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: Wednesday, December 4-Tuesday, December 31, 2013 (part 1 of 3)

1. "The location of the site of Golgotha and the tomb of Jesus is solidly attested by a critically tested pre-Constantinian tradition. Both are enclosed in the Holy Sepulchre church."

The quotation in that headline was attributed to the late The Rev. Dr. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor O.P. in the feature article "Fr Jerome Murphy-O’Connor: Why scholarship trumps archaeology", by Jill Hamilton, dated Wednesday, November 13, 2013, downloaded from CatholicHerald.co.uk:

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2013/11/13/father-jerome-murphy-oconnor-why-scholarship-trumps-archaeology/

Labels: history

2. "By 1990, support for abortion rights became the one issue on which the leadership of the Democratic Party would tolerate no deviation among members seeking high state or national office."

The quotation in that headline comes from the feature article "Kennedy: the man who led Catholics to a new frontier", by Kenneth L. Woodward, dated November 14, 2013, downloaded from The Tablet's website:

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/features/2/827/kennedy-the-man-who-led-catholics-to-a-new-frontier

Labels: Democratic Party (U.S.)

3. A couple of recent items regarding legalisation of Gay Marriage

3.1 "A strong majority in staunchly Catholic Croatia voted on Sunday[ (presumably December 1, 2013)] to outlaw same-sex marriage"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Croatians vote to outlaw gay marriage", by Lajla Veselica, dated December 2, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/croatians-vote-to-outlaw-gay-marriage-20131202-2ym69.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Croatia, G.L.B.T., law, marriage

3.2 "Utah became the 18th US state to legalise gay marriage, just one day after New Mexico became the 17th."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "How Duck Dynasty exposed a new Christmas culture war", by Nick O'Malley, dated December 4, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website (though the original text had the "th"s after "18" and "17" as superscripts):

http://www.smh.com.au/world/how-duck-dynasty-exposed-a-new-christmas-culture-war-20131224-hv6qm.html?skin=text-only

See also the article "Utah to force justices to revisit same-sex marriage", by Adam Litpak, dated December 27, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/utah-to-force-justices-to-revisit-samesex-marriage-20131227-hv6zu.html?skin=text-only

(That article was also printed under the headline "Utah's same-sex ruling highlights speed of change", with the same author, on p. 11 in the "WORLD REPORT" section of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, December 28-29, 2013, No. 54981, ISSN 0312-6315.)

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

4. A couple of recent items regarding legalisation of sodomy

4.1 "Homosexual sex is illegal, and punishable by life in prison, India’s highest court has ruled."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Gay sex ruled illegal by India's highest court", by Ben Doherty, dated December 12, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/gay-sex-ruled-illegal-by-indias-highest-court-20131211-hv5b7.html?skin=text-only

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

4.2 "Uganda has passed an anti-gay bill that imposes life sentences for some homosexual acts."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Life sentence for gay Ugandans", no byline (though the source is the London Daily Telegraph), dated December 22, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/life-sentence-for-gay-ugandans-20131221-2zrzt.html?skin=text-only

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

5. On Wednesday, December 4, 2013, at Buckingham Palace, H.M. The Queen handed Lord Guthrie His Lordship's Field Marshal's Baton.

See the Court Circular of the day. For a good, clear, but rather small image of the Baton, see Her Majesty's official flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishmonarchy/11219672955/

Labels: British Army

6. "we are finding more Anglicans than Catholics in high-fee Catholic schools, and as many Catholics as Anglicans in high-fee independent schools"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Demographics change the schools game", by John Black, dated December 7, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/demographics-change-the-schools-game/story-fn59nlz9-1226777459375

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline and with the same byline on p. 29 in the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, December 7-8, 2013, First Edition, No. 15286, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: Catholic schools

7. Prof. Williams on abortion law in Australia

See the opinion piece "Decriminalise abortion: pro-choice in practice is not the same as legal protection", by Prof. George Williams, dated December 3, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/decriminalise-abortion-prochoice-in-practice-is-not-the-same-as-legal-protection-20131202-2ym16.html?skin=text-only

Labels: abortion, law

8. "The unspoken truth about marriage and kids"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an opinion piece by Bettina Arndt, dated December 16, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-unspoken-truth-about-marriage-and-kids-20131215-2zf3f.html?skin=text-only

In that opinion piece, Ms Arndt restates, in a shorter form, some of what she wrote in the article about which I blogged in item 3.2 of this Notes post.

Labels: cohabitation, demography, marriage, social trends, vice

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Tuesday in the Octave of Christmas, and the feast of St. Sylvester I., Pope, Confessor, A.D. 2013

Notes: Wednesday, April 24-Monday, May 20, 2013

1. "France's INSEE statistics agency says about 200,000 people declared themselves as living in same-sex couples in a 2011 study."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "France legalises gay marriage", no byline, dated April 24, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/france-legalises-gay-marriage/story-e6frg6so-1226628357668

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

2. "THE QUEEN has been graciously pleased to appoint the undermentioned[, namely, "Air Chief Marshal The Right Honourable Graham Eric, Baron STIRRUP, G.C.B., A.F.C., A.D.C.",] to be a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter"

The quotations in that headline come from Notice No. 1812598, category "State", sub-category "Honours and Awards" (Notice Code: 1105), The London Gazette, Issue No. 60489, p. 8277, Friday, April 26, 2013 (but the notice in question is to be dated April 23, 2013):

http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/60489/pages/8277

One can also find the text of that notice here:

http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/60489/notices/1812598/

See also the press release "New appointment to the Order of the Garter", issued by the Press Secretary to H.M. The Queen, undated (presumably April 23, 2013), downloaded from Her Majesty's official website:

http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2013/NewappointmenttotheOrderoftheGarter.aspx

Labels: Graham Stirrup, Order of the Garter

3. A couple of recent items regarding cohabitation (among other things, in the case of the second of the two items)

3.1 Some recent figures regarding cohabitation in the U.S.

See the article "Cohabitation first is new norm for unmarrieds with kids", by Sharon Jayson, dated April 4, 2013, downloaded from the USA TODAY website:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/04/cohabitation-families-pregnancy/2050073/

(That article came to my attention via the version posted at the Religion News Service website, and that version came to my attention via this CathNews post.)

Labels: cohabitation, demography, social trends, vice

3.2 Some points of interest from the article "For better or worse", by Ms Bettina Arndt, dated May 11, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/for-better-or-worse/story-e6frg8h6-1226637650904

(That article came to my attention via the version published under the headline "FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE", by the same author, pp. 22-25, The Weekend Australian Magazine, May 11-12, 2013, inserted in The Weekend Australian, May 11-12, 2013, First Edition, No. 15113, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

The text in each of the following bullet points is a quotation from the article. Any italicising or bolding is that of the article.

• … Almost half of all American first births are now to unmarried women due to a recent leap in the number of children born to cohabiting parents or single mothers. The median age at which first children are born in the US (25.7) now falls below the median age at first marriage (26.5). …

• The Knot Yet report highlights "non-decisions" as the major difference between cohabiting and marital relationships. People tend to slide into living together rather than making a mutual decision to commit to a combined future. The report notes the high incidence of unplanned pregnancy in these arrangements, with half of all births to unmarried 20-something women "unintended". …

• There's another group of people disadvantaged by these changed relationship patterns - low-income men. Dr Bob Birrell and colleagues from Monash University highlighted this issue in Men and Women Apart, their 2004 report on partnering in Australia. They reported growing numbers of low-income men not living with a partner - almost a third in their early 30s with incomes less than $31,000 lived with their parents. The 2011 census figures confirm this trend, with 45 per cent of men in their early 30s earning $31,000 or less being partnered, compared to 76 per cent of men earning over $52,000. While it may be that low-income men are becoming less "marriageable" because their incomes are increasingly insecure, Birrell adds that almost half of the less-educated, unpartnered women these men are likely to meet are single mothers. Low-income men can't compete with the financial incentives offered by the government to lone mothers who remain single.

Labels: cohabitation, demography, marriage, social trends, vice

4. Mr. Obama on the Planned Parenthood organisation

See the transcript "Remarks by the President at the Planned Parenthood Conference", April 26, 2013, downloaded from the White House's official website:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2013/04/26/president-obama-speaks-planned-parenthood-gala

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

See also the article "Obama takes swipe at pro-life activists, ignores Gosnell during Planned Parenthood speech", by John Jalsevac, dated Friday, April 26, 2013, downloaded from the LifeSiteNews.com website:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/obama-takes-swipe-at-pro-life-activists-ignores-gosnell-during-planned-pare

(That article came to my attention via Mr. Muehlenberg's comment of 27.4.13 / 12pm in the comments section of this blog post by him.)

Labels: Barack Obama, abortion

5. "White Britons on verge of minority in 50 years, projections show"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an article by Richard Ford, dated May 2, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/white-britons-on-verge-of-minority-in-50-years-projections-show/story-fnb64oi6-1226633712800

Labels: demography, U.K.

6. Fr. Fallon on Gay relationships

See the opinion piece "The unions are not the same", by The Rev. Fr. Michael B. Fallon M.S.C., dated May 3, 2013, downloaded from The Canberra Times' website:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/the-unions-are-not-the-same-20130502-2ivnf.html?skin=text-only

The article is also available at Fr. Fallon's website under the headline "Gay Marriage and the Catholic Church":

http://mbfallon.com/articles/gay_marriage&catholic_church.html

(Fr. Fallon's scandal came to my attention via this blog post by Miss Edwards.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., Michael Fallon

7. The archives of the Sydney newspapers The Freeman’s Journal (1850-1941) and The Catholic Weekly (1942-present) are available online here:

https://www.catholicweeklyarchives.com.au/

(That website came to my attention via the article "Cardinal launches CW archives", by His Eminence The Most Rev. The Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney A.C., p. 4, the Sydney Catholic Weekly, May 5, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4671, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: newspapers

8. "The Therapeutic Goods Administration told the Senate last year that since 2006 there had been 832 adverse impacts on women as a result of RU486 with 599 of these women requiring surgery to remove a poisoned embryo."

The quotation in that headline was attributed to Wendy Francis (speaking for the Australian Christian Lobby) in the article "Support better than cheap abortion drug", by Damir Govorcin, dated May 5, 2013, downloaded from the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=1&subclassID=2&articleID=12114&class=Latest%20News&subclass=CW%20National

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, by the same author, on p. 3 f. (the part on p. 4 had a different headline, namely, "Subsidy for drug ‘ignores human rights of unborn’"), the Sydney Catholic Weekly, May 5, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4671, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: RU486, abortion

9. "The Coalition plan provides six months' parental leave, during which time the mother - or father, if nominated as the primary carer - are to be paid the mother's replacement wage - capped at $150,000 a year, so amounting to a maximum of $75,000. A spokesman for Tony Abbott says the reason this is, oddly, pegged to the mother's wage, is ''To avoid creating an incentive to make fathers the primary carer when they earn higher wages/salary than the mother.''"

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Baby love is worth the expense", by Julia Baird, dated May 11, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/baby-love-is-worth-the-expense-20130510-2jd3p.html?skin=text-only

(That opinion piece came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, by the same author, on p. 12 of the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, May 11-12, 2013, No. 54784, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Labels: L.P.A., Nationals, P.P.L.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Whitmonday, A.D. 2013