Odds and Ends 4/12/10

Maternal mortality decline in Chile quashes pro-abortion claims

NEW YORK, USA, February 11, 2010—A CHILEAN epidemiologist’s findings examining the dramatic decrease in maternal mortality in Chile over the past fifty years appear to nullify claims by abortion advocates that liberal abortion laws reduce maternal deaths.

From the University of Chile’s Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Elard Koch said that the promotion of “safe pregnancy” measures such as “prenatal detection” and accessibility to professional birth attendants in a hospital setting are primarily responsible for the decrease in maternal mortality in the Latin American country. The maternal mortality rate declined from 275 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1960 to 18.7 deaths in 2000, the largest reduction in any Latin country...

Statistics released by the World Health Organization (WHO) support such conclusions. In South America, according to WHO, Chile boasts of the lowest rate of maternal mortality, whereas Guyana, which significantly liberalized its laws in the mid-1990s citing concern over maternal deaths, has the highest...

Well, we've always known long before that 1 + 1 = 2.
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Journalists abandon standards to attack the Pope

The "exclusive" story released by AP yesterday, which has been dutifully passed along now by scores of major media outlets, would never have seen the light of day if normal journalistic standards had been in place. Careful editors should have asked a series of probing questions, and in every case the answer to those questions would have shown that the story had no "legs."...

So to review: This was not a case in which a bishop wanted to discipline his priest and the Vatican official demurred. This was not a case in which a priest remained active in ministry, and the Vatican did nothing to protect the children under his pastoral care. This was not a case in which the Vatican covered up evidence of a priest's misconduct. This was a case in which a priest asked to be released from his vows, and the Vatican-- which had been flooded by such requests throughout the 1970s -- wanted to consider all such cases carefully. In short, if you're looking for evidence of a sex-abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, this case is irrelevant.

Now AP joins NYT and the rest of the "dutiful" media in reporting that 2 + 2 = 5.
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Tycoon builds dams vs drought in north Luzon

MANILA, Philippines—Tycoon Lucio Tan is building more mini dams and water catchment basins to help mitigate the impact of El Nino and severe drought in most parts of Northern Luzon.

Tan, 76, made the commitment during the inauguration of his latest water impounding project in Casilagan Norte, Banayoyo, Ilocos Sur on Good Friday.

The eighth mini dam restored by the tycoon in the last five years, the Casilagan Norte diversion dam is capable of storing 60,000 cubic meters of water. It was designed to serve 120 hectares of rice and tobacco farmlands even through the dry summer months...

The tycoon said he is building and rehabilitating mini dams to set an example that it doesn’t take much to store water that will enable farmers to plant even during the hot summer months. More importantly, he said his project teaches water conservation, helps farmers enhance productivity, and provides extra sources of livelihood.

Now here is one guy who knows how to do the math. Rehab and build dams = mitigate farmlands drought.
As for the government who's supposed to...
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