Provided without (much) in the way of further comment:
Australia navy in breast op row
Australia’s opposition Labor Party has questioned the need for female sailors to be given breast enlargements paid for with public money.
An armed forces spokesman defended the operations, saying they were carried out for psychological reasons, not to make sailors “look sexy”.
Quite right, quite right.
Still, while you’re under the hood there…
Er….never mind, no comment.
In other news, Australia’s neighbors along the Pacific Rim expressed their “grave concern about the deployment of these upgraded missile warheads”…
Stealing from TFD…
I dunno, Lex.
I never thought I would see the day. I think this is twice now. Tsk, tsk…
Even if they are doing it to look sexy who cares. Given the RAN recruiting woes if it keeps them in it’s probably cheap.
Lex,
What a bunch of boobs. Er, I mean, it’s quite a titillating story.
Good job keeping abreast of stories from around the world.
Maybe I should try for a joint tour with the Aussies…you know, for the JPME credit.
Though, next time, remember a picture is worth a thousand words. Save my eyesight from having to read.
I never knew that relative bearing grease had evolved to being silicone in origin, and that they would be used as PPFDs (Permanent Personal Floatation Devices).
-SJBill
Speaking of optional surgery at government expense: Our Doc’s stated goal was to be the circumcision king of I Corps. Had them lining up at sick bay. From Binh Sohn to the DMZ and all points in between….Army, Navy, and many, many Marines.
He boasted he only did it for the tips.
That was, perhaps, a more fiscally innocent era.
The US Army does this as well. Had a Sergeant whose wife went to a psychologist with “self-esteem” issues. She got an upgrade at tax-payer expense.
Did I mention it gives serving on DDs a whole new meaning?
-SJBill
The inmates are running the asylum.
Far be it from me to engage in a tit-for-tat on this august blog – and yes, I can already hear the tittering from the peanut gallery. Better get this puppy back under wraps before it bounces out of control.
Was it the Belgians or the Swiss or something that CDR Salamander showed a youtube video of, when they flashed American sailors leaving? Ya think the Australians…?
I’m a little confused by all the fuss. You can get breast augmentation done under Medicare if it’s for self-esteem issues, in which case the government i.e. the taxpayer, pays for it anyway. So what’s the issue?
If the two girls involved were not military, but simply civilians women in any other government organisation, nobody would have turned a hair. Do people think that military officers should be, what, ABOVE that sort of thing? It’s all a waste of resources, and why aren’t they tough enough to ignore issues of self-esteem etc.
But I suspect the main reason for the story is that it gets the words breasts and women in uniform into the same sentence.
Seems we haven’t come far from the equal pay, equal rank fuss of the 1970s.
Ozwitch,
As I recall, women who get plastic surgery (including breast augmentation) are MORE likely to suffer from self-esteem and show little/no improvement after surgery. So, doing this for “self-esteem issues” is a pretty pathetic reason.
FBL-
You miss the point, that being if it’s for “psychological reasons” you qualify for the Govt. cheese anyway, no need to join the Navy.
Ozwitch is quite right. This sort of surgery can be paid for under Medicare for ordinary Australian citizens if it’s clinically justifiable. Ain’t socialised health care grand? Defence force personnel aren’t entitled to claim Medicare, as all their medical expenses are picked up by the ADF – so why should they be disadvantaged? I bet you Defence has paid for a few nose jobs over the years for the same reason without the brouhaha.