Re: [PEN-L] Emergency foreign ministers meeting in Cairo
On Jul 15, 2006, at 2:57 PM, Marvin Gandall wrote: From an Associated Press dispatch today (carried in the Globe and Mail): Meanwhile, Lebanon sought support from fellow Arabs at an emergency session of foreign ministers in Cairo on Saturday. But sharp rifts erupted as moderate Arab states denounced Hezbollah for starting the conflict. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal called the group's actions 'unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible,' telling his counterparts: 'These acts will pull the whole region back to years ago, and we cannot simply accept them.' Supporting his stance were representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, delegates said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Another camp, led by Syria, defended Hezbollah as carrying out 'legitimate acts in line with international resolutions and the U.N. charter, as acts of resistance,' delegates said. *** Is this report accurate? The Palestine and Iraq delegations aligned with the Saudi, Egyptian, and Jordanian regimes in condemning Hezbollah? The Palestinian foreign minister is Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader. If the Palestinian representative had been appointed by the President rather than the PA government, Obviously, it's Mahmoud Abbas's people who went to the meeting. BTW, Tel Aviv bombed the Foreign Ministry building -- Mr. Zahar is lucky to be still alive. blockquote July 16, 2006 - 11:48 PM http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/ Israel_flattens_Foreign_Ministry_Hamas_offices.html? siteSect=143sid=6898280cKey=1153093952000 Israel flattens Foreign Ministry, Hamas officesAdd story to my swissinfo panel By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike flattened the 8-storey Palestinian Foreign Ministry building in Gaza City on Monday, part of a campaign against the Hamas militant group and the government it controls. A separate air strike gutted the offices of a Hamas-led security force in the Islamist stronghold of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, witnesses said. Israel launched its Gaza offensive after militants, some from Hamas, captured an Israeli soldier -- Corporal Gilad Shalit -- in a cross- border raid on June 25. The Israeli military has since killed more than 85 Palestinians in Gaza, about half of them militants. The Foreign Ministry building, which was badly damaged in a previous Israeli air strike, was completely destroyed by the early morning blast, which tore into nearby homes, shops and offices, witnesses said. At least nine Palestinians were injured, most of them children. No deaths were reported. The explosion was so powerful that it knocked my children out of their beds, crying and screaming, said Umm Mohammed, who lives in an apartment across the street from the Foreign Ministry building. Mohammed said the blast knocked out windows in the room where her children were sleeping. The Israeli army confirmed the air strike. An army spokesman accused Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar of Hamas of using his offices to plan continued terror attacks against Israel. Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 2003 that killed his eldest son. Hamas, which came to power in the Palestinian territories after a January election, is dedicated to Israel's destruction. Israel has bombed several buildings used by Hamas and its elected leaders, including the office of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Hamas, which controls the Palestinian government, is demanding that Israel free Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit's release. Israel has rejected any exchange. Reuters (IDS)/blockquote Anyone know more about it and, especially, about the stance taken by the Palestinians? blockquoteLast update - 02:55 17/07/2006 Nasrallah, Palestinian hero By Danny Rubinstein Abu Omar's neighbors in the market next to the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem say they haven't seen him this happy in a long time. His eldest son, Omar, about to complete his high-school studies, joined an underground cell of the Popular Front three years ago. According to the charge sheet drawn up against him, he and his fellow movement members were planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. Somebody turned informer, and Omar was arrested. He is now awaiting trial - a trial that is taking time to get under way. Abu Omar has been running around for the past two years between police officers and lawyers, and even asked this journalist for help in devising a plea bargain, so that his son will not sit for a prolonged perid in prison. Now, for the first time, there is a glimmer of hope for him: Sheik Hassan Nasrallah will bring about his son's release. The clear impression that one gets from the mood in the street is that Nasrallah is now the unchallenged hero of the Palestinians. He is running a one-man show. Unlike the gaggle of Palestinian leaders -
[PEN-L] Emergency foreign ministers meeting in Cairo
From an Associated Press dispatch today (carried in the Globe and Mail): Meanwhile, Lebanon sought support from fellow Arabs at an emergency session of foreign ministers in Cairo on Saturday. But sharp rifts erupted as moderate Arab states denounced Hezbollah for starting the conflict. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal called the group's actions 'unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible,' telling his counterparts: 'These acts will pull the whole region back to years ago, and we cannot simply accept them.' Supporting his stance were representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, delegates said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Another camp, led by Syria, defended Hezbollah as carrying out 'legitimate acts in line with international resolutions and the U.N. charter, as acts of resistance,' delegates said. *** Is this report accurate? The Palestine and Iraq delegations aligned with the Saudi, Egyptian, and Jordanian regimes in condemning Hezbollah? The Palestinian foreign minister is Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader. If the Palestinian representative had been appointed by the President rather than the PA government, I'd have better understood his stance, given how far removed from its own mass base and opposed to Hamas and the rest of the Islamist bloc Abbas and the Fatah leadership is. But a Hamas minister condemning Hezbollah? The Iraqi government, of course, is sponsored by the US and welcomes its military assistance against the Sunni insurgents, and it's foreign minister is a Kurd, so on the surface it's position doesn't seem unusual. But the government is still nevertheless dominated by Iraq's Shia parties (Sadrists, SCIRI, Dawa), all with close ties to Iran, and I'd have thought this would have counted for something, perhaps at least abstention, given the conflicting pressures on the Shia leaders. There has had to have been a more than a little consultation between the Iraqi Shia parties and between them and the Iranians preceding this meeting, no? Anyone know more about it and, especially, about the stance taken by the Palestinians? And, in relation to Iraq, about Sadr's role in particular? He's hinted the Mahdi Army might attack US troops, with whom they've recently again been skirmishing, as a result of the Israeli aggression, so it's hard to see how the stance of the Iraqi government, to which the Sadrists belong, could sit well with him.
[PEN-L] emergency spending for N.O.
What sort of wierdness was put in this bill? Or was is straight out support for victims? -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Re: [PEN-L] emergency spending for N.O.
On Friday, September 02, 2005 6:18 PM [PDT], Michael Perelman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What sort of wierdness was put in this bill? Or was is straight out support for victims? According to my favorite commentator and c/span addict Travus T. Hipp there were three (3) Senators present for a voice vote. All aye, and nothing said of any add-ons or riders, and he's usually quick to point those issues out. I suspect it went through clean, but the money is a stopgap, more Senate/house appropriations coming shortly, and that's where the attention needs to be paid. Leigh www.leighm.net
Re: [PEN-L] emergency spending for N.O. [addendenum]
From today's Congressional Quarterly newsletter: House Passes $10.5 Billion Hurricane Relief Bill The House on Friday passed $10.5 billion in emergency funds to aid in relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The early afternoon voice vote essentially cleared the supplemental spending bill [the pork//lcm], http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8oe=UTF-8q=supplemental+spending+bill which the Senate passed Thursday night after returning early from Congress' five-week summer break. President Bush on Friday called the measure a small down payment on the amount that will ultimately be needed to rebuild New Orleans and the rest of the decimated Gulf Coast. The legislation includes $10 billion requested by the administration for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's quickly dwindling disaster relief account and $500 million to replenish Defense Department operations and maintenance accounts. Additional supplemental appropriations are expected in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, House GOP leaders are considering a much broader economic stimulus package to address the disaster's impact on the national economy. House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said the economic package might include assistance for the agriculture and transportation industries and direct aid to state and local governments. Blunt also would not rule of the possibility of tax cuts.
[PEN-L] emergency?
http://ArnoldWatch.org Web Log - Dec. 16, 2004 - 01:45 PM /i mur jen see/ by Carmen Balber e.mer.gen.cy /i mur jen see/ n. An unexpected and sudden event that must be dealt with urgently. Arnold really needs to work on his definitions. For the past year he has defined special interests as anybody that criticizes Arnold. Now he can't figure out the meaning of the word emergency. On Friday, the Gov submitted an emergency regulation to change enforcement of California's mandatory meal and break rules. The regulation would severely weaken workers' legal right to a lunch hour. Who benefits when it's harder to enforce labor laws? Big hourly employers, like Arnold-backers Target ($240,000 donor to the Gov), the Gap ($197,400) and Wal-Mart ($210,000). California law allows a governor to implement regulations on an emergency basis -- with no public hearing or input -- only when a regulation is necessary for the immediate preservation of public peace, health and safety, or general welfare. What sudden public health threat was so urgent that Arnold was forced to call an immediate halt to lunch hours? Too many workers falling asleep at heavy machinery in after-lunch-lethargy? Actually, Wal-Mart broke the lunch time rules and is facing a lawsuit. For Arnold, that's an emergency. Contributors like Wal-Mart would be off the hook if the regulation takes effect. For Arnold, calling the lunch break issue an emergency avoids the unpleasantly public regulatory process where California employees might toss up their lunch if they heard that Arnold wants to toss out lunch breaks on behalf of the special interests. So he throws out the dictionary and calls it an emergency, like he did last month when he tossed out the nurse-to-patient ratios. Can someone get Arnold that book from Merriam-Webster? Read more at: http://www.ArnoldWatch.org
