Will We Make It?

I'm so close to beating last months views - and perhaps making it to 1000 views for the month. Will it happen?

Stop Press! Uncle Scott is coming to visit.

I will be visiting Tip Top tomorrow (30th) for a quick tour of the plant and to address and meet members of staff. Actually just for a birthday lunch.

Yikes. What will people wear/do/say

Coffee

I am 6 days into my fast from coffee.

Eeek.

Our Great Leader

Good old Helen has a blog - check it out!

It is very well done - at least you can comment on this one.

Edit 9:44
This post was particularly amusing.

New Blog Name

Ok - We were having a competition that got slightly hijacked over the simple matter of anonymity and desks and chairs. But let us all forget about that and think about the new name for Scott's blog.

Hit me!

The Desk And Chair

My boss found an interesting implication to the desk and chair dilema this morning.

If taking away a chair increases the cost by $50, and by re-adding it back into the package the cost is reduced from $350 to $300, does that imply that if I ask for another chair, the price will be reduced to $250, and if I ask for 6 chairs and the desk I will get it for free? What happens if I ask for 7 chairs and a desk - do they owe me $50?

Ridiculous.

Competition

I'm trying to come up with a new name for my blog. Ideas are welcomed. The best idea will win.

Assasination of Common Sense

Warehouse Stationary Manukau always provides me with fuel for a moan. They are fairly inept, incompetant, useless....you know what I mean. Customer service is almost non-existent. You end up waiting in lines for ages, and if you want help, prepare to go digging!

However, they do have good deals, so go I must when I need some more computer paper or cds and so on. Today I saw an amazing deal on a corner desk system, which included cupboards, drawers, cd rack, and heaps of storage space for computer periphery. Unlike many computer desks, this had a separate area for working without the computer. It also came with a chair. The total package cost was $300.

Now I already have a chair, so I asked one of the staff what it would cost without the chair. He came back to me after talking with his boss and said "It's better for you to buy it with the chair." I told him I did not want the chair, and asked how much it would be without the chair. Apparently if I decided to not take the chair, it would cost me $50 extra. I could not believe the stupidity of this. Do you mean to tell me that it's going to cost me more to have less? Do you mean to say it costs me $50 for a "not chair"! He could see my logic, but evidently his boss couldn't.

Is it any wonder then, that with people this thick in places of power, that we have huge problems in New Zealand? Does it not also explain why Labour is in government. You could only be stupid or self-absorbed to vote for them.

Unscheduled End To Road Trip

My roadtrip ended prematurely on its second day. I travelled down and got to a place called Waitete Bay. I stayed the night in my car there. It was pretty awful weather, but cosy in the car. A beautiful spot nonetheless. I continued my travels rather uneventfully until between Fantail Bay and Port Jackson. I was on gravel roads from just after Colville, and just after Fantail Bay, a stone ruptured my fuel line. I noticed instantly, as I lost power. I pulled over to check what had happened, and looked under the car to see petrol pouring out of the fuel line.

Immediately I called the AA. I waited from this time (about 9:30am), and not one car passed me on either side of the road until after 11:30am. It was actually quite cool being so isolated. I made a coffee with my little gas burner, and walked around ate heaps, read a bit, and even listened to a bit of Leighton Smith. Thank goodness for AA plus membership, which got my car from there back to Manurewa for free, although they took their time getting to me!! Apparently it would have cost me in excess of $600 to do this.

The bonus of getting a ride back on the tow truck was that I could view the scenery as a passenger rather than a driver. So all in all, God provided a wonderful holiday for me! Not only that, but I saw how to put a car onto a truck with the winch and stuff. It was real cool!

And Scott Went Out Not Knowing Whither He was Going

That's right. I have been given a few days off to catch my breath! It's been quite hard lately, so I'm glad to get a holiday. I am about to jump in my car and drive. I'll be back sometime on Friday.

Have a great week all.

Jono Posts!!!!

Jono hasn't posted for over a year, so let's hear it for him folks.

Today he thanks his lucky stars he isn't a girl. Don't we all...wowsers huh hmmm. Excuse me! Sore throat.

Sex

How many more lives need to be wrecked before our Government and Family Planning Authorities start telling the truth about safe sex? I read an article by Ian Wishart on this topic just today. He lamented the stubborn liberal social engineers who put out advertisement campaigns such as the 'no rubba, no hubba' one. He says of this campaign, that it 'delibrately' fails to warn teenagers, or anyone else, that condoms will not save them from the most common STD's. And yet what do we have taught in our secular schools? Sex is ok, as long as it's safe. Use a condom. Yeah whatever!

Wishart looks at just why the myth of safe sex is continually promoted despite rising STD rates. Condoms do not protect against many STD's such as Chlamydia, herpes or genital warts. Why are we not told this? Wishart's answer is "because the only option left if condoms don't work is promoting either abstinence or monogamy, words that make dyed-in-the-wool liberal social engineers choke." And that folks is exactly right! We have denied God's order for things; we reap the consequences, but we we stubbornly refuse to admit that God's way is the right way.

Instead of addressing the root cause of the problem, we deal with the symptoms. This is seen in the case of cervical cancer. 98% of cervical cancers are caused by the same virus that causes genital warts. Yet as Wishart points out, there are no news articles or TV ads reminding us of this. Instead we spend millions on screening campaigns on a disease which is entirely preventable.

What we as a country must do, is look at our failed ideas on sexual morality. What we are doing is not working. We must return to our former beliefs about sexual morality. One man for one woman for life. Funny how it works eh? Just happens to be what God says too.

An Example

Recently I have been looking into education on my blog. Dan pointed out an example of what I’m talking about to me this morning. Seatoun Primary School in Wellington has banned a Christian-Based club which has been running in the school since 2002. The club is not compulsory for children to go to, but parents who want to, allow their children to attend it.

The board of trustees spokesperson, Bob Roche has told the media that the board has legal opinion supporting their decision to can the programme. The board also claims that parents support the decision. On parent claimed; "If I wanted my children to be religiously educated I would send them to a religious school".

This report comes at an excellent time. We have just been discussing who God holds responsible for the education of children. We have also recently discussed the lack of neutrality in education.

In this example we see a traditional view of state schools is held by the Board of Trustees, and the parent quoted. They see the state school as devoid of religion. Religion is outside the realm of the state. But these are naive statements, as we have demonstrated in earlier posts. State education is by definition religious, because it makes religious claims. It claims God either does not exist, or does not have anything to offer in education. This is a religious claim. Christians who claim as this parent did, that religion should not be taught not in state schools, are utterly misguided. There is no such thing as a non-religious school. You can't escape religion. Our beliefs, or our worldview if you like, are always present behind our teaching. Worldview always impinges on practice. As Christians we should know this. We must not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds in all aspects of life.

The second and possibly more disturbing aspect of this whole case is the fact that it takes responsibility away from parents. The school trust board spokesperson claimed this: - "We're going to consider ministerial advice that we're getting, we're going to consider advice from the School Trustees Association and when we've put all those things into the mix we're going to come up with the best decision for the community.”

Why should we worry about this claim? We should be extremely concerned by it’s content. In this claim, Bob Roche sets the opinions of the trust board, ministerial advice, and the Schools Trustees Association over the opinions of individual parents. They, not parents, will decide what is good in children’s education. They know what is best for the community. Really? What utter piffle. If our state education system knows best, how is it that since they have dabbled in sex education, teenage pregnancies and STD rates have only got infinitely worse? No my friends, they do not know best. Parents should be able to decide these things. Why should anyone stop this club which is a voluntary lunch time club, and which parents decide put their kids in? If parents are unhappy with it, their children do not have to attend. Education is the responsibility of parents, not the state.

You may laugh now, but this is a warning to us. Friends, this will not be an isolated case. A precedent is being set, and soon this type of thing will happen all over New Zealand. When will we see what is happening to our New Zealand? When will we wake up? How long will it be before our government starts telling us that certain beliefs are not in the best interests of the community and will be banned? Will we fight, or will we sit in the stupor of apathy on our comfortable couches and let it all wash over us?


Edit 1:10pm 10/6/2005 - New information came to light on the time this club was held.
See also this article.

Happy Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Blog!