Family First Calls for Referendum to be Dumped

In their latest press release, Family First takes a step out on the ice and makes the sensible suggestion that the Government should forget about the postal referendum on the legality of smacking, that is scheduled for mid-this-year.  Instead of wasting $8,000,000 of tax-payer's money on a lengthy and drawn-out postal referendum, Family First is calling for the Governement to simply glance at the 390,000 signatures that were submitted, listen to the people of New Zealand, and go ahead and repeal Section 59 of the crimes act.

“If the government is serious about cost cutting, tightening our financial belts and prioritised spending to the frontline, it makes far more sense to divert that amount of money to more teachers, nurses, doctors and cops...
The law can be easily fixed by removing the criminality of parents who use reasonable force for the purpose of correcting their children but at the same time having clear statutory limits on what constitutes reasonable force.”

They dumped the anti-democratic Electoral Finance Act.  Now it's time for the anti-family Section 59 to be repealed.

Weekly Joke

How Times Have Changed


Scenario:
Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his gun rack.
1957 - The vice principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car, and gets his own shotgun to show Jack.
2007 - The school goes into lockdown, the FBI is called, and Jack is hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors are called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario:
Jeffrey won't be still in class and disrupts other students.
1957 - Jeffrey is sent to the office and is given a good paddling by the principal. He returns to class, sits still, and does not disrupt the class again.
2007 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie and is tested for ADD. The school gets extra money from the state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario:
Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his dad gives him a spanking with his belt.
1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being
abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom falls for the psychologist.

Scenario:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in state prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy.

Thought these were pretty amusing. From GCFL

Girl, 12yrs speaks on Abortion

Watch this (highly popular) 5 minute speech where a bright young twelve-year-old girl speaks out against abortion - her own opinion, and very well expressed. She covers a wide range of topics and arguments surrounding the issue - and sure, she's had a bit of help from her mum and dad - but what children don't get a hand when they're preparing a speech for school?

5/5 stars for this up-and-coming pro-life advocate!

Update

A scene from my favourite movie.  Here's some more great screenshots. From today until Wednesday we hope to run a table at the clubs days on campus at Canterbury University for our new Prolife group .  We're doing a free raffle, and naturally, the prize is a brand new DVD of the movie Bella!

Arts

Huh, I've finally got around to applying for my courses this year at University. I've made the seismic shift from going for a Bachelor of Commerce, to a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Political Science and Mass Communications.  I was happy that they let me transfer across everything I'd done in Commerce into the Arts degree, as that means I can start on my 200 level papers next semester (mid 2009).

Right, now off to the pig farm for my last week of work there.  Last week we had weaning on the Thursday, which was pretty epic.  This week we're doing A.I. Yay.  I've got some cool pictures on my phone from last week, but I haven't got my bluetooth connection set up, so will hopefully pop some on the blog sometime next week.

Ok, I know it's not Christmas, but anyway...

Bloody Valentines Day

...the Pope's soldiers came into his little shack and slew him where he knelt. Of course the man was made a martyr...

My sister's written a pretty good rave at Valentines day. I agree with a lot of it ;)

Weekly Joke

Two lawyer jokes this week...

The Hitchiker
One day, as the truck driver was driving along he saw a priest hitchhiking. He thought he would do a good turn and pulled the truck over. He asked the priest, "Where are you going, Father?"
"I'm going to the church 5 miles down the road," replied the priest.
"No problem, Father! I'll give you a lift. Climb in the truck." The happy priest climbed into the passenger seat and the truck driver continued down the road. Suddenly the truck driver saw a lawyer walking down the road and instinctively he swerved to hit him. But then he remembered there was a priest in the truck with him, so at the last minute he swerved back away, narrowly missing the lawyer. However even though he was certain he missed the lawyer, he still heard a loud "THUD". Not understanding where the noise came from he glanced in his mirrors and when he didn't see anything, he turned to the priest and said, "I'm sorry Father. I almost hit that lawyer."
"That's okay", replied the priest. "I got him with the door!"

Charity
A local charity had never received a donation from the town's most successful lawyer. The director called to get a contribution.
"Our records show you make $500,000 a year, yet you haven't given a penny to charity," the director began. "Wouldn't you like to help the community?"
The lawyer replied, "Did your research show that my mother is ill, with medical bills several times her annual income?"
"Um, no," mumbled the director.
"Or that my brother is blind and unemployed?" The stricken director began to stammer an appology.
"Or that my sister's husband died in an accident," said the lawyer, his voice rising inindignation, "leaving her penniless with three kids?"
The humiliated director said simply,"I had no idea."
"So, if I don't give any money to them, why would I give money to you?"

Euthanasia

35 year-old Italian woman Eluana Englaro has been in a coma for 17 years, following a car accident in 1992. After years of debate in the legislature and in public, her father has finally been granted the right by the court to have her feeding tube unplugged. The Roman Catholic church has spoken out against this of course, with Cardinal Antonelli saying,

"Eluana is in a 'vegetative state,' but she is not a vegetable. She is a person who is sleeping," he said. "The person, also when she is sleeping or disabled, retains all of her dignity. The person is valuable in herself, not for what she produces or consumes, or for the pleasure or satisfaction she gives to others." - catholicnewsagency.com

The Free Dictionary defines Euthanasia as being "The act or practice of ending the life of an individual suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition, as by lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary medical treatment."  However, this one definition encompasses what I think are two very different actions.  The first is to actively kill someone who is suffering terrible pain.  The second is to withdraw an unnatural means of keeping the suffering person alive.  One is active, the other is passive, and it can't be right to talk about them as being the same thing.

Ideally, Eluana would continue to receive her life support through the feeding tubes. However, we do not live in an ideal world, and there is suffering everywhere.  At some level, we are forced to place a dollar-value on a person's life; we must make the awful decision between investing money here, to save one life, or here, to save ten lives.

One other notable aspect of such a case, is that it sets a precedent for future cases.  Will an amendment to Italy's euthanasia law provide a loophole for people wishing to end their own life, or the life of a relative?

23 Week Born Alive Baby, Murdered

"an 18-year-old girl went to a clinic in Florida for a late-term abortion at 23 weeks. Three days later, after receiving medication, the young woman went into labor and gave birth to a live baby girl. Since the doctor failed to show up in time, one of the clinic’s owners who was not even licensed to practice medicine, cut the umbilical cord, placed the baby in a medical waste bag, and threw it in the trash. - Fox News

Read a full account in the Buffalo News , and information of the lawsuit at LifeSiteNews.com.

According to the law, if you kill the child while it is inside its mother, that's ok, however the moment that the child is born, its suddenly "human", and it's illegal to kill it.  Why do people continue to willingly turn a blind eye to this silent holocaust, forcing themselves not to think about how absolutely evil it is?  Who has the right to say that a baby is a bit of tissue with no rights, and then the next instant, a human being with the same rights to life and liberty as the rest of us?

It's disgusting.

Imagine the Potential

Another excellent video advert from Catholic Vote . This unoffensive and non-judgmental advert was scheduled to air during the Super Bowl on NBC, however they refused to show it because they claimed that they didn't want to air political or issue advocacy advertisements.