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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: Confessional State, religious liberty, Silvano Tomasi

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

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

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

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

Labels: Russia, U.K.

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

3.1 Prof. Ergas on income distribution in Australia

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

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

Labels: economics, families

3.2 Prof. Whiteford on income distribution in Australia

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

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

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

Labels: economics, families

4. Mr. Russell on euthanasia

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

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

Labels: euthanasia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: childcare, families, social trends

8. Mr. Baker on religious liberty in America

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

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

Labels: religious liberty

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: abortion, Australian

11. Past Theological Studies articles are available here:

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

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

Labels: theology, morality

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

Notes: 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