Mostly I’m excited because I’m now able to use the Rapping Bureaucrats category for just the third time. Here’s Secretary General of the United Nations Bam Ki-moon, um, rapping some lyrics penned by Jay-Z. Wild.
Ostensibly I have no problem with either Jay-Z or Bam, or even people rapping in the UN. I don’t pay a lot of attention to the UN or what it does/doesn’t do, although I will say my general impression is fairly negative.
Just yesterday I came across this in the Economist; a story titled Somalia - The world’s most utterly failed state:
The UN’s envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdullah, a former foreign minister of Mauritania, is overseeing peace talks in nearby Djibouti between the transitional government and the moderate wing of the Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia (ARS), an Islamist group headed by a former teacher, Sharif Ahmed. The aim is to create a genuine government of national unity before elections next year.
A condition of any agreement is the withdrawal of the 7,000-odd Ethiopian troops now in Somalia. Mr Ould Abdullah wants to replace them and a separate 2,200-strong African Union force of Ugandan and Burundian troops with 8,000 UN peacekeepers. Ethiopia, which is losing men and money, would be happy with that, if the peacekeepers were somehow shoehorned in without the jihadists taking advantage of a hiatus. America agrees, but only if the deployment of blue helmets is matched by an effort to build a new Somali national army. Mr Ould Abdullah is also keen for the International Criminal Court in The Hague to indict some of the worst warlords, to show they cannot murder their opponents with impunity.
But it is unlikely, in present circumstances, that UN peacekeepers will ever arrive. If the UN cannot produce half its promised force for Darfur, despite a detailed plan for one, Somalia stands little chance of getting any blue helmets at all.
Get to work Bam. Eight of your peeps have been in Somalia since Sept. 10, dog. My guess is they aren’t writing raps.
From UN Dispatch.
1 response so far ↓
1 Gus Lonzo // Oct 8, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Well, once again Shinsano I’m going to have to take issue with you concerning your taste in music. Although Rap can’t really be called music, can it? Regardless, here is yet another example of just how pervasive (invasive?) Hip Hop culture has become. No, it’s not enough that Rap music is the new Muzac, but now we have to hear world leaders join in the chorus as well. This pathetic attempt at humour from Mr. Ban (not Bam) reminds me of the time when old Sam Malone tried to do a bit of rapping as a sportscaster, while Norm and the others cringed in their seats, or rather stools. And what did Norm say way back there in the eighties? He said, “Sam, Sam, trust me. You don’t want to be the last in a long line of wannabe rappers.” Or words to that effect. But Sam couldn’t resist, and so there he was, on TV for all to see “rapping” away and making a total ass of himself, much like our Mr. Ban here: “A groin injury… Guh-Guh-groin injury.” Only, that was a sitcom and this is real life. It’s sad, really. Perhaps next we’ll see members of the UN sporting ball caps? Maybe even some Bling Bling too. Suffice it to say, Churchill is rolling in his grave. And this is no time for jokes either, Mr Ban, not James Ban.
Leave a Comment