August 11, 2010 – 5:03 pm
Those of you who are my facebook friends will know that last night, I was the victim of a serious assault. That piece of legalese doesn’t, however, quite do justice to the experience of having a bottle smashed over one’s head. If it’s a ned, then it must be Buckfast. In short, two persons — [...]
Many people don’t realise that going to war (or other, ancillary military activities) in Australia doesn’t require legislative approval; the executive — that is, the Prime Minister and Cabinet — can make the decision without involving all our elected representatives. This is relatively common around the world, although it is also common to find countries [...]
Someone listened to his cricket coach as a kid: A British soldier has described how he picked up a Taliban hand grenade which landed at his feet and threw it back towards the enemy. Rifleman James McKie was on a tiny rooftop in Sangin. He and two of his platoon could hear the bullets fired [...]
December 8, 2009 – 8:13 pm
The Ministry of Defence has closed its UFO unit after more than 50 years of investigating reported UK sightings… In a statement, the MoD said it had “no opinion on the existence or otherwise of extra-terrestrial life”. It went on: “In over 50 years, no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat [...]
British forces have begun their official withdrawal from Iraq after the UK’s commander in the south of the country handed over to a US general. Major General Andy Salmon has transferred authority for what will become Multi-National Division South to US Major General Michael Oates. The generals’ pennants were raised and lowered in a handover [...]
Two things jumped out at me after sitting today’s evidence exam (apart from the fact that the seats in the Examination Schools are bloody uncomfortable). The first was the SCOTUS ruling in Heller, where the Court held 5-4 that owning a gun for self-defence purposes was a Second Amendment right, while the second was the [...]
February 21, 2007 – 1:35 pm
Catallaxy commenter Dr Carlo Kopp had an interesting piece in yesterday’s Age. It appears Brendan Nelson is telling porky pies about the F22A Raptor, and Australia’s ability to acquire the aircraft. Money quote: At this point the minister’s claims become bizarre. A news release issued the same day contained the statement that ‘the Government has [...]
January 23, 2007 – 6:43 pm
Dr Dennis Jensen is member for the West Australian seat of Tangney. A former air traffic controller, CSIRO and later Defence research scientist, and defence analyst, he’s widely recognised as one of the rising stars on John Howard’s backbench. He’s played an important part in Australia’s air capability debate, which we’ve discussed previously on Catallaxy [...]
January 22, 2007 – 6:11 pm
This post is just to let people know that tonight at 6pm Queensland time (Tue 23 January), Catallaxy will publish an exclusive article on defence policy from Dr Dennis Jensen, MP (left). Dr Jensen is one of the leading participants in what has become a major national debate, and as a former defence analyst himself, [...]
January 5, 2007 – 1:35 pm
Let’s face it, I’m a gadget girl (have got a house full of the things), and this is one of the best online gadgets I’ve found. David Jackmanson is a clever little tech geek, and I’ve shamelessly pinched this off his site. It’s a 90 second animated history of just who’s had control of the [...]
