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My entire point was that the Euro's have been constantly calling the USA warmongers for the past 50 years, but they are always the first ones to call the US President whenever there is a situation in the world that might affect their economies. They have been been neglecting their own militaries knowing that the Americans are stupid enough to keep bailing them out. The Euro's had a royal meltdown when Trump called them out for not keeping their pledge of committing a few percentage points of their GDP to military spending. The EU should be its own power. There are 29 countries in the EU and there is no excuse for them not making a joint effort to protect their economies and sovereignties. The US has done 75% of the heavy lifting in keeping the Persian Gulf open to world trade while Europeans and many other countries reap the benefits. Then the Europeans turn right around and bash Americans to appease their left wing voters. As far as my fellow Americans go, we should not be trusted any longer because there there is no continuity in foreign policy from one election cycle to the next. On top of it all, we are in a non shooting civil war right now. Might sound crazy to some but it's very true. We used to be country first.........but now days we are party first.

Soft fingetips due to not enough practice + over ambitious sliding on the B string. It would make a good garrotte. Forgot to mention another contributing factor, electric guitar with light gauge strings. I hadn't played it for a fair while and forgot how sharp those strings could be. One of those irritating bloodless cuts like a paper cut, just enough to sting when you put pressure on it, like clicking the mouse button and stuff like that.

Well, that explains it. Picked up a guitar at my brothers the other day. Use to play a lot way back but l could still pick one up anytime yrs between and the finger tips were ok. Last time on his though, hurt like hell after 5mins.

I forgot. It's Moomba week as well.

l don't trust whatever Chumps motives are as far as l could kick them. Suspect it's more like a distraction get the Epstein shyt off his back for awhile and if it goes well also boost his chances of staying in. Should hear Skye news here banging on about how magnificent Chump is now, turns the stomach.

I wanted to edit the post with the below, but ran out of time: Europe showed its weakness and timidness in the early days of the Ukraine war. Given the security guarantees already provided to de-nuclearise, if that is a word, has been reneged on, and Europe even kept funnelling millions of Euros daily to Russia while offerin pittance to the country that is the buffer between them and Russia - just because they didn't want to pay a little more to stay warm that winter was enough to change my mind on the so called progressive and enlightened views they hold.. They fail to recognise there is a balance that has to be struck, and that sometimes, you have to endure some hardship to preserve those values as it is clear a lot of the world don't agree with them and will try to exploit those views for their gain. We are now seeing the same with Iran. There is no doubt that Chump couldn't really care about the average Iranian in the street. There is little doubt that Netanyahu is motivated by anything other than his self preservation first and Israel's second (although, yes, it may be the other way around). But, Iranians are dancing in the streets amidst bombs reigning down on them as the potential of freedom. They would also know that the road ahead is long and uincertain, but the road starts here. There is an opportunity to improve the lives of Iranians and somewhat stabilise the middle east at the same same time. Should Chump and Net have waited for a UN Security Council Resolution before going in? Maybe, except that those that cite international law being not followed and therefore no justification for the attack forget two things. For Israel, they are constantly attacked either by Iran or its proxies, so given the current regine of Iran sponsors its proxies, they are a clear threst to Israel and attack it. For the US, there is the reduced threat of terrorsim on their own soil, but a constant wage of war against them. And of course, there is oil to be had. The US's justification is less clear if any at all, apart from standing by and supporting an ally and reaping the potential rewards for it. Now, speaking of standing by and supporting allies, I am guessing most people would say Chump has shown that is no longer the case, especially with Europe. That may be the case, but a Nato country's air base was attacked in Cyprus and nary a word from anyone - not even s warning of do it again, and article 5 will be looked at very seriously. With firends like that, who needs enemies (and given how rogue Iran has gone with its neighbours, de-escalation is hardly a point now). I am no international law expert, but if, say, NZ (no offence intended to NZ'ers - purely hypothetical) unleased a wave of terror organisations on Australia while building up nucelear capabilities and a stated aim of destroying Australia and Australians, would I care if the UN Security Council had been consulted before the Lodge sent in the forces to dispatch the perptrators? Not really. Unfortunately, sometimes the international order of the UN is too slow, has too many single nation vetos (I couldn't see Russia nor China agreeing despite the multiple 10s of thousands being killed - can you?), When your legal system is not fit for purpose, those bound by it start taking matters into their own hands, I guess. As I asked before, if it were Europe or Canada or someone else going in, would it be more pallatable? Had no response, but you don't have to go too far back in history to say, yes, it probably would be more pallatable. Milosovic, the mad dog he was, used brutal tactics to quell a movement of mostly Islamic immigrants starting their own country within the now former Federal Republoc of Yugoslavia. This was largely and internal sovereign issue, but his brutality led to Nato bombing Yugoslavia without a UN Security Council resolution - you know the same legal requirement that academics and some journos are calling the current attacks as unjustified and illegal.. But, it wasn't the US and Israel, I guess, so that was OK.

I wonder if old keyboard players have a similar issue with scrawny fingertips.

Also the older you get, the less body there seems to be in the fingertips. I think that saggy fingertip effect make them more prone to an injury like that.

Soft fingetips due to not enough practice + over ambitious sliding on the B string. It would make a good garrotte.

Weird really. Never felt it like this anywhere, although l've been married or partnered up so but you are right though nonetheless. Yep, ex in in Sydney safe enough 12hrs drive from me 🤣 . Been thinking about a dog but yeah l'm def on my own too much. Not much l can do about it though go out as much as l can and get around people.

The Rainbow serpent Is Not Mentioned. Don't meddle with that Bugga. Nev

Welcome to the forums, @Down East I pretty well agree with the sentiment of the above, except universal health care and enlightenment doesn't necessarily mean giving up sovereignty, which much of Western Europe have done, as well as a lot of the rest of the western world. If you're not a superpower, you have to forge alliances through more compromises than the superpowers.. Post WWII, and with the EU, Europe did have a chance to become a superpower, but they dilly-dallied. An old Chinese saying is that political power grows from the barrel of a gun. As much as we like to think it's not true, it is. Diplomacy works much better when you have a decent arsenal and those loyal who know how to use it.

The stupid legislation to mandate two days per week work from home is to include small business. So expect to have to go to the barman's house for a drink, or the mechanic's house to get your car fixed. My son works from home 3 days a week, someetimes more, and it's a pain in the arse. There are not enough desks at his office, so he has to book a desk to go in. This law is meant to save families $110 a week. On the weekend of the F1 Grand Prix and opening round of the AFL season, the brilliant, wonderful, magnificent ALP had decided to close the Alamein, Belgrave and Lilydale railway lines. My daughter is furious. Her team plays on Saturday night.

He was supposed to be conveying his condolences to the families of the military just killed in the Middle East. A trending meme is taken from Shrek.

I thought Willie Nelson cut his teeth on a $5 secondhand guitar.

Iran is often grouped with Arab nations, but it is not an Arab country. Its people are largely Persian. The Persian civilization, originating in modern-day Iran, was a dominant ancient superpower (c. 550 B.C.E. – 651 C.E.) renowned for vast territorial expansion under the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian dynasties. Founded by Cyrus the Great, it was known for its bureaucratic efficiency, infrastructure like the Royal Road, religious tolerance, and cultural influence across Asia and the Middle East. The Persian Empire is the name given to a series of dynasties centered in modern-day Iran that spanned several centuries—from the sixth century B.C. to the 20th century A.D. In other words, the Iranians are not towel-heads.

Trump was addressing a crowd in the White House when he turned and said "Don't you love these gold drapes? I chose them." Then he went on to say that Melania isn't keen on the ballroom, she doesn't like the noise. Meanwhile she sat in a chair marked President USA, addressing the United Nations.

A churchgoer, by definition, believes in a deity. Therefore would look for the lesson from the deity that particular story is meant to give. A non-churchgoer who, by definition, does not beleive in a deity, can look at the story as a record of some event. Let's look at two stories from the Bible - The Flood, and David -v- Goliath. The Flood story has its roots in the history of the civilistations of Mesopotamia. The story existed long before the Hebrews became a distinct group. For people of our times, the idea of a global flood, and a vessel big enough to carry pairs of each type of animal is absurd, based on our knowledge of the diversity of lifeforms, and the lack of a planetwide sediment layer that would have formed as a result of flooding. However, the story originated amongst peoples of major river systems, so it is quite possible that some time in the distant past, not more than 12,000 years ago, there was an extreme flooding event in that part of the World. The religions of that part of the world which rely on anthropomorphic deities seem to have originated in that early post-Ice Age period. So the Flood story has been absorbed by the Hebrews and then the influences of a deity have been added in. David - Goliath is probably an actual event that has had the influences of a deity added. We of the modern Western World do not have much knowledge of David's weapon, the sling. But go to the Middle East and you will find young lads who can use the sling with deadly accuracy. In fact, in the Ancient World, including the Romans, the sling was an important weapon in battles. Think of it as the machine gun of its time. Then we have Goliath. It has been suggested that Goliath suffered from Gigantism. One of the effects of it is poor peripheral vision. There is a line in the Bible which quotes Goliath saying something that suggests poor eyesight. The combination of David's skill with teh sling, and Goliath's poor vision which would lead to inaccurate movement, means that David was odds-on to win. No involvement of a deity, but we all know that teh victors get to write the history.

Not Cutting Edge technology either. How do you cut your Finger on a Guitar string? You must be an old softie like me. Nev

There is Plenty of History going back more than BC. The Old Testament has some really scary stuff in it, so to believe everything there would BLOW your Mind , somewhat. Religion considers the Universe to be about 6200 Years old and WAS created in 6 days. Science has a much more likely suggestion.. FAITH requires you Believe a lot of things, one being that not ONE hair of your Head will be Harmed without God Knowing about it. That Would make He/her/ IT a very BUSY entity. He is god of the Universe and HE MADE us in his own Image but we turned out Imperfect so that Christ, his only son who was conceived with Mary (the Virgin no less).had to DIE on the cross with 2 common criminals so that we could Live forever AND He is coming back to be with the faithful and they go to heaven where there ARE many Mansions. IF you don't believe all of that you are Godless and a HEATHEN and going to a Place CALLED HELL. where there WILL be Weeping and Wailing and Gnashing of teeth. Ronnie Raygun believed "WE are in the Last days" and therefore Have no need to do a lot of things to Help the Planet/. GW Bush was a reformed Born again drug addict, who falsified the reason for attacking IRAQ (It wasn't ABOUT OIL. Not much it wasn't). Nev

Cut my finger on a guitar string for the first time ever. The new technique wasn't such a success after all.

Leave your ex in Sydney, stay where you are, extend your place and get a dog. 😊

You can be just as lonely renting somewhere else. If everything is pretty good where you are now, apart from the distance to a larger town, maybe it's being on your own too much that's the main problem?

I rather like OME's analogy - the old bible was a compendium of ancient writings, sprinkled with some ideology.

I don't believe that the average churchgoer holds a bible for history lessons. That only leaves it as a source of deity information. I hesitate to use the word :fact" due to the lack of substantiation. By the way, there are quite a few Greek and Roman records dating back to around zero BC