Critic Watch

The US MDG Strategy is More than a PR Ploy!

Over at Aid Watch Laura Freschi is none too impressed with the US MDG strategy, unveiled by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah on Friday. Freschi argues that the US MDG strategy document is basically a PR ploy "to create a positive image of benevolence towards the world’s poor, which is sadly unrelated to whether the goals are actually achieved."

I'm not convinced.

Better World Campaign: Texas Board of Education Cooks the Books, Inaccurately Portrays the Role of the United Nations

Our friends at the Better World Campaign* are slamming the Texas State Board of Education's decision to adopt social studies curriculum that misrepresents the United Nations.

Here is the full statement from Peter Yeo, Executive Director of the Better World Campaign:

Texas School Board Wants to Spread Mis-Information about the United Nations To Texan Children

Some members of the Texas School Board could use some education themselves. In a controversial decision today, the board adopted new social studies and history curriculum that stretches credulity. A core of board members sought to use their position as platform to advance their ideological agenda, which apparently includes some UN-bashing. From the AP:

Anne Applebaum Confused About Human Rights Council

After reading her take down of the UN Human Rights Council, I get the impression that Anne Applebaum does not know that there is a difference between the Human Rights Council and the old, UN Commission on Human Rights. These are two separate institutions, former of which replaced the latter in 2006.

The Five Things People Say to Aid Critics

I noticed something today: the recent debate over the One Million Shirts Project sounds an awful lot like every other debate over a flawed aid project. The same responses come up over and over a

Humanitarian Aid: A Warmonger’s Best Friend?

Does humanitarian aid prolong wars? Yes, argues Dutch journalist Linda Polman in her new book War Games: The Story of Aid and War in Modern Times, which was just reviewed by The Guardian.

World Meteorological Organization: 2009 Was the Fifth Warmest Year on Record

When we last wrote about the World Meteorological Organization it was in reference to Washington Post columnist George Will's egregious misrepresentation of WMO data to justify his quixotic global cooling thesis. The WMO rebutted this error in a letter to the editor. Undeterred, Will kept on keeping on playing loose with the facts.

Postcards from Nixonland: Reagan and Nixon Discuss the Utility of the United Nations

On October 26, 1971, California Governor Ronald Reagan phoned President Nixon to offer some foreign policy advice: get the United States out of the United Nations. The day before, you see, the General Assembly had voted to give mainland China (The People’s Republic of China) the Chinese “seat” at the UN. This was held previously by United States’ anti-communist ally, Taiwan.

Government Should Defend Climate Science

UN Foundation President Senator Timothy Wirth pens an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle:

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The US MDG Strategy is More than a PR Ploy!

Better World Campaign: Texas Board of Education Cooks the Books, Inaccurately Portrays the Role of the United Nations

Texas School Board Wants to Spread Mis-Information about the United Nations To Texan Children

Anne Applebaum Confused About Human Rights Council

The Five Things People Say to Aid Critics

Humanitarian Aid: A Warmonger’s Best Friend?

World Meteorological Organization: 2009 Was the Fifth Warmest Year on Record

Postcards from Nixonland: Reagan and Nixon Discuss the Utility of the United Nations

Government Should Defend Climate Science

UNAIDS and the Millennium Villages

Embedded With Afghan Civil Society – Part 5 – Bathing in Yakawlang

Embedded With Afghan Civil Society – Part 6 – The Legacy of War Crimes

The Obama Agenda at the United Nations