Mary And Joseph In Bed Spark Anger In New Zealand

You may recall those 50's and 60's TV shows where husbands and wives had twin beds. Obviously, it was far too controversial to show them sharing a bed (Rob and Laura Petrie, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, anyone?). A billboard showing Joseph and Mary in bed together, meant to spark discussions on Christmas, has instead sparked outrage in New Zealand.

The billboard shows Joseph and Mary sharing a bed, looking somewhat sad, both shown semi-nude. The caption reads: "Poor Joseph. God is a hard act to follow."

The billboard was put up by the St. Matthew-in-the-City church. Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the church meant to challenge a "fundamentalist interpretation of Christ's birth." "What we're trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about. Is it about a spiritual male God sending down sperm so a child would be born, or is it about the power of love in our midst as seen in Jesus?"

The St Matthew-in-the-City church is Anglican. Cardy added that the split on love - hate was about 50 / 50. However, one person had threatened to tear down the billboard. They have not, as yet, received a huge number of input on the matter: so far only 20 emails and phone calls.

Perhaps agreeing with the one protester above, the Catholic church joined those against the billboard. They accused the Anglican church of disrespect, as a Catholic church spokesman, Lyndsay Freer, said "It's flying in the face of our 2,000-year-old beliefs."

Happy California Cows Actually From New Zealand

You've probably seen those "Happy California Cows" ads from the California Milk Advisory Board. They advertise that better milk and cheese comes from happy cows, and happy cows come from California.

Thing is, those cows in those ads: they not from California, or at least they won't be soon. The Los Angeles Times reports that the California Milk Advisory Board has decided to outsource their ads, for cost reasons.

As the Times says, in perhaps the best bit of journalism in some time, "Local union officials were cheesed off to learn that the state milk board was farming out TV work to foreign locales."

The report goes on to state, however, that all post-production work will be done in California. One has to wonder if the substitute cow actors will appear as happy as real California cows.

Watch one of the old ads:

Town Angry Over Canceled "Dead Rabbit Toss" Event

The town of Waiau, which has a population of about 400 people, has held a "Dead Rbbit Toss" for years, but town officials said this year's event has been dropped. The decision came after criticism from the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

Of course, the town is outraged; not over the fact that the rabbit throw was taking place in the first place, but that it had been canceled. It's just another example of humans thinking that they have the right to do anything because they consider themselves at the top of the food chain.

Watch a video report. It should be noted that this is a morning "infotainment" show, not a news program.