Author: Kev

Retired infantry officer. Conservative by nature and politics; Happily married and father and grandfather of eight. Loves V8 powered Range Rovers, Golden Retrievers, good books and technology and think there should be open season on Greenies. Born in the mid forties and overdue for servicing but most parts still work.

Combat Pay

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A small article in the Courier Mail highlights combat pay rates for Aussies overseas (no link)
The federal Government will review the pay and conditions of Commandos serving in Afghanistan who are paid $28,000 less a year than their SAS comrades. Their skill levels are about 90% of those of an SAS soldier but they are paid a Special Operation Allowance of only #12,880 a year or $247 a week. SAS troops receive a Special Actions Forces Allowance of $40,979 a year of $788 a week.
Travel overseas for free, get given uniforms and a huge range of Ultimate Boy’s Toys to play with and then meet lots of interesting people and get to shoot at some of them. Tons of fun plus receive an allowance of near $800 a week over and above your salary all with serious tax concessions. Great job…can’t understand why recruiting is down. As an historical point, I seem to recall everyone in Vietnam got the same combat pay although base pay rates varied and that combat pay would buy 4 packets of cigarettes a week in todays shops. And for those readers who never understand when I’m being flippant, they all deserve every penny they get….I’m just jealous. I wonder what our allies are getting? Does any reader know?
Defence

Six of the Bali Nine now headed for the bullet

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Downer on six of the Bali Nine drug trafficers being set for the death sentence after an appeal raised their life sentences to death by firing squad. Downer said he was surprised that the convicts’ lawyers were not the first to be advised and that the Supreme Court had opted for more serious sentences than the prosecutors requested.
“In terms of the procedures, I must say they have been, to say the least, a little unusual in that the first we heard about this was through the media,” Downer said. “The Indonesian Supreme Court’s clearly taken the view that trafficking in heroin is a profoundly grave offense,” he added.
I have no great problems with that but I would just like them to take the view that mass murdering innocents a la Bali is likewise a profoundly grave offence.
War on Terror

Breaking news

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THE Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, is dead.

News.com has the initial report

He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said. It is understood he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest.

He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that’s when it occured.

Ambulance officers confirmed they attended a reef fatality this morning at Batt Reef off Port Douglas.

News Flash tip from daughter Liz

General Musings

Muslim Integration

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JOHN Howard has singled out Muslim migrants for refusing to embrace Australian values and urged them to fully integrate by treating women as equals and learning to speak English.
Mr Howard said: “There is a section, a small section of the Islamic population, and I say a small section … which is very resistant to integration.
He’s right. The comments prompted a fierce reaction from young female Islamic leader Iktimal Hage-Ali, a member of the Prime Minister’s advisory group. She accused Mr Howard of threatening to further marginalise Muslims. “There’s no value in pointing out the minority of the Muslim group,” she said.
“There’s a whole lot of other ethnic communities whose parents, whose grandparents don’t speak the English language, and it’s never a problem in the mainstream Australian community for them to go on living their everyday life without speaking the language.
Iktimal Hage-Ali needs to come to grips with the fact that Islam has the monopoly on terrorism.  The one common factor through all of the carnage throughout the world is ‘Islam’.  The terrorists are all either born or converts to Islam and that fact alone needs separate considerations.  Too many of the Muslims migrating here publicly put down on our way of life or stand silent as others do. Physician, heal thyself.
War on Terror

The magic missile II

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The status of the missile is now clearly defined as having the software and mechanics to deploy a cross-tip screwdriver mid-flight to remove the top central air vent before entering the vehicle for final demolition.Some punters writing to the Australian editor clearly have not grasped where the media world is heading with one Luddite questioning Downer believing blogs before the Red Cross in Lebanon.
WHEN it comes to holes in ambulance roofs, Alexander Downer would rather believe a US-based blogger rather than the Red Cross in Lebanon. This is just more of the same from a person who took us into the Iraq fiasco for non-existent WMDs and can’t remember anything about Australian companies bribing Saddam Hussein. Iain Lygo Anglesea, Vic
Quite smart of Downers’s advisors really but then obvioulsy all of Iain’s rationale is founded on the basic premise that everything Howard/ Downer does is wrong anyway. Try to broaden your reading Iain – you might learn something. Andrew from Tasmania has a similar viewpoint.  In fact both letters smack of the Editor having a anti Howard/Downer (insert today’s events) software package that just churns this shit out.
THAT websurfing is dangerous, addictive and extremely time-consuming is clearly proven when our Foreign Minister relies on a blogsite report to make a statement on the war in Lebanon, yet has no time to read emails, faxes and cables with dire warnings about AWB’s dealings with Saddam Hussein. Andrew Wyminga Bicheno, Tas
Anyone who reads the Zombie report in full and thinks it doesn’t raise questions is far too blinkered by ideology to accept the fact that people like Martin Chulov have agendas to put Israel in a bad light and the terrorists on a pedastal. Common sense eventually prevails with Tony Parkinson, Downer’s media advisor, nailing the issue.     
War on Terror

The magic missile

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Not surprisingly the left have attacked an article that raise questions about the ambulance supposedly hit by an Israeli missile during the most recent Middle East war.  When Downer quoted the article on Zombie it was just too much for them.
“What concerns me greatly is the evidence of dishonesty in the reporting out of Lebanon,” Downer said, adding later that “it is beyond serious dispute that this episode has all the makings of a hoax”.
The Australian carries a piece by Martin Chulov who has never met an anti-Israel that he didn’t like, who in retaliation merely recycles the original propaganda quoting locals as if they haven’t got an agenda.

I was in Tyre on the night of the attack and investigated the incident closely the next day. On July 24, with photographer Stewart Innes, we spoke to Qassem Shalin, who was recovering from a minor wound to his chin that nurses had bandaged to stop it from turning septic. We also visited Ahmed Mohammed Fawaz, whose lower left leg had been amputated and whose severe burns ironically had saved his life by sealing blood vessels and arteries. His son writhed in pain nearby, his stomach riddled with shrapnel and the rear of his scalp opened up.

OK, emotive but it doesn’t prove they received their injuries in the ambulance and visiting the alleged ambulance the next day doesn’t do much for his case either.

The original issue of the story showed the ambulance with a neat hole in the centre of the roof as proof of an Israeli missile strike and whereas the the vehicle could’ve taken a hit, it was much earlier than claimed and was, if anything, an airburst.  No missile entered that vehicle and exploded and after 25 years in the army I can confidentially state that’s a ballistic fact.

Chulov says he visited Qassem Shalin (Shaalan in a Times piece) who has been quoted as saying the missile punched a hole in the roof, as if that is proof positive of the event.  He  said so, ergo, it is true, is hardly proof positive.

We know that this type of propaganda is a terrorist tactic; they’ve done it before and will do it again and why not if the press accept it at face value.

It works.  The majority of the press believe it because they want to and the mug punters cop it as they get all their news from Channel Nine or similar and never question what a prima donna talking head says.

General Musings

The tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

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It all started with a $77.00 speeding fine and has mushroomed to a reputation destroying journey through the press. Marcus Einfield, once a hero of the human rights mob, has put into practice what he preached….life is all about rights, not responsibilities.
He claimed someone else was driving his car on the day in question…oops she died three years before the event. He claimed qualifications from a US degree factory…you know the type….send us $5,000 and we’ll send you a degree.  Ooops….poor form. He claimes he was a director of Marks and Spencer Ltd London when only in his 30s…..oops they can’t find any record of him.
It get’s worse.  Einflied’s mouthpiece got caught out with an ex legal secretary, now prostitute, paying $500 per horizontal dance and further muddied the waters. The woman, who didn’t really change careers, just formalized the one, had her 15 minutes of fame attracting more interest in the case. The original $77.00 fine has mushroomed to a potentially hefty legal bill.
Mr Einfeld also took steps this week to expand the capacity of his legal team. A junior barrister is being recruited to assist Sydney silk Winston Terracini, and Mr Ryan has been replaced by solicitor Tim Quinn of law firm Colin Daley Quinn, which is based in the southern Sydney suburb of Kogarah.
Should the police inquiry go against Mr Einfeld, he risks being charged with making a false statement on oath, which carries a penalty of five years in prison. At what stage do you think he might have come to the realization that copping the $77.00 fine would have been by far the best solution? In his case, obviously too late.
Uncategorized

The Pigs live again

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My Vietnam almer mata was the 7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR) (could media types note the correct nomenclature) and whereas yesterdays’ announcement by the PM that we are upgrading the Army by 2, 600 men, mostly infantry, will be discussed long and hard by the media and a host of  professorial type armchair warriors, I and a host of my Vietnam era mates will only take one message from John Howard’s announcement. 7RAR live again to fight the foes of civilization.  7RAR has a proud history of Vietnam service and I just know that the younger generation will meet with the high expectations of us old soldiers. The Pigs?  No we were not unhiegenic (although we might have been on the nose a tad after a four week patrol in the jungle).  The story of our mascot goes back to 1965 when the battalion was first formed at Puckapunyal.  The newly appointed Commanding Officer (CO) thought he would have a look at his command and went up to Puckapunyal on a weekend ….unanounced …sneaky bugger, to check them out.  The few soldiers who had gathered as the nucleus of the battalion had been in the habit of spending most of their weekend in the boozer and this weekend was no different.  There were few NCOs or officers posted in too date and the boozer was a mess of beer cans.  On parade the next morning the CO called them a bunch of pigs to be answered by a loud retort of oink..oink from the back row. For a long time the Generals and the Colonels fought the idea of a pig as a mascot which guaranteed it’s longevity.  Today it is on our banners, stationery and badges and will be around as long as history holds our attention. I’ll make a bet right now that when the new 7RAR is formed and has it’s first parade, some old grey haired or bald ex digger will be there with a pig in attendance, a real one, to remind the young ones of their traditions. Are you reading this Dave W? UPDATE:  The Battalion was first formed on the 1st of September, 1965 so next week, Friday, is our 41st birthday.  I wonder if the Army and/or Politicians have a sense of history and are considering releasing the official documentation to split 5/7RAR on the same day? It would be historically tidy.
Defence

Media dupes

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You may recall the ambulance in the Israeli/Hezbollah recent dispute.  You know, the one that the Israelis ‘deliberately’ rocketed…at least that was the view of the world media. Personally, when I saw the pic of the missile hole through the roof I instantly dismissed it as bullshit and went on with life. How could I have been so sure? Vehicle hit by missile…..   …….vehicle taken from wreckers yard and definitely not hit by missile.  Note the windscreen has collapsed inwards.  In my experience, and I have heaps, missiles and other ordnance, having penetrated a target, always explode and never ever impode.  Simple Infantry stuff.  [In a previous life I was an anti-tank gunner/driver] The media gratefully accepted the incident at face value as they wanted to believe it and flogged it for all it was worth.  Remember the Israeli Captain being interviewed…We never intentionaly target civilians or ambulances. Sure, said the media presenter and interspersed shots of wounded ambulance occupiers with a loop of the captain saying We…never…intentionaly…target…civilians…or…ambulances. Good media but now it might be reasonable to get that same presenter and have him say, in a loop, just like the Captain, that We, [the media] always take the viewpoint of the terrorists without checking details because we want to believe it. Why?  Go to Zombie and view the article and all will become clear to you.  Posted in the interests of pointing out the lies of the enemy we face. Via Tim Blair and Michelle Malkin  
General Musings

All Black’s Haka

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I have posted previously on the All Blacks and their dreaded Haka; in fact the last post on the subject had a pic of them doing the Haka all outfitted with handbags.  In the interests of sportsmanship I feel I should also post on the following ‘Press Release’ from the IRB even though deep down I think it’s just a case of the Kiwis taking the mickey out of us.

Press Release

International Rugby Board (IRB) Rugby World Cup 2007

Following complaints to the IRB about the All Blacks being allowed to motivate themselves by performing the ‘Haka’ before their games, other nations were asked to suggest pre-match rituals of their own. The IRB Rugby World Cup 2007 Organizing Committee has now agreed  to the following pre-match displays:

1) The England team will chat about the weather, wave hankies in the air and attach bells to their ankles before moaning about how they invented the game and gave it to the world, but no one appreciates them.

2) The Scotland team will chant “You lookin’ at me Jimmy?” before each of them smash a bottle of beer over their opponents’ heads.

3) The Ireland team will split into two, with the Southern half performing a Riverdance, while the Northerners march the Traditional route from their dressing room to the pitch, via their opponents dressing room.

4) Unfortunately the Committee was unable to accept the Welsh proposal to form a choir and sing Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual”.

5) Argentina will unexpectedly invade a small part of opposition territory, claim it as their own “Las In-Goals-Areas” and have to be forcibly removed by the match stewards.

6) Two members of the South African team will claim to be more important than the other 13 whom they will imprison between the posts. These two will then go about selecting the best parts of the pitch to settle on and claim that they have been there for centuries.

7) The Americans will not attend until almost full time. In future years they will amend the records to show that they were in fact the most important team in the tournament and Hollywood will make a blockbuster fi lm called ‘Saving Flanker Ryan’.

8) Five of the Canadian team will sing La Marseillaise and hold the rest of the team to ransom.

9) The Italian team will arrive in Armani gear, sexually harass the female offi cials and then prepare pasta dishes, which they will flog to the crowd for a fortune.

10) The Japanese will shock fans buy demonstrating how to capture a whale for scientifi c research buy harpooning an opposition prop.

11) The French won’t have a pre-match display and will simply hide in fear in the dressing room for the whole match.

12) The Australians will have a BBQ on their side of the fi eld and invite the opposition over before the game. The food and alcohol will be in abundance and by the start of the game no-one will remember what they came to the stadium for. After some streaking, the singing of dirty songs and the occasional chunder everyone will go home thoroughly convinced it was a bloody good night.

13) The Moroccan team will quietly pray during the fi rst half and then launch suicide attacks against the opposition after the break. Unfortunately, this strategy works well for the first game only, after which Morocco is forced to withdraw from the Rugby World Cup due to lack of players.

14) Samoa will prepare a huge feast in the middle of the pitch by digging a large hole and fi lling it with burning embers. They invite the opposition over by saying, “We’d like to have you for dinner”. It’s only when the opposition get to the pit that they realize there is no meat and that they are the dinner!

Hopefully, with these policies now in place, further problems is this area of the game should cease to exists.

Regards,

Syd Miller

IRB Chairman

THE INTERNATIONAL RUGBY BOARD

Huguenot House 35-38 St Stephen’s Green Dublin 2 Ireland

Tel: 00 353 1 240 9200 • FAX: 00 353 1 240 9201

There are no prizes for guessing this was sent to me by a KIWI mate but considering where the Bleddisloe Cup currently resides I can’t really say too much…..just gotta cop it on the chin. 
Uncategorized
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