Insanity---two similar houses in two cities but a million dollar price difference!

The differential in housing prices between Auckland and most other cities in New Zealand has reached a point where ‘insanity’ prevails. That a very ordinary two bedroom home on a small section in Greenlane, which is about 7 kilometres from the centre of Auckland can be sold for more than NZ$1,000,000, is crazy. The same home, near the centre of Gisborne sells for a measly NZ$71,000. OK, you say, it’s all about being close to major facilities, work and being in a ‘nice’ neighbourhood with good schools, but surely the Gisborne offering makes much more sense---if you have a job and can access education for your kids.

Therein are the issues that dominate our decisions about where we live---jobs and education and throw in health and that’s it. There are many attraction re life-style in Gisborne and other NZ cities so it is not that alone that attacks people like magnets to Auckland.

When are we going to think differently about what we ‘want,’ and more about what we need? Would it not be better to take a lower paying job, if one was available and still have a much bigger ‘discretionary’ spending power?

Regional development must happen and the ‘players’ in the upcoming election would serve us well, if they came up with ‘workable,’ not rehashed failures from the past,’ policies. Can they not have some sort of consensus about what this would look like? ---No---of course not---they are way too busy working out how they can keep their snouts in the Wellewood trough!

Please look beyond the ‘three-year’ election scramble, aspiring politicians and maybe not be so damned tightly linked to your party positions. Step up and we will keep you in Parliament, because ditching you from party lists or candidacies, would have a detrimental effect on your party as a whole. Damn we need some consensus on this difficult issue or we face more  of the same---a widening of the gap between Auckland the rest of New Zealand!

China---today you embark upon your second 'Great Leap Foward!"

Yes it's true---a momentous occasion will be enacted in world history, sometime today; indeed it may happen as I write this historically significant blog, one that will go down in the annals of other huge achievements in this huge nations journey.
We all know about the gains made re China's position in the world of trade, economics and the emerging middle classes. We also know about the other side of the ledger, whereby the gap between rich and poor, city and countryside is also growing, just like it is in every major world economy.

Take the USA for example, the so-called biggest and richest economy in the world; then look at the many hundreds of thousands of homeless and dispossessed, the millions who do not have access to good heath or employment. Even in my own corner of the world, at the bottom of the South Pacific, in Godzone, in 'Middle Earth as New Zealanders pretend to like being called, there are terrible disparities between those 'who have and those who do not.'

Put aside these 'negativities' today though China, as you celebrate your 'coming of age.' Remember your 'glorious journey' from a long past of struggle and remember with pride those aspects of your history that have been 'world-shaping events.' I leave you to ruminate on just what those may be 'for you,' and invite you to take pride in what you will achieve today.
I am of course talking about that journey you have travelled in 'reading my blogs every day.' I well remember the first day, over a year ago when I noticed that you had started to read my blog. It began with a 'lone' reader and then it grew. About four months ago you appeared on my top ten list for readers, although many thousands behind the other top ten countries. Then, gradually you began to leap-frog up the board.
You surpassed Japan, Samoa, South Korea (Naturally the 'Dear Leader ' in the North of that peninsula has access but would never allow those of his people who can read, to access my blog!) and then France. Today you will overtake Germany! That will place you sixth on my reading list, well behind your next target---wait for it----yes the UK! You have about 600 hits to beat that 'originator of the English language,' but you will do it. Nothing is more obvious.

SO---thank you China. Keep reading my blogs and better still, buy ROSKILL, either from my website  www.authorneilcoleman.com or via the link http://www.amazon.com/dp/047325655X

Help me to make my own history by buying either the hard copy version of my book (You will get a free download onto your Kindle or other reading APP, if you buy via Amazon) or the EBook version alone. I would love to hear from you direct; what you thought about my book(s) so feel free to contact me on neilcolemanauthor@gmail.com


Please pass on the link to my blogs and books to your friends and circles and help me to break into the world of publishing,  a 'world that is dominated by the 'big players!'

NOW-------China---go for the top of the list!

Kim Dotcom's new alliance with Mana is an unquantifiable presence as yet!

This election is shaping up to be an unusual one, given some of the 'players.' In  the background to the new 'boys and girls ' on the block we have the spectre of the big German guy with an allegedly 'questionable past.' Other wannabe politicians have had to weather the storm when skeletons have come out of the closet, so he too needs to face that challenge. What is different about his situation is the manner in which the Government and its 'departments' have attacked him. His fight against the 'injustices' have resonated with some NZers, but who knows just how this will play out in the upcoming election, one in which he can not stand because he is not a NZ citizen.

Next we had Hone Harawira  dancing a strange pre-nuptial Tango with KDC and the emergence of an old (well not so old but very experienced) player from the Alliance days in politics, the party of that definitely old veteran, Jim Anderton. For a week or so we were left to goes and project who the partner for Hone would be and what that would mean. Laila Harre emerged, a choice that bemused some and confused others, me included. I have always admired this woman as a fine politician; one who without a doubt, talented, experienced and possessing a strong social conscience. I would have placed her firmly in  the Mana Party field of politics or even the Greens, but not with KDC, in  any form.

Now, I have to reassess my position, but I will do so with great care, because I find it so hard to move beyond some of the unanswered questions re KDC. The issue of him spending millions worries me about the influence he will exert in the background; a concern that is only partly lessened by the fact that Laila  is not in the pocket of any group or individual. Perhaps it comes down to perception, but the next few months will be critical in my view. I shall listen to what I hope is informed debate and expect a whole lot of the usual platitudes from others opposed to her and I shall try to sort through those 'predictable' utterances.

The political geography of New Zealand has either had a new 'bit player' added or a force to be reckoned with,  but one that needs to project some 'truths.' If the latter happens, then watchout Key and cohorts.

Let us drive you, tourists or pass a driving test! NO more deaths.

Is it time to seriously concider putting some restrictions of foreign tourists driving on NZ roads? The tragic death of yet another tourist, probably unfamiliar with NZ driving conditions, which may be a combination of driving on the 'wrong side'  of the road or not managing our narrow country roads.
We do not want to see any more deaths, either of the tourists or NZers who needlessly die because  the visitor has crossed to the other side of the road.
No doubt the hirers of rental cars and campervans will object to a tightening up re foreign drivers, but there is another way of looking at this: see an opportunity! Perhaps a whole new employment venture could arise for good 'Kiwi' drivers, escorting tourists or giving  driving lessons to those who insist on 'self-guided' tours. Either way the carnage must not continue. We do not wish to welcome people here, only to have them kill themselves --or us--on roads that do not suit the driving habits of our visitors.
 

Border Control finds several Kilos of 'precursors for 'P' (methamphetamine) manufacturing--the scourge continues.

The NZ customs department is very active in finding the precursors for 'P' manufacturing as the criminals try to bring it in to NZ, much of it unfortunately from China. These people attempt many ways to achieve their aims and no doubt a great deal still gets through. The low life people behind the trade, both in New Zealand and China will go to great effort to hide the red pellets that are necessary for the process. New Zealand Chinese officials cooperate to try to minimise the trade, but we would be foolish to assume that that we are even close to stopping it completely. Those caught in China face extremely harsh punishment and it would not be difficult to find New Zealanders who would agree with that 'ultimate price.' Whilst I can't quite go that far in my thinking, I do abhor the activities of these criminals who destroy so many lives in NZ.
In New Zealand, those 'precursors' are used to 'cook' the final product that then sells for a huge profit for those who are engaged at different levels of the illicit trade. There would not be a suburb, town or area in New Zealand where one of these 'P' labs could not be found. They could be next door, in in the flat you rent out as an investment or even in upmarket penthouse apartments; no where is free from this evil scourge.
For those who enter this dark world, life changes, sometimes for ever. The users put the family business, their actual families and relationships at risks. The desire to get that 'fix' takes over their lives; nothing else matters. That their children can be left without a parent matters little as they sink to new depths.
Read about such an experience in my book, ROSKILL.
It is now live on Amazon, both in EBook format and hard copy. For those buying the hard copy, the Kindle download (or other reading App) is FREE!
Go to my website www.authorneilcoleman.com
or to the link  http://www.amazon.com/dp/047325655X
Enjoy and please pass on the links and share with your circles.

Stoning to death and sentencing a mother to die---in the name of religion!

No one can convince me that it is the ‘correct’ thing to do---to stone a women to death in Pakistan (While the police stand by and do nothing!) and to sentence a young mother to death, once she has ‘nursed her child for two years, because she married a man from another faith; this is Sudan-----nothing and no one will bring me to the conclusion that such practices belong anywhere. What can we do as individuals or a nation to change such a sad state of affairs? Does our Government remain silent? Does the world community carry on delivering aid to these countries that allow inhumane ‘religious’ practices?

Sure many voices around the world and even within those countries cry out in indignation, but still, there are deaths. Sometimes they are called ‘honour killings,’ and in others an interpretation of a ‘book,’ is put up as justification, with bearded men standing by encouraging the ‘murders, usually of women!

The UN is a toothless organization n if it allows these abhorrent actions to continue. It has it within its power to cut off all humanitarian aid, to withhold all forms of developmental assistance, until there is a change.

‘But, you are hurting those who need the help most, you say! Yes, I agree that in the short term this may be so, but this has been happening, along with the corrupt practices of the leaders of many countries that practice abuse of human rights---it has always been so. BUT---at what point do we draw a line in the sand and say—‘until you bring about change, then you are on your own.’

I have a great deal of difficulty in coming to the above conclusion, given that there will be a continuation of suffering while the UN enters into endless rounds of negation, while the major ‘players’ use the debate to push their own agendas, while rich industrialists and business men compete for contracts, creating yet more tensions.

 It feels like we have not gone beyond the early days of the League of Nations and then the UN and its lofty ideals---it seems that nothing has changed. Why is it that human greed and political rivalries always gets in the way of real change; ones that benefit the majority of people and nation states?

Is it that base human behaviours underline all political actions but on a much larger scale than between small groups of individuals? Can we ever transcend this given human trait---to compete, to divide and to take over?

In the meantime the Pakistans and Sudans of this world will continue to ‘murder’ their citizens, sometimes via the political ‘machine’ and at others using a ‘book,’ to justify their actions.

Reach for the ---sky!

OK, dramatic exaggeration of the facts but that's how it feels when I come home everyday, to witness yet more progress on my little office in the garden; my future and also a damned nice space. What can I say other than---bring it on, my wonderful neighbour. Great job.

You are doing a superb job, John!