Good grief, can there be worse place for world leaders, their entourage and security folks, and all the protesters that have an axe to grind, than Manhattan?
If the USA must host the UN Headquarters, can we please move it to somewhere that will inconvenience people less? I propose North Dakota, near the “International Peace Garden.” That’s got to be a nice bit of symbolism, and I imagine there won’t be too much trouble finding legal parking spots.
Amen to the OP. One other thing. Can the NY papers stop this infantile name calling of certain leaders from certain countries. Just give us the news, and shut the fuck up with the other stuff.
I’m not a NYer, so could you explain this. Do you mean the New York Times?
(You see, I’ve spent less than a month of my life outside of the red states, so a newspaper’s giving a fuck about the UN and foreign leaders is a new concept to me.)
Hmm…semi-retract. I wouldn’t want them in Bismarck or Fargo or Minot, but up there near the Peace Garden is pretty much a no-man’s land, so why not?
Captain Amazing:
Yeah, that must suck. But when people move to a city that was built specifically to be a seat of government, they have to expect that. New York was built as a city for people to live in. Granted, it hasn’t entirely lived up to that mandate, but that was the plan.
And since some people brought up the UN HQ’s riverside location, I’m going to add another reason for pitting them: It is that building that makes an East River bike path an impossibility.
Who says we have to keep the UN here anyway? They just want our money and to use our military whenever they want and then insult us. They put countries that are on the Amnesty International watch list in charge of human rights commissions and are really about as effective as Michael Moore’s dietician. Kick them out and send them to France. They’ll feel right at home with cowards, appeasers and other people with commitment problems.
If we have to keep them here, I can think of a few places we should move them to:
Yucca Mountain, NV – let ‘em glow
Vieques, Puerto Rico – tropical location, still part of the US. So what if they are on an artillery range
Oak Ridge, TN – beautiful area. Slightly radioactive.
Ft. Detrick, MD – test biological agents on them
Just kidding (sort of ). Actually, I think the UN should be put in Topeka, KS. It would be centrally located in the US and it would not be a “glamour” posting. Diplomats love being sent to New York, or DC. It’s exciting, right at the center of action. They milk it for all they can. Only the truly dedicated people would be willing to stay in a small(ish) Midwestern city far from the hustle and bustle of the a major metropolis. (No offense meant to the people of Topeka. I had friends who lived there and it was a lovely, quiet, friendly city. )
Or how about Mobile, AL or Austin, TX. Just picture some foreign ambassador or dignitary trying to pull some “diplomatic immunity” crap to get out of traffic tickets or minor crimes. The cops wouldn’t cut them any slack. I can see Sherriff Buford T. Justice spitting a wad of tobacco on the toes of some diplomat and saying, “Listen, Habeeb. I don’t care if you are the ambassador for Crapistan. You ain’t getting away with shit in my town.” And then locking them in the local drunk tank.
Tried to look on the NYP website, but I didn’t see back issues. Basically the cover was something like “WELCOME TO THE PRESENT, CAVEMAN!!!” With his picture.
They ran two or three obnoxious covers like that. The Daily News ran something equally obnoxious.
The NY Post is barely one step removed from Weekly World News (or whatever it’s called), and the NY Daily News is about one step above from the NY Post. Those are both bottom-feeding tabloids.
…and another thing! I’ve got hundreds of business travellers that I book for meetings that have had to pay upwards of $800-$1000 per frickin’ night for a room! Day-amm. That’s not right.
I was going to suggest Times Beach, MO but I see they’ve turned it into a state park. On reflection, I think we should just airlift them all onto a mountain in Montana and leave them there until they learn to play nice.
What’s wrong with Darfur? Or how about a rotating location? Say, places where the people are more likely to die of starvation than allergic reactions to bee stings.