At
UN
for MDGs, It's
50 Cent But No
Ban Ki-Moon,
Hard Selling
God's Work
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
NEW
YORK
CITY,
September 20
-- Who showed
up Tuesday for
the Millennium
Development
Goals? Rapper
turned vitamin
water salesman
Curtis Fifty
Cent Jackson,
for one.
Jennifer
Connelly for
another,
talking about
her three
children.
Archbishop
Desmond Tutu
urged a fight
against child
marriage.
Absent
was Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, with
apologies
given by his
deputy
Asha-Rose
Migiro. Ban's
speechwriter
Michael Myer
was spotted in
the crowd, as
was his
self-described
"global goods"
guru Robert
Orr.
But
where was Ban
himself? And
why did his
Spokesperson's
Office
nevertheless
send out
"Ban's"
remarks to the
event, at 7:30
pm?
The
master of
ceremonies for
"Every Woman,
Every Child"
was Ray
Chambers, whom
Margaret Chan
said she met
at a dinner
thrown by
George W.
Bush. They
handed the
mike to person
after person,
the cast
turning
decidedly
corporate with
pitches by
Merck and even
Intel.
In
the crowd was
USAID chief
Rajiv Shah,
introducing
others to his
sister Amy.
There was a
lot of talk of
social media,
with the new
CEO of (RED)
Deborah Dugan
saying she'll
make the MDGs
"red hot"
using
FourSquare and
"the vodka
you're
drinking."
There
didn't appear
to be hard
liquor, but a
fellow slash
journalist in
a red dress
knocked down
twenty wine
glasses. She
explained to
Inner City
Press she is
up from
Atlanta at the
UN on a
fellowship
paid by the UN
Foundation.
When largely
discredited
"MassiveGood"
proponent
Douste-Blazy
spoke, she
said loudly,
"Love the comb
over!" It was
authentic, as
was the
testimony of a
health worker,
late in the
program.
50 Cent for
MDGs, Street
King water
sales not
shown
Thus
it went,
promoting
God's work in
the Hyatt
Hotel on 42nd
Street amid
canapes and,
finally, music
by Youssou
N'Dour. And
tomorrow, the
speech of
Obama and his
meetings with
Netanyahu and
Mahmud Abbas.
Breathe
deeply, said
Deepak Chopra.
Breathe deeply
indeed.
* *
*
At
UN,
Deby On TNC's
"Hypocrisy, "
400,000
Chadians
"Blocked" in
Libya, "No
Prisoners in
Chad"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 19
-- Chad's
President
Idriss Deby
told Inner
City Press on
Monday that
there remain
400,000
Chadian's
"blocked"
inside Libya.
He
said the vast
majority had
gone to Libya
to work. Some
had been
recruited to
fight but by
both sides, he
insisted,
Gaddafi and
the National
Transitional
Council.
He said that
going forward
the
international
community
should help
reconcile all
Libyans,
"including
those who
worked with
Gaddafi." Video here, 1st part
of interview.
Deby
accused the
leaders of the
"New Libya,"
the National
Transitional
Council, of
hypocrisy as
many of them
previously
worked with
Gaddafi. He
said there
should be
greater
African Union
involvement in
the New Libya,
and chafed at
Inner City
Press'
statement that
South Africa
has led on
that issue,
and on that of
African
migrants.
"There
are other
African
countries on
the Security
Council," he
said, naming
Gabon and then
Nigeria.
Inner
City Press
asked Deby for
his view of
developments
in Sudan. Deby
spoke of
Southern
Kordofan and
"Nil Bleu,"
Blue Nile,
then said that
much remains
to be solved
between North
and South
Sudan.
On
this, Inner
City Press
asked Deby to
respond to reports
that the
publication
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo was
told not to
compare South
Sudan to
Southern Chad:
"In
the
October 14 to
17 edition of
the local
newspaper
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo, the
publishers
included an
article
comparing
southern Sudan
with southern
Chad. The
prime minister
called the
article
'dangerous'
and asked the
HCC to act on
the matter. On
October 19,
the HCC met
with
journalists
and warned
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo in
particular and
all media
houses in
general to
"observe
ethics rules"
by not
printing
articles that
risked
inciting
hatred,
violence, or
separatist
sentiment."
Deby
said he didn't
know about the
case. He said
"come to Chad"
to see the
freedom of the
press, and
also said that
"there are no
political
prisons in
Chad." Inner
City Press
began to ask
of one example
-- Ibni
Oumar Mahamat
Saleh --
but Deby
didn't answer
on it.
The
interview was
over, and
Inner City
Press left the
Plaza Hotel.
Deby will
speak before
the General
Assembly on
Friday, after
meeting with
Ban Ki-moon
the day
before. "Mais
vous savez de
tout,"
Deby said. Not
as much as
we'd like to.
Watch this
site.
, 
