Time to Increase U.N. Peacekeeping Contributions from Neighboring States

The formula for assigning general contributions to the U.N. for each country is ridiculous.  While the U.N. Committee on Contributions does provide "an explanation of its methodology for calculating the scale, it does not provide explicit examples of how it is applied to all the member states. Nor does it share the raw data used in its calculations."  The Heritage Foundation is on record as being unable to reproduce the assessments for Bulgaria, China, and Vietnam, suggesting some political motivations in how the opaque contribution process occurs.

Since the U.N. was established, the USA has been its largest financial supporter.  American contributions constitute 22% of the U.N. regular budget and over 27% of the peacekeeping budget.  According to Brett Schaefer at Heritage, "[t]he combined assessment of the 128 least-assessed countries under the regular budget -- two-thirds of the 192 member states assessed under the 2010-2012 scale -- for 2012 is a paltry 1.271 percent of the regular budget and a minuscule 0.4678 percent of the peacekeeping budget."

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/09/time_to_increase_un_peacekeeping_contributions_from_neighboring_states.html#ixzz2deHfNM5W

The Rise of the American Fascista State

Have you ever heard of the 70-year cycle in history? Here's an excerpt from an essay by Eric A. that introduces the concept:

Many of you may be familiar with the Foundation series by Issac Asimov. In it, mathematician "Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory. Using the laws of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale; it is error-prone on a small scale."
In practice, we can see that this would be theoretically correct: we study history precisely because human nature is relatively the same and the same events recur with the same predictable responses. If history really were chaos--a muddle of events appearing randomly and being resolved in unpredictable ways--there would be no point in studying it.

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/politicalcalculations/2013/09/01/the-rise-of-the-american-fascista-state-n1688694?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl 

New Energy Secretary Wants to Waste More Money on EV Loans

Just when you thought the Loan Program Office in President Obama’s Department of Energy might put its unused electric auto loan money back in the Treasury coffers, the government investor-crats are going to try to find some takers for the dollars of disrepute that have been tainted by the likes of inoperative, nearly bankrupt Fisker Automotive and Vehicle Production Group.
You might remember when we last heard about the condition of this program, it had trouble finding takers for the remaining $16.5 billion or so it had been allocated. According to a March report produced by the Government Accountability Office that reviewed DOE’s loan programs, those who might otherwise be interested in the financial help cited things like bureaucratic red tape, reporting requirements, uncertainty about credit subsidy costs, lengthy review times, and the expenditure of time and resources for an uncertain outcome as obstacles. But what stood out most – especially in the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program – was that many electric vehicle entrepreneurs were deterred by bad publicity surrounding previous loans.

http://nlpc.org/stories/2013/08/29/new-energy-secretary-wants-waste-more-money-ev-loans 

Obama Grants Amnesty to Illegal Immigrants Without Congress

Congress hasn’t passed immigration legislation, but that hasn’t stopped President Obama from issuing directives that grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.
Last week, the Obama Administration issued the latest in a line of policy directives granting amnesty by default. This latest directive instructs Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials not to enforce immigration laws in cases where an illegal alien is the primary provider for any minor child—regardless of the child’s immigration status—or the parent or guardian of a child who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident.
In a statement about the new directive, House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R–VA) declared:

President Obama has once again abused his authority and unilaterally refused to enforce our current immigration laws by directing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to stop removing broad categories of unlawful immigrants.

http://blog.heritage.org/2013/08/30/obama-grants-amnesty-to-illegal-immigrants-without-congress/ 

Outsiders Have No Tool to Fix Syria

The desire to “do something” in Syria is understandable. The gut-wrenching images of the dead, including the young, have rocketed around the world. To casual observers, it seems obvious that a country as rich and militarily powerful as the United States must be able to stop the violence.
But the truth is that not even the United States can solve Syria’s problems.
The deeply dysfunctional Syrian state is not something outsiders have the tools to repair. Cruise missiles launched from ships and submarines won’t persuade the divided Syrian opposition to unite around a common goal, nor are they likely to cause President Bashar Assad’s supporters to capitulate and throw in their lot with the rebels.
But such strikes will result in additional death and destruction on the ground. The violence will end only when the warring factions within Syria tire of the struggle and are willing to compromise for peace. That is unlikely to happen any time soon, with or without U.S. involvement.

http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/outsiders-have-no-tool-fix-syria 

SEC looking at Soros’ Herbalife trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission is taking Bill Ackman seriously.
Days after the hedge-fund mogul wrote the regulator and complained about alleged insider-trading violations by George Soros’ family fund regarding its trading in Herbalife, the SEC took action.
An SEC lawyer has contacted at least one person who spoke with Soros Fund Management portfolio manager Paul Sohn, who was driving the firm’s Herbalife investment, The Post has learned.
Bill Keep, the dean of the College of New Jersey, who is an expert on pyramid schemes, was recently questioned by Liora Sukhatme, a lawyer in the SEC’s enforcement area.

Sukhatme asked Keep about a meeting he had with Sohn on June 26, he said.
Keep, who has ties with the Federal Trade Commission, declined to elaborate on his SEC chat. Sukhatme did not return a call for comment.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/sec_looking_at_soros_herbalife_trading_UhpdSXoVIl80JexRjHqHdJ 

Why Syria Isn’t the Big Story This Week

The world’s eyes are riveted on Syria this week, as the United States, France and perhaps a few others organize plans to punish a bloodstained government for its use of chemical weapons against its own people. It’s a story that has everything: the prospect of violence, the political agony of an embattled White House, David Cameron’s loss of grip, and perplexing questions about right and wrong. For liberal internationalists, few international laws are more important than those that ban the use of WMD against civilians; on the other hand, when the political patrons of a war criminal block action at the UN Security Council, liberal internationalists must choose between their highest values and their most cherished institution.
That’s why the Syria story is dominating the news this week, and like the rest of the world, VM has been following it closely. But another story that is getting less attention is much more important for the future of the world: the economic crisis in India represents a much more fateful moment in world politics than anything happening in Syria.
What’s so important about India’s economic problems? It’s more what they tell us about the state of the country than the severity of the problems themselves. The stock market jitters, the currency crash, the GDP slowdown and the government deficit aren’t enough in themselves to sink India. All economies go through rough patches every now and then, but the question isn’t about a downturn. The question is whether the Indian political system has what it takes to get the economy back on track.

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/08/31/why-syria-isnt-the-big-story-this-week/