CASPER
THE FRIENDLY GHOST
Controversial Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi addressed the United Nations General Assembly and his speech made waves online.
In his long and at times dramatic address to the UN today, Gadhafi aired varied and eyebrow-raising complaints. Among his targets:
-- The international body's Security Council, which he termed the "Terror Council," for failing to prevent or aggressively intervene in conflicts around the world since its inception in 1945.
-- The UN's location in New York, which he described as inconvenient for him and other traveling world leaders, causing them all to suffer from jetlag.
-- The Iraq war, which he described as "the mother of all evils." He added that the perpetrators of the war should be tried in international court, and he also compared the Taliban favorably to the Vatican.
-- A range of conspiracies involving Israel, swine flu and the JFK assassination.
At one point near the conclusion of his speech, during which multiple translators were employed, Gadhafi tossed the UN Charter away dismissively.
Needless to say, Gadhafi's speech hasn't gone unnoticed. As of this writing, six different variations of his name are spiking in web searches, while four different versions of his name appear in Twitter's list of top "trending topics." Blame for this confusion could be pointed directly at the big three cable news networks, CNN, MSNBC and Fox, which all featured different spellings of the Libyan leader's name (Gadhafi, Qaddafi and Khaddafy) on screen at various points during his speech. However, in fairness to the aformentioned media giants, transliterating written and regionally pronounced Arabic is done in many different ways, often leading to confusion.
Perhaps Gadhafi's odd address is related to a lack of proper rest? He may have planned to stay on Donald Trump's sprawling property in Bedford, NY, home to Martha Stewart and Ralph Lauren, where a tent was erected earlier in the week complete with electricity, a satellite dish and camel-themed lining on the walls. It's unclear whether or not the dictator planned to lodge inside the tent or inside of the seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom Trump mansion that sits on the property. Some have speculated that Gadhafi may have been merely planning to entertain guests in the tent. Regardless, local residents and elected officials reacted with indignation when they learned of the tent on Trump's property, which was shut down by building inspectors for not having the proper permits.
How Gadhafi, who's already had plans to stay in Englewood, NJ and Central Park while in the area squashed by public outrage, came to even be on Trump's property appears to be a bit of a mystery. A state department official told the AP that the Libyan government had rented the property for the week, but a Trump spokesperson told the New York Post that her boss and his company had no contact with Gadhafi or the Libyan government and that "the property was leased on a short-term basis to Middle Eastern" business partners who "may or may not have a relationship to Mr. Gadhafi." The Post also reported that Gadhafi may have spent last night at the Libyan Mission in midtown Manhattan after being expelled from Trump's property, where he was visited by Louis Farrakhan.
In his long and at times dramatic address to the UN today, Gadhafi aired varied and eyebrow-raising complaints. Among his targets:
-- The international body's Security Council, which he termed the "Terror Council," for failing to prevent or aggressively intervene in conflicts around the world since its inception in 1945.
-- The UN's location in New York, which he described as inconvenient for him and other traveling world leaders, causing them all to suffer from jetlag.
-- The Iraq war, which he described as "the mother of all evils." He added that the perpetrators of the war should be tried in international court, and he also compared the Taliban favorably to the Vatican.
-- A range of conspiracies involving Israel, swine flu and the JFK assassination.
At one point near the conclusion of his speech, during which multiple translators were employed, Gadhafi tossed the UN Charter away dismissively.
Needless to say, Gadhafi's speech hasn't gone unnoticed. As of this writing, six different variations of his name are spiking in web searches, while four different versions of his name appear in Twitter's list of top "trending topics." Blame for this confusion could be pointed directly at the big three cable news networks, CNN, MSNBC and Fox, which all featured different spellings of the Libyan leader's name (Gadhafi, Qaddafi and Khaddafy) on screen at various points during his speech. However, in fairness to the aformentioned media giants, transliterating written and regionally pronounced Arabic is done in many different ways, often leading to confusion.
Perhaps Gadhafi's odd address is related to a lack of proper rest? He may have planned to stay on Donald Trump's sprawling property in Bedford, NY, home to Martha Stewart and Ralph Lauren, where a tent was erected earlier in the week complete with electricity, a satellite dish and camel-themed lining on the walls. It's unclear whether or not the dictator planned to lodge inside the tent or inside of the seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom Trump mansion that sits on the property. Some have speculated that Gadhafi may have been merely planning to entertain guests in the tent. Regardless, local residents and elected officials reacted with indignation when they learned of the tent on Trump's property, which was shut down by building inspectors for not having the proper permits.
How Gadhafi, who's already had plans to stay in Englewood, NJ and Central Park while in the area squashed by public outrage, came to even be on Trump's property appears to be a bit of a mystery. A state department official told the AP that the Libyan government had rented the property for the week, but a Trump spokesperson told the New York Post that her boss and his company had no contact with Gadhafi or the Libyan government and that "the property was leased on a short-term basis to Middle Eastern" business partners who "may or may not have a relationship to Mr. Gadhafi." The Post also reported that Gadhafi may have spent last night at the Libyan Mission in midtown Manhattan after being expelled from Trump's property, where he was visited by Louis Farrakhan.