Photograph by Servizio Fotografico L'Osservatore Romano via Getty Images

Jorge Mario Bergoglio attends his first Mass with cardinals as Pope Francis in the Sistine Chapel on March 14, 2013 in Vatican City, Vatican.

Joe Torsella, the U.S. ambassador for management and reform at the United Nations, calls himself an Average Joe “fighting to cut waste on behalf of the American taxpayer” in the bloated world body.

He is also a good Catholic who’s been paying attention to the election of Pope Francis.

He tweeted:

As budget committee considers excessive #UN biz class travel, attn delegates: new pope takes the bus & flies coach. Habemus Good Example.

— Joe Torsella (@USJoe_UN) March 14, 2013

Torsella sports an Italian surname and is a Philadelphian. Jorge Mario Bergaglio’s origins are Piedmontese and he was born in Buenos Aires.

Heritage is not all they seem to share. Both flout luxuries. In the case of the former cardinal, it was a downgrade from an archbishop’s palace to a modest flat and an economy seat in Alitalia SpA in lieu of more spacious seating up front.

Reports emerged last week that Torsella reprimanded his colleagues for showing up drunk at protracted and often tedious budget negotiations that tend to cut into the holidays at the end of the year.

“While my government is truly grateful for the strategic opportunities presented by some recent practices, lets save the champagne for toasting the successful end of the session, and do some credit to the Fifth Committee’s reputation in the process,” he told his colleagues, according to Foreign Policy.

Original post is UN Fat Cats Should Learn from Bus-Taking Pope, U.S. Ambassador Says by Political Capital.

Photograph by Louai Beshara/AFP via Getty Images

Syrian rescue teams and onlookers gather at the scene of a powerful car bomb explosion near the headquarters of Syria’s ruling Baath party in the centre of Damascus on Feb. 21, 2013.

A car bomb exploded in Damascus on Feb. 21 near the headquarters of Syria’s ruling Baath Party. It also happened to be a stone’s throw from the Russian embassy. The suicide attack killed more than 50 people.

On those facts, everyone can agree.

Still, in a bitter exchange between its spokespeople carried out over e-mail, the U.S and Russia blamed each other for failure to agree on a basic and toothless United Nations Security Council statement condemning the terrorist act.

The incident painfully underlines the UN’s two-year paralysis over a conflict that has left 70,000 dead and offers further proof of how bad relations between the two super-powers have become.

Here it is how it played out, virtually.

At 6:49 p.m., the Russian press office — which very rarely communicates — sent around an e-mail accusing the U.S. of blocking its proposed statement on the attack, which the Russians say caused severe damage to their embassy’s housing compound and chancellery:

“We consider unacceptable this search for justifications for terrorist actions.”

The Russians then took it a step further, taking a swipe at the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, on the U.S. compound:

“It is obvious that by doing so the U.S. delegation encourages those who have been repeatedly targeting American interests, including US diplomatic missions.”

The U.S. mission to the UN didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment. The response came a day later when its spokeswoman, Erin Pelton, issued a tersely worded statement.

The Russian assertion is false, she said.

“The U.S. had requested an addition to the statement to also call out the Syrian government for its continue use of heavy weaponry against civilians,” Pelton said. “Unfortunately, if predictably, Russia rejected the U.S. suggested language as ‘totally unacceptable’ and withdrew its draft statement.”

Russia has vetoed three resolutions to hold President Bashar al-Assad largely responsible for his country’s descent into chaos. The last attempt was July 19. Since then, the UN has been a spectator on the sidelines to the ongoing carnage.

Original post is Damascus Car-Bombing Spotlights U.S.-Russian Rift, U.N. Inaction by Political Capital.

Photograph by Saif Sahlah/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinians wave national flags during a gathering in the West Bank city of Jenin on Nov. 29, 2012 to support Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas who is heading to the United Nations General Assembly today with huge backing for his bid for UN recognition of statehood.

Just because a United Nations name plate calls you a state, that doesn’t make you one.

Still, at the world body, any entity, state or non-state can name itself.

Following a largely symbolic vote in the UN’s 193-member General Assembly, the Palestinians changed their name to “State of Palestine” on all their stationery and asked UN protocol to go along with that. The UN’s etiquette office agreed on Dec. 17: “Pursuant to your request, the designation of `State of Palestine’ shall be used by the Secretariat in all official United Nations documents.”

The Americans were not pleased. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice today took exception to the rebranding, even if it’s confined to the 17 acres occupied by the world body in New York’s Midtown:

“Any reference to the `State of Palestine’ in the United Nations, including the use of the term `State of Palestine’ on the placard in the Security Council or the use of the term `State of Palestine’ in the invitation to this meeting or other arrangements for participation in this meeting, do not reflect acquiescence that `Palestine’ is a state.”

The Palestinians were quick to respond.

“It doesn’t matter if any country voted against” the designation,’ said Riad Malki, introduced at a Security Council meeting on the Palestinian question as foreign minister to the State of Palestine. `We expect all member states of the United Nations to respect, to adhere, the decision that was taken by the General Assembly of the United Nations on the 29th of November of 2012.”

Nine nations voted against this: the U.S., Israel, Canada, Czech Republic, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Panama.

Original post is Rice Riled by Palestine Placard by Political Capital.