Mormon for president in 2008?

One of the people considering running for president of the United States in 2008 is Mitt Romney, who happens to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A poll was recently put on the MSNBC website which asked "Would you vote for a Mormon for president?"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15936002/

Out of 190620 reponses, a whopping 94% say Yes, only 3.9% say No, and 1.7 say I'm not sure. Very fascinating results.

I don't know if I would vote for him for president if I had the chance (he's Republican which doesn't help!) I don't know if we should really mix religion with politics. It's going to be very interesting to see what happens anyway.

Don't you get sick of these emails?

We all get all kinds of emails and some of them we don't like receiving, such as spam. But the emails I get sick of are these "cutsie" ones. Here's one I received today:

Subject: Need this back from you
"Worry looks around, sorry looks back, Faith looks up." 3 angels are sent to you. You must send them to 8 people including me. In 8 minutes you will receive something you have long awaited for.
Have faith

The email also featured a picture of 3 flying angels. Will I really receive something that I have long awaited for if I send this email to 8 people, and receive that in 8 minutes? I mean, how is this possible? So do I miss out if I only send the email to 7 people? What happens if I send the email to 9 people? Will I receive something quicker? Does the 8 minutes start from when I open the email or when I click on send? What happens if 8 minutes has passed and I haven't received anything? Do I start panicking? What happens if one of the email addresses I sent the email to didn't work?

See how ridiculous this is! These emails may be cute and lovely but they serve no purpose. I think this reply to the email sums it up nicely:

People, really!!
I'm sure I am going to be considered the world's biggest " Humbug" but what is it this email is proposing here? Do we not have section 130 verse 20 to 21 of the Doctrine and Covenants to explain how blessings are received? Are we to believe that we can really get 3 electronic angels flapping their wings on our computer to anything in eight minutes which we are not other wise through obedience going to get anyway.. Or for that matter get us anything which we are not entitled to?
This is all urban myth " Humbug" Worse than playing the slot machines. At least they pay off once in a while to keep us giving them our money. What good Latter Day saint would even consider the credibility of anything as obviously bent as this ?

Revalation about Bush

I receive CNN Breaking News alerts through my email and yesterday this one came through:

"President Bush's policy in Iraq "is not working," the Iraq Study Group said in releasing its long-awaited report."

No, really?? I could have told you that months ago! In fact most people around the world (including Democrats in the States) could have told you that too! I think we've know for quite a while that Bush's policy in Iraq "is not working" - duh! Just look at all the needless killings of US (and other country's) soldiers every day in Iraq. Just look at all the violence and civil unrest in the country since the US invaded.

Initially I was in favour of the war as I wanted to see that dictator Saddam Hussein removed from power. So he was, and he was captured, and he was put on trial (albeit a Mickey Mouse trial), and he has been sentenced to death. But just look at the state of Iraq - it's a mess! It's in a worse state than it was before. Let's hope the new mostly Democrat Senate and Congress can force Bush to make some changes - i.e. pull the troops out of there before more that don't need to get killed do!

By the way, where's Osama Bin Laden?

Goodbye Yellow Wiggle

The Wiggles announced today that the Yellow Wiggle, Greg Page, will no longer be performing with them. This is due to an illness called orthostatic intolerance which he has been suffering for a while.

This is very sad for these huge children's entertainers. I'm sure he will be greatly missed by a lot of fans of all ages all around the world. Fortunately The Wiggles will continue as Sam Moran will now become the Yellow Wiggle. Will this be a trend in the future? When one Wiggle gets sick or too old to perform will they be replaced by another so the group can continue?

Groups such as The Wiggles and Hi-5 are great entertainers for children, and it's absolutely amazing that they are so successful. I went to a Hi-5 performance earlier this year and I loved it!

For more information on this news story check out:
http://www.skynews.com.au/story.asp?id=141287
http://www.thewiggles.com.au/au/mediacentre/news/31
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wiggles (they don't muck around in updating Wikipedia!)

Don, Key, or Donkey?

Last week Uncle Don resigned as leader of the National Party. He said it had nothing to do with Nicky Hagar's book. (Yeah right!) Even though Brash increased their number of seats at the last election he was about as weak as water. He found it very hard in debates and didn't lie very well (i.e. the Exclusive Brethren - come to think of it, how could he have received emails from the Exclusive Brethren when they don't believe in the Internet???)

So today, without much surprise, John Key has become the new leader of the National Party, with Bill English as his deputy. See: http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=108174

I must say that I don't know much about John Key, but from what little I do know about him he will definitely be an interesting leader for the National Party. Let's hope he can keep the government accountable in parliament. It will be very interesting to see how he goes leading up to the next election. Will he be able to lead National to victory? (Or will they choose another leader before the next election??)

It's Eden Park...

By now we are totally sick of the new Rugby World Cup stadium debate for 2011. (After all it is Auckland, and who really cares about Auckland ?!) Last week the Auckland City Council voted for the waterfront stadium, meanwhile the Auckland Regional Council voted unanimously against the waterfront stadium. (Why so many councils?) I was thinking that Auckland can't make up its mind about this so perhaps it should go to another city - like Hamilton! (Like the V8 super cars).

However, it was left up to the government to cast the deciding vote today, and they went for the redevelopment of Eden Park. (I bet it was a very reluctant decision). See:
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=108177

So now the question is will Eden Park be ready by the 2011 Rugby World Cup? Can they agree on how this stadium will be redeveloped? What about the surrounding infrastructure? Will there be adequate access by road or public transport? How will the neighbours react to the construction and the increased visitors? And what about other stadiums/parks around the country? I don't think all the World Cup games will be at Eden Park!

I'm in the paper!!

My photo was on the front page of the Te Awamutu Courier on Thursday 23 November!

See:
http://www.teawamutu.co.nz/courier/2006/20061123.pdf

CHRISTmas tree

Other religions have their holiday symbols and that is fine... But this is a Christmas tree!!

This is a Christmas tree.

It is not a Hanukkah bush,

it is not an Allah plant,

it is not a Holiday hedge.

It is a Christmas tree.

Say it... CHRISTmas , CHRISTmas , CHRISTmas

Yes. CHRISTmas - celebrating the Birth of Jesus Christ!!!

Take a stand and pass this on !!

Or maybe we should demand that all other cultures and religions change the name of THEIR celebrations because they are offensive to us?