Maritime Monday 72

Welcome to this Weeks edition to Maritime Monday.

You can find Maritime Monday 22 here. (Published 14 August 2006)

Last week's edition is here.

This Weeks Photos:
The following photos were provided by Bob Couttie who runs the Maritime Accident Casebook. Here is an extract from his 'About MAC' page:

Sea transportation remains the most cost effective and environmentally friendly way of getting goods from one side of the world to the other, yet it comes with a cost - maritime incidents cost around $1 million a day. Not all incidents are disasters, not all make headlines, but in nearly every case human factors present the most significant element in the incident.

The objective of Maritime Accident Casebook is to empower seafarers to keep themselves alive and keep their ships from harm by offering lessons from real world events that they can use in their daily work, whether deckhands or masters. - About MAC

The photos came with the following comment:

All happened during drills. Several fatalities. Scary.

So, go check out Maritime Accident Casebook. Accidents happen at sea. Many times mistakes happen in unforgiving circumstances. If nothing else, you can use their bad luck to your advantage. To do so, you'll need to understand how these things happen, which is what Maritime Accident Casebook documents.

Thanks to Bob Couttie for the submission.

This Weeks Items:
To continue with lessons learned from lifeboat drills, Cargo Law has photos and an update on "Pepito Flores Did Not Need To Die." He died during a lifeboat drill on April 5 2007 In Korfu Harbor, Greece.

Eagle Speak has "China and the Indian Ocean from the Indian Point of View" looking at India's growing naval power. Be sure to catch up on some naval history with "Special Monday Edition of Sunday Ship History: The U.S. Navy's First "Stealth" Ship" and "Sunday Ship History: Things you might hear at sea".

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Cruise Bruise has "Cruise Ship Passenger Disabled By Mal de Debarquement Syndrome, RCCL Monarch Of The Seas - February 18, 2001". Don't know what "Mal de Debarquement Syndrome" is?

Mal de debarquement syndrome (MdDS) is a rare condition usually occurring after a cruise, airplane flight, or other motion event. Symptoms most frequently reported include a persistent sensation of motion usually described as rocking, swaying, or bobbing; extreme fatigue; extreme vomiting; imbalance; and "brain fog".

Many people experience a short-term sensation of movement after a motion event such as being on a boat or treadmill. Episodes generally occur for short periods of time after the motion event has taken place. This is sometimes referred to as "land-sickness" which is comparable to sea-sickness. However, in the case of MdDS sufferers, it can persist for many months or even many years, often leading to various stages of disability. There is no known cause or cure, so more direct patient research is needed.

The name of the condition is French for disembarkation sickness. - Wikipedia

They have a list of stories from sufferers here.

This is probably a disease that most every seafarer can claim that they are suffering from, many without even knowing that they are sick, unlike the common reason for seafarer lawsuits, backpain. So, bring on the lawsuits! (As I said before, cruise ships are inherently dangerous places. Whether or not this is a legitimate disease, those suffering from it believe it is.)

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The Jawa Report has more information on why Congress has refused to extend an exception to the riverboat DELTA QUEEN (Which has had one for 40 years) in "Democrats To Scuttle Delta Queen"

Bob Krumm has more on the DELTA QUEEN scuttling including this comment:

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, ”would not support the exemption unless the Seafarers International Union gets behind it.”

So how many union support jobs (longshormen, contractors, etc.) are going to be lost once there is no longer a ship to service?

Robin Storm has all your hurricane information.

gCaptain has a must-see video of an engineer 'Riding the shaft'. There is no mention which vessel this might be. Here is some video of the propeller shaft of the T.S. STATE OF MAINE. (T.S. = Training Ship)

gCaptain also has "Pasha Bulker - Postscript"

SAILORS, MARINERS & WARRIORS LEAGUE has the $8 million flight deck addition to the Australian oiler and replenishment ship HMAS SIRIUS that is unusable. (With all the Navy, Coast Guard and now this Australian Government-example, perhaps governments should let private shipping companies handle their shipyard escapades. After all, you don't hear about commercial vessels being crippled as a result of a shipyard period.)

Just to drive the point home, CBS's 60 Minutes re-ran their May hit piece on the US Coast Guard Deepwater Program titled "The Troubled Waters Of "Deepwater"", which included an update on the situation.

SAILORS, MARINERS & WARRIORS LEAGUE also has coverage of the collision between the Turkish ferry SALIH REIS-4 and the Ukrainian-flagged cargo ship SEMYON RUDNEV which was at anchor.

I help Tugster locate information on the GREY SHARK which he spotted in NY Harbor. As it turned out, the ship had recently changed name and flag, resulting in the ships tiny internet footprint.

The Torch (Canada) has "The icebreakers we should build"

Foreign Policy's blog Passport has a satellite image noting that "Arctic sea ice melting faster than ever".

Marine Link has coverage of the refloating of the Egypt-Flag AL SHAYMAA after capsizing during discharge in the Netherlands.

Shipping Times (UK) has "MSC NAPOLI section arrives at Harland & Wolff shipyard"

Maritime Links Editor's Blog has an update on the Coast Guard Mariners Court.

The Virginian-Pilot has the first container cargo for the new APM Terminal in Virginia.

The German Navy's Auxiliaries Squadron.

Combat Supply Ship FRANKFURT AM MAIN (Source Presse- und Informationszentrum Marine) - German Navy

The Pilot Boat has some photos from last year's “Tall Ships Regatta” in Lisbon.

MSNBC has "Jobs that you wish you had". The Cruise Ship Captain...

GreenPeace's Making Waves blog has "Stop the slaughter of sharks in Ecuador".

Pirates Ring Blog has a post about pirate flags.

The Washington Post has a guilty plea for the owners of the SELENDANG AYU which went aground in Alaska in 2004.

In this photo released by the U.S. Coast Guard, half of the Malaysian cargo ship Selendang Ayu is pounded by waves as it sits offshore of Skan Bay on Unalaska Island near Unalaska, Alaska, in the Aleutian Island chain seen in this Saturday, Dec. 11, 2004, file photo. Owners of a ship that broke up on an Aleutian Island, polluting the Bering Sea and killing thousands of seabirds, will plead guilty to two federal counts, the U.S. Attorney's office announced Tuesday. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard) - Washington Post

ABC (Australia) has calls to investigate the disappearance of tiger prawns from their fishery. The suspect. Overfishing.

Never Sea Land has "Jellyfish Stings" Go check out the photo.

Haight's Maritime Items has:

Panama Canal – transit record and anniversary - The Panama Canal Authority noted two milestones. The first press release stated that the transit record for daily transits of vessels with an overall length greater than 900 feet was tied for the third time at nine vessels. The second press release noted that August 14 marked the 93rd anniversary of the opening of the Canal in 1914. (8/15/07). - Dennis Bryant Holland & Knight homepage (Used with Permission)

Fairplay Daily News has:

New shipyard in Subic Freeport - SUBIC BAY 14 August – Subic Bay Shipyard Consortium (SBSC), a joint venture of investors bidding for marine projects, is to invest over PhP200M ($4.44M) to set up a new shipyard at Subic Freeport. SBSC signed a contract with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, allowing it to establish the shipbuilding and repair yard at the former US navy ship repair facility area. SBCF president and CEO Nils-Ottar Lonoy said in a statement that the firm would be utilising the so-called ‘slipway and skid system’ to accommodate vessels of up to 90m for drydocking and repair, as a contribution to the envisioned Subic Bay Maritime Industrial Park. Construction of the new shipyard will begin next month, with a target for completion within the next three years, Lonoy said. He added that the company will be holding skills training for Filipino shiprepair workers to complete a 500-strong manpower requirement for the project. - Fairplay Homepage (Used with Permission)

Submissions for future editions:
Please submit articles for inclusion in next week' edition using the following submit form at Blog Carnival. You are also welcome to email photos for inclusion in future editions as well as suggest area of coverage.

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Send me an email (address in the sidebar) if you would like to sponsor an edition of Maritime Monday. I accept money and gear.

Previous Editions:
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US: Supreme Leader of Iran, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a Terrorist

The US Government has not done it yet, but it is expected to name Iran's Revolutionary Guards a terrorist Organization. You have probably already heard this.

This however, would also make the Supreme Leader of Iran, the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a Terrorist as well, as he is the leader of the Revolutionary Guards. Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is apparently not directly effected as he is not part of the chain of command of the organization. However, they will probably have to add him later for harboring the terrorist organization.

Role in the state - In contrast with most republics, the effective head of Iran's political establishment is not the president, but rather the Supreme Leader, who is a religious figure selected by an Assembly of Experts. Despite this, Iran's president fulfills many of the classical functions of a head of state, such as accepting the credentials of ambassadors. Since a change in the constitution removed the post of Prime Minister and merged most of the prime ministerial duties with the President's in 1989, the once figurehead Presidential post has become a position of significant government influence. In addition, as the highest directly elected official in Iran, the President is responsive and responsible to public opinion in a way that the Supreme Leader is not. Although he is responsible to both people and the Supreme Leader, he is independent in his decisions and developing the policies of the government.

The President nominates the members of government to the majlis (parliament). He can dismiss any of the government members. He passes bills to the parliament and if approved, the bills are not effective until signed by the president. Although according to the constitution the Supreme Leader is the commander-in-chief of armed forces, a president can serve as the commander upon approval of the Supreme Leader. For example, the first elected president of Iran was also commander of the military. The president appoints the secretary of national security council. He appoints the governors of the provinces and ambassadors of the Islamic Republic to other countries. Until recently, he had the power of appointing mayors of cities. However, the power was given to the cities local assemblies which are directly elected by the people and are directed by the parliament. - Wiki

The summary above mentions the ability for the Supreme Leader to pass on leadership to the President, but it is doubtful that he would do that. Doing that would not look good for the home crowd, would it.

So there you have it, the US is getting ready to declare the Supreme Leader of Iran a terrorist. It should have happened a long time ago.

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UNDP Removes Critical Paragraph from Wikipedia

Thanks to the Wikipedia Scanner, you can see that a person using an internet connection whose IP address (165.65.68.11) points back to the UNDP, removed the following paragraph from the United Nations Development Programme's Wikipedia entry.

=== Disarmament and controversy ===

In mid-2006, as first reported by Inner City Press and then by The New Vision, UNDP halted its disarmament programs in the Karamoja region of Uganda in response to human rights abuses in the parallel forcible disarmament programs carried out by the Uganda People's Defense Force. - Link to edit page

Here is a screen shot showing the the original text that was targeted by the UNDP WikiVandal:

Here is a screen shot showing the UNDP IP Address editing the entry by removing the entire paragraph:

Oddly enough, the issue goes back to the summer of 2006. This entry was recently deleted on the second of August. The UNDP is not alone in editing their own Wikipedia entries. However, this was a valid issue and this was an attempt by someone in the Organization to bury it. That is not right, especially for the United Nations.

Go read the Inner City Press story and see what the UNDP was trying to hid from you.

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US Assistance to Russia (2006) $949.3 Million

Russia has been in the news lately for all sorts of stunts. Recent nationalistic acts include:

• (Claimed to have) Dived to the bottom of the Arctic and claiming it for themselves.



• Flying bombers to Guam to flex their military muscles.

Now you might think that it's their increased oil revenue due to high oil prices that is funding their increased operations abroad. However, that is not exactly true as you help pay for these activities. Here is a breakdown of the money the US provided to Russia as aid for 2006. As you can see it totals almost a billion dollars. ($3.16 for each American. $12.66 for my family of four.)

$45.2 million -- Democracy Programs
$7.0 million --- Economic Programs
$23.6 million -- Social Reform
$860.0 million - Security & Law Enforcement
$8.7 million --- Humanitarian
$4.8 million --- Cross-Sectoral Initiatives
$949.3 million - Total for 2006

The majority of these funds were slated for 'Security & Law Enforcement' which is defined as:

Security and Law Enforcement Programs. U.S. Government programs in Russia that consolidate, secure, or destroy and dismantle weapons of mass destruction account for the lion’s share of U.S. Government assistance to Russia in Fiscal Year 2006.

These programs support one of the U.S. Government’s highest priorities in our relations with Russia: facilitating cooperation to reduce the risk of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The Defense Department’s Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program assists Russia with the destruction of strategic missiles and delivery systems, the enhancement of security for Russia’s nuclear weapons in storage and during transport, and the construction of a facility for the safe destruction of chemical weapons.

In order to improve interoperability with coalition or NATO forces, the International Military Education and Training (IMET) Program provides training in English, in peacekeeping operations, non-commissioned officer development, search and rescue, civil/military interaction, and military medicine for military and civilian officials of the Ministry of Defense. The program is moving from strategic to tactical interoperability, focusing on the future of the Russian peacekeeping brigade.

The State Department-led Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program assists Russia in stemming the proliferation of WMD, their delivery systems, and related technologies. The program also offers assistance on many facets of nonproliferation including building better strategic trade controls in the areas of licensing both dual-use and munitions items, enforcement activities ranging from detection, interdiction, investigation, and prosecution of proliferation relevant incidents; government outreach to help industry understand their need to comply with strategic trade controls, and the legal and regulatory structure of nonproliferation in line with international standards.

The Departments of State and Energy administer complementary programs to counteract the threat of WMD. Department of Energy activities assist in securing and disposing of nuclear and radiological material, shutting down Russia’s three remaining plutonium production reactors, engaging former weapons scientists in viable peaceful research endeavors, improving of border security, and strengthening the nonproliferation regime. Department of State programs, including the Science Centers Program, Bio-Chem Redirect Program, and Bio-Industry Initiative, help redirect the activities of former weapons scientists toward peaceful research endeavors. Today, these redirection programs are developing models to bring former Soviet scientists with weapons expertise into self-sustaining enterprises.

The State Department’s Anti-Crime Training and Technical Assistance Program supports diverse activities, including: implementation of the July 2002 Criminal Procedure Code and the August 2004 Law on Witness Protection; adoption of modern investigative techniques in the fight against narcotics trafficking, trafficking in persons, money laundering, terrorist finance, and cybercrime; the development of U.S.-Russian legal cooperation under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty; adoption of community-based policing in the Sakhalin region of the Russian Far East; the protection of intellectual property rights; and support of research into crime and corruption in Russia.

So while Russia is going back to it's old habits of being an international neusence and having fun, we are the ones paying to clean up their old radioactice messes. How convient is that! After all, it is hard to build up national pride by doing things like environmental cleanup. That would require telling the population what a disaster your country is. Let the Europeans, Japanese and Americans take care of the messy work.

For example, remeber the sinking of the submarine KURSK? Despite it being such a tragedy in Russia and President Putin claiming that all would be done, guess who paid to raise and then dismantle the submarine? You did:

The Kursk Foundation has appealed to leaders of the European Union, Japan, the US, Canada, and Norway to grant Russia money for raising the submarine Kursk. The foundation asks each of the countries to give 1.9 million euros ($1.7 million). The appeal was signed by co-chairmen of the foundation: former foreign minister of the USSR Alexander Bessmertnykh and former Defense Minister of the Netherlands Willem van Eckelen. They asked leaders of the aforementioned countries not to delay. If the submarine is not raised this year, this operation will be much more dangerous next year, if it is possible at all.

This appeal is a desperate gesture. The Russian government has not allocated $25 million to the fund. Without this money, the American-Dutch-Norwegian consortium refuses to start preparations for the operation. If these preparations are not started in March, the submarine will not be raised this year, since weather conditions only make it possible to make the attempt in summer. - WPS

President Putin at a KURSK Memorial
Here is an explanation of how we got ourselves into this situation:

Since the announcement of the G8 "Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction WMD" issued by the world's eight leading industrial nations - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russia Federation, the UK and the US - at the G8 Summit on June 27th 2002, the issue of general-purpose submarines, or non-strategic submarines, has become a topic of the top political agenda.

The G8 Summit participants pledged $20bn to fund non-proliferation programmes in Russia - the initiative referred to earlier as "10 plus 10 over 10", meaning $10bn from the US and $10bn from other G8 counties over 10 years to secure Russia's vast stockpiles of weapons and materials of mass destruction. - Bellona

Ten Billion dollars to secure Russia's nuclear threat is probably a good deal. The damage from one rogue nuke would probably cause much more damage than that. However, with all of this should be some responsibility on behalf of Russia. The $20 billion does not address all of Russia's cleanup problems. By stepping in like we did, we are allowing Russia to ignore its other responsibilities. As we have seen in the news, if we do not keep Russia busy at home, they will find something to keep them busy but in Estonia, in Georgia, and wherever else they please in Europe and around the globe. At some point they need to be pushed to spend money at home to modernize their country and serve their people. The sooner the better.

(Of course there is also the issue of the Country being stripped of its assests and taken to bank accounts outside the country. Lots of money, but none of theirs for Russia.)

U.S. Assistance to Russia -- Fiscal Year 2006 - US Dept of State

U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia - US Dept of State

PUUN HENKI - Photos

Here are some photos of an art piece called PUUN HENKI which translates into 'Tree Spirit'.

As you can see, the name actually fits the piece to a certain degree.

(PUUN HENKI)

Although I hope that the tree spirit is more attractive than this. This guy could have stayed hidden inside the tree.

Pretty cool piece of art though.

This is located behind the Helsinki Main Railway Station which is the building in the background.

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Murtha in My Pocket

There is all this talk about earmarks lately. Personally, I think earmarks are completely wrong and at best a form of socialism where money is taken away from the people and given to others who otherwise would not be able to survive on their own.

Here is how I see earmarks. What is my share of that earmark? I mean, how much would I get if the earmark was divided equally between all 300 million Americans. (Lets just use that number. Sure the population keeps growing, but so do the amount of earmarks.) Take these two Congressmen, one bill and their earmarks in it:

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense panel, has secured the most earmarked dollars in the 2008 military spending bill, followed closely by the panel's ranking member Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.). Even though Young secured 52 earmarks, worth $117.2 million - and co-sponsored at least $27 million worth of others - Murtha's 48 earmarks amount to a total of $150.5 million, according to a database compiled by the watchdog organization Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS). - Newsbusters

Murth's earmarks in this bill cost each American 50 cents. Since I am the only wage-earner of a family of four, this one Congressman's allotment of pork in this bill cost me $2.

50 cents is nothing to complain about right? Well that is how they get away with it. The amounts don't really amount to anything by themselves, but rob 300 million people and it will add up. Even taking a penny adds up to $3 million if you take one from each of us. Sure, the amounts are small. That is their defense.

Now let's take a look at Young's earmarks in this bill. They cost each American 39 cents. His earmarks cost me $1.56. Between the two of them, I got shafted $3.56. Of course there is more pork in this bill. The Newsbuster's post lists another $202 million in earmarks. That is another 67 cents per American and another $2.69 bringing my total to $6.26.

Keep in mind that the $6.26 is what this bill cost me in earmarks alone. (It is a $459 billion bill. $1,532 for each of us. $6,128 would be my family's share. But for that amount, I pay for two wars. But this is what taxes are for. Not for pet projects.)

Congress's Pork projects in the 2008 Defense Appropriations bill cost me at least $6.26. However, there is good news. It seems that the pork in last year's bill was twice as much. So there is another $12.50 from my pocket to theirs. The bad news is that this is one of many bills that gets stuffed with pork.

Let's take the bridge to nowhere. Actually, there were two bridges to nowhere.

One of the Alaska bridges, dubbed the "Bridge to Nowhere" by its critics, would connect one small town to a tiny island. It received $223 million in the highway bill that Congress passed this summer. The second bridge, named "Don Young's Way" in honor of its patron, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska), received about $230 million -- but that is just a down payment on a cost that could hit $1.5 billion. - Washington Post

$443 million for two bridges in Alaska. Now keep in mind, Alaska has no state income tax. If they really wanted those two bridges so bad, they could have taken it out of State Revenues. They can do this as there is a state revenue surplus and each State resident get a share in it. But, there is no need to use State funds as long as they can get the money from the rest of us.

$443 million. $1.48 each. $5.90 for a family of four. If they manage to get the full $1.5 billion for Don Young's Way, each person in the US will sport $5 for a bridge they will never see. $20 out of my pocket.

The Club for Growth is one of a number of groups investigating earmarks. They recently came out with their RePORK Card. The card lists close to $104 million in earmarks where amendments were submitted to cut funding for. There were 50 amendments and only one, to cut funding for a 'Perfect Christmas Tree' project passed. ($129,000 not wasted.) The RePORK Card documents who voted to take 35 cents from each American and give it to their friends. That's another $1.39 out of my pocket.

So what to do? Despite pressuring Congress to make changes, they are just too addicted to pork to stop. It doesn't help to have shameless porkers like Congressman Murtha in the House for other Congressmen to hide their earmarks behind. Well these clowns are not the only guilty parties here. Let's not forget the recipients of this money. Sure some of the money is going to states and local governments and there is no way to shame them, but there are the businesses who also get pork and they might be sensitive to negative press.

Take Sherwin-Williams Co. They are getting $2 million for development of a 'paint shield'. Surely, they did not expect their name to get dragged through the press for being associated with a pork project. Surely, when this is all over, they will have lost over $2 million in goodwill. If this project was worth it, they would have spent $2 million of their own money to develop it. Instead, this is a fishing expedition. If something good comes out of it, great. If not, they lose nothing and can always go back and ask for more funding to keep the additional revenue alive. Now if they really want to score points with the American people, then they would come out and publicly refuse to take the earmark. Until then, Sherwin-Williams will not get any of my business. Not a cent. They can enjoy their pork instead.

(Murtha's Ethics Paint Shield)

Targeting the corporations should not be too difficult. Take the issue of candidate donations made by Rupurt Murdoch and News Corp/Fox executives to Democrats. That money has become toxic to their reelection campaigns.

There is no reason why earmarks can't be seen as equally poisonous for business. This will not stop earmarks in support of big government, like the $39 million going to the 'National Drug Intelligence Center' which survives solely due to Murtha's yearly earmark. (Sidenote: Empoyees rate the NDIC as a poor place to work) Even some of the businesses and 'foundations' will not care, like the 'Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service' ($2 million earmark) which in itself is a reason to question their very existence. But other businesses will. I bet Shermin-Williams does.

This is not a solution, but it would be a step in the right direction.

Note: Original Photo found here - "Murtha put war at top of agenda in House"

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Maritime Monday 71

Welcome to this Weeks edition to Maritime Monday.

You can find Maritime Monday 21 here. (Published 7 August 2006)

Last week's edition is here.

This Weeks Photos:
Here are a couple of photos of a self-propelled barge. As you can see, the hull splits open to permit dumping of whatever was loaded into it, which in most cases would be material dradged from shipping channels or material to reclaim land from the sea.

This specific vessel is for sale. It is listed here at Apollo Duck.

This Weeks Items:
Eagle Speak has "Thinking ahead: Polar sea routes and the U.S. Coast Guard" and news of the approval of expansion plans for the Georgia Liquid Natural Gas facility near Savannah.

A Blog For All covers the exposing of video footage of Russia planting a flag at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean as a fraud, lifted from the movie Titanic. The scam was discovered by a 13 year old boy in Finland, who probably now needs to go into hiding before President Putin mails him a thank you present laced with radioactive material.

Molten Eagle had questioned earlier if Russia would risk faking a descent. Whether they did it or not remains an open question, but why didn't they take pictures while at the bottom? (If our subs were there and can confirm that they did do it, how about earmarking a couple million to go and collect their litter.)

Steven Bennett’s Photo Blog has dramatic photos of the Panama-Flag cargo Ship NEW FLAME as it sinks off Europa Point after colliding with the tanker TORM GERTRUDE. Details at Gibraltar News. Apparently, as of this morning, the vessel was spared sinking fully as it is partly aground.

Bellona has the Murmansk Shipping Company's refit of the nuclear Icebreaker SEVMORPUT into the world's first nuclear powered oil drilling vessel which should be operation by early 2009. (And you thought that Russia's flag littering was just a stunt.)

gCaptain has "Bravo on My Watch - By The Artful Blogger" which tells the story of a fire in the engine room of an un-named cruise ship and the less-than textbook quality response. How bad? Lets just say that it is amazing nobody died. Not because of the fire but as a result of the response.

gCaptain also has the fire onboard the USNS SISLER while in drydock in Boston.

MArEx Newsletter has "Russia's Delivery of Aircraft Carrier to India Delayed"

The BBC has the Law of the Sea tribunal's ruling ordering Russia to release a Japanese fishing trawler.

Tim at Tims Times (at sea) returns to sea.

Kiwi at Sea (at sea) explains what he has been up to over the last two months.

Steeljaw Scribe has "The Long War — Russia and the Russian Navy"

News.com.au has the arrests of four people for attempting to smuggle $20 million in ecstasy into Australia off the Panama-Flag MSC SOPHIE.

Freaque Waves covers the freak wave or abnormal tidal bore (Wikipedia entry) in the Chien Tang River in China that washed away 33 people.

BitterEnd has the Coast Guard's reduction in the number of fog horns, as the result of modern technology. The same is happening to lighthouses.

Tugster: a waterblog has "Red Hook Mysteries" where he speculates whether the incoming Ikea store being built on the site of the old Todd Shipyard will bring in it's containers by barge upon sighting a tug in Ikea colors. He has pics of the offending tug. Maybe Ikea just paid for the tug to carry their colors. Actually transporting the containers across the harbor might only make sense if they were arriving in large enough batches. Once you read this post, check out the rest of his blog which is full of NY Harbor photos.

INDIAN SHIPPING NEWS has the shortage of qualified shipping personnel. The story cites payment of taxes when Indian seafarers sail on Indian-flag vessels as opposed to sailing foreign-flag. Another reason I know of is that there are many certified Indians, especially officers, who are not able to obtain certification in their own country. Maybe this shortage will change that, but I doubt it. (Yes, there is a question how some got their documents, but many of them were weeded out when new rules came into effect in February, 2002.)

Ocra Worldwide has "UK Seeks Bids For 'Motorways Of The Sea' Initiative"

Maritime Compass has the possible discovery of a lifering from the EDMUND FITZGERALD.

The Astute Bloggers covers a story about coral bleaching, but this time blamed on cold weather, instead of the normal culprit of high temperatures due to global warming.

The Southeast Texas Record has a lawsuit claiming that his injury on the oil drilling rig PRIDE ALASKA was a direct result of poor placement of valves and their poor maintenance making them hard to turn.

Cruise Bruise has coverage of the MARINER OF THE SEAS cocaine smuggling court case.

Maritime Accident Casebook has a ship casualty in Basrah, Iraq, which was spotted from space through Google Earth.

Cruise Critic covers 'Crew Blogs'. According to the article, 'Captain Geir-Arne's Photo Gallery' is the only one that does not have the hand of the employer involved in it. (That does not mean that the others are not worth checking out.)

English Russia has photos of the USSR's first expedition to the Antarctic continent in 1955.

G2Mil has a chapter out of Carlton Meyer's new book,"The Spectrum of Future Warfare". The chapter covers the idea of using some of our older Navy hulls as Bait Ships.

Cato Unbound has an article on self-governance using the pirates’ private system of governance as the example of how this is possible. It provides great insight into signing articles when joining a pirate ship . A practice that continues to this day on merchant ships. (I found this article, thanks to a link on Instapundit)

Life of a Sea Wife starts blogging.

New Wars links to a number of maritime stories concentrating on Navy issues from around the world.

Neptunus Lex comments on the recent Russia flight to Guam in "“In Soviet Russia, Bear hunts you“". He also has video of a fish being launched off a carrier catapult. No, don't worry, the fish is part of the jet's crew. Stick through the video if you want to see a bunch of pilot call signs.

Haight's Maritime Items has:

UK – MAIB Safety Digest - The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) issued the Safety Digest 2/2007 summarizing recent marine casualties. The report emphasizes the importance of keeping a good lookout and, particularly for smaller vessels, making sure that your vessel can easily be seen by others. (8/6/07). - Dennis Bryant Holland & Knight homepage (Used with Permission)

Fairplay Daily News has:

Maritime 'vulnerable to fraud' - COLOMBO 10 August – Shipping lines, exporters and banks are vulnerable to fraud because it is easy to forge trade documents and break into containers without leaving any signs, warns Pottengal Mukundan, director of the International Maritime Bureau of the International Chamber of Commerce. "Trade finance depends entirely on documents," he told members of Sri Lanka's shipping community at a conference organised by the Sri Lanka branch of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. "Any system which depends entirely on documents will be vulnerable to abuse by money launderers. Any document in a shipping or trade transaction can be forged, and forged with ease." Documents such as bills of lading involving millions of dollars worth of transactions "have no security feature whatsoever," Mukundan said, adding that criminals find them easy to duplicate and even produce the actual document itself. "Getting documents prepared and passed through the banking system is easy," he said. Containers are also a weak link in the system and "a great vehicle for fraud," Mukundan said. "No one really knows what's in a container because it is sealed. It can be used to transport anything – weapons, people, drugs." There are at least five ways to open a container without breaking the seal, he said, and it was even possible to make a container ‘vanish’ by changing its seal number. People trying to get the cheapest freight rate and who do not perform due diligence can find themselves in trouble. "The message underwriters tell cargo owners is don't put your cargo on the first rusting hulk that calls in the port,” Mukundan said. - Fairplay Homepage (Used with Permission)

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EZPASS and Data Sharing

Drudge let loose this little secret about the possibility of your EZPASS toll records being used against you:

Generally mounted inside a vehicle's windshield behind the rearview mirror, E-ZPass devices communicate with antennas at toll plazas, automatically deducting money from the motorist's prepaid account.

Of the 12 states in the Northeast and Midwest that are part of the E-ZPass system, agencies in seven states provide electronic toll information in response to court orders in criminal and civil cases, including divorces, according to an Associated Press survey.

In four of the 12 states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, highway authorities release E-ZPass records only in criminal cases. West Virginia parkways authority has no policy. (Divorce attorneys in some cases can still obtain toll records from the other spouse rather than a highway agency.) - WCBSTV

Of course the ACLU is not happy about this:

Some worry that using those records for other purposes is a violation of drivers' privacy.

"When you're marketed for this new convenience, you may not realize there are these types of costs," said Nicole Ozer of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia turned Libertarian and privacy rights advocate, said people who want to protect their privacy shouldn't use electronic toll systems.

"People are foolish to buy into these systems without thinking, just because they want to save 20 seconds of time going through a toll booth," he said. - WCBSTV

Now the two privacy advocates quoted above seem to imply that you can retain your privacy by not using the EZPASS. Well that is not true. As it so happens, there are cameras in all the tollbooths. In addition to taking your picture, they also read and log your license plate.

Kind of like in this video:

As you can see, they can use this system anywhere they can place a camera. You can use any camera connected to a computer. It is the software that checks the incoming pictures. So any camera that can see your license plate clearly enough, can be logging your plate.

Now I can't confirm if the EZPASS tollbooths are using this or not, but they would be silly not to. At least this Wikipedia entry states that the EXPASS System in at least some states incorporates license plate recognition to check that the transponder in the car is being used in the car it is registered to. You can bet that they are also checking the plates against lists of stolen cars and wanted persons and who knows whatever else.

So even if you don't use the EZPASS, there are still the cameras, and the credit card records for when you buy gas, and don't forget they can track the movement of your mobile phone as well. So, save time and use the EZPASS. There are ways to move about undetected, but you'll have to use someone else's car. Not for anything, but regularly using these toll roads and not signing up for EZPASS probably classes you as a suspicious person for trying to hide your movements. Really, why would your wait in line to pay cash when you can zip through an EZPASS lane? Surely those people have something to hide...

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Here is one more video. It is a little dry, but does show the system in use as the police car 'runs' every license plate it reads.

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Newark, NJ Triple Murderer Did Not Slip Through the System

The fact that the Newark, New Jersey triple murder was an illegal alien is only half the story. For starters, the murderer, Jose Carranza, was well known to the police already:

Dow would not answer questions about how Carranza was released on bail despite his illegal immigration status and charges earlier this year that he raped a 5-year-old, then threatened the child's parents.

Carranza was indicted by grand juries in New Jersey twice this year — in April on aggravated assault and weapons charges; and in July on 31 counts which included aggravated sexual assault of a child under 13 years old and endangering the welfare of a child he had a duty to supervise.

He was released on $50,000 bail on the assault case, which stemmed from a barroom fight, and $150,000 bail on the sexual assault indictment, which charged that the abuse began in 2003 when the girl was 4 years old and continued to this year.

The assistant prosecutor handling the murder case, Thomas McTigue, said, "Our focus hasn't been his immigration status."

Prosecutors said they did not immediately recall if Carranza's immigration status was known when he was granted bail on the two indictments, and whether they opposed granting bail.

It is rare for illegal immigrants to be granted bail, especially when charged with serious crimes, said Alan L. Zegas, a noted New Jersey defense lawyer.

"The level of risk of flight increases exponentially when a person is not a citizen of this country and has few, if any, roots here," Zegas said. - Fox News

There are so many things wrong with how this criminal was handled. For starters, why on earth did they release him on bail when we was committing crimes while out on bail? I would think that is a violation of his bail conditions. This sadly is what happens when the soft-on-crime movement gets too much power. However, this is not the whole problem. There is the issue of Newark ignoring his immigration status. As the assistant prosecutor states:

"Our focus hasn't been his immigration status." - Thomas McTigue, Assistant prosecutor, Newark, NJ

It has not been an issue, because Newark, NJ is an illegal alien Sanctuary City. How convenient to pick and choose the crimes you are going to enforce.

Today, Newark is a sanctuary city where, if illegal immigrants are arrested, they are safe in the knowledge that federal authorities will not be notified. This enables illegal immigrants to live in Newark with the assurance that Newark will essentially protect them while they violate federal law.

In the year 2006, Newark topped its record of homicides at 106. With three times the number of homicides per capita as New York, Newark remains as one of the most violent cities in the country. The city is on pace to match or break its homicide record again in 2007. - Wikipedia

Well this one illegal alien has now helped them towards retaining their Murder Capital title for 2007. Now, remember the 9/11 Commission Report? You know, the one being used as an excuse to pass legislation requiring nuclear scanning of all incoming cargo containers. That Report, whose recommendations the Democrats were all waving about, claiming that the White House was dragging their feet implementing. Well, it has one recommendation concerning illegal aliens and local law enforcement:

Sanctuary city policies defy guidelines from the 9/11 Commission Report, which called on state and local authorities to help federal agencies crack down on illegal immigration. On page 390 it said that,

“There is a growing role for state and local law enforcement agencies [for the enforcement of immigration law]. They need more training and work with federal agencies so that they can cooperate more effectively with those federal authorities in identifying terrorist suspects.”

- Human Events

This Wikipedia entry is kind because some sanctuary cities not only ignore the immigration status of people they suspect of being illegal aliens, they also ignore warrants for arrest issued by Immigration Authorities as well. This is official police policy in New Haven, Connecticut, by police executive order given in December, 2006:

• Officers shall not make arrests based on administrative warrants for arrest or removal entered by ICE into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, including administrative immigration warrants for persons with outstanding removal, deportation or exclusion orders. Enforcement of the civil provisions of U.S. immigration law is the responsibility of federal immigration officials. - City of New Haven

This is shameful behavior by local authorities to ignore outstanding warrants. It is not like every illegal alien has a warrant out for them. (Although there should be.)

It is misleading to say that this murderer slipped through a crack in the system. He walked through at least two open doors. Doors held open by people elected to protect us. The question is, is anyone going to try and close them? Hopefully we will see ICE making raids in Newark within a week. That is not a solution, but needed to remove the other illegal alien criminals from the streets, since the local authorities are not interested in doing that themselves. It would also be useful to see what other human garbage Newark has allowed to roam its streets.

(Note: I was born in Jersey City, NJ. My family fled the city when I was five.)

Pakistani UN Peacekeepers - "gold smuggling operation as a mafia-like organisation"

On 27 July as part of "Really Damaging the UN's Image, Respectability and Credibility - II" I included a piece about UN Peacekeepers from Pakistani involved in arms smuggling:

UN Peacekeepers from Pakistan - Illegal Arms Sales

Pakistani UN peacekeeping troops have traded in gold and sold weapons to Congolese militia groups they were meant to disarm, the BBC has learnt.

These militia groups were guilty of some of the worst human rights abuses during the Democratic Republic of Congo's long civil war.

The trading went on in 2005. A UN investigative team sent to gather evidence was obstructed and threatened.

The team's report was buried by the UN itself to "avoid political fallout". - BBC

There is now a leaked report on the smuggling claim and it seems that I had this activity described backwards - in that it was the gold-smuggling that was the main operation, not weapons smuggling. (They are still not sure how big a problem any UN-aided/enabled weapons smuggling might have been. The weapons claim is that rebels bought back weapons they surrendered to the UN with gold.)

This report does make clear that this was not some rogue officers trading gold on the side. This was a major operation, which included armed escorts. Now that is service.

The BBC has obtained an internal UN report examining allegations of gold smuggling by Pakistani peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It concluded that Pakistani officers provided armed escorts, hospitality and food to gold smugglers in east Congo. - BBC

And:

The report quoted witnesses as saying that Indian gold traders were at the Pakistani camp in Mongbwalu "on a regular basis... consuming meals in the officers' mess and socialising with UN personnel".

Others said that when the gold traders landed at the airstrip they were greeted by the Pakistanis "as if they were old friends" and that they were transported from the airfield in UN vehicles.

Details of the flights used by the smugglers were not entered into the Civil Aircraft Register maintained by the Pakistanis, and the investigators concluded that they considered it likely this "was a deliberate cover-up of this group's arrival in Mongbwalu, whose mission was to purchase gold".

Human Rights Watch, which first raised these concerns in late 2005, described the gold smuggling operation as a mafia-like organisation. - BBC

There is a weakness in the UN Peacekeeper system in that prosecution of crimes like this are the responsibility of the soldier's home country. This reduces the chances that anything will happen as those entrusted to press the issue back at home would probably be the soldier's superiors and there is nothing to say that they did not benefit from the smuggling as well. Even if they are not, keeping the issue alive by publicly punishing the criminals might not be in the best interest of the country.

One issue that should be examined is how peacekeepers are acquired in the first place. In some cases they are paid to participate. Perhaps they are being paid too much. Perhaps instead of being paid, they can get credit against future UN dues. At any rate, a good percentage of peacekeeping forces, while serving their intended purpose, create too many problems of their own to ignore.

UN troops 'helped smuggle gold' - BBC

Hamas About to be Wiped out by Invisible Force

I had written the following in my post "Really Damaging the UN's Image, Respectability and Credibility - II "

UN Mideast Envoy - Misdirected efforts

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Mideast envoy warned Wednesday of impending economic collapse in the Gaza Strip unless Israel reopens the Hamas-led territory’s main commercial crossing to the outside world to ease international isolation. - LGF

This is kind of amusing. HAMAS violently takes control of the Gaza Strip. They refuse to recognize Israel. They kidnap Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit, killing two other soldiers in the process and have held him hostage for over a year. Yet none of this is a problem for the UN. There is no reason why Israel should reopen the border crossings without some sort of outreach emanating from HAMAS. Maybe the Israelis are waiting to get their soldier back. Maybe they are waiting for a statement confirming their recognition of Israel. The UN's Envoy should perhaps be spending his time talking to HAMAS, pointing out that Israel is prepared to starve them all out. After all, HAMAS thinks that they are capable of doing this. Might as well take advantage of it. One problem, since when has HAMAS been concerned with economic collapse in the Gaza Strip? Not that they have to. They have the UN to be concerned for them. - FFI

Apparently the UN Envoy's plea was not loud enough, so they had to try again:

Gaza could become completely dependant on aid within weeks because of economic damage caused by Israeli restrictions on border crossings, the UN has said.

All 600 garment factories in Gaza have closed, because they cannot import raw materials, a UN relief agency said.

And more than 90% of factories involved in the construction industry have shut down and laid off workers. - BBC

Well this is to be expected as those who are currently in charge of Gaza have an open policy of not recognizing Israel and fight for its destruction. They also continue to hold Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit hostage. So, if anything, Hamas needs to make the next move. At the moment they don't seem too interested in doing so.

You see, Hamas is using the population of the Gaza Strip as hostages. This gives the UN an excuse to rush to their aid which benefits Hamas. They are after all getting their food from the UN like everyone else in Gaza. What do you think would happen if the UN refused to give militants food, provided they could even identify them?

So Israel should continue to increase pressure on the Gaza Government. Since most of the Gaza population is currently dependant on UN food aid, I would reduce the number of aid trucks permitted into Gaza each day by one. That will at least force some sort of conclusion to this standoff.

At the moment, Hamas's strategy of denying the existance of Israel looks like a sure loser. Just who do they think is starving them out?

Aggressive Highway Trucker - Photo

You are headed up the Interstate and all of a sudden you see this big rig with teeth in your rear-view mirror.

Of course your going to get out of his way. I am not a fan of anyone riding my rear bumper, especially a truck with teeth!

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Really Damaging the UN's Image, Respectability and Credibility III

Here is the latest update into activities that keep damaging the UN's Image, respectability and credibility. These are all ways that it was claimed that Paul Wolfowitz's employment damaged the UN's World Bank. They used these bogus claims to push him out of his job. What they did not get rid of was hits to the Establishment, including those listed below.

Various UN Agencies - Considering Policy to Ignore/Ban Bloggers as Media

NEW YORK, July 29 -- The United Nations says it wants to engage with bloggers, but only if it can control them. Those it cannot control, it wants to exclude, meeting minutes obtained by Inner City Press reveal.

At least three UN agencies have in the interim adopted policies of not answering questions from bloggers, no matter how widely they're read. From the top of the UN's headquarters building, it's a world of paranoia, a desire to turn back the clock of a type that usually proves fruitless.

In late June in Madrid, the spokespeople for 37 UN agencies met and, according to internal minutes leaked to Inner City Press, agreed that it is "important for the United Nations family to engage with all forms of new media, but that some, such as blogs, present particular challenges for accreditation." - Inner City Press

More details Here.


UNDP in burma - Suspected Fraud and Coverup

... The same modus operandi was on display in response to U.S. inquiries about the UNDP's operations in another Asian dictatorship--Burma, where the agency appears to be following the same practices that got it into trouble in North Korea. Inspection of projects is limited by the government and a percentage of U.N. outlays is required to be in foreign currency. Given what we've learned about North Korea, the U.S. is right to worry that UNDP aid--$107 million from 2002 to 2006--may have been diverted to the regime.

The UNDP has responded with its usual transparency. While deigning to release the information that it has conducted two internal audits of the Burma program in the past decade, it won't give the U.S. access to the audits or let it review the line-by-line details of the budgets. This is the equivalent of a CEO refusing to let a member of his board of directors see the company's financials--and is hardly the way to treat the country that has donated $1.2 billion to the agency over the past decade. In addition, there has been no external audit of the Burma program for more than 10 years. - Opinion Journal

Unmil Staff in Liberia - Sexual Exploitation

The Head of the UN Missions in Liberia, (Unmil), Alan Doss said some of the UNMIL Military personnel, including their commanding officers who were involved in Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA), have been dismissed from the UN service and reduced in rank and are presently serving sentences in their countries.

Mr. Doss explained that those serving sentences in their countries are serving between the period of six months and one year, and that five other SEA allegations involving peacekeeping personnel are under investigation by the Office of the Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). - AllAfrica.com

United Nations mission in Congo - 'Procurement Irregularities'

The United Nations mission in Congo has suspended five civilian staff members for "procurement irregularities," according to a U.N. statement issued Tuesday.

The action is the latest in a string of accusations of misconduct by the soldiers or employees of U.N. peacekeeping missions deployed to return stability to fractured countries.

A spokeswoman for the peacekeeping mission — the world's largest with about 18,000 troops — declined to comment or explain the nature of the irregularities, saying the investigation was ongoing. - IHT

UN Headquarters Renovation - Massive Lack of Accounting Details

Is the $US1.9 billion United Nations renovation of its crumbling New York headquarters another Oil for Food-type scam in the making?

There’s a discrepancy anywhere from $500 million to $1billion in unaccounted for expenses tied up somewhere in the projected costs for square footage. It’s a discrepancy lost in the same labyrinth of UN unpaid parking tickets. - Canada Free Press

AND:

New York developer Donald Trump, who called the projected costs of the project “incompetence or fraud”, offered to complete the project for one-third of what it will now cost. Annan refused to discuss the matter with him.

UN officials are explaining that the $1.9 billion price tag for the renovation project includes “other costs” to cover contingency funding, inflation, leasing and fees for consultants and architects.

Two more procurement officers Suspended - Corruption

The United Nations has "charged" two more procurement officers in its ongoing corruption investigations.

Yesterday a spokesperson for secretary-general Ban Ki-moon confirmed two buyers at the organisation had been "charged following the investigations conducted by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS)". It did not state what the individuals had been charged with but went on to say they have been suspended and placed on special leave with pay. - Supply Management (UK)

Russian UN Translator - Organizing Visa Fraud.

An employee at the United Nations headquarters in New York has been arrested on suspicion of visa fraud. Russian national Vyacheslav Manokhin, 45, is accused of using his position to provide false documents to support US visa applications since April 2005.

US prosecutors said he made it appear the UN supported the applications and, consequently, most visas were granted. - BBC (More here)

Russia and China on the Security Council - Prevention of legitimate actions:

The US may need to employ military power in the future, and the existing international structure for ensuring that such acts are seen as “legitimate” - both here and abroad - has fallen to tatters. Anti-democratic forces at the UN and indeed on the US Security Council continue to collude in preventing otherwise legitimate actions in the name of narrowly defined national interest. - Neptunus Lex

United Nations - Footdragging over Sudan's Genocide in Darfur

Yesterday, on cue, Mr Brown climbed nimbly aboard the United Nations bandwagon. In a specially staged speech before an invited audience at UN headquarters in New York, the Prime Minister flagged up - and in the process seemed to be assuming some of the credit for - the long-overdue UN resolution to deploy a 19,000-strong African Union peace-keeping force to Darfur. This fits neatly with Mr Brown's desired aim to adopt a more multilateral international posture.

The problem with this approach is that the United Nations is a woefully ineffectual institution. It is the hated United States that has led the way on Darfur, not the UN. As long ago as September 2004, Washington was describing the actions of the Sudanese government as genocide and demanding international action to stop it.

What did the UN do? It sponsored an international commission of inquiry, which concluded that the government of Sudan "has not pursued a policy of genocide … (though) international offences such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be no less serious and heinous than genocide". That's clear, then. - Telegraph, UK

Security Council - Catering to Sudan's Demands over Darfur Peacekeeping Mission

Sudan will have to accept non-African troops in a U.N.-authorized peacekeeping force for Darfur or face the prospect of new United Nations sanctions, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.

Although efforts will be made to ensure that Africa contributes a large percentage of the 26,000-strong mission, the continent does not have enough trained soldiers to fully staff the force and Sudan will be penalized unless it drops objections to non-African participation, said Andrew Natsios, the U.S. special envoy for Sudan. ...

The Sudanese government is adamantly opposed to non-Africans playing any major role in the hybrid U.N.-African Union operation that was authorized by the U.N. Security Council on July 31 and will be made up of 20,000 peacekeepers and 6,000 civilian police.

Disagreements over the composition of the mission were a major reason the authorization was delayed for months despite mounting pressure on Khartoum to accept it to help end nearly four years of internal conflict in which more than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced. - Captain's Quarters

UN Security Staff, Pakistan - Manhandling the Press

According to a statement issued by DawnNews: “The staff of the security agency posted at the UN office confiscated the camera of DawnNews staffer Mansoor Ahmed, dragged him into the UN premises and detained him illegally for some time even though he identified himself. Another DawnNews cameraman, Asif Mirza, was also assaulted.” - Riehl World View

U.N. officials and foreign delegates - US Accusations of UN improprieties as accurate as US claims of WMD in Iraq

But Wallace has also drawn criticism from U.N. officials and foreign delegates who charge he has hyped his findings and in a manner that has drawn comparisons to the U.S. claims of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. For their part, U.N. development officials claim that Wallace's inquiry has led to a string of unsupported "wild" allegations against the U.N. agency. - Washington Post

UNDP Head Ad Melkert - He "is incompetent"

THE HAGUE, 21/07/07 - John Bolton, the former United States ambassador to the United Nations, thinks Ad Melkert should resign from his post at the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The Dutchman is incompetent, in his view.

Bolton, who is seen as a confidante of President George Bush, told TV programme Nova that Melkert, as the second-in-command at the UNDP, has failed to investigate and take action against alleged abuse of UN donor money. The US suspects that "hard currency went to the government of North Korea" directly that was intended for humanitarian aid, according to Bolton.

Towards American requests for appropriate action, Melkert has "adopted a very defensive attitude". "We find his behaviour puzzling. Why deny the existence of the problem," said Bolton. It "remains to be seen" how the affair works out for the US contribution to the UNDP and UN as a whole, he warned.

Apart from having a "bunker mentality", Melkert "insulted our ambassador Mark Wallace and threatened him with retaliation," added Bolton. Elaborating on the Dutchman's "undiplomatic behaviour", the American stated that "perhaps attitudes in your country are different" but internationally "the civil servants work for the member governments, not the other way around." - NisNews.nl

UNDP Head in Philippines - Abuse of local staff

MANILA, Philippines -- At least 13 Filipino staffers of the United Nations office here, including two who have already left the office, are seeking the ouster of the office’s chief, Nileema Noble, for her allegedly “autocratic and oppressive behavior.” - Inquirer.net(Click the link for the details)

United Nations General Assembly - 23 Million Taiwanese Not Represented

"Based on the UN's principles, it is very strange that the 23 million people in Taiwan are not represented in there," he said.

Hsieh said reasons for pushing the UN bid under the name "Taiwan" include the nation's many failed attempts to join the UN under the name "Republic of China," the fact that the People's Republic of China does not represent Taiwan and that the name "Taiwan" is better known around the world than "Republic of China." - Taipei Times

Lets not forget UN taking over the responsibility of feeding a good portion of Zimbabwe's population without holding the Government that is responsible account.

The WFP says a poor harvest and the country's worsening economic situation means hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans are running out of food. It says it will have to provide assistance to more than three million people over the coming months. - FFI

Why does it have to provide assistance? Isn't that Zimbabwe's responsibility?

Previous Editions:

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