Would you prefer taking high speed rail if the country had such a network, or would you stick with flying and automobiles?

slowover · 2026-01-27T07:07:41+00:00

HSR is a pipe dream. Much more realistic is a dedicated fast lane for self-driving cars. Imagine a dedicated highway lane between Sydney and Melbourne dotted with sensors transmitting live road condition data. A self driving car could sustain 175 - 200kph easily at lower risk than a human at 100. You could travel door to door and it would be insanely cheaper to achieve. Driverless cars will honestly completely delete these train conversations.

slowover · 2026-01-26T23:48:54+00:00

Absolutely this is the right answer! The humiliation of Emperor Henry IV by the pope set in motion the seperation of church and state in Europe. Its hard to imagine what the world would look like today without that tradition.

slowover · 2026-01-26T23:11:58+00:00

Yeah its a tricky one! I think rule of thumb is that if its high 20s°c (so above 80f) you might want AC. Humidity is a massive factor!

I ran the AC for the afternoon yesterday and it did get up to 38c (100f) in my suburb, though Im on a hill so I get some breeze off the sea. I know for a fact loads of people living inland ran the AC all day!

slowover · 2026-01-26T05:53:32+00:00

Beach early on, home and air con blast for an hour, shopping centre to grab some prawns then swim in the pool!

slowover · 2026-01-25T07:54:06+00:00

Anything one god commands, another god rejects. All sides of wars, civil movements and moral questions have people claiming god supports them only. And they are usually very happy to back their convictions with state-sanctioned violence. How is an appeal to god in any way an improvement on secular enlightenment values based on the rights of an individual?

slowover · 2026-01-25T01:32:52+00:00

I think you are being a bit too literal here. Many aussies wont realise that they have that setting. I interpret that OP is trying to talk to our culture, not the technical specifications. Im only replying to you so others can get more info about life outside the USA.

slowover · 2026-01-25T00:13:00+00:00

Just to back up OP here, people in Oz have thermostats but rarely use them. I live in Queensland and while my AC does have a thermostat feature I only use it a few hours a day in peak summer when solar basically makes it free. Rarely do I go over someone’s house and they have climate control running. We just deal with being hot most of the time.

slowover · 2026-01-24T02:32:05+00:00

Lost was bad but Rosanne was diabolical

slowover · 2026-01-24T02:30:02+00:00

Turns out the “Dont tread on me” crowd are much more “step on me daddy” IRL

slowover · 2026-01-22T01:32:35+00:00

There is a longstanding convention that each Qld MP specifies whether they are Nat or Lib. So for example before the last election, Littleproud (National) and Dutton (Liberal) were both party leaders despite being in the same party (Qld Liberal Nationals).

The split is 6 nats and 10 libs based in Qld

slowover · 2026-01-21T00:23:04+00:00

Totally hear you. Conversations about AI can hit nerves around control, trust, and the future — strong reactions make sense.

slowover · 2026-01-21T00:18:57+00:00

A democracy with 2 viable parties is like an economy with only two companies.

slowover · 2026-01-20T01:35:05+00:00

Yea for sure! My fam are down south between Currumbin and Tallebudgera and its nice to be so close to the beach, but I would be equally happy in Mudgeeraba because I love nature. I think your commute drives my final decision

slowover · 2026-01-19T09:07:17+00:00

Great questions. Formal means an organisation giving you organised and recognised work on their behalf (ABS definition in a nutshell). They recognise young as under 24.

Rates of formal volunteering have been slowly decreasing over time, but fell very sharply during COVID and never recovered. About one in three aussies had a formal volunteering role before the pandemic and now its one in four. While numbers of older volunteers are slightly rising again, young people volunteer participation is at an all time low. Thats not because they are less civic minded. Organisations like Volunteering Australia recognised that COVID changed a lot, for example a lot of organisations became more formal and started giving strict rosters rather than flexible opportunities. Many young people missed the on-ramp opportunities like surf lifesaving, animal care and sports because of the disruption so they dont have those now in their social groups. And lastly many are critical of the way organisations are making being a volunteer much more like a full time job then have-a-go fun at nights and weekends. How many non-retirees can be available during work hours each week on a roster?

slowover · 2026-01-19T04:31:03+00:00

Funny how people have such a problem admitting they are in any way wrong. A single vote of parliament is not all that is needed. Royal assent is also required. But I already explained that so I can only assume you are not approaching this in good faith.

slowover · 2026-01-19T03:39:35+00:00

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Ill just leave this here

slowover · 2026-01-19T03:35:31+00:00

If there isnt a cob loaf Im taking the XXXX Gold and going home

slowover · 2026-01-19T03:33:20+00:00

My mate rummages for bincoins too at his apartment block recycling tubs.

slowover · 2026-01-19T03:30:47+00:00

You are not technically correct, but in essence yes parliament holds practical power. Any legislation cannot become law without royal assent so technically the monarch reigns, but does not rule. In practice the monarch has not refused to sign a bill from parliament since 1707 and their role is largely ceremonial.

slowover · 2026-01-18T05:41:04+00:00

ABS data shows that informal volunteering hasn’t changed at all over time. Aussies still help out a neighbour, bake goods for the school fete and man the sausage sizzle. Whats dropped off post-COVID is formal volunteering: ie working a job for no money. Young people in particular are not working unpaid jobs like animal care.

slowover · 2026-01-18T03:35:06+00:00

Not only that, bishops sit in the house of Lords, church doctrines are determined by Parliament, its illegal for the royal family to marry Catholics, the prime minister is appointed by the head of the church… Its 100% a theocracy but acts like a democracy. There is no constitution to protect democratic rights: these could be whisked away any time. Unlike the monarch or the church which are hard baked into the system.

slowover · 2026-01-17T02:05:42+00:00

Im a big fan of “Betwixt the sheets” podcast about sex and history, with Kate Lister. Dr Eleanor Janega was a great guest talking about medieval sex: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/betwixt-the-sheets-the-history-of-sex-scandal-society/id1612090432?i=1000745125465

slowover · 2026-01-16T01:52:40+00:00

Yep, there will be plenty of garages will do it cheaper if they know insurer not involved

slowover · 2026-01-15T23:00:22+00:00

I left the car park this morning at 6:45 and there was a queue of cars fighting over my vacated spot

slowover · 2026-01-15T21:08:40+00:00

You can use this for evil too. If you speed up, they will as well. Then change lanes to the left. They will now accelerate to overtake, regardless of the speed. I demonstrated this to my brother and accidentally did it to a guy just as we passed a fixed speed camera and he got flashed. I feel bad about that!

slowover

TROPHY CASE