Hud mentions the Chinese years, his birth year being the Year of the Rooster. Mine is the Year of the Snake:
People born in the year of the Snake are romantic and deep-thinking, wise and charming, although they tend to dismiss others too quickly and are a bit stingy with money. Ideal jobs include teaching or psychiatry.
Not just another pretty face!
Rob has a great cartoon posted in honor of the new year.
Sorry, Rob. My bandwidth has taken a beating lately. YOU get stuck with the tab on this one!
I received the following in an email. I did a quick search on the WaPo site, and couldn’t locate it, so I know nothing of its provenance. Nonetheless:
The Washington Post’s Style Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year’s winners:
This morning I intended to write a post on returning from the golf course. Michael beat me to it.
My thoughts turned this way when Herman mentioned something that had appeared in the local paper this week. Immediately after Dubya promised $35 million in relief, our local editor decided that wasn’t enough. The paper identified numerous CEOs in this country who make more than that annually. Okay. And what does one have to do with the other? After all, my tax dollars aren’t paying those CEO salaries, but Dubya is promising government money. The two are not even linked.
Secondarily, which Article of the Constitution permits our federal government to expend money in this way? And this isn’t an issue of compassion–the American people have donated, and will continue to donate, many millions of dollars through private charities. It is an issue of fiscal responsibility and adherence to the Constitution.
Our government, unlike so many others, was established with a document which gave it certain powers, and no more. Yet it is continually usurped. And MSM is all over the “stinginess” of our government.
The list of US-bashers is long, but heading that list is every functionary in the UN, not the least of whom is the Secretary-General.
Michael hits all the right notes, so I won’t belabor the issue. I will echo his urging of phone calls to Congress, and many emails. The reason? The UN building has not been cared for properly and is falling apart. They want the US to take care of things by providing loans (which will probably never be repaid) for repairs–$1.3 billion worth. I believe it would be far cheaper to build a new home for the UN in Baghdad.
Let’s see. All the nations who hold membership in the UN provide money through dues. That money has been used to fund salaries, and nothing else. No aid comes from the dues. No building maintenance is included in the annual UN budget. The US, Japan, Australia, and Canada, who are working together outside UN oversight to help in South Asia, fund over half of the entire UN budget each year.
Doesn’t appear to me we really need a UN.
UML Guy takes on those who want to control everyone around them.
I hate when people try to control what I do because they feel they know what is good for me better than I do. And I hate people who are impolite, but I don’t try to legislate their behavior.
I have come to despise the UN and its functionaries. So has my friend The Diplomad.
The UN is a sham.
Check out all he has to say on the topic. He has friends working the relief effort in-country right now. PowerLine is following it, too.
Not too long ago I made my views known on this topic, and Diplomad is taking it a step further with friends providing first-hand reports.
The US Government and private citizens have joined with those from Japan and Australia to actually help, while the UN leaders posture. Together, our three nations pay nearly 50% of the cost of operating the UN. Fifty percent! Any wonder Kofi Annan wasn’t pleased we are doing this without him?
So, he implies all the work is being done by the UN. Who will ever check?
Bloggers.
I am ready for the UN to be completely dissolved. It would be an easy thing to do. Those nations providing the bulk of UN funding (15 of 191 nations provide over 90% of the money, with the US and Japan topping the list) form a new organization populated only by those with representative governments. New membership will be approved only with a 2/3 majority approval after these initial 15 set up shop. All members will resign from the UN. Representatives to the UN will be denied diplomatic visas to the United States.
Name a single successful UN enterprise. Ever. I search the UN’s web site and could find none. Now, name their failures.
Never mind… it would take too much time.
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