Just How Much???

Here's a fascinating article on US military spending this year. The highest since the Korean War even when adjusted for inflation.

Serious cash there.

A nice take also on military hardware. There's a line item for a lot of new Stealth fighters...

I was chatting to a US Marine Lieutenant Colonel in the bar at the Raddison Stockholm Airport (ugh!) and he was mentioning just how cool their toys were in relation to pretty much every military on the planet. Unless you are prepared to go nuclear there isn't much point in getting into an arse kicking contest with the US. Sounds about right to me.

He also said that he was a liasion officer and tried to take his British counterpart, an older Brigadier on a tour of the USS Ronald Reagan, the new super carrier. Aparently this Brig turned around and said; "A Tour? Of one of your ships? Since Admiral Faragut insisted that your Navy be dry, I do not tour US vessels."

They've been dry a long long time, but I admire the sentiment.

I'm Irish...

I've been thinking for sometime about sorting out an Irish passport and I've known for a while that in "theory" I'm Irish, it's just nice to have somebody in a position of authority to tell me so. I asked what I needed to get the passport, assuming I'd first need some form of "proof" to be obtained.

"But your father is Irish?"
"Yes."
"Then so are you. Nothing else required."
"Oh, OK."

So all I need to do is get my photo's signed by somebody, probably I'll track down an old family friend from the Garda before TCASU, send off my Dad's birth certificate, his wedding certificate and my documentation and a cheque.

I expected it to be a little more complicated than that.