John Bolton is president of the UN Security Council this month;
“At his first session last week, Bolton tried to impose fresh discipline and some new practices. First, he asked top U.N. staff to provide the council with daily briefings on the latest peacekeeping crises, irking council members who abhor changes and sparking groans from staff. Then, he proposed discussions on corruption in U.N. peacekeeping, which is proving unpopular — the issue’s not considered a threat to international peace and security by some. Most controversial of all, he insisted that all 15 Security Council members show up to meetings on time, at 10 a.m. Asked Thursday by a reporter whether he really thought he could start the council meetings on time, Bolton said he had failed. ‘I took a list of when they came in. We started just before 10:15. I brought the gavel down at 10. I was the only one in the room, though.'”
“The next meeting will start precisely on time�or else at least one of those 15 Security Council members will wake up alongside a severed horse head�or perhaps a dead hooker, a bloody knife, and a fleet of AP photographers. If he hasn�t already done so.”
For the Love of God and all that is Holy, when will you learn to use semicolons properly, Kate?
Thickslab, “This is the sort of pedanticism up with which, we will not put.” 🙂
thickslab – what does Love, God and Holiness have to do with the duties of a copy editor?
And when is a blog the same as a print publication?
Back to topic…
How arrogant, how unilateralist! The Yankee neo-con wants the UN bureaucracy to make daily reports on the “peacekeeping” done in the UN’s name, paid for primarily by the permanent Security Council members’ dues. (Incl. 24% by The Great Satan) And the Council to discuss corruption in “peacekeeping” (presumably to include the sex trade rings and pedophiliacs)!
Quelle horreurs! Doesn’t the Yankee neo-con realize the Security Council, like the General Assembly, is supposed to be a laid-back talk-shop, spouting only banal Politically Correct platitudes and anti-Israel and anti-American venom?
Anyone care to bet these decent and common sense measures don’t last past the US’s one month rotating presidency of the Security Council?
don’t you mean semi;colons ?
Yes, it is always inspiring to know that UN Security Council meetings start on time.
This was almost as good as Romeo Dallaire’s book which detailed how Rwanda was on the council when the bloodbath was occuring.
If John Bolton gives them a little whip cracking; so much the better.
It is so delightful to promulgate the gospel of human rights; as long as the bodies are not piling up on your doorstep.
Well if John Bolton can rip them all the new backside they so richly deserve; maybe humanity will be better served than false pieties we have heretofor had to endure. If the world sees one less Rwanda or Darfur for the effort, so much the better.
I am sure Divine Providence is mighty pleased that we manage to keep marking God’s little gifts: “RETURN TO SENDER”.
Well Divine Providence’s post box is getting a little too full. It is long past time to stop this rubbish.
I take it as a big “screw you” to (couldn’t even get confirmed to his position in the Republican-led Senate) Bolton and Bush.
Have you heard that Bolton has been nominated for 2006 Nobel Peace Prize?
Steve in BC, I for one would NOT be willing to receive a Prize once given to the late PLO Terrorist-in-Chief, Yasser Arafat. That reduced the moral weight of the Prize to somewhat below being casted on “Survivor” or given a “Used Car Salesman of the Year” award.
Dave…good point. They lost me when they gave it to Henry Kissinger.
“If you really want to hurt your parents, and you don�t have the nerve to be a homosexual, the least you can do is go into the arts. But do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites, standing for absolutely nothing. All they do is show you�ve been to college.” – Kurt Vonnegut
Thickslab;
That was for you.
Technically, Kate’s use of the semicolon to introduce subordinate or offsetting information is incorrect: it should be a colon. On the other hand, this web site is Kate’s; I’ll defend her iconoclasm. If anyone’s interested in more details on the semicolon, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semicolon
Thickslab;
Please; lighten; up; OK;
I expect that it will take a lot more than the blustering Bolton to effect any significant change at the UN.
PGP, there’s a lot more to John Bolton than bluster. That image of him is part of the Left’s attempt to dismiss him and his very valid criticisms of the UN without debate.
If there were such a debate -an honest one- it’s a debate that the UNophile Left would lose.
Speaking of Romeo Dallaire .
What do you suppose his opinion is of Bolton?
I for one suspect that he is in the “Bolton is Satan” camp.
Any other thoughts?
Bolton is just the bull in the china shop the UN needs.
I like to think of semicolons as strong commas and colons as soft periods to help me keep my usage straight.
You’re close, CMP, but actually a semicolon can be either a strong comma or a soft period, depending on whether it’s used in a list or between phrases; colons, on the other hand, are typically used to: call attention to what immediately follows.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon
A semi-colon is simply 1/2 of a Large Intestine.
A semi-colon is also full of !@#$.
The digestive tract is full of the energy of human life, just like the brain. Food for thought, eh what? Well, that plus oxygen.
I hope that Mr. Bolton will open up the Oil for Food Scandle and start examining the stinking entrails on that ‘fowl’ buisness.
Last month I read where Bolton threatened to disband the UN in favour of a leaner, more democratic and efficient entity.
I liked the *more efficient and leaner part.
One insider was commenting to the effect Bolton gave the UN finance committee an ultimatum to trim their 1.2 B budget and a week later they came back with the budget adjusted to 1.9 billion. To the UN… money is water.
Bolton is full of stern talk that means nothing if never acted upon.
I fully expect to see an eviction notice to all at the UN building with directions to Geneva or Gibralter or some place well out of the way.
Next I expect the building to be taken over by a group of real{genuine], democratic nations who will be leaner and more efficient, [Promt with decisions], and they should adopt the title of *United_Democratic_Nations.* =Wikipedia.org. TG
Bolton starting the meetings on time? Bully for him!
I learned punctuality from a college professor in the 1940’s. His classes started on time. You were never late for one of his classes; you were there or you were not. The Prof locked the classroom door at the beginning of the class.