UNCOUPLING THE US FROM THE UN

Uncoupling the U.S. from the UN

By Edward Bernard Glick

Over the past sixty years, the political architecture and political mathematics of the United Nations have changed drastically. Not only has the number of Security Council non-permanent members been increased from 6 to 10, but the pivotal position in the General Assembly once held by Latin America is now held by Third-world countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. They have hijacked the United Nations and transformed it into one of the most anti-Western, anti-American, anti-Semitic, and anti-democratic organizations on the planet.

They are also determined to make the UN the substitute for sovereignty and the surrogate for a sovereign state's decision-making institutions. Except when their own interests are at stake, they preach that the Security Council is the Government of the Earth and the General Assembly is the Parliament of Mankind.

America can keep the Security Council at bay because it has a veto there. But in the veto-free General Assembly, America, which pays 20 percent of the United Nations' regular budget and about a third of its peacekeeping budget, has only four options: Either it abstains on a resolution, or it supports one it doesn't like, or it introduces one it does like, or it waters it down to utter ineffectiveness in order to get the two-thirds vote required to pass a resolution in a General Assembly that is unrecognizably different from the one the UN's founders envisaged in San Francisco in 1945.

The situation is now so bad that it forced John Bolton, when he was the United States ambassador to the United Nations, to remark: "Many people want me to be the UN's ambassador to the U.S. That is not my job. I am the U.S. ambassador to the UN, and my primary duty is to advance U.S. foreign policy."

States, like individuals, can be inert. They remain tied to policies and processes long after they have ceased serving their intended purposes. One example is America's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Only God knows why the United States still belongs to NATO. NATO is a Cold War-generated anachronism whose only purpose was to deter Soviet aggression in Western Europe. Soviet Russia is gone, but the Europeans still want America to help them whenever they get into trouble. However, they have neither the means nor the will to help America when it gets into trouble.

Another example of how inertia triumphs over intelligence is America's membership in the United Nations. Although the United States was one of the organization's founding members, it should separate itself from that body. And while it is doing that, it ought to encourage the United Nations to move its headquarters from New York City to a place more congenial to its orientation. Perhaps United Nations headquarters should be in the middle of Khartoum or in a suburb of Pyongyang.

Whatever usefulness the UN had in its early years has been dissipated by its indecency and irresponsibility in later years. A case in point is its incessant denunciations of Israel, to which it gave birth and legitimacy when it adopted the Palestine partition resolution in November 1947. Palestine and Israel aside, really important events, such as America's recognition of Communist China, the ending of the Korean and Vietnam wars, and the defusing of the Cuban missile crisis, were settled not by the United Nations but by diplomats operating outside the world organization.

To those who would argue that America's jettisoning the United Nations would mean its return to pre-Second World War isolationism, one should note that in the age of the computer, the internet, and the high-speed airplane, America can defend its vital political and socioeconomic interests in old-fashioned ways: ambassadorial diplomacy, summit meetings, bilateral and multilateral treaties, trade talks, and cultural and scientific exchanges."

In short, when a more pro-American administration comes to power again in Washington, one of its first moves, after ending the current recession and so-called jobless recovery, must be starting the legal and administrative process of extracting the United States from the United Nations, and the United Nations from the United States.

Surely, when they put their heads together, the city, state, and federal governments will find a better use for the UN's expensive and untaxed property along New York's famed East River.

Edward Bernard Glick is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Temple University

HONG-KONG: the freest place to conduct business

Hong Kong remains the world's freest place to do business while the United States has lost its claim to an unrestricted economy, according to an annual report published Wednesday.

Hong Kong, a former British colony which was returned to China in 1997, edged out rival Singapore to claim top spot for the sixteenth consecutive year in the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom.

Australia and New Zealand grabbed third and fourth spot respectively.

The report is compiled by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think tank, and The Wall Street Journal.

Ireland, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Denmark and Chile rounded out the top ten list, which is based on criteria including economic openness, trade, the efficiency of domestic regulators, and the rule of law.

But Canada pushed the US from the top seven economies deemed to have an entirely free economy due to "notable decreases in financial freedom, monetary freedom, and property rights," the report said.

"The US government?s interventionist responses to the financial and economic crisis that began in 2008 have significantly undermined economic freedom and long-term prospects for economic growth," the report said.

Mainland China was ranked 140 in the list of 183 countries with Cuba, Zimbabwe and North Korea rounding out the bottom of the list.  The US is almost there lined up with all the Socialist nations. Just a matter of time when Obama finishes his shenanigans

airpod CARS RUNS ON AIR

AirPod - Car Runs On Air

In the past hour, worldwide consumption of petroleum exceeded 100 million gallons.

In the United States, there are 200,000 miles of pipeline, 170,000 gas stations and 243 million vehicles using petroleum fuels.

Guy Nègre, a former aeronautics and formula one engineer is hoping to change all that. He has invented a compressed air technology for cars.

Nègre is the founder and CEO of Motor Development International (MDI SA) based in Luxembourg, with research and development facilities in Nice, France.

The AirPod is a small four-wheel mini-car that uses compressed air to move pistons in a 5.45 hp internal combustion engine.

It has a range of 60 miles on a single tank of air and uses a small motor to compress outside air to keep the tank full.

The compressor can operate on gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, ethanol or vegetable oil, but can also be plugged into an electrical outlet for recharging. With regular gasoline fueling the compressor, the Airpod averages an amazing 106 mpg with a range of 800 miles.

With the demand for inexpensive, user friendly, ultra high mileage vehicles that have zero emissions related to global warming - the Airpod is getting a lot of attention.

Air France and KLM airlines are using AirPods to transport passengers between arrival and departure gates at airports in Paris and Amsterdam.

Automaker, Tata Motors has purchased the manufacturing rights for India. Zero Pollution Motors has purchased the rights for the U.S. market and beginning in 2011 expect to manufacture 8,000 vehicles a year in the United States.

Licensing arrangements for other countries are currently in progress.

NEW TIRES WHICH CANNOT GO FLAT

Biomimicry Creates New Tires

Biomimicry is the science that imitates nature to create new products.

Resilient Technologies, a Wisconsin based company, has created a tire that can't go flat.

Instead of using a pressurized air cavity, the tire design relies on a geometric pattern of six-sided cells that are arranged in a matrix like a honeycomb.

It has the same ride, reduced noise levels and heat generation as pressurized tires. The goal was to create an airless tire with uniform flexibility and load transfer that would endure tremendous wear and tear and still perform well.

The best design was found in nature, which was the honeycomb.

TRANSPARENT ELECTRONICS

Transparent Electronics

Inventors, Jung Won Seo, Jae-Woo Park, Keong Su Lim, Ji-Hwan Yang and Sang Jung Kang, who are scientists at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, have created the world's first transparent computer chip.

The chip, known as (TRRAM) or transparent resistive random access memory, is similar to existing chips known as (CMOS) or metal-oxide semiconductor memory, which we use in our electronic devices. The difference is that TRRAM is completely clear and transparent. What is the benefit of having transparency?

"It is a new milestone of transparent electronic systems," says Jung Won Seo. "By integrating TRRAM with other transparent electronic components, we can create a total see-through embedded electronic systems."

The technology could enable the windows or mirrors in your home to be used as computer monitors and television screens.

This technology is expected to be available within 3 to 4 years.

HARRY REID: dead man walking

The end seems to be near for Harry Reid (D-NV) only it won't come soon enough. We've all heard his ridiculous comments and his apologies to Barry, now we get to hear from everyone else. Today I got to hear from political pundits from both sides of the aisle. Both sides said what you would expect them to and nothing will come of it.

Republicans are calling for the senile Senator to resign or be fired and the liberals are all saying that it's no big deal. I really don't care if this amounts to anything. Come November 2010 we will all be calling whomever is running against him, Senator-elect. This is the final nail in the political coffin of this ageing buffoon.

With his stance on the health care reform issue, his getting a political payoff in the Stimulus Bill and his penchant for sticking his foot in his mouth, this guy is done. And the nation will be better off when he's gone. I hope he enjoys his retirement.

Was his intent to slur Savior Obama? I doubt it. I think that Reid believes in the One and his agenda. His choice of words is suspect though. Reid freely admits that he could have chosen his words more carefully. In this world of political correctness, he most certainly should have thought a bit longer before opening his mouth.

During the short time I was in the car today I had the opportunity to listen to Sean Hannity. There was a slot where Sean had Juan Williams, whom I enjoy listening to even though he's a liberal, and I believe the other man's name is Mike Meyers. I'm also not sure of the spelling. During this spot Sean played parts of speeches from Al Gore, Hillary Clinton and Barry Obama. All of the speeches were given to predominately black audiences. All three took the persona of a preacher in the middle of a sermon. Meyers laughed and Williams called it condescending and offensive.

My point in the last paragraph is that there is a double standard for Democrats and Republicans. The amazing thing to me is that this standard is acknowledged and accepted. WTF? Imagine, if you dare, if Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly had said this. There would be a national cry for their head and demands on FOX and EIB to fire whoever had said this and the firestorm would last until the liberals got their way. You know it as well as I.

So, no I don't think that Harry Reid is a racist, I think he's an idiot who needs to lose in the next election cycle and just fade away. Sue Lowden (R) should win the seat and maybe then we can start to undo the damage that this liberal has heaped upon our country.

At least Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) had the decency to announce their collective retirements. Or were they just trying to save face instead of getting blasted in November? Reid should take a cue from his fellow liberal Senators and just say that he is going to retire.

Nothing would make me happier.

oil rises above $83 per barrel and no outcry

Oil rises above $83 amid strong China demand

Oil prices jumped above $83 a barrel Monday in Asia amid signs of strong Chinese demand for crude and a weakening U.S. dollar.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 80 cents to $83.55 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, the contract rose 9 cents to settle at $82.75.A weaker dollar also helped boost oil prices, as investors buy commodities as a hedge against inflation.

The euro rose to $1.4530 on Monday from $1.4430 on Friday while the dollar fell to 92.20 yen from 92.54.

Crude prices have spiked 20 percent in the last month as a rash of cold winter weather in parts of the U.S., Europe and Asia boost demand for oil products such as heating oil.

Supplies were threatened in Nigeria, where unidentified gunmen attacked a Chevron Corp. crude oil pipeline, cutting production by 20,000 barrels a day, a company spokesman said Saturday.

In other Nymex trading in February contracts, heating oil rose 2.09 cents to $2.22 a gallon and gasoline gained 2.15 cents to $2.18 a gallon. Natural gas futures were down 16.5 cents to $5.58.

In London, Brent crude for February delivery rose 72 cents to $82.08 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange

When the price was $55 per barrel last summer, from the democrats to lefties made so much of noise against the Bush Administration. Where are they right now? Cry babies and communists.  Now the price is almost $83 per barrel and the anointed one is the President, no body talks. Sounds very Historical indeed.