January, 2008:

Who'll stop the rain?

Have you seen that authorities in Beijing have successfully managed to stop light rainfall in experiments aimed at guaranteeing a dry opening ceremony for the Olympic Games?

There’s no roof on the showpiece Bird’s Nest stadium, so the Beijing Meteorological Bureau has been given the job of developing methods of preventing wet weather spoiling the spectacular opening to the Games on the evening of the 8th of August.

I wonder what was going through the minds of those at the bureau when they were first told that they needed to not only forecast the weather but control it. They must have thought it was quite a joke until they realised the authorities were deadly serious.

All I can say is that I they do have any rain that they don’t want, they’re welcome to send it our way.

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Dr Pat Love in Perth

Jan 31st, 2008

by Rodney Olsen.

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For more than twenty five years, Doctor Pat Love has contributed to relationship education and personal development through her books, articles, training programs, speaking and media appearances.

Her ever-popular books such as Hot Monogamyand The Truth About Love have literally taken her around the world spreading the good news about marriage and committed relationships. Pat is in demand as an expert presenter. She has appeared many times on Oprah, The Today Show and CNN.

Pat Love joined me in the studio at 98.5 Sonshine FM today for a chat about her work.

We all have a yearning for intimate relationships yet we usually fail to give relationships the care they need. Is it a fear of vulnerability or do we just lack the tools to make relationships work? You can hear what Pat has to say by listening to our conversation. Just click the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

Pat Love’s latest book is titled Why Women Talk and Men Walk: How to Improve Your Relationship Without Discussing It which is also sold as How To Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It. It’s a book which has been very warmly received by men. It was very interesting hearing Pat’s understanding of the different roles that we play in relationships.

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Through Their Eyes

Jan 31st, 2008

by Rodney Olsen.

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Andrew Frazer is a full time volunteer staff member at Youth With A Mission, Perth.

I spoke to him last when he’d just returned from a two week documentary trip through Thailand. The focus for the trip was to highlight the horrific practice of Child Trafficking and the circumstances that allow such an industry to exist.

Since then he’s traveled to India and Nepal.

Andrew joined me a couple of days ago on The Morning Programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM to talk about a new exhibition titled Through Their Eyes.

Thousands of children continue to be bought and sold across our world. Some are forced into child labour, some are used as child soldiers and many are sold into the sex trade. It’s a horrific situation that makes millions of dollars for those who trade children while many thousands of lives are destroyed.

The Through Their Eyes exhibition will be held at the Moores Building, Henry Street, Fremantle from the 2nd to the 10th February. There’ll also be an official opening from 6:30 tomorrow evening.

The photographic display highlights the increasing problem of child-trafficking in South Asia.

All sales or donations will go directly towards protecting children at risk in South Asia.

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A New Blog Launch

Jan 31st, 2008

by Rodney Olsen.

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I’ve never been one of those bloggers who has thought a lot of keeping a number of blogs but that’s only because I’ve never really had the need to keep more than one blog. Publishing one blog has always seemed like enough effort for me.

All that changes soon with the launch a new blog but first I’d like you to check it out. I want you to get in first and give me some feedback.

The Morning Programme is now up and getting ready to provide another way for me to connect with listeners to my radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM. Ash Wright, Sonshine FM’s technical guru and master of all trades, has put the blog together over the past few days.

There are only a few posts there at the moment but in time there’ll be a lot more content. The plan is to highlight features and interviews from the programme.

The posts you’ll see there at the moment have mostly been pinched from this blog. A lot of the posts I’ve published regarding my radio guests will now be found on The Morning Programme but I’ll certainly still be highlighting things here that I think a wider audience will find interesting.

I’ll be launching the blog to my listeners in the coming days but I’d really like you to have a look and let me know what you think. Please leave a comment or two at the new blog so that we can see that everything’s working.

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Generation Y and Faith

Jan 30th, 2008

by Rodney Olsen.

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How do Australian young people view issues of faith?

Recent studies show that less than 50% of those aged 13 to 32 classify themselves as Christian.

One study found, “At least 47 per cent of those aged 13 to 17 identified themselves as Christians. About 15 per cent classified themselves as New Age and 7 per cent as having “other” beliefs. Researchers found that active Christians rated helping others and social justice higher than other spirituality types and that teenagers serious about their spirituality were more likely to be volunteers. They were also more likely to be more generous when giving to charity.”

It’s significant that a University of Queensland study found that moving away from traditional beliefs to “trendy”, self-focused religions was not making young adults happier.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

Today we discussed the studies and asked what the results mean for Australia’s young people.

We also discussed the behaviour of members from Westboro Baptist Church in the US who are planning to picket and protest at any memorial for Western Australian actor Heath Ledger.

Click the audio player in this post if you want to listen to our conversation.

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