Mitt gives his "Mormon" speech

Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, gave his much-anticipated “Faith in America” speech yesterday explaining how his religion would or wouldn’t affect his candidacy. Even though I am a Democrat supporter I am following Mitt’s campaign closely because I am a member of the same church as him – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I have not seen the speech yet but I’ve read a bit about it, and personally I think he did a good job. He didn’t go into points of doctrine in our church and compare our beliefs with other religions, nor should he need to do this. He said, “There are some who would have a presidential candidate describe and explain his church’s distinctive doctrines. To do so would enable the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution. No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes President he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths.”

He also said, "I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith." This is true. You can vote for someone because they are the same religion as you if you like, but it shouldn’t be the only determining factor on whether or not to vote for a candidate.

He’s also right when he said, “In recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America—the religion of secularism. They are wrong.” There’s nothing wrong with a government being based in Christian principles, but the state and religion (especially a specific religion) should be kept separate.

Mitt says he would not distance himself from his faith, and nor should he. Being a Latter-day Saint guides him in his life and gives his life purpose, just like it does with mine. He said, “Some believe such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it. But I think they underestimate the American people. Americans do not respect believers of convenience. Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world.”

There are a lot of Christians who think that Mormons are not Christian. (I don’t know how they can say that when the name of our church is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”!) So Mitt quickly put that to rest when he said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Saviour of mankind. My church’s beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history. These are not bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance. Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree.”

Even though I don’t want to support a Republican I want to see Mitt do well in this campaign, and keep that radical Mike Huckabee out!

The church issued a statement yesterday reemphasising its political neutrality. It says, “The Church’s mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not to elect politicians. The Church’s neutrality in matters of party politics applies in all of the many nations in which it is established.” Then why do most people in Utah vote Republican? I’ll never be able to understand that.

Here are some news articles on Mitt’s speech: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/06/romney.speech/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/us/politics/06cnd-romney.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp&adxnnlx=1196971712-SwrOCw0KthGDp7VztDuq1w
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695233771,00.html
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695233791,00.html
http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2ced329706ca6110VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&vgnextchannel=9ae411154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD

Mohammed the teddy

You may have heard in the news recently about a British teacher in Sudan who called a teddy bear “Mohammed”:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-7126099,00.html

She is 54 years old and I’m sure she is a very nice person. However, she allowed her seven-year-old pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed. Because of this she spent more than a week in prison and has now been deported back to Britain. She also faced calls for her execution!

Now come on, this is totally ridiculous! I know we must respect other people’s beliefs, but wanting to execute someone for allowing children to name a teddy bear Mohammed is going far too far! From what I understand a lot of children in the Muslim world are named Mohammed, so what’s wrong with calling a teddy bear this name? I am Christian, and if someone named a teddy bear after a prophet, such as Moses, Abraham, Peter, John, Nephi, Moroni, or even Joseph Smith, I wouldn’t mind at all!

We get quite concerned about these Islamist extremists and what they might do next, but I think we should be more concerned about the “Christian right” in the United States!

The campaign is now on for the next president of the United States. Mike Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist minister, is gaining popularity, especially amongst evangelical Christian voters. As mentioned before I am Christian but I think it would be a disaster if someone like Mike Huckabee became president. I think it would bring “church and state” together which clearly should be kept separate. If we think it’s bad now with Bush as president, imagine what it would be like with someone like Huckabee as president. It would start to take away the freedoms of those not of the Christian right, and America is a country that is built on freedom.

So I really hope that Mitt Romney’s “Mormon speech” goes well for him. I would much rather have a Latter-day Saint Christian as president than an evangelical Christian! By the way, let’s hope a Democrat becomes president anyway. They would be a president for ALL Americans and make sure the United States has a good relationship again with the rest of the world.

See: http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695233014,00.html

Go Ruddy!

Tomorrow is the big day in Australia - the federal election. I am fully supporting Labor. They just have to win! The Liberal Coalition have been in power far too long - a very long and boring 12 years! John Howard is such an idiot (especially for cuddling up to Bush) and I can't believe how anyone would vote for him. I really hope Kevin Rudd becomes Australia's new Prime Minister.

The latest poll from Sky News shows that Labor only have a slight advantage over the Coalition, 52-48, but other polls give Labor a greater lead.

So go Ruddy!!!

See: http://www2.skynews.com.au/election07/article.aspx?id=202499

New Star Trek movie spoilers!

Here's some spoilers from the new Star Trek movie coming out at the end of next year (can't wait, can't wait!) Now it's always hard to tell if this really is what the movie is about at this early stage, but have a read anyway:

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3696&Itemid=99

Writers strike

Now this is news that really sux! Television and movie writers in the United States have gone on strike:

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/05/writers.strike/index.html

This means two of my favourite TV shows, The Late Show with David Letterman (on Prime) and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (on C4) have immediately been cancelled and are now showing reruns - tonight's episode of The Daily Show on C4 was an episode from last month. These shows are topical of current events so that's why they go into immediate reruns. I'm sure the writers are striking for a good reason but lets hope it is resolved very, very soon!

No more Guy Fawkes please!!

It’s the evening of the 5th of November (Guy Fawkes Day) and I’m trying to get my daughter to sleep, but it’s quite difficult with the noise of those damn fireworks outside!

So what is Guy Fawkes Day and why on earth do we celebrate it in this country? Guy Fawkes, as you may know, was a Roman Catholic conspirator who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London on the 5th of November 1605 (402 years ago!) His plans were thwarted, but essentially Guy Fawkes was a terrorist. So why do we each year celebrate the failure of a terrorist plot over 400 years ago?? Guy Fawkes Day isn’t a world wide event. It’s only celebrated in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, parts of Canada, and parts of the Caribbean.

Even though this year the sale of fireworks has been limited to four days and to those 18 and older, it hasn’t cut down the number of accidents as a result. Tonight is the main night, but over the weekend there were many accidents involving fireworks. A firework at a public display in Auckland mis-fired into the crowd and two men in Christchurch were hospitalised after a public display at a speedway. A Queenstown man was arrested after firing fireworks from a car and a sparkler bomb was posted through an Invercargill returns slot. Police are investigating whether fireworks were involved in two house fires in Christchurch over the weekend - one which left an 8-year-old boy dead. Good grief! I dread to think what is going to happen tonight! I feel really sorry for our fire service who are going to have their busiest night of the year. Personally if someone injures themselves using fireworks carelessly then they shouldn’t be treated!

Fireworks need to be banned! The Prime Minister said today, "If the idiocy which has characterised the previous year’s carries on at those levels and above the government would be duty bound to look at the matter again." Good, let’s hope they do.

When I lived in Australia I told people there about Guy Fawkes Day and they didn’t know what that was! We think the Aussies are a bit stupid sometimes but banning the sale of fireworks to the general public was a very intelligent thing to do!

Aucklanders are being warned to be extra cautious when lighting fireworks tonight as winds are expected to reach over 100kmph in some areas although the Fire Service is hoping bad weather will dampen down fireworks festivities in many areas of New Zealand. Yeah right!!

So come on NZ Government, ban the sale of fireworks to the general public. I think professional fireworks displays are good but why have them on the 5th of November? It would be better to have them at New Years, like they do in Australia.

See:
http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/FireServicebracesitselfforGuyFawkes/tabid/209/articleID/38500/Default.aspx?ArticleID=38500

2007 NZ radio survey results!

After waiting a year the latest New Zealand radio survey ratings are out. Of course radio stations have their big promotions during this period trying to attract listeners by giving away lots of money. There are four markets that I’m mainly interested in and I’ll make comments on these:

Waikato
This is where I live and listen to the radio so that’s why I’m particularly interested in this market. The Rock shoots to number one for the first time after The Edge and Classic Hits dominating Waikato radio for a few years. The Rock is at 15% (up a massive 4%), Classic Hits is now second at 12.6% (down 0.1%), and my favourite station, Radio Hauraki, is now in third place at 9.6% (up 0.7%). The Edge has dropped to fourth with 8.8% (down a whole 4.6%). The talk station I listen to, Newstalk ZB, is fifth with 8.5% (down a little by 1.1%). This is much better than the other talk station, Radio Live, which is only on 2.7%. Another music station I listen to is More FM and it’s good to see them up by 2.5% to 5.7%. More FM has been struggling for a while in the Waikato so it’s good to see them come back up a bit.

Manawatu
This is where I grew up and most of my family are still down there so this is why I’m interested in this market. The Rock hangs onto its number one spot on a big 17% (down just slightly by 0.4%). More FM (ex 2XS) had dominated Manawatu radio for many years but for the second survey in a row they are only in second place, on 13.7, although they are catching up slightly, rising by 1.9%. Oldies station Coast has been growing in listenership over the past couple of years. They are now at 6.9% (up 0.9%). No Radio Hauraki in the Manawatu (which is quite weird!)

Auckland
The largest radio market in the country so these survey results are always interesting. As usual Newstalk ZB is number one again – Paul Holmes still does it for Aucklanders. Newstalk ZB are at 13.3% (down slightly by 0.9%). Newstalk ZB’s main rival, Radio Live, is way down the list at only 3.1%. Coast, TRN’s oldies station, is doing extremely well in Auckland. They are now second at 8.6% (up by 1.1%). The Rock follows closely behind on 8.3% (up by 2.6%). Mai FM dominated Auckland radio for a few years but hasn’t been doing so well in recent times. They are now in sixth place on 5.6% (down by 0.6%). It’s good to see More FM and Radio Hauraki both up a little in the Auckland market – More FM up by 0.5% to 5.2%, and Hauraki up by 1% to 4.5%.

Wellington
Another interesting market being the capital of New Zealand. ZM, which used to dominate Wellington radio, is back in the number one spot on 15.7% (up 1.1%). (You may remember that ZM used to be ZMFM and before that 2ZM – if you can remember that far back!) The Breeze, which had been dominating Wellington radio for the past few years, has now dropped to third place on 13.7% (down 2.4%). (And you may remember that The Breeze used to be Radio Windy way back). Newstalk ZB is now second on 14.2% (up 0.6%). By the way, The Rock is fourth on 8% (up 0.5%).

Nationwide
Now let’s have a look at the country as a whole. For the first time the number one station in the country is, you guessed it, The Rock. It’s not a station I listen to (I prefer Radio Hauraki) but it appears a lot of people around the country do listen to it. The Rock are at 11.7% nationwide (up by 1.6%). The previous number one station in the country, Newstalk ZB, has slipped to second place on 11.3% (down by 1.4%). At least they are still the number one talk station in the country which I’m very happy about, as their rival Radio Live is in 11th place on only 3.1%. I wonder if MediaWorks regrets splitting Radio Pacific in half a couple of years back? Speaking of Radio Pacific (which also carries Trackside) they are at a lowly 1.1%. Next week Radio Pacific are changing to a sports station called BSport. I guess they are hoping to improve their ratings, and image, rather than just being a racing station. Their rivals, Radio Sport, are higher in the ratings on 3.1%, so BSport will have quite a bit of work to do. The number one music station a couple of years back, Classic Hits, are now in third place on 8.9% (down by 0.9%). Perhaps MediaWork’s rebranding of all their local stations to More FM (a couple of years ago) has paid off a little for them. More FM is now fourth nationwide on 7.7% (up by 0.4%). TRN recently renamed its easy listening station Viva to Easy Mix. This has paid off slightly as they are up by 0.3% to 1.6%. Although they are a long way from their rivals, The Breeze, who are on 5.1%. And lastly let’s talk about the wonderful Kiwi FM. This was a rebranding by MediaWorks a couple of years or so back of Channel Z (which did a bit better in the ratings) to an all NZ music station called Kiwi FM. They are on a whopping 0.1%! MediaWorks wanted a frequency in Auckland for The Edge so they got rid of Kiwi FM. So the government stepped in and gave them three frequencies around 102FM to carry Kiwi FM (which TRN were not too happy about). I guess this means it’s a station MediaWorks don’t have to worry about too much because they would have canned it by now. I’ve tuned into Kiwi FM a couple of times and even though I like NZ music I haven’t heard a song on this station that I like, or recognise!

For more information on the survey results see: http://www.radios.co.nz/radio_research/radio_research.htm
http://www.radioscope.net.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=5&Itemid=39

Sad, sad day for New Zealand

We all thought it would be a straightforward win to the All Blacks in the World Cup quarter final this morning, and I was thinking wouldn’t it be funny if NZ lost the match against France. When I was watching the match this morning and the All Blacks were in the lead at half-time I thought they would win no problem. But as is the case all too often with NZ sport, when it comes to the crunch, they fail. Hence, France won the match 20-18. The worst result ever in a World Cup for NZ – bailing out in the quarter final!

S0 who do we blame for the match? The coach? The players? Or maybe the referee. The referee did make a couple of significant mistakes which could have cost NZ the match – the unnecessary sending off of one of the players, and the forward pass by the French before their winning try. Unfortunately referees are not perfect so I guess they do make mistakes, but he shouldn’t have made mistakes like that at this level of rugby. I’m sure there will be an inquest into the All Black’s lost and perhaps some heads will roll too.

NZ had three chances this year at being world champions and I thought at least we’d win a couple of them – the cricket world cup, the America’s Cup, and the rugby world cup – but, we won none! I think NZ sporting teams get too confident of themselves and completely lose it at the end.

Whether we like it or not it is a national disaster. Rugby is the number one sport in this country and it means a lot to a lot of people. It was even the main thing discussed at church today!

There are just two things I wish to say – roll on 2011, and Bloody French!!