When fanatical religion destroys a nation, we are all the losers! God help Nigeria.

 The vast majority of Nigerians are no different to the citizens of most other nations: They too just want to get on with life, to look after their families, to love, to enjoy life and to have the freedom to believe in whatever form of faith they choose. They wish to be free from persecution; that of the State and of the extremes within their midst.
Today we hear of yet another crime visited upon the people of Nigeria, once again from the criminal group that goes by the name---Boko Haram. Nigeria is in danger of being torn apart by a minority that wishes to take this nation back to the a time that History has long consigned to those epochs that we would rather forget. Perhaps we should not---because we need those lessons to inform us of what 'humans are capable of,' when they sink to such levels.
Boko Haram is an abomination; a mixture of hate, ignorance and exclusion of all that most people hold as truths. Now that Africa and the world, including the Islamic World, are raising their voices against this 'throwback,' perhaps there is a glimmer of hope. They cannot be trusted to negotiate a peace, because there is nothing in their belief structure that would contribute anything positive to the future of Nigeria. Nigeria cannot do this alone.

Coastal Yarns | The blog and website of author Neil Coleman: Who is reading my blogs?---some figures.

Coastal Yarns | The blog and website of author Neil Coleman: Who is reading my blogs?---some figures.: Here are some figures as of today about who is reading my blogs. USA------------------69208 New Zealand---------35175 Russia-----------...

Who is reading my blogs?---some figures.

Here are some figures as of today about who is reading my blogs.

USA------------------69208
New Zealand---------35175
Russia----------------2269
Australia-------------2204
UK------------------1105
Germany-------------435
China-----------------337
France----------------256
South Korea----------174
Samoa----------------112
Plus many other countries very close behind---Ukraine, Malaysia, Japan, Brazil. In fact there are now more than 30 countires reading the blogs.
Don;t forget to read my books too. Go to my websire---  www.authorneilcoleman.com  or direct to Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/dp/047325655X

Greed and the love for money rear their ugly heads for our cricketers--we are not immune in NZ

Corruption is and endemic fact of life in every country to a varying degree. It may take what looks like on the surface, a fairly benign appearance and not be actually observable at all in some economic and political structures, but it is there. We in NZ have often taken the high moral ground, readily casting aspersions on other countries, yet we too are finding that such practices we read about elsewhere, are alive and well here. Don’t look to politicians alone for this; I shall leave that for you to decide as to the level that exists in my country, but the emerging scandal around ‘fixing’ in cricket is both embarrassing and timely. There needs to be a complete clean-out of the practises being alluded to re one of our national sports. One must ask---‘is this also happening in other areas of what New Zealanders love---our other teams? One would hope not. Now is the time to expunge all vestiges of illegal and immoral practices within cricket and elsewhere and until we do---we should not be judging other countries for what we know is so obvious. Time to pull our heads from the sand fellow NZers!

China reads New Zealand blogs and stories...great!

I am intrigued t see the increasing number of readers from China, now overtaking Russia and all other nations except New Zealand (which is of curse my base) and the USA. ON a monthly basis, China is now third on my reading list. I put this down to several factors: Firstly, China has a huge population and more people are now speak and read English. Secondly, China is increasingly engaging with the rest of the world, both in terms of trade and culturally. It comes as no surprise that China s reaching out at all levels; individually, at Government level and on trade and economic links. It is my belief that this can only be a good thing as the more we are all ‘connected,’ the less chance there is of communication being ‘controlled.’ I therefore welcome this new level of contact between the citizens of China and New Zealand.

I would love to see China downloading my latest book, Roskill, or ordering the hard copy version from Amazon. If that is not possible, just contact me direct at neilcolemanauthor@gmail.com Alternatively, use the website to place your orders. www.authorneilcoleman.com   You can also go straight to the link   http://www.amazon.com/dp/047325655X

Go for it China---and of course my other many loyal readers.