Res Publica 2005

Here are some stories from today that I thought were worth paying attention to:

La Shawn Barber says some interesting things on Nick Coleman's complaining about the Blogosphere in Nick’s nasty bout with blog envy One noteworthy point:

Some blogs rival online newspaper readership, and anyone with an Internet connection and decent writing and research skills can compose continuous letters to the editor for an audience of thousands. Bloggers are doctors, lawyers, professors, police officers, pastors, writers, stay-at-home mothers and even guys in pajamas in their living rooms, and their online presence serves notice that shoddy research and reporting will not go unchallenged.

Here's a story about the UN and its track record for dealing with sexual misdeeds in its own ranks. In Morally Tainted, we learn:

That's not all. Since the 1990s, U.N. peacekeepers and officials themselves have been involved in the torture, rape and sexual-trafficking of children and adults: in Somalia, Bosnia, Cambodia and Congo.

The United Nations, and the international community, has a moral responsibility to radically reform the refugee system before millions more children are put in harm's way.

What is most disturbing is that U.N. peacekeepers and officials accused of abusing children and adults have rarely been prosecuted or even punished.

The United Nations says it can only send "bad apples" back to their home countries to be prosecuted. They have never acknowledged that the problem is systemic and widespread.

What is worse, the people in charge of peacekeeping where abuse has occurred have not been held accountable for their underlings' actions. Where public outrage has demanded it, they have been removed from their country of responsibility. But instead of being demoted they have been promoted.

Bill O'Reilly talks about the limits of dissent - when does dissent become disloyalty? He comes to this conclusion:

Believing that the Iraq war is wrong is legitimate dissent, and Stone might even be right, this may be an unwinnable situation. But feeling any kind of satisfaction when you hear of victories by the "insurgents" means you have crossed the line from dissent into disloyalty. Rationalizations walk. If you are rooting for the insurgents - you are one.