Hillary and McCain win today

Today it was the turn of Florida to have their primary. Hillary Clinton easily won for the Democrats with 50% of the vote, and Obama second with 33%. It didn't mean much for the Democrats as they had their delegates removed for this primary, but I'm sure it will be a confidence boost to Hillary.

It was a different story with the Republicans. John McCain narrowly won with 36%, and Mitt Romney second with 31%. It was a winner take all so McCain got all the delegates. This now puts him into the lead over Mitt. I'm terrified of McCain getting the nomination for the Republicans. He's such an old fuddy-duddy. I doubt he will represent change. It'll be like a 3rd Bush term if he became president! The Iraq war would carry on forever!

Rudy Giuliani has really stuffed his campaign. He was leading in the polls before the primaries, but he decided not to worry about the earlier primaries and concentrate on Florida. However, it backfired on him and he came 3rd today! I guess it's the end for him. But if he decides to support McCain then it's probably all over for Mitt.

I liked one thing Mitt said today. He said we don't want to put the same people back into Washington and just move their seats around. I guess he was talking about McCain. I'm glad Mitt's taking time off his campaign to attend President Hinckley's funeral this weekend.

Next up is the Republican Maine caucuses on Saturday (NZ Time), and then of course it's SUPER TUESDAY next Wednesday. I think we'll really know the state of play after then.

More about President Hinckley

Here's some more website articles about President Hinckley's passing:

http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080128/NEWS01/80128004

http://origin.sltrib.com/news/ci_8096896

http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=7781608

http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_8095754

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/28/romney-responds-to-death-of-lds-president/

http://religion.lohudblogs.com/2008/01/28/lds-president-hinckley-got-things-done/

http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2008/01/28/news/doc479e25dfd899d710014176.txt

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=1513

http://origin.sltrib.com/faith/ci_8095453

http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080128/NEWS01/80128005

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23123145-663,00.html

http://dayofpraise.blogspot.com/2008/01/gordon-b-hinckley-beloved-prophet-1910.html

http://whimsybooks.livejournal.com/67199.html

http://762justice.com/2008/01/28/gordon-b-hinckley-passes/

http://www.digtriad.com/news/top/article.aspx?storyid=97001

President Hinckley passes away

A great, great leader died earlier this afternoon - our beloved prophet President Gordon B Hinckley. He was 97 years old - the oldest ever prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I guess we have been expecting this for the past couple of years, but of course it is a shock when it happens. The church has gone through incredible growth during his presidency, including membership growth, increased number of temples, and many more great things.

I have seen his death mentioned on CNN this afternoon, and the following are some websites that mention it. It's great to see it's one of the main news stories on world news web sites.

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=e419fb40e21cef00VgnVCM1000001f5e340aRCRD

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/beloved-church-president-gordon-b-hinckley-dies-at-97

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695247765,00.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/01/27/obit.hinckley/?iref=hpmostpop

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7212488.stm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080128/ts_nm/mormon_leader_dc

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/27/national/main3757332.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3757332

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-01-27-obit-hinckley_N.htm?csp=34

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4198473

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,325890,00.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22873523/

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=auNWJiw5gu.M&refer=us

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/us/28hinckley.html?ref=us

http://news.smh.com.au/mormon-church-president-gordon-hinckley-dead-at-97-officials/20080128-1olm.html

Heath Ledger dies

Australian actor Heath Ledger died today at only 28 years old - it was probably of a drug overdose (why do these actors get into drugs??).

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/22/heath.ledger.dead/index.html

He was one of the actors in the gay cowboy movie "Brokeback Mountain". Perhaps his death was a "Brokeback" incident??!!

Wananga Tutors Refresh Model Classes

Here's a blog post I found about the hui I am attending in Ngaruawahia this week. It's from the Waatea 603AM blog. Just scroll down to where it says "WANANGA TUTORS REFRESH MODEL CLASSES"

http://waatea.blogspot.com/2008/01/tuwhare-laid-to-rest.html

Nevada and South Carolina today

The race for the Whitehouse continues with the Nevada caucuses and the South Carolina primary (for the Republicans) today.

I'm glad that Hillary Clinton won Nevada for the Democrats and Mitt Romney won for the Republicans. I'm not so happy that McCain won in South Carolina. If he became president it would be like a third Bush term!

Watching CNN and Fox News today it appeared that McCain and Huckabee are the only main contenders in the Republican race (just because they were the top two in South Carolina today). But they seem to forget that Mitt is still the front runner. He has won more primaries/caucuses than any of the others! But of course, there's still a long way to go.

Next up is the Democratic South Carolina primary on January 27th (NZ Time), then the big Florida primary on January 30th!

Photos of me from 2007

Mitt Romney's new ward?

Here's an email someone sent me today. It's quite clever...

So....if Mitt Romney became President of the US (from this point forward referred to as POTUS), won't we have something we've never had before - a president who goes to a specific church? All other presidents belonged to religions that didn't have tight congregational boundaries. Now, think about that: What Ward would POTUS be in? If you are his new Bishop, here are your top 10 questions:
1. Will you allow an inaugural ball to be held in the cultural hall? Do you mount security cameras on top of each basketball rim and have a secret service detail stationed on the stage?
2. Can you call Mitt and Ann as the Nursery leaders... even if you really feel inspired?
3. Who is going to home teach them? Will you call someone who needs activation but may not pass the vetting and national security screening?
4. If Harry Reid and Mitt Romney are in the same High Priest group, will you need to be there to keep order?
5. Exactly how will tithing settlement work? Will the Secretary of the Treasury come, too?
6. Will you be inviting the new Romney family to speak in Sacrament Meeting... and if they go a little over, at what point do you ask them to sit down?
7. Will the Secret Service do a sweep of the building before each meeting? And if the Romney's always leave before Sunday School, will the Sunday School president need to interview them? If they stay, where will you hold the class?
8. Can you call the Secret Service agents to help out in Primary?
9. If you give Mitt a calling and the two Democrats in the Ward raise their hand AGAINST sustaining him - partly out of habit - does the Supreme Court need to be involved?
10. If you can't give them a calling (job), and they don't attend very often (for presidential stuff), will that mean they're 'inactive?' If they're not active, can you give them a Temple Recommend? And if you do, can they go? Will the Secret Service have to screen the temple too?
11. If the President wants to hold Sacrament Meeting at Camp David or the White House for security reasons, is that a conflict of Church and State?

If you're assigned to be the Romney's home teacher:
1. Can you just drop by, no appointment?
2. Can you even call them for an appointment, or do you have to go through the Chief of Staff?
3. Can you bring by Christmas sweets and cookies? Will they be analyzed? And for how many people - family, secret service details?
4. If you don't come, can the IRS do an audit on you?
5. Will they want to do a national security background check?
6. Do you have to have a permanent companion who has been vetted? Can you just grab any teacher or priest to come with you? And what if that priest has been a little wayward? Do you need to search him first?
7. Do you have to help him move in and out of the White House?
8. If Ann Romney gets sick, are you allowed to bring in meals or at least tell the Relief Society about it?
9. What can you share with the Bishop about the Romneys?
10. Do you have to ask them about their year's supply?
11. If you get a late night call for a blessing, will reporters follow you around wanting to know what was wrong and what you said?

If Mitt Romney is assigned to be YOUR home teacher:
1. Is telling the group leader you haven't been home taught a national security breech?
2. If he wants to come at the end of the month, do you accept his reason, 'I've been out of town'?
3. Will he drop by unannounced, or will the media crews give him away?