Children the Polls and you.

On Saturday groups marched for the elimination of child poverty, yet the media was silent…but it still had time to praise the Prime Minister on the number of ‘Selfies’ he’s getting, as against the number that David Cunliffe receives… how intelligent is that. Really deep and political don’t you think…so full of wisdom and deep intelligence…selfies decide leaders abilities. It is beyond believe that we are being led by the nose by a bunch of so-called journalist who are out and out biased and bigoted and one eyed.

So-called journalists like National Party psychotic supporter John Armstrong who gets paid to write National party advertising for the NZ Herald. The latest beat-up that has been spread to the MSM desk sitters by Slimy Slater has been a bit of mischief by the countries biggest crap artist Cameron Slater the blogger and Israeli NZ PR man. Slater was the guy who pushed the bull***t story about the $100,000 bottle of wine etc that the NZ Herald lept at with great gusto and later had to admit was simply not true.

It was really funny last week to hear that great fan of ex Act party leader John Banks Michele Boag said on morning TV that Hone Harawira had gone missing and it was odd because Whale-oil blogger Cameron Slater that foul smelling sewer dweller said the very same thing…and straight away Michele Boag spouts the very same words and believe it or not later the next day the Prime says the very same words yet again…so its plain to see that Slater is still writing the script for the PM and his cronies. It would not come as a shock to find that Key is paying Slater’s legal costs via one of his his many family trusts, maybe the one where he hides his secret trans-rail shares. Thinking about the lies told by John Key and comparing them to the ‘above reproach’ behaviour of Hone Harawira.

Here is a short list of Keys lies, untruths, omissions and other strange behaviour, that the media simply washes over…

 The fellow who put this picture together was really rather kind in that he suggests that Key simply forgot these events when in fact he actually lied about each of them.

I mean can you believe that Key never understood how he felt about the 1981 rugby tour

or having breakfast with Ian Fletcher who flew across the ditch to have that meeting with Key as his [Fletcher’s] leave application proves. Yet John Armstrong [NZH] and that other elderly so-called journalist Vernon Small who takes his cheque from Fairfax while carrying out script writing for the National Party believed every word, no investigative work, no confirming the facts…unlike Nicky Hagar in his book ‘Dirty Politics’ now there is an investigative reporter worth the name…he makes John Armstrong and Vernon Small look like amateurs.

So as you make your way to the polling booth, remember the lies, the memory loss and remember the two hundred and fifty thousand kids living in poverty…right here in most likely the most food productive country in the world…we have hungry children going to school without breakfast, and the best the government can do is take so-called gifts from Sanitarium who as a Church Based organisation pay next to no tax. 

While we lower the tax for people like John Key it is shameful. Vote for who you wish and I truly mean that, just ask the questions: 

1. Will I be helping those 250.000 children, 
2. will I assist in creating a fairer society, 
3. will I be helping to develop a more democratic environment as well as a greener one. 
4. Will my vote help achieve a liveable wage? 
5. And offer hope to be able to own ones own home.

If you find a political party that can achieve the above, or at least work toward your goals then maybe you should tick that party...

Here is a reply to this blog by Peter Grove...

Peter,

You got it in one with today’s post. I have been appalled at the bullshit written by Armstrong quite frankly. I use to watch The Nation and Q & A on Sundays until they were taken over by smarmy Tory Lovers. Their guests for their panels are equally disgusting, The Pommy Git who has so much to say about everything, Clare Robinson who is clearly deep down, a Tory supporter. Mike Williams ex-president of the Labour Party has never been much better About their best guest ever has been Helen Kelly. she keeps firmly to her CTU line in all things.

Regarding Child Poverty. A back bencher raking in an excess of $150,000 salary can have absolutely NO concept of the difficulties faced by our families, may of them on benefits, trying to raise their families. The working for Families racket is just that, as is the Housing Supplement which is seen as a direct subsidy to rapacious land lords. This country is in a far worse position now than it was in the dark days of the 1930’s and the great Depression. My dad was a skilled artisan Blacksmith, Railway Workshop trained, who due to no fault of his own was forced into the ignominy of Relief Work, scratching weeds off the roads for

the princely sum of 27/6 a week, to support his wife and two children. This was a great leveller and often he would work in the company of lawyers and other office wallahs, down on their luck. I can still remember my Mum standing in the lounge crying because there was just NO money. Pater was later employed by the Fletcher Construction Company as a carpenter. What a waste of his skills. He stuck it out for some ten or twelve years until he was able to retire on the then, Old Age Pension of 30/- a week. Mum was slightly better off with her five pound a week housekeeping allowance and my 10/- week family benefit.

Some of Henry Lawson’s books are a good testimony to life in those early days, certainly in Australia. ‘While the Billy Boils’ is one and vividly illustrates the difficulties of life in  those times.

Those were before the days of State Advances Corporation, and Building Societies, which all helped to get New Zealanders into their own homes. The group Housing Scheme was brought into existence and Builders in the scheme were able to provide fully serviced sections and a house of your choice which met the lending criteria of two and a half thousand pounds. I built my first house under that scheme. It wasn’t a palace but it had three bedrooms, and was under 1,000 square feet in area. For those people who for some reason or other had no chance of building or owning a house there was State Housing which at the same time was being carried on apace. MWD was charged with opening up habitable land, roading it and installing services, drainage, water and electricity. Huge contracts for houses were let, initially to Fletcher Residential Construction which employed hundreds of men, tradesmen and otherwise in a massive production line that took timber from the mills, processed it into 4x2s mainly and assembled house frames in specially set up framing mills. The frames were delivered in their truckloads to the construction sites where the building team had prepared foundations, sleepers and joists in readiness to receive the frames which were then stood up, braced and straightened. Meanwhile back at the framing mills the roofs were being set out and precut ready for delivery to the sites to be assembled, once the ceiling joists were in place. A feature of the State Housing schemes was that where-ever possible all the various components were sourced and made in NZ. Locks and door handles, who can forget those clumsy bakelite, yet serviceable door handles, and the nasty little Nippy catches that adorned every cupboard door.  Wall linings were Gib board and ceilings Pinex. Exterior linings were weatherboard, brick or asbestos sidings. Metters foundry here in Petone was engaged full time

producing cast iron baths The concrete manufacturers were producing concrete roof tiles to be fixed by gangs of tilers going from house to house. I  have produced virtually miles and miles of tile battens during my time in one of the framing mills, as well as unloading and stacking timber from railway wagons, in all sizes. To be broken down into 4x2 for framing and roofing. That was a continuous process and the framing gang, which produced the house frames numbered eight or ten men who could produce a complete house frame every day, to be later craned on to a truck for delivery to the building sites. You can perhaps imagine the demands made on me and my ripsaw!

In the period 1935-1970 somewhere in the vicinity of 70,000 state houses were built. That shows up the impossibility of promises of 100,000 houses by David Cunliffe, and a new house every day from Nick Smith made on 31 March 2013. No-

one took into account the fact that our timber mills are working to quotas due to the demand for logs for export, or due to the antics of Roger Douglas and his cronies, our former excellent apprentice training schemes have been disbanded and

handed over to the Battery Hen environments of the Polytechs. I supress a laugh every time I drive past a house building enterprise set up on a vacant site in Petone where groups of budding builders are producing ready built houses for later sale and removal to eventual building sites. The site on which they are being produced is level concrete paving. How can those kids possibly consider themselves to be builders having never been exposed to the actual conditions of building sites, undulating land, and mud up past their knees in winter, Smelly long-drop toilets, in danger of being pushed over by playful workmates when occupied, draughty uncomfortable lunch sheds and generally poor working conditions

due to the need to turn out in all weathers, due to the carefully engineered demise of the Trade Unions, which were so instrumental in improving the conditions of ALL workers. High Viz Jackets do not good tradesmen make! Chippies of my generation understood well, all the privations of working outside and had strategies that ensured their continuing survival. These induced a fierce pride among us which was quite universal.