Horologium

April 29, 2002
U.S. Regains seat on Human Rights Commission

U.S. Regains seat on Human Rights Commission

We're back amongst the august company of nations such as Zimbabwe, China, Cuba, Congo, Libya, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.

I'm not a rabid UN-hater, but I wonder what purpose the body serves, as it seems to spend most of its time drafting socialistic treaties and heaping abuse upon the US and Israel. They spend an inordinate amount of money on ephemeral results.

posted on April 29, 2002 02:27 PM

Comments:

The UN was a much happier bunch of malcontents when the exigencies of the Cold War let them delude themselves they were important to the balance of power. Now they're not much more than a debating society nobody pays any attention to, and that only goads them into hatred of countries the world *does* pay attention to.

posted by William T. Quick on April 30, 2002 01:39 AM

Um, howcum you picked "scutum" instead of, oh, "gladius?" Just that nice onomatopoeic ring?

posted by William T. Quick on April 30, 2002 01:45 AM

The name is the fault of my former roommates. We had a network set up in the house, and each computer had a name. They were all named after astronomical objects (stars or constellations), and they all started with a sibilant "c" or an "s". As time went on, and we went through several computers, there were fewer constellations left. When I bought this computer, there were only two "s" constellations left--Scutum and Serpens. I liked the military connotation of "scutum" and chose it. When I started the blog, I decided that "scutum" would be a great pseudonym.

posted by scutum on April 30, 2002 08:57 AM