There are some serious issues in New Zealand re the 'homeless' and poverty, but violence is not the answer!

An incredibly sad tragedy happened yesterday in Ashburton, a mid-sized town in the South Island of New Zealand. A man walked into a WINZ office (Work and income New Zealand) and shot three people, two of whom died and seriously injured the third. New Zealand is now in the midst of a discussion about why this could have happened; about what drove this man to such an extreme action. Firstly I need to state that his actions cannot be justified, no matter what the provocation. Taking another person’s life is totally wrong at every level! Yes, I know that is happens, both here and to a much larger degree on other countries, some of whom are in the midst of wars and breakdowns of the rule of law. Yesterday’s tragedy had a begging in a systematic breakdown when it came to supporting this man, who allegedly had some massive issues with a range of ‘agencies. He was well known to the local support agencies. It is said that he came back from Australia after learning that he had an illness and that he came back to ‘die.’ Pretty strong words. He had been trying to get housing and had taken the move of putting up a tent in a public park. There are also reports that there was an abandoned ‘State house’ in the town, but I do not know if he was on the list for housing or whatever other supports he may have been offered. He was under incredible stress and once again, I do not have the full story as to the state of his mental health. There is much we do not know about this man but there is much being said about the justification for his actions! On first appearances, there seems to have been a breakdown in the support he has been offered but we do no as yet know what his reaction was to that which was offered. What we do know is that for many years, there has been criticism levelled at that government agency, amongst others and that hardly a week goes by where we hear of an incident where someone has been threatened or assaulted, whilst doing their job. What we saw yesterday was a culmination of many factors, not the least being that there is poverty in New Zealand, that there is a perception that not enough of being done to help people in the position this man was facing. Perceptions and beliefs will vary as to the causes of this situation, but what we do know is that things must change: We cannot let our people working in agencies be subject to danger, but at the same time we need to examine how this all came about. What is it that has people so frustrated that they seek such extreme and violent action? Is there a ‘mental health’ issue here, where people are not receiving the help they need? When ‘mental health,’ bean to be delivered ‘within the community, rather than in institutions, did we go way to far, leaving people vulnerable because they were not resourced sufficiently? These questions must be addressed along with those surrounding how people are ‘worked with,’ when they use Government agencies. However, once again, I come back to the point that, we cannot have people being killed, just because they are doing a job that attracts a good deal of emption when the results of their work do not satisfy the clients! Yes, address the issues and that is on a massive scale, because it goes to the very heart of how we want New Zealand to be as a nation---a fair one, or one that does not care for those who need care the most! www.authorneilcoleman.com

Putin seems determined to take Europe to war!

Putin is acting in a manner that looks dangerously like a situation way back in the 1930’s re another leader! OK, let’s just name it. Hitler took Europe and the world to war and the lead up to that was one characterised by nations paralyzed into non-action in the belief that giving in to the dictator would lead to world peace (‘in our time’). That did not happen. Are we in a similar situation re Putin and his taking Ukraine to the very edge of all-out war because he wants to absorb the former nations that once were part of the USSR? Would he in fact stop at the eastern areas of Ukraine or does he have a more sinister plan? He is very hard to read and he encourages this aspect of his foreign policy, re the nations of Europe and NATO. There are noises coming out of Russia that he merely wants the people of eastern Ukraine to be able to choose which country they want to be part of or at the very least be an independent Eastern Ukraine. We all know what his idea of an independent ‘referendum’ is like. It is one that is totally controlled by his forces and any voices raised against his master plan are quickly quelled. If such a ‘plebiscite’ were to go ahead, it can only be conducted through the works of the UN. Any other plan is tantamount to playing into the hands of Putin and his ‘bullyboy’ things who would rule in his name. In the meantime Europe and NATO are becoming increasingly uncomfortable re the aspirations of the man who would take us back to the bad old days of the ‘Cold War.’ His every move, each and every small thrust into the territories on his borders, gradually adds up to him swallowing more and more territory. The world must stand up to him. Yes, there have been sanctions and perhaps they have made his position more desperate as the Russian economy gradually slides into recession. Like many before him, he realizes that the only way to garner support behind him is to ‘go to war,’ to expand the territories of Mother Russia, calling on that age-old Russian instinct to ‘love a strong leader,’ one who is prepared to risk all in the name or Russian aspirations.’ Europe must be united if it wants to stop this crazy dictator. That he even alludes to the fact that Russia is one of the world’s strongest nuclear powers is disturbing in that he would even go down that pathway to achieve his goals. What is equally worrying is that any voices within Russia prepared to speak out are being gradually silenced; those doing so simply disappear or the means by which they attempt to get their messages out are taken off the air. Putin and Russia need to hear a very clear message that they cannot go against the body of nations that Europe (and others) represent, that they cannot flout international law (yes we know that Putin will point the finger at the USA for doing something similar!) and that at some stage, there will be a counter reaction; one that Putin no doubt fears will sweep him the corridors of power in Russia. That is the conundrum Russia and the world faces---it is all about HIM---Putin---the modern day Stalin! The days ahead are fraught with danger!

Boozy fruit cake, model two! No cane sugar in this!

If you are one of those people who don't give a stuff about following recipes, read this and then go and do your own thing. If it bugger up, give it to your dog or the birds down at the park. Mind you, they may not fly well! I am not going to pretend that this is cheap but I am going to make a claim that it is relatively healthy so long as you don't eat it all in one sitting. In have not had the alcohol content actually measured so you may not even want to drive if you are a claimant of a 'non drinking stance. Into a big bowl chuck I the following: Heaps of dates (non stones or you will break your teeth!) lots of raisins. About a big cup of one of those supermarket bin mixes containing dried fruit, buts and God knows what else. The total for all the above is about three cups. I threw in about two tables spoons of chia seeds and quinoa flakes too. Half a packet of mixed spice, some nutmeg, and cinnamon. I just emptied the left over of a packet of them. Three eggs one and a half cups of gluten free baking mix (use just use the dame of self raising flour) About half a cup of melted butter. Now pour in any liquor--I used Drambuie---about a cup. Get ya hands on and mix it up, licking your fingers to taste! Jeeze --why cook it! If it still feels a bit dry, chuck in some pineapple juice or any juice that is in the fridge. Pour or shove it into a baking tin and spread it out. Cook at about 160C for as long as it take. Take it out and let it cool a bit. When you open the oven the alcohol should smack you in the face---wow! Once sit cooled a bit--make some little holes in and pour in more of your favourite liqueur. That will preserve it and give it the kick you want. If you are worried about the booze, just stick in fruit juice but don't keep it for so long. If you are a dope-head just substitute some of the leaf---but I'm not, so don't know about that. Shite--is that illegal! Enjoy and share if you must, with those you love! www.authorneilcoleman.com

Labour and its friends can win this election!

The election campaign is hotting up, hopefully re the real reason for us voting---the policies that are going to lead to a 'fairer' and more equal New Zealand. I am so sick of reading about the increasing gaps between the rich and poor; it's totally time to address that vexing issue. I am not talking about 'driving the Capitalists' offshore, nor am I talking about 'killing off the cow,' to the point that she 'don't wanna give us no more milk,' as some on the hard left tend to wish for. No---I am talking about a New Zealand where there is a 'living wage,' and that may vary region by region, because if you live in some of NZ's expensive parts, simply because you have no real choice (being on the benefit in a region with no jobs is not an answer!)then the figures touted about just what that living wage should be---don't meet the need. Please put the 'Dirty Politics' saga behind us, even though it will be remembered as the 'plinth' that shoved some politicians towards oblivion. For that, maybe that phase was necessary, in exposing something extremely worrying about how far some politicians and their allies are prepared to go in order to keep that balance in their favour. Now is the time to hear about a real vision for this better New Zealand. We must hear about how we are going to tackle child poverty, how we are going to improve the health of a huge sector of NZ society, where 'third world' diseases abound, where we have streets where most of the inhabitants are on some sort of benefit. We must seek to 'clean up NZ, and really live up to that 100% pure label, because right now it is a lie. We need to look at new ways to teach our kids, so that they are prepared for the 21st century and steer away from failed policies; ones that have been proven to be failures overseas. We need a government that sees beyond the three year election cycle, merely holding the 'Treasury Benches,' for their own needs. Listen to the policies of the parties in this final three weeks of the campaign and ask yourself---will that party bring about a New Zealand whereby selfishness is not the byword for behaviours that only serve the select few? Let's turn our backs on the 'Dirty Politics of the recent past and move on--to a better and fairer New Zealand! I believe that David Cunliffe along with the Greens represent the best choice, along with the support of Mana (minus KDC) and perhaps the New Zealand First Party, if only they could stop their fence -sitting King-making tendencies. There may even be National Party MPs who deep down, know that things need to change! Start that process by tipping out some of those who lead you! www.authorneilcoleman.com

Concrete floors---thank goodness! AND a leaking shower connection.

It's a pain in the arse not being one of those 'blokes' who can do----everything. You know the ones on the adverts who proudly strut their stuff, displaying an almost arrogant confidence about how well they can 'fix tings' make repairs to faulty bits and pieces and even contend with a spot of plumbing. Well---I am not one of those dudes. Yeah I can hear you laughing! So when something goes buggered in a house, I am at a loss. I panic, I worry and fall to pieces, wondering how I am going to afford to pay for the said 'breakdown' of a piece of essential home thingy. Shite--I don't even know the names for most of the elements that make up a house. Don't even attempt to get me to correctly label such devices that are needed to fix the misbehaving components of a house that suddenly goes 'bad.' Well something did go bums up in my home. I kept hearing this strange noise, somewhere in the vicinity of the bathroom. My hearing is such that directional identification is nigh on impossible. Hell---when kids call me at school, it sometimes sounds like the voice of God, calling to explain an imagined sin! Eventually---- that is after three days I decided to investigate a little more formally. I listened in great detail and figured out that water was escaping to regions unknown and that potentially---I was in deep poo---well, not quite, but unwanted water ---where it shouldn't be. I called upon my very knowledgeable neighbour---the most excellent man who built my office for an indeed economical and most certainly skilful manner. He quickly concluded that I had a slow leak behind the wall where the shower thingy connected to the water inflow. He set about testing it by doing this and that and we decided that it needed fixing. I took the opportunity to request a more modern type of showering device--you know the ones that slide up and down and can be taken off the wall. Yeah I know---not a very good description. Unfortunately he could not do the job until the following week. In the meantime I have had to live like an inhabitant of a third world city where the water is only available for a few hours a day. For three days now it has been a matter of turning the water off so that the leak does not cause damage to the home. We eventually found out where the escaping water was going---firstly just into the area near the shower, coming up through the tiles, but on the third day it rose again and I saw little patches on the carpet in the hallway. I had blamed Perdy--thinking that she was just excited to see me come home. How very unfair and wrong of me! By now I was starting to think that many thousands of dollars would be needed to fix the damage and issues, something I don't need right now, as I launch the final stage of my book launch. I had a phone call tonight from my incredible neighbour. He is coming in the morning---two days earlier than I had expected---he is going to fix it all. Two more days of wondering what the damage would be, even though I have a concrete floor, was more than enough to keep me awake at night. Please be a simple, job. I shall keep you posted. Damn, I have to turn the water on for a few minutes----nature calls!

David Cunliffe looked and sounded like a PM in waiting last night. Key?------- well----

The ‘great debate’ last night had all the markings of a ‘turning of the tide,’ for David Cunliffe. Despite the fact that the text-in’ voting broke down, he did well. The dial they had registering ‘agree or disagree,’ consistently had David in the lead. It hardly varied in its favourable response for him. DC sounded great and looked the part, even though at times he did display that slight tendency to patronise Key or to over-speak him. That wasn’t hard to do though, because Key spent most of his time, looking like a’ possum trapped in the oncoming beams of a fast approaching bus!’ I was surprised that the ‘Dirty Politics,’ issue that has dominated the scene for the last few weeks, didn’t really get a look in. For a change, we actually had sensible debate about the issues and the ‘one liners’ chucked out there, by DC seemed to paralyze Key re any sensible response, or get him to move away from the same old, same old responses. For DC this debate was most definitely a ‘make or break’ time. If he had not done well, he may as well have thrown in the towel and we would have seen the Labour Party dawdling to the finishing posts, in the knowledge that they were on a hiding to nothing. That now is not the way it is going to be. The so-called polls have had it wrong many times I the past and this time the gap between reported results and the actual ‘feelings’ on the ground are indeed wide. This election is shaping up to be far closer than many pundits would have us believe. We are going to see more debates and I suspect Key will be going to his ‘people’ to see what he can do to curb the newly found confidence of David Cunliffe. Expect some ‘more dirt to emerge from the side-lines. Maybe that will not actually help DC in a direct manner, but it could well confuse enough National voters to keep a few of them at home, just like Labour ones did in the last election. We all know that elections are not won---they are lost! www.authorneilcoleman.com

An old lady chose to take her life---brave, sad or bad?

The news from Canada that an old lady (85) suffering from dementia, took her life in the last day or so, brings to the fore the question of---‘do we have the right to take our own lives?’The ending of a life, one taken by a lady in Canada raises some questions. My heart is saddened as I read this news; about her full life, about her contribution to society, about the fullness of her life and that she should chose to write this thought provoking letter, one that points to the lucidity of her mind, that is when it was not taxed by the steady downfall that IS dementia. I suspect that most of us think from time to time about the nature of our death, how we will die and possibly when we will die. For many, death comes out of the blue, in an accident, or via a sudden catastrophic health event, a failure as it were of one of our vital functions. In a sense this is ‘kind’ of nature to take us so, but when there is a gradual decline from a long lasting health issues (there are many!) or through the slow degradation of brain function, then it is a decidedly sad affair. That we KNOW this is happening can be a blessing or a curse. Think of those suffering from Alzheimer’s or Dementia and everything becomes a bit cloudier. Now take the question of, ‘do we have the right to end it all, rather than go through the inevitable failing of our senses and bodily functions?’ There is no one answer and the law varies around the world as to the stance officialdom takes. Unless one is on such a position, then it is hard to understand why the lady mentioned at the start of this article and no doubt people will make a judgement, based on their own beliefs, from both a spiritual and personal stance. This lady most definitely had a plan and I suspect that we may hear more about how the couple discussed this, right from the start of her ‘troubles,’ if not well before. That her partner was there for her right at the end and did not try any acts of ‘heroism’, speaks for itself about the strength of their relationship. As I age, I sometimes wonder what I would do, if such a pathway opened for me. As of this moment, I am unsure----possibly confused, but most definitely not judgmental about the decisions taken by this lady and her loving husband. I do not mean to be morbid or to express a fear of the ‘inevitable,’ but if I do have a choice between the actuality of death, then I think I would choose ---‘not to know’ the where, when and how.’ That of course may change. The experience of this couple makes one THINK! NOW---live for the day in the best way you can! www.authorneilcoleman.com