Showing posts with label polyamory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label polyamory. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Notes: Tuesday, August 11-Tuesday, September 29, 2015

1. "A CNA [(Catholic News Agency) ]investigation has found that millions of dollars have been poured into efforts to combat religious freedom exemptions in the United States."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the article "LGBT grant-maker wants to win religious liberty fight within three years", by Mr. Kevin Jones, dated July 29, 2015, downloaded from CNA's website:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/lgbt-grant-maker-wants-to-win-religious-liberty-fight-within-three-years-96064/

(That article came to my attention via the "In Brief"—"UNITED STATES" article headlined "Benefactors turn against religious freedom", on p. 3 in the "NEWS" pages of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, August 9, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4787, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: G.L.B.T.

2. Australian "taxpayer funding of the International Planned Parenthood Federation" includes "$651,801 for “core funding to strategic plan (Asia)”, $769,800 “Contribution to IPPF (global)” and $30 million to “Pacific Regional Partnerships for Reproductive Health Program (Pacific)”."

The quotations in that headline come from the opinion piece "Miranda Devine: Planned Parenthood scam shows us evil has a way of creeping into the world", by Ms Miranda Devine, dated July 25, 2015, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/miranda-devine-planned-parenthood-scam-shows-us-evil-has-a-way-of-creeping-into-the-world/story-fni0cwl5-1227456749468

(That article is also available as a blog post at Ms Devine's blog and it came to my attention via the opinion piece "Children are more than the sum of their parts" by Monica Doumit in "The Catholic Talk Column" on p. 19 ("COMMENT") of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, August 9, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4787, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd., available online under the same headline, in the same column, with the same author, but dated August 6, 2015, here.) This might be the source for what Ms Devine wrote:

http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/corporate/Documents/contracts-for-the-period-1-january-2014-31-december-2014.pdf

(That report came to my attention via the comment by Nick Barnes of 6.8.15 / 4pm in the combox at this blog post by Mr. Muehlenberg.)

Labels: abortion, contraception, feminism, foreign affairs

3. Some recent information on morbid propaganda in Australian public schools

3.1 Beginning in 2016, the thirty minutes each week which is currently devoted to, or at least is available for, non-compulsory Special Religious Instruction in Victorian public schools (Prep to Year 10) will instead be devoted to, or at least available for, compulsory indoctrination of pupils in "healthy, respectful relationships" ideology (presumably a blend of sodomy, Feminism, Moral Relativism, and Multiculturalism)

See the media release "New Curriculum Supports Students To Build Healthy Relationships And Understanding", from The Hon. James Merlino M.P. (Victorian Minister for Education) and The Hon. Fiona Richardson M.P. (Victorian Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence), dated Friday, August 21, 2015, downloaded from the official Premier of Victoria website:

http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-curriculum-supports-students-to-build-healthy-relationships-and-understanding

(That media release came to my attention via the print version of the article "Relationship advice to replace religious instruction", by Ms Natasha Bita, dated August 21, 2015, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/relationship-advice-to-replace-religious-instruction/story-fn59nlz9-1227492123139

The same website also has a much shorter article ("Vic religious education classes axed", no byline (though the stated source is the A.A.P.), same date) on that topic:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/vic-religious-education-classes-axed/story-fn3dxiwe-1227492687675)

See also
  • the article "State to axe religious education", by Mr. Robert Hiini, on p. 6 in the "Catholic education" pages of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, August 30, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4790, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd., available online under the headline "Victoria axes state religious education", with the same author, dated August 26, 2015, downloaded from The Catholic Weekly's website:
    https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/state-to-axe-religious-education/
  • the opinion piece "NSW wolves baying at Vic move", by Mr. Jude Hennessy (director of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for The Diocese of Wollongong), on p. 23 in the "News" pages of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, September 6, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4791, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd., available online under the headline "Wrong to compare state religious education programs", with the same author, dated September 2, 2015, downloaded from The Catholic Weekly's website:
    https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/nsw-wolves-baying-at-victoria-sre-move/
Labels: education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, Victoria

3.2 Australian "education ministers agreed yesterday[, that is, the 18th instant.,] to change the[ national] curriculum again, to introduce teaching of “respectful relationships’’."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolations, in that headline comes from the article "Phonics, faith and coding for primary school kids", by Ms Natasha Bita, dated September 19, 2015, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/phonics-faith-and-coding-for-primary-school-kids/story-fn59nlz9-1227534083014

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Phonics, faith and coding for primary kids as schools go back to basics", by the same author, on p. 1 (continued on p. 10 in "THE NATION" pages under the headline "Phonics, faith and coding as schools go back to basics") of The Weekend Australian, September 19-20, 2015, Second Edition, No. 15837, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.) That development came less than a week after the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported that
The Minister Assisting the PM for Women, Michaelia Cash, has written to Education Minister Christopher Pyne to encourage programs in the school curriculum that promote respectful relationships.
["Domestic violence: Abbott Government to offer panic alarms and security upgrades to women at risk", by Renee Viellaris and Steven Wardill, dated September 13, 2015, downloaded from The Daily Telegraph's website:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/domestic-violence-abbott-government-to-offer-panic-alarms-and-security-upgrades-to-women-at-risk/story-fnii5v71-1227525367267
Follow that link for more details—I don't want to infringe copyright by quoting too much.
(Other versions of that article are available via the following two links:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/domestic-violence-abbott-government-to-offer-panic-alarms-and-security-upgrades-to-women-at-risk/story-fni0cx12-1227525473657
http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/domestic-violence-abbott-government-to-offer-panic-alarms-and-security-upgrades-to-women-at-risk/story-fnii5v6w-1227525367267)]
Shortly after that report, The Australian reported that
The Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women, Michaelia Cash, has written to the chairwoman of the Education Council, Queensland Education Minister Kate Jones, on behalf of her state counterparts expressing support for additional measures in schools.
["Schools to tackle domestic violence", by Rosie Lewis and Sarah Elks, dated September 15, 2015, downloaded from The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/schools-to-tackle-domestic-violence/story-fn59nlz9-1227527187249
(The "additional measures" are presumably of the 'respectful relationships' variety—see the fourth-last paragraph of that article (which (paragraph) also reports Mr. Pyne's action in response to Sen. Cash's letter to him).)]
And now, in the latest development,
$5 million will also be provided as a longer-term measure to change the attitudes of young people to violence, through expanding the Safer Schools website to include resources for teachers, parents and students on respectful relationships.
["Release: Women’s Safety Package to #StoptheViolence", dated September 24, 2015, downloaded from the electorate website of The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull M.P. (Prime Minister):
http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/release-womens-safety-package-to-stoptheviolence
See also the "Transcript of joint press conference: Women’s Safety Package to Stop the Violence", also dated September 24, 2015, downloaded from Mr. Turnbull's Prime Ministerial website:
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2015-09-24/transcript-joint-press-conference-womens-safety-package-stop-violence]
Labels: education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism

3.3 What Safe Schools Coalition/Wear It Purple Day events look like

See
  • the opinion piece "Purple has become the colour of thought control", by Mr. Mark Powell ("a Presbyterian minister from the Cornerstone Church in Strathfield" who was involved in opposing the planned pro-sodomite activities), on p. 52 in the "OPINION" pages of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Thursday, September 3, 2015, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., apparently not available at the Tele's website. In that article, Mr. Powell relates that a Burwood Girls High School parent told him by e-mail that
    on Friday the 28th of August classes for all years would be cancelled for two periods and everyone was instructed to wear pur-ple clothing as well as eat purple cup-cakes and then join in a special parade “under the rainbow flag.”
    (the dashes resulted from words spanning two lines)
    It seems that "Initially there was no “opt out.”", but "Later the school sent out another communi-cation saying you could “opt out” of viewing the film but not regarding participation in the rest of the day."
  • the article "NSW Education Minister bans schools from screening gay film" by Mr. Eryk Bagshaw, dated August 26, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:
    http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/nsw-education-minister-bans-schools-from-screening-gay-film-20150826-gj7sid.html?skin=text-only
    Mr. Bagshaw reports therein that
    The NSW Education Minister, Adrian Piccoli, has banned every public school in the state from screening a documentary about children with gay parents during school hours.

    […]

    Up to 50 schools across Australia, including 20 in NSW had organised a simultaneous broadcast of the film as part of a nationwide Wear it Purple day campaign of sexual inclusion in schools.
  • the article "Purple rain: true coulours shine after ban", by Mr. Eryk Bagshaw, on p. 3 in the "NEWS" pages of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, August 29-30, 2015, Issue No. 55500, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd., available online under the headline "Gayby Baby uproar: Schools defiant on Wear It Purple day", with the same author and date, at The Sydney Morning Herald's website:
    http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/gayby-baby-uproar-schools-defiant-on-wear-it-purple-day-20150828-gj9pr6.html?skin=text-only
    In the online version, Mr. Bagshaw reports that
    At Burwood Girls High almost 2000 purple cupcakes were consumed while principal Mia Kumar spoke of the tough week the school had endured.

    The girls had come out stronger because of it, she told the 1000-strong crowd that included NSW police officers in bespoke purple uniforms.
    and that Mr. Piccoli "has been a vocal supporter of Wear It Purple day in the past." (In another article by Mr. Bagshaw—"Gayby Baby: Education Minister Adrian Piccoli and Premier Mike Baird ban film without seeing it", dated August 27, 2015—he says similarly that Mr. Piccoli "has previously been a vocal supporter of the inclusiveness of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) issues in schools", and Miranda Devine describes Mr. Piccoli as "driving the Proud Schools program" (see her opinion piece "DENIALS, FEAR AND A LACK OF REAL TOLERANCE", dated August 28, 2015, at the Tele's website or at her blog.)

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

4. A man who regards himself as having three parents is "calling on NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton to allow for changes to the Status of Children Act 1996 (NSW) to reflect that a child might have more than two parents."

See the article "Hugo Atkinson's fight to have three parents recognised on his birth certificate", by Lucy Cormack, dated August 27, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hugo-atkinsons-fight-to-have-three-parents-recognised-on-his-birth-certificate-20150827-gj9anp.html?skin=text-only

Labels: polyamory

5. Mr. Webster on Mr. Turnbull's "support of last year's Bingham Cup in Sydney": "He donated personally to the tournament - he was one of the top 15 individual sponsors - and lent his considerable presence to a score of functions, including a pledge from the chief executives of the major sporting codes to implement anti-homophobia and inclusion policies."

The quotations in that headline come from the article "NRL finals 2015: Sydney Roosters wary of Canterbury Bulldogs' tackling style", by Mr. Andrew Webster, dated September 17, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/nrl-finals-2015-sydney-roosters-wary-of-canterbury-bulldogs-tackling-style-20150917-gjopyo.html?skin=text-only

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

6. A couple of items concerning the death penalty

6.1 More from H.H. The Pope on capital and custodial punishment

On capital punishment:
… The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.

This conviction has led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes. Recently my brother bishops here in the United States renewed their call for the abolition of the death penalty. Not only do I support them, but I also offer encouragement to all those who are convinced that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.
[from the Address of the Holy Father to the U.S. Congress, Thursday, September 24, 2015, downloaded from the Vatican's website:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/september/documents/papa-francesco_20150924_usa-us-congress.html
also available at the U.S. Congress's website here:
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2015/09/24/house-section/article/H6191-8?loclr=twtho
and here:
https://www.congress.gov/crec/2015/09/24/CREC-2015-09-24-pt1-PgH6191-8.pdf]
On custodial punishment:
This time in your life can only have one purpose: to give you a hand in getting back on the right road, to give you a hand to help you rejoin society. All of us are part of that effort, all of us are invited to encourage, help and enable your rehabilitation. A rehabilitation which everyone seeks and desires: inmates and their families, correctional authorities, social and educational programs. A rehabilitation which benefits and elevates the morale of the entire community and society.
[from (a translation from Spanish of) the Address of the Holy Father to detainees at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, U.S.A., Sunday, September 27, 2015, downloaded from the Vatican's website:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/september/documents/papa-francesco_20150927_usa-detenuti.html]
Labels: death penalty, Francis Bergoglio, morals

6.2 Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Paul II., respectively, on the death penalty:
  • We may add that frequent punishments are always a sign of weak-ness or remissness on the part of the government. There is not a single ill-doer who could not be turned to some good. The State has no right to put to death, even for the sake of making an example, any one whom it can leave alive without danger.
    [the first dash there occurred because the word "weakness" spanned two lines,
    p. 212, in an extract from The Social Contract or Principles of Political Right (from The Social Contract and Other Discourses by Jean Jacques Rousseau, translated by G. D. H. Cole, Everyman's Library; the quotation in question comes from (the translation of) Book II, Chapter V, "The Right of Life and Death") which (extract) was printed in Society, Law, and Morality, edited with introductions by Frederick A. Olafson, published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1961]
  • It is clear that, for these purposes[ (apparently retribution, defence, and rehabilitation)] to be achieved, the nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.

    In any event, the principle set forth in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church remains valid: "If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority must limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person".
    [my square-bracketed interpolation,
    paragraphs two and three of §56 of (a translation of) the Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, March 25, 1995:
    http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html
    This is the official Latin version of the two paragraphs in question:
    Patet tamen omnia ut haec impetrentur proposita, modum et genus poenae diligenter omnino aestimanda esse decernendaque neque ad exstinguendum extremo consilio reum descendere licere nisi absoluta instante necessitate, cum videlicet aliter prorsus non potest defendi societas. Atqui hodie, propter convenientiorem institutionis poenalis temperationem, admodum raro huius modi intercidunt casus, si qui omnino iam reapse accidunt.
    Quidquid id est, valet etiamnum in novo Catholicae Ecclesiae Catechismo significatum principium, ex quo: « Si instrumenta incruenta sufficiunt ad vitas humanas defendendas ab aggressore et ad ordinem publicum tuendum simulque personarum securitatem, auctoritas his utatur instrumentis, utpote quae melius respondeant concretis boni communis condicionibus et sint dignitati personae humanae magis consentanea ».
    italics in the original,
    p. 464, Acta Apostolicae Sedis, Vol. 87, A.D. 1995:
    http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-87-1995-ocr.pdf
    The official Latin version of Evangelium Vitae is also available here:
    http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/la/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html]
Labels: death penalty, John Paul II. Wojtyla, morals

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Michaelmas, A.D. 2015
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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

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
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Monday, February 10, 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
Posted by at No comments:
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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

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
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Tuesday, June 25, 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
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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Notes: Wednesday, August 15-Wednesday, August 29, 2012

1. Miss Edwards on Msgr. O'Kelly's "attack[ on] the Vatican action on the US Leadership Conference of Women Religious"

See "Bishop O'Kelly attacks Vatican intervention on US nuns", Tuesday, August 21, 2012, a post by Miss Kate Edwards at her Australia Incognita blog, available here:

http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com/2012/08/bishop-okelly-attacks-vatican.html

Labels: Greg O'Kelly

2. Msgr. Fisher on an under-discussed injustice involved in legalising so-called Gay marriage:
… What is also unjust is retrospectively to redefine marriage: for that tells those already married that they got married on a false premise; that they were wrong to think they were entering a lifelong and exclusive partnership of a man and woman open to raising children; that we have changed the meaning of their vows to being merely about loving each other, for as long as it lasts. That would be unjust to the many people already married and those who might like to be in the future.
[That quotation comes from the sermon of The Lord Bishop of Parramatta at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta, on Sunday, August 12, 2012, the text of which is available on-line here:
http://www.parra.catholic.org.au/bishop-of-parramatta/most-rev-anthony-fisher-op/the-bishop-s-homilies.aspx/the-homilies-of-bishop-anthony-fisher/homily----marriage-sunday---19th-sunday-of-ordinary-time-year-b--st-patrick-s-cathedral--parramatta-.aspx
(That text came to my attention via its printing under the headline "Kindness, self-sacrifice — not grudges, bullying" on p. 14 of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, Vol. 71, No. 4635, August 19, 2012.)]
Labels: law, marriage

3. More on the Federal Government's policy of giving some of the benefits involved with de ivre marriage to de facto polygamists

See the "Guide to Social Security Law", Version 1.189 (released August 10, 2012), Part 2, Chapter 2.2, Section 2.2.5, 2.2.5.15 Multiple Relationships, from the Australian Federal Government's Department of Families, Housing, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs, © Commonwealth of Australia 2012, available here:

http://guidesacts.fahcsia.gov.au/guides_acts/ssg/ssguide-2/ssguide-2.2/ssguide-2.2.5/pc_13794.html

(That came to my attention via this blog post by Terra.)

I love the bluntness of that guide:
For example, the relationships could comprise a claimant/recipient with any combination of male or female partners.
See also item 2.1 of this Notes post.

Labels: law, marriage, polyamory

4. "A 1996 study by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology pointed out that an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape in the United States each year"; "[t]he journal said the average national rape-related pregnancy rate stood at five percent among victims aged between 12 to 45."

The quotations in that headline come from the article "Fury over Republican candidate's 'legitimate rape' comment", August 20, 2012, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/us-election/republican-senate-candidate-todd-akin-says-rape-victims-becoming-pregnant-rare/story-fn95xh4y-1226453854274

Labels: pregnancy

5. In Australia, "polling on the topic[ of "same-sex marriage"] began in 2009"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "MPs to debate same-sex marriage bill", by Jessica Wright, dated August 20, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/mps-to-debate-samesex-marriage-bill-20120820-24hcy.html?skin=text-only

Labels: G.L.B.T., marriage, opinion polls

6. "A spokesman for Julie Bishop, the opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman, said there was no Coalition policy to change existing arrangements" regarding "Australia's overseas aid assistance for family planning in low-income countries" doubling "to more than $50 million a year by 2016, up from $26 million in 2010 and $2 million under the Howard government"

The quotations in that headline come from the article "Family planning aid vote stirs opposition", by Richard Willingham (though the second quotation comes ultimately from Senator Lee Rhiannon), dated August 17, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/family-planning-aid-vote-stirs-opposition-20120816-24bgh.html?skin=text-only

There is a difference, of course, between not having a policy to change certain arrangements, and having a policy not to change those arrangements; is it only the former for the Coalition, or is it the latter (and hence the former too, of course, unless the Coalition's policy platform contains an internal contradiction)? (I don't ask that rhetorically.)

Labels: abortion, contraception, Liberal Party, Nationals

7. "as a legislator I[, Kristina Keneally,] always took the view that it[, viz. abortion,] should be safe and legally available"

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Democracy has a nice habit of giving lunatic fringe a haircut", by The Hon. Kristina Keneally, dated August 22, 2012, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/democracy-has-a-nice-habit-of-giving-lunatic-fringe-a-haircut/story-e6frezz0-1226455247529

(That opinion piece came to my attention via its printing under the same headline and by the same author on p. 13 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, August 22, 2012, Vol. 1, No. 2623, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

It's interesting that Ms Keneally omits from that statement, and indeed from her whole opinion piece, the third part of the usual 'safe, legal, and rare' triad of the moderate abortionite.

Labels: abortion, Kristina Keneally

8. "It is now very difficult to point to any state, territory or federal law where getting legally married makes a difference compared with a same-sex or opposite-sex couple who have lived together in a de facto relationship for two years or more, or who have registered their relationship. As a consequence, the right to marry carries little significance in law other than imposing a need to get a formal divorce before marrying someone else."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "About time we all cared more about marriage", by Prof. Patrick Parkinson, dated August 24, 2012, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/about-time-we-all-cared-more-about-marriage-20120823-24p2g.html?skin=text-only

Labels: law, marriage

9. Some figures on childcare in Australia

See Child Care Update, September quarter 2011. Dated August 2012 (presumably released on the twenty-fifth). Produced by the Australian Federal Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations on behalf of the Australian Government and published by the same Department. © Commonwealth of Australia, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-642-78431-5

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Earlychildhood/Resources/Documents/ChildCareUpdateAug.pdf

(That publication came to my attention via the article "Million kids in care 'shows system works'", by Patricia Karvelas, on p. 6 in "THE NATION" section of The Weekend Australian, August 25-26, 2012, First Edition, No. 14895, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited; available on-line, but behind a paywall, under the same headline, by the same author, and dated August 25, 2012, at The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/million-kids-in-care-shows-system-works/story-fn59niix-1226457727663)

Labels: childcare

10. "The head of the Russian Orthodox Church and the president of the Polish Catholic bishops' conference signed a joint message Aug. 17 urging Poles and Russians to set aside centuries of anger and prejudice and work together to maintain their countries' Christian identities."

The quotation in that headline comes from the Catholic News Service article "Russian Orthodox, Polish Catholic leader sign appeal for reconciliation":

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1203472.htm

(That joint message came to my attention via the article "Russian-Polish reconciliation bid", no by-line, on p. 7 of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, August 26, 2012, Vol. 71, No. 4636.)

Zenit has a Vatican Radio translation of the joint message here. The Russian Orthodox Church's Department for External Church Relations (D.E.C.R.) Communication Service says, on this page at the official D.E.C.R. website that the message "cannot be ranked among theological or inter-church documents and does not deal with doctrinal matters".

Labels: R.O.C.

11. Gay activists in new initiative for promoting "healthy, respectful relationships" "in sport and the workplace" between non-Gays and themselves (presumably while remaining in unhealthy, disrespectful relationships with their respective Gay passivists)

See "AFL declares war on homophobia to stamp out ugly slurs", by Aaron Langmaid, dated August 28, 2012, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/afl-to-stamp-out-gay-slurs/story-e6frexx0-1226459402572

(That article came to my attention via the shorter version of it which was published under the headline "Footballers tackle homophobia and save lives", by the same author, on p. 05 of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, August 28, 2012, Vol. 1, No. 2628, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: G.L.B.T., No to Homophobia

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Decollation of St. John the Baptist, and the feast of St. Sabina, Widow, Martyr, A.D. 2012
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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

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

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

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

1.1 An amusing definition of ecumenism

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: C.E.C., Vatican II

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

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

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

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

4. On some recent developments regarding 'family planning'

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: contraception

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: Augustine Di Noia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Labels: S.S.P.X.

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

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

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

Labels: languages

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

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

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

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

Labels: work

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

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

[… ]According to the federal government, that money aims to ensure "nurturing, culturally appropriate, safe and socially inclusive" care for children in "approved childcare services", whose parents in turn enjoy "workforce participation choices".
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/broken-puzzle-of-childcare/story-fn59niix-1226431226541]
(That article came to my attention via its publication under the same headline ("Broken puzzle of childcare"), by the same author (Adam Creighton), on p. 15 in the "Inquirer" section of The Weekend Australian, Second Edition, No. 14866, ISSN 1038-8761, July 21-22, 2012, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: childcare

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

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

Manitoba's legislators (all Freemasons, it turns out) believed they were reconstructing nothing less than Solomon's Temple amid the prairies. It's gripping stuff. But what really catches my eye are the two magnificent stone bison either side of the great marble steps to the upper chamber - a Manitoban take on the totemic wild boars of classical temples.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/holiday-at-the-heart/story-e6frg8rf-1226430230929]
(That article came to my attention via the version published under the same headline ("Holiday at the heart"), by the same author (Mike Unwin), on p. 8 of the "Travel & Indulgence" supplement of The Weekend Australian, Second Edition, No. 14866, ISSN 1038-8761, July 21-22, 2012, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: Freemasons

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

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

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

Labels: families, health

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

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

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

Labels: Greens, polyamory

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