Posts in "united nations"

By Jason Cockrell at 5:59PM

Jul 21, 2011

United Nations climate change peacekeeping operations

George Orwell would be proud. The United Nations is now considering expanding its operations to include "climate change peacekeeping."

No, really.

The proposal includes the creation of a military force called "green helmets" which would be charged with "peacekeeping operations" in conflicts caused by global warming and depleted natural resources. Of course there is only one thing that an armed force under the command of an international government can ever do, and that is go to war. A war over weather, if you will. But they'll call it "peacekeeping operations" and that will make it okay.

One has to wonder what such a war would really entail.

Clearly, military conflicts do arise from scarce natural resources, as the endless oil-related wars in the Middle East demonstrate. Yet after decades of global military intervention, those wars are not any closer to ending. If anything, those in the Middle East -- on both sides -- have simply shifted part of the financial burden of war onto Western taxpayers, allowing billion-dollar wars to escalate into trillion-dollar wars and perpetuate across generations.

Another UN Ripoff?

Two thirds of the UN's $732 million budget for Haitian "earthquake relief" has gone not to suffering Haitians, but to the pockets of UN employees. Reports George Russell of Fox News:

The United Nations has quietly upped this year's peacekeeping budget for earthquake-shattered Haiti to $732.4 million, with two-thirds of that amount going for the salary, perks and upkeep of its own personnel, not residents of the devastated island.

The world organization plans to spend the money on an expanded force of some 12,675 soldiers and police, plus some 479 international staffers, 669 international contract personnel, and 1,300 local workers, just for the 12 months ending June 30, 2010.

Some $495.8 million goes for salaries, benefits, hazard pay, mandatory R&R allowances and upkeep for the peacekeepers and their international staff support. Only about $33.9 million, or 4.6 percent, of that salary total is going to what the U.N. calls "national staff" attached to the peacekeeping effort.

Read the whole piece here.

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By Bonnie Kristian at 9:28PM

Feb 2, 2010

A License to Use the Internet?

A high ranking UN official says we need one, and a whole lot more:

The world needs a treaty to prevent cyber attacks becoming an all-out war, the head of the main UN communications and technology agency warned Saturday....
"We need a kind of World Health Organisation for the Internet," he said....
He also called for a "driver's license" for internet users. "If you want to drive a car you have to have a license to say that you are capable of driving a car, the car has to pass a test to say it is fit to drive and you have to have insurance."

If this were to go through and take effect worldwide, you can imagine the disastrous effects it could -- and undoubtedly would -- have on free communication and trade. It sounds like it's just a proposal now, but this is definitely something worth keeping an eye on.

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By Roy Antoun at 6:27PM

Jan 29, 2010

Prodding a Stick at an Angry Pit Bull

US-Iran Foreign Policy Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton released a statement today in Paris that if China did not place sanctions on Iran with the United States, it would “face economic insecurity and diplomatic isolation.” China, a major importer of crude oil from Iran, has invested in the country’s oil and gas sector and preferred to negotiate with Iran instead. The danger for the United States in this particular scenario lies within China’s ability to veto the sanction on Iran within the United Nations. However, the real question is asking what truly defines American national interest.

For a country that is severely in debt to China, one would question why the United States is threatening the Asian power with “economic insecurity” to begin with. Furthermore, we see an unhealthy dependency between two state governments that owe one another money. With this comes the danger of governments hoarding private sector dollars. No matter how capitalistic economists may argue China is, both China and the US have functioned almost similarly in that government directs the flow of money through a central banking system, whether it is The People’s Bank of China or the Federal Reserve. And through that directing, governments now have the ability to threaten one another on behalf of what they claim is the greater good.

Not only is economic dependency dangerous, but so is prodding a stick at an angry pit bull.

The United Nations Now Pushing for a Global Currency

In the past few years, the dollar's value has fallen because of inept policies coming from our federal government. This has gotten the attention of foreign investors that currently hold trillions in U.S. debt, and it has sparked controversy about the possibility of a global currency.

That controversy started with countries like China and Russia discussing the possibility of such a currency, but now another big player has apparently gotten on board: the United Nations.

From the UK Telegraph:

In a radical report, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said the system of currencies and capital rules which binds the world economy is not working properly, and was largely responsible for the financial and economic crises.

The Narciccistic Sovereignty Crowd Clarification

In my recent article titled "The Narciccistic Sovereignty Crowd", I inadvertantly failed to let the reader know that I do not agree with nation's, such as Sudan, forcing children to become soldiers. I have witnessed this first hand in several third world countries. The children were armed, and firing their weapons at human targets. The UN Rights of the Child would make it illegal for countries to do such terrible things; recruiting or forcing children into their military. However, would the countries violating this 'childs right' obey a treaty from the UN?
Read more here

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