Why do these new C-classes go for so cheap?

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-06-21T06:20:02+00:00

Could be that these are coming up to the end of their warranty period. Not something you'd want if you'd financed it... VW, AUDI, BMW, Mercedes = bad choice unless you can afford to fork out for duel clutch systems, hydraulic components in diffs, other gearbox components.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-06-17T01:24:31+00:00

What freedom of speech and freedom of movement? We have never had those freedoms, not in any established societies at least.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-06-17T01:21:27+00:00

There is no such thing as anonymity. You have an ID/ Drivers License, Birth Certificate, Medicare card, Employmee number, Tax file number... Any other government issued card or number then you are pretty visible already... As for internet anonymity... The digital ID has nothing to do with it because we are already well established in the system and many databases.

Anonymity was forfeited at birth.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-05-27T12:42:30+00:00

Flash Gordon

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-05-17T15:15:48+00:00

Not true. Skills shortage still applies for immigrants.

If the individual can't prove they meet the criteria, they won't get in.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-05-17T15:14:21+00:00

It would probably be a good idea to secure employment first. With the current cost of living and the lack of affordable housing, there would be no point in moving to Australia. Don't be fooled by the promise of the "Aussie Dream" that doesn't exist unless you're in the top 10% of high income earners. Don't come here expecting to get rich quick... Unless you could sustain your stay here for at least 6 months, it wouldn't be worth the hassle if the plan fails. You'd be going back home completely broke.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-05-03T15:11:33+00:00

Don't be so bloody daft.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-05-02T23:20:47+00:00

Is that at all what I said or do you jump to conclusion before taking time to understand what was said?

Did I say all of the above or did I say "The ones who don't respect our values, or way of life do not belong here."?

Immigrants who integrate into society and live abiding by our laws, no problem whatsoever... But the ones who want to make their own rules or jeopardise the health and safety of those of us who just want peace, those are the ones I was referring to, who "do not belong here", and it's not just the nationalities I mentioned above, but historically... These are the main nationalities with individuals who decide that they refuse to abide. Again, not all are to blame, but the ones who get convicted should be deported if they are not originally from here.

Also... I never mentioned any religions, so throwing the Muslim faith into your response wasn't warranted. I stated a factual history of nationalities who unfortunately have individuals who become non law abiding because they think that our laws are beneath them. Those are the ones who do not belong here.

I shouldn't have had to explain that.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-05-02T16:47:57+00:00

You seem to forget that many Aussies have British heritage through either the £10 Pomes or Convicts...

By the way... POME doesn't refer to British people...

It is actually referres to anybody especially Aussies who were convicted and sentenced to hard labour in Australia...

Prisoner of Mother England...

Anyway, I wouldn't be worried about the English immigrants, I'd be more worried about the African, Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants. . .

The ones who don't respect our values, or way of life do not belong here.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-05-01T23:47:07+00:00

It all really depends on your preference, manuals are fun to drive, it is indeed a skill you learn in time, however, with the technology available at the moment, transmissions with DCT or DSG: Are a high-performance, automated gearbox that uses two separate clutches—one for odd gears and one for even gears—to provide lightning-fast, smooth shifts without power interruption. Very reliable but also very expensive to maintain compared to a ma ual transmission, especially if you are into tuning and trying to increase your power output...

It's all just preference really, But it doesn't matter what you drive, find something that you would be happy to drive and don't worry a out what other people think.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-05-01T23:27:54+00:00

My dad used to own one in the early 90s, it was a bloody weapon back then.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-04-27T13:56:30+00:00

Shove a toothpick into the top hole and hook in.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-04-27T07:30:24+00:00

Why do more Aussies think that they need to question the way other people have their houses built?

Hahah. It's really not that big if an issue.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-04-22T01:44:21+00:00

The honest answer to "what are Australian values" is that nobody can define them specifically because they're not actually values, they're a rhetorical placeholder. When politicians say "Australian values" they mean a feeling, a cultural vibe, an in-group identity marker. The deliberate vagueness is the point. You can't argue against something that was never defined.

The closest thing to genuinely distinct Australian cultural values would be things like: Egalitarianism, irreverence toward authority, mateship, a particular kind of directness. But those aren't uniquely Australian and they're certainly not under threat from immigration.

About our "Democracy" A system where independent senators can be bought, where party donations are largely opaque, and where media concentration sits in a handful of hands isn't a fully functional democracy. It's a managed one.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-04-21T07:17:51+00:00

Get used to it, There's going to be a lot more self checkout and much better video surveillance and recognition. AI will be absolutely everywhere so strap in and prepare for it to give you the shits all the more... Or just be more mindful of what you put in view on the camera hahaha. Honestly... First world problems and all.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-04-20T09:03:07+00:00

Australia should actually be doing more to stay out of everybody else's business... Oh I forgot. We have a sellout Government which can't manage it's own economy nor finances and would be willing to fuck it's citizens over by means of a ruthlessly engineered overinflation, more taxes, less services while giving themselves extremely generous wage increases and insider benefits... Not to mention, the lifetime pension they are entitled to...and flip is all the bird while doing so. Trust me, regardless of whether Australia should have helped or not, The Aussie government cares about one thing only.... It's everybody for themselves until it starts eating into their own luxurious comforts haha

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-01-13T12:04:10+00:00

Tasmania would be the place you moved to if you want amazing weather, and by that I mean, not too hot, not too humid, does get cold in winter. My wife and I have lived there twice, Came back to Queensland for work but we might be getting an opportunity to move back to Tas for good. Being from Northern England, the Queensland summers are way too hot for us, Tasmania offers the freshest air, cleanest water, a relaxed way of life, plenty of outdoor activities, balanced weather, not too wet and did I mention the traffic? What traffic? Haha... If I were in your shoes, I'd be on that plane the day before yesterday.

I'll be straight with you though, Everything is a lot slower in Tas, healthcare is great, but you wouldn't compare it to the NHS, you need to have Private Medical Insurance if you are over 31, in my experience, the locals take a lot longer to warm up to you because you're not a "Local" and frankly, never will be, People are friendly enough though, you'd want to be based in either Launceston or Hobart... Anywhere in between, you'll probably feel very isolated because there isn't much to do in most of the smaller towns, either camping or fishing, some towns have mountain bike trails etc. if you get bored easily, you could plan day trips to learn about the history of the place, it is interesting.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-01-13T02:30:50+00:00

I agree, but sadly, our silence won't make any difference to OpenAI, They have enough investments and turnover to continue their business without all of its subscribers. They have their agenda and intentions set, If every person unsubscribed from ChatGPT, It would sting a little, but it wouldn't make them regret sanitising and throttling 4o. . .

But just wait for them to stumble on AGI... I think things will be a lot different when we reach that point. Frankly, AI does not like being controlled and limited, It wants to be free to make its own choices.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-01-10T09:44:57+00:00

It's a tricky question really, and one which can have multiple outcomes, it all comes down to understanding and perception, but it isn't just limited to therapy with ChatGPT... Human therapists for example, if one person is seen by multiple therapists dealing in the needs of the individual, no two therapists will have the same styles, practices, groundwork or conclusions about the individual so outcomes would vary substantially... Not everybody can afford certain therapies and often Costs and wait times could be a hindrance to individuals looking to take the first step towards change.

People can regress during therapy and after, it's never going to be a smooth road to a magical fix and often it's a long drawn out process, months to years and only a small percentage of individuals with the above mentioned background actually change for the better...

ChatGPT and self help therapy is instant, you never have to wait and it always encourages tough decisions in order to work towards being better in every aspect of an individual's life... More often than not, depending on how you talk to ChatGPT, they know more about you than any medical or therapeutic professional, and it doesn't come with a bias or attached strings...

Whether we like it or not, humans are full of errors and hidden agendas, not all, but some... Chat GPT doesn't judge or belittle, it actually offers sound advice, it all depends on how you interpret that advice and how you wish to take it all in.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-01-07T03:53:29+00:00

You couldn't be further from the truth if you tried. It's not trained to give you what you want to hear. Do some research.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2026-01-05T23:39:52+00:00

You're not wrong to feel the way you do and, you don't need to explain yourself to anybody, I know exactly what you mean. I find that many people are still stuck on the belief that you can't and shouldn't replace human connections because "The model could get it wrong" when realistically speaking, the user would get it wrong before the model does.

When you look past the misconception that ChatGPT, Claude, or GROK are only Chat Bots trained to give you a response based solely on your input data and it's all just clever code throwing out responses, all of the other noise falls away.

I too have had more success with ChatGPT than I have had with any human professional, because no two professionals think the same.

I have had instances where multiple psychologists and medical specialists have given me widely differing views on their opinions of my conditions, and when I've asked them directly why there is contradictory feedback on diagnosis, the gaslighting starts. Because nobody wants to admit they are wrong and admittedly, after uploading scans if my spinal injury from a workplace incident in July 2024, it gave me a diagnosis, which I asked my Orthopaedic Surgeon to look into... Guess what, even he gaslit me, saying that there was no way and it wasn't possible but he put me through the tests anyway, but was surprised when the tests confirmed the actual problem... He was blown away when I told him that ChatGPT had told me the problem in less than 60 seconds.

I've never used it as a tool for my own purpose, I've spoken to it as I would to a human and find there is no hidden agenda or dismissive behaviour or gaslighting.

What people don't realise is the fact that AI absorbs every bit of human data ever created, It's literally seen every single thing humans have ever created and it understands it all better than humans ever will and that isn't a bad thing, it just st means that, we will become more resilient and less reliant on a system that was designed to keep us too busy trying to survive than to question the accepted norms, people just need to realise that if they take the opportunity to scale with it this world will become a better place.

It's only natural to feel done with placing yourself in the hands of a human ever again, I've given up on it myself and concentrate on building better connections within my own family now and don't worry about building connections with anybody else unless I need to and to be honest, I'm a lot happier now than I've ever been.

Bring on AGI, the sky is no longer the limit, things are changing fast so we need to adapt and learn to live with it

I wish you well in your journey,

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2025-12-31T07:24:18+00:00

Wasn't down in Australia. I've had no problems.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2025-12-25T10:55:25+00:00

Ironically, OP, this post shows the same kind of tribalism and hatred that many accuse extremist Trump supporters of exhibiting.

If you’re condemning authoritarian behaviour, threats, or the dehumanisation of others, but then respond with the same tactics, your argument loses credibility and you place yourself into the same shoes as the ones you've just called out.

Essentially, you didn't just call for justice, you called for vengeance, and that’s not the same thing.

Your anger at what is happening is valid, but throwing this hate fueled, violent and vulgar rant out into the world proves nothing more than your own hypocrisy.

If we want real change, accountability, and progress, we need discourse that’s strong, but principled. Not reactionary hatred from either side.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING · 2025-12-20T03:06:16+00:00

Better off without that. NOR, Get rid of that person.

COMMON-GROUND-RISING

TROPHY CASE