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posted by janrinok on Wednesday June 20 2018, @06:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the nothing-will-change dept.

US leaving UN Human Rights Council -- 'a cesspool of political bias'

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced the United States is withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council Tuesday, accusing the body of bias against US ally Israel and a failure to hold human rights abusers accountable. The move, which the Trump administration has threatened for months, came down one day after the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights slammed the separation of children from their parents at the US-Mexico border as "unconscionable."

Speaking from the State Department, where she was joined by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Haley defended the move to withdraw from the council, saying US calls for reform were not heeded. "Human rights abusers continue to serve on, and be elected to, the council," said Haley, listing US grievances with the body. "The world's most inhumane regimes continue to escape its scrutiny, and the council continues politicizing scapegoating of countries with positive human rights records in an attempt to distract from the abusers in its ranks."

Also at NPR and Bloomberg.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by legont on Wednesday June 20 2018, @11:59PM (5 children)

    by legont (4179) on Wednesday June 20 2018, @11:59PM (#695879)

    Truth (about reality or whatever) is what experts collectively believe is so. Most experts are currently liberal.

    Absolute truth have died with Greeks.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:54AM (4 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 21 2018, @11:54AM (#696146) Journal

    Truth (about reality or whatever) is what experts collectively believe is so. Most experts are currently liberal.

    Absolute truth have died with Greeks.

    And yet when one looks [oxforddictionaries.com] at definitions of reality:

    1. The state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.

    1.1 A thing that is actually experienced or seen, especially when this is unpleasant.

    1.2 A thing that exists in fact, having previously only existed in one's mind.

    1.3 The quality of being lifelike.

    1.4 Relating to reality TV.

    2. The state or quality of having existence or substance.

    2.1. Philosophy Existence that is absolute, self-sufficient, or objective, and not subject to human decisions or conventions.

    Then there's the poetic quote of Philip K. Dick:

    Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.

    In other words, reality is an absolute trait, not necessarily of truth. And if a bunch of experts happen to have opinions which don't match the system they're applying those opinions to, I side with the system.

    • (Score: 2) by legont on Friday June 22 2018, @05:27AM (3 children)

      by legont (4179) on Friday June 22 2018, @05:27AM (#696598)

      Unfortunately, even our expert scientists were not able to discovery the version of reality you described. Just think about an |observer> (changes reality) concept or multiverse (all possible realities exist simultaneously) as rather limited examples.

      --
      "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday June 22 2018, @12:01PM (2 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday June 22 2018, @12:01PM (#696688) Journal

        Unfortunately, even our expert scientists were not able to discovery the version of reality you described. Just think about an |observer> (changes reality) concept or multiverse (all possible realities exist simultaneously) as rather limited examples.

        Neither precludes absolutes. For example, you're not going to observe observers or universes who/which conflict with your observations. That allows for the creation of a network of consistent observers/universes. The structure of that network would thus be the absolutes of the overall universe in question.

        • (Score: 2) by legont on Friday June 22 2018, @08:36PM (1 child)

          by legont (4179) on Friday June 22 2018, @08:36PM (#696945)

          Yep, and most of the said observers would be liberals.

          --
          "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday June 23 2018, @02:14AM

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday June 23 2018, @02:14AM (#697080) Journal

            Yep, and most of the said observers would be liberals.

            Given that most such observers would be nonsentient and possibly purely virtual, I agree with your statement.