Luxon trusts Seymour to fix burnt, unhealthy, late & small lunches, but Stanford issues 'please explain'; Luxon also says he trusts Trump and US as 'reliable partners,' despite tariff & Ukraine shocks
There's more than a lack of empathy. It's evidently a "culty" dog-whistling style to certain cohorts of distracted battler voters shooting up in trumpist rabbit-holes. See "Trump contagion syndrome" in the convergence of the failure of the cult of market fundamentalism, especially around media tech & "unscrupulous promotions", feeding on snd formenting the explosion of BS & the politics of distraction.
The fascistic politics of narcissistic "dark tetrad" personalities includes by definition an element of the evil and sadism that Tolkein, Yates & Solszenitsin beheld, and in the great wisdom traditions. It can be summoned in all of us in dark times, especially when separated ftom these traditions or seduced into travesties of them. Dark ages have been faced before when wisdom thankfully endured in sanctuaries. But the swiftness of moment When the politics of money, vanity, captured or liquidated institutions and terrible force is weilded, there remains "islands of coherence" nurturing the unconquerable world of social license aka legitimation. The integrity of the judiciary, communicative and expressive action in the public domain, and a new emergency "blitz" social solidarity strengthening consciousness-raising teach-ins and encouraging events deepening connectivity to anti-consumerist mutual-aid networks patching up the mist vulnerable as core business.
Now, to "get on with it", as mother used to admonish.
But Luxon is a total fuckwit, so anything he says should not be a surprise. Find someone who worked at Air NZ while he was in charge who didn't think he was a fuckwit, if you can.
Agreed. Luxon is a figurehead and a puppet. He was the pick of a leader who was right in the US's pocket. Act's and National's agenda seems to be one of 'cause chaos and profit from it' - like Musk writ small, except that for us here in Aotearoa New Zealand it's enormously destructive and disastrous. Hmm - let's see who is profiting from the misery and the mess.
Oh, and if a marmite sandwich was all you had for dinner the night before, you might need a decent lunch, Mr Luxon.
The marmite statement has been designed to get a specific response from the voter base, which they have achieved - Breakfast this morning, the feedback was overwhelming supporting Luxon with the marmite statement - probably more to do with their demographic rather than the fact that people agree with it.
I don't think Luxon is stupid. He does some very stupid things agree, but I think it is entirely by design.
agree entirely. Luxon is entirely self motivated and motivated by selfishness. One should never assume that a Narcissist is dumb. A covert narcissist, ie one who doesn't answer any direct question, is very dangerous. As Helen Clark said, Aotearoa got our trump before America. She ended her statement by warning us to 'be very afraid'
And... covert Narcissists do not respond to rational discussion. Attempting to second guess what comes next is its own rabbit hole. Aotearoa's next election can't come soon enough
The older demographic that watch Breakfast should remember roast lamb and beef meals were common but marmite sandwiches dried badly pre-plastic wrap and were the likely left overs in my 60s school lunch. School milk was available and I got mine cold aa a lunch monitor. The older generation now are lucky to serve themselves lamb. On Breakfast Seymour denied he wanted to scrap school lunches altogether and make it fail. Short memory?
oh very short memory, my cheese and marmite sandwiches never got eaten. I learnt very quickly to toss them in the school rubbish bin at lunchtime so I didn't get in trouble at home for wasting perfectly good food that could be feeding the children in Africa!
Edit: yes it meant i went nearly my entire school life without lunch, but I had breadkfast every day and a hot, cooked meal everynight with pudding. A full fridge when I got home from school.
they would have been consumed ravenously by myself and siblings in the 1950s and 1960s when we were at primary and secondary schools.
and we always had a substantial cooked dinner at night.
today housing prices and consequently rents are exceedingly excessive and many households have little or even nothing (yes that is true) for food after paying their rent.
Obviously Luxon wanted to be Prime Minister but demonstratively is not acting as one, if he chooses not to act in these situations or to back his own team. Or to even sense let alone read the room on school lunches, Trump and Seymour it’s hard to fathom.
He wanted the title, the attention and the ensuing gong, but is obviously not capable of (or interested in) the job itself. He definitely needs a big slice of humble pie for his own lunch.
Yes, there seems to be a few in the recent past and currently, who seem to want the job either for the CV or kudos, but then demonstrate just how unfit they are in reality. Always seems to be on the right (or maybe I’m biased).
I am sorry - and I know I am probably preaching to the choir here, but Luxon and Seymor are taking us down a very deliberate and bad path.
Step after step and Act after Act, they are making deliberate choices to cause damage to our economy and society. The school lunches fiasco is just the most obvious and recent debacle. The response to criticism is to issue a phrase ("go make a marmite sandwich"), that joins the deathless, "I'm [all right jack], I'm sorted".
Though at times I have just thought they were idiots and flailing around like a landed fish. I now do not think it is paranoid to suggest there is a playbook here.
And frankly, after the disgusting events in the Oval Office last Friday (I couldn't help thinking of Ribbentrop and company yelling and berating the Czech PM in their meetings in 1938), how ANYONE can trust the US now is beyond me. They are deliberately going after Europe and NATO and they have I fear, serious designs to hurt Canada - a Commonwealth partner. I get we may not want to say some things out loud for diplomatic reasons but increasingly, staying silent in the hope that the school yard bullies don't notice you, and take your lunch money is not an option.
As a small trading nation, we depend on free trade and the international rule of law.
To paraphrase Ben Franklin (I think), "gentlemen, we must all hang together - or most assuredly, we will all hang separately".
I am feeling increasingly sick at the state of things. My grandfathers fought a terrible war for 7 years of their lives against this idea that the strong can just bully the weak; that might makes right. In the aftermath of this war, they determined to ensure there was a rules-based order to ensure this never happened again. I no longer feel it is an overreaction to say we may need to be prepared to stand up to be counted again.
I agree with you and made a comment before seeing this response. He does stupid things, this does not mean he's stupid. The entire country is focussed on a marmite sandwich now, and should be focussed on his absolutely unfathomable view that he trusts Trump and that "growth, growth, growth" and "yes" are nowhere to be seen.
"S&P Global Ratings last week downgraded its assessment of New Zealand councils’ institutional framework because of funding reversals and political uncertainty generated by the Government’s repeal of Three Waters and transport and infrastructure funding freezes."
Mr Luxon is a poor-man's John Key, who was bad enough in his own right, but whose leadership was head and shoulders above the bumble-headed flailing of this buffoon, who, if he had a skerrick of self-awareness, would recognise his thorough incompetence and resign.
I completely agree. Labour's cowardice in this area, particularly from 2020 when they had an outright majority, was the death blow to any faith I had in them as a serious political force in this country.
Everything Luxon does suggests to me he is not very bright. There's no wily subtle game plan going on. But he appears to have an ego bigger than Texas - I imagine adding PM to his cv and a knighthood are his aims. At least he said he supports Ukraine ...
Cluxon is a pretend John Key with less of the red nose. Key is a trump supporter and probably an atlas agent behind a lot of the current governments "look after the RICH and to hell with everyone else" policies.
Is it not being reported or is there no actual fightback re school lunches?
When the lunches are delivered are yesterday's leftovers being loaded onto the delivery truck to go back to the manufacturer. (Let them dispose of them, not the school).
If a meal is sub-standard are a couple of examples being bagged up and sent by courier to the relevant authority along with a complaint. Who is that authority? Health, Worksafe,?
When the lunches are delivered are they being quality checked? Quality checked includes arriving on time. If not up to standard refuse to accept them. Yeah, I know this is going to be a pain for the minimum wage truck driver but the message may get through if full truck loads arrive back at the manufacturer.
And I know such actions may harm the kids who will be missing out but ...
Compass kai I was charmingly served by a young worker when I was tethered in a CCU was such crap I took a pic record. I asked the friendly young worker where it came from - "Compass". What were they like as an employer? - "really crap". I learnt they had a damage-limitation PR campaign on "people trafficking" in UK. "Yep, Compass is our name, Crap is our game"
Yes!! Send examples and complaints to the Human Rights Commission.
And the Children's Commissioner (if it still exists), and David Seymour's office and the Minister of Education.
Getting an item on the news is good, but gumming up offices is the next step. A complaint has been laid so they can't just toss the evidence. Well, not before the relevant agency commits in writing to agreeing, or disagreeing, with the complaint.
This government's announcements and ploy's since the US election results seem to be based on the belief that their voter base mirrors Trump's. Another case of misjudgement on their part but I wonder if their donor base is similar.
Is Education Minister Erica Stanford actually a potential replacement for Luxon? She hasn't shown much leadership in her current roles. Didn't think she even had a seat in the coalition's leadership clown car.
Margaret Thatcher, the arch neoliberal once said 'there is no such thing as society '.
Acts/Seymour's school meals ? programme has resulted in many groups who were providing good wholesome food and forming positive relationships in their local society.
So an unintended ? outcome of the shift to a mass produced commercial system has been to disband this gentle movement towards greater society awareness and action.
I'm thinking that Thatcher will be chuckling in her grave.
Has anyone noticed this school lunch issue is slowly uncovering another issue this Government has?
I noticed last night on the news that Seymour was quite dismissive of Stanford, he also appeared on Breakfast this morning, his repsonse to the 'meeting with Stanford yesterday' remains the same as yesterdays repsonse - he has talked to a number of his colleagues who have no problems with what he is doing. He's spoken to the Prime Minister about it, he's spoken to the press about it in a formal interview this morning but he still hasn't spoken to Minister Stanford about it.
Why would you not speak to your boss, the Minister of Education about it? Misogyny perhaps?
Why would Luxon be assuring people everything was ok and be the one fronting this with the press and why isn't Minister Stanford representing this? Misogyny perhaps?
Why would Erica Stanford feel the need to tell journalists yesterday that her boss allocates the jobs and they get on with it? Defence against misogyny perhaps?
Trust or trussed? (Of the UK variety) EQ can’t be one of Luxon’s KPI’s.
🤣a great quip Keith
Luxon and Co. are really showing their total lack of empathy and awareness of what their citizens and voters really do care about.
Also, David Seymour is clearly enjoying his "role" as agent provocateur way to much... and understands that there is no boundaries.
The waft of sadism is intrinsic.
There's more than a lack of empathy. It's evidently a "culty" dog-whistling style to certain cohorts of distracted battler voters shooting up in trumpist rabbit-holes. See "Trump contagion syndrome" in the convergence of the failure of the cult of market fundamentalism, especially around media tech & "unscrupulous promotions", feeding on snd formenting the explosion of BS & the politics of distraction.
The fascistic politics of narcissistic "dark tetrad" personalities includes by definition an element of the evil and sadism that Tolkein, Yates & Solszenitsin beheld, and in the great wisdom traditions. It can be summoned in all of us in dark times, especially when separated ftom these traditions or seduced into travesties of them. Dark ages have been faced before when wisdom thankfully endured in sanctuaries. But the swiftness of moment When the politics of money, vanity, captured or liquidated institutions and terrible force is weilded, there remains "islands of coherence" nurturing the unconquerable world of social license aka legitimation. The integrity of the judiciary, communicative and expressive action in the public domain, and a new emergency "blitz" social solidarity strengthening consciousness-raising teach-ins and encouraging events deepening connectivity to anti-consumerist mutual-aid networks patching up the mist vulnerable as core business.
Now, to "get on with it", as mother used to admonish.
But Luxon is a total fuckwit, so anything he says should not be a surprise. Find someone who worked at Air NZ while he was in charge who didn't think he was a fuckwit, if you can.
Hard agree
Haven't found one yet! The Execs who used to sing his praises are no longer with the airline...
Agreed. Luxon is a figurehead and a puppet. He was the pick of a leader who was right in the US's pocket. Act's and National's agenda seems to be one of 'cause chaos and profit from it' - like Musk writ small, except that for us here in Aotearoa New Zealand it's enormously destructive and disastrous. Hmm - let's see who is profiting from the misery and the mess.
Oh, and if a marmite sandwich was all you had for dinner the night before, you might need a decent lunch, Mr Luxon.
The marmite statement has been designed to get a specific response from the voter base, which they have achieved - Breakfast this morning, the feedback was overwhelming supporting Luxon with the marmite statement - probably more to do with their demographic rather than the fact that people agree with it.
I don't think Luxon is stupid. He does some very stupid things agree, but I think it is entirely by design.
agree entirely. Luxon is entirely self motivated and motivated by selfishness. One should never assume that a Narcissist is dumb. A covert narcissist, ie one who doesn't answer any direct question, is very dangerous. As Helen Clark said, Aotearoa got our trump before America. She ended her statement by warning us to 'be very afraid'
And... covert Narcissists do not respond to rational discussion. Attempting to second guess what comes next is its own rabbit hole. Aotearoa's next election can't come soon enough
The older demographic that watch Breakfast should remember roast lamb and beef meals were common but marmite sandwiches dried badly pre-plastic wrap and were the likely left overs in my 60s school lunch. School milk was available and I got mine cold aa a lunch monitor. The older generation now are lucky to serve themselves lamb. On Breakfast Seymour denied he wanted to scrap school lunches altogether and make it fail. Short memory?
oh very short memory, my cheese and marmite sandwiches never got eaten. I learnt very quickly to toss them in the school rubbish bin at lunchtime so I didn't get in trouble at home for wasting perfectly good food that could be feeding the children in Africa!
Edit: yes it meant i went nearly my entire school life without lunch, but I had breadkfast every day and a hot, cooked meal everynight with pudding. A full fridge when I got home from school.
wot !!! marmite and cheese sandwiches not eaten.
they would have been consumed ravenously by myself and siblings in the 1950s and 1960s when we were at primary and secondary schools.
and we always had a substantial cooked dinner at night.
today housing prices and consequently rents are exceedingly excessive and many households have little or even nothing (yes that is true) for food after paying their rent.
What would it take for Luxon to take a stand on something.
"We needed to make savings on school lunches but the results haven't been good enough"
"We want to maintain relations with US but like out allies we don't agree with a b c"
"I would have removed an MP for failing to meet to standards I expect" (when no action was actually required....)
Just say something ffs
He did say something, he said make a marmite sandwich. It needs to be a t-shirt. Answer to the worlds problems, "Make a marmite sandwich".
Obviously Luxon wanted to be Prime Minister but demonstratively is not acting as one, if he chooses not to act in these situations or to back his own team. Or to even sense let alone read the room on school lunches, Trump and Seymour it’s hard to fathom.
He wanted the title, the attention and the ensuing gong, but is obviously not capable of (or interested in) the job itself. He definitely needs a big slice of humble pie for his own lunch.
Sigh, yes this is the text book definition of a no brainer situation kids + food + school = PM steps in and happy endings etc
Yes, there seems to be a few in the recent past and currently, who seem to want the job either for the CV or kudos, but then demonstrate just how unfit they are in reality. Always seems to be on the right (or maybe I’m biased).
I am sorry - and I know I am probably preaching to the choir here, but Luxon and Seymor are taking us down a very deliberate and bad path.
Step after step and Act after Act, they are making deliberate choices to cause damage to our economy and society. The school lunches fiasco is just the most obvious and recent debacle. The response to criticism is to issue a phrase ("go make a marmite sandwich"), that joins the deathless, "I'm [all right jack], I'm sorted".
Though at times I have just thought they were idiots and flailing around like a landed fish. I now do not think it is paranoid to suggest there is a playbook here.
And frankly, after the disgusting events in the Oval Office last Friday (I couldn't help thinking of Ribbentrop and company yelling and berating the Czech PM in their meetings in 1938), how ANYONE can trust the US now is beyond me. They are deliberately going after Europe and NATO and they have I fear, serious designs to hurt Canada - a Commonwealth partner. I get we may not want to say some things out loud for diplomatic reasons but increasingly, staying silent in the hope that the school yard bullies don't notice you, and take your lunch money is not an option.
As a small trading nation, we depend on free trade and the international rule of law.
To paraphrase Ben Franklin (I think), "gentlemen, we must all hang together - or most assuredly, we will all hang separately".
I am feeling increasingly sick at the state of things. My grandfathers fought a terrible war for 7 years of their lives against this idea that the strong can just bully the weak; that might makes right. In the aftermath of this war, they determined to ensure there was a rules-based order to ensure this never happened again. I no longer feel it is an overreaction to say we may need to be prepared to stand up to be counted again.
And Labour Party - where the bloody hell are you?
I agree with you and made a comment before seeing this response. He does stupid things, this does not mean he's stupid. The entire country is focussed on a marmite sandwich now, and should be focussed on his absolutely unfathomable view that he trusts Trump and that "growth, growth, growth" and "yes" are nowhere to be seen.
I feel sorry for Canada sandwiched between two powerful allies, USA and Russia.
TheNZ Labour Party releases media statements every day here: https://www.labour.org.nz/blog.
I'm branch secretary for our.local branch, we'd love to have more active members.
Thanks for that.
That’s a good response to those of us, including myself, who complain about no show mute Labour.
Maybe direct attention to lazy, easily distracted, vacuous, unprofessional, so called Main Stream Media?
"S&P Global Ratings last week downgraded its assessment of New Zealand councils’ institutional framework because of funding reversals and political uncertainty generated by the Government’s repeal of Three Waters and transport and infrastructure funding freezes."
Is this the FAFO of doing a racism?
Mr Luxon is a poor-man's John Key, who was bad enough in his own right, but whose leadership was head and shoulders above the bumble-headed flailing of this buffoon, who, if he had a skerrick of self-awareness, would recognise his thorough incompetence and resign.
NZ is still suffering from John Key's tax cuts for the top earners. Labour lacked the courage to reverse them.
I completely agree. Labour's cowardice in this area, particularly from 2020 when they had an outright majority, was the death blow to any faith I had in them as a serious political force in this country.
Luxon really is appalling. I'm trying to find any statement he has made in support of the Palestinians in Gaza later than May 2024.
He (and Winston) only play lip service to support for Palestinians.
I don't love anything being reported this morning (no change there) ... except the dog. I do love the dog.
I love the dog too, I grew up with a border collie, fabulous fabulous dogs <3
$300 million break fee for the ferries would’ve made a big contribution to port infrastructure in Wgtn and Picton.
Seems like a great example of very crappy economic management to me.
And no accountability in sight for a casual waste of our money.
and the entire country is talking about a marmite sandwich, he's not dumb.
They’re feeding our kids plastic and gruel to not even save half of the cost of that blunder.
That is only the reserve for the break costs not the actual costs. This appears to have been muddied in the media over the last 24hrs or so.
We now know why Nicola Willis couldn't afford to take her kids to the movies, terrible household budgeting...
Everything Luxon does suggests to me he is not very bright. There's no wily subtle game plan going on. But he appears to have an ego bigger than Texas - I imagine adding PM to his cv and a knighthood are his aims. At least he said he supports Ukraine ...
Cluxon is a pretend John Key with less of the red nose. Key is a trump supporter and probably an atlas agent behind a lot of the current governments "look after the RICH and to hell with everyone else" policies.
He may be a puppet for others' agendas but I doubt that he knows it.
Like Trump, Luxon appears to be a 'useful idiot' to those that really are the movers and shakers.
Is it not being reported or is there no actual fightback re school lunches?
When the lunches are delivered are yesterday's leftovers being loaded onto the delivery truck to go back to the manufacturer. (Let them dispose of them, not the school).
If a meal is sub-standard are a couple of examples being bagged up and sent by courier to the relevant authority along with a complaint. Who is that authority? Health, Worksafe,?
When the lunches are delivered are they being quality checked? Quality checked includes arriving on time. If not up to standard refuse to accept them. Yeah, I know this is going to be a pain for the minimum wage truck driver but the message may get through if full truck loads arrive back at the manufacturer.
And I know such actions may harm the kids who will be missing out but ...
Compass kai I was charmingly served by a young worker when I was tethered in a CCU was such crap I took a pic record. I asked the friendly young worker where it came from - "Compass". What were they like as an employer? - "really crap". I learnt they had a damage-limitation PR campaign on "people trafficking" in UK. "Yep, Compass is our name, Crap is our game"
As being pushed by the guys at BHN the school lunch debacle may well be in breach of childrens' human rights
https://youtu.be/8TRWnjo6420
Yes!! Send examples and complaints to the Human Rights Commission.
And the Children's Commissioner (if it still exists), and David Seymour's office and the Minister of Education.
Getting an item on the news is good, but gumming up offices is the next step. A complaint has been laid so they can't just toss the evidence. Well, not before the relevant agency commits in writing to agreeing, or disagreeing, with the complaint.
This government's announcements and ploy's since the US election results seem to be based on the belief that their voter base mirrors Trump's. Another case of misjudgement on their part but I wonder if their donor base is similar.
Is Education Minister Erica Stanford actually a potential replacement for Luxon? She hasn't shown much leadership in her current roles. Didn't think she even had a seat in the coalition's leadership clown car.
Margaret Thatcher, the arch neoliberal once said 'there is no such thing as society '.
Acts/Seymour's school meals ? programme has resulted in many groups who were providing good wholesome food and forming positive relationships in their local society.
So an unintended ? outcome of the shift to a mass produced commercial system has been to disband this gentle movement towards greater society awareness and action.
I'm thinking that Thatcher will be chuckling in her grave.
Has anyone noticed this school lunch issue is slowly uncovering another issue this Government has?
I noticed last night on the news that Seymour was quite dismissive of Stanford, he also appeared on Breakfast this morning, his repsonse to the 'meeting with Stanford yesterday' remains the same as yesterdays repsonse - he has talked to a number of his colleagues who have no problems with what he is doing. He's spoken to the Prime Minister about it, he's spoken to the press about it in a formal interview this morning but he still hasn't spoken to Minister Stanford about it.
Why would you not speak to your boss, the Minister of Education about it? Misogyny perhaps?
Why would Luxon be assuring people everything was ok and be the one fronting this with the press and why isn't Minister Stanford representing this? Misogyny perhaps?
Why would Erica Stanford feel the need to tell journalists yesterday that her boss allocates the jobs and they get on with it? Defence against misogyny perhaps?
I think you're very much onto something Annie
👍always more to ponder!