The UN

Claudia Rosett knows of the UN

The real problem is that the opaque and diplomatically immune UN is far better at catering to itself than helping those it proposes — often unrealistically — to protect. UN peacekeeping is a gravy train for UN bureaucrats and for governments of many of the countries providing troops (the top five currently being Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Nigeria and Egypt).
With its multibillion-dollar budget, peacekeeping has been one of the most corrupt arenas of UN activity, a locus of what UN internal investigators in 2006 labeled “a culture of impunity.”

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/raped_under_un_auspices_VXbwyWNNLMyHmm7PdblIVI#ixzz11mTO1aJ2

Letting Science into Politics

Remember when political decisions were to be based on science vs politics?

The report was one of four preliminary assessments prepared for the commission created by President Obama. Taken together, two of the reports paint a picture of a government that was as unprepared to deal with a catastrophic spill as BP. And the portrait of an administration that withheld information from the public and, more specifically, scientists, about how much oil was getting into the water, how much remained and how such estimates were calculated appeared to contradict Obama’s pledge to make government more transparent and trustworthy.