IntLawGrrls |
| Incoming Foreign Relations chair Posted: 29 Nov 2010 03:36 AM PST  The arrival in January of the 112th Congress is slated to bring the 1st woman chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of either house of Congress.*Moving from ranking minority member to chair will be U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (left). In the United States since age 7, when her family fled her birthplace, Cuba, Ros-Lehtinen has served in Congress since 1989. As described by the Associated Press, her South Florida district "includes parts of Miami's Little Havana and the tourist-dependent and gay friendly Miami Beach and Florida Keys." That combination makes for the occasional unexpected position -- unlike many Republicans, she voted to repeal "Don't Ask Don't Tell." On many other issues, however, Ros-Lehtinen is likely to be a thorn in the side of policies favored by the administration of President Barack Obama. Examples of expected points of contention: ► She'll "resist any White House attempts to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu." ► She "may try to chip away at the president's executive order" -- about which we've posted -- "allowing foreign aid for international groups that provide information about abortion services." ► She'd "like U.S. contributions to the U.N. to be voluntary until the U.S. creates an office to audit U.N. activities for transparency and eliminate waste." She's particularly critical of the U.N. Human Rights Council, whose members include countries like China, Saudia Arabia -- and the country with which she's expected to oppose any U.S. dialogue, Cuba. _____________________________ * A far cry from the "leadership" posts women tended to hold not so long ago -- more than 1 Congresswoman was chair of the House Beauty Shop Committee.  |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2010 02:00 AM PST   Watched an excerpt of opening day at the Bemba trial (prior post), available in French on the International Criminal Court's YouTube channel. Couldn't miss the rare all-woman Trial Chamber. Presiding is Judge Sylvia Steiner (far right), who was a national judge in Brazil before she joined the ICC in 2003.  Also on the panel are Judges Joyce Aluoch (above, middle), who was a Justice on the Court of Appeal of Kenya before her 2003 election to the ICC, and Kuniko Ozaki (right) of Japan, who had been a law professor, a government official, and a U.N. officer before joining the ICC in January of this year.  |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2010 12:04 AM PST  On this day in ...... 1781, a 3-day massacre began when crewmembers tossed 54 African persons held in slavery out of the ship Zong and into the Atlantic Ocean. More than 120 persons would perish in this manner -- undertaken by the ship's captain, who aimed to file an insurance claim for the at-sea loss. "Another ten, in a display of defiance at the inhumanity of the slavers, threw themselves overboard and, in the words of a contemporary account, 'leaping into the sea, felt a momentary triumph in the embrace of death.'" (credit for photo of commemorative plaque, unveiled in 2007 in Jamaica) The insurance claim would be denied, but no one would be prosecuted in the incident; however, it provoked antislavery abolitionists to greater action. (Prior November 29 posts are here, here, and here.)  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from IntLawGrrls To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment