PNGBLOGS

Arizona Daily Star LONG BEACH, Calif. - A B-17 bomber that lay in a New Guinea swamp for decades after being forced down during a World War II combat mission has been returned to the United States after years of salvage efforts. The forward fuselage of the so-called "Swamp Ghost" was displayed Friday at the Port of Long Beach in an emotional, patriotic ceremony attended by kin of some of the now-deceased aircrew. "I know this a happy day for Dick," said Linda Oliver, the 89-year-old widow of bombardier Richard Oliver, the last living crewman, who died in August. She regretted he did not see the warbird's return. "He longed for this to happen, but this wasn't to be," said Oliver, of Tiburon, Calif. The frail widow watched a flag presentation by an Air Force honor guard and a flyover by vintage World War II fighters before her three children helped her climb steps to peer inside the fuselage sitting atop a truck trailer in the parking lot of the harb

Arizona Daily Star LONG BEACH, Calif. - A B-17 bomber that lay in a New Guinea swamp for decades after being forced down during a World War II combat mission has been returned to the United States after years of salvage efforts. The forward fuselage of the so-called "Swamp Ghost" was displayed Friday at the Port of Long Beach in an emotional, patriotic ceremony attended by kin of some of the now-deceased aircrew. "I know this a happy day for Dick," said Linda Oliver, the 89-year-old widow of bombardier Richard Oliver, the last living crewman, who died in August. She regretted he did not see the warbird's return. "He longed for this to happen, but this wasn't to be," said Oliver, of Tiburon, Calif. The frail widow watched a flag presentation by an Air Force honor guard and a flyover by vintage World War II fighters before her three children helped her climb steps to peer inside the fuselage sitting atop a truck trailer in the parking lot of th

OSEAH PHILEMON The Somare Government in Papua New Guinea is excited and has thrown all its political weight and muscle behind the multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. It will not allow any criticism of the biggest resource project ever undertaken in PNG, which it says, will propel the Papua New Guinea economy into prosperity in the coming years. But, while they have done everything possible to ensure the economic success of the project and win landowner support—despite continuing criticisms—to see the project advance into reality, questions remain whether it has done enough to deal with the social problems associated with such a large-scale project. The Catholic Bishops Conference which is the peak body of the Catholic Church in PNG and the Solomon Islands, is not so sure. The bishops met in Lae for their annual general meeting where they discussed the many issues affecting PNG and the implications for ordinary people.