Winiata’s Blog

The Olympics closing ceremony is on soon. This is the end of two weeks of Olympics and NZ has got 9 medals. In another 4 years the Olympics will be in London England.

They said the opening ceremony was good but I didn’t watch it. I think it was hard to see any because it was always on in the middle of the night. Watching Mahe Drysdale strive to do his best, and the Evers-Swindell twins make gold, was probably the best part of it for me.

Most disappointing was probably the BMX, this was the first year they had BMX and we have a world champion, Sarah Walker, so everyone was thinking she would bring home gold. But she only got 4^th. She fell over in the race but I think it’s unfair that the race for the medals is only one race, and the heats are averaged out over three races.

All in all the NZ athletes did pretty good. It took hard work and a lot of determination over 4 years for them to get that far. Sarah Ulmer could have added to our golds but I think she is retired.

Here are the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators so far during the Olympics that they would like to take back:

1.  Weight-lifting commentator: This is Gregorieva from Bulgaria.. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing.

2.  Dressage commentator: This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother.

3.  Paul Hamm, Gymnast: I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father.

4.  Boxing Analyst: Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious.

5.  Softball announcer: If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.

6.  Basketball analyst: He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn’t like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces.

7.  At the rowing medal ceremony: Ah, isn’t that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew.

8.  Soccer commentator: Julian Dicks is everywhere. It’s like they’ve got eleven Dicks on the field.

9.  Tennis commentator: One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them… Oh my God, what have I just said.

New Zealanders have a love affair with takeaways – but why are they so be bad for you? Many people eat too much fast food. It has become more and more commonplace. But there are lots of problems with it. Here are some the two sides of the argument. Fast Food is bad for your health because it has a lot of salt, sugar, oils, and fat – all the things we should be eating less. It is the reason many people are suffering obesity because they eat too much bad food and don’t balance it with good healthy food and exercise. Eating fast food lowers your strength and fitness. Also it increases the calories your body gets but at the same time you get less nutrients and minerals from the fast food. Another problem with fast food is risk of food poisoning from chicken that isn’t cooked properly. Or people that don’t wash their hands after the toilet and get bacteria on the food. Or else the food isn’t in a refrigerator like it should be. But is ALL fast food bad? Fast food does tend to be higher in fat, sodium and calories and lower in vitamins, minerals and fibre than other foods, but a smart consumer can make wise choices and do a better job of choosing the ‘healthy’ fast foods to eat. Here are some Tips for Choosing Healthier Fast Food. To decrease fat, avoid mayonnaise, cheese and bacon. Ask them to make the burgers or sandwiches with lean meat and lots of salad. To decrease sodium, avoid cheese & pickles on sandwiches and salt on French fries. To keep calories low, order small, junior or child’s sized meals. NOT large, jumbo, super-size or big. Get low fat milk instead of a soft drink or just get water. Also get a side salad with fat free or low fat dressing – adds fibre, vitamins and minerals. And ask for whole wheat bread or buns where available. In conclusion I think that fast food overall is bad for your health because it is too greasy and the way they cook most fast food is unhealthy. People should eat more food raw, or made fresh, not cooked and processed so that a lot of the goodness in it is lost.  I think the key is getting a balance. NZ Herald Reporter Martin Johnston wrote this “moderation is the key to controlling your food intake. Too much of any food, even a good food can be bad for your nutritional health.” 

TVNZ News Report, Apr 23, 2007A man who survived being mauled by dogs six years ago says the death of a 56-year-old Rotorua woman at the weekend is good enough reason to ban vicious breeds.Virginia Ohlsen was out walking in Murupara when she was attacked by a Staffordshire cross and a pitbull terrier, both dogs unregistered.Despite the efforts of others at the scene to keep her warm and try to stem the blood flow, she died of shock and trauma as an ambulance took her to hospital.Howard Martin, who was attacked by three pitbulls when he went to a house in the Auckland suburb of Papakura, says the latest tragedy brought back horrific memories and he recalls the way the dogs just would not give up. His scars have never healed.Martin says the pitbull breed is harder to deal with than the likes of Alsatians because the pitbull latches on and has every intention of killing.Martin says Ohlsen’s death is a tragedy which could have been prevented.The two dogs involved in the attack have been destroyed and their owner will know on Friday if charges will be laid against him. Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper says police will talk to the Crown solicitor on Friday.Whakatane District Council chief executive Diane Turner says the council is leaving it up to police to prosecute the owner. She says the dogs were never registered with the council and there is no record of them on their database.It is the third fatal dog attack in the last 10 years.The pitbull terrier is the same breed that left Auckland school girl Carolina Anderson badly disfigured and partially blind.In my opinion the police and the government should ban the dogs because they are killing and hurting innocent people. The dogs are dangerous because the owners let them roam around on the streets. This means the streets are unsafe for ordinary people. This woman got killed but it would have been much worse if it was a child, like my little brother who is three.If my little brother was even bitten by a dog then I would report it to the police. If my brother was killed by a dog then the dog should be put down and the owners of the dog should go to jail.Vicious dogs should be removed the country, or not allowed to come here in the first place.