It's time to stand up to the Australians, Mr Key!

 I have a simple meassge for Mr Key today---DO NOT LET THE AUSSIES get away with their bully boy tactics. Grow those 'things' you need for the meetings you attend. We need close relationships with the Austrlaians, but ones based on trust and equality. Stand Up to them! If not---go the way of others who have failed us!

An 'Ode' to an egg---not just any egg---Doug's egg!

Only someone who has gone through bariatric surgery or some other medical procedure that results in a prolonged period of abstinence from real food will understand my opening headline. Of course members of the family or anyone supporting the above mentioned people will also be in the ‘know.’ When one has to endure thin watery soups or yoghurt, pureed fruit and veggies along with a few other delightful non-foodie supplements; sometimes for several months, there comes a time when that first poached egg becomes a beacon of hope; for things-better-to-come.

You dream of your first lightly poached egg. You imagine the yolk, leaking from your mouth, mainly because you are so entranced with the rich flavour that your manners go out the window. Nothing is wasted. Your tongue searches for every last vestige of the wonder-egg. You laugh at yourself, thankful that nobody is observing your obsession.

Who cares? After the operation and ‘doing the right thing’ for so long, you damn well deserve to take pleasure in something so simple. It is the beginning of a new life. It is almost perfect that it should be an egg. There will be further delights, but the egg is almost symbolic of your new journey. That wonderful food, encapsulated within the pearl-like shell. Oh wonderful egg; we don’t care if they laugh at our love affair, with an egg---do we? Doug knows exactly what I mean. ENJOY!

www.authorneilcoleman.com

What's up with you, Australia? Is it some sort of 'economic war?'

Today we hear that two major retail outlets that between them control 80% of the supermarket trade had demanded that only Australian goods be on the shelves of their outlets. This excludes more than $400 million of NZ fruit and veggies. In the past, if was NZ apples that were illegally banned from Australia under the 'mistaken' idea that our apples represented a threat to the Aussie orchardists. This had been proven wrong many years ago and it was only after NZ took the Aussies, kicking and screaming, to court that we finally won access to that market. Is this what we are going to need to do again, even though we have an extremely close economic trade agreement with Australia? Surely things should not come to this. What is it with you guys, our  ANZAC 'cousins.' You seem to be ramping up the game. You deny NZers equality on a range of issues, including access to benefits and other rights that we bestow on you after two years of residency in NZ. What is it about you that you come over to NZ to recruit our workers, including teachers, tradespeople, doctors and many other 'professionals, yet when we arrive there, we are treated so badly?
You are treating us a 'second class' citizens and quite frankly you are acting like nasty economic bullies. Maybe NZ needs to look at the bigger picture and NZ's political leaders should shape up and shove it at you and retrospectively cancel the rights that your citizens enjoy here in NZ! Your actions smack of big bully, nasty and 'up yourself ' -----'let's just use NZ as and when it suits us,
' something akin to how the USA treat Mexico or Canada! Hell, you seem to be a good job of pissing the Indonesians off, so I guess little NZ is an easy target, from both major political parties in Australia. Come on home Kiwis and help make us the best little nation in the Pacific and leave Aussie as a 'holiday project.' So much for brotherly warm fuzzy feelings. They just don't exist unless the boot is on the big 'lucky country's' foot.
www.authorneilcoleman.com

Sochi Olympics---Russia is about to celebrate it's 'revival' of ----what?!

No doubt Russia will try to make the most of the attention about to be focused on it during the Sochi Olympics. In achieving this, it is doing no more than what any country would do, but there is a far more sinister reason for their actions. Russia wants to tell the world that its position in the world has been returned to a time gone by, when people around the world 'knew' that Russia ( the old USSR) was powerful and influential. With the demise of the Soviet Union, there was a period of chaos and a reorganizing of power and those who held it.
Unfortunately, nothing has really changed, now that the 'smoke of redistribution has cleared.' A 'new' regime, consisting of many who made up the 'old order,' led by its most powerful 'survivor,' Putin has re-emerged. It took just over a decade for the flogging off of state assets to the friends and political  functionaries of Putin and his 'friends' grab the riches and now they are heavily involved in protecting their new position.
They use every and any method in which to maintain this grip on power and given the propensity for the vast number of Russians to 'suffer' as they have done throughout history, any voice that dares to criticise the regime meets the same fate that we witnessed in the past, ranging from lower level 'pressure' to outright brutality and even death There has been a gradual tightening of any democratic institutions; a free press to real opposition in the Duma. No matter how much camouflage or re-describing is used, the same old repressive nature of Russian History is becoming apparent, to the dimmest of observers, within Russia and beyond its borders.
That Russia is involved in a journey that will see the return of its former Soviet Republics is beyond doubt. Just watch what is happening in the Ukraine and extrapolate that to other border territories and you will see a vastly expanded 21st Century Russia, not dissimilar to the one that we thought had been consigned to history. The modern Cold War had begun and the nuclear clock has headed back towards 'midnight.'
Sochi will be far more than a 'celebration' of Russia's dreams or to be exact---Putin's lust for a continuing stranglehold of power making him and his 'team' the richest oligarchy  in the world. He of course has his counterpart sin the West and China; nothing has changed, merely the 'labels.
www.authorneilcoleman.com

Window washers to get pinged for their efforts---fair or not?

I am sure you have all had the experience of having to look for loose change when you are stopped at the lights, because you have been ‘ambushed’ by one of the many ‘window washers’ who inhabit the intersections in the cites around New Zealand. This can be a frustrating experience, especially if you didn’t particularly want to have your windows washed. It’s almost like you didn’t get a choice and I have to say it, that feeling is more apparent for female drivers, who ‘some’ of the washer target in the unfortunate belief that the said drivers will not protest. If you observe the washers as they approach cars, I think you will see a pattern.

I am in two minds about the whole scenario. In one way, you could say, that the guys who do the washing (I have rarely seen a female washer—funny that!)are at least getting off their butts and doing something, that could be described as being marginally useful, on days when car windows get a bit dirty, instead of staying at home doing whatever people do when they have stuff-all else to do. They are most certainly getting money and from what I hear, it can be quite large amounts. If the stories (and I have no proof of this) I hear are true and not just some ‘urban myth,’ then some cleaner are getting hundreds of dollars each day for a few hours work. That’s OK you say; they are paying tax!  NO, unless you take into account the GST they pay on goods and services, but either way, they are operating in the ‘black economy. Of course one could say that the rich have been finding ways of not paying tax for eons, so what’s the difference?

What gets me is the ‘alleged’ intimidation of drivers, ranging from the subtle—‘already started it mate,’ to the downright targeting of more vulnerable drivers and then asking for money. I have seen drivers put their window screen wipers on, screaming at the washers and even getting out of their cars and confronting them, thereby holding up traffic. I have seen drivers behind cars getting pissed off as they wait for the car to be finished in front and then get caught in the ‘light change.’

What we have is the potential for a range of responses, both from the washers and the drivers and some of the scenarios are not good. One has to say that if the ‘scene’ is expanded it won’t be long before we are assailed by kids selling all sorts of items at traffic lights, much like they do in other countries, mainly because there are no other options re employment. Is this what we wish to have in NZ?

Now that the idea of  instant fines’ has been proposed, I guess we are in for a discussion as to whether we turn a blind eye and deal with the odd washer who goes just that bit too far, of go the other way and regulate the hell out of one more aspect of NZ life. If the former is true, then the guys have brought it on themselves. What a pity that a minority of people have once again stuffed it up for the rest.

Still, I do tend to try to ignore the washers, if I don’t have ready cash on hand. Of course, I can never say ‘NO’ to former students. That just wouldn’t do!

www.authorneilcoleman.com

Woman jailed for bringing up chidren in a 'P' (Methamphetamine) lab!

I can understand a parent stealing to feed her family although I do not approve of that action. I can understand why a parent will break other aspects of the law in order to keep their children safe, although once again, I can not condone such actions. BUT---for the life of me, what parent would bring up two children in a 'P' lab? Methamphetamine is a scourge on society; yes there are others, but the damage done to those around the process of  'cooking' P is one for which we are finding more and more serious consequences, including cancer and ultimate death. The chemicals are so dangerous that they linger in the immediate environment for years, often making the home (which is usually rented for the specific purpose of conducting the illegal regime) uninhabitable. The sad case before the NZ courts resulted in the judge labelling the parent as being an 'abysmal failure.' Harsh words or right on the mark? The reality is that there are many children being raised in homes where the processing and selling of 'P' is being carried out, with no regard for those, especially children, living in the same space. For the case in question it was found that food was stored close to the chemicals used for 'cooking.' The children had traces of the chemical in their hair and were suffering from skin rashes. What damage long term is something that will only become apparent at a later date, well after the parent leaves prison. She has 'lost' her children, who have been robbed of a 'safe' childhood. New Zealand has a serious problem with 'P' and until we as a nation face the fact that lives, businesses and families are being destroyed, then the 'scourge' will  continue. We need to understand the issue at a 'base level,' and intervene when things go wrong in a family where one or both parents are involved with this insidious drug. Children need to know who to turn to and partners of the 'P-slave' need to reach out.
I have written  a book---ROSKILL that tells of a family who struggle to find answers when one of the parents enters the world of 'P.' Download it onto your Kindle by going to my website.
www.authorneilcoleman.com  Hard copies will be available by going to my website and contacting me through the 'send me a message' section.

Ipad for every student in school will solve the 'deficit' problem? I wish it was that simple!

If the solution to ‘bridging the gap between rich and poor schools was as simple as giving every student (particularly those in lower decile schools) an I pad, then I would say---go for it. It would be a magnificent and relatively cheap way of solving an issue that has perplexed us for generations. I reluctantly have to point out that it is not that simple. Schools struggle to get students to bring bags with their books and other ‘necessaries’ each day in lower decile schools as it is. How many teachers can tell stories about providing kids with books (sometimes out of their own pockets) only to see that the next day the said ‘giveaways’ no longer exist. It is a continuing frustration for teachers to observe the gains being dissipated in such a manner. It all goes back to the old ‘cultural capital’ paradigm, in which so many students start on the back foot and never quite bridge the gap.

Yes, you will hear many stories of students who have broken the mould, sometimes through good teaching and excellent backup from parents but the more usual story is one in which schools battle to narrow the gap. The issue is intergenerational, described by poverty in all of its forms. Teachers and other commentators have argued about ‘what to do’ for as long as I can remember and I am not one who wishes to locked into ‘deficit theory’ but the sad fact is that schools can only be effective if the partnership between school and home (along with other factors) is a strong one. There have been real gains for the students in schools who have developed positive relationships with their community and I applaud those schools that have successfully gone down that pathway.

I am not against ‘giving all students’ I pads, but I am concerned that it becomes a ‘one stop solve the entire problem’ issue, sometimes cynically exploited by politicians. Let’s always keep the bigger picture in focus when discussing how to narrow the gap between those who have and those who are missing out. There is no one answer.

WE must never give up, and keep looking for newer ways of helping all students and there will always be so-called’ new strategies, often under a new name for an old programme, which is touted as the latest ‘solution. I am sure many ‘older teachers’ will know exactly what I mean. In the meantime, keep those I pads safe, because like the books and freebies of old, they have a way of ‘disappearing’ as fast as they are given out. Maybe there is a half way position whereby the I pads are kept at school, until schools are sure that the items will be used for the purposes they were given!

www.authorneilcoleman.com