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US Space Station Cuts Hurts Canada's Space Science
Darwin O'Connor writes: "This article from The Toronto Star says that cutbacks in US Space Station budget reduces the amount of science that can be done on the Space Station to the point that the international partners, like Canada, Japan and the EU will not be given the science time they agreed to in exchange for thier contrabutions to the project."
This is OT, but I'll rant nonetheless
On the UN, you're forgetting a few things.. first, the US is a founding member of the organization, and certainly had much sway in the decisions regarding the dues calculations. The US is supposed to pay 1/4 of the UN's budget because it's economic output is approximatly 1/4 of the world's economic output, and the UN is a worldwide organization. You mentioned that the EU together forms the largest economy in the world. Have you looked at the total UN dues of EU members?
Second, until very recently the US wasn't simply not paying what it was supposed to, it wasn't paying at all. After years of nonpayment, it agreed to pay only part of its back-payments in return for a downward change in its dues calculations.
Third, the US has, throughout the life of the UN made extensive use of the UN when it was most expedient, and continues to exert great influence in UN decisions - witness the ousting of Boutros Boutros-Ghali by US veto or the active hinderence of intervention in Rwanda.