Another great UN episode. I especially enjoyed the pirate discussion. I hope somebody can track down the Ethiopia '08 bootleg tape, at some point. I was surprised at how serious Matt Lee's concerns are over Obama's finance team. I'd love to hear him do a diavlog on that with Dean Baker or Bob Reich etc., or any other knowledgable economist.

Freudian slip? If this is what you're worried about, Mark, relax. You guys aren't divas. A little weak on pronunciation, perhaps. Of about the most important word you can utter on this site, admittedly. But divas? No. ;^) Added: the rest of the di a vlog was good, though.

Maybe it's wrong, but god I love watching Mark uncomfortably have to play the right-winger.

Matt is asking the right question about the Obama administration: will there be substantive change? I'm cautiously optimistic that Obama represents a paradigm shift in thinking about global problems and the peacekeeping (in the broadest sense of the word) mission of the UN. We'll see. One area in which the US has been impervious to real global solutions is drugs. In an era of focus on terrorism and climate change, drugs tends to slip off the media radar unless Afghanistan-related. I'd love to see a UN Plaza program on the global challenges of a rational 21st century drug policy. The Brookings Institution released a report last week, co-chaired by former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo, that looks at how and why the War on Drugs has failed so abysmally in Latin America, particularly in Mexico. (Four thousand Mexicans have died so far this year in the narco wars. ) A good summary of the Brookings report can be found here. The basic point is that if the US continues to fail to address the consumption side of the equation and continues to export guns southward, the "problem will never be resolved."

Agreed Agreed Agreed. Can we please please have Mr. Lee discuss the financial crisis issues at length with another knowledgeable participant instead of just stealing a tantalizing observation or two on UN Plaza?

Quoting uncle ebeneezer: Another great UN episode. I especially enjoyed the pirate discussion. I hope somebody can track down the Ethiopia '08 bootleg tape, at some point.

I was surprised at how serious Matt Lee's concerns are over Obama's finance team. I'd love to hear him do a diavlog on that with Dean Baker or Bob Reich etc., or any other knowledgable economist.