How ACOSS exaggerates poverty
In the Impact magazine of Winter 2007, Peter Davidson defines poverty in the following manner:
[The] poverty line… used by the OECD, is set at 50% of the median (middle) disposable income for all Australian households for a single adult.
Using this measure, Davidson (a researcher with ACOSS) concludes that in 2004, “1,935,000 or 9.9% of Australians, including 365,000 children, lived below the most austere poverty line widely used in international research.” Elsewhere in the article Davidson uses a “less austere” measure of 60% of median income, finding that “3,859,000 people, including 786,000 children, were found to be living in poverty in 2004. This represented 19.8% of all Australians.”
The New Seven Deadly Sins
The Catholic Church has added to the list of the seven deadly sins.
Apparently polluting, genetic engineering, obscene riches, taking drugs, abortion, pedophilia and causing social injustice are to join pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and sloth as originally defined by Pope Gregory the Sixth in the 6th Century.
Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, named the new mortal sins in an interview with the Vatican newspaper yesterday, saying,“New sins have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalisation. God was offended not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbour’s wife but by ruining the environment, conducting immoral scientific experiments and genetic manipulation.”
I confess i’m not a Bible expert but i can’t find the one about ruining the environment anywhere.
Via Andrew Bolt.
Update; Catholics in full damage limitation mode! Some commenters have referred us to this article suggesting that it’s all a fuss about nothing. Yes – of course The London Times was not suggesting that the Vatican intended to officially update the Seven Deadly Sins. They were merely doing what we and many others are doing – poking fun at a ridiculous statement from the Vatican’s Chief ‘Penances and Sins’ guy. Talk utter nonsense and expect to be ridiculed.
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