Thank you for posting this. I hadn't seen it. Not sure how I feel about it - she is clearly uncomfortable making that oath. But, if she's going to change government from within as she chose to do, she does need to play by the rules. That means yes: swearing in like anyone else and then being the change she wants to see.

Basically, I agree with pretty-much everyone in this thread.

Right at this moment, we have a regular Melbourne user trying to reset a password/recover account. Receiving that reset notification has been a challenge. Not every user even has their email configured in their account, it's optional. It is sorta necessary for account recovery, however.

Through this process, I've learned that the user table in the database is basically what you see on the settings page. Yes, I can see which of you crazy people choose a light theme, but I'm not judging! You do you.

Lodion and I have both emailed her directly. Not sure if its a first for him, but this is the first time I've emailed an Aussie.Zone user. She hasn't replied to me - I don't think Lodion has had a reply, either.

There is one last trick I have in my arsenal: to change her password myself and send it to her. Though that will leave me in a situation where I know a user's password and I'm not really comfortable with that direction. I'd prefer to get her password reset with our present approach.

I would argue getting rid of all monarchist influence was one of the few good things it did.

What is the problem with the monarchy? That they're unelected? Well, neither are the Billionaires who fill that same niche in US politics. Except Billionaires have a strong agenda and really drive the popular and political narrative. Even here, we're not entirely immune to the influence of the Billionaire class. Only, I find myself at odds with just about everything the Billionaires say. By contrast, the royals rarely engage with politics. When they do, I find myself in agreement with the things they champion more often than not.

I do understand that the royals have a lot of influence on our government. And that when they speak, we're all but obligated to give them at least an audience. But that brings me back to the previous sentence: I can't think of anything they've said that I took substantive issue with. I say this also as someone who never much liked Charlie. I liked his mum and first wife, though.

This is coming across as me being pro-royal. I'm not really black-or-white on them like that. My own stance is more that I don't have anything strongly against them - rather than being particularly pro-royal. I won't cry myself to sleep if Australia cuts ties with the monarchy. But, I'm not marching in the streets seeking that outcome, either.

The real answer to this question is "habit". The people who drew up the Australian Constitution in the 1890's thought of themselves as British citizens, even though they were literally making plans for a new nation that would be independent of England. In terms of taxes, I don't believe Commonwealth membership costs us much - though I'm not super informed on this point. I could be swayed on the matter.

Even as citizens of the new nation of Australia, that generation of Australians still thought of themselves as British, too. It took a few more generations for us to really think of ourselves as purely and exclusively Australian.

If the constitution were being drafted up today, we'd have a serious conversation about whether we'd be a Constitutional Monarchy or some sort of Republic. But, it's not and we're not.

There are real advantages to being a member of the Commonwealth of nations. I'm not entirely dissatisfied with the status quo. If we ever do split from the Commonwealth, I'd want to look closely at what is proposed to replace it. I would not for example want our government to end up like what our friends in the USA have.

• Get Seagoon_ back online
• Work
• Call Christmas Holiday booking place

If you are on a diet, this meal has very few kilojoules/calories. Fewer than a single slice of bread.

It's still potentially a solved problem. One that has been most annoying.

It feels like everything in All is about an election in the USA, and that's really not very engaging to the rest of us. So I mostly hang out in Local for the most part.

Yeah, we will of course. His artwork is even pretty good - particularly for him.

There are no new account requests waiting for approval.
Well, there was one, but it was some spam about roof repairs in Canberra and I rejected that one. Now, there are none waiting.

@Duenan has hit the issue right on the head. 😆

Wait, what? There's no accounts waiting for approval?

As a fundraiser, the school sent us to a website where you can view some art your kid has done and then order it as a pillow, tote bag, calendar or a bunch of other options. Only this website lets you look at every piece of art that every kid in the school has done and pick any art any kid at the school has done. You just say I want this kid's art on my $15 tote bag, thanks.

My dilemma is my kid is not the greatest artist in the school.

This is always where it gets complicated. One house is pretty limiting. Lots of people have holiday homes - should that become illegal? People buy homes to support family (particularly elderly or disabled family) members in an environment that allows them some space and independence.

Should a married couple be allowed to have two homes? Should I be allowed to buy homes in my kids' names to get around such a limitation?

I don't have the answers to any of this. Housing is a super complicated and politically charged topic. There are a million millionaires out there with the bulk of their net worth tied up in the value of their homes. The scary truth is they don't really want to solve this problem, because if houses stop costing most of a million (or more) dollars to buy, they stop being millionaires.

The ABC reported that the location was close to his fiance's family. She's on the mortgage, also.

We were talking about this one in the office yesterday. George was all over the telly 20 years ago. He was in our homes and seemed in our lives.

But anyone who wasn't watching tv before about 2005 had no idea who he was.

Well, don't look at us. We sure didn't give it to 'em! 😀

I can't tell whether you are talking about a chocolate burger, or putting bacon into a chocolate shake. Either choice is interesting.

Cyanenergy exists for real? I thought they were a scam.