Ceiling Waxed
Hey, Congolese! How do you like the UN’s new ceiling?
People around the world may be tightening their belts, but at the United Nations in Geneva it was party time on Tuesday, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on hand to celebrate the new ceiling decor for the chamber now named “the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room” — meeting place for the UN’s so-called Human Rights Council.
The chamber’s new ceiling, product of Spanish artist and moneypit maestro Miguel Barcelo, rang up a price tag of — take a guess:
a) $230,000
b) $2,300,000
c) $23,000,000
Yep, if you guessed $23 million, you got it right.
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[A]t a time when Ban Ki-Moon has been moaning and groaning that the UN lacks enough money to feed hungry children, the larger question is why the UN would agree to this lavish gilding, let alone throw itself a party to celebrate.
Five million dead in the Congo; $23 million dollars: that’s $4.60 per life.
I would have held out for five dollars per African life, but I’m pretty sentimental.