oh wow, I'm usually the complete opposite lol. When it gets hot out I'm not interested in a drink because I'm just gonna get hotter. Give me a splash in a warm coffee though for an afternoon pick-me-up when I'm tinkering into the winter nights sounds nice (especially if your hands are freezing).

In the link comment I provided I did state it was a far off miracle. But, my focus was less on 3rd parties or electoral reform, it was directly related to the "National Committees" that exists. I'm all for state parties, reminds me of when Bell was split into it's different areas. But on a national level I wonder if it can be argued that it's so far removed from focusing on "political ideologies of it's group" to becoming a service provider for selected candidates. You could look at the committee's structures, are they even following their own political ideologies, what type of controlling power they have, etc etc.

This question was less about electoral practices are more about a single entity controlling the national level of it's party. I feel the function of these at a national level, can be argued as an organization/company which controls the market for their party. What "political party" protections are there and what distinguishes them from any other organization that could be regulated by the anti-competitive laws. I feel they are political in name only, and can truly be academically and legally viewed as a business (which supports mainly political clients).

Looking at an entire political spectrum and there being only a Duopoly is heart breaking. But I meant more like each one is a true "business monopoly" for it's own perspective market/party. Controlling exposure, funding, data, candidate selection, being generally a lobbying middleman group, at what point does this become less a "political ideological group" and more a business organization that focuses heavily on political candidates? (like a sign manufacturer is technically making political content, but they're still just a business, they're both providing a service or product to individuals).

This is not so much a focus on political parties or ideologies, but more the NC (national committee) portion of it. I understand state political parties. But when expanded to the national committee's of those parties, how are those organizations not considered a monopoly for their parties centralizing and controlling the state level and have completely overtaken national decisions which can effect the state level as well.

I remember growing up in the 90's and being acutely aware of the growing minimum wage. I knew no matter what that when I was able to get a job I would be guaranteed "this" amount and always thought about prices and how long I had to work to get something I wanted when I was an adult. Every small bump made it a little mini-celebration like I was getting a future raise that would allow me to have a better life.

Now? Shake and bake costs over 5$, I have to literally work over an hour to buy half a cup of "convenient" seasoned bread crumbs. I could buy the flour, make the bread, and process it to make my own... but now I'm out of time in the day to work enough to actually afford the meat or any other side item. Oh yeah, and at some point I should pay my bills and save for retirement -_-

I gotta say, this article makes me feel sane again.

Luckily my energy company found a way around all of this to always charge more! We have "Basic Customer Charge", "Summary of Rider Adjustments", "Renewable Energy Rider", and then Sales Tax on all of it. My base charge is over 100$ before they start calculating your actually energy usage. Yay electrical monopolies!

Here is the original posting from New Zealand Herald which has video of the incident (1 of 3 near identical pages, that website is a mess). I searched out the real one because that linked article is just horrible and unnecessary (idk why he felt cool putting "The only things I’m planning to sneak in are sleeping tablets." at the end).

For anyone wanting to get riled up, NZ Herald also has this wonderful little opinion piece from Ryan Bridge (a local broadcaster).

Ryan Bridge is wondering where people’s shame went when it comes to breaking the rules. This is not the most important story that you will hear today, but it grinds my gears. It’s a small, seemingly insignificant event, but I think it speaks to two things that I absolutely hate about the world that we live in right now.

The opinion article is just a shit show from what sounds like a pretty horrible and privileged person.

Holy fuck why is that so beautiful. You've unlocked something in me I didn't know was there and must pursue now.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make unless you're saying no one has to create a Discord account, or have to download an app, or have to find an invite to locate the server. My keys are auto-generated and auto-saved, simple 20 second process. Forums are also a lot easier to sign up for than Discord, if you're worried about making another account I don't know what to tell ya because every service requires it.

? What's the difference between setting up a free forum (they're everywhere) versus setting up Discord channels? It's the exact same process.