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We the People:
Help
Hold the United Nations Accountable
Urge Your Representatives to Co-Sponsor H.R. 4284, the United Nations Oil for
Food Accountability Act
To say the United Nations'
Oil for Food program was plagued by scandal and corruption is an understatement.
Literally billions of dollars -- money supposed to be used to buy food and
medicine for the oppressed Iraqi people -- ended up in Saddam Hussein's fat
pockets in the form of kickbacks to the brutal dictator. Saddam used proceeds
from Iraqi oil he sold under the terms of the so-called Oil for Food
humanitarian effort to pay off and bribe French, Russian, U.N. and other
officials at the highest levels. And recently, evidence has surfaced which
suggests that Oil for Food proceeds may have even made their way to al Qaeda and
other known terrorist organizations.
Now, with as many as nine formal investigations underway into the Oil for Food
scandal, the U.N., led by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is consistently failing
to cooperate with any of the investigators. Even basic requests for information
by Congress and the General Accounting Office meet resistance or are rejected
outright.
Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ), along with 62 other congressional co-sponsors,
has introduced H.R. 4284, the United Nations Oil for Food Accountability Act.
This legislation, if passed, would require the U.N. to turn over information
requested by Congress as part of its investigations. If the world body continues
to stonewall, the United States would withhold a portion of its contributions to
the U.N. until the organization comes clean and waives all diplomatic immunity
for U.N. officials implicated in the Oil for Food scandal.
Contact your Member of Congress today and urge him or her to co-sponsor the
United Nations Oil for Food Accountability Act.
To contact your Member of
Congress,
click here.
U.N. Monitor:
CFIF Launches New 'U.N. Monitor'
Project
When the United Nations was formed,
it was hailed as the instrument to end war and human suffering around the world.
Unfortunately, since its founding, the United Nations has too often failed in
its primary missions of protecting world peace, providing a forum for
international discussion and promoting freedom. Of the 191 current nation
members of the U.N., only 50 -- at most -- can claim to be democratic. The
U.N.'s peacekeeping force is misnamed. Billions upon billions of dollars have
been misspent. Graft, corruption and greed run rampant.
Meanwhile, under the leadership of an aggressive Secretary-General who seeks to
significantly expand U.N. power, the world body too frequently works against
U.S. sovereignty and threatens the rights and liberties that American citizens
are guaranteed by our Constitution. Moreover, the U.N. has become a mechanism
for both totalitarian regimes and developing nations to press their agendas and
undermine more prosperous Western democracies, primarily the United States. U.N.
proposals such as a global tax system would redistribute wealth from rich
nations to poor ones and strengthen the U.N.'s dominance.
In an effort to bring accountability to the United Nations and shine a bright
light on the organization's corruption and mismanagement, the Center for
Individual Freedom has launched "U.N. Monitor" -- a project scrutinizing the
U.N.'s agenda and monitoring allegations of misconduct by the world body. Visit
the Center's "U.N. Monitor" to learn how the actions of the world body affect
Americans and how our tax dollars are being squandered. And be sure to check
back often for the latest news, commentary and alerts on the U.N.
To visit U.N. Monitor,
click here.
Federal
Issues:
A Florida Vacation for Kofi?
Recently, eleven Democratic Members
of Congress sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan requesting the
world body dispatch election monitors to oversee this falls U.S. Presidential
voting.
Yes. That's right. These eleven Members want the United Nations, that bastion of
honesty, fair play and good sense, to supervise the Presidential election in the
worlds leading democracy.
No. That's not quite right, is it?
In reality, the Members of Congress in question extended their invitation to one
of the most corrupt, scandal-ridden, anti-democratic organizations ever
conceived. Do they honestly believe that inviting election monitors from nations
who cribbed their constitutions from ours to peer over our shoulders on Election
Day is a good idea?
To read more,
click here.
CFIF
History & Civics Quiz:
Question of the Week
How many nations are permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council?
(a) 0
(b) 1
(c) 5
(d) 11
For the correct answer,
click here.
Jester's Courtroom: Tales Stranger Than Fiction
Featuring bizarre and sometimes humorous real
life stories from the courtroom.
Trying to Hit the Jackpot in Court
A bartender is suing the
Massachusetts State Lottery for failing to prevent a lottery ticket vending
machine from falling on his foot.
Scott McGloughlin was in the middle of breaking up a bar fight between two
patrons in 2002 when a 400-pound lottery ticket vending machine accidentally
tipped over and fell on his foot, crushing his toes. The incident occurred at
Rick's Pub in Dedham, Massachusetts, when patrons allegedly got into a brawl and
knocked into the vending machine, causing it to tip and lean against the wall.
McGloughlin, as the bartender on duty, claims he walked over to the machine and
tried to break up the fight, telling the men to leave. But instead of leaving,
the two men allegedly began fighting again, this time knocking the vending
machine over onto McGloughlin's foot. As a result, McGloughlin had to have his
big toe and part of another amputated, his suit claims.
McGloughlin filed his lawsuit after sending a letter to the state lottery
commission demanding $100,000 for his injuries. Specifically, McGloughlin claims
that the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission was negligent in placing a
machine in a bar because, according to his lawyer, "[i]t's not totally
unexpected that something like that would happen in a bar."
The suit is pending, and a spokeswoman for the state Treasury Department, which
oversees the lottery, refused to comment.
Source: Boston Globe
To read more,
click here.
Since many of these gems do not attain national attention, the Jester welcomes
you to share with us your favorite wacky stories from a courtroom near you!
Please be sure to provide the source. You may e-mail us at
mailto:info@cfif.org
Notable Quotes:
Quote
of the Week
Dan Gillerman, Israel's
Ambassador to the United Nations, on the U.N. General Assembly's Passage of a
Resolution Demanding that Israel Abide by an International Court of Justice
Ruling to Remove the Security Barrier the Country Is Building Along Its Border
with the Palestinian Territory:
"It is simply outrageous to respond with such vigor to a measure that saves
lives and respond with such casual indifference and apathy to the ongoing
campaign of Palestinian terrorism that takes lives. This is not justice, but a
perversion of justice."
For more Notable Quotes,
click here.
Do
you have a notable quote you'd like to share with the Center, e-mail it to
mailto:info@cfif.org
Be sure to provide us the source of the quote.
Ray's Cartoon Corner:
Ray's
Cartoon Corner
Visit "Ray's Cartoon Corner,"
the lighter side of CFIF's website. The Corner is a good place for freedom
lovers and free market advocates to go to catch up on the latest social,
economic and political issues affecting individual freedoms and rights through
the humorous medium of editorial cartooning. The cartoons are drawn by Ray
Gardner, a self described free market conservative and thirty-something
cartoonist who lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona.
To view Ray's latest
cartoons,
click here.
As a non-profit,
501(c)(4) corporation, the Center for Individual Freedom relies upon the
generous private financial support of individuals, associations, foundations
and corporations. Please consider becoming a proud supporter of the Center
today. To donate online, please
click here.
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time by visiting here.
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