That for the price that the government paid to harass Dr Haneef for giving his cousin a sim card in the UK, which was about $8 million.
For that price the government could pay for the Long Tan citations of about 6667 people..
Yep. Until that article I linked to the Australian government was too stingy to pay the $12 for the citations for the 100 Long Tan veterans.
These guys weren't permitted to receive the citations from the South Vietnamese Government because some regulation forbade them from that, and they weren't given Australian citations at the time because of some "quota" system.
Yet they were willing to piss away $8 million on a guy who didn't actually do anything wrong under any law, except that he was a Muslim. That's as much as I understand of that case.
Haneef gave a sim card to his second cousin when he was in England because he didn't need it anymore. Because it turned up in a terrorist attack he was investigated for "aiding terrorism". I guess that means that if I gave a guy who would later commit an act of terrorism I could be investigated.
But I digress in a way.
Basically, all you have to know is that for the amount of money that the government spent ruining a guys life, they could have paid for the citations of the Long Tan veterans, and had more then $7.5 million to spend on something else.
Got that?
Showing posts with label ADF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ADF. Show all posts
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Saturday, 13 October 2007
Casualty(ies) of War, and Hypocrisy
About four days ago a soldier died in Afghanistan. Normally this would not be much of a problem for a person in Australia until you hear that it was an Australian soldier.
Since Australia followed the US into places like Afghanistan and Iraq they have been doing quite well in making sure that their troops return home in one piece.
This isn't the first soldier to have died for Australia in Afghanistan. SAS Sergeant Andrew Russel died from an anti-vehicle mine in 2002. For the sake of the family of this victim his name has not been released to the public. Which is fair.
I hope that the family of this currently unknown soldier can have enough time to heal before we learn his identity, and that they are supported by their friends and also those around them that may not be their friends.
I also hope that other Australians serving in Afghanistan will be ok, especially since it seems that attacks are on the rise there.
There is one thing that I thought of when I wrote this. I feel more for this family then I would for an American family or an Afghani family.
I guess it is easier for me to relate to an Australian then it would for the others that I mentioned. This is rather hypocritical though. I do feel sorry for the families affected from the other countries but all to varying degrees.
Is this really what being human is? Caring more for certain people because they live in the same country as you?
Why is it that the news makes a bigger deal about a casualty from the country they are from then about the civilians who live in the country in question?
Why is it that the enemy and the civilians are faceless compared to the coalition troops?
Some people already recognise this but I think the rest of the people should too, think about the other people, and not just your own people, and think (and feel) more for the civilians, those who don't have the training a soldier would to fight, people who are trying to keep living in the homes that they lived in for years.
Don't forget about them, but don't do it at the cost of the soldiers as well.
They are all people too.
----------------
Now playing: The Herd - I was only 19 (live)
via FoxyTunes
Since Australia followed the US into places like Afghanistan and Iraq they have been doing quite well in making sure that their troops return home in one piece.
This isn't the first soldier to have died for Australia in Afghanistan. SAS Sergeant Andrew Russel died from an anti-vehicle mine in 2002. For the sake of the family of this victim his name has not been released to the public. Which is fair.
I hope that the family of this currently unknown soldier can have enough time to heal before we learn his identity, and that they are supported by their friends and also those around them that may not be their friends.
I also hope that other Australians serving in Afghanistan will be ok, especially since it seems that attacks are on the rise there.
There is one thing that I thought of when I wrote this. I feel more for this family then I would for an American family or an Afghani family.
I guess it is easier for me to relate to an Australian then it would for the others that I mentioned. This is rather hypocritical though. I do feel sorry for the families affected from the other countries but all to varying degrees.
Is this really what being human is? Caring more for certain people because they live in the same country as you?
Why is it that the news makes a bigger deal about a casualty from the country they are from then about the civilians who live in the country in question?
Why is it that the enemy and the civilians are faceless compared to the coalition troops?
Some people already recognise this but I think the rest of the people should too, think about the other people, and not just your own people, and think (and feel) more for the civilians, those who don't have the training a soldier would to fight, people who are trying to keep living in the homes that they lived in for years.
Don't forget about them, but don't do it at the cost of the soldiers as well.
They are all people too.
----------------
Now playing: The Herd - I was only 19 (live)
via FoxyTunes
Sunday, 16 September 2007
RAN + Bigger Breasts For Sailors = ?
I found this on BBC News.
Apparently the Royal Australian Navy or most likely the Defence Department paid for the breast enlargement of two female sailors setting the taxpayer back $20 000.
I don't really know what to think here.
What exactly would potentially sexier sailors help the RAN in it's fight against, umm... , last time I checked it was illegal immigration?
Unless the plan is for them to help the male sailors on their long lonely voyages away from women except those...
Ok enough of the silliness the article says that it was for psychological reasons. So I guess that it might make it a bit better then because people with psychological problems of some sort are not really the best people for the defence forces, but I still feel a little annoyed that my tax dollars went towards this.
The Defence Department is already pretty bloated, overly bureaucratic and inefficient, for all we know this money could have gone towards something better.
Why isn't this an election issue?
On a side note for us Firefox users Foxytunes has released a new toolbar that allows you to add what you are listening to to your blog posts. If you are a person, like me, who has moved from say Myspace, where you can add what you are listening to blog posts and do kinda miss it, then this is the place for you.
----------------
Now playing: Ishii Yasushi - Soul Police Chapter's Reverse Side Circumstance
via FoxyTunes
Apparently the Royal Australian Navy or most likely the Defence Department paid for the breast enlargement of two female sailors setting the taxpayer back $20 000.
I don't really know what to think here.
What exactly would potentially sexier sailors help the RAN in it's fight against, umm... , last time I checked it was illegal immigration?
Unless the plan is for them to help the male sailors on their long lonely voyages away from women except those...
Ok enough of the silliness the article says that it was for psychological reasons. So I guess that it might make it a bit better then because people with psychological problems of some sort are not really the best people for the defence forces, but I still feel a little annoyed that my tax dollars went towards this.
The Defence Department is already pretty bloated, overly bureaucratic and inefficient, for all we know this money could have gone towards something better.
Why isn't this an election issue?
On a side note for us Firefox users Foxytunes has released a new toolbar that allows you to add what you are listening to to your blog posts. If you are a person, like me, who has moved from say Myspace, where you can add what you are listening to blog posts and do kinda miss it, then this is the place for you.
----------------
Now playing: Ishii Yasushi - Soul Police Chapter's Reverse Side Circumstance
via FoxyTunes
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