Ozwitch

Women in the Navy

This caught my eye the other day while browsing (see the pic on front page and follow to Page A5.) It tells a bit about the integration of women into submarines of the Royal Australian Navy. At present the RAN is trialling it in the Collins class submarines, which were designed from the hull up to accommodate women. (edited - wrong hyperlink, sorry)

It’s only been a couple of months, so not time to tell yet how well the integration is going. Of the Western navies, I think only the Canadian, Norwegian and Swedish have women in their submarines, and mostly of recent date. The US still says no, and will probably for some long time now as their Virginia-class is already in production and design changes would not be cost-effective. It looks as if women in the USN have missed the sub for the foreseeable decade, anyway.

A perfect capture

I surf for interesting aircraft pics, and this is one of the best ones I've seen lately:

Go here for the original and details.

Stennis is in Fremantle

Wish I was there.

Fight terror, fix poverty

Melburnians, if they can tear their eyes away from the pic of Twig's decolletage on Andrew Bolt's page in the Herald Sun today, should read the smaller op-ed piece where he takes a swipe at Tim Costello.

The column will appear here tonight but here's a snippet:

"Sadly, Costello, brother of Treasurer Peter Costello, speaks like a politician himself, albeit of the Left. His cause this week is to get Australia to lift its aid to poor countries, arguing we need a new coalition of the willing to fight terrorism through charity.
Costello isn't saying we must stop fighting terrorists, but warns 'the only certain way to beat terror at its source [is] to address world poverty,' and here 'is where we fall short.'
Fine cause. Weak argument. I know it's a reassuring idea - that if only we selfish people were more generous, we wouldn't be so hated. There. Fixed."

God Speed Greyhawk

Another trooper goes off to fight the good fight:

For me the time is here to leave precious things behind for just a while, and that cost is not too great to bear. After all, what things could be called precious if not worth any price?

For you it's simply time to be brave, as so many of your friends have. Think about this: Without bad there could be no good. Hard times pass. Be kind to one another in every possible way; lift the burdens that others bear and I think you'll find your burdens lighter too.

Greyhawk will be badly missed. We wait for his safe return.

UPDATE: My apologies for the messy trackback over there. I've still got my training wheels on.

Sailor can sue Commonwealth over Voyager

From the ABC:
Sailor granted right to sue over 'Melbourne' collision

I know this doesn't happen in the US, as Neptunus Lex has told me that the military there cannot sue the Government over events that occur as a result of their service, although they can sue individuals within that service. However in Australia a military member can sue the Commonwealth: