Tim Blair

All you're doing is creating more of the conditions (drunken Aussies having a good time) that forced that poor Indonesian fellow to his desperate act.

Or at least that's what I would like to say, but I live in America where I'm afraid to speak up.

The only problem with The Australian's report is Jake hit a chord with more than just Aussies (please tell me I'm not the only non-Aussie who kicked in some cash...)

Cash came in from the US (massively), the UK, Asia, and just about every state in Australia.

You ain't alone, Ben. Not by a long shot. Even after this latest report was posted, donations were still arriving from the US.

Excellent. (/montyburns)

Good to see the fat profits made from the sweat of the opressed going to support our fellow opressors... or something.

i suggest the 'jake world tour 2004'
send him to ny and i'll spend a lot more on the beer here then i paypaled(paypalled?). that goes for you too tim, btw

You will be posting pictures won't you Tim? Maybe even a partycam for those of us on the other side of the world?

Maybe you can set up something like the old Guinness scheme of agreeing on some established time (Zulu) when we can all raise a glass concurrently in a worldwide toast to Mr. Ryan.

ooh, great idea charles!

The point I think is that many Australians remain utterly outraged by the murder of so many of our countrymen (and other good people who were just attempting to have a good time, or who had just gone to work). This is a little way in which we can show it. (And my experience is that Americans almost without fail really feel Australians over this, and this is a little way they can show it).

That was meant to be "Americans almost without fail really feel for Australians over this"

Well, there certainly are some nice Australians I'd be happy to feel over this, except I'm married.

Charles Austin - great idea! Tim, name the appointed time and I'll raise a glass (of wine - can't drink beer) in Jake's honor.

Any chance of slinging a few bob Kylie Russell's way? I reckon she needs it a bit more than Jake Ryan needs a beer.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/03/1044122322463.html

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/s775631.htm

Tim, maybe you could ask Jake to send you some photos of the Big Night Out to post on your site, I'd love to see what sort of great night those guys could have on a $1000. Perhaps a local band could donate some time and make it really memeorable for the lads.

Just had a thought, Bono of U2 love causes as do REM, combine those guys with Jake Ryan World Tour 2004 as put forward by Mr Bingley and we could be on something HUGE.

Dr Blairenstein, you have created a monster.

Plans are being made for pictures. Maybe even a webcam. I'll update as I get details.

how about a BeerAid concert?

"All you're doing is creating more of the conditions (drunken Aussies having a good time) that forced that poor Indonesian fellow to his desperate act.

Or at least that's what I would like to say, but I live in America where I'm afraid to speak up."

What an idiotic thing to say. What planet do you live on. Nobody is going censure you, ever. But you do make an ass of yourself.

Good grief! oh, ok..."What the hell????" I had the pleasure of working with many Indonesians in the US, and aside from the fact that they are far richer than myself, I value their friendship and general "Do unto others, etc." type of character that I would like to claim as my own as well. So this one guy got pissy- I still say "well done, Jake" , I would have done it myself. I guess every country has their share of mama's boys.

Chris: MikeG was obviously satirizing that attitude.

no andrea, it's true! here in amerika we're all trembling with ashcroft's jackboots on our throats

Journo Dave - a comment on Kylie Russell's situation.

I preface my comments by saying that I an Ex-service person (10 years service) and I have had close friends killed and seriously maimed in the ADF (including the blackhawk disaster).

All ADF personel are given the opportunity to make themselves fully aware of the benefits that they and their families are entitled to if they are killed or injured while on duty. My experience of trying to educate my soldiers about their financial situation was that they generally weren't too interested. They thought they would be adequately cared for. Even when I explained the inadequacies few of them did anything about it. Mainly because as young soldiers they were more interested in having a good time - partying, travelling, buying high powered cars etc. Buying additional insurance wasn't really very appealing.

The fact was and still is is that the system does not provide adequate cover in the event of serious disability or death.

The fact also is that life and disability insurance is available (well it was last time I checked in 2001) to service personnel to cover them even for act of war. Most insurers won't, but through the then Army Health Benefits Fund, now called Defence Health Benefits, you could take additional cover. And it was at reasonable rates.

If SGT Russell, who as a SGT in the SASR is considered the best of the best, decides that he will take the chance that he won't buy the farm and not provide additional insurance should there be so much wailing and gnashing of teeth about the poor compensation? Individuals need to take responsibility for their own actions and in actions.

Of course there is the argument that the system should adequately provide. And I support that push too, but what happens if Australia moves to a high level compensation system and then we have a conflict where we actually take a lot of casualties? It could easily destroy the Federal Budget.

One other thing about the SGT/Kylie Russell situation is that all the focus has been on the amount of compensation that she and her children are entitled too. At no time has anyone bothered to publish how much she got from his superannuation. I accumulated in excess of $100,000 in the time I was in for 10 years and I'm sure SGT Russel would have been in for longer and probably on higher rates of pay than me. Superannuation is part of the whole estate and to exclude this from the total compensation package is handling the truth casually.