thatsTheCatch

Good question. Anyone who is part or all Māori can choose whether they vote for the Māori electorate or the general electorate. As for services, I don't know. If I had to guess, you'd have to be a member of an iwi (tribe) or at least be part Māori. But there are services for everyone; it'd be Māori-based services that would be aimed at Māori. They have different cultural values and methods, so it's more the way the services are provided rather than the services themselves.

For example, during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, there was some discussion about Māori wanting to have their whole whānau (family) vaccinated at the same time because it's seen as a collective measure and followed cultural Māori family values. At the time, they were being rolled by age, so some people in a family could get it while others couldn't. There are valid discussions to be had for both methods.

TL;DR - if someone has Māori ancestry, they can choose which electorate to vote in and which services to receive

I attended this hīkoi (march). Only the people at the front were in traditional dress. Most other people were wearing clothes that they painted the Māori flag onto, or just in normal clothes. Was still very very cool to see, though

Everyone does have those rights.

Basically, back in the day, when the Europeans arrived in New Zealand and wanted to set up shop, they signed a treaty with the Māori that the Europeans would govern the Europeans and the Māori would govern the Māori. This is called co-governance. At this time, Māori vastly outnumbered the colonists.

The Europeans promptly ignored the treaty and became so large in numbers that they formed the government. There is a Māori section of government that is focused on Māori issues. This bill would essentially get rid of that and let the European-formed government decide what is best for Māori.

It's a slap in the face to say "hey, you can govern yourselves. Oh wait now we outnumber you, you shouldn't be allowed to speak your language and also you have to follow our laws. Oh also you're not allowed to govern your own people anymore, you have to follow our colonial way of doing things. K thx"

The "special rights" that David Seymour is talking about is basically anything specifically laid out to help Māori, so a form of affirmative action. I understand the initial distaste towards race-based solutions to problems, but it's the only way to fix problems that were caused by race-based policies in the first place. Colour-blind equality won't fix issues caused by systemic racism.

This is my current understanding at least. I'm a Kiwi and I attended this hīkoi (march).

That got a chuckle out of me, ya bastard

Remember, there are no consequences. Whatever you do will be reset, so this wouldn't work

That's my apartment neighbour. Can smell in my apartment when they light one up

I barely knew anything about him tbh. I knew four things:

• He was a world-class boxer
• He owned a tiger
• He has a lisp
• He was in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!

I only respected him because he was one of the best in the world at something. I knew nothing of his character, which I now know is bad

I didn't raise Mike Tyson was a rapist until I read an article about this upcoming fight. Tainted my view of the man

Balatro could be good. Terraria I think is a bit tricky to learn unless you have a friend guiding you. It requires a lot of looking up the wiki which I think isn't ideal for someone getting into video games.

It's definitely worth trying if you're interested.

I would not recommend buying a console or gaming PC first as that is a money sink that you're not sure is worth it yet. My gaming PC broke when I arrived at university, and I got by playing less graphically intensive games on my standard laptop for a few years.

Good games I'd recommend to start with:

• Stardew Valley — cosy, charming farming game that you can play at your own pace. Has great characters that you get to know, and fun, simple, rewarding gameplay. My girlfriend got really into this game.
• Minecraft — this is where many of us started as kids. It's an excellent game that's fun for all ages. There isn't a clear goal so it's more about making your own fun.
• Vampire Survivors — extremely fun, simple, cheap, and addicting game. Play at your own risk.
• LIMBO — a puzzle game classic with a unique, dark aesthetic. Only takes a couple of hours to complete.
• INSIDE — made by the same people as Limbo. Grabbed me and wouldn't let go for the whole 4 hour experience. I don't play many puzzle games but I couldn't get enough of this one. Probably because of the narrative.

Those can all be played on the average laptop or desktop anyone would have.

Best of luck on your journey! Feel free to reply with any questions or suggestions for specific genres and such. My girlfriend didn't play video games until I introduced them to her, and the most important thing was that I didn't try to force any games on her, just show her what there was and let her interest lead the way. So take a look at all the suggestions people are leaving and go with what interests you most. And if you're not enjoying a game, it's okay to go play a different one.

(Also, Steam provides free, no-questions-asked refunds for any games purchased that both 1) were bought less than 2 weeks ago, and 2) have less than 2 hours of game time. So you can always demo a game to see if you like it and return it easily if not.)

Imagine being his lawyer and having to come up with an argument to defend him. Yeesh

You don't have to be registered under a specific party I think. I'm not American, but you can register as an independent. And you don't have to vote for the party you're registered for. Actually I have no idea why you even register for certain parties in the first place