Image – Calligula’s Horse. A Sunday arvo outing to a country pub.

You’ve heard of the pub with no beer? Well now you know why.

There still seems to be some confusion about Calligula’s Horse.

We’ve been called everything from gun crazy loons to sexist insensitive dolts.

Perhaps it is time to set the record straight.

Okay we’ve had an office meeting and, despite a short recess when Arthur and Django had to visit the first-aid station, have come to consensus.

Firstly, the unanimous decision was made to reject the accusations that we are gun crazy and sexist.

That left loons and insensitive dolts.

That was when the stoush started.

Arthur believed that such an appellation was far too clumsy while Django cracked up completely insisting that any group of people silly enough to endure the management of a weblog would have to be of a sub-set possessed of thick skins and of a certain stoic nature.

Of course he worded that a bit more succinctly while looking Arthur in the eye – which is when the fur began to fly.

To cut to the chase the decision was made to accept that we’re nothing more than – “Insensitive Doltish Loons” – who just happen to do “Calligula’s Horse” without fear or favour.

An aspect of that goes along these lines – If a person was reading an article, say, about ‘Greenpeace’ and saw in that article images of whales being hunted by a whaling fleet – then would that person deduce that ‘Greenpeace’ was condoning and promoting the killing of whales?”

“Awwww! He’d have to be off his rocker to think that !” – would be the consensus of those ‘in the street’.

Or as Inge put it – “The couth of some out there in cyberspace, the reading skills, comprehension; you’d think they just landed from Mars.”

Image – Inge, one of our team and our Lady Friday. Yep, that’s her name. Inge, Lady Friday.

Nice to have a bit of peerage around the place and her good looking with it.

So, was it determined, as it is with Greenpeace and cigarette packaging shall it be for us. What may be disturbing for a few might well be profoundly informing for many more.

Once that was settled the meeting discussed a few other matters arising from the last few weeks operation.

Some further questions arose about the presentation of the pages and the perception that we are presenting as ‘militarists’.

Then there was some reservations about the name Calligula and its connotations of militarism and alleged depravity.

And finally the concerns about mixing episodes of black humour with truth.

All so easily rebutted.

What have newspapers been doing for aeons but presenting their version of truth beside cartoons and comment.

Then if parliaments themselves aren’t universally considered to be mainly joke and bugger all truth – then JH is a monkey’s uncle and we are well ahead.

Image – The man in the street.

"Queensland – sunny one day, soul destroying the next"

Image – Acting Superintendant Wayne Kerr (Putzi) Staenker, QPS (Ex South African Special Branch) posed for us in his tactical underwear prior to his commanding the guard at the last regional cabinet meeting. As it happened Putzi had a problem with equipment interoperability. The scabbard of his custom light saber/tazer combo was riveted to his tin pants at the wrong angle forcing him to wear the tactical blue overalls with the two button drop-down buttflap.

"Post Colonial Queensland"

Early 1954 –

A cyclone has recently ravaged the Queensland coast and in a small, airy, well built and well appointed hospital there (now demolished) CALLIGULA - http://calligulashorse.blogspot.com/  -  was born.

I shall save time and electrons here by citing an item I’d already written to that august team at ‘Larvatus Prodeo’.

Don’t worry.

It gives me the chance to give them a plug after their initial acceptance (placarded as ‘under moderation’) of such fine comment and gives you, the reader, a chance to upbraid them if they decide to ‘can’ it.

http://larvatusprodeo.net/2010/11/01/spotlight-the-spin-28/#comment-244315

And guess what.

The honest little soldiers for free speech at Lp., last time I looked, have done exactly that.

They’re a bit like that those guys. If you deviate the slightest from their laserbeam-like approach to lateral thinking – then not only do they censor you but e-mail and abuse you.

Funny thing is they complain bitterly about others, say, the Murdoch press acting that way.

Has me beat, I can assure you.

But, here goes, I wrote this and want to expand on my reasoning down further below.

“Thanks for the reply people.

I’m new at this game (only about four or so years writing into blogs and being chastised for doing so) and forgive me for saying that I’m a very apolitical person who was dragged up in a crazy sort of household that lent me an incredible background in ethics theory very much leavened by the fact that we lived in Queensland.

I don’t know how many of you guys grew up with an Aboriginal babysitter wearing a snowy white frock, household help and daily homecalls from the quack when you were a bit peaky – all that sort of thing.

But that was my bad luck though it was great while it lasted.

“What’s this ratbag on about now?”

Well you might ask.

I guess that I’m trying to convey the message that we are all ‘hardwired’ during early life and drag the result along with us until we pop off the coil.

I’m saying that if an infant is treated decently – nurtured, is it - by this huge black woman and good humouredly kicked out of the way all day by this wiry old ( well, 35YO looks ancient when you’re three feet high) white woman who always, once a week, left a two bob coin on my dresser – then you’d gain some understanding about – acceptance. Yep that’s the word, acceptance.

I’d mention that such an upbringing does tend to colour one’s thinking which is probably why everyone thinks I’m some sort of commie whenever I write in.

It’s all a bit of a paradox to me.

But, these days, when I hear the term ‘spin’ or ‘slant’ or whatever – whenever I look into it I usually find bastardry involved and too often to the detriment of people like those who ‘hardwired’ me.”

So is the kid dreaming?

Who does he think he is – Rhett Butler?

Hardly.

My first real memories were of, what we now call, ‘an extended family’.

Kids work out the pecking order pretty quickly.

Pop believed he was boss but Nan was the undoubted boss of this family.

My mother was their daughter and my old man was, by the nature of things back then, the bloke hanging around after 5.00pm.

Then there were the siblings.

And all seven of us fitted into one half of the same tatty old mansion I live in now.

In the other part of the house we had tenants.

Has me absolutely beat how they put up with the shenanigans from our side of the place.

But as best as I can recall they seemed to as ‘almost’ part of our family.

Then as mentioned above – we had ‘servants’.

Or did we? Depends, I suppose, on your definition.

There is no doubt that I remember the work done and the payment waiting in crisp pound notes at the end of the table at knock-off time.

But in my later time I have never seen anything like the sharing of gossip, jokes and banter, of chores, smoko, lunch and the ritual scanning of the lottery ticket results in the paper to see if their shared ticket had a win.

Seemed to me that there was often more time spent horsing about rather than working.

I was seeing things through rose colored glasses, right?

Then why, some years later, way past her retirement age, when our fortunes had adversely changed, would a much older Mrs. Z. arrive on her pushie and without any invitation start waxing and polishing again?

When challenged about that by my mother she said, “Biddie, I’m past retirement age now so I can’t take wages and can do what I blanky well like.

Aren’t I welcome here? When are you making coffee?”

One of those days I heard a bit of a commotion. The dear lady had sprung my mum sneaking some money into her handbag.

I thought they’d come to blows, glaring at each other over the kitchen table.

I could only hear a few of the words Mrs. Z. spoke, “this is not about money Biddie; this is to do with returning old favours. Where would --- (her husband) and I be if your mum hadn’t taken care of the traps back then?”

The last time I was with Mrs.Z. was a few months before she passed away.

She phoned, peremptorily ordering me to visit her.

She apologized for breaking all the propellers and wheels off my model planes when I was a kid and I apologized for calling her ‘my personal weekly indoor cyclone’.

We talked about all manner of things but there was no way I could get a hint out of her about what sort of ‘favour’ my grandmother did for her husband all those years ago that involved confusing the ‘traps’.

They’ve all gone to a better place now so unless there’s some cop’s grandchild out there who’s been let into the other side of the story we’ll never know.

I mentioned another lady in my young life.

A well built woman padded well enough in the right places to be particularly attractive to young children. I do remember her fresh lavender scent, big smile and, what we call now, ‘Big Hair’ – for she had an Afro hairdo before the name was invented.

Incidentally she happened to be, as pop called her, “as black as the ace of spades”.

Mrs. W. is more of a dim memory since she ‘went away’ before I began school.

All I was told was that she ‘had to go back to her people’.

I’m older and wiser now and realize that she and her husband must have fallen below some threshold – income/employment or just annoyed someone in town.

In other words, despite being a valued member of our community she was sent back to what amounted to a ‘concentration camp’.

Queensland – sunny one day, soul destroying the next.

It’s interesting though, Queensland.

The way we used to treat authority – like the poor fishing inspectors who started work one morning years ago; intrepidly went out in their tinnie on a bright, calm day – and were never seen again.

And the way authority still treats us.

“Oh look at that’, thinks the traffic cop. You bloody beauty; A solo motorcycle, a rider, no pillion, no one else about.

That’s three brownie points for me, six demerit points for him.

With a bit of luck he’ll be going to work the same way tomorrow morning and I can finish him off.” (Indeed. In the ‘Smart State™’ dingo hunters are mostly smarter than traffic cops. Though they both approach the job in the same predatory way the dingo hunter usually keeps a few spare for next season.)

But there’d always been more that two of his sort in town, so his sort is usually safe.

All of which any reasonable Queenslander could assume is why we still have vestigial concentration camps here and why our much loved premier cannot venture outside without being attended by her incredibly intimidating ‘Praetorian Guard’.

It may fairly well be argued in most jurisdictions that “two wrongs don’t make a right”.

But this is Queensland and if one ‘wrong’ has money and another ‘wrong’ has power then for all intents and purposes they combine to forge a right.]

Whereas on the other hand when a person has no money or influence the reverse inevitably applies.

Conclusion –

All of this is my way of saying that Queensland in living memory was, and to a large degree, remains, a wild and woolly place.

I submit this as a piece of living history linking my early memories directly with matters only now emerging from Queensland’s murky past.

Some reading on that subject –

http://www.paclii.org/journals/fJSPL/vol04/7.shtml - “Slaving in Australia”

http://www.communityservices.qld.gov.au/community/publications/documents/pdf/capeyork/02_cyjs_01.pdf - Where Queensland admits culpability in writing

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AILR/2005/63.html - Which details Mr. Howard’s attempt to bring the past into the present.

http://www.premiers.qld.gov.au/community-issues/open-transparent-gov/submissions/submissions-81-100/paul-and-adrienne-prentice.aspx - Where as late as last year some citizens advise the premier that something has changed. These days, they contend, it isn’t just aboriginal people and minority groups being marginalized and brutalized – it’s now the state’s entire population.

- SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE -

Caption - Caught by our spy camera – somewhere in QLD

Alternative title - “KILLER ROBOTS R US ™” –

Someone once told CALLIGULA when he was a little boy that the nation he lived in had certain freedoms – of expression – to associate – of religion or belief – to work and enjoy a living – that sort of thing.

Then as life progressed in this sunblessed land a few events happened to prove that wrong.

It seems that not much happens to the majority of the population so long as they keep their noses to the grindstone according to the BOSS and paradoxically, keep that same appendage ‘clean’, according to – well, you know who.

But if a person is cut of a different cloth: gets frustrated working for bosses in a region that is in any case collapsing industrially and can’t stand pub beer after work, the TAB, or footy/cricket on hot weekend arvos – then something has to give.

This is about something that happened to one of Calligula’s pals up in Queensland.

A story about how a decision made by none other than George Bush senior can put a Queensland engineer on the dole and a few years later his coming so close to being libellously ‘outed’ by ‘Four Corners’ as a member of an illegal religious sect and part of a network clandestinely manufacturing ‘Killer Robots’ ‘somewhere in regional Queensland’.

“Oh dream on. How could a bloke get into so much hot water.” – you might say.

Well, read on and find out. Next week it could be you.

Here goes –

If you, dear reader, had been working about ten hours a day at a fairly intensely multi-skilled engineering job manufacturing an amazingly innovative line of park leisure equipment; then you’d be immensely cheesed off if G.Bush sr. arranged for you to get the sack.

“Ohcomeoffit – whadalotofrot.” –

Some with no idea of cause and effect might say that but when dear George attacked one of our best wheat customers, a Mr. S Hussein in Iraq our dollar went on a downer and, if you remember the price of fuel went to the roof.

Now if your major customers are local councils ( a group known for their fuel consumption habits) – something has to give.

In this case they reneged on their agreements to buy park equipment in order to rebudget for that fuel increase.

The President of the US couldn’t have arranged the sack much quicker for our boy if he’d phoned up personally.

Faced with this circumstance and a total downturn in his type of work he had to apply for the dole.

Things looked reasonably grim but not being one to give up our protagonist applied his brainpower towards alternative income streams.

Being too old to enlist and not interested in crime - an opportunity that arose and a family meeting about that soon had him contacting a few government agencies tasked with addressing Australia’s ‘changed circumstances’.

One of those was the Defence Department.

And something DID give. Our bloke gave years of his life and thousands of dollars towards establishing a registered and approved business developing equipment for the defence and security of Australia.

“Well, he’d have to be a bloody idiot, wouldn’t he?”

Oh yes. I reckon he’d agree with that sentiment now.

In a previous article, “Ground Zero”, the reader can find some more information – about Peter Reith and how his sort can actively help George Bush stuff up a bloke’s life.

That article dovetails with this one inasmuch as it relates to the products shown here in image.

Let him put it in his own words –

“We went through defence ministers and ‘senior contacts’ in ‘appropriate agencies’ like boiled asparagus.

 They were always ‘out’ when they were actually in and ‘in meeting’ or something when they were out on the piss , or something.

Otherwise they were ‘under a cloud’, just retired, on leave – or ‘the chair’awaiting a new occupant.

Meawhile we were – ‘out of our depth’ and despite the solid documentation and information we gave them our industry capability was ‘not deemed to be possible in Australia’.

Which is strange because none of our export customers said that about us supplying them.

There is a ‘learning curve’ for these things. It’s possible to make a graph and easy to cross reference and collate documents in the way CentreLink, say, is supposed to do.

When you do that the true picture is staring you on the eyes.

These days you look at that and you see when their corruption kicks in.

I used to laugh at those yarns about blokes being ‘visited by the man’ because they invented the world’s best carburetor or something.

Now I know better. It happened to us.

What really pisses me, though, is that I once believed the press were there to support Australians and make injustice public.

I contacted the press about what was being dumped on our heads and was told politely to go and get stuffed – every time.

Then out of the blue comes this e-mail warning me that this ----- ---- McClymont is ‘investigating’ us.

What for? Bloody poodlefaking or something?

So I googled her and some key words in the text of these mails.

It was clear she was setting the Exclusive brethren up as an extremist sect illegally funding Jackboot Johnny’s 2007campaign.

I contacted HER and the EB’s representatives – but let’s talk about McClymont.

I put my situation to her – a lapsed Anglican just making a living who had been helped for a time by some absolute gentlemen and women of another religion but in my industry.

The single-minded dill didn’t want to hear that. It mustn’t have scratched her brittle intellect or fit her intolerant picture – her fixation or whatever.

The point is if she’d had half a brain and bothered to listen she could have been given some info to sink Howard without chasing up silly little sidelines from disaffected employees on the internet.

Yep. The intrepid investigative reporter must have picked up the same sites I had.

Some poor bored sod of an employee must have heard us joking about how the weapons clearing stations out on the shop floor looked like a herd of beasts – or maybe, ha-ha, quadruped killer robots.

I guess the rest would have been more trouble for us if that GreensWatch mob hadn’t given me a call.

Finally, I’d like to say this.

When I contacted McClymont – for that matter whenever I’ve tried speaking with her type before or since, they all project the illusion that they are better than us – that we can all just be bent to their will and the truth be damned.

After all, if you can’t get the suckers to publish the truth what chance would a peasant like me have getting them to publish a retraction and apology?

Perhaps I should have kept my trap shut or fed her a line of guff.

Might have been amusing to see something on TV about JH’s secret killer robot factory just before the 2007 election.

The press, the truth be damned.

Now where do I have to go to have my concrete shoes fitted?”

To complete this article CALLIGULA has decided to copy the text of the first e-mail warning our bloke of the political Chicanery coming his way.

It is now history that Four Corners broadcast some tatty stuff about the Brethren which probably caused them more damage than in reality they caused Howard.

Perhaps if they dealt with people in an ethical way they might discover more newsworthy topics in future.

editor@greenswatch.com

Wednesday, 5 September 2007 6:58 PM

Exclusive Brethren Info

Hi,

This is Greens Watch, a site dedicated to holding the Greens to account.

We have been informed that the Greens have been assisting an ABC Four Corners investigation into the Exclusive Brethren and your company has been supplied to them along with "Megatoys". 

The ABC person investigating is: "Allison"  0283334869 / 0408495743 

A Four Corners Expose will be out in a couple of months. 

Please inform relevant people. 

Watch out, stay strong and good luck. 

Thanks

Greens Watch

Then there is this one dredged up today.

Seems MCClymont is still at it – but that isn’t the point.

This one should stay current for a while to confirm that GreensWatch was right.

(Which doesn’t mean that Larvatus Prodeo was involved. Does it?)

http://larvatusprodeo.net/2007/09/03/mr-18/

I noticed your post concerning “KEEP AUSTRALIA CHRISTIAN
Don’t vote Labour (sic)/Green Coalition” in your letter box. Is there any chance that I could get a copy of this. Also, can you tell me what State you are from?

Regards

Alison McClymont
Four Corners
ABC Television
(T) 02 8333 4869

End of item

Caption – Ace, armoured against the rarified atmosphere of our politics.

I was beavering away at a letter to an old penpal from Arabee when the door shivered open and this matter was cast down upon my desk.

A NON FARMER has been a bit irate lately because the sugar price has come good and all his FARMER pals are all out motorcycling and water skiing.

I told him to pipe down and think of all those times he got to roar around at breakneck speed while his mates were cutting cane every weekend but it didn’t register.

He reckoned he had as much right to have a say as any bloody liberal.

He stormed out muttering something about the right of the proletariat to have decent scooters too and left me with this task.

I polished it up a tiny bit for him and added a couple of cross references.

Here it is -

.

An open letter to Graham Young

http://www.ambitgambit.com/2010/10/19/why-you-should-be-careful-dealing-with-bob-ward-director-of-communications-for-the-grantham-institute/

Dear Graham,

Firstly, apologies. Upon reviewing my words, moon landing etc., did come across as a bit snide.

Rolling back to your original post and the e-mail traffic copied there.

I’m sure you’d agree that while I read that I don’t possess all the background detail about the topic that’s in your own head.

I have to make do by interpreting what’s written.

What I do have is my own experience of similar situations with all sorts of individuals and organizations here in Oz and internationally.

Would you have me mention that or should I just agree with you?

These days I’m convinced that Oz. has become a very ‘hard’ place populated by a majority of people who’d rather argue that apples were blue than admit the obvious.

Furthermore I contend the same attitude prevails in darts clubs, the corridors of power and just about any place a mix of Australians are put together.

I could relate to you numerous instances of  all sorts of organisations being ‘whiteanted’ to the extent that they effectively ceased performing their original functions.

I every sense they became nothing more than depleted bank accounts being ‘administered’ by klatches of ‘interest conflicted’ people.

Newbie blow-ins with absolutely no interest in the organizations core activities almost inevitably ended up ruling the roost.

Save argument on that subject and read what people are saying about our political parties.

I’ve become convinced that the forced ‘incorporation’ of so many organizations coupled with the continued encroachment of what some innocently call the ‘nanny state’ has ‘Pavloved’ - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov - a whole generation of ‘Kommissars’ - http://antimisandry.com/chit-chat-main/political-correctness-kommissars-7409-post40094.html - into mindsets that have no ‘Laissez faire’ modes whatsoever.

I’m sure it begins in education, becomes enforced in occupation then projects just as negatively into vocation and recreation.

So you see, my view is perhaps different from yours inasmuch as I believe both dart clubs and political parties should act honestly, transparently, humbly and decently.

I know that’s idealism and that is exactly why we should all strive for that ideal.

But as you say there is no room for dissent here and I suspect the reason for that in clubs and political parties is encroaching overarching dishonesty and secrecy right across the board.

In short Australians are now tending to act in their own affairs in like manner to our governments.

What Doug Cameron says (I refer to his words with Lyndal Curtis) absolutely reinforces my view while the ‘dismissal’ of his view by his party leader is only another in a litany of such immensely stupid statements and postures.

I cannot think of anything more infuriating than an ‘elected person’ saying that she ‘rejects’ this or that.

They have no right to ‘reject’ anything.

One week, for instance, Gordon Nuttall was an honoured colleague, a paragon of virtue, pure as driven snow, could do no wrong.

Next week that paragon was offhandedly ‘rejected’ to his fate.

Strikes me JG is picking up similar terminally bad habits from her “Emily’s List” sisters and intends to deploy the same secrecy that lead to Mr. Nuttall’s apparent ‘indiscretion’.

I don’t particularly fancy Mr Abbott as PM but it becomes increasingly likely if labor continues to eschew reform.

THE RECKONING - Reinhardt, knoppke, et al want a fair explanation.

IMAGE – Reinhardt and Knoppke putting this article ‘to bed’.

Interesting to see how certain types are a bit one-eyed.

Some can’t handle coarse language (I couldn’t until about six months into a traineeship in a Qld sugar mill.) some can’t handle irony or black humour – and a fair old deal just hate the rest of the human race.

In Calligula’s experience just printing his name on any document makes all too many suspect of his intent.

Yet he’s noticed that benign, considered and profoundly careful drafting of just about anything gets filed vertically by some of those with which he’d liked to have shared views.

He’s determined that at the end of the day it doesn’t matter too much how the thing is delivered. It’s about what is said and if those out there, of whatever political colour, refuse to publish it – then it may be published elsewhere.

Oh yes. Without a doubt there may be some who cannot understand what is being said.

There may be some who are flat-out too busy to make interpretations.

There may be some who are simply the victims of the modern education system.

And there may be those who have had such a bad day that the words just blur before their tired eyes.

But some pretend to be one thing then act another way.

I believe this one is about that.

The following has been sent off to the source, larvatusprodeo, but no reply has yet been forthcoming.

Of course CALLIGULA has been told often enough that he’s a vexatious bastard as has everyone else from Hammurabi to Tiny Tim.

All this centres around two of the staff at ‘Calligula’s Horse’. It goes back to when they were newbies – relatively fresh to the internet and wanting to enjoy what they innocently believed would be a universe of weighty discourse and a whole paddockful of new friends.

It may have been a bit of an adverse learning curve for them at starters but they are now here with us.

It is amazing to discover how their concerns align with a previous paper - “An Exercise in Serious Futility” – featured on this blog.

Meanwhile, in the absence of any reply from head office, let their matter be heard -

Hello all,

With regard to this thread -

http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/09/06/nats-wiped-out-in-lyne-big-swing-against-libs-in-mayo/

Forgive this intrusion.

I'd appreciate gaining an understanding of how you would interpret what Messrs Reinhardt and Knoppke were encountering here.

Let me explain why.

I have recently been reviewing a fund of comments and contributions to certain fora and weblogs here in Australia and overseas with the intention of drafting a paper.

Extract from preamble -

"Blogs and Free Speech - The Intercausal Relationship Between the Dunning/Kruger Effect and Murphy's Law."

"The inspiration for this research followed a line of thought surrounding the material that has been accepted, published and maintained by 'moderators' of numerous 'blogs' and fora on the internet.

Masses of articles exist on the internet decrying the fact that arbitrary censorship and suppression of fair comment have become a feature of the medium - acts perpetrated not by agencies of nation states but by private individuals apparently cleaving to narrow, specious, interpretation of their own 'rules of engagement'.

I am confident without prejudice it may be demonstrated that individuals acting in the guise of 'moderators' so waywardly exercise control of these websites that, were they to publicly display similar manners, they might soon find themselves brought to task by their peers."  - was a view I had at the commencement of my deliberations."

While it is true that most fora have 'rules of engagement' or publishing policies of some form or another it has to be conceded that the national makeup tends to preclude most Australians from resorting to any sort of 'manual' as a matter of pride.

That reluctance combined with some other attributes, I contend, lends toward both the "Dunning Kruger Effect" and manifestations of " Murphy's law'.

While it could be considered that Messrs. Reinhardt and Knoppke, as new contributors to Larvatus Prodeo, may themselves have eschewed the reading of your publication policy it may be hinted now that this was part of their task.

Their task -

1. Compile a reasonable comment on a subject posted on a popular, allegedly meritorious forum -
2. assess any resultant comment and if possible reply in the same vein and on-thread -
3. rely upon individual political/social standards/values within replies -
4. attempt as best possible to match all replies to the resultant traffic - ie a staged response.
5. If/when the communications traffic diverts significantly from the originally posted topic attempt to portray a character type expressing hurt and bewilderment and -
6. when all else fails - bluff it through without resorting to 'conduct unbecoming' (maintain, say, the sort of language expected within a peer group in a public place).

The result, though by no means atypical is remarkable inasmuch as almost every 'cue' put out by Reinhardt and Knoppke was perceived by them as being picked up and attempted to be used against them.

And since they were tasked with undertaking the activity detailed above they responded in ways they believed to be personally satisfying and appropriate to the occasion.

While it cannot be argued that R&K were not eventually 'pushing the envelope' in inviting replies and comment I would submit the record makes clear the relative barrenness of the response.

I believe it would be fair at this time to mention the comment of one who 'blind reviewed' a text only version - who muttered "My God, which school do these little b -s attend?"

While researching this series I have encountered what I personally consider to be the 'gold standard' of blog commentary.

Permit me to share it with you - http://faultline.org/index.php/site/item/incendiary/P0/

In closing I shall mention again that I'm seeking considered opinion about this topic or for that matter anything you find personally significant.

While I realise that the opinion and conduct of contributors is not that of management there is an implied duty of care concomitant with the operation of weblogs.

It may be that your suggestions might become pivotal towards improving the breed.

- GROUND ZERO -

Some years ago the owner of an Australian defence research and development business sent what is called a ‘ministerial’ along to the, then, Australian defence minister, Peter Reith - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Reith

.

The paper was specifically compiled to refute statements (excuses) emanating from the Defence Materiel Organisation to the effect that in their opinion there was no capacity, capability or skills base able to meet certain defence procurement projects then on the books.

At the time this document was created the business had made enough headway to develop a product line of 100% Australian design and content that was fully compliant with defence specification and remarkably superior in accuracy and performance over published defence requirement.

Their services had also been solicited by a certain state police force to invent a product that would serve to eliminate the possibility of officers accidentally shooting themselves and their colleagues with their new Glock pistols.

(Most readers, who need cheering up, might not be aware that the Glock lacks a dedicated safety catch, They are an offensive, not defensive, weapon.)

Since this force had already purchased and placed into service a couple of hundred of these devices (weapons clearing stations as the cops called them) our proprietor decided to include their information in the ‘ministerial’.

The content of the document?

Oh, nothing that Mr. Reith as a profoundly knowledgeable and dedicated defence minister wouldn’t already know.

Stuff like – We are firm A, situated here; you can contact us by – and see our web page here.

It went on to advise – these are our projects a,b,c,d,e, etc – and our sales to the Commonwealth, to this state government, to these defence approved export costomers 1,2,3,4, etc. (all quite an interesting and information rich document)

Then relying upon and quoting from a document called the “Defence Procurement policy Manual” it indicated the ways and means by which the firm was required to ‘engage’ with defence as a ‘valued and respected defence asset’.

All that was illustrated with pikkies of the equipment including the item shown above.

If Reith actually ever did read the document there was one part that might have burred him up.

That was where it was politely put to the minister that certain initiatives contained in the procurement manual, underpinned by legislation, in support of indigenous Australian industry were being denied; that therefore his office was, in the strongest sense, evidently breaking law.

At this remove I can’t remember if words like Tenix and conflict of interest were used then.

I suppose if you’ve read this far you’d like to know if our boss had any feedback from the minister?

Some might say –“ What: from Reith?”

And they’d be right. The usual process would be that a response addressing each and every matter put to the minister would be sent to the deponent.

But not Reith.

Indeed there was a letter from Reith’s office to the local member of which a copy was finally wrested from his grip.

It regretted to inform his pal in politics that despite looking everywhere (probably under his desk) the minister couldn’t find anyone other than Tenix, ADI, Boeing, GDLS, BAE doing defence stuff in Oz.

Oh, by the way, it went on to add, we don’t want any of those weapons cleaning stations thingumys built either.

Which is strange because I’ve seen the e-mails from HMS Cairns to the boss inquiring about the possibility of their installation in the new patrol vessels.

But, true to his promise Mr. Reith took care of that.

How do I know this?

I wrote some of the manuals and took some of the pikkies of some of this gear both for publicity and for demonstration purposes.

I have been allowed access to some of this material for historical purposes; if it can be put that way.

So, in the historical sense what did Reith’s actions achieve?

For himself, a job for a while with Tenix -

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/26/1030053035440.html

And I suppose he set the tone for those who followed him in the ministry.

As for our small regional defence firm who developed equipment of a sort that can only be acquired by government; who developed their product to a stage that exceeded every element of the defence compiled specification?

Oh, they are all right. They’re broke. The same police whose lives they protected thanked them by staging a home invasion and stealing their project inventory.

That’s their reward for supporting the defence of Australia.

Meanwhile Australian soldiers are bypassing the chain of command and being admonished for stating the obvious and to the best of our knowledge our Naval boarding partys still lack a safe means of check loading and unloading their weapons.

But that’s only one tiny little corner of the Reith defence legacy.

I’m sure there are many other similar stories out there.

Almost forgot. Why is that pikkie a funny colour?

Oh. It did mention on that page in the ministerial that the rifle had mission/ environment adaptive camouflage; a non specular surface finish that was nonetheless readily decontaminated of NBC agents.

It also hinted that this feature alone would be worth millions in, say, the US.

The best way to illustrate that to a politician was to move the lighting along the UV end of the spectrum in that photo.

But we can’t have Aussies playing with stuff like that, can we.

Nope. Do that and we might have some new industry.