That little seal point Siamese face poking out is adorable! Looks like the face at the bottom on the right is a sibling.

The headline is very misleading. It should have read “Three Republicans mildly condemn the attack, while the President lies about it and stokes further stochastic terrorism.”

3 seconds!?! Those are rookie numbers! Trump’s going to move the needle straight to midnight.

“Small government”

Disordered people never want to see their misfortune as the direct consequences of their own actions. They want to place the blame elsewhere. Accordingly, as the Trump presidency becomes a nightmare, it isn’t their fault. They didn’t have a choice. They were misled. The other side would have just done the same thing, only worse. They’ll make up all sorts of things in their mind to excuse themselves and their role in creating this nightmare.

A greatcoat worn by the senior US border patrol official Gregory Bovino, who has spearheaded aggressive immigration operations across the country, has raised eyebrows in German media with some commentators saying it resembled a fascist aesthetic.

Was the coat made by Hugo Boss?

They have rich soil, a moderate climate, and an abundance of fresh water, so it is easy to grow food and raise livestock. They import virtually all their oil and gas. While the interconnected globalized world supplies a lot of what they use, if push came to shove and NZ were isolated the people would survive independent of the outside world, though there would be some challenges as thy learned to live without what they purchase from abroad.

Everything is relative. I currently live in Southern California in an area where the median home price is $930K USD ($1.565M NZD). A $1M NZD home is only $590K USD, which would be a “steal” here. Accordingly, housing, the biggest expense in the cost of living here, seems like a relative bargain in NZ.

Yes, other things may be a bit more expensive, but overall I’d be looking at a reduction in the cost of living. As far as “standard of living” goes, it depends on what you value. Personally, I love nature, the outdoors, and am an avid surfer and mountain biker. From my perspective NZ’s less crowded waves and spectacular natural beauty makes for a very attractive standard of living.

The challenge for me is that given my age (~60), I am not a preferred immigrant, so residency offers some challenges, as I am not yet to the point financially where I can spring for the golden visa (though I should be at that point in not too long of time). Accordingly, if I were to move there I’d have to implement other strategies. I’d probably start with a tourist visa to check it out and see if I wanted to live there, then perhaps enroll in some classes and apply for a student visa to buy more time.

Meh. “Friendly” is a relative term. While NZ may be swinging a bit towards the right these days (as opposed to when Ardern was PM), NZ has ranked choice voting, which mitigates some of the political polarity seen in places like the U.S. where things stratify into two camps. This tends to make political power more responsive to the people, so even if the current administration is favorable to Trump, as the U.S. slides off the rails I would expect the NZ government to step back.

The level of dangerous ignorance is exactly why the entire world is worried.

I found out about them from a swing dance website (I dance swing/lindy hop), and saw them again last night. During the opening act, the singer was selling merch from the booth across from me. No one was buying anything and she was rocking to the show, so I asked her to dance. She was new to swing, but had excellent rhythm and a great vibe and was fun to dance with.

“Hallooo!”

I’m feeling this one.

Not sure if this is how you meant it, but this is how I read it.

Whoever told you that is your enemy.

A $37K Chinese electric car.

She looks like she’s clearly in need of a neck massager.

Shhhhh!

That looks environmentally friendly! /s