The battle against 'legal highs' is far from won--it needs some help!

The news that Middlemore Hospital has had to deal with party-goers who have taken ‘legal Highs’ called Red Rocket, just goes to show that the battle against these substances is far from over. As fast as the law makes these drugs illegal and expensive to get through the legal pathways to sales, it seems that the manufacturers and sellers of these nasties will continue almost unabated in their quest to make a dollar. Well it’s time for the law to make it even more difficult, this time at the ‘pointy end’ of the law enforcing process---in the courts.

Charge the people who clog our free hospital EDs and force the users to take responsibility for their decisions. While we are at it, do the same for those who drink and drive causing similar mayhem in our hospitals and communities. Let’s stop pussy footing around and have a form of ‘user pay for bad decisions,’ policy, while at the same time make the present laws even tougher for the purveyors of these dangerous substances; dangerous for the individuals and for those who have to care for them in the ‘aftermath.’

So the USA jumps off the 'Cliff'? Does it matter?

If the USA jumps off the 'cliff' will it be as bad as the Great Depression? one must ask, 'Is the USA or the world for that matter the same as it was then?' Of course not. China figures more strongly and rising stars like Brazil and India may lesson the impact? I just don't know. All I can say with certainty is that it is a lot harder to get the rich to pay more than it is for the poor to get a fair deal. Think about it. Do the poor have avouice in Congress? Do the poor have access to  the 'Hill' in the form of storng lobbyists? That cost money and the poor don;t---Oh you know the rest. When has it ever beena level playing field?  The politicnas will play their games and position themselves for a result they have already probably agreed on, even if they don't know it! So the 'ship may sail offthe cliff but it will probably be well anchored to the precipice.

'Fiscal cliffs' and a fistfull of guns!

The USA is an enigma. It espouses values that most people would agree with and it’s Constitution on paper looks like a model that countries around the world envy. Look a bit closer and at the day-to-day play out of this constitution and the holes will begin to emerge, if not for the simple fact that people are people and that human frailty and greed go against the spirit of any paper document. Having said that, I am not arguing against the Constitution of the USA, even though we need to remember it was written many years ago when the USA looked very different to the nation we see today.

Now we have a nation that extends its tentacles to all regions of the earth and then reacts like an angry kid losing its toys when other nations dare to challenge the American hegemony. The rise of China, (while the USA was off fighting wars all around the globe) India, Brazil and the re-emergence of a strong Russia, has brought about a ‘new world;’ one that the USA has yet to come to terms with.

On the national front, the USA is at war with itself.  The ‘fiscal cliff’ and the guns law issue is showing the inability of the USA to pull itself back from divisive politics and disparate groups. On the fiscal cliff debate, maybe the politicians are posturing and will come to a deal at the last moment or risk plunging the USA into a deep recession. One wonders if those hard-butt Republicans will ever agree to pay their fair share of tax, while many Americans cannot even afford basic health care.

With the guns ‘love affair,’ another group holds fast to the right to bear arms, while they watch the statistics that show the USA up as having one of the worst murder rates, using guns, in the world and the nations that come close, are not seen as anything more than ‘failed nations.’ I wonder if the vast majority of USA citizens will ever be able to get through to the likes of the NRA and its supporters, along with the selfish ‘hold on to our assets’ mentality of the mainly Republican dominated Congress. Then again, I return to my opening statement. Humans are basically selfish and the laws we make do not lessen that tendency, no matter how lofty they look on paper.

I believe that there is a strong will amongst Americans to live in a country where its citizens should have a ‘fair go,’ not much different to that we hold in New Zealand, but they are being held ransom by selfish and power hungry elites. Just watch Fox News if you want to see it played out on a daily basis.

I hope that my blog proves to be wrong on both issues facing the USA. I’d love to be wrong!

Hi ya Ukraine! NIce to see you. Happy Xmas and a happier New year.

Greetings from 'Down Under.' It's summer here of course and many New Zealanders are on holiday at the beach.  I hope to see mnay more of you reading my bloggs and books in the future. My best wishes.
 Neil

The beautiful Pohutukawa (hHe New Zealand Xmas Tree)

www.authorneilcoleman.com

Pre-surgery fodder! may as well while can.

My date with the surgeon should be sometime in April. For the month prior to his ‘intervention,’ I shall be partaking of a ‘diet’ (yes I can use that word and be OK with it for that time) consisting of Optifast and a few veggies. The aim of that is to shrink the liver to enable easy access re keyhole surgery. It also has the ‘testing factor,’ to see if I can sustain a disciplined approach prior to my operation and to set in place some good habits that are going to be ‘for the rest of my life.’

‘Well how come you can’t do that now,’ some of you who don’t know me well may say. OK, my reply to everyone is---‘How many people over 40 do you know who have taken a lot of weight off and kept it off? How many people do you know who go to gyms and live their new lifestyle, but the next time you see them, they are even fatter?’

I know we all know a few people who have made the transition and are doing just fine, but don’t you find that they are very much in the minority.  I’m not one of those people---full bloody stop! I still get people telling me that I am weak and all of the crap that goes with that, but I just say---‘talk to the hand.’ I know some people are just worried, but I am not. I have talked through this with many people who have had the operation and they are all happy that they did it. They have few regrets and they advise me to stop looking at negative sites online. If you look for it you can always find a reason not to do something.

OK, on a lighter note. I am having some really nice ‘pre-operation food; nothing to excess, but certainly not denying myself. I am being more careful with quantities and I leaving some foods off my list, because they consist of food that I will never be able to eat. I figure if I am going to spend the large amount of money on my operation, it seems stupid to carry on like I was, so in a sense I am entering a transition phase so that the journey has less ‘hooks’ in it later.

Xmas dinner was simple and enjoyable; turkey with lots of veggies and a trifle of course. We didn’t gorge ourselves; indeed for everyone, it was not like it used to be. Maybe that’s a factor of aging. We just can’t handle the gargantuan meals of the past.

Ok, I am looking forward to New Year’s Day. Hopefully the family will be here and we are having a number 30 chicken; can’t wait to see the size of that. How the hell do they breed them that big---hormones? They say not! Yeah right.

Hone and Hilda Halkyard Harawira lead the battle against 'P'---even within their own family.

The Harawira family is often in the news, usually in the form of one of Hone’s statements or actions. This time his wife Hilda is making a courageous stand, against the scourge of ‘P.’ She rightly condemns in no uncertain terms the damage this drug has on families, especially the young. Her community is being torn apart, with baches (holiday homes) being burnt down and retribution sought as both sides seek revenge (often within the extended family). It is reported that elderly members of the community are scared to look out their windows because they fear they will be labelled ‘narks.’

Give ‘narks’ a more positive label! They deserve to be lauded as they try to make their community safe. Hone and Hilda have long tried to turn their people away from drugs, alcohol and smoking, but ‘P’ is right up there in major damage it is doing, not just in their community but in all sectors of NZ society. The only way that we can help the police is to inform on ‘P’ labs and make it impossible for these ‘cook-houses’ to operate.

Hone and Hilda are not alone. Most NZers are behind them, because it affects us all. If we do not wipe out this nasty dangerous drug, more and more of our young people are going to be drawn into its web. One does not have to look far to observe the families being split because a family member has entered the dark world of ‘P.’

Instead of shrugging your shoulders when you hear about Hone making yet another ‘statement,’ look a little further and ‘listen’ to his words. He is not on the ‘outside’ when he fights to improve the lot of Maori. What he and Hilda are saying is representative of what NZ as a nation faces.  For the sake of all our people, ring Crime stoppers ( www.crimestoppers-org.nz ) and let those who can deal to these parasites in a legal manner do their job.  Maybe then, the burning will stop--- the burring of our nation’s future in the form of young users as well as the physical destruction of homes and property. Go hard Hone and Hilda!

Read Roskill, my book about the affect of 'P' on a young family. Go to www.authorneilcoleman.com

Selling household goods is a lot easier than selling my books!

Maybe I should give away a household item for every book I sell. Maybe my household items (now known as HI) can tell stories. Well yes, that is true---my HI can tell some fantastic stories. They have been around for many dramas in my life. Maybe I should sign them! I am selling my 'unwanted and unused (add the AS SEEN ON TV ONES) HI on Trade me ans SELLA. Of course my books are there too, probably feeling totally unloved. Maybe I should go into selling more HI and become rich. Then of course there are the questions people ask about my HI. I wonder if people read the adverts I place, because it's pretty damn obvious they havn't. I suspect the market for my books is a totally different one. Maybe I should write a book about selling HI and the lives they have led and the history they have witnessed. Hell, I havn't even had a drink! Now, where's that Bread Maker I won't be using after my Bariatric surgery!?