new UN Security Council Members

I notice that the new non permanent UN Security Council Members elected were; South Africa, India, Colombia, Germany and Portugal.
While I have no problem with Germany and Portugal, I can't let the election of the other three pass without comment. South Africa is a nation in complete denial over HIV, whose greatest claim to fame in recent times is propping up the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. India the "world's largest democracy", continues to be a rogue state in my mind until it signs the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.
And as for Columbia, a right wing client state of the US that gets its kicks by apparently abducting and killing union leaders.
But at least on the bright side, Canada suffered a humiliating loss in its attempt for a seat. But true to form, that awful PM Stephen Harper perversely tried to blame his political opponents for the loss, but as the Opposition Liberal Party countered "the blame game is a sign of a government that is unwilling to absorb the lessons of defeat".
So to sum up, I'm not expecting too much from the UN Security Council over the next two years, with backroom deals of self interest being the norm. And I expect even less from India - a truly awful place - the most corrupt "democracy" on earth.

Corruption in the west

While I'm often quick to criticise the duplicity of the English speaking democracies who claim to always be acting benevolently, yet under examination are usually found to be acting in their own self interest (to the detriment of others), I will acknowledge one thing that I'm thankful for growing up in Australia;
As the latest World Corruption index shows see here nations like Australia, NZ and Canada rank highly for their low levels of systematic corruption. Surprisingly the UK and the US rank a little unimpressively.....perhaps this may be in part due to their recent economic woes which provide a fertile breeding ground for corruption to flourish? 
I suspect though that the usually incorruptible civil services of these Anglo English speaking countries has allot to do with their Protestant puritanical roots? There's so much I don't like about these common cultures, but when you compare the UK's public sector with its Indian or Pakistani offspring.....you can see that we do owe the puritans a little gratitude.
So there, to all those who've accused me of always being negative, I do have SOMETHING nice to say about the Anglo world.
Best to start the new year off on a positive I guess:)