I just came across this disturbing AP article in yahoo news.  A report by Save the Children UK has uncovered widespread sexual abuse of children by UN peacekeepers and aid workers.  The UN is not denying the report and trusts that because of the reputation of the charity conducting the research, the report is fair.

"A tiny proportion of peacekeepers and aid workers are abusing the children they were sent to protect. It ranges from sex for food to coerced sex. It's despicable."

At the U.N. headquarters, spokeswoman Michele Montas said Ban "is deeply concerned" by the report.

"We welcome this report. It's fair, and I think it's essentially accurate," Montas said.

She noted the report states the United Nations has already undertaken steps designed to tackle the problem, from establishing conduct and discipline units in all U.N. missions to strengthening training for all categories of U.N. personnel. She said the United Nations also needs to strengthen its investigative capacity.

The Rules and Bylaws Committee to decide the fate for the time being on the Florida and Michigan delegations on May 31st will be open to the public.  However, there will be a limited number of seats, and you must pre-register to get in.  The Democratic Party has announced that you can pre-register on the site May 27th.  There will also be a limited number of registrations available on-site the day of.  I understand that slinkerwink is organizing a protest.  I do not live in DC, so I will not be able to attend.  If you can attend and protest as well, please see slinkerwink's diary.  I would urge people who can attend the meeting to wear Obama gear to support our candidate and his supporters on the committee.  They say you cannot bring posters, but they cannot make you take off your shirt!  (But please do be respectful if you get to attend the meeting and not protest at the meeting unless something is completely reprehensible.)

The Texas sinkhole is not breaking news, but it is an overwhelming symptom of what's wrong with our planet and a possible sign of things to come.  The evidence is certainly not conclusive to geologists that this is a result of the massive oil drilling that has gone on here for the past century, but it's definitely a possibility.

The point of this diary is not only to educate the DKos community on this (I didn't see any other diaries on it yet), but also to offer a personal anecdote from both my junior high (middle school) civics and science classes about taking chocolate chips out of cookies.  (Mmm, cookies!  Enticed yet?)  More below the fold.

Colson Whitehead published a lovely satirical op-ed piece on Barack Obama and the racially-charged criticisms of him in The New York Times yesterday entitled "Visible Man."  For those of you who do not know him, Whitehead is a young, acclaimed novelist and recent MacArthur fellow who happens to be Black.  I hope you will consider reading it, as I believe the best response to ridiculous accusations is satire.  The full piece is here.