In an attempt to build its battered image, the desparate United Nations is teaming up with Spider-Man.
In a move reminiscent of storylines developed during the World War II, the U.N. is joining forces with Marvel Comics, creators of Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, to create a comic book showing the international body working with superheroes to solve bloody conflicts and rid the world of disease.
The comic, initially to be distributed free to 1 million U.S. schoolchildren, will be set in a war-torn fictional country and feature superheroes such as Spider-Man working with U.N. agencies such as UNICEF and the “blue hats,” the U.N. peacekeepers.
But I like what John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., once said:
“if the U.N. building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.”
All the more reason to get the US out of the UN.
Posted by Walt as Education, General Commentary at 11:08 PM EST
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By Alan Caruba
The end of a year, any year, is a good time to give some consideration to the reason we have arrived at a particular state of affairs and whether a new direction is required. This is particularly true at a time when the campaigns to be the party’s choice for the presidency is more drenched in debate of religious issues and assertions, than in domestic and foreign policy issues.
The religious views of President George W. Bush may have gotten us to where we are at this point and our national policies could do with far less of it and a far more dispassionate review of our history. Our greatest need is to literally protect and preserve the republic.
I think I first noticed a problem when Bush used the word “crusade” to describe what the U.S. was doing in the Middle East. A born-again Christian, Bush has worn his faith on his sleeve ever since, during the 2000 campaign, he announced that Jesus was his favorite philosopher.
Americans generally are believers. They are predominantly Christian and they have always expected their president to demonstrate some faith in God. We have historically encountered problems when a president believes he was chosen by God for the position and that his actions are sanctioned by God. It’s one thing to pray for guidance. It is quite another to believe one’s action are divinely authorized and approved.
Woodrow Wilson believed God wanted him to be President and, with considerable irony, was re-elected on the slogan, “He kept us out of the war”. When Germany began to attack American ships providing military and other provisions to England, he put American troops into battle in a strictly European war. The result was a disastrous 1919 Treaty of Versailles that became a roadmap to World War II and some present problems.
The U.S. Senate had the good sense to reject membership in Wilson’s dream of a League of Nations, but following the end of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s legacy was the United Nations, an international institution that ignores genocides, embraces intolerance, and is seeking to foist a totally bogus “global warming” crisis on the world.
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Posted by Walt as General Commentary at 11:04 PM EST
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By Alan Caruba
The libraries of the world are filled with books devoted to history and new ones are published on any almost daily basis, but if their lessons are ignored, it condemns nations and the peoples of the world to horrors that increase with the evolving technology of death.
A book that should be mandatory reading for all the current and aspiring leaders of the world is David A. Andelman’s “A Shattered Peace: Versailles 1919 and the Price We Pay Today.”
“If there was a single moment in the twentieth century when it might have been different, this was the moment.” The gathering in Paris that followed the end of World War I and the defeat of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires did not merely fail to insure peace; it set in motion the events leading to World War II, the conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, and the tinderbox that is today’s Middle East.
Most Americans, if they know anything about the last century, may associate the event that brought together the United States, England, France, Japan, and representatives of colonial and emerging nations with President Woodrow Wilson’s dream of creating a League of Nations. It was his dream to create an organization that would enforce international laws. WWI was to be “the war to end all wars.” With the exception of the hapless Herbert Hoover, the U.S. has not had such a dangerously naïve, arrogant, and failed presidency until Jimmy Carter.
Following the end of World War II, another such effort was made with the establishment of the United Nations. It has proven to be every bit the failure as the League and infinitely more corrupt.
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Posted by Walt as General Commentary, War & Peace at 12:08 AM EST
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by Carey Roberts
The Gender Warriors have discovered the perfect wedge issue, one that carries raw, visceral appeal with liberals and conservatives alike, and to a large swath of the American electorate.
But there’s a catch: For this issue to work, the truth must purged from general awareness. Researchers have to be re-educated, or if need be, cowed into silence. And the media must be goaded to cooperate.
The issue is domestic violence.
This area has become so strewn with Urban Legends that researchers have dubbed them the "woozle effect." Remember when Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet went hunting and almost caught a woozle?
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Posted by Walt as General Commentary at 11:04 PM EDT
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by Thomas Lindaman
More than a few Republicans were sweating out Election Day 2006, but one of them had to be U. N. Ambassador John Bolton. Remember, he got the job when President Bush made a recess appointment to put him in the post. Now, Bolton has to be approved by the Senate, which as we know is tentatively controlled by the Democrats by virtue of a 49-49-2 makeup, with the 2 Independents tending to skew Democrat.
Bolton has been a thorn in the Democrats’ sides since he was brought up as a nominee. Democrats said Bolton would send the wrong message to the world and to the U. N. because, get this, he was "too gruff." Yeah, and calling Bush everything from stupid to Hitler is pillow talk, right? Either way, the prospects that Bolton will be confirmed by the Senate to be Ambassador are dimmer than the people who green-lighted the remake of "House of Wax" and made Paris Hilton an actress.
Or are they? Maybe it’s my askew way of looking at the world, but I think the Democrats have to get Bolton appointed this time because their future as majority party in Congress is at stake. How, you ask? Here are six reasons I came up with.
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Posted by Walt as General Commentary at 9:04 PM EST
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In 1958, Louis B. Sohn authored (with Grenville Clark) a book entitled World Peace Through World Law. In it, the two men called for a permanent UN peace force as the world’s only military establishment, delivery of all nuclear weapons to the UN, making the UN Declaration of Human Rights a legally binding document for all of mankind, and UN control over all firearms including those possessed by civilians. Earlier, Sohn had assisted in the creation of the UN’s World Court and had a role in the drafting of the UN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea. Not surprisingly, he and Clark openly called for a UN-led world government.
In 1981, after more than 20 years on the faculty at Harvard Law School, Sohn accepted an invitation from fellow CFR member Dean Rusk, another internationalist who had served as secretary of state during the Kennedy-Johnson administrations, to teach at the University of Georgia. When Mr. Sohn passed away in June at the age of 92, he knew that most of his sovereignty-destroying proposals had not been enacted but were still being promoted by like-minded enemies of freedom. Efforts by members of The John Birch Society can be credited with thwarting what this man spent a lifetime trying to accomplish. Sad to say, there are others like him anxiously working for the same destructive goals. It would be well for all who treasure an independent United States to recall the warning given by the poet: “Not yet, O Freedom, close thy lids in slumber, for thine enemy never sleeps.”
Posted by Walt as General Commentary at 10:32 PM EDT
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The Anti-Defamation League wants to ensure that UNESCO is politcially correct.
New York, NY, April 10, 2006 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has expressed support for the government of Poland’s ongoing efforts to ensure that the official name of the Auschwitz death camp, as recorded on UNESCO’s World Heritage site registry, emphasizes that the camp was built and operated by Nazi Germany.
"We share Poland’s concerns over the frequent description of Auschwitz as a ‘Polish’ camp, since this seems to imply that the camp was built in the name of the Polish people," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor. "Auschwitz stands as a monument to the barbarity of Nazi Germany. In the interest of historical truth and accuracy, the site should be officially designated as a former Nazi German extermination camp."
In a letter to Koichiro Matsuura, the Director-General of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, ADL urged that the UNESCO World Heritage List officially refer to the Auschwitz camp as the "Former Nazi German Extermination Camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau."
"We believe that such a designation, along with an ongoing commitment to preserve the site, will make an important contribution to enshrining the memory of Auschwitz for future generations," said ADL’s letter to UNESCO.
Posted by Walt as General Commentary at 7:17 AM EDT
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WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 /Christian Wire Service/ — The following text is of remarks by President Bush and U.N. Secretary General Annan in a press availability:
The Oval Office
PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. Secretary General, thank you. As usual, we had a very constructive dialogue. I always enjoy visiting with the Secretary General. It gives us a chance to talk about our common interests and our desire for peace and liberty around the world.
We had a good discussion on Sudan, with a particular emphasis on Darfur. I told the Secretary General that Mrs. Garang was in to see me the other day, and that we had a long discussion — she and I had a long discussion not only about the Darfur region, but about implementing the North-South Accords. And I appreciate the Secretary’s leadership on that issue.
We talked about the broader Middle East. And there’s a lot to talk about. I am very optimistic, however, that democracy and liberty will prevail. And so I want to thank you for your interest and leadership on those particular issues.
We talked about U.N. reform, structural reform, management reform, as well as the reform of the Human Rights Commission. I was most interested in the Secretary General’s thoughts. I appreciate very much his leading on these issues, and we’ll continue to work closely through Secretary Bolton — Ambassador Bolton, with the Security Council and the United Nations.
So Mr. Secretary General, thanks for coming. It’s always a pleasure to welcome you here to the Oval Office. The floor is yours.
SECRETARY GENERAL ANNAN: Thank you very much, Mr. President. I also enjoy our periodic exchanges, and I’m very happy that we have agreed to work together on the Darfur issue, working with other governments from Europe, from Asia, and other regions, to ensure that we do have an effective security presence on the ground to protect the IDPs and ensure that humanitarian workers have access to those in need. And of course this is an issue where all governments have to play their role.
On security — on the U.N. reform and Human Rights Council, I think the President and I agree that we need to reform the Human Rights Council and it should be done as soon as possible. The President of the General Assembly, Jan Eliasson, is working very hard to ensure that we will have that done by this month, and that when the Human Rights Commission meets in Geneva, it will be in the process of transformation, it will not be business as usual. And I also thanked the President for all the support he’s given us on U.N. reform, on the broader U.N. reform. And there are quite a lot of things that we’re going to do.
We also discussed the Middle East and the Hamas elections, and the need of transformation of Hamas into a political party along the lines the Quartet had discussed. And I think there is an opportunity here for Hamas to transform itself into a political party and work with the international community and the Israeli government.
We also touched on the issue of the nuclear issue in — of Iran. And here again, I hope between now and the time the Atomic Agency issues its next report, there will be indications and steps from the Iranian side to indicate that negotiations are not dead, and that both sides can come back to the table and find a way out of this crisis. We need to be able to resolve it, and I hope there will be no steps taken to escalate the situation.
Thank you very much.
PRESIDENT BUSH: I appreciate it. Thank you.
END
Posted by Walt as General Commentary at 8:28 AM EST
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The following article published on the National Ledger website echos my sentiments on the UN, but I would take it one step further and say to the UN: Get Out Of The US!
By Jim Kouri
The United Nations is demanding the immediate closing of America’s Guantanamo Bay detention center. The UN is also calling for the prosecution of officers and politicians "up to the highest level" who are accused of torturing detainees, according to a report in a British newspaper, The Telegraph, that the UN Human Rights Commission will release a biting report against the United States.
However, most of the evidence used by the UN is hearsay — statements by lawyers representing some of the detainees or by American Civil Liberties Union lawyers just creating mischief. Also, the UN investigators and writers of the report slamming the US declined to visit Guantanamo Bay when an invitation was extended to them, according to my own sources.
The UN Human Rights Commission report urges the Bush Administration to put the more than 500 detainees on trial or release them. One must remember that the commission has included representatives from Libya, Iran, Sudan, Cuba and other brutal dictatorships.
The report says that the Bush administration should make certain that all allegations of torture are investigated by US criminal courts, and that "all perpetrators up to the highest level of military and political command are brought to justice." Allegations of torture and abuse at military installations are investigated by the military. Civilian criminal courts lack jurisdiction in these cases.
In spite of the UN insinuations that no investigations are conducted, the US military has indeed investigated and prosecuted officers and enlisted men and women. Recently, the Pentagon turned over more that 80,000 pages of reports and documentation of their investigative and corrective actions to the American Civil Liberties Union.
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Posted by Walt as General Commentary, Terrorism at 11:06 PM EST
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A tense dispute over the control of the World Wide Internet was developing this week at the U.N.'s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). This could have resulted in the eventually break-up of the global network and hamper seamless browsing, officials warned. Some officials were arguing that regimes that do not value freedom of speech might exploit weaknesses in a UN-supervised system.
The internet was developed in the late 1960's by the United States Department of Defense.
Today, the internet is overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) a California-based independent body which is awarded the task by the US government on a renewable tender. It is run by a group of free-spirited enthusiasts who were anxious to avoid regulation of the Internet. About 30 governments have a purely advisory role.
The outcome of the summit meetings will keep the global network controls in the Untied States and out of the hands of the U.N. This is a victory to those living in countries with oppressive regimes who do not value freedom of speech.
Posted by Walt as General Commentary, Internet at 8:11 AM EST
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