United Nations

The United Nations, already performing a valuable function as a retirement home for failed Labour politicians, has now found a new planet-saving mission: Eat Bugs.

Its Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has just published a report produced after 10 years’ study and many, many, Expert Conferences attended by Global Delegates, promoting Insects as the new diet to save the planet.

For all you sinners who thought a T-Bone steak was a good feed, listen to the UN:

1.1 Why eat Insects?

• Health:
- Insects are healthy, nutritious alternatives to mainstream staples such as chicken, pork, beef and even fish (from ocean catch).
- Many insects are rich in protein and good fats and high in calcium, iron and zinc  Read more »

David Shearer is off to New York after his little trip to London.

He says he won’t be visiting his formerly secret bank account…and he also says he won’t be bringing the loot home?

A spokeswoman for Mr Shearer said he has no plans to close his US-based UN bank account – where his salary was paid for about 20 years while he worked for the organisation – while he is overseas.

Mr Shearer made headlines last month after revealing he had forgotten to declare the bank account, containing at least $50,000, on Parliament’s register of pecuniary interests for the past three years.  Read more »

Thankfully Helen Clark has been re-appointed to her role at the UNDP.

A friend of mine commented on Facebook, “That’ll keep her off the streets. Good fit Klark and the UN – go together like Trotsky and Lenin.”

Former prime minister Helen Clark has been appointed to a second term to one of the top United Nations jobs.

Clark, who has headed the United Nations Development Programme in New York for the last four years, has just been confirmed by the UN for another four year term.

In a statement, Clark said her priority during her second term remained sustainable human development and poverty eradication.  Read more »

David Shearer loves to bang on about Finland. The teachers unions love to say we don’t need Charter Schools because of the educational/social performance of Finland, ignoring the fact that Finland requires a minimum of a masters degree in order to be accepted to teachers college.

The latest UN Development report – signed off by none other than Helen Clark lays their arguments to waste (again).

A quick list of the first 21 is below.

The country in 3rd place happens to be one the left repeatedly try to bash too – seems to be doing okay on these measures and everyone knows where the vast majority of the world’s top Universities are situated.

Again – why should we be like Finland?

Human development indices (including Human Development Index, an Inequality-adjusted, HDI Gender Inequality Index, Multidimensional Poverty Index)

1 Norway

2 Australia

3 United States

4 Netherlands

5 Germany

6 New Zealand  Read more »

Cristina Kircher must be getting social media advice from Trevor Mallard. Someone needs to tell the silly bint the only way they are going to get the Falklands back is to fight for them, and that doesn’t go so well when your army likes marching backwards.

Territorio inglés a más de 12 mil kms de distancia? La pregunta no aguanta ni jardín de infantes de 3 años.

— Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) March 27, 2013

The president of Argentina has lashed out at Britain’s sovereignty of the Falkland Islands in an extraordinary Twitter rant, claiming that “even three-year-old children” would dismiss the UK’s position.

Cristina Kirchner, the firebrand ruler of Argentina, took to the social media site following a meeting of the UN special committee of decolonisation, firing off a stream of 27 tweets in under two hours.

“An English territory more than 12,000km away? The question is not even worthy of a kindergarten of three year olds,” she wrote on Wednesday night.  Read more »

Chris Trotter writes in a  post entitled “Lies, Damned Lies and imagined Conversations”:

“So, now the Labour caucus is divided into three, roughly equal groups”, explains Charles. “Goff’s and King’s rear-guard of has-beens and Beagle Boys – with Mr Mumbles as their figurehead. David’s loyal ten, and Robertson’s cast of the young and the restless. You must have at least one of the other factions, plus your own, to mount a successful coup.

“And Goff persuaded Robertson to throw in his lot with Shearer?”

“Yeah, that’s right, Heather, he did.”

“But I just don’t get it!” Helen responds. “Surely the more sensible combination was Cunliffe-Robertson – not Shearer-Robertson. I mean, even a Robertson/Ardern leadership combination, with Cunliffe in Finance, makes more sense than this present mess?”

“Why do you think I’m here in New York, Helen? None of it makes any sense!”

Heather puts down her knife and fork and beckons her companions closer.

“What would happen if Shearer was to be forced out of the leadership by something other than a leadership vote?”  Read more »

It all started with a little Tweet from Patrick Gower:

David Shearer has corrected MPs Register of Pecuniary Interests after not disclosing United Nations bank account. Says it was mistake.

— Patrick Gower (@patrickgowernz) March 17, 2013

…and has snowballed from there. David Shearer has apparently forgotten all about a UN provided bank account for over 4 years.

Labour Leader David Shearer’s dobbed himself in for forgetting to declare a foreign bank account held in his name.

The New York-based Chase cash account, which was used to collect Mr Shearer’s United Nations salary, hasn’t been included on the Register of Pecuniary interests since he became an MP in 2009.

The register is being amended after Mr Shearer realised his mistake.The register is designed to improve political transparency and many MPs have had to make corrections in the past – including gifts, superannuation schemes, and free lunches.

Read more »

It looks like Lianne Dalziel is soon to move off to a cushy number at the UN….she sort of announced it in a speech the other day which has largely flown under the radar:

I too have become involved in a branch of the UN – I am a member of the UNISDR Parliamentary Advisory Group on Disaster Risk Reduction.  The week after this was announced, I was boarding a plane to Wellington and a Cabinet Minister, who I won’t name, said congratulations on your appointment.  I was genuinely chuffed.  He said ‘I see Helen is still looking after her friends’.  I am telling you this because I want you to know that, even after 22 years as a Member of Parliament, it still hurts when people cannot genuinely celebrate achievement.

Helen didn’t know I was being appointed to this position because the UNISDR – the secretariat that oversees the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction – is quite separate from the UNDP the UN Development Programme which she heads.  Read more »

There are too many Wogistanis at the UN for him to get away with his comments.

The Government will seriously consider a United Nations condemnation of NZ First MP Richard Prosser’s anti-Muslim comments, Justice and Ethnic Affairs Minister Judith Collins says.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued a report on New Zealand’s progress at tackling racial discrimination and inequality.  Read more »

Further to David Farrar’s post about Charlie Shovel today about his propensity for self promotion, which bought him trouble under Clark and also under Goff.

I was rummaging through videos at the weekend and found this piece on Charles Chauvel, talking about how important it was for him to be on Labour’s frontbench, and take his rightful place at the decision-making table.  Read more »