant Bill] allows for an heir to the throne who is not the Duke of Cornwall to receive revenues from the Duchy of Cornwall"

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/new-law-gives-equal-rights-to-female-royals-20111010-1lgay.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Sovereign Grant Bill

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Francis Borgia, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday, July 26-Monday, August 8, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

1. Dr. Feser on a review by Sir Anthony (Kenny) of the former's The Last Superstition

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2011/07/kenny-on-tls-in-tls.html

Labels: atheism, philosophy, theology

2. Yet more evidence of the Sodomites' League's success in diverting public discourse on homosexuality away from a focus on behaviour to a focus on 'identity'

From a Herald letter from one David Harris of Manly:

Fred Nile ... entered the NSW Upper House in 1980 with a single issue - to stop members of the gay community from celebrating their own identity.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/dilemma-solved--abolish-the-upper-houses-20110801-1i8df.html?skin=text-only]

That seems inaccurate in at least two points: Mr. Nile was never a one-issue politician, and in 1980 New South Wales law did not, as far as I know, prohibit anyone "celebrating their own identity" (though it did, of course, prohibit buggery until, if I'm not mistaken, 1984, but that prohibition applied irrespective of whether the sodomite was homosexual or heterosexual and irrespective of whether the catamite was male or female, so clearly it involved discrimination neither on the basis of sex nor of sexual disorientation).

Labels: Fred Nile, G.L.B.T.

3. Fortunately, it seems that the background of one of the main participants in Ireland's planning for an attack on the Sacrament of Penance has not gone completely unnoticed there

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=414425#414425

Labels: Alan Shatter

4. Point-counterpoint in the Herald letters page:

4.1 In discussion on N.S.W. State school "ethics" classes

One Philip Cooney of Wentworth Falls wrote that

Surely it can't threaten our children to ask why there was not open access to the curriculum material prior to its introduction ...
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/little-virtue-in-labors-games-with-education-20110802-1i9si.html?skin=text-only]

I too had the impression that there was a lack of open access to the 'ethics class' material before its introduction, but then the next day a letter was published which said that

[t]he ethics course syllabus was reviewed and approved by the NSW Education Department.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/dont-play-russian-roulette-with-our-aquifers-20110803-1ibl2.html?skin=text-only]

Did the "ethics" folks give access only to the Department, then? (I don't ask that rhetorically; does anyone know the answer?)

The day after that, Mr. Nile had a column published on the matter, in which he wrote that there are some who

wrongly believe that when Sir Henry Parkes introduced free and ''secular'' state education, he meant ''non-Christian'' or ''non-religious''. That was never his intention. In the 1880s, ''secular'' was used to prohibit denominational teaching in NSW classrooms, not scripture classes, which Parkes decreed should fill one hour per day.

But I thought that 'secular' as in 'secularist' was precisely what the likes of Parkes intended. One Keith Parsons of Newcastle affirmed my point of view in a letter published, with others, under the heading "Reason v dogma: Fred's no Socrates" here:

The only reason Sir Henry Parkes, almost 130 years ago, supported religious instruction in public schools was to get the churches that dominated school education to support the concept of a universal, free, public, secular education system.

Are any readers here knowledgeable on the motives and intentions of Australia's late-nineteenth-century proponents of 'free, compulsory, and secular' schooling (I won't say education)?

Labels: education, Henry Parkes, secularism, St James Ethics Centre

4.2 In discussion on the birth certificates of donor-conceived children

Last week the Herald gave us a reminder of the insanity of some of New South Wales's laws:

Sperm donors have no legal parental status even if they are on a birth certificate and even if they have court-ordered access visits.

But retrospective laws introduced in 2008 gave lesbian partners of women who conceive through artificial insemination legal parenting status.
[http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/keep-me-named-as-father-donor-begs-court-20110802-1i9yf.html?skin=text-only
Or alternatively:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/sperm-donor-could-lose-his-status-20110802-1i9wq.html?skin=text-only]

The coverage elicited a terse little letter, published under the heading "Donor delisting" here, from one Samantha Chung of Newtown, but the next day one Eva Elbourne of Gordon provided quite a good rejoinder (though I'm not sure that I agree with it completely), published under the heading "Donor parents must remain on record" here.

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., parenthood

5. "Russia is Most Religious Nation In Europe"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38415

Labels: R.O.C., Russia

6. Mr. Verrecchio on homosexuality, narcissism, and their influence on liturgy

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38404

Labels: G.L.B.T., liturgy, narcissism

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Mary Vianney, Confessor, and of Sts. Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, Martyrs, A.D. 2011

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

6. "Notitiae ["the official journal of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship"] Responses online"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/07/notitiae-responses-online/

http://notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/

Labels: liturgy, Roman Curia

7. "The Greens, to be to be launched in Melbourne on July 21, is the first book to provide a practical analysis of the wide-ranging [Australian] Greens policies"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/at-last-a-thorough-probe-into-what-drives-the-greens-machine/story-fn59niix-1226095160826

A revised version of one of that book's chapters, by Dr. Kevin Donnelly, was published at The Punch last week. Of particular interest were its last half-dozen or so paragraphs; this is the last of them:

Given that all Australian schools, under the banner of the ALP’s education revolution, will be made to teach a national curriculum after 2012, it should not surprise if the Greens pressure the Gillard Government to incorporate a positive view of LGBTI lifestyles in the new curriculum.[http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/green-with-class-envy-and-bent-on-change/]

Labels: Australian Labor, education, G.L.B.T., Greens

8. Dr. Feser on "some of the non-serious objections" to the cosmological argument for God's Existence

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2011/07/so-you-think-you-understand.html

Labels: God's Existence, philosophy, theology

9. "Studies estimate between 20,000 and 40,000 polygamists live in the heavily Mormon state [of Utah]"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/no-big-love-lost-in-polygamists-civil-rights-claim-20110715-1hhp8.html?skin=text-only

Labels: C.J.C.L.D.S., polyamory

10. "Russians launch space super-telescope": "The main point is that Russia is returning to scientific programmes in space after a long break"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/russians-launch-space-telescope/story-e6frg6so-1226097482531

Labels: Russia

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

Notes: Wednesday, June 22-Wednesday, June 29, 2011

1. A couple of items regarding women in the paid workforce

1.1 Mr. Thompson on several points regarding women in the paid workforce

Here is an excerpt from an article entitled "They have babies, pay them less" and which appeared on page three of the print edition of the Sydney Daily Telegraph on Friday, June 24, 2011:

Alasdair Thompson, chief execu-tive of the New Zealand Employers & Manufacturers' Association, also claimed women were less pro-ductive because they took career breaks to have babies.
"Why do they take the most sick leave? Women do in general. Why? Because once a month they have sick problems," Mr Thompson said during a live radio interview to argue against a law aimed at reducing the wage gap between men and women.
"The fact is women have babies, they take time out with their careers," he added, admitting his statements were "contentious".
[...] Mr Thompson later tried to hose down the controversy, apologising for his comments.
[dashes in the original, my square-bracketed ellipsis]

I wonder what the evidence is for whether women take more sick leave than men, whether, if they do indeed take more sick leave, it is because of women's problems, and whether maternity leave hampers women's productivity?

Related web-pages:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/gender-row-exec-has-a-point-expert/story-e6freuyi-1226081435028

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/kiwi-employers-head-castigated-over-claims-women-take-more-sick-days-than-men/story-e6frev00-1226080815733

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/new-zealand-employers-group-chief-says-women-dont-deserve-equal-pay/story-e6frg6so-1226080763729

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/kiwi-employers-head-castigated-over-claims-women-take-more-sick-days-than-men/story-e6frez7r-1226080755986

Labels: economics, gender differences, work

1.2 Some facts and figures regarding women in the paid workforce and children in childcare

http://www.smh.com.au/national/childcare-rebate-put-paid-to-staying-home-longer-20110624-1ghsr.html?skin=text-only

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/numbers-add-up-as-mothers-return-to-work-sooner-20110623-1ghjk.html?skin=text-only

Labels: economics, work, youngsters

2. Darwin on something which would invalidate his theory of evolution

This is an extract from a very small article entitled "Insights unveiled as Darwin's scribbles enter the digital era" and which appeared on page twenty-four of last weekend's (June 25-26, 2011) edition of The Sydney Morning Herald:

Darwin wrote alongside this: "If this ["that there were definite limits to the vari-ation of species"] were true adios theory."

Labels: evolution

3. "Russian Orthodox Church to tinker with its liturgy"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37841

Labels: R.O.C.

4. A couple of recent reported facts regarding the death penalty

4.1 "Since 1978, [Californian] voters have consistently opted to widen the capital punishment net so that the state now has the most sweeping laws in the country, with some 39 eligible crimes"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/executions-cost-300m-each-in-california-study-20110621-1gdfu.html?skin=text-only

Labels: death penalty

4.2 "Australia ... annually co-sponsors a resolution of the UN Human Rights Commission that calls for all nations to abolish [capital] punishment"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/editorial/subtle-shifts-offer-hope-of-abolition-20110626-1glm2.html?skin=text-only

Labels: death penalty

5. "A Bibliography of the Current Crisis in the Catholic Church"

http://truerestoration.blogspot.com/2011/06/bibliography-of-current-crisis-in.html

That came to my attention via this AQ thread:

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37842

Labels: modernism, N.O.M., Vatican II

6. "Liechtenstein archbishop in Mass 'boycott'"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37862

Labels: Church and State

7. "Students get insight into Holocaust horrors"

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=26928

This bit was particularly evocative:

This year three Santa Maria College students ... prepared a liturgical movement in response to ... Walter Rapoport, Chairman of the Council of Christians and Jews Victoria.

(In the Australian Conciliar church, "liturgical movement" means liturgical dance.) It brings to mind pagan dancing girls swirling around an idol of "The Holocaust".

Labels: Jews

8. "Kremlin eliminates Putin challengers"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/kremlin-eliminates-putin-challengers/story-e6frg6so-1226080860884

Labels: Russia, Vladimir Putin

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, A.D. 2011

Notes: Wednesday, June 15-Tuesday, June 21, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. "["[H]omeless people sleeping rough"] represent probably only 3 or 4 per cent of the homeless population"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/cold-and-so-alone-for-sydneys-homeless/story-fn6b3v4f-1226075926361

(Please do not jump to conclusions as to why I have noted this. I do not mean to downplay the difficulties which those who are homeless but are not sleeping rough undoubtedly experience.)

Labels: homelessness, poverty

2. Prof. Flint on, among other things, the questions of H.M. The Queen's nationality and who is Australia's Head of State

Under the heading "State of the nation" here:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/tough-reality-is-ill-health-necessitates-change-20110615-1g3qf.html?skin=text-only

The next day, the Herald published a number of responses to Prof. Flint's letter, under the heading "It's obvious who's the boss, and her nationality", here:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/theres-room-to-make-way-for-commuters-20110616-1g673.html?skin=text-only

Labels: David Flint, republicanism

3. "Echo of Soviet era in Putin's bid for votes"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/echo-of-soviet-era-in-putins-bid-for-votes/story-e6frg6so-1226076653930

Labels: Russia, Vladimir Putin

4. "Hungary sponsors bold pro-life campaign with EU money - Eurocrats enraged"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37795

Labels: abortion, E.U., Hungary

5. Mr. Ferrara on the Rosary and the New Rosary

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23422

Labels: John Paul II. Wojtyla, Rosary

6. Two recent opinion pieces from Mr. Muehlenberg

6.1 A blog post on fallacious comparisons of mixed-race marriage and same-sex 'marriage'

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/06/19/same-sex-marriage-playing-the-race-card/

The Girgis-George-Anderson Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy article to which Mr. Muehlenberg presumably refers in that post is available here:

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1722155

Labels: discrimination, G.L.B.T., law, marriage, morality

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday, May 10-Monday, May 16, 2011

1. "80 per cent of parish pastors in Australia ... belong to the [National Council of Priests]"?

According to a letter from one L. F. Donnelly which was published last week in The Australian, "80 per cent of parish pastors in Australia ... belong to the [National Council of Priests]". Is this a fact, though?

Labels: N.C.P.

2. "Putin signals 2012 bid"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/editorial/putin-signals-2012-bid-20110510-1eh6f.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Russia, Vladimir Putin

3. A few recent items regarding H.H. The Pope

3.1 Holy Father mentions "eclipse of God" in Allocution on prayer

AG/ VIS 20110511 (610)

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20110511_en.html

"Eclipse of God" is the title of a book by the Jewish pseudophilosopher Martin Buber. His Holiness mentions Buber favourably in Milestones.

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Jews, Martin Buber, philosophy, theology

3.2 "Pope receives delegation of B'nai B'rith International"

AC/ VIS 20110512 (340)

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37310

Labels: B'nai B'rith, Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Freemasons, inter-religious dialogue, Jews

3.3 H.H. The Pope on religious liberty

AL/ VIS 20110516 (590)

Excerpt from the Holy Father's Address to Bishops of the Episcopal Conference of India on their "ad Limina" visit:

Moreover, as Indian Christians strive to live in peace and harmony with their neighbours of other beliefs, your prudent leadership will be crucial in the civil and moral task of working to safeguard the fundamental human rights of freedom of religion and freedom of worship. As you know, these rights are based upon the common dignity of all human beings and are recognized throughout the concert of nations. The Catholic Church strives to promote these rights for all religions throughout the world. ...
[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2011/may/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20110516_ad-limina-india_en.html]

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, morality, religious liberty

4. Mr. Muehlenberg with "Further Reasons To Reject Legalised Euthanasia"

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/05/11/further-reasons-to-reject-legalised-euthanasia/

Labels: euthanasia

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Ubald, Bishop, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Notes: Wednesday, May 3-Monday, May 9, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. Mr. Muehlenberg with some of Prof. Singer's statements

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/04/28/greens-the-party-of-death/

Labels: Peter Singer

2. The anti-sodomite measures of St. Pius V.

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/04/a-pope-as-tough-on-himself-as-he-was-on-others/#comment-269640

Labels: death penalty, G.L.B.T., law, morality, St. Pius V. Ghisleri

3. Two recent Russian developments

3.1 "Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that measures must be taken in the Russian Federation to boost the birth rate"

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/04/29/when-churches-go-bad-2/

Labels: Russia, Vladimir Putin

3.2 "[A] plan by the Russian Orthodox Church to construct 200 churches in the Russian capital"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37193

Labels: R.O.C.

4. Mr. Muehlenberg and others on, among other things, how to react to the death of an evildoer

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/05/09/when-the-bible-goes-missing/

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37192

and the comment of 5.5.11 / 6am by Dr. Sarfati here:

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/05/02/osama%e2%80%99s-death-and-fuzzy-christian-thinking/#comments

Labels: death penalty, morality, Scripture, theology

5. Some of the actions of the late Mme. Nhu

... after winning a seat in the National Assembly in 1956, [she] pushed through measures that increased women's rights. She also orchestrated government moves to ban contraceptives and abortion, outlaw adultery, forbid divorce and close opium dens and brothels.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/dragon-lady-not-afraid-to-speak-her-mind-20110508-1ee2i.html?skin=text-only]

Labels: Tran Le Xuan

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, A.D. 2011