Political activism ... sort of....

I want to start by saying a big 'Thanks!' to everyone who recently sent me an email or made a comment about how much you enjoy my blog. It means a lot to me that you would say that, and as I've said before, knowing that people actually read my ranting forces me to watch my language ;)

Yesterday I made my first attempt at political activism. I braved the somewhat unwelcoming weather to attend the 'awareness rally' in protest of the TPA bill. Sadly, my grandiose visions of huge crowds of health enthusiasts rallying loudly and powerfully didn't quite translate to the reality of the day. In fact, the turnout was rather thin on the ground. *Two thumbs up* for these people that turned up in spite of the rain.. they made placards and everything.

I know for a fact that news of this rally got to all the local manufacturers and most health shops and gyms. Come ON people! The total number of individuals who cared enough to turn up were the three people in the picture and 'my crowd', consisting of me, my sister and Jase. Yeah, THAT'LL RAISE AWARENESS A WHOLE LOT. If this act passes into law and suddenly the NZ public find that they can't buy their Maca powder or MSM and that vitamin supplements have tripled in price, well, all I can say is, don't come crying to me, Bubba. I'm sure I'll be writing a whole lot more about the TPA. I'm a bit hot under the collar about it, but for today I just feel like Christchurch put on a really poor effort. Certainly we were shown up badly by the anti-mine protestors that just went right ahead and chained themselves to the railway tracks. We need THOSE guys at the next rally on May 19th. I've also got a meeting with the local MP on the same day and will be sure to keep you all 'in the loop'.

Of course, our small, 6 person rally went absolutely unnoticed due to the fact that it was also Buddah's birthday and the Buddist community was throwing a huge party in Cathedral Square at the same time, complete with fancy dress, deep fried tofu, chanting and bubble tea.