Letter from Kashmir

Colonel S.W. “Syd” Thomson, D.S.O., M.C., CD. Joined the Rocky Mountain Rangers in the 1930s transferring to the Seqforth Highlanders at the outbreak of war. Wounded in Sicily, he returned to serve as Company Commander, Second-in-Command and Commanding Officer of the Battalion. In October 1944 he was promoted to Acting Colonel and sent to England to command an infantry training unit at Aldershot. In April 1945 he reverted to Lieut.-Colonel to take command of the Black Watch. Colonel Thomson volunteered for the Pacific Force and remained in the Army until 1946. He rejoined the forces to serve with the United Nations Military Observers Group in Pakistan. This letter to “Big” Jim Stone (Lieut.-Colonel Jim Stone D.S.O., M.C., CD.) is one of several colourful accounts of his service in Kashmir. Colonel Thomson’s letters will be a regular feature in CMH

The Sourcerer's Apprentice

This assignment considers the use of the apprenticeship model of teaching in academic subject areas. This has been investigated by various authors since 1989. I will consider the various flavors of the techniques presented and some of the practical implications of these. I will draw from our experience running several courses where students undertake business like projects within a protective environment

Crying poor? The affordability of defence expenditure

The May budget saw deep cuts made to Australia\u27s defence budget over the next few years. It will be up to next year\u27s Defence White Paper to decide what happens after that. It has been argued that the long-term cost of health and ageing will place further pressures on government finances and constrain defence spending in the decades ahead. But while social spending will undoubtedly rise, so too will Australia\u27s prosperity and capacity to pay. This paper considers fiscal and economic arguments and concludes that spurious arguments about the \u27affordability\u27 of defence spending should not be allowed to skew the long-term plans for Australia\u27s defence. It would be a false economy to slash defence spending and then pay a higher strategic price in the future.&nbsp

European health systems are changing in response to the financial crisis but face barriers to implementing necessary reforms

The financial crisis has affected almost every aspect of European governments’ ability to maintain public services, and healthcare has been no exception. Philipa Mladovsky and Sarah Thomson look at how health systems have responded to the financial crisis and find that there is substantial variation across Europe. Some countries were better prepared than others to cope with a fiscal shock, and countries using the crisis to address weaknesses in the health system have often found it difficult to introduce necessary reforms

Primary Care and Prescription Drugs: Coverage, Cost-Sharing, and Financial Protection in Six European Countries

Examines health coverage, innovations in cost-sharing design, and affordability of primary care and prescription drugs in Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Explores lessons for U.S. reforms and insurance design