A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Urban Eco: "It's a shame that it takes a major disaster to make us look at our environmental practices. The recent earthquake in Pakistan and India caused more devastation in areas that had been deforested, and the problem could only get worse as people forage remaining trees for shelter and fuel. It's heartening to see that the U.N. Environmental Programme is already stepping in to help clean up and recycle waste created by the earthquake, as well as encourage planting of new trees to help in the future: "[BBC NEWS] UN warns of quake 'toxic wast' - Debris could pollute the water sources, the UN says. The UN has warned that waste and debris left in the wake of the 8 October quake could become toxic and seriously endanger the health of survivors..."

Colcam: "Green Machine At The United Nations. The prototype of the $100 wind-up laptop for kids in developing countries has made its debut at the United Nations. Millions of the lime green machines should be in production within a year. The laptop will run on open source software."

Think Progress: "Last night, Bill O'Reilly referred to his comments approving of a terrorist attack on San Francisco as a "satirical riff." We're not sure President Bush would agree. Recall the recently adopted UN Security Council Resolution 1624 - passed unanimously on Sept 14, 2005, with President Bush actually personally casting the vote for the United States. In his speech to fellow heads of state, Bush singled it out and said the United States "strongly supports the implementation of this resolution." ... It sounds like O'Reilly has run afoul of at least the spirit of the UNSC resolution - and the wishes of his president."

Alas, a Blog!: "Over at The Inkwell, the IWF's blog, one of the Charlottes explains why feminists oppose Ellen Sauerbrey, Bush's nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration at the United Nations: "[She] supports the Bush administration's withholding $34 million from the U.N. Population Fund because the agency has made financial contributions to China's policy of forced-abortions to limit family size."

Adoption Guide: "Statistics On Orphans - GENEVA (VOA) -- The United Nations says the situation of children in Sierra Leone is dire, with a huge problem of children being trafficked abroad. UNICEF is urging that adoptions be stopped until protective measures are put in place in the West African country."

War and Piece: "Go read Laura Secor's interview in the New Yorker about the limitations and achievements of Iran's internal reform movement: "What do the dissidents want? To overthrow the government? Or are there specific, more modest reforms that they seek? [Secor] Iran had a revolution pretty recently, followed by the traumas of war and dictatorship. As badly as many people want change, very few are inclined to put their lives and their country's fundamental stability on the line for it. That said, there are dissidents who flatly say that the system has to go, and that it should be replaced by a constitution based not on Islamic law but on the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights."