Thursday, March 24, 2005



Charlie Lynn’s political philosophy embodies the belief that courage, hope, fortitude and endurance are all nurtured by conviction. The strong and united community is supported by a continuity of a great tradition. He believed that it is not wealth and power and organisation that hold a society together but its Christian faith.
Please note that Channel 9 will be screening tonight their 'Dareing the Kokoda' program which involves a group of young blokes from Punchbowl Boys High School which had been written up as the worst school in NSW. For the school and its community, the change was immediate and profound and for the boys testing themselves to the limit, the discovery of a new reality and a new attitude.
There are two men who put the Kokoda Trail or Track back on our radar screens again. One of them is Charlie who at Easter 1991 began organising the heart-wrenching Kokoda trail tours. The other man is James Cumes who around Easter 1995 published His-story about the WWII experiences. The boy who was born in Beenleigh became a man on Kokoda trail. Just as Tolstoy wrote about the Napoleonic wars with which he was familiar, so, in his story Haverleigh, we are intimately told about a war near the Australian shores

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: The Epicentre Cannot Hold
O'Farrell swore at the speaker of parliament today after a question was ruled out of order during question time.

Speaker John Aquilina ruled Opposition Leader John Brogden could not ask Assistant Planning Minister Diane Beamer if she had been "lying her head off". As he prepared to make a point of order, Mr O'Farrell called to Labor MPs across the chamber, "He's the f...ing joke", in a reference to Mr Aquilina.


Liberal MP swears at speaker [Carrnage in NSW: The Reader Issue 87 wonders whether Bob Carr is a dead man walking ; Google on Unparliamentary Language ; This Easter will see a number of senior liberals meeting to discuss what is happening with the NSW Party. J-Bro seems to be suffering under a weight of half way blues and everyone is hoping he will break out of it soon. A small group of MPs, staff and party officials will be meeting in the Blue Mountains this weekend to discuss the matter. Blue Mountains Link ]
• · For those interested in this continuing debate, Andrew Leigh and Justin Wolfers have a new paper (PDF) comparing the performance of polls and betting markets in predicting election outcomes. Blogger John Quiggin ; The trouble with responding to unserious wannabes like Currency Lad (below) is that the real issues tend to get lost or neglected altogether. So let me take a step sideways and address some of the matters arising from the Terri Schiavo case. Blogger Tim Dunlop ;
• · · My life has been a very fortunate one, Ian Glachan told the NSW Parliament in his farewell address two years ago. I was fortunate to have worked for him when he was a chair of PAC. The most relax MP with the most caring wife in the world: New era for Glachan ; One year on and Clover is only just beginning to fight
• · · · Or is insecurity the message the United States is conveying to the world? Security Check: The view from here ; The 'Wolf' has been shown the path to the henhouse. It's hard to imagine peaceful development under his leadership Dismay at Wolfowitz's nomination
• · · · · Why Don't We Have Senators Like This? ; The U.S. needs Senators like this
• · · · · · Black Economy or Real Economy? New figures released by the Reserve Bank show that hundreds of thousands of low-to-middle income earners are burdened with massive housing debts Australians saddled with massive housing debts ; New Jersey philanthropist Herbert Axelrod has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for tax evasion Axelrod To Jail