As IF Times

link Kofi Annan’s Legacy Threatened by Syria’s Violence – NYTimes.com.

I’m sure most people in the world didn’t even know that Kofi Annan had a legacy to preserve.  They may vaguely recognize the name as the figurehead secretary general of the U.N. for a number of years.  The article quotes colleagues in describing his main attributes, “…an engaging personality, ability to convey empathy and a forceful advocate of basic human rights…”  In addition, supporters say,

“…He’s a very experienced diplomat and he’s very good at getting on with people,” Mr. Mortimer said in a telephone interview. “He’s somebody who’s difficult to have a row with. He actually had a paperweight on his desk with the slogan: ‘Diplomacy is the art of letting the other guy have it your way… ”

There’s nothing in the promo that says anything about success.  The characteristics used to describe Mr. Annan can as easily be attributed to Mr. Rogers, my 4th grade teacher Miss Klassen or the gal at the Burger King down the street.  I don’t know who is responsible for embellishing the legacy of Mr. Annan, but any pretensions that he has one at all, much less one to be proud of, is pure revisionist fantasy.  A very quick look at the website, www.warsintheworld.com will show that currently, there are dozens if not multiple dozens of armed conflicts with their attendant human rights transgressions going on in the world right now.  (It’s amusing enough that someone keeps track of this stuff).  The record of the U.N.’s success at enforcing human rights worldwide is dubious at best.

So, which part of Annan’s legacy is in danger?   Sure he’s had an improbable climb to his exalted position, from humble beginnings as a tour guide to defender of human rights for the world.   I guess he was the right guy for the job.  We’ll agree that when trying to intervene during armed conflicts, we do need a calming voice to exhort ‘both sides to show restraint’, even when the conflict is laughingly lopsided.  Such is presently the case in Syria now when government forces are cavalierly executing and torturing their own citizens.  The victims have to show some restraint from bleeding and dying  if the conflict can be resolved peacefully.   Or in the case of many African tribal wars, where victims have to be more considerate by not having limbs chopped off.

No rational person can blame Annan,  or the U.N. for that matter,  for their inability to stop wars.  Warfare at some level is part of the human condition from the first time someone figured out how to swing a stick.   But let’s not pretend that Annan, like his successor Ban Ki Moon are anything but bureaucrats who are installed for political reasons to convey some sense of moral authority to the U.N.  They may not actually do anything, but at least they express moral outrage.  Sort of like Gary Bettman.  People such as Annan, Ban Ki Moon  and most all bureaucrats are fortunate that the pay regime at the U.N. is based on effort and not on real results as in most legitimate organizations.  If it was based on results, he’d have been better off in the tour guide business.

link Protesters, police face off in Montreal | CTV Calgary.

The charade continues.  By now, media reports of the ‘students’ protesting a whopping increase in provincial tuition  have been broadcast worldwide.  Parents of students attending U.S. colleges must be wondering what they’re missing in the story.  According to the media, the broken windows, vandalized businesses and  fighting with police stems from a plan by the provincial government to raise tuition by a  monstrous amount ….a whopping $325 per year increase!

Cue crickets.

That is not a typo.  In a time where a cup of coffee costs almost 4 bucks and a pair of chi chi jeans can run over $300, apparently these kids are taking to the streets to protest a fee increase that probably wouldn’t cover their cost of beer over a two week term.

At first, we think the issue is about entitlements, but that’s a smokescreen.  We already know that an entitlement mentality has invaded our culture like E. Coli at an all-you-can eat sushi bar.  Ostensibly, the whole point of getting an education is to become a productive member of society, to get gainfully employed, build a life and pay taxes.  Ironically, taxpayers are the ones footing the bill for the destruction to public property and extra policing.  But, not having finished their schooling, these darlings haven’t learned that yet.  The real issue here is the on-going characterization of the protesters as innocent activist kids just expressing themselves.

To keep labelling these professional miscreants as ‘students’ does a massive disservice to the general public that would believe the narrative.  It’s hard to get the public aroused against the uprising if people think that they are just crazy kids acting up.  Besides, they are protesting the wrong party.  Why don’t they demonstrate against the professors who undoubtedly will get increased salaries and benefits as a result of tuition hikes?  Why don’t they demand that they teach for free?  Incidentally, it’s curious at all that the cost of education has risen so steeply over the years.  We are living in a time where the amount of  information and knowledge available as well as access to that information has never been greater than at any time in history.  It’s counter-intuitive to have the costs go higher given more supply.  In theory, education should be like automobiles.  They make them better and cheaper as the years go by.  But that’s for another article.  For a discussion of this notion, see  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304636404577293430981335366.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_careerjournal

For the time being, let’s not be bamboozled by the media to believe that the rioting and destruction in Montreal is all about kids.  As we’ve all seen from the Occupy Wall Street charade over the past few months, these are not organic movements however much they may be characterized that way.  It takes a lot of money to organize and maintain professional mobs.   Someone should figure out who is funding these useful idiots.  It can’t be the kids.  They can’t afford the tuition increase.