Long Live Friendship

After losing his parents, this 3 year old orangutan was so depressed he wouldn't eat and didn't respond to any medical treatments. The veterinarians thought he would surely die from sadness. The zoo keepers found an old sick dog on the grounds in the park at the zoo where the orangutan lived and took the dog to the animal treatment center. The dog arrived at the same time the orangutan was there being treated. The 2 lost souls met and have been inseparable ever since.

The orangutan found a new reason to live and each always tries his best to be a good companion to his new found friend. They are together 24 hours a day in all their activities.

They live in Northern California where swimming is their favorite past time, although Roscoe (the orangutan) is a little afraid of the water and needs his friend's help to swim.

Together they have discovered the joy and laughter in life and the value of friendship.

They have found more than a friendly shoulder to lean on.

Long Live Friendship!!!!!!!

I don't know......some say life is too short, others say it is too long, but I know that nothing that we do makes sense if we don't

touch the hearts of others........while it lasts!

Reforming Papua New Guinea (PNG) Parliament

By Paul Oates

Recent events in the life of the present PNG Parliament have revealed some glaring deficiencies in the framework set up to take the nation into Independence in 1975.

In an observation quoted by Nancy Reagan, the wife of former US President Ronald Reagan, ‘the strength of the tea bag is only revealed when it’s immersed in hot water.’

So what are the deficiencies that have been revealed? Basically, many could be collectively described as a lack of the necessary checks and balances in place to ensure parliamentary power and legislative government does not get out of control.

In fairness to the so called founding fathers and their expat ‘minders’, the recent circumstances could hardly have been envisaged when the PNG Constitution was drafted. Yet as PNG has had the resilience to advance from the Stone Age to the Modern Age in one giant leap, so too must the structures of government be adapted to meet the requirements of the day.

The majority of democratic nations throughout the world seem to have one thing in common. That is a House of Review as part of the structure of Parliament. While legislation is debated and enacted in a Lower House, all legislation must be reviewed by an Upper House before being signed into law.

Such is the case in many Commonwealth countries that had their Parliaments modelled on the Westminster system. After many amendments, the United Kingdom’s House of Lords still has a useful function of reviewing legislation from the House of Commons. The Australian Senate performs some very useful functions in that until a Bill from the Lower House is reviewed and passed by the Senate, it cannot be signed by the Governor General and become law.

Perhaps the time has now come for PNG to consider creating an Upper House of Review?

George Washington is supposed to have observed to Thomas Jefferson, another ‘doubting Thomas’ about the necessity of having an Upper House in the United States government. As Jefferson tipped his hot tea into his saucer to cool it, Washington is supposed to have observed, so too an Upper House (in this case the US Senate) performs a similar function with potentially inflammatory matters raised in the US Lower House or Congress.

There is however some conjecture about whether Washington actually said these words since apparently no one has ever seen this written quote until the late 19^th Century when it was common place to tip your hot cup of tea or coffee into your saucer to cool it. In fact, the expression, ‘would you like a dish of tea’? originates from this practice. One can only cringe in sympathy with generations of hostesses who had to put up with the inevitable slurping of those guests who tried to drink their tea from their saucers, a receptacle actually designed for holding sauce.

The term ‘Bicameral’ refers to a government that has two chambers. The term apparently originated in the early 19^th Century from the Latin ‘bi’ meaning two and ‘camer’(a or al) meaning chamber. The alternative is a single chamber of government or unicameral system.

While there is conjecture as to the efficiency of having a legislature comprised of two houses, the concept has been around since Ancient Roman times where the recognised tendency of the larger plebeian class could be tempered by the patrician Senate, a word reputedly derived from ‘senex’ or old man.

Most nations around the world have opted from a bicameral system of government. The map from Wikipedia below gives an indication of those nations that have bicameral government and those that don’t.

So how could an Upper House of Review be brought into being? Very easily.

Consider the Provincial Governors as a collective group of reviewers. Several have already raised their concerns about the current government and the speed by which Parliamentary votes appear to become law seemingly overnight. Why not determine that at the next general election, the Provincial governors be separated from the ordinary members of Parliament and become instead, a separate house of review as is the Australian Senate.

How would this work in practice?

Well, for one thing, I’m sure the incoming Provincial Governors wouldn’t mind a new title of say, ‘Senator’, a title not unknown and respected throughout much of the world.

Then the powers of the PNG ‘Senate’ could be modeled on similar powers elsewhere.

All legislation must first be reviewed and debated in the PNG Senate before being sent to the PNG Governor General for signing into law. Perhaps there could be a limit, as in Australia, where the Upper House can refer a draft Bill back to the Lower House three times before it must be passed and ultimately become an Act. Surely this proposal is worthy of consideration from all sides of politics?

So True - Political Sayings‏

Too True !

The problem with political jokes is that they get elected. ~ Henry Cate, VII

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. ~ Aesop

If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these acceptance speeches, there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven. ~ Will Rogers
Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. ~ Plato

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river. ~ Nikita Khrushchev

When I was a boy, I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it. ~ Clarence Darrow

Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you.
~ Author Unknown

If God had wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates. ~ Jay Leno

Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel. ~ John Quinton

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other. ~ Oscar Ameringer

The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then they get elected and prove it. ~ P.J. O'Rourke

I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them. ~ Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952

A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country. ~ Texas Guinan

Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so. ~ Gore Vidal

I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians. ~ Charles de Gaulle

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks. ~ Doug Larson

Don't vote; it only encourages them. ~ Author Unknown

There ought to be one day - just one - when there is open season on Senators. ~ Will Rogers

Spirit Life Fellowship International Ministries in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA hosts Special Conference

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is morally bound

By Sir John R. Kaputin

In a paper prepared for the Kokopo summit on micro-finance and small business from April 3-7 last year, I wrote: "When confronted with the
current political scene in Papua New Guinea, one feels somewhat cheated and angry at the lack of transparency and compliance with the laws of Papua New Guinea and related procedures by the leaders.

"What has happened to the dreams and aspirations of emancipating ourselves from the Australian colonial cocoon in order to paddle our own canoe to the promised land following independence in 1975? "Were all the efforts and contributions made by our people to attain political independence and to create a just society that would not be contaminated by corruption, bribery and personal greed, and the constant struggle for personal power misused? "Were the energy and personal sacrifices they put into these efforts and contributions really for nothing? "Following the declaration of independence, who was it who had the temerity to proclaim publicly that ‘we are not Africa’, and, in doing so, to insinuate that we, Papua New Guineans, are different in our character and national aspirations?"

While participants in the constitution-making process in Papua New Guinea drew on experience, both positive and negative, and precedents in other countries, the constitution itself is "home-grown", both as a matter of law in that it does not owe its authority to any foreign law or government but to the people of Papua New Guinea, and because of the role many thousands of Papua New Guineans and their elected representatives played in its making.

Some tens of thousands of people were consulted during the process by making written submissions directly or as members of discussion groups which met and considered both issues and options around the country, or by attending meetings at which the CPC met with them when we went on tour around the country and listened to what they said, before finalizing our report.

It is, therefore, all the more dismaying to read comments by people, including some very prominent foreign lawyers mistakenly described as "experts", suggesting that the problem with our constitution is that it was designed by outsiders. This is not only untrue as it diverts attention from the real, underlying causes of the ongoing political convulsions.

These seriously mistaken – and misleading claims – are also being used to suggest that the constitution is somehow responsible for the current situation, and not the behaviors I have outlined. Having been a member of parliament for 30 years, I have personal experience of the reality that parliamentary debates have become theatrical and meaningless. Debating real issues has taken a back seat, while shouting matches and bickering over procedures and irrelevant technicalities have become the major preoccupation of the dominant performers in our national parliament.

The former member for Maprik, Sir Pita Lus, might have been perceived as vociferous and a loose cannon, but, behind this façade, there was a very serious mind concerned with real issues, expressed in pidgin with lots of humor and punctuated with colorful phrases in English. Unfortunately, most of the arguments in recent times are self-centered, and although members may be very argumentative, their arguments provide little guidance as to the way forward to prosperity and integrity for Papua New Guinea.

So, how do we move forward?

(1) The most obvious thought that comes to mind is the election. While this may provide the opportunity for some good prospective leaders to enter parliament, unfortunately, history has not been very kind to us. Electing more "bros" like the present members into parliament will not necessarily resolve our ongoing leadership problem.

(2) Elsewhere, the current political convulsions would have provided the perfect environment for some general or commodore to take the bull by the horns and throw some leaders into jail in the name of non-compliance, lack of good governance and accountability, and to rule by decree. However, this would not resolve our political problems. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on one’s point of view, our various forces are not united and do not have the numbers or unity to impose and sustain military rule. But there are, of course, people who are misguided enough to try.

(3) Perhaps one saving grace we have is the cultural and linguistic diversity among our people. While we have two, in certain respects, dominant regions in the highlands and the Sepik, and another region is separated from the mainland by the ocean, our diversity means that we can never be united to prop up any one leader forever. Although smaller regions such as Papua and the New Guinea Islands have been cleverly used in the past, time is fast running out for this kind of political exploitation.

(4) Instead of exploiting the National Constitution for their own purposes, members of parliament should be examining the constitution in order to ensure that our system of government caters for the future, taking into account cultural differences, ethnicity, the distribution and sharing of wealth, provincial powers for raising internal revenues, land use and ownership, and the costs of infrastructure, education, and health, as well as issues such as migration, and effective access by our people to opportunities for development. Unless we address these fundamental issues, national leadership will continue to be a major problem.

(5) What if the leadership issue is not resolved and more and more problems are created in the future? Australia must not be allowed to be involved in our internal problems as the so-called "deputy sheriff" of the United States. They played a major role in the creation of one of Papua New Guinea’s major problems, which was the compulsory acquisition of Rorovana and Panguna land for the Bougainville copper mine.

Moreover, the lack of capacity that has continued to plague this country was to a major extent created by Canberra and its colonial administration with their lack of realistic policy initiatives to prepare Papua New Guinea for independence. Until the 1960s, there were no full high schools in Papua New Guinea, and our first university was opened only in the late 1960s. We have tried our best since 1975 to educate and build up our trained personnel and capacity for over 35 years, but, unfortunately, we are still a long way from what we need.

Although we are constantly being criticized by Canberra and other Australians for our current lack of capacity, they have never admitted that the fault was theirs. Despite the sizable pool of intellectuals who have joined the Waigani ghetto at the Australian National University, Australians have never really changed their views about Papua New Guinea, despite the grim reality that, although many aspects of our country are changing, more and more Papua New Guineans are being left out of mainstream development.

Listening to the political polemics by Australian spokespersons with regard to current political events in Port Moresby gives the impression that there is nothing they can do for us except to use their military might to protect their economic interests in Papua New Guinea. They seem to think that Papua New Guineans are a bunch of actual or potential law-breakers and that they can, therefore, apply their security laws in the name of democracy and non-compliance without recognizing that the main issue is, in fact, their failure to educate us well in advance for independence and to help us build up our capacities both in the public and private sectors.

In anticipation of our lack of adequate capacity, Australia made sure of securing easy access to Papua New Guinea for Australian businesses and citizens in bilateral agreements but without reciprocity for Papua New Guineans, or an option even for Papuans, who are former Australian citizens, to obtain similar opportunities in Australia.

(6) Finally, if our leaders cannot resolve their differences, article 96 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement can be used in situations of non-compliance with the principles of democracy. This can lead to economic sanctions, which, in Papua New Guinea’s case, would mean that our tuna, cocoa, coffee and other commodities such as oil and gas would be taken into consideration.

This would be a real test for the European Union and Australia – whether they are genuinely prepared to protect our democracy or whether their own economic interests in Papua New Guinea will take precedence over the maintenance of important principles of democratic parliamentary rule.

In conclusion, it is hoped that the views expressed in this article, may assist readers to appreciate and understand the complexities of the political situation in Papua New Guinea. All citizens, whose rights are protected by the National Constitution, must use all resources at their disposal, including their intellectual capacity, their other manpower resources, and their voting rights to protect the constitution.

It is both our moral and collective duty to do this. As I am reminded by Nelson Mandela, who said: "Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. "Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. "Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great.

"You can be that great generation. "Let your greatness blossom." And as Martin Luther King has reminded us: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."