Theos-Talk Archives (September 2001 Message tt00274)

Peter Merriott wrote:
> 
> > I looked up your reference (and determined that it IS a valid United
> > Nations site). I notice, however, that the column is "ratified or
> > acceded", not "ratified", and all the countries mentioned in the column
> > are developing countries who, in order to accede to the treaty need to
> > do pretty much nothing.
> >
> > Bart
> 
> Bart,
> 
> Why would I give a reference to the UN Web site that was not a valid UN
> site?

Well, look at this:

> The Oxford Dictionary defines "ratify" and "accede" as follows:

I can see that you went through the effort of using an authoritative
dictionary. I spent a number of years developing software for
professional researchers. 

There was a time when publishing a pamphlet or even a newspaper was not
terribly expensive. There were many out there, some practicing more
journalistic integrity than others. For the last several decades, it has
cost so much to put out a newspaper or magazine, that it is fairly easy
to tell an authoritative one from a piece of garbage.

The web has changed all this. I could grab a likely sounding domain
name, and come out with a web site which appears to come from some
major, reputable organization, and post total bullshit. The web site you
gave claimed to be a UN organization, but could have been put together
by some junior high school kid with too much time on his or her hands. I
therefore verified that it really WAS a UN site, and, since I went
through the trouble, I thought I would mention that the information
itself is authoritative, and therefore could not be dismissed or
ignored. 

> "ratify" - to confirm or accept by formal consent an agreement made in one's
> name.
> "accede" - to formally subscribe to a treaty or other agreement.

And the countries that, in order to keep the treaty, need do nothing
other than what they already were doing, have de facto acceded to the
treaty, regardless of whether their governments formally ratify it.

> Bart, you must know as well as I do that the real work in these treaty
> negiotiations takes many years of getting countries to agree about what it
> is they are going to finally ratify or accede. They need to have a common
> agreement *before* they can officially sign the treaty. They appeared to
> have that common agreement until the Bush administration changed its mind.

Not according to the Senate.

> According to the United Nations, the US is the world's single biggest
> polluter when it comes to greenhouse gases. 

According to the United Nations, KKK'ers are Zionists.

Bart Lidofsky