Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Following a further link on the "eyeontheun" link leads to US Contributions to UN Regular Budget .....

which lists.....



Which suggests from the initial link that .....



the Department of State and Other International Programs contributed $5,139,721,000 to the UN..... 12 times the assessed dues for 2005

Yet the UN reports 2005 debt as .... (P.S. that's "accummulated debt)



Someone must fudging the figures there surely DT :shrug:

Perhaps the clue lies in the "Other International Programs" line...... a piece of "creative accounting" perhaps..... we'll include all our "other" overseas aid programs as a "UN" contribution

TimC,

My intention was not to really start another thread, I was attempting to give an apology for offending others. (Although, looking at it now, I can see that my apology was a bit "back handed".) But, since you brought it up, I think a seperate thread might be better because as Jaymie said, "the 9/11 thread started as a rememberance of what happened, how we felt and how it has affected us and others." (paraphrased.) As to the Venting Corner, we ran the subject of US/International around for quite awhile, but I feel that it would be better if we use that thread for what EB/Joel titled it as; "Been ripped off recently..."

Rupe, you're right, I forgot, we hadn't been paying our UN dues out of protest. We feel like the UN has become an ineffective forum for resolution of international conflict. (A great part of this is because of the veto power being used by other Security Council members on matters which had overwhelming support from the majority of the membership.) We have also had a growing feeling that the UN has been unfairly assessing dues upon us, when there are member nations with both greater populations and GDP's who are assessed much lower amounts than what we have been. (Example, China has historically had much lower dues than what we have, and at the present has the world's highest GDP's.) (GDP=Gross Domestic Product; the total amount of income from all goods and services sold by a country.) I hope you look up those figures, find out how many people China has, and what thier latest reported GDP is. (If my memory serves my correctly it is only an estimate by outside sources, as they refuse to reveal the actual amount.)

Kevin

How about we agree to disagree and leave it at that? A nice PEACEful solution... This is an aquaponics forum. We have had some heated "discussions" before, but this subject always seems to crop back up again.

Don't forget that China is still in essence a developing nation even though its GDP has gone up. They have 2 billion people a lot of which are earning 100 times less than what you are...

I say good on the UN for giving the US the cold shoulder over international conflict. It is their job to try and bring a little bit of peace to this world. Not to start another bloody war.

Sadly, you're point is taken Kevin....

If all member nations were to fund the UN and utilise it in the spirit that it was originally created for then perhaps it would be a more effective body.

Sadly it is being rendered "impotent" by many of the major nations by as you say the "veto" vote.... (and the Western nations are as quick to use it as others) and the general lack of commitment to utilise the body when/if it doesn't suit a nations political purposes.....

Hence my belief that the Security Council is in fact an impediment to UN progress and should be abandoned, as should the power of "veto".