The UN: endless butt of X-Files conspiracy plotlines Completed in 1963, the UN phyically sits within New York City but is actually in its own international zone with its own post office. The UN was developed from the failed pre-WWII League of Nations that was officially disbanded in 1946, and was organized by Britain, France, China, the USA, and the Soviet Union. On New Year's Day 1942, the representatives of 26 countries signed the Declaration of the United Nations in Washington DC but it wasn't until 1945 that the organziation was officially founded at the Conference on International Organization in San Francisco when representatives of 50 nations unanimously adopted the UN Charter. Four purposes are listed in the UN Charter: 1. To maintain international peace and security. 2. To encourage friendly relations between states based on the principle of equal rights and self-determination for all. 3. To promote international co-operation in solving social, economic, and cultural problems 4. To serve as an agency through which member states can act to achieve these goals. Business is conducted in six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Today there are some 190 member states to the UN.

Since Augela and I had 6 pm flights, I to Saudi Arabia and she to California, we had to cut our tour of the UN short which had begun late, and bailed with 25 minutes still to go. We were able though to get a rushed private tour with a German security guard who led us back to the lobby while lettings us race through the General Assembly along the way. Once done with the UN we ran back to our hotel just 5 blocks away, grabbed our bags, and raced back over to Grand Central Station were we jumped upon our JFK bus headed back to the airport. Alas, no trip of mine would be complete without something dramatic happening along the way, and just before Aungela and I were to board our bus, a taxi on the Park Avenue bridge just beside us caught fire and exploded. I tell ya, if it ain't one thing, it's another!

Above: last, but certainly not least, a picture of Aungela's beautiful face heading out to JFK airport in our bus just moments after some rude French passenger woman dropped her million-ton suitcase on Aungela's poor head and didn't even bother to apologize! A simple "pardon madame" would have sufficed! Vive la France. NOT! ;-} And that, my friends, is the end of our trip through New York City. Sorry for the short worded nature of my story telling on most of these pages, but I've got a flight to the United Arab Emirates and Oman to catch in the morning and I haven't even packed yet! Until my next installment! Daniel - 26 November 2002 @ 11:30 p.m.

This is a non-profit educational website. All supplementary imagery is used purely for educational purposes. Except where noted, all stories and images: copyright 2002, danielschereck.com Historical information sourced from New York Travellers by Thomas Cook Publishing, 2002.