MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 9 Nov 11

• Bosnia vet’s hunger strike ends.  “The federal government will create a new committee to study veterans’ health in the wake of a hunger strike by an ex-soldier who insists he was contaminated by depleted uranium while serving in Bosnia. Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney made the announcement in Levis, Que., after Pascal Lacoste ended his protest and allowed himself to be taken away in an ambulance Tuesday. Lacoste …. battled to get Ottawa to recognize his uranium poisoning while serving overseas …. Further details of the board will be announced in the next 30 days, said Blaney. The minister said the body will comprise academics, medical researchers and soldiers. “It’s a committee that will have a broad mandate,” Blaney said, adding that he wants to see Lacoste’s health get better, along with the health of other veterans ….”  More here.  We’ll see about the bit in red – one hopes the committee will be allowed to do more than just create a report that gathers dust on the shelf.
• “The Harper Government is facing controversy over its pending budget cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs at a particularly awkward time — as the country prepares for Remembrance Day ceremonies Friday. On Tuesday, federal Liberals announced they’ve gathered nearly 9,000 signatures on a petition protesting cutbacks that will total $226 million. That sum is to be added to another $175 million to $350 million that is to be eliminated as a result of the Conservatives’ strategic review — a government-wide federal austerity process aimed at balancing the federal books in the next few years …. The Harper government should not be fiddling with this sacred trust. Canadians should give this some thought on a week when they’ll be remembering those who have fallen for Canada.”
• Remembering (1)  Royal Canadian Legion:  Up to 30K vets in unmarked graves across Canada.
• Remembering (2)  The Government supports a private members bill calling for harsher punishments against those who damage or desecrate cenotaphs or war memorials – more on the bill itself here and from the media here.  Great – another law.  Like there aren’t vandalism laws now?  How well are they being enforced?
• Remembering (3)  Ceasefire.ca wants us to “make Remembrance Day about peace” instead of (allegedly) “to build support for war and massive military spending at the expense of vital social programs and environmental protection” (without offering proof of the latter).
• Remembering (4)  Honouring the fallen, 140 characters at a time, courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen. “There is one line from the poem In Flanders Fields that in recent times, above all, commands our attention with its call, from the dead to the living, to remember. “If ye break faith with us who die,” wrote Lt.-Col. John McCrae, “We shall not sleep.” Starting Wednesday and continuing well into the next decade, the Ottawa Citizen will keep this ancient faith through the modern channel of social media. Beginning at 11 minutes after 11 a.m., the Twitter account “@WeAreTheDead” will begin reciting the names of Canada’s war dead, one each hour of every day. A computer algorithm will select at random, each name from an electronic scroll of military dead and post it to Twitter. It will take more than 13 years to tweet all the names, finishing sometime in late June 2025, depending on the number of new entries added to the list ….”
• Afghanistan (1)  Troops host 5K “Canadian Farewell Run” at Kandahar Airfield (via CF Info-Machine).
• Afghanistan (2)  More on taking down and shipping back Canada’s presence in Kandahar (via hometown paper).
• Way Up North  Blogger/info-curator Mark Collins on how the U.S. military Info-Machine is sometimes better at letting us know what Canada’s subs are up to than the CF’s Info-Machine.
• Canadian Rangers wrap up major exercise (biggest Ranger ex ever) near Cochrane, Ontario.
• F-35 Tug o’ War (1)  U.S. says Joint Strike Fighter won’t be ready for combat until 2018?  More here.
• F-35 Tug o’ War (2)  Associate Minister of Defence Julian Fantino tells Texas businessmen “we’re buying it” – more here.
• RC Navy looking into possible connection between the RCN boss’ civilian administrative assistant and a dead guy with links to organized crime – more here and here.
• Latest on Grapes and his Honourary RMC (declined with thanks) degree, from QMI/Sun Media:  “I was hoping to be able to report today how those Royal Military College faculty members who don’t agree with a French teacher’s protest of Don Cherry’s doctorate had rallied to say she does not speak for them. It did not happen Monday. Same goes for a petition from the 800 officer cadets, indicating they did not agree with their French teacher and that they want Don to attend the Nov. 17 convocation to receive the honorary degree he so richly deserves. This also did not happen Monday ….”
• Добро пожаловать на борт!  “An imposing display of Russian military might is anchored at Canada Place for the next three days. The Russian missile cruiser Varyag and tanker Irkut, which will be here until Friday, are open for public tours between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. today and Thursday ….”