Falkland furore

The recent rhetoric from the Argentine president clearly ignores one fact... the Islanders are not Argentinians by a long chalk. 
Having visited Argentina I can also say that they are singularly obsessed with the Islands for a whole host of reasons but what we must never take out of the picture is the fact that the sea bed surrounding the Islands has a valuable commodity... OIL.

When Oil comes into the picture many countries loose their common sense and this is what is happening to the Argentine political Junta.

The Falklands will never become the Malvinas without an inordinate amount of violence I fear.

I love Argentina and the people but would be the first to say... Leave the Falklands alone! You may well remember these words from the last time... we all know how that ended.

"The British won't fight." General Leopoldo Galtieri 10/04/1982

For the Fallen

For The Fallen Laurence Binyon
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Today we remember that freedom came by the sacrifice of those that fought for it. Never forget that!

"But if dying's asked of me,
I'll bear that cross with an honor,
'Cause freedom don't come free."
Toby Keith - American Soldier lyrics

Goodbye to a great cat...

Today was the last flight of a legendary aircraft, the Cheetah. Currently being replaced with the JAS 39 Gripen, somehow I do not see a Griffon wearing spots...

"April 8, 2008: The South African Air Force has retired the last of its Cheetah jet fighters, with the last fourteen of them being withdrawn from service."
This is my small salute to the machines and the men that flew them, so to all that flew with Spotty... Hamba Gahle.
They truly lived up to the Air Force motto...
Per Aspera Ad Astra wich means: Through Adversity to the stars.