Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Plans to outlaw all faith hate crimes in the UK were finally dropped today when the Government backed down in order to save its flagship crime legislation from defeat. The measure has had to be axed because otherwise the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill would have been lost to the general election.
The Families Commission wants to hear about the reality of family life as it launches a major campaign to gather information from families with children. Its first major study, "What makes your family tick?" aims to find out from families about their pressure points, problems, and the choices they make for the sake of family life. It is also asking about what makes families strong.
The NZ Herald says Peter Dunne's bill to change the name of Waitangi Day to NZ Day is a waste of time. It won't change a thing.
Three out of four New Zealanders want judges given the power to start cracking down on the parents of wayward children.
US commentator Dennis Prager, a Jewish scholar, has been writing a remarkable series of articles on Judeo-Christian values and their importance. They are virtually required reading to gain an understanding behind a lot of what is happening socially in today's world.
"When you walk down the street in 2050, it will be rare to see children. You'll be seeing older people," Ann Harding, director of Australia's National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, says. Buildings designed with children in mind, such as schools and houses, will have to be converted to suit the needs of an ageing population.
Meanwhile, over the next two decades the total population of the EU25 is expected to increase by more than 13 million inhabitants, from 456.8 million on 1 January 2004 to 470.1 million on 1 January 2025. Growth will be mainly due to net migration, since total deaths in the EU25 will outnumber total births from 2010.
The South African party that introduced apartheid and enforced racial segregation for 50 years has voted itself out of existence after a series of stinging electoral defeats.
The price of gold will soon be trading around US$500 an ounce because of a weak greenback and high demand for jewellery, the world’s No 2 gold miner, AngloGold Ashanti, says. Gold, now trading at US$426 an ounce, last topped US$500 in 1987. (Note: that was just prior to the 1988 crash.)
Time Magazine's annual "Time 100" list has swung away from a focus on political power. "Last year’s list was more about political power," Time managing editor Jim Kelly told Reuters. "This year’s is more about moral influence."
A Chinese Roman Catholic Bishop and a Priest were arrested just before China officially sent condolences to the Vatican for the death of the Pope. This has been seen as yet another sign of China’s "contradictory attitude towards religion". Bishop Yao Liang was arrested last Thursday and another priest, Father Wang Jinling, was arrested on Friday. However, some hopes of a rapprochement between China and the Vatican as China said it was "willing to ameliorate relations with the Vatican". Currently an estimated 10 million Roman Catholics worship illegally outside of China’s state-recognised Catholic church, which looks to Beijing for its authority. The Chinese statement came in the same week that the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong said that if Beijing would "guarantee religious freedoms" the Vatican would drop diplomatic ties with Taiwan, China’s rival.
The Pope on women: "The moral and spiritual strength of a woman is joined to her awareness that God entrusts the human being to her in a special way, … even in the situations of social discrimination in which she may find herself. This awareness and this fundamental vocation speak to women of the dignity which they receive from God himself, and this makes them 'strong' and strengthens their vocation. Thus the 'perfect woman' (Proverbs 31:10) becomes an irreplaceable support and source of spiritual strength for other people, who perceive the great energies of her spirit. These 'perfect women' are owed much by their families, and sometimes by whole nations." ~ Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women), 1988
The hundreds of thousands of young people who swelled the crowds in Rome to honour Pope John Paul II call for a re-think of assumptions about the relevance of religion to adolescents. American sociologist Christian Smith has addressed this question in a recent book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, co-authored with Melinda Lundquist Denton and based on data from the national Study of Youth and Religion (2001 to 2005). In an interview with the Ethics and Public Policy Centre, Smith said that most 13 to 17-year-olds, far from being antagonistic to traditional religion, are quite happy to go with whatever they are raised to believe and "have a very benign attitude toward religion". They are also quite moralistic, but without being able to explain why certain things are right or wrong.
Mary Eberstadt's recent book, Home-Alone America, indicates a common factor among American teen killers: parental deprivation. The parents of the Columbine killers all worked, and the boys were left to their own devices. Eberstadt traces the home-alone factor in other youthful killers, including Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. ~ Home-Alone America, Ch 3: The Furious Child Problem
The public health impact of risky sexual behaviour in the United States is three times higher than in other developed nations, according to research by the federal government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC says risky sex habits resulted in nearly 30,000 deaths and about 20 million adverse health consequences in a single year. The majority of deaths involved men with HIV, while the majority of adverse health consequences were among women.
Personal values and parental influence rather than fear of consequences lead teenagers to delay sexual activity, a team from three American universities has found. The researchers led by Lynn Blinn-Pike looked at data from 568 adolescents who identified themselves as virgins when surveyed at 20 different Missouri schools in 1997 and who responded to a follow-up survey in 1999. ~ Journal of Adolescent Research 19, 2004
Tasmania, the state that was the last to lift bans on homosexuality could ironically be the first to debate proposed same-sex marriage laws. Tasmanian Greens Nick McKim plans to introduce same-sex marriage legislation to State Parliament.
Pro-family spokesmen are still reacting to last week's comments from a San Francisco judge that "no rational reason exists" for limiting marriage to the union of a man and a woman. They say Judge Richard Kramer's remarks reflect much about the state of the country's judiciary. In his ruling, the San Francisco County Superior Court judge effectively struck down California's defense of marriage law, saying the state's "protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional."
The United States Golf Association announced a new policy March 21 under which "transgender athletes will be eligible to compete two years after having gender reassignment surgery." According to the USGA, both the International Olympic Committee and the Ladies Golf Union (in England) have also adopted policies that permit "female athletes who have undergone gender reassignment" to compete in their women's competitions.
Tail-out: "Candles Recalled Because of Flame Risk" - Washington Post headline
The Families Commission wants to hear about the reality of family life as it launches a major campaign to gather information from families with children. Its first major study, "What makes your family tick?" aims to find out from families about their pressure points, problems, and the choices they make for the sake of family life. It is also asking about what makes families strong.
The NZ Herald says Peter Dunne's bill to change the name of Waitangi Day to NZ Day is a waste of time. It won't change a thing.
Three out of four New Zealanders want judges given the power to start cracking down on the parents of wayward children.
US commentator Dennis Prager, a Jewish scholar, has been writing a remarkable series of articles on Judeo-Christian values and their importance. They are virtually required reading to gain an understanding behind a lot of what is happening socially in today's world.
"When you walk down the street in 2050, it will be rare to see children. You'll be seeing older people," Ann Harding, director of Australia's National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, says. Buildings designed with children in mind, such as schools and houses, will have to be converted to suit the needs of an ageing population.
Meanwhile, over the next two decades the total population of the EU25 is expected to increase by more than 13 million inhabitants, from 456.8 million on 1 January 2004 to 470.1 million on 1 January 2025. Growth will be mainly due to net migration, since total deaths in the EU25 will outnumber total births from 2010.
The South African party that introduced apartheid and enforced racial segregation for 50 years has voted itself out of existence after a series of stinging electoral defeats.
The price of gold will soon be trading around US$500 an ounce because of a weak greenback and high demand for jewellery, the world’s No 2 gold miner, AngloGold Ashanti, says. Gold, now trading at US$426 an ounce, last topped US$500 in 1987. (Note: that was just prior to the 1988 crash.)
Time Magazine's annual "Time 100" list has swung away from a focus on political power. "Last year’s list was more about political power," Time managing editor Jim Kelly told Reuters. "This year’s is more about moral influence."
A Chinese Roman Catholic Bishop and a Priest were arrested just before China officially sent condolences to the Vatican for the death of the Pope. This has been seen as yet another sign of China’s "contradictory attitude towards religion". Bishop Yao Liang was arrested last Thursday and another priest, Father Wang Jinling, was arrested on Friday. However, some hopes of a rapprochement between China and the Vatican as China said it was "willing to ameliorate relations with the Vatican". Currently an estimated 10 million Roman Catholics worship illegally outside of China’s state-recognised Catholic church, which looks to Beijing for its authority. The Chinese statement came in the same week that the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Hong Kong said that if Beijing would "guarantee religious freedoms" the Vatican would drop diplomatic ties with Taiwan, China’s rival.
The Pope on women: "The moral and spiritual strength of a woman is joined to her awareness that God entrusts the human being to her in a special way, … even in the situations of social discrimination in which she may find herself. This awareness and this fundamental vocation speak to women of the dignity which they receive from God himself, and this makes them 'strong' and strengthens their vocation. Thus the 'perfect woman' (Proverbs 31:10) becomes an irreplaceable support and source of spiritual strength for other people, who perceive the great energies of her spirit. These 'perfect women' are owed much by their families, and sometimes by whole nations." ~ Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women), 1988
The hundreds of thousands of young people who swelled the crowds in Rome to honour Pope John Paul II call for a re-think of assumptions about the relevance of religion to adolescents. American sociologist Christian Smith has addressed this question in a recent book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, co-authored with Melinda Lundquist Denton and based on data from the national Study of Youth and Religion (2001 to 2005). In an interview with the Ethics and Public Policy Centre, Smith said that most 13 to 17-year-olds, far from being antagonistic to traditional religion, are quite happy to go with whatever they are raised to believe and "have a very benign attitude toward religion". They are also quite moralistic, but without being able to explain why certain things are right or wrong.
Mary Eberstadt's recent book, Home-Alone America, indicates a common factor among American teen killers: parental deprivation. The parents of the Columbine killers all worked, and the boys were left to their own devices. Eberstadt traces the home-alone factor in other youthful killers, including Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. ~ Home-Alone America, Ch 3: The Furious Child Problem
The public health impact of risky sexual behaviour in the United States is three times higher than in other developed nations, according to research by the federal government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC says risky sex habits resulted in nearly 30,000 deaths and about 20 million adverse health consequences in a single year. The majority of deaths involved men with HIV, while the majority of adverse health consequences were among women.
Personal values and parental influence rather than fear of consequences lead teenagers to delay sexual activity, a team from three American universities has found. The researchers led by Lynn Blinn-Pike looked at data from 568 adolescents who identified themselves as virgins when surveyed at 20 different Missouri schools in 1997 and who responded to a follow-up survey in 1999. ~ Journal of Adolescent Research 19, 2004
Tasmania, the state that was the last to lift bans on homosexuality could ironically be the first to debate proposed same-sex marriage laws. Tasmanian Greens Nick McKim plans to introduce same-sex marriage legislation to State Parliament.
Pro-family spokesmen are still reacting to last week's comments from a San Francisco judge that "no rational reason exists" for limiting marriage to the union of a man and a woman. They say Judge Richard Kramer's remarks reflect much about the state of the country's judiciary. In his ruling, the San Francisco County Superior Court judge effectively struck down California's defense of marriage law, saying the state's "protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional."
The United States Golf Association announced a new policy March 21 under which "transgender athletes will be eligible to compete two years after having gender reassignment surgery." According to the USGA, both the International Olympic Committee and the Ladies Golf Union (in England) have also adopted policies that permit "female athletes who have undergone gender reassignment" to compete in their women's competitions.
Tail-out: "Candles Recalled Because of Flame Risk" - Washington Post headline
