Serenity Drug, Alcohol, and Addiction Rehab

I had heard of Serenity Rehab over the last couple of years. I had never paid much attention to them until this past week when the clinic and it's owner - William "Doc" Murdoch - hit the news with their massive failure of a children's skateboarding competition.

I initially took an interest in this because i loathe bullies. Like most of New Zealand, when i watched that video i was horrified to see a rather large adult - Craig Platt - shoulder barging a young skateboarder then proceeding to grab a person who stuck up for that kid by the neck. The whole thing was an awful display of a grown adult using unnecessary force to bully and intimidate someone a third of his size.

As the story unfolded though - i found myself wondering what this Serenity Clinic was all about. I wondered why anyone would deem an alcohol, drug, and addiction rehabilitation clinic as an appropriate sponsor for a children's sporting event. I also wondered to myself why the owner of that clinic - Doc Murdoch - who claims to know everything about substance abuse would think it is a good idea to pass out spray paint to those children when solvent abuse among children is an enormous problem in this country.

My curiosity led me to a couple of Facebook groups that had been set up in relation to Doc Murdoch and the Serenity clinic. The 'Serenity the Cure' page has obviously been set up by the Doc himself - where as the 'Doc2012' page appears to have been set up in response to the comments being made on the Serenity page being moderated and deleted by Doc Murdoch.

At first i didn't blame Serenity / Doc Murdoch for moderating his page. The barrage of abuse that he was receiving in response to Craig Platt's bullying and the lynch mob like mentality of the comments were kind of freaky. The public sure wanted to make sure that Doc knew just how unpopular he is right now.

They were not holding back.

Somewhere along the way i was directed to a statement that Doc had released in response to the criticism he has received over the past 6 days. I clicked on the link expecting a public apology for the bullying that went on at his event and for the damage done to one of Auckland's public parks. I figured Doc Murdoch would be doing some major damage control.

Wrong.

What i read - or attempted to read but couldn't quite manage it - was what can only be described as a P fueled rant. If the Doc was not fried when he took the time to type all of that out - if he has really been drug free long enough to be charging people with addictions 4k a week for treatment - then right there is proof that the residual effects of methamphetamine abuse can be permanent.

I then got more curious - as i tend to do.

I ended up replying to a post that the "Doc" had made on his Serenity page. I actually agreed with him that the hate that was being spewed on that page was not all that different to the bullying that had been displayed on our televisions by his friend - Craig Platt.

I had some questions for him though.

I wanted to know why he thought it was appropriate for a drug and alcohol treatment clinic to be sponsoring a children's sporting event. I wanted to know what it was about that treatment centre passing out solvents to young children in order to vandalise a public park - that he thought was the right thing to do. I asked him if he thought sauntering off on TV while announcing that he was off to have a drink was good advertising for his clinic.

At first - the "Doc" responded to me. He ignored most of what i had said but announced that Serenity and himself do not believe that addiction is a disease - and he is proof of that. He told me that alcohol is the worst drug in terms of the effect that it has on our society and that abusing it is a choice - not a disease. He quit drinking 17 years ago he proudly announces - except for the two glasses of bubbly he consumes per day. They don't count.

I am not sure how he thinks that response answered any of my questions so i persevered. As. I. Do.

I told him that to some extent i agree with him regarding the disease model of addiction. I know for me personally - i find that model to be a cop out. It is basically telling addicts that they don't have a choice, and that relapsing is ok. To me - that is what makes rehabilitation clinics like Serenity so profitable and is what keeps them in business. I then told him that i believed that someone who claims to have "the cure" for addiction would understand and recognise that every addict has had different life experiences that has brought them to the point where they require help and because of that fact there is no one cure for addiction - therefor the disease model cannot be completely discounted. I told him that it was my opinion that someone who purports to have enough knowledge about addiction that he can charge people thousands for "the cure" would already know this. Then i questioned what qualifications he has - other than his own experience with using drugs and his own addiction - to be charging for his closed minded advice.

I patiently awaited an intelligent and literate response from the "doc" - which never came. He just deleted my questions and the entire conversation.

I must have been too much like hard work for him.

So i have continued to watch with amusement the Doc announcing that he is writing a book, that a Dr. Bruce Wilson - who is a psychologist ( that does not make him a doctor - does it?) considers Doc Murdoch's philosophy for addiction and recovery is "the soundest he has ever seen" etc etc etc.

I have looked at the Serenity website, and have come to the conclusion that you could drive a truck through the holes in their logic, reasoning, and the claims made on that website. They claim to have a 90% success rate at curing the addicts that have gone to them for treatment. The fact that the treatment centre has only been running for two years means that is absolutely a false statement. According to the DSM IV diagnostic manual that is used by all reputable psychiatrists and psychologists an addict has to have a period of 3 years total abstinence before being considered in permanent remission. They do not speak of a "cure."

Doc Murdoch claims to have the cure for addiction on his website. The same website where he claims that there is no such thing as addiction. Despite having a clear lack of knowledge regarding the etiology of addiction - he claims that Vitamin C will prevent it's withdrawal symptoms. He might as well be charging 5 k for snake oil. To top it off - this clinic is run from an apartment at the Viaduct. No actual clinic. No doctor's office. Just an apartment in the middle of an area in Auckland where every other building is a pub - and where methamphetamine abuse and dealing is rife.

William Doc Murdoch is using used car salesman tactics in an unregulated area of the medical industry. He is exploiting people who are extremely vulnerable and at very low points in their lives - with not one qualification to be doing so.

William Doc Murdoch is a quack. He is no different to the likes of The Destiny Church and Brian Tamaki. Like Brian - William Doc Murdoch is a self appointed guru lining his pockets with money from vulnerable people who are at their lowest. He claims to have a cure for something that he clearly does not understand - and that he claims does not exist.

For thousands of dollars he will share that cure with you.

William Doc Murdoch has the anti Midas touch. Everything he touches turns to sh*t. His CV is a roll call of failed money making schemes.

Music svengali  - Failed.
Importer of illegal drugs - Failed
Nightclub Marketing Manager - Failed
Promoter of edgy youth events - Failed
Car Salesman - Failed
Pimp - Failed

The list goes on.

Do not give William Doc Murdoch one cent of your money.

There - I broke my self imposed blogging ban because i feel so strongly about this con man. 

Total Deliverance

'...the smell of fire was not on them.' Daniel 3:27 NKJV

Deliverance is when God brings you out of a fiery trial that was meant to destroy you. Total deliverance is when, like the three Hebrew children, He brings you out without even the smell of smoke on you. You see, it's possible to be delivered but still be 'damaged.' You can hear it in what a person says. They speak only of the past because they stopped living at a certain point. They survived the trauma, but because they haven't dealt with it the right way they constantly refer back to it. When they talk, part of them is still 'in the fire'.

Now we are not talking about some 'quick fix,' or a 'one size fits all' form of healing. Your temperament, your faith level, and the depth of your pain at the time are all determining factors in how long it takes to recover and become whole. But this much is clear: whatever was binding the three Hebrew children when they went into the fiery furnace, wasn't binding them when they came out of it. And that's what God wants to do for you too. Does that mean you're not supposed to talk about what you've been through? No, but don't talk like a victim, talk like a victor!

David said: 'He also brought me up out of a horrible pit (the past)...and set my feet upon a rock (the present)...He has put a new song in my mouth - praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord' (the future) (Psalm 40:2-3 NKJV). Your experience may be old, but your song will be new.

I have had a really busy couple of days. I am so tired.

I am banning myself from my blog and Facebook until i have completed my Sociology presentation that is due next Tuesday - and my essay that is due on April 17th.

Nothing less than an A in this class will make me happy so no time for anything else.

Back - when i am back.

Everyone hates a bully

At a Skate Event in Vic Park in New Zealand, an adult Bully Craig Platt pushes a kid off his skate board, he then assaults the designer of the park. There was a skating comp going on run by Doc Murdoch.

Teen should lay charges

If that was my child - who Craig Platt had pushed off his skateboard - i would be making darn sure that he faced charges.

That is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable behaviour from someone who is big enough and old enough to know better. There is NEVER an excuse for behaviour like that and if he was that child's parent - under our anti smacking laws - he would be charged.

Unfortunately though - Leighton Dyer is wrong. Not everyone hates bullies. Some people love them and egg them on. This is why bullying is a worse problem in our society today than it has ever been previously.

If everyone hated a bully - there would be no bullying.

That awful William "Doc" Murdoch and his Serenity Rehab Facility handing out solvents to children - is a whole other blog post all together. 

The Skin I Live In

Creeeeeepy.

Since i got to pick our Saturday night movie, it was T's turn last night. I was not looking forward to his arty farty taste - or subtitles - but this movie was so good.

Very creepy though.

Enough to make your skin crawl.

Bring Back Rachel

All is forgiven.

The 'Spy' section of the Herald on Sunday is BORING - and has been ever since Rachel Glucina left.

This week's mag consisted of cut out voodoo dolls with your choice of celebrity heads to attach to your paper doll - poking pin not included.

What. The. Heck? I suggest that if you hate one of those celebrities or anyone else for that matter - enough to actually make use of that doll - then you have some serious inner demons to tackle.

Guess Who Don't Sue's first item was something to do with which restaurant is relocating to Ponsonby Road.

Seriously? How is that scandalous and why would the owners of the restaurant sue you for free advertising if you named them?

They couldn't even come up with something juicy about Sally Ridge this week.

BORING.

I'm not making my Sunday morning run to get the T his Spy section again - until Rachel comes back - or they find a better replacement.

Greed is Ugly

ACC claimant had received over $1m insurance payout

The woman at the centre of ACC leak inquiries had already received a million-dollar-plus insurance payout when she demanded an accident compensation benefit.

Not only had Bronwyn Pullar already received a one million dollar pay out from her insurance company - she had also spent years claiming that they had breached her privacy as well.

I can imagine that every politician in the country would have cringed every time she came near them - knowing they were going to get bailed up and have to listen to her whining. I think John Key said as much earlier in the week when he mentioned that Bronwyn's complaints regarding her accident and ACC were well known to everyone who had met her.

I have known people like this. I met a blogger once - when i went to a blogger's drinks thing with a blogger friend of mine. This woman plonked herself down next to me and i swear to God for 3 hours this woman did not shut up about her back pain, meds that she is on, and all the problems that she has had due to a car accident that she had been in several years earlier. This woman did not know me - yet i got to hear every complaint that she has about her life - starting five minutes after i was introduced to her.

I received invitations to go to this blogger's drinks thing again - for months after - but the thought of eating my own tongue was more pleasant than the prospect of having another conversation with that whining woman. Needless to say - i never made a second appearance at "Blogger's Drinks".

I now understand what Nick Smith was trying to say in the letter that he wrote for her. He was saying - this woman is obsessive and nuts. I don't think she was obsessive and nuts before her accident but she definitely is now - so i am writing this letter in the hope that she will leave me alone - or at least go whine to someone else.

The lesson to be learned from all of this?

Never, ever, ever pay a blackmailer - or give obsessive complainers any more of your time than is absolutely necessary.

Nick Smith should have told her to bugger off.

Learn To Respect Authority

'Work...as though you were working for the Lord...' Colossians 3:23 NLT

Can you imagine a nation without a leader, a workplace without a boss or an army without a general? It would be chaotic. Structure creates order; without it no progress can be made. That's why you don't park your car in the bedroom or sleep in the garage.

Learn to respect those in authority over you. Honour those who have lived longer than you because they possess a wealth of knowledge. Listen to them and grow. Until you learn to take orders you will never be qualified to give them. Jesus understood this. He was the Son of God. He knew more than any other human being, yet He honoured the authority of the government in power. When the Pharisees asked Him His opinion on paying taxes He answered, '...Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's...' (Mark 12:17 NKJV).

Are you speaking words of doubt about your own organisation? Are you belittling those in authority over you? Stop it now! True, they are not perfect. (Perhaps that's why they can tolerate you.) If you rebel against every instruction you are given, don't complain when those around you rebel against your words and opinions. The law of reciprocity states that if you want to be treated with respect, you must respect others. That includes those you don't agree with, or even like. Jesus did. Pray, 'Father, I know that respect for authority is taught in Your Word. So remind me today that my success depends upon my attitude toward those You've placed in leadership over me. As I honour them, I believe You will honour me.'

Oh dear. I have had an interesting evening.

T's kid's school had a big family event tonight. A "Hoola" night. I did not see much hoola dancing but there were a few leis floating around, and a bit of shuffling going on. T and i arrived a few minutes late - but just in time to see his girls performing. They were so cute.

What was not so cute about our evening though was the pop up woman. If you have forgotten about the pop up woman - like i had - she is a woman from T's past who likes to turn up on his doorstep when her husband is not looking.

Before we had even planted ourselves down on our picnic blanket T pointed her out to me. We made ourselves comfortable and then proceeded to watch her plant herself down right in front of us - with her ginormous basket of booze.

It was fairly obvious when she stood up and walked past us - while giving me a foul look and yelling out to T - that she was by far the drunkest person in the area. Other people were drinking wine and beer but no one - except this woman -  was so wasted that it made you wonder how many hours / days ago she had started drinking.

At one point T got up to find us something to eat at one of the stalls. The fact that she did not stop trying to catch his eye all night meant that she knew exactly what direction to head - in order to bail him up again. It was a mixture of amusing and annoying to spend the last three hours watching a drunk slapper follow him around a field - and him trying to dodge her while playing with his girls.

It was around the time that she drunkenly yelled out to him and beckoned him over to her for the 5th time - that her behaviour became more annoying to me - than amusing. He just looked at her - and said NO.

Three hours of this though - was more than enough for me. I got up from my spot on my blanket and headed over to her. I introduced myself to her - and asked her exactly what it was about him telling her that he did not want contact with P addicts from his past that she did not understand?

She didn't hear me properly. I got a "Huh?" response from her as she reached out her hand for me to help her to her feet. I can't believe that i had to help that drunk up to her feet so that i could repeat my question to her - but i did. The second time i asked her that question - she just looked at me with a blank stare - took another gulp out of her beer bottle - and told me that she did not know what i was talking about.

I just stared at her while it sunk in that nothing was going to get through that glazed over and blank stare. I said "rigggght" - and walked away.

We packed up our stuff and went home. It was dark by this time, getting cold - and i didn't have a jacket so that was sweet.

It wasn't until we were on our way home that T decided to tell me that she is a violent drunk with suicidal tendencies - and that he has seen her beat women up in bar brawls and punch out plate glass shop windows.

THAT little bit of information might have been handy prior to me confronting her with my big mouth. T found  the sight of me confronting a woman three times my size - with a propensity for violence rather amusing. In fact - he is still laughing - and calling me "Mighty Mouse".

Drunks are gross at the best of times - but pop up woman tonight - was just awful. No husband in sight and i don't blame him. I wouldn't go out in public with that either.

All of this. At a KID'S school concert.

Crazy, mental, stuff.

I am so glad that i no longer drink.

T has promised to warn me prior to me confronting another of his pop up women - if i am likely to end up swallowing my teeth - next time!

Daktory

More proof that Marijuana use causes brain damage...

Cannabis vending machine seized

Police have raided an Auckland warehouse where pro-cannabis activists were allegedly selling the drug from a vending machine.

Four people were arrested and police seized $27,000 cash, cannabis and drug paraphernalia from the New Lynn Daktory last night.

The raid comes after Auckland Now revealed yesterday people allegedly could buy one gram bags of cannabis for $20 from the vending machine at the clubhouse. Police seized the machine last night.

Police said there were 20 people at the Delta Ave property at the time of the raid.

A backpack containing the cash was found, along with half a kilo of pre-packaged cannabis. Police also seized a "large assortment" of utensils, bongs, pipes, spotting knives and loose cannabis.

Three men and one woman were arrested and charged with various drug-related offences, including possession of cannabis and possession for supply. They will appear in the Waitakere District Court on Wednesday.

Waitemata Detective Inspector Bruce Scott said police would continue to monitor activities at the Daktory.

The Daktory was opened in November 2008 and boasted a membership of several thousand before its founder Dakta Green was jailed for eight months in June 2011 for possessing, selling and for allowing the Delta Ave warehouse to be used for drug taking.

The Solicitor-General later appealed the 61-year-old's sentence and it was more than doubled to 23 months.

After Green's sentencing the Daktory announced it was closing its doors to the public and would be used as the headquarters for the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml).

But Norml president Julian Crawford confirmed yesterday that the club was again open for business from Wednesday to Sunday.

He said the vending machine had been a hit with guests with ''a few hundred sales'' taking place on busy nights.

''It has been very popular, quite a few people come here.''

Crawford said they wanted to grow the number of activists in their movement, "not just be like a tinnie house" and the vending machine was ''an example of how things could be'' if cannabis was legalised.

Crawford said police visited the Daktory last week, announcing plans to set up a checkpoint outside the clubrooms and speak with people coming and going from the premises.

''[The officer] said that there had been some directives higher up to take some action against the Daktory.''

Crawford said he was relaxed about the impending sting and ''respected they had a job to do''.

I wonder what their first clue that selling and possessing marijuana is illegal should have been?

Maybe when Dakta Green was arrested? Maybe when he was sentenced to eight months in prison? Maybe when his sentence was increased on appeal?  Maybe when the police visited them last week and announced their plans to set up checkpoints outside the Daktory?!?!

How many criminals get a warning from police that they are the subject of surveillance?

Maybe someone should give these people one clue;

Just because you ignore a law does not mean that it does not exist.

No amount of gold coins can buy back your dead brain cells

Bronwyn Pullar - I can't believe this woman

Smith scandal: Pullar 'very sorry' over resignation

Two weeks ago Ms Pullar, who suffered head injuries in a 2002 cycling accident, went to the media with data about 6700 ACC claimants, including victims of incest and sexual abuse.

The information appears to have been accidentally emailed to her by an ACC employee in August last year.

ACC alleges Ms Pullar attempted to secure a two year guaranteed benefit in exchange for the data, a claim that Ms Pullar disputes.

In her statement today, she said an ACC staff member had improperly accessed her claim file and lied to management about it.

She said ACC had early this week leaked her name to the media.

"[ACC] set out to intentionally destroy my privacy and reputation - an excellent example of how little regard ACC has for claimants' rights including respect for their privacy.

"It shows how ACC treats claimants with disdain. It show how ACC will smash anybody who dares speak out. Yet I am not easily intimidated," she said.

Where was Bronwyn Pullar's respect for the privacy of the victims whose information she had accidentally been sent when she chose not to just delete their information? When she was allegedly attempting to blackmail ACC into a guaranteed benefit for two years? When she went to the media with the information she had received regarding these victims?

Nowhere.

That's where.

As usual - Whale Oil  has the dirt regarding Bronwyn's threats to ACC and Nick Smith.

That Bronwyn is now crying about her privacy being breached and her reputation being treated with disdain is ... Un. Believe. Able.

Something about the Ureweras

Since you put it that way...

What a bunch of vultures

On the mornings that i have time - i flip open my laptop and browse the blogs that are in my Google Reader. This morning the first one i clicked on was Keeping Stock and his opinion of the behaviour of the journalists who approached Nick Smith when he arrived at Wellington airport yesterday.

My first instinct after reading what Inventory2 had to say, and without watching the video was to defend the journalists as just doing their job.

I am glad that i took the time to watch the video before i commented.

Their behaviour was shameful. It showed a total lack of any form of respect, empathy, or humanity.

Not a proud moment for those journalists - i am thinking.

It is awful to watch and i find Nick Smith that much more endearing than i did this time yesterday - after watching how he handled that.

What a bunch of vultures.

Really Dumb Terrorists

I have read it said several times over the last couple of days that the Urewera 4 were not criminals, or part of an organised criminal group. They were not planning to become terrorists - they were just dumb "dickheads" - is the main term that is used.

I have been reading the leaked police affidavit in relation to the Urewera 4 tonight. You know - just a bit of light reading material to help me sleep and all that jazz.

I am only about half way through it all and i am now of the opinion that they are criminals who were involved in a DIS organised criminal group - of dumb dickheads.

Honestly - some of this stuff is so funny. It is clear what their intentions were - and it certainly was not to be security guards. Their motives were sinister and anyone who believes that they were just a bunch of fun loving overgrown children playing cowboys and Indians in the bush, who had their lives destroyed by the bad police who tortured them in front of their children - as Hone Harawira and Annette Sykes would have us believe - has rocks for brains.

An M16 is not tough enough for the Tuhoi boys and their dialysis machines! The only thing they were worried about was blowing each other up!

Plan A - Do not die on the first day or blow yourself up. That would be bad. 

Every good security guard needs a grenade launcher.

Must only kill Pakeha with uncool rifles.
Save your cool rifle for a special occasion.

Plan ahead when going to war with a life expectancy of only 30 years.
Make sure you take your own dialysis machine!

Honestly - you could not make this kind of stupidity up.

It just goes on and on and on...

It wasn't The Crown that cost the taxpayer 4 million dollars.

It was those crackers.

Nick Smith and the word Sex

Should never be allowed in the same sentence unless being used as a subliminal message at a Weight Watchers meeting.

Despite the offence that i have taken at being forced to think about Nick Smith as anything but asexual - i do not believe that the nature of his relationship with Bronwyn Pullar is any one's business - but theirs.

She should have returned the information that she received in error from ACC without hesitation and without attempts at blackmail. In not doing so, not only did she show a huge amount of disrespect for the victims whose information she had received - but the last time i checked - blackmail was illegal in this country.

Nick Smith - as ACC Minister - should not have been writing letters to ACC in support of any one's application to receive a benefit. He should be leaving the opinion of how some one's accident has affected them - to medical professionals - regardless of whether or not he has rooted them.

Charge her.

Sack him.

Down with dodgy politicians in this country. I hate to put it in such simple terms - but it is just that.

Simple.

Smart politicians choose their friends more wisely. 

Annette Sykes - The Internet Bully

Hell hath no fury like a woman whose mates have just been convicted...

Annette Sykes and the Maori Mafia are after me. Oh Dear. 

Apparently - no one is allowed to have an opinion - other than hers.

Re the Urewera four and the verdicts - or lack there of - as someone commented on my Facebook Page - There are apparently too many interpretations of what it means to be judged by a jury of your peers. The fact that a jury would consider the explanation that they were training to be security guards even slightly plausible only goes to show that there should be a minimum IQ level put in place for jurors.

I cannot recall the last time i saw an Armourguard employee with a molotov cocktail - or a grenade launcher.

I am proud that a woman with a law degree had to resort to that - in order to debate with little old me. With people like her for candidates - it is no wonder Mana only received 1% of the vote.

I think Annette clearly forgot that her Mana Party colleague - Sue Bradford - was also once a prostitute - when she chose to try to embarrass me instead of mustering a valid argument.

I wonder how Sue feels about all the disgusting and derogatory comments regarding what i do with my legs that filled Annette Sykes' entire page - while completely ignoring the fact that my comments were in relation to my belief that the Urewera 4 were guilty. That had nothing to do with race - they would have been guilty in my opinion if they had been purple - or with what i do (or don't do) with my legs.

I had never witnessed the awful nastiness from the far left that i always hear the right complain about - until last night.

It is people like them that give creeps like Michael Laws ammunition. They really put themselves down - just like he does - and that is really sad.

It was lovely of Annette to give me the opportunity to show the world what kind of person she is. I have a feeling that i will be waiting a long time for her explanation regarding why she thinks my past is relevant to this argument.

I Met the Master Face to Face

'...We have seen His glory...' John 1:14 NIV

The Bible says: 'The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came...full of grace and truth.' To know the Lord Jesus Christ personally is to love Him, to love Him is to serve Him, and to serve Him is to experience life's highest joy and fulfilment. An unknown author wrote the following poem about Jesus. If you know Him as your Lord and Saviour it will resonate in your heart. If you don't, it's our prayer you will want to accept Him today as your Lord and Saviour:

'I walked life's way with an easy tread, had followed where comforts and pleasures led; until one day in a quiet place, I met the Master face to face. With station and rank and wealth for my goal, much thought for my body but none for my soul; I entered to win in life's mad race, when I met the Master face to face. I met Him, and knew Him, and blushed to see that His eyes full of sorrow were fixed on me. And I faltered and fell at His feet that day, while my castles melted and vanished away. Melted and vanished, and in their place, naught else did I see but the Master's face; And I cried aloud, "O, make me meet, to follow the steps of Thy wounded feet." My thought is now for the souls of men; I have lost my life to find it again; e'er since one day in a quiet place, I met the Master face to face.'

This morning - i am awake before the Herald has even updated the news.

I am going to be needing some strong coffee by noon.

The rain has finally subsided though. My hair is grateful for that.

The new road rule - Do not drive a red or green car

Nicholas Reekie aka Knob Rot in the news again

Some woman who is so desperate for the attention of a man - any man - that she resorts to having a relationship with the rapist of an 11 year old - among other victims - has created a website protesting his innocence. 

The website is complete with proof that he signed a petition for harsher penalties for sex offenders - cause yeahhhh - that proves he is innocent!

Rapist Reekie claims victims lied

Serial Rapist Nicholas Reekie is featured on a website claiming his victims are liars and blaming his crimes on others.

On a website created by his long-term girlfriend and which the Department of Corrections says it can't touch, Reekie claims his 11-year-old victim - who was abducted and raped at knifepoint - perjured herself in court.

It also seeks to implicate exonerated man David Dougherty and a mystery third person in the crime.

Reekie was sentenced to preventive detention for a string of appalling crimes, including the 1992 rape and abduction of a girl in West Auckland, one of the most controversial legal cases in New Zealand history.

In a section entitled "Examples of the complainant's lies", it states the girl must have invented her testimony.

Reekie's DNA was found on the girl's pyjamas and he claims it could have rubbed off while he was travelling in a police car.

The website has appalled the mother of his youngest rape victim.

Gosh - the media were a bit slow with this story.

I read this website a few weeks ago - when Knob Rot was last in the news - and a commenter brought it to my attention.

I did not blog about it further because at the time it had only had about 50 hits. I really did not want to bring any more attention to a website that claims Reekie's DNA ended up in his 11 year old victim's underwear because she travelled in the same police car as he had.

He is basically claiming that he had a nice old pull on his rotten knob in the back of a police vehicle - and his victim must have sat on what he left behind.

Honestly - the website is so gross.

Ruth Woods - the creator of the website - should absolutely be ashamed of herself for putting this on the Internet and enabling her psychopathic, serial rapist boyfriend to spread his vile lies from his prison cell. 

Oh My...

I guess Jason Russell and Steve Gray have more in common than i thought!

‘Kony 2012’ co-creator found intoxicated, masturbating, police say

The co-founder of Invisible Children, a San Diego-based nonprofit that produced the viral "Kony 2012"  video, was detained in Pacific Beach on Thursday afternoon, police said.

Jason Russell appeared to be masturbating in public and vandalizing cars, San Diego police said. He may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, police Lt. Andra Brown said.

I am having a mental vision of how a person manages to masturbate and vandalise cars at the same time.

I spent a week at Pacific Beach in 2001. It sure is a beautiful spot to be attempting it - i guess.

When God Calls You

'Follow Me, and I will make you...' Mark 1:17 NKJV

If you think you're not qualified to be used by God, start changing the way you think! When Elijah called Elisha he was ploughing. When Jesus called Peter he was fishing. To follow God, Elisha had to leave farming and Peter had to leave fishing. Can you imagine a disciple's wife saying, 'How are we going to pay the bills?'

Following God is like stepping out on tissue paper and discovering solid rock underneath. But you'll never discover the rock unless you're willing to step onto the tissue paper. When God asks you to walk away from a security base that's been part of your life, you take your talents with you. Matthew, an accountant, took his pen and wrote the first book of the New Testament. When David went to Saul's palace he took his harp, and went on to write psalms we still sing today. That's why it's important to know that it's God who's calling you, and to have it confirmed by trusted leadership. If you run before the starter fires the gun you'll be disqualified from the race.

When God calls you, keep these four things in mind: (1) There's a price to be paid. If you're willing to pay it, you can have God's best. (2) There's a path to be walked. Each step is a step of faith. (3) There are principles to be observed. You've got to do God's will, God's way, in order to be blessed. (4) There's a promise to sustain you. '...do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go' (Joshua 1:9 NIV).

I have had a full on week - hence the quiet blog. Other than the odd log in to Facebook to see what everyone is up to - i have done nothing but classes and study, work at The Sallies, and gardening.

I spent my Friday night doing what i should have been doing twenty years ago - studying. I honestly cannot get enough of Sociology. Last night i got distracted by Emile Durkeim's study of suicide rates. His study showed that even an act as personal as suicide is influenced by social forces that are external to the individual. He identified four different types of suicide in relation to the presence or absence of social integration and regulation - Egoistic, Anomic, Altruistic, and Fatalistic. I got sidetracked further while i looked into each of these different types of suicide and wondered which one i would have been - had i jumped that night - and which one Ricci was.

I ended up closing my book about midnight, and am about to get stuck into it again. I have Karl Marx and Marxism to get my head around this morning - which after a brief look at last night has something to do with him believing that all change is derived from conflict - capitalism, materialism, communism - lots of isms!

My garden is all prepped and ready to be replanted - i just have to make a visit to The Plant Barn and do some planting this weekend. I have to start planning and organising Billy's 21st next month - which i am totally dreading because i cannot afford it but luckily his dad works for Mainfreight and just got that thousand dollar bonus. Wooohooo - i bet he wishes i didn't know about that!  Bruce Plested is an amazing, and altruistic man. Mainfreight also gives out Tertiary Scholarships every year - one of which Billy has benefited from. Mainfreight have paid 9k of Billy's fees over 3 years of study. What an amazing company - and amazing man - giving back to the community the way he does. I am thinking that Karl Marx would have liked him.

Right. I better get moving. I have to fit T and his tribe in at some stage this weekend as well.

Busy. Busy. Busy.

I love it. Hopefully my blog will get so filled with boring sociological theories and studies that my crazy, potato head, keyboard warrioring stalkers will get bored with it - and me - and stop stalking me.

Have a good weekend you lot.

No Countdown Thomas Knives For Me

I read this article and had a laugh to myself last night.

$7500 for an Abba CD: Bank reward schemes take a while to pay off

Credit card holders must spend up to $20,000 to reap a $100 reward through loyalty schemes at New Zealand banks.

Most high street banks give customers points or reward dollars for every dollar they spend, which can be redeemed through partner stores and businesses.

But a consumer expert is warning "consumer beware" when it comes to joining such schemes.

An informal survey by APNZ revealed most banks' schemes had changed little in recent years, with standard card holders having to spend between $50 and $150 to earn a single reward point or dollar.

Standard Kiwibank credit card holders earned one Air New Zealand airpoints dollar for every $150 spent. Platinum card holders had to spend $90.

A flight from Auckland to Queenstown was available today for 99 airpoints dollars, meaning a standard card holder would need to spend $14,850 to pay for the trip. A $79 flight from Christchurch to Nelson would require a spend of $11,850.


ASB customers earn one True Reward dollar each time they spend $100 to $150, depending on their card.

A platinum card customer would need to spend $10,000 to receive $100 in True Rewards points. A gold card holder would need to spend $13,000 and a classic card holder $20,000.

The dollars can be spent at partner retailers including House of Travel, Farmers and Noel Leeming, or gifted to charity.

A $55 toaster would require a credit card spent of $5500-$8250 and a $599 LCD television, $59,900-$89,850.

An ANZ National spokesman said their loyalty scheme changed in November 2010, with the "earn rate" for standard card holders improving from one airpoint dollar for every $150 spent to one for every $145 spent.

Platinum card holders had to spend $80 instead of $90.

The bank also offered schemes to earn goods or cash back with the National Bank Thoroughbred card. Users earn 1 per cent cashback subject to a minimum spend amount.

BNZ classic Visa or MasterCard customers earn one Fly Buys point for every $50 they spend. Gold American Express card holders get one for every $20 they spend.

Fly Buys members currently need 150 points to get Abba's greatest hits CD - a credit card spend of $7500 for classic card holders.

A report released in Australia this week said credit card holders at the country's big four banks had to spend more than $18,000 to earn a $100 shopping voucher.

The Reserve Bank of Australia quarterly bulletin said that was equal to a 0.54 per cent benefit to the customer as a proportion of spending.

Auckland University consumer expert David Shief said customers should "look before they leap" when considering joining a loyalty scheme.

"Companies have tried all sorts of schemes to reward customers - it's very common across industries.

"I've no doubt that rebates for loyalty schemes alter their perception of value. Is there a trick in it?," he said.

Rewards offered as incidental benefits from respected organisations could generally be trusted, but consumers also needed to decide if what they were getting was value for money, said Mr Shief.

Us consumers are so thick sometimes.

Back in 1996 when Fly Buys first started up - i applied for my card and for two years that little bit of plastic dictated where i shopped, filled up my car, bought insurance etc etc etc.

It was around 1998 when after over two years of spending roughly two hundred bucks a week at New World - even though i preferred Foodtown, and filling up at Shell even though the BP station was often cheaper and on my direct route to and from work - that my ex husband and i had to make a trip to Palmerston North for a family wedding.

After spending over thirty thousand dollars at Fly Buys' participating outlets I phoned them to enquire if we had enough points to be able to redeem them for a free night in a hotel during that trip.

The answer was no. After spending over 30 k we did not even have enough points to be able to redeem them for a night in a hotel - in a city - that John Cleese has described as a good place visit in order to commit suicide.

I chucked out my Fly Buys card as soon as i hung up the phone and have felt nothing but irritation every single time i have been asked that annoying question "Do you have Fly Buys?" - ever since. At first i would explain to the cashiers exactly why i do not have Fly Buys. After a few years, i stopped explaining. It just wasn't getting through.

The latest silly thing that i have fallen for is the Thomas Knife / sticker collecting promotion that Countdown has going on until the end of April. It started back in February. For every $20 you spend you get a little blue sticker. I need new knives. In fact - i just need knives full stop. My knife set accidentally got left behind in a drawer in my Mt Albert flat. Due to being unable to leave my home at the time thanks to a pesky ankle bracelet - i was unable to return to get them. I have had to make do with what did make it to my new place for the last two years - which has been pretty crappy.

I want new knives - so i started collecting these little blue stickers. I have even at times, added the odd chocolate bar - or whatever catches my eye at the check out - to my shopping in order to get my total over that $20 that is required to get my little blue sticker.

When it began back in the beginning of February - three months to collect enough stickers to get the whole set seemed like enough time. It is only now, in mid March that i have added up just how many stickers, and how much i will need to spend in order to get the whole set will be.

I will need to spend $4500 at Countdown in order to get a set of knives.

No Thomas Knives for me.

My thick self is chucking out my collection of effing blue stickers. Right. Now.

Get Up and Go On With Your Life

'Then David got up...' 2 Samuel 12:20 NIV 

David committed adultery with another man's wife, got her pregnant, then arranged to have her husband put to death in an attempt to cover it up. Then he married her and thought everything would be ok. But the child became critically ill. Desperately wanting to save the baby's life, David '...fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food...' (vv16-17 NIV). In spite of all his praying, the child died.

Why did God let this happen? Was it because the child deserved better parents? Or because the Bible says that to depart and be with the Lord is 'far better' (Philippians 1:23)? We don't have a clear answer. But this much we know: when you have repented of your sin and experienced God's forgiveness, you must get up and go on with your life. And that's what David did. 'Then David got up from the ground...washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes...went into the house of the Lord and worshipped. Then he went to his own house, and...they served him food, and he ate' (2 Samuel 12:20 NIV).

We discover three important things in this story: (1) Until you are willing to make things right with God and those you've hurt, you can't go forward with confidence. (2) Until you process your emotions in a healthy way, whether guilt or grief, you will remain stuck and forfeit the joy of what God has for you next. (3) When you've done these two things, get up and get on with your life.

Isn't that truth?

I am totally lost today. I have the whole day to myself - at home - all alone - no teenagers and no T. It is my only day off this week and everyone has left me alone.

Half of me is jumping for joy and wondering how i can make the most of this rare time alone. The other half of me is feeling sad because i miss everyone.

The only noise i can hear right now is a distant lawn mower and the occasional ear flapping and licking of his bits coming from Nixon.

I think i will mow my own lawn, then get busy in my garden for awhile. I googled veggies that grow at this time of year, so i think i will do some garden preparation since my tomatoes are the last thing i have left growing - and start over. I didn't realise that there were so many veggies that grew over the winter months.

I have a Sociology assignment due in 2 weeks. I have to do a 15 minute presentation on the social and cultural factors in my own socialisation that may have formed my views on alcohol and drug use. I am thinking right now that it would be more beneficial for me to do a study on the social and cultural factors that have led me to have my enormous fear of public speaking and why having to do a presentation scares me more than a one million word essay would.

I think this may have something to do with me spending far too much time behind my computer screen these past few years.

Maybe?

Possibly?

I better get to work.

Reeds and Wicks

'A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench...' Matthew 12:20 NKJV

Reeds. Few things are more fragile than a bruised reed. In Christ's day, children playing beside the river made music pipes out of them. They were hollowed out and holes bored in them. But afterwards they were bruised and discarded. Perhaps you once stood tall and strong, nourished and rooted in the riverbed. But now you are hidden in the rushes, bruised by hurtful words, a friend's betrayal, your own failure or harsh religion.

Wicks. Nothing is closer to extinction than a smouldering wick. When the oil in primitive lamps was gone and the wick burned low, it was extinguished, thrown away as worthless and replaced. Did you once burn with faith, lighting the path for others until the icy winds of criticism, unforgiveness and judgmentalism left you in darkness?

What do all these people have in common: A woman trembling before an angry mob threatening to stone her? A house surrounded by people and a paralysed man on a stretcher, his friends not giving up until they get him to Christ? A blind man crying out for his sight and disciples telling him to be quiet? They are all bruised reeds and smouldering wicks that Jesus refused to give up on. The world thinks it knows what to do with you - break you off and snuff you out! But not Jesus: 'He does not crush the weak, or quench the smallest hope' (TLB). No matter how far gone you may feel today, you're not beyond the reach of God's grace. Come, He will treat you gently. He will make you whole again.

8 Hours of Sociology today.

T gets the day alone at my place to study.

No head wounds and no time to blog.

Every day that I don't have a head wound is a good day. ;)

The World's Saddest Tomato Plant

...is no longer mine.

I have so many tomatoes that i don't know what to do with them all. There are heaps more to come as well.

I am going to have to google how to make something out of these - so that they don't go to waste. 

Three things that i have learned today

1. Daniel Craig's role as James Bond is safe - for now.

2. Mr Potato head was very lucky that he could change his features. Other potato heads are not so lucky.

 

3. Some people just don't have a clue. 

Gossip

'Troublemakers listen to troublemakers...' Proverbs 17:4 CEV 

The moment somebody begins to gossip, stop them and ask, 'Why do I need to know this? Have you talked to the person you're talking about?' Wise up; people who gossip can't be trusted! The Bible says that when you listen to gossip you are a troublemaker: 'Troublemakers listen to troublemakers.' And Jude adds: 'These are the people who divide you, people whose thoughts are only of this world...' (Jude 1:19 NCV).

Those are serious charges. And the internet has only made the problem worse because now you can spread gossip faster and wider, and remain anonymous while you are doing it. Paul speaks about those who 'devour one another...[and your whole fellowship]...' (Galatians 5:15 AMP). He says they should be avoided and disciplined. When was the last time you saw that happen in church? Solomon said, 'A gossip reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a babbler' (Proverbs 20:19 NRS). In other words, 'keep clear of them.' The quickest way to end gossip is to confront those who are spreading it. The church is not a 'tell all' television show where we expose people and hang out their dirty linen for all the world to see. Quite the opposite: 'Fire goes out for lack of fuel, and tensions disappear when gossip stops' (Proverbs 26:20 TLB).

Jesus taught us how to deal with personal difficulties when they arise: (1) 'Go privately and point out the fault.' (2) 'If you are unsuccessful, take one or two others...and go back again.' (3) 'If that person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church...' (Matthew 18:15-17 NLT). That's Christ's way, and it must be our way too.

Troublemakers listen to troublemakers. Like attracts like. Isn't that the truth? It makes me laugh every time i see proof of that.

No time for the blog or reading the news this morning.

Busy day ahead.

Enjoy your rainy Monday you lot!

Who Are You Relying On?

'...We stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God...' 2 Corinthians 1:9 NLT 

Jesus said, 'Here on earth you will have many trials...' (John 16:33 NLT). You solve one problem, and another one comes along to take its place. They're not all big, but they're all necessary to your spiritual growth.

How do you assess the strength of something? By testing it! The Bible says: 'Don't be...shocked that you are going through testing...It will prepare you...' (1 Peter 4:12-13 CEV). Some of your most life-enriching experiences will come during your worst moments - when your heart is broken, when you feel abandoned, when you're out of options, when your pain levels go through the roof - and you turn to God. That's when you learn to pray heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers. When you're in pain you don't have the energy for superficial ones. And that's when you discover, 'The Lord is close to the brokenhearted' (Psalm 34:18 NLT). God could have kept Joseph out of prison, Daniel out of the lions' den, Jeremiah out of the slimy pit and Paul from being shipwrecked - but He didn't. As a result, each one of them was drawn closer to God and impacted the world around them.

Your problems force you to look to God and depend on Him instead of yourself. This is especially hard on super-achievers, like Paul. 'We...saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us...' (2 Corinthians 1:9 TLB). You'll never know what God can do until God is all you've got. So place your needs into His capable, loving hands, and watch what happens.

I am going through testing today.

Sometimes i feel like i cannot do enough for the kids. I know that i have overcompensated for my mistakes over the past three years, and that i have done too much for them. I know that i am not doing them - or myself - any favours by being their personal on call cleaning lady, slave, atm machine, taxi, cook - etc etc etc.

Last night the girls were lying around in their beds yelling out from their bedroom about being hungry and when will dinner be ready. Nothing from them all day. They just blobbed around in their room then at dinner time - i get grunted at. No please. No thank yous - just moans of hunger about 4pm. Honestly - it was like I have cave babies that were grunting for food. This morning around 9am T and i were in the lounge talking and reading the news over our coffees - grunts of "shut up" came from their cave.

When one of my daughters told me that she could do whatever the eff she wants - i told her that if she wants to do whatever the eff she wants she can do it outside and tried to show her the door.

This escalated matters, and now i have a kid free and peaceful home. I was going to say a clean home as well - but they have only been gone an hour and i have not had time to clear their room of rubbish and dishes yet.

I am going to use my kid free time over the next wee while to enjoy my peace and pray heartfelt and honest prayers. I need God to show me how to be a good mother without feeling like i have to do everything for those kids to the point where they are disrespectful and end up with terrible entitle - itus.

Dirty Dirty Dr Love

Court spat: the prostitute and the medic

A prostitute and a medical professional are embroiled in a court spat which includes him being invoiced for $22,000 worth of sex.

The prostitute says her dreams of becoming her lover's Pretty Woman were dashed after discovering he had a family. But the medical professional says he never slept with the woman - and says she is a stalker who poses "serious threat issues" to his family.

A court battle looms at the Auckland District Court after the man hired esteemed medical lawyer Harry Waalkens, QC.

 It follows attempts by the prostitute to seek a court order enforcing her bill for sex.

She had filed papers with the Disputes Tribunal seeking a maximum award to cover her claimed losses.

Waalkens sought and won identity suppression for his client. He also filed claims the prostitute was harassing his client and sought a restraining order.

The woman told the Herald on Sunday she had seen the medical professional for years. "It started out that he sought my services and saw me and paid me for two years."

But she said the relationship turned romantic and she stopped charging for sex.

"If I had known he had a woman in his life it would never have happened," she said. "I've not been paid for services before. I was losing income in the time I was spending with him."

The woman said the medical professional had told her a different story about his identity than what she later discovered. "I found out who he was and where he lived."

Then, confronting him about the lost income, she said he gave her $500 worth of lingerie vouchers. "He picked the wrong person to do this to. I rang him and said 'when are you going to talk to me'?"

She said his response was to start calling for help, shouting: "It's a stalker."

She said she became determined to recover lost earnings.

The woman filed the claim with the Disputes Tribunal from where it was transferred to the district court.

She said: "I could have been nasty ... I could have rung his partner on the first day. I could have cost him his profession and his relationship.

"I refrained filing the claim until after Christmas Day so it wouldn't cloud his Christmas." The woman said she had proof of the relationship in diary entries and text messages.

The medical professional said any claims he had sex with the woman were "crazy".

"There are some serious risk issues in terms of my safety. I need to be careful about that. I'm trying to protect my family and myself from this person."

Waalkens said his client denied all allegations made by "this mad woman".

"These proceedings she has embarked on is part of - but not all of - a very serious harassment process she has embarked on."

Waalkens said harassment proceedings were active before the court. The next court date was in late April.

What a liar that "medical professional" is.  This woman has text messages, diary entries, he gave her lingerie vouchers - and now after lying for years he is calling HER the mad woman?!?! You know a guy is lying when his only defense is to call a woman crazy and a stalker. That is the only thing he has to fall back on because there is no other explanation for her claims - other than that they are true.

What motivates someone to make up an entirely false claim?

There is a real power imbalance involved here. There is a real difference between a woman who is so vulnerable and broke that she resorts to selling sex, and a medical professional who can afford the best lawyer. Henry Waalkens is apparently the go to guy for all naughty doctors. Perhaps this man should contemplate the fact that it would be cheaper to pay this woman what she deserves rather than lining the pocket of the legal profession. In the long run it will have been cheaper just to be honest and fair with his prostitute.

T and i are debating this right now.

He seems to think that she might have a case. He is saying take away the particular career this woman is involved in and replace it with a builder - and she has a case. T says that if what this woman alleges is true - his behaviour has been deceptive, fraudulent and that there has clearly been an economic loss. The issue is whether or not a contract has been breached. He has deliberately engaged in deceptive behaviour for financial advantage - ie years of free sex with a prostitute.

My opinion is - that if you are a mechanic and you work on a friend's car for free - you can't then go back and charge them retrospectively just because that friend has lied to you and the friendship has ended.

I am also of the opinion that if you are a hooker and you are silly enough to believe in the whole Pretty Woman fantasy - and that a relationship has anywhere to go once you have exchanged sex for money the first time you meet someone then you pretty much should change careers. If you are a prostitute and looking for love at work then you are looking for love in all the wrong places.

Pretty Woman was a movie. It was not real.

This guy is a sleazy creep for what he has done, but i seriously doubt that the prostitute will win this.

Good on her for trying though!

She will probably save other prostitutes lots of time and money because i doubt she is the only one he has done this to, and maybe he will learn a lesson. There are tons of men out there that do this kind of thing. I once knew a "medical professional" who is in a relationship, a p addict, and has "relationships" with hookers. His wife has no idea that as soon as she is asleep - he sneaks out of bed for the night and returns before she wakes up in the morning - none the wiser that he has even gone out. He keeps a Countdown bag with chocolate biscuits in it in his car. If the wife wakes up and notices him gone - he races home telling her that he had a midnight chocolate craving and popped to the supermarket!

I am now sitting here wondering if it is the same guy.

Contrary to what men who use prostitutes would like to believe - prostitutes are not having sex with hairy backed foul men because they enjoy it.

They are doing it because they need the money.

Gary John Read is not a businessman

He is a violent drug trafficker and dealer.

Businessman on drugs charges

A wealthy businessman has been charged with smuggling enough drugs from Thailand to cook up to $17 million of methamphetamine. 

Gary John Read is to be committed to trial next week on 16 charges, including importing pseudoephedrine, possession of methamphetamine for supply, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, participating in an organised crime group and recklessly firing a gun. 

The party pill king is alleged to be the head of an international drug dealing syndicate, who obtained pseudoephedrine - the main ingredient of P - from overseas, supplied it to meth cooks, then sold the finished product at wholesale level. 

Read owns a $1.5 million mansion in Thailand and police have seized three homes in Tauranga and several cars, original artworks worth $100,000, and are examining an antique gun collection. 

However, Read's prized Harley-Davidson motorcycle is missing. 

The Weekend Herald can now reveal details of the evidence police gathered against the 44-year-old.

Detectives from the Organised and Financial Crime Agency say Read organised 77 packages of pseudoephedrine to be smuggled into New Zealand between June 2009 and last September. 

Family and friends in Auckland, Waihi, Tauranga and Hamilton acted as "catchers" for the drug packages from Thailand. Some of them believed the parcels were herbal products. Read is the director of NZ Party Pills Ltd and internet Sales Ltd, a company which specialised in herbal supplements and legal highs. 

Read allegedly smuggled more than 32kg of pseudoephedrine over that time.
Police estimate between 16kg and 24kg of P could be manufactured from the amount.
At $700 a gram, it would have been worth up to $17 million.

How the media can use the label "Businessman" in reference to Gary John Read is beyond me. The guy owns a business that promoted a product that was abandoned as worm treatment in farm animals because of its side effects - as a legal high. That product was made illegal 3 years ago.

For being a pill pusher - that can no longer legally push his pills - the media label him a "businessman"?

Back in 2007 the Bay of Plenty Times reported that Read - a recovering cocaine and speed addict - had imported one million party pills and that Read was using P addicts to test his party pills all in the name of research.

Somehow considering Read's latest offending, i am thinking that particular research was not all that conducive with his recovery.

Calling Read a businessman is about as ridiculous as calling Mark Lyon a property developer.

These men are DRUG DEALERS.

Another book i won't be reading

Nai Yin Xue - Pumpkin's Dad - has written a book.  

 "The whole world has accused me of being a murderer, but I dare not even kill a chicken, not to mention kill my wife."

Xue said in his book three people could have killed his wife - a woman business associate, a neighbour or his wife's lover.

He said he fled New Zealand because he owed $20,000 in business debt and was unaware his wife was dead, but left their daughter at the Melbourne rail station, where she could be easily found by security, as a revenge on his unfaithful wife.

"A middle-aged fat woman witness, who was my temporary sex partner when my wife was away, gave false evidence in Court. The prosecutor asked if she saw me bring an axe to Wellington, and she said yes. The landlord and tenants at the Wellington house where An An stayed never saw me with an axe.

"She claimed I told her over lunch that I was going to kill An An. If I was going to kill her, I would never reveal it in that way. The judge is a fool to believe the woman." 

It has only been published in Chinese - so i guess i am going to miss out on more of the mental images that excerpt has conjured up this morning.

Some people would be best to just keep their mouths shut. Nai Yin Xue is one of those people. 

I'm no fan of Len Brown

...but this is totally uncool.

Auckland Mayor's lamington attack

Auckland Mayor Len Brown had a lamington thrown at him by a protester when he was at Auckland University today for one of his regular Mayor in the Chair sessions.

Mr Brown was coming to the end of the public session at the university quadrant when a young man with dreadlocks came forward and threw a pink lamington at him, smattering pieces of the sponge cake on his shirt.

The man, thought to be in his 20s, ran off.

The mayor's chief press secretary, Glyn Jones, who witnessed the event, said students recognised the man as one of the protesters from the Occupy Auckland movement in Aotea Square.

Students later apologised to the mayor for the attack.

Mr Jones said Mr Brown was not unnerved and walked back to the Auckland Town Hall. The mayor has not referred the matter to the police.

Mr Brown spoke with three striking Ports of Auckland workers during the hour-long session at the university.

Isn't it amazing - how one idiot can make a whole group of people look like fools?

And then more idiots go and endorse this kind of unintelligent and ridiculous behaviour. It amazes me that Annette Sykes would leave comments like this up on her facebook page - but then she is Tame Iti's lawyer - so i guess it should not surprise me.

Always Do What's Right

'...This is what [God] requires...to do what is right...' Micah 6:8 NLT

Focusing solely on what you can do, without first deciding what kind of person you should be, is a mistake. Your talent may make your name known, but your character will determine what people associate with it. Your talent may dictate your potential, but your character will determine your legacy.

What is character? It's the will to do what's right, even when it is not easy. It's deciding ahead of time what's truly non-negotiable. Count on it, the day will come when so-called 'progress' calls for compromising your convictions. In that moment, what hangs in the balance is your moral authority. So you must be clear about your convictions. You'll be tempted to believe that once you reach a certain level of success, these challenges disappear. No, success doesn't make anything easier, it just raises the stakes. What was once applauded is now simply expected. It's a lot easier to win the title than defend it. Furthermore, with success comes the inclination to see yourself as the final authority on right and wrong. Look around you and you'll see that it's not uncommon to find leaders playing by a different set of rules. Everything really does look different at the top! Once intoxicated by success, you start to believe that the rules don't apply to you. And that can be fatal.

In the final analysis your reputation is how you're known before men but your character is how you're known before God. You say, 'But why cling to something that's outdated or has the potential to slow me down?' The Bible answers: 'This is what [God] requires...to do what is right.'

I am having to force myself to do what is right this morning.

I had a late night last night. It was Media Design School's graduation ceremony last night at Sky City. Billy was graduating with a Diploma in Visual Arts and Motion Graphics. I say graduating but he wasn't REALLY graduating. He still has 2 and a half years more to go before he gets his full degree but he received his diploma in that particular part of his degree last night.

It was an exciting night. Well - seeing Billy get his diploma was exciting. Having to sit through two hours of watching other people get theirs was a bit boring but Nicole and i made the most of it and laughed our way through it.

I was surprised when we got back to the car to find a warning on our windscreen. Apparently if you are parking in the Sky City Casino - they don't worry if you leave your kids in the car while you gamble - but leave a dog in the car while you see your kid graduate because the dog loves being in the car and will go insane and escape if you leave him home alone - and you get a nasty note from their security warning you that they will report you to the SPCA if you do that again!

Crazy stuff.

We stopped off for dinner on the way home, and i didn't get to bed until after 10pm. Ten is LATE for me these days and now the last thing my tired, grumpy, blurry eyed self feels like doing is spending a day lifting heavy boxes of food on and off trolleys at The Salvation Army - especially since my back has only JUST recovered from last week's efforts.

I better get moving. I don't want to be late and get yelled at again!

The things you miss when you have a life

Gosh. I cannot believe how much i am missing on Facebook, Twitter, email, Youtube, Blogs etc etc - now that i actually have a life.

Someone sent me a link to the Kony 2012 documentary last night. I watched a bit of it, then turned it off when the T complained that he did not want to watch it. I had never heard of Joseph Kony until last night, but apparently this video has been viral since Monday night. Oops. I had missed it. Kony was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in the Hague in 2005 and has not yet been arrested. Oops. I missed that too.

I watched the rest of the documentary this morning. While i have never taken much of an interest in what goes down in Africa - the documentary did it's job in that it left me with a feeling of wanting to do whatever i could to help arrest Joseph Kony and like millions of other people over the last few days - if all i could do to help was to share the video - then i was going to do that.

My ignorance of all matters African really pee'd off former TVNZ Good Morning host and current foul mouthed junkie and useless writer - Steve Gray - for not knowing that Uganda is also trying to pass a law to kill all gays. Steve is evidently real mad that kidnapped, murdered, and raped children are getting all the attention at the moment - instead of African homosexuals.

The illiterate Steve Gray's opinion 

Whatever.

The thing that interests me in relation to the Kony 2012 video though  - and i have my Facebook friend Andy Boreham and some of his more non fried and intelligent friends to thank for getting me thinking and reading about this - is how quick i was (and millions of others are or the video would not be viral) - to jump on a bandwagon and support a cause without finding out what they are actually supporting or where the message is coming from.

Detractors of 'Invisible Children' and the Kony 2012 video are spreading their word. Apparently only 32% of the donations that they receive actually go to direct services. That is roughly a third of their income. Should i care that some of the donations go to administrative costs, salaries, and the like - if those two thirds of their income has enabled the one third to get this criminal arrested?

I don't think so. I really don't care about that.

My answer to that was that the video left me with the impression that all they wanted to do was raise awareness. They want to make Joseph Kony famous in order to put pressure on governments and politicians who are able to actually make decisions that will make a difference.

Now i am thinking about exactly how those governments and politicians will decide to go about making that difference once they are forced to by the social experiment that is Kony 2012. That led me to focus on the fact that spreading this message is not just about saving children's lives, and arresting an evil man.

There is a heck of a lot more to it than that.

I have an awesome and valid excuse for being days late in noticing the Kony 2012 trend, however i don't have an excuse for supporting a cause while remaining ignorant. So i followed a link to Let's Talk About Kony.

The last couple of paragraphs in that blog and all of the comments that followed really got me thinking.

As my angry Twitter timeline suggests, Invisible Children’s public narrative relies on basic, nigh unavoidable failings. Let’s start with the flip-side of the human rights coin: the recognition that, despite their constructed nature, perceived ethnic, cultural, and historical boundaries exist across nations, states, and physical borders. Colonialism’s historical baggage matters, and the competition for voice-representation is, for all intents and purposes, a zero-sum game. Ugandan civil society participants, particularly the ones engaged in the non-Invisible Children-affiliated reconstruction, reconciliation, and post-conflict development work, are noticeably absent from Jason Russell’s narrative. In two and a half years of grassroots advocacy work, I’ve met enough intelligent, morally sensible advocates to know that monolithic accusations of neo-colonialism, Africa-saving, and cultural condescension are, frankly, tripe. At the same time, we’re not doing enough to define the terms of empowerment, to balance our advocacy perspectives with an understanding of civil society mobilization in conflict-affected areas, and to establish meaningful, sustained cross-cultural linkages that prioritize empathy, rather than sympathy. It’s quite simply a matter of changing the conversation, and I’m not sure that Invisible Children’s Kony documentary gets us there.

Next, there’s the morality question. To be “that guy,” I’ll link to two compelling TED videos on the social-scientific and cultural shortcomings of public storytelling: first, from Tyler Cowen, the economics wiz blogger; the second, from Chimamanda Adichie, a Nigerian novelist. The bottom line: stories can inspire. At the same time, inspiration runs the risk of perpetuating problematic, unintended cognitive biases. A “single story,” as Adichie calls it, can obscure a complex, multi-layered web of perceptive analysis, underscoring cultural stereotypes and simplifications. Fundamentally, the question is moral, rather than cognitive: How do we perceive the morality of conflict in northern Uganda and, more recently, Central Africa? Once we answer that question, how do we mitigate the moral consequences of our actions, to ensure that atrocities do, in fact, end? Invisible Children’s activism, added to the political lobbying of Resolve and the Enough Project, resulted in the deployment of approximately one hundred U.S. military advisers to Central Africa. The advisers’ purpose: to assist and, well, advise the Congolese, Central African (from CAR, rather than the region), Ugandan, and South Sudanese military forces in an escalated counterinsurgency campaign against the LRA throughout the region. Frankly speaking, the military advisers’ presence will likely improve, rather than deteriorate, the implementation of human rights norms in the multinational military campaign. The United States has likely learned its lessons, recognizing the counterproductive nature of Operation Lighting Thunder, a U.S.-backed 2008 “campaign of attrition” against the LRA in northern Uganda. That said, the U.S. operational partnership with the Ugandan, Congolese, Central African, and South Sudanese forces remains a political, moral, and social firestorm. The documentary’s purpose is not to delve into the complex, nuanced dynamics of military conflict, but, as it stands, day-to-day advocates for “action” have few platforms for the critical discussion of action’s moral consequences.

Lastly, let’s talk about the limits of policy intervention against the LRA. This isn’t a new conversation: as Bec Hamilton has detailed, the human rights advocacy community encountered the same challenge at the peak of Darfur mobilization. Come 2008, Darfur advocates began to talk about “Darfur fatigue”: the conflict in Sudan’s western provinces had grown more complicated, atrocities continued (albeit at a significantly lower rate), and the day-to-day advocates weren’t quite sure why. Part of the problem, of course, is the notion of the “story of now.” The public narrative’s third pillar works within the context of local organizing–limited labor-union resources demand quicker solutions, contract negotiations have deadlines, and infrastructure projects work on schedule. Foreign policy activists can’t say the same for violent conflict: the LRA has conducted a low-intensity insurgency against the central government in Kampala since the late 1980s, without any tangible reconciliation. So while the video has an expiration date of “December 31, 2012,” the LRA insurgency, the multinational stabilization campaign, and the marginalization of constituencies in Uganda’s Acholi region, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan certainly don’t. If urgent, military action against the LRA is part of the solution–and, in spite of the potential moral costs, it probably should be–it’s only a part. And, as Mark Kersten’s field research has suggested, the peace/justice dilemma is perhaps more complicated in northern Uganda than in any of the other six situations currently under review by the International Criminal Court.

What does this mean? In order to move past #KONY2012, to promote credible approaches to conflict resolution in Central Africa, anti-Kony advocates need to be prepared to move past the public narrative, past the sexy, and past the action kit. On March 6, hundreds of people told me to take thirty minutes out of my evening to watch Invisible Children’s Kony documentary. If, on March 7, you’re not taking thirty minutes out of your evening to read the International Crisis Group’s November 2011 report on the way forward for stabilization and conflict resolution in LRA-affected areas, you’re not doing your job correctly.

I am still of the view that raising awareness has to be a good thing -  but i am not convinced that military intervention will do anything to actually help Ugandan children - and i may be mistaken but i think that is what we are supporting when we share and 'like' the Kony 2012 video.

I could be wrong though.

That happened once. Back in 1987. ;)

Discussion is raising awareness though - so either way - Kony 2012 has done it's job.