Notes: Friday, August 1-Wednesday, December 31, 2014 (part 1 of 2)

1. "Divorces are more costly for Australian women than for men, and for longer periods, too, new research reveals."

The quotation in that headline is the first line of the article "Divorce more costly for Australian women", no byline, dated August 1, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/divorce-more-costly-for-australian-women-20140801-zz7zc.html?skin=text-only

Labels: divorce, economics, marriage

2. A couple of recent articles on the importance of the father-child relationship

See the article "The Distinct, Positive Impact of a Good Dad", by W. Bradford Wilcox, dated June 14, 2013, downloaded from The Atlantic's website:

http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/06/the-distinct-positive-impact-of-a-good-dad/276874/

(that article came to my attention via the "Recommended Reading" section of the July-August 2014 issue of The Archdiocese of Sydney's Life, Marriage & Family Centre's Life, Marriage and Family News) and the blog post "Daughters and Their Dads: The Vital Relationship", by Mr. Bill Muehlenberg, dated August 27, 2014, downloaded from his CultureWatch blog:

http://billmuehlenberg.com/2014/08/27/daughters-and-their-dads-the-vital-relationship/

Labels: families

3. Mr. Attard on H.M.A. Government's "wealth transfer from single-income to dual-income families"

See the article "Govt's wealth transfer from single-income to dual-income families", by Mr. Daniel Attard, dated August 30, 2014, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56696

Labels: childcare, economics, families

4. "Malta legalizes same-sex civil unions as bill passes 37-0"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an article by Hilary White, dated April 15, 2014, downloaded from LifeSiteNews.com:

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/malta-legalizes-same-sex-civil-unions-as-bill-passes-37-0

(That article came to my attention via its posting at AQ.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., civil unions, Malta

5. Mr. Muehlenberg on "Islam, Polygamy and Western Subsidies"

See the blog post "Islam, Polygamy and Western Subsidies", by Mr. Bill Muehlenberg, dated September 23, 2014, downloaded from his CultureWatch blog:

http://billmuehlenberg.com/2014/09/23/islam-polygamy-and-western-subsidies/

Labels: Islam, polyamory

6. Ms Armstrong on the relationship between religion and politics

See the article "The myth of religious violence", by Karen Armstrong, dated Thursday, September 25, 2014, downloaded from The Guardian's website:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/25/-sp-karen-armstrong-religious-violence-myth-secular

See also the book review (especially its penultimate paragraph) "Karen Armstrong explores historical links between religion and violence", by Gerard Windsor, dated October 4, 2014, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/karen-armstrong-explores-historical-links-between-religion-and-violence/story-fn9n8gph-1227079238329

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Faith's place in the battlefield", with the same author, on pp. 18 f. in the "BOOKS" pages of the "review" supplement of The Weekend Australian, October 4-5, 2014, Second Edition, No. 15498, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, liberalism

7. "On Saturday 11 October 2014, Pride Football Australia will host the 3rd annual PFA Football Tournament in Sydney. … For the first time in the tournaments[ sic] history David Gallop and Football Federation Australia have officially endorsed the event."

The quotation, including its bold type but excluding the ellipsis, in that headline comes from the webpage "ACON Is Proud To Be A Main Sponsor of the Pride Football Australia Tournament", no author credited, undated, downloaded from acon's website:

Warning: acon is a Gay lobby group, so beware of obscene text and images at its website:

http://www.acon.org.au/get-involved/events/pride-football-australia-tournament

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

8. "While anal cancer is relatively rare among the general population, gay men are 20 times more likely to contract it."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Boost to cancer funding", by Mr. Alex McKinnon, dated Match 7, 2013, downloaded from the Star Observer's website:

Warning: The Star Observer is a Gay medium, so beware of obscene text and images at its website:

http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/local-news/new-south-wales-news/boost-to-cancer-funding/99732

(That article came to my attention via the comment of 18.10.14 / 8pm by Trevor Grace in the combox at the blog post by Mr. Muehlenberg.)

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

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Day within the Octave of Christmas, and the feast of St. Sylvester I., Pope, Confessor, A.D. 2014

Notes: Tuesday, May 6-Thursday, July 31, 2014 (part 2 of 4)

5. "the OECD has found that paid parental leave beyond 20 weeks “appears to have a negative effect on female participation”"

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Abbott has dug himself into a hole over paid parental leave", by Dr. Anne Summers A.O., dated May 5, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/abbott-has-dug-himself-into-a-hole-over-paid-parental-leave-20140505-zr4r4.html?skin=text-only

(Originally, I was also going to quote Dr. Summers regarding her statement in that opinion piece that women who earn less than the minimum wage would be worse off under The Hon. Tony Abbott M.P.'s paid maternity leave plan compared to the current one (because the current one pays the minimum wage to those women, whereas Mr. Abbott's scheme would pay them, so Dr. Summers thought, only their pre-leave level of income) but it turns out that Dr. Summers was mistaken; see the letter published under the sub-heading "Low paid will benefit" on the Herald's letters page of May 6, 2014 ("Reconsider Bondi brawler's gaming licence") (and that letter has been appended to Dr. Summers' article, with her response to it below it.)

Labels: economics, P.P.L., work

6. A few recent items regarding divorce

6.1 The late Prof. Becker on no-fault divorce

See the opinion piece "Exposing the dangers of welfare", by Mr. Adam Creighton, dated May 9, 2014, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/exposing-the-dangers-of-welfare/story-fnc2jivw-1226910947505

Labels: divorce, law, marriage

6.2 "DIVORCE and family breakdowns are costing the national economy more than $14 billion a year in government assistance payments and court costs"

The quotation, including the capitals and bold type, in that headline comes from the article "Divorce is costing the Australian economy $14 billion a year", by Lauren Wilson and Lisa Cornish, dated July 6, 2014, downloaded from the Herald Sun's website:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/divorce-is-costing-the-australian-economy-14-billion-a-year/story-fni0dqfm-1226979027353

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

Labels: divorce, marriage

6.3 Mr. Creighton on no-fault divorce

See the opinion piece "Divorced wives deserve compensation for hardship", by Mr. Adam Creighton, dated July 11, 2014, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/divorced-wives-deserve-compensation-for-hardship/story-fnc2jivw-1226984851502

Labels: divorce, law, marriage

7. A couple of recent Gay/sport items

7.1 In order "to send a clear message" about discrimination, the National Rubgy League penalised, with a two-match ban and a requirement "to attend an anti-vilification education and awareness program", a player "for breaching the League’s anti-vilification policy" by calling another player "Gay" (though the player called "Gay" isn't Gay)

The first two quotations in that headline come from the article "Mitchell Moses has been banned for two matches for breaking the NRL’s anti-­vilification policy", by Mr. Dean Ritchie, dated May 5, 2014, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/mitchell-moses-has-been-banned-for-two-matches-for-breaking-the-nrls-antivilification-policy/story-fni3fbgz-1226906300123

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Young Wests Tiger's two-week ban for homophobic slur", by the same author, on p. 67 in the "NRL" pages of the "SPORT" section of The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, May 6, 2014, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.) The third quotation comes from the press releases "NRL suspends player for homophobic remark" and "Moses banned for two games for homophobic comment", neither of which has a byline, both dated Monday, May 5, 2014, both downloaded from NRL.com:

http://www.nrl.com/nrl-suspends-player-for-homophobic-remark/tabid/10874/newsid/78159/default.aspx

http://www.nrl.com/moses-banned-for-two-games-for-homophobic-comment/tabid/10874/newsid/78160/default.aspx

See also the opinion piece "NRL bosses are totally gay", by Miranda Devine, p. 13, The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, May 7, 2014, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., available online under the same headline, by the same author, but dated Tuesday, May 6, 2014, at Ms Devine's blog:

http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/mirandadevine/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/nrl_bosses_are_totally_gay/

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

7.2 "Our sponsorship of the Bingham Cup [a rugby union competition for gay players] has been a catalyst for change: we were able to use our leverage as a major advertiser to persuade the main sporting codes to sign up to an anti-homophobia policy, which they all did at the bank a few weeks ago."

The quotation, including the square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the appendix "SMASHING THE GLASS CLOSET" to the article "Don't ask, don't tell", by Jane Wheatley, dated June 7, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/dont-ask-dont-tell-20140602-39d0g.html?skin=text-only

(The sub-section (presumably minus any editorial interpolations) from which that quotation comes is attributed to Andrew Hall, "head of corporate affairs at the Commonwealth Bank", so the pronoun "we" and the possessives refer to the Commonwealth Bank.)

(That appendix and article came to my attention via the versions printed under the same respective headlines, with the same respective authors, on, respectively, p. 25 and pp. 22-25 of Good Weekend magazine, June 7, 2014, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd., inserted in The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, June 7-8, 2014, Issue No. 55118, ISSN 0312-6315, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd.)

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

8. Some recent items regarding abortion

8.1 "UP to 23,000 abortions take place in Victoria each year", as at 2008, and "180 late-term abortions were carried out in 2005 on healthy fetuses for "psycho-social" reasons"

The quotations in that headline come from the article "Victoria is Australia's abortion 'capital'", by Laurie Nowell, dated June 1, 2008, downloaded from the Herald Sun website:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/victoria-abortion-capital/story-e6frf7kx-1111116500184

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

Labels: abortion, Victoria

8.2 "In 2009 there were 154 stillbirths related to termination of pregnancy for congenital abnormality and 42 neonatal deaths where the parents decided to have labour induced early resulting in the early birth of their infant (Table 96)."

The quotation in that headline comes from p. 111 of the Annual report for the year 2009, by the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity, ISSN 1327-4473, authorised and published by H.M. Victorian Government, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, July 2012, © Copyright, State of Victoria, Department of Health 2012, downloaded from the "Document library" at the official website of the Department of Health, Victoria, Australia:

http://docs.health.vic.gov.au/docs/doc/Annual-Report-for-the-Year-2009-%28including-Births-in-Victoria%29--Full-Report

or go straight hither:

http://docs.health.vic.gov.au/docs/doc/C3F3B2341D9B4F99CA257A5C00099475/$FILE/1202025_CCOPMM_AR_2009_WEB.pdf

(That report came to my attention via this blog post by Mr. Gaynor.)

Labels: abortion, Victoria

8.3 "Of the 51 neonatal deaths[ in South Australia in 2008], 42 (82.4%) were lowbirthweight babies and 10 resulted from terminations of pregnancy."

The quotation, excluding the squate-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from p. 24 (p. 28 in your reader) of Maternal, Perinatal and Infant Mortality in South Australia 2008, by the Maternal, Perinatal and Infant Mortality Committee of the Pregnancy Outcome Unit of SA Health, H.M South Australian Government, ISSN 1032-4801, published by SA Health, H.M South Australian Government, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, November 2009, © SA Health, downloaded from the official SA Health website:

http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/6f561300440868f38a40aa5fc19a2cbb/mortalityreport-operations-sahaelth-2008.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=6f561300440868f38a40aa5fc19a2cbb

(That report came to my attention via the comment by Heidi on May 10, 2014 at 6:52 pm in the combox of a blog post by Mr. Gaynor.)

Labels: abortion, S.A.

8.4 Some up-to-date figures on contraception and abortion in Australia

See pp. 149 ff. and 195 ff. (but add 18 to desired page numbers when typing them into your reader's page number field) of the report Reproductive and sexual health in Australia, no author credited, ISBN 978 1 877026 29 4, published by Family Planning NSW, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia, 2013, © Family Planning NSW 2013, downloaded from Family Planning NSW's website:

Warning: Given the subject matter, beware of potentially scandalous terminology:

http://www.fpnsw.org.au/688423_21_13559012.html

Or go straight hither:

http://www.fpnsw.org.au/rshinaust_book_webedition_1.pdf

(That report came to my attention via this or this Herald article.)

Labels: abortion, contraception

9. "the more children a family has, the less likely it is that both parents will remain in paid employment. Therefore, encouraging larger families will increase the number of future workers and taxpayers, including women."

The quotation, including its italics, in that headline comes from the article "CHILD CARE INQUIRY: Should parents or paid strangers raise children?", by Mr. John Ballantyne, dated May 10, 2014, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56572

Labels: economics, families

10. "The early moderns wanted to get rid of formal and final causes as immanent features of nature, and thus replaced them with the notion of “laws of nature” conceived of as externally imposed divine decrees."

The quotation in that headline comes from the blog post "School’s out forever?", by Dr. Edward Feser, dated Friday, May 2, 2014, downloaded from his eponymous blog:

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2014/05/schools-out-forever.html

Labels: philosophy, science

11. "a quarter of our students[, i.e., of pupils in nominally Catholic schools in New South Wales,] are not Catholic", and "[a]t 44 per cent, SA Catholic schools have the highest proportion of students from non-Catholic backgrounds of any mainland state" ("[t]he national average is 29 per cent")

The first quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the letter published under the heading "Not weeds, flowers", from Dr. Brian Croke ("executive director, Catholic Education Commission NSW"), on the May 22, 2014 letters page (headline: "Tony Abbott lacks John Howard's bravery in facing Deakin University protesters"), downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/tony-abbott-lacks-john-howards-bravery-in-facing-deakin-university-protesters-20140521-zrjwl.html?skin=text-only

The last two quotations, excluding my square-bracketed replacement of capital letters with lower-case ones, in that headline come from the article "Big growth in number of non-Catholics attending Catholic schools in SA", no byline, dated June 1, 2014, downloaded from news.com.au:

http://www.news.com.au/national/south-australia/big-growth-in-number-of-noncatholics-attending-catholic-schools-in-sa/story-fnii5yv4-1226939166470

(That article came to my attention via this CathNews post.)

Labels: Catholic schools

12. "It is significant that at a time when the federal Coalition government is cutting support for single-income two-parent families by cutting Family Tax Benefit B and increasing costs of medical treatment and pharmaceuticals, it is increasing spending on institutionalised child care (primarily used by two-income families), on top of its paid parental leave scheme which is also a subsidy for two-income families."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "CANBERRA OBSERVED: Single-income families bear the brunt of Budget pain", no byline, dated May 24, 2014, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56587

Labels: childcare, economics, families, tax

13. Mr. Muehlenberg with some recent items regarding Gaiety

See the blog post "Truth-Telling and Homosexuality", by Mr. Bill Muehlenberg, dated June 9, 2014, downloaded from his CultureWatch blog:

http://billmuehlenberg.com/2014/06/09/truth-telling-and-homosexuality/

(And read the comments there, especially the one by Dr. van Gend.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., mental health

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Confessor, A.D. 2014

Notes: Tuesday, February 11-Monday, March 17, 2014 (part 1 of 2)

1. Fr. Unger on St. Irenaeus of Lyons's Adversus haereses, III, 3, 2 ("the locus on the importance of the Roman Church as a criterion of apostolic tradition")

See the article "St. Irenaeus and the Roman Primacy", by The Rev. Fr. Dominic J. Unger O.F.M. Cap., in Theological Studies, 13.3 (1952), pp. 359-418:

http://www.ts.mu.edu/readers/content/pdf/13/13.3/13.3.3.pdf

(That article came to my attention via the reference to it on p. 154 of The Church and Infallibility. A Reply to the Abridged "Salmon"., by The Rt. Rev. The (7th) Lord Abbot of Downside (B. C. Butler) O.S.B., published by The Catholic Book Club, undated (but sometime between September 1952 and 10.3.56, judging by, respectively, that article and the handwritten inscription in my second-hand copy of The Church and Infallibility.)

Labels: dogma, Papacy, St. Irenaeus of Lyons

2. Mr. Saletan on the opinions of nominal Catholics on matters of Faith and morals

See the article "The pope's Catholic problem", by Mr. William Saletan, dated February 12, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-popes-catholic-problem-20140212-32gv5.html?skin=text-only

Labels: demography

3. For the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child's concluding observations on the most recent periodic reports of, respectively, the Holy See and the Russian Federation, see here:

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/VAT/CRC_C_VAT_CO_2_16302_E.pdf

and here:

http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/RUS/CRC_C_RUS_CO_4-5_16305_E.pdf

Labels: U.N.O.

4. A couple of recent Gubernatorial (New South Wales) activities

4.1 On Friday, the 7th ult., Her Excellency The Governor of New South Wales "attended the Rainbow Flag Raising Ceremony celebrating the launch of the 2014 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival followed by a reception hosted by The Lord Mayor, at Sydney Town Hall."

The quotation in that headline comes from the webpage "Friday, 7 February 2014" at the official Governor of New South Wales website:

http://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/news/diary-of-engagements/friday-7-february-2014/

(That event came to my attention via the Vice-Regal notices on p. 31 in the classifieds section of the "Weekend Business" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, February 8-9, 2014, No. 55017, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., N.S.W.

4.2 In the early evening of Friday, the 28th ult., Her Excellency The Governor of New South Wales "opened the “We Are Family”, photographic, video and installation works exhibition, as part of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, at the Australian Centre for Photography, Paddington."

The quotation, including the italics, in that headline comes from the webpage "Friday, 28 February 2014" at the official Governor of New South Wales website:

http://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/news/diary-of-engagements/friday-28-february-2014/

(That event came to my attention via the Vice-Regal notices on p. 34 in the Classifieds section of the "BusinessDay[ sic]" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, March 1-2, 2014, Issue No. 55035, ISSN presumably 0312-6315.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., N.S.W.

5. Prof. Flannery's curriculum vitæ

See the article "Tim Flannery: a man for all climates", by Mr. Mark Dapin, dated February 8, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

Warning: The following article contains references which might scandalise some readers:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/tim-flannery-a-man-for-all-climates-20140207-3271c.html?skin=text-only

(That article came to my attention via the version printed as an installment in the Herald's "LUNCH WITH" series under the headline "Beefing up for a climate fight" ("LUNCH WITH TIM FLANNERY"), by the same author, on p. 6 of the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, February 8-9, 2014, No. 55017, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Labels: Tim Flannery

6. Mr. Ban (the United Nations Secretary-General) on what he regards as proper and improper treatment of Gays & al. around the world

See the article "Ahead of Sochi Olympic Games, Ban praises power of sport to unite all people", no byline, dated February 6, 2014, downloaded from the United Nations website::

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47094#.UxWXLmex5es

(One of Mr. Ban's remarks came to my attention via the article "Putin hypocrisy exposed", no byline (but the stated sources were The Times, A.F.P., and The Wall Street Journal), on p. 9 in the "WORLD" section of The Weekend Australian, February 8-9, 2014, First Edition, No. 15337, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited, and available online under the same headline, with the same stated sources, dated February 8, 2014, at The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/putin-hypocrisy-exposed/story-fnay3ubk-1226820990769)

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

7. Uganda's President has assented to a Bill which strengthens Uganda's anti-sodomy law.

See the article "Ugandan president signs law to jail gays for life", by Grace Matsiko, dated February 25, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/ugandan-president-signs-law-to-jail-gays-for-life-20140225-hvdn7.html?skin=text-only

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

8. Dr. Zimmermann on no-fault divorce

See the article "The innocent victims of 'no-fault' divorce", by Dr. Augusto Zimmermann, dated March 1, 2014, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56495

Labels: divorce, law, marriage

9. "It's thought that about 50 per cent of new [H.I.V. ]infections come from people who don't know they are infected"

The quotation, excluding my parenthesis, was attributed to Prof. Sharon Lewin ("a world-leading HIV researcher") in the article "HIV study lifts prevention hopes", by Julia Medew, dated March 7, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/hiv-study-lifts-prevention-hopes-20140306-34a9m.html?skin=text-only

Labels: H.I.V./A.I.D.S.

10. Some research on the hours of paid and unpaid work done by Australian men and women, respectively

See the paper "COOKING, CARING AND VOLUNTEERING: UNPAID WORK AROUND THE WORLD" (O.E.C.D. Social, Employment, and Migration Working Paper No. 116), by Dr. Veerle Miranda, dated September 20, 2011, downloaded from the O.E.C.D.'s website:

http://search.oecd.org/officialdocuments/displaydocumentpdf/?cote=DELSA/ELSA/WD/SEM(2011)1&doclanguage=en

(That research came to my attention via an article in the Sydney Daily Telegraph of Friday, March 7, 2014.) But see the opinion piece "Women struggle to escape drudgery", by Peter Martin, dated March 9, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/women-struggle-to-escape-drudgery-20140308-34dvj.html?skin=text-only

Labels: economics, families, work

11. "Many people who oppose marriage equality do so, not out of homophobia, but out of sincerely held religious beliefs or views about the nature of marriage"

The quotation in that headline was attributed to "Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome" in the article "Mundine comes out fighting against Abbott race, gay slurs", by Mr. Rick Morton, dated March 8, 2014, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/mundine-comes-out-fighting-against-abbott-race-gay-slurs/story-fn59niix-1226848483178

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline and with the same author on p. 8 in "THE NATION" section of The Weekend Australian, March 8-9, 2014, First Edition, No. 15361, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: marriage, morals

12. A few recent Masonic activities by H.R.H. The Duke of Kent (Grand Master, United Grand Lodge of England)

12.1 In the evening of Wednesday, the 26th ult., H.R.H. The Duke of Kent "attended the Board of Grand Stewards Dinner at the Goring Hotel, … London", England

See the Court Circular—the source for the quotation (excluding the ellipsis symbol) in that headline—of that day.

Labels: Edward Kent, Freemasons

12.2 In the afternoon of Thursday, the 6th instant, H.R.H. The Duke of Kent visited Stroud Masonic Hall. Later in the same day, His Royal Highness "attended a Service in Gloucester Cathedral to mark the work of the local Freemasons".

See the Court Circular—the source for the quotation in that headline—of that day.

Labels: Anglicans, Edward Kent, Freemasons

Reginaldvs Cantvar
St. Patrick's Day, A.D. 2014

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

12. "Pope Francis assured mothers that breast-feeding their babies in public, even during a papal Mass in the Sistine Chapel, is OK."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Pope to moms: It's OK to breast-feed in public, even in Sistine Chapel", by Carol Glatz, dated January 13, 2014, downloaded from the Catholic News Service's (C.N.S.'s) website:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1400120.htm

(A version of that article is also available at the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website, under the headline "Pope to mums: It’s OK to breast-feed in public, even in Sistine Chapel", with the same author, dated January 14, 2014:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=1&subclassID=99&articleID=13161&class=Copyright&subclass=Vatican

and it came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Breastfeeding in Mass is OK, says Pope", with the same author, on p. 13 of The Catholic Weekly, January 19, 2014, Vol. 73, No. 4708, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.) For another report on the same event, see the article "Pope tells mothers to breastfeed in church", by Philip Pullella, dated January 13, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/pope-tells-mothers-to-breastfeed-in-church-20140113-hv85w.html?skin=text-only

For translations of the relevant portion of the Papal homily in question (that of January 12, 2014, for the New-calendar Feast of the Baptism of the Lord), see here:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140112_omelia-battesimo_en.html

and the Vatican Information Service item "TO BE PART OF THE CHAIN OF FAITH IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL INHERITANCE A CHILD CAN RECEIVE", dated January 12, 2014, downloaded from the NEWS.VA website:

http://www.news.va/en/news/to-be-part-of-the-chain-of-faith-is-the-most-beaut

(The latter came to my attention via the version with same headline and date in the Holy See Press Office's Vatican Information Service e-mail bulletin of January 13, 2014, Year XXII, No. 7.)

Labels: breastfeeding, Francis Bergoglio, morals

13. "Few British Catholics agree with Church on abortion, gay ‘marriage’ and euthanasia: poll"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an article by Hilary White, dated Wednesday, December 4, 2013, downloaded from LifeSiteNews.com:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/few-british-catholics-agree-with-church-on-abortion-gay-marriage-and-euthan

(That article came to my attention via this AQ thread.)

Labels: U.K.

14. Some information on the health risks involved in the Gay/Lesbian lifestyle

See the article "HOMOSEXUALITY UNMASKED", dated January 2011, downloaded from Christian Order's website:

http://www.christianorder.com/features/features_2011/features_jan11_bonus.html

(That article came to my attention via the comment by Rory Donnellan on January 29, 2014 at 1:01 pm in the comments section of this blog post/press release by Mr. Gaynor.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., health, medicine

15. "Two to three days a week at work is the best job/home lifestyle balance for career mums"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an article by Laura Chalmers, dated January 10, 2014, downloaded from couriermail.com.au:

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/two-to-three-days-a-week-at-work-is-the-best-jobhome-lifestyle-balance-for-career-mums/story-fnihsrf2-1226798530510

(That article came to my attention via the similar article "Making family life work", also by Laura Chalmers, p. 03, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Friday, January 10, 2014, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: economics, families, work

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

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 2 of 3)

9. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child "recommended that corporal punishment be explicitly prohibited in all states and territories" and "that ‘reasonable chastisement’ not be used as a defence to the charge of assault of a child"

The quotations in that headline come from p. 24 of the Children’s Rights Report 2013 by Australia's National Children's Commissioner, Ms Megan Mitchell, for the Australian Human Rights Commission (A.H.R.C.), downloaded from the A.H.R.C.'s website:

http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/childrens-rights-report-2013

Labels: A.H.R.C., corporal punishment, families, human rights, U.N.O.

10. Prof. Williams on, among other things, Australian Marriage Equality's intervention in the High Court to argue that Federal Parliament can legislate for Gay Marriage, and the failure of Gay Marriage's opponents to intervene to argue the contrary

See the opinion piece "Gay marriage is now only a matter of political will", by Prof. George Williams, dated December 17, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/gay-marriage-is-now-only-a-matter-of-political-will-20131216-2zh9h.html?skin=text-only

See also the letter published on the webpage "It's a challenge to stand up to anti-Israel zealots" under the headline "Court's so-called activism", by Mr. Rodney Croome A.M., dated December 30, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/letters/its-a-challenge-to-stand-up-to-antiisrael-zealots/story-fn558imw-1226791564914

Labels: A.M.E., Constitution, G.L.B.T., H.C.A., law, marriage

11. "A federal judge ruled that a law banning the "cohabitation" of a man and several women in marriage-like relationships in Utah violated the First Amendment."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Polygamist Kody Brown wins the right to live with four Mrs Browns", by Rhys Blakely, dated December 17, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/polygamist-kody-brown-wins-the-right-to-live-with-four-mrs-browns/story-fnb64oi6-1226784779999

Labels: polyamory

12. Mr. O'Malley on how the "slights issuing from the White House to the Russian hosts of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games could not be more studied nor more pointed"

See the article "'Busy' Obama sends gay delegate Billie Jean King to Russia's Olympics", by Nick O'Malley, dated December 27, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/busy-obama-sends-gay-delegate-billie-jean-king-to-russias-olympics-20131227-hv6z4.html?skin=text-only

(That article was also printed under the headline "Obama's message on Russian gay laws", 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.)

See also the articles "Barack Obama's Billie Jean King move checkmates Russia's anti-gay laws" and "A day in the life of: The Olympics", no bylines, dated December 18 and 20, 2013, respectively, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/barack-obamas-billie-jean-king-move-checkmates-russias-antigay-laws/story-e6frg7mf-1226785906532

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/a-day-in-the-life-of-the-olympics/story-e6frg6so-1226786860020

Labels: Barack Obama, G.L.B.T., Vladimir Putin

13. "The World Health Organization (WHO) is distributing a document setting the standards for sexual education in Europe"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "WHO sex-ed guidelines promote masturbation, abortion, homosexuality to children: parents outraged", by Sofia Vazquez-Mellado, dated October 8, 2013, downloaded from LifeSiteNews.com:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/who-sex-ed-guidelines-promote-masturbation-abortion-homosexuality-to-childr

(That article came to my attention via this blog post by Mr. Muehlenberg.) The document (Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe) is available for download from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Sexual and Reproductive Health website's "WHO Regional Office for Europe and BZgA: Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe" webpage:

http://www.bzga-whocc.de/?uid=685e1296995416b8b1d7cee2469dde0b&id=Seite4489

Labels: sex ed, U.N.O., vice

14. The face of Liberalism

See the article "Original Tussaud mask restores face of the Terror, pockmarks and all", no byline, dated December 18, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/original-tussaud-mask-restores-face-of-the-terror-pockmarks-and-all/story-fnb64oi6-1226785303384

Labels: liberalism

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

Notes: Wednesday, September 11-Tuesday, December 3, 2013

1. The N.S.W. Department of Family and Community Services funded ACON-delivered "workshops that explore[d] lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) sensitivity in service provision for people with disabilities."

See the "LGBTI Sensitivity and Disability Training" page at ACON's website:

http://www.acon.org.au/ageing/training/lgbti-sensitivity-and-disability-training

Labels: G.L.B.T., N.S.W.

2. "Rates of unintended pregnancies and abortion are relatively high in Australia (19.7 per 1,000 women aged 15-44) compared to northern Europe (17 per 1,000)", and "reports from the US found that almost half of all unintended pregnancies come about because, basically, women forgot to take the pill."

The quotations in that headline come from the article "OOPS. I'M PREGNANT.", by Gabrielle Jackson, dated September 10, 2013, downloaded from The Hoopla website:

http://thehoopla.com.au/oops-pregnant/

(Those figures came to my attention via the article "Preventing abortions", no byline, p. 11, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, September 3, 2013, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd. (note that the Tele no longer gives volume and issue numbers), but "Preventing abortions" was very short so I have quoted from "OOPS. I'M PREGNANT." in order to avoid violating copyright. The Medical Journal of Australia paper to which both articles refer is presumably "Australian women need increased access to long-acting reversible contraception" by Dr. Kirsten I. Black et al., and is available online here:

https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2013/199/5/australian-women-need-increased-access-long-acting-reversible-contraception)

Labels: abortion, contraception

3. Three reasons why new mothers need at least six months off work: To recover from giving birth, to cope with sleep deprivation, and to breastfeed.

Those reasons were given by Prof. Hannah Dahlen (a Professor of Midwifery), as reported in the article "MEDICOS BACK LONGER LEAVE", no byline, p. 07, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, September 3, 2013, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., apparently not available online.

Labels: breastfeeding, economics, pregnancy

4. Mr. McDonald on "esoteric art"

See "Occult figures" (a review of the Windows to the Sacred: An Exploration of the Esoteric art exhibition at the S. H. Ervin Gallery), by Mr. John McDonald, dated September 14, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

Warning: Some readers might find the following material disturbing:

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/occult-figures-20130912-2tla9.html?skin=text-only

(That review came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, with the same byline, on pp. 14-15 of the "SPECTRUM" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, September 14-15, 2013, No. 54892, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Labels: Freemasonry

5. Cardinal Pell on, among other things, paid paternity leave

See the opinion piece "The importance of good fathers", by His Eminence The Most Rev. The Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney A.C., dated September 4, 2013, downloaded from the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=3&subclassID=7&articleID=12740&class=Copyright&subclass=Cardinal's Comment

(That opinion piece came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, by the same author (it was that week's installment of His Eminence's "CARDINAL'S COMMENT" column), on p. 6 of The Catholic Weekly, Vol. 72, No. 4689, September 8, 2013, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: George Pell, P.P.L.

6. Some recent items regarding socio-economic trends

6.1 "Today, of all male employees, just 9 per cent are the sole earner in a couple with children. (Four per cent are women.)"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "More people are choosing to opt out of working full-time", by Clay Lucas, dated September 12, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/more-people-are-choosing-to-opt-out-of-working-fulltime-20130911-2tkrn.html?skin=text-only

Labels: economics, families, social trends, work

6.2 "women are now out-earning men in a quarter of double-income households"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Family finances shifting as women become the main breadwinners", by Mark Schliebs, dated October 23, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/family-finances-shifting-as-women-become-the-main-breadwinners/story-e6frg8zx-1226744873052

The AMP-National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling research (AMP.NATSEM Income and Wealth Report Issue 34 - Modern Family: The Changing Shape of Australian Families, by Ms Rebecca Cassells et al., published October 2013) to which that article refers is available here:

http://www.natsem.canberra.edu.au/publications/?publication=modern-family-the-changing-shape-of-australian-families

The media release there gives a lot of useful summary information relevant to the subject labels of this item.

Labels: economics, families, G.L.B.T., marriage, social trends, work

6.3 The latest Australian births figures

See the following "3301.0 - Births, Australia, 2012" pages at the Australian Bureau of Statistics's (A.B.S.'s) website:

"Births, Summary statistics for Australia"

"Number of teenage mothers lowest in a decade"

"BIRTHS"

"FERTILITY RATES"

See also the article "Baby boom for over-forties", no byline, p. 03, the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Friday, October 25, 2013, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., in which (article) Mr. Bjorn Jarvis, the A.B.S.'s Director of Demography, is reported as saying that the factors contributing to the number of births to women over forty now exceeding the number of births to women in their teens include "education, legislation, employment opportunities", and "economic conditions".

Labels: birth rates, social trends

6.4 "Women's incomes suffer more than men's after divorce, regardless of who decides to end the marriage, a study has found."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Wives' first move in divorce is costliest", by Daniella Miletic, dated September 27, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/wives-first-move-in-divorce-is-costliest-20130926-2uh2h.html?skin=text-only

Labels: divorce, economics, families, marriage

6.5 Mrs. Phillips on distributive injustice towards Australian families

See the letter "Home mums lose out", by Mrs. Roslyn Phillips, dated October 9, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/letters/home-mums-lose-out/story-fn558imw-1226735032305

Labels: economics, families, tax

6.6 "MORE than a third of mothers with children under 15 are not working, most saying they prefer to look after their children."

The quotation—including its bold type (it was an article's first paragraph)—in that headline comes from the article "Third of mums prefer minding kids to work", by Patricia Karvelas, dated November 20, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/third-of-mums-prefer-minding-kids-to-work/story-e6frg6nf-1226763803286

The research report—Australian mothers' participation in employment: Analyses of social, demographic and family characteristics using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey (the Australian Institute of Family Studies Research Paper No. 52), by Dr. Jennifer Baxter, published September 2013 by the Australian Institute of Family Studies—to which that article refers is available here:

http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/rp52/index.htmland its accompanying media release ("A third of Australian mothers not working", no author credited, dated November 20, 2013) is available here:

http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/media/media131120.html

Labels: economics, families, social trends, work

6.7 Mrs. Shanahan on recent Australian social and economic trends

See the opinion piece "Case of wishful thinking as reality of family life is lost", by Mrs. Angela Shanahan, dated November 16, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/case-of-wishful-thinking-as-reality-of-family-life-is-lost/story-fn562txd-1226761292101

(That opinion piece came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Case of wishful thinking as reality of family life is lost amid political and economic imagery", by the same author, on p. 19 in the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, November 16-17, 2013, First Edition, No. 15268, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: economics, families, G.L.B.T., marriage, social trends, work

7. The latest figures regarding attendance at nominally Catholic churches

See the article "A thinning flock of Catholics at all-time low", by Mr. Barney Zwartz, dated September 23, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/a-thinning-flock-of-catholics-at-alltime-low-20130922-2u81i.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Mass-going

8. "According to the latest Australian estimates, about 4.1 per cent of women who gave birth here in 2010 received some form of ART[, i.e., Assisted Reproductive Technology,] treatment"

The quotation in that headline comes from the feature article "Miracle or medical negligence?", by Sarah Elks and Sean Parnell, dated October 12, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/miracle-or-medical-negligence/story-e6frg6z6-1226738601481

The National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit report to which that article refers is available here:

http://www.npesu.unsw.edu.au/surveillance/assisted-reproductive-technology-australia-new-zealand-2011

("Miracle or medical negligence?" came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, with the same authors, on p. 13 in the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, October 12-13, 2013, First Edition, No. 15238, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: A.R.T.

9. "public hospitals in NSW carried out 119 medical abortions for women who had passed the 20th week of pregnancy"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Law on foetal rights 'will put many women at risk'", by Kirsty Needham, dated October 27, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/law-on-foetal-rights-will-put-many-women-at-risk-20131026-2w8i8.html?skin=text-only

Labels: abortion, N.S.W.

10. "In 2006-7, 25 per cent of Australians aged 18-34 had experienced the divorce or permanent separation of their parents before they were 18."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "A family that prays together . . ." (ellipsis symbol in the original), by His Eminence The Most Rev. The Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney A.C., dated November 6, 2013, downloaded from the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=3&subclassID=7&articleID=12972&class=Copyright&subclass=Cardinal's Comment

(That opinion piece came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, by the same author, as an installment in His Eminence's weekly "CARDINAL'S COMMENT" column, p. 6, The Catholic Weekly, November 10, 2013, Vol. 72, No. 4698, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: divorce, families

11. The latest figures on divorce in Australia

See the media release "How long can we wait before tying the knot?", no author credited, dated November 27, 2013, downloaded from the A.B.S.'s website:

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyCatalogue/118F4A846EEB21F8CA2576200025DF55?Opendocument

(Those figures came to my attention via last Thursday's Sydney Daily Telegraph.)

Labels: divorce, marriage

12. "For the first time in the history of the world, a national sporting league will include a gay sporting trophy in its national trophy cupboard. Yes'm, the Australian Rugby Union has made the historic decision to include the Bingham Cup, the World Cup of gay rugby, in the same cupboard that has held other international trophies, including the World Cup of rugby. … The trophy itself will be handed over to the ARU by the Sydney Convicts, the holders of the Bingham Cup, on Wednesday, December 4," 2013.

The quotation—excluding the ellipsis symbol—in that headline comes from the article "Witty banter is OK, but threats just not cricket", by Mr. Peter FitzSimons A.M., dated November 30, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/the-fitz-files/witty-banter-is-ok-but-threats-just-not-cricket-20131129-2ygs0.html?skin=text-only

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Witty banter is OK, threats not so", by the same author (it was the latest installment of his "The Fitz Files" column), on p. 20 of the "Weekend Sport" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, November 30-December 1, 2013, No. 54958, ISSN 0312-6315.)

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

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Confessor, A.D. 2013

Notes: Wednesday, June 26-Monday, August 5, 2013 (part 2 of 2)

9. "Divorce can add 10 years to the working lives of Australians, as they battle to re-establish the wealth they had in married life, according to new research by Suncorp Superannuation."

The quotation in that headline is the first paragraph of the media release "The hidden super cost of divorce", no author credited, undated, downloaded from the Suncorp Group's website:

http://www.suncorpgroup.com.au/sites/default/files/pdf/news/Media%20Release_The%20Hidden%20Super%20Cost%20of%20Divorce_FINAL.pdf

(That media release came to my attention via the article "Divorce can cost 10 years of retirement", by Andrew Carswell, p. 24 in the "BUSINESS" pages of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, July 9, 2013, Vol. 1, No. 2894, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., available in a slightly shorter and differently-edited version under the headline "Nothing super about having to work to a ripe old age", by the same author, with the same date, downloaded from the Townsville Bulletin's website:

http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2013/07/09/385156_news.html)

Labels: divorce, economics, marriage, work

10. "Across the same 10 years[ (beginning in 2002)] however, the percentage of women in professional roles increased while the proportion of women in ''home duties'' dropped from 17 per cent in 2002 to 11.7 per cent in 2012."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Unearned advantage allows men to dominate", by Mr. Ross Honeywill, dated July 16, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/unearned-advantage-allows-men-to-dominate-20130715-2q021.html?skin=text-only

Labels: economics, families, marriage

11. "There is no glossing over the ugly facts: single parent families have hard and unstable lives. In the mid-80s, a child's chances of being caught in such disadvantageous circumstances was one in 10; today it is one in five."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "The sins of our fathers may be less than our own on Struggle Street", by Mr. Nick Cater, dated July 16, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/the-sins-of-our-fathers-may-be-less-than-our-own-on-struggle-street/story-fnhulhjj-1226679821579

Labels: families, marriage

12. Some figures regarding H.I.V. in Australia

See Australia's official Country Progress Report submitted, in April 2012, to the UNAIDS Secretariat for the monitoring of progress towards the targets set in the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, downloaded from the official UNAIDS (the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) website:

http://www.unaids.org/en/dataanalysis/knowyourresponse/countryprogressreports/2012countries/ce_AU_Narrative_Report%5B1%5D.pdf

(That report came to my attention via the second comment at this blog post by Mr. Gaynor.)

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

13. "international recidivism rates with treatment[ programmes for sex offenders] were 13.5 per cent - 27.2 per cent without", but "research has indicated predators convicted of assaulting one victim usually had between six and nine other victims nobody knew about"

The quotations, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline come from the feature article "Granting the freedom to rape or kill again", by Mr. Rick Morton, dated July 20, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/granting-the-freedom-to-rape-or-kill-again/story-e6frg6z6-1226682218109

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, by the same author, on p. 20 in the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, July 20-21, 2013, Second Edition, No. 15171, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: crime

14. Fr. Donovan, among others, on the Novus Ordo Missæ

In the combox at this post at her Australia Incognita blog, the blogmistress, Miss Kate Edwards, and I were having a discussion about the legitimacy of the Novus Ordo Missæ, in the course of which I said that the New Order Mass replaces the Traditional Latin Mass's "structure of a true propitiatory sacrifice with that of Jewish table blessings". Some readers might have been surprised, even shocked, to read that, and though the S.S.P.X.'s The Problem of the Liturgical Reform—to which I linked in the same comment—deals with this, those readers might be unwilling to take a Traditionalist document as a reliable source. But by a fortunate coincidence (though one which, unfortunately, I didn't notice until I had bowed out of the discussion), The Rev. Fr. Daniel Donovan writes, in an article at Catholica, that, in the context of the N.O.M. (and in particular its Third Eucharistic Prayer),

The Liturgy of the Eucharist is part of the whole ecclesial action in which Jesus' actions, take, bless, break and give include the table actions of the father and mother in the Jewish meal. At Eucharist, Jesus combines the actions of the father and mother providing a unified structure for the liturgy from the Offertory to Communion.
[bold, italic, and red type in the original,
"Eucharistic Prayer III: Anaphora of God's People", Part 2, by The Rev. Fr. Daniel Donovan, undated (but submitted to Catholica on November 20, 2012, and I read it on, if I recall correctly, Wednesday, July 17, 2013 ), published by Mr. Brian Coyne at his Catholica website:
http://www.catholica.com.au/gc2/dd2/068_dd_170713.php]

Catholica is, of course, a Vatican II Progressive source, but if readers would prefer a Vatican II Conservative source then they can see the Zenit article "The Priest in the Offertory of the Mass", a translation, dated February 19, 2010, of a reflection by The Rev. Prof. Juan José Silvestre Valór, an Opus Dei priest, professor of liturgy at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, and consultor to the Office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. And to bookend those two Vatican II sources between Traditionalist sources, see the Maurice Pinay blog post "Opus Judei Glosses on the Talmudic Novus Ordo "Offertory"", dated Sunday, February 21, 2010 (which (blog post) brought that Zenit article to my attention; the Catholica article came to my attention on my weekly visit to the Catholica website).

Labels: N.O.M.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of The Dedication of Our Lady of the Snows', A.D. 2013

Notes: Friday, June 21-Tuesday, June 25, 2013

1. On Garter Day (the Monday in Royal Ascot week) 2013 (in 2013, Garter Day was the seventeenth of June), H.M. The Queen held a Chapter of the Order of the Garter in Windsor Castle's Throne Room, during which Her Majesty invested Lord Stirrup with the Insignia of a Knight Companion of that Order. In the afternoon of that day, in St. George's Chapel, The Queen installed His Lordship in the same Order.

See the Court Circular of that day.

Labels: Graham Stirrup, Order of the Garter

2. In "a recent petition by the Polyamory[ sic] Action Lobby[,] … the group said: "We demand nothing less than the full recognition of polyamorous families"."

That quotation, excluding my ellipsis symbol and square-bracketed interpolations, comes from the article "Bernardi: I was right on gay marriage and polygamy", by Jonathan Swan, dated June 18, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/bernardi-i-was-right-on-gay-marriage-and-polygamy-20130618-2offe.html?skin=text-only

See also the Poly Action Lobby's (sic—the group's name seems to be, as of March 1, 2013, "Poly Action Lobby", not "Polyamory Action Lobby") submission (No. 1224) in relation to the Parliamentary "Inquiry into Same sex marriage law in NSW", which (submission) "was received on 1/3/2013 by the Social Issues Committee":

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/7773A58712584B87CA257B2B0004EE96

Labels: polyamory

3. "there are still almost 80 countries around the world which criminalise same-sex relations"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Does Australia deserve a place at the world's top human rights table?", by Mr. Phil Lynch, dated June 20, 2013, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/world-commentary/does-australia-deserve-a-place-at-the-worlds-top-human-rights-table/story-e6frg6ux-1226667020964

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

4. Prof. Williams on anti-death-penalty legislative victories in Australia

See the opinion piece "Chances of return to death penalty remain almost nil", by Prof. George Williams, dated June 18, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/chances-of-return-to-death-penalty-remain-almost-nil-20130617-2oeie.html?skin=text-only

Labels: death penalty, law

5. "About 60 per cent of those in custody in Australia have been imprisoned before."

The quotation, including its hyperlink, in that headline comes from the webpage "Recidivism" at the website of the Australian Government's Australian Institute of Criminology:

http://www.aic.gov.au/crime_community/communitycrime/recidivism.html

(That figure came to my attention via the opinion piece "Why we shouldn't call Adrian Bayley a Monster", by Alecia Simmonds, dated June 19, 2013, downloaded from Fairfax's Daily Life website:

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/why-we-shouldnt-call-adrian-bayley-a-monster-20130618-2og5v.html?skin=text-only

Labels: crime

6. Ms Maley on Coalition-Labor co-operation to end legislative discrimination against sodomite-catamite couples and to prevent capital punishment in Australia:

[The Hon. Robert ]McClelland[ M.P.], for instance, gave a shout-out to his opposition shadow[ Federal Attorney-General] Senator[ The Hon.] George Brandis[ Q.C.], who came across to the House of Representatives to watch McClelland's valedictory. He thanked Brandis for his ''vital'' co-operation in amending some 80 pieces of legislation to remove discrimination for same-sex couples, and in legislating to prohibit capital punishment from ever being reintroduced in Australia.

These legislative results were achieved ''in substantial part as a result of [Brandis'] support and decency'', McClelland said …
[my ellipsis symbol and square-bracketed interpolations, except for "[Brandis']",
"Now they tell us …[ sic] pollies hide virtues till the end", by Ms Jacqueline Maley, dated June 22, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/now-they-tell-us-8230-pollies-hide-virtues-till-the-end-20130621-2onu5.html?skin=text-only]

(That opinion piece came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, with the same byline, on p. 11 of the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, June 22-23, 2013, No. 54820, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Labels: A.L., death penalty, discrimination, G.L.B.T., L.P.A., law, Nationals

7. "A new study published in the journal Psychological Science found some crucial, fascinating insights into how extremists can shift their positions to more moderate stances. The researchers, from the University of Colorado Boulder, Harvard Kennedy School, UCLA and Brown University, found that people's positions became less severe once they were asked to actually spell out their policies, and once they realised they did not know as much as they thought they did on the subject."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "The silence of the moderates", by Dr. Julia Baird, dated June 22, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/the-silence-of-the-moderates-20130621-2onnp.html?skin=text-only

(That opinion piece came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline, with the same byline, on p. 12 of the "News Review" supplement of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, June 22-23, 2013, No. 54820, ISSN 0312-6315.)

Presumably Dr. Baird was referring to the article "Political Extremism Is Supported by an Illusion of Understanding", by Assistant Professor Philip M. Fernbach et al., the abstract of which is available here:

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/24/6/939.abstract

Labels: extremism

8. "The ACTU has provided evidence that one in three women leave the workforce permanently while pregnant or after having a child."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Gillard launches gender inquiry", by Mr. Michael Gordon, dated June 22, 2013, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/gillard-launches-gender-inquiry-20130621-2oo81.html?skin=text-only

(That article came to my attention via the version printed on p. 1 of the "NEWS" section of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, June 22-23, 2013, No. 54820, ISSN 0312-6315.)

See also the article "HRC to look at leave discrimination", no byline (though its source is the A.A.P.), downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website, which (article) says that the A.C.T.U.'s president, Ms Ged Kearney,

said Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed almost one third of working women with a child under two left the workforce permanently while pregnant or after having a child.
[http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/hrc-to-look-at-leave-discrimination/story-fni0xqi3-1226667945055]

(For more on the inquiry in question, see the media release "Inquiry into parental leave discrimination: Fairer workplace practices to benefit families and the economy", issued jointly by The Hon. Mark Dreyfus Q.C. M.P., The Hon. Jenny Macklin M.P., and The Hon. Bill Shorten M.P. (respectively the Federal Attorney-General, the Federal Minister for Families, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs, and for Disability Reform, and the Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations), dated June 22, 2013, downloaded from the Federal Attorney-General's website:

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/Mediareleases/Pages/2013/Second%20quarter/22-June-2013---Inquiry-into-parental-leave-discrimination-Fairer-workplace-practices-to-benefit-familes-and-the-economy.aspx

See also the webpages "Pregnancy and return to work research begins" and "Prevalence of experiences of discrimination relating to pregnancy at work and return to work after parental leave" at the Australian Human Rights Commission's website.)

Labels: discrimination, families, P.P.L., pregnancy

9. "BOYS as young as five will be encouraged to envisage becoming nurses and girls soldiers under a French primary school program designed to break down age-old stereotypes", which (programme)", called the ABCD of Equality, will be introduced into 500 primary schools from September before being made part of the national curriculum a year later."

The quotations, including the bold and capitals, in that headline come from the article "French gender-bender blue", no byline (its source is The Times of London), dated June 22, 2013, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/french-gender-bender-blue/story-fnb64oi6-1226667762224

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline on p. 10 in the "WORLD" section of The Weekend Australian, June 22-23, 2013, First Edition, No. 15147, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: feminism

10. "100,000[ Australians] ceased calling themselves Catholic between 2006–2011"

The quotation in that headline comes from the installment of His Eminence The Most Rev. The Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney A.C.'s "Cardinal's Comment" column titled "Numbers up, percentage down", dated June 16, 2013 (sic—presumably that was the date of its printing in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph), downloaded from the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=3&subclassID=7&articleID=12307&class=Features&subclass=Cardinal's Comment

(That article came to my attention via the version printed on p. 8 under the same headline in the same "CARDINAL'S COMMENT" column in The Catholic Weekly, June 23, 2013, Vo. 72, No. 4678, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company.)

Labels: demography, social trends

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. William, Abbot, A.D. 2013