A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Chicken Foot Stew: "The UN General Assembly and Security Council passed resolutions creating a Peacebuilding Commission to help insure that post-conflict societies do not slide back into conflict. Apparently, over half of the conflicts in the past 20 years have reignited after their initial cease-fires."

Rose Colored News: "UN Launches $500 Million Emergency Relief Fund - "The U.N. General Assembly approved the establishment Thursday of a new $500 million emergency fund aimed at providing swift relief following natural disasters. The new Central Emergency Response Fund is 10 times larger than an existing standby relief fund of $50 million. U.N. officials hope the creation of a standing account will allow for relief to reach areas hit by disasters and famine quickly." Full Story: Environmental News Network."

Agonist: "NYT - The General Assembly and Security Council passed resolutions on Tuesday founding a Peacebuilding Commission to help stabilize and rebuild societies emerging from war."

Meat-Eating Leftist: "Bolivia is now yet another South American neighbor that officially rejects American imperialism and unregulated, free-trade capitalism. Evo Morales, a Che-styled leftist who denounced U.S. influence in his country, and vowed to fight the same imperialist forces that have ensnared his people into poverty, looks to be the winner in the country's presidential election: "Mr Morales' win has raised eyebrows in the US, after he expressed his admiration for the Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He has also pledged to fight to remove the coca plant from the United Nations list of poisonous plants..."

Opinio Juris: "Secretary General Kofi Annan today announced the adoption of a whistleblower protection policy for the U.N. The policy, which goes into effect next month, is intended to protect U.N. employees who report misconduct and/or who cooperate with investigations. This is welcome news for the project of creating genuine accountability at the U.N. and should help promote the kind of cooperation and good citizenship necessary to effective internal audits and investigations. It sets a standard higher than those available to government employees of many -- if not most -- member states."

Shanghai Daily: "FOUR people died last night in a fire in a seven-storey building in the famous Hanzheng Street ... one of the longest and most renowned commercial thoroughfares in China. It acts as the largest small commodity distribution place and wholesale market in central China. The street is also the sister street of Fifth Avenue in New York, according to an agreement signed in September between the management bodies of the two streets. The United Nations Refugee Agency also set up its procurement information center on the street in September. The center is in charge of direct purchases, releasing the UN's needed items list and showing samples from Geneva, headquarters of the UN refugee agency."