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brooklyn13, The ICC is one small effort in the fight for global justice.
Your saying it's a joke is thankfully of no importance to anyone.
Trump Media stock slumps after reporting $327.6m first quarter loss, costing former president more than $766m
Josh Marcus
Wed, 22 May 2024 at 10:47 am AEST·2-min read
[...]
Despite revenues of fewer than $1m and an active US mobile user base hardly above 100,000 people, the company is valued at more than $7bn, comparable to a large tech company despite rivals like X having hundreds of times more users.
Donald Trump has both benefitted and suffered from his close association with the company.
As the majority owner, the former president earned a roughly $1.8bn stock bonus as a result of the company’s share price performance.
However, Trump Media also experienced a nearly 20 per cent stock price plunge on the first day of Mr Trump’s hush money trial in April.
Mr Trump cannot cash in any of his shares until September, six months after it went public.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/trump-media-stock-slumps-reporting-004749198.html
Love the early bird dragging the worm out of Johnson's skull. -- Federal judge blocks White House plan to curb credit card late fees
moneywatch
By Kate Gibson
Edited By Alain Sherter
Updated on: May 13, 2024 / 11:20 AM EDT / CBS News
VIDEOs
A federal judge in Texas has blocked a new government rule that would slash credit card late-payment charges, a centerpiece of the Biden administration's efforts to clamp down on "junk" fees.
Judge Mark Pittman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Friday granted an injunction sought by the banking industry and other business interests to freeze the restrictions, which were scheduled to take effect on May 14. In his ruling, Pittman cited a 2022 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that found that funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the federal agency set to enforce the credit card rule, is unconstitutional.
The regulations, adopted by the CFPB in March, seek to cap late fees for credit card payments at $8, compared with current late fees of $30 or more. Although a bane for consumers, the fees generate about $9 billion a year for card issuers, according to the agency.
After the CFPB on March 5 announced the ban on what it called "excessive" credit card late fees, the American Bankers Association (ABA) and U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a legal challenge.
The ABA, an industry trade group, applauded Pittman's decision.
"This injunction will spare banks from having to immediately comply with a rule that clearly exceeds the CFPB's statutory authority and will lead to more late payments, lower credit scores, increased debt, reduced credit access and higher APRs for all consumers — including the vast majority of card holders who pay on time each month," ABA CEO Rob Nichols said in a statement.
Maria Monaghan, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Litigation Center counsel, echoed the sentiment, called the ruling "a major win for responsible consumers who pay their credit card bills on time and businesses that want to provide affordable credit."
Consumer groups blasted the decision, saying it will hurt credit card users across the U.S.
"In their latest in a stack of lawsuits designed to pad record corporate profits at the expense of everyone else, the U.S. Chamber got its way for now, ensuring families get price-gouged a little longer with credit card late fees as high as $41," Liz Zelnick of Accountable.US, a nonpartisan advocacy group, said in a statement. "The U.S. Chamber and the big banks they represent have corrupted our judicial system by venue shopping in courtrooms of least resistance, going out of their way to avoid having their lawsuit heard by a fair and neutral federal judge."
VIDEO
According to consumer advocates that support the CFPB's late-fee rule, credit card issuers hit customers with $14 billion in late-payment charges in 2019, accounting for well over half their fee revenue that year. Financial industry critics say such late fees target low- and moderate-income consumers, in particular people of color.
Despite Pittman's stay on Friday, analysts said the legal fight over late fees is likely to continue, with the case possibly heading to the Supreme Court.
"We believe this opens the door for the CFPB to seek to lift the preliminary injunction if the Supreme Court rules in the coming weeks that Congress properly funded the agency," Jaret Seiberg of TD Cowen Washington Research Group said in a report following the decision. "It is why we believe this is not the end of the fighting over whether the fee cut will take effect before full consideration of the merits of the lawsuit."
The White House expressed disappointment with the decision, with a spokesperson stating that the court had sided with "Republicans, big banks and special interests to hit pause on a critical measure to save American families billions in junk fees."
—With reporting by CBS News' Alain Sherter
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/credit-card-late-fees-cfpb/
Good. As terrible as wars are, ongoing efforts to keep them
as clean as possible should never be seen as a lost cause.
For mine, sport will always be better off without Saudi money. At least until butcher Salman is gone.
That's right and notice they left their thongs at home. Some humans actually
try to run in those floppy things. I much prefer bare feet than thongs too.
Looks delicious. That kind of umm fancy shopping would be 'buying something special, splurging' for me. Bread,milk, meat, fruit, vegetables, quick cook oats for porridge, canned tomatoes and cans of creamed corn, spaghetti and the little MAMA asian noodle pack .. https://www.asiangroceronline.com.au/view-info-brands/mama/mama-cup-noodle-pork-70g~mam0032 (makes a good little snack when a heap of diced already steamed vegetables is added) .. pretty well covers my usual. Oh, and toilet paper. And tomato paste for spaghetti bolognese and any other place like broiling chops is about as sexy as my shopping gets Have never bought on-line, either. Yeah, it's right, dinosaurs have not disappeared.
Costello, prime 'Dick of the Week' award candidate. You guys would proabably see much like it but the video here was a good one for me ..
'Are you staring me down?': Fiery moment between judge, defense witness in Trump hush money trial
"If you don't like my ruling, you don't say 'Jeez,' you don't say 'Strike it.'"
ByJulia Reinstein, Peter Charalambous, Lucien Bruggeman, Kelsey Walsh, Olivia Rubin, and Aaron Katersky
May 21, 2024, 10:01 AM
https://abcnews.go.com/ABCNews/staring-fiery-moment-judge-defense-witness-trump-hush/story?id=110416555
Nah. Ever since his LIV involvement all kangaroo clans joined me in turning their backs on him. That's why
i just said he could have appeared in a place they were scooting from. They are very true to their word, too.
LOL The jar contents must be a good taste too.
brooklyn13, WTF? Making up stuff in a lame attempt to justify an unjustifiable position is one of, i
hope, your worst traits. Leaving most of the incomprehensible bits of yours aside this is a blatant lie
"...how about because you’re in denial about systemic racism Down Under?"
just because every poster who knows me at all knows it is not true. I label it a lie because
i have given you personally much evidence in the past in rebuttal of that blatant falsehood.
No asshole, between you and i, only one of us is steeped in undeniably horrible denial.
For that only it is i pity you.
LOL It's a good look, eh. Either Trump had appeared where they
were coming from, or they were rushing to a sale of jumpers.
Except, like in too many other public places, toilet paper is inadequately thin. Can't remember the last
time i've done the dirty deed in a public toilet. My rule, leave your shit at home where decent paper exists.
Apology for changing direction so drastically, just couldn't think of anything to say on the business paper front.
Sounds more normal. I slept again about 4 hours later. Then same old wake about every 1.5h to pee, and in
morning stay in bed 2-3 hours longer than in daylight saving time because it's so relatively damn cold now.
No chance. How erratic can sleep habit be before it's not a habit. Or is
being as erratic as it is a habit in itself. Appreciate the thought, though.
Is it that government is so careful about all that because they are so aware they are under scrutiny. Will change to, eh, over time.
Top kids for sure.
brooklyn13, Never i hope where it is so abominably misplaced as yours was. Since you visit here so infrequently you likely missed one little story:
In my local one crowded Saturday afternoon a young guy was laughing loudly while making a big deal about the controversy around same-sex marriage. This was many months ago before we finally grew up about it. He yelled to the crowd, "Is anyone here in favor of gay marriage." Silence. The worst kind of silence which never should be. As i had seen it before, in other places about other matters - SILENCE. So, as in another different case, i spoke out.
After a minute or so, he being emotionally upset and not coping, he started to come for me. LOL A number intervened while i was figuring how exactly to step aside and trip him.
He was an asshole on that matter. Just as you are on this one.
brooklyn13, Can you imagine a courtroom lawyer in defense of his client saying, " Where i ask you are all the other bank robbers, kidnappers, child abusers and wife-beaters who are running free out there!", to a jury. Can you imagine that. Now imagine the looks on jury members faces as they look at each other.
" Great! Now look at the list of outstanding ICC warrants and let us know where on the list is Assad (the son) or Xi or Khameini, for that matter.
https://www.icc-cpi.int/defendants?page=0
Mostly, though, Israel bad.
You know I think Netanyahu belongs in jail, but the ICC is a joke. W Bush on the list for Iraq? Get real please, one can find shite on the internets to support any sort of nonsense
https://theflatearthsociety.org/home/ "
Imagine the look on the face of reporters, other lawyers and, lol, on the face of the judge. Amazement, much?
Your continued reliance on whataboutisms in defence of Israel is moronic. Your comment above is imbecilic.
Surely you must have read criticisms of the ICC before now. The most common one is the accusation of African bias, clear also from your link above. How many Western leaders have been prosecuted, critics have said for years. In the article you replied to, it said this request for arrest warrants was historic in that it was the first for the arrest of a country leader supported by the West. You mentioned W Bush for Iraq. Yep, he is one of the Western leaders most often mentioned. Surely you have read that before. You are absolutely right on that singular point.
However, on balance though, on any humanity or big picture understanding scales you continue to fail miserably.
There are quite a few on the ICC on the board. One recent January, 2024:
What value a law when the law is ignored.
"They pick on the helpless and rail against Hamas.
At what point do we call them out for what they are?"
The criminal atrocity is clear:
United Nations Prevention of Genocide and Related Atrocity Crimes
Responsibility to Protect
Definitions -- Genocide .. Crimes Against Humanity .. War Crimes .. Ethnic Cleansing
Crimes Against Humanity
[...]
Believe it or not, the three first world powers – United States, Russia, and China – aren’t part of the ICC, each for its own particular reasons. These absences have been a very common topic since the creation of this intergovernmental organization twenty years ago, and until this day it’s quite often spoken among politicians, journalists, analysts and diplomats.
Other notable absences are Israel, Qatar, Iraq, and Libya; some of them with a very turbulent past (and present) and with a few not-very-good things in common.
But let’s start with some basics about the ICC.
What’s the purpose of the ICC? To prosecute anyone responsible for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The main scenario in which this court acts is whenever a government with or without a judicial system .. https://nomadcapitalist.com/global-citizen/best-countries-rule-of-law/ .. is unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals in their countries.
Unlike other organizations, like the International Court of Justice, the ICC .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Court_of_Justice .. can prosecute individuals and that’s probably one of the key points for which some big nations like the United States, China and Russia aren’t a part of this treaty.
The common complains and bad comments about international organizations originate due to their lack of concrete and successful actions and the ICC is no exception. Their first verdict came 10 years after the Rome Statute entered into force .. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-rome-statute.html . In 2012, Thomas Lubanga, leader of a militia in Congo, was convicted because of his war crimes, mainly for the use of children in his ranks. After this event, the actions of the ICC centered in Africa and currently the organization is being accused by some nations of alleged African bias. Although, it’s important to remember that their involvement in African issues have been referred, in some cases, by the UN or even self-referred by a member state, which was the case with Uganda and the conflicts with the LRA.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=173561680
One further on the ignorance displayed in your post:
20 years of international criminal justice against the most horrific crimes
17.07.2022 Strategic Communications
As the only permanent international criminal court with a universal scope, the International Criminal Court (ICC) plays a key role in the fight against impunity for the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide
International Criminal Court
During its 20 years of existence, the ICC has, among other achievements, sentenced individuals who were found guilty of sexual violence, illegal recruitment of child soldiers and destruction of cultural heritage. It has proved to be a key instrument in fighting against impunity, ensuring fair trials and providing justice to victims, and preventing and deterring future crimes. On the Day of International Criminal Justice, the European Union reaffirms its commitment to protect the judicial independence of the ICC and the integrity of the Rome Statute, while standing firm against any attempt to discredit the Court and obstruct its work.
“As the world’s first and only permanent international criminal court, the International Criminal Court plays a crucial role in a shared rules-based global order and in advancing the fight against impunity for international crimes. Despite this crucial role, its work and independence continue to be frequently challenged”, reads the Declaration issued by the HR/VP Josep Borrell on behalf of the EU to mark the date.
July 1 marked the 20th anniversary of the International Criminal Court (ICC). On this day in 2002, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force upon ratification by 60 States, officially creating the ICC. To date, 124 countries from all regions have ratified it.
Currently, the ICC is investigating abuses committed in 17 countries, in particular, Ukraine, Darfur and Libya. Ukraine was the latest situation to join the list, after the ICC Prosecutor announced on February 28 that he would open an investigation based on the Office's earlier conclusions arising from its preliminary examination. In early March, the Office received a joint referral from more than 40 countries referring to alleged crimes committed in Ukraine. The Office of the Prosecutor has established a dedicated portal through which anyone who may have information relevant to the Ukraine situation can contact ICC investigators.
20 years in figures
* 31 cases have been brought before the ICC, some of them involving more than one suspect.
* ICC judges have issued 37 arrest warrants.
* Thanks to cooperation from States, 21 people have been detained in the ICC detention
centre and have appeared before the Court.
* 12 people remain at large. Charges have been dropped against 3 people due to their deaths. ICC judges have also issued 9 summonses to appear, 10 convictions and 4 acquittals.
Conference and exhibition to mark the ICC’s 20th anniversary
On 1 July, the ICC hosted a conference at the World Forum in The Hague (The Netherlands), entitled “The ICC at 20: Reflections on the past, present and future .. https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/conference-mark-iccs-20th-anniversary-1-july-2022 .” The event allowed for in-depth discussions on the different aspects of the Court’s concrete operations, from the earliest reports of alleged crimes to final judgments and the reparation of victims. It was also an occasion for reflections on the extent to which the ICC has met expectations, as well as on the main trends to be discerned for the further development of the international criminal justice system going forward.
Also on the 20th anniversary, the ICC launched, in collaboration with the Trust Fund for Victims and Fondation Carmignac, an exhibition on display at the UN Headquarters in New York from 27 June to 29 July 2022. After New York, it will be publicly exhibited in The Hague, Geneva, and several of the countries with situations under investigation, as part of the ongoing activities for the Court’s 20th anniversary.
The ICC exhibition, with selected photographs from the Court’s “Life after Conflict” series .. https://www.icc-cpi.int/life-after-conflict , comprises stories as told to ICC outreach by survivors of some of the world’s worst crimes. The photographs, by award-winning photographers Rena Effendi, Pete Muller and Finbarr O’Reilly, cover stories from five countries in which the ICC investigates, all at different stages of the ICC process. Photographs from the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the first ever public stories of ICC reparations beneficiaries, showing the full circle of the justice process from the start of investigations to the end of ICC cases, including reparations to victims.
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/20-years-international-criminal-justice-against-most-horrific-crimes_en
No international tribunal since Nuremberg has made an effort to go after a top Western official. This is historic.
PS: On waking again this morning, late, while watching news i thought .. seeing all this is horrible enough, how bad it must be for those involved is incomprehensible. Then i thought how bad it must be for people like you who find yourself defending the monstrosity. Your doubts and fears must be more difficult to bear than those of us who disagree vehemently with you. Seriously, i had that thought this morning before rising into the cold. I felt pity for you too.
Experts react: The ICC prosecutor wants Netanyahu and Hamas leaders arrested for war crimes. What’s next?
"Jaraparilla 🇾🇪 🇵🇸 @jaraparilla Israeli journalist Gideon Levy explains the 3 pillars of Zionist delusion:
[...]
1. We are God's chosen people. Whatever we do is just.
2. We are the victims. Always.
3. Palestinians are not human, they are animals.
So much like the Nazis."
By Atlantic Council experts May 20, 2024 • 4:25pm ET
The war came first—the warrants might come later. On Monday, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan applied .. https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-applications-arrest-warrants-situation-state .. for arrest warrants for Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Two other Hamas leaders and the Israeli defense minister were also named in the warrant application. Khan says that they bear responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s war in Gaza that followed. Next, a pretrial chamber of the ICC will review Khan’s request and determine whether to issue the arrest warrants. Below, Atlantic Council experts offer their verdict on the application and its implications.
Gissou Nia: The historic warrant application raises difficult diplomatic questions for Israel and its supporters
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/experts-react/experts-react-the-icc-prosecutor-wants-netanyahu-and-hamas-leaders-arrested-for-war-crimes/#nia-icc
Jonathan Panikoff: The prosecutor made a strategic and moral mistake
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/experts-react/experts-react-the-icc-prosecutor-wants-netanyahu-and-hamas-leaders-arrested-for-war-crimes/#panikoff-icc
Elise Baker: Israel’s expected challenges to the warrant applications are likely to fail
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/experts-react/experts-react-the-icc-prosecutor-wants-netanyahu-and-hamas-leaders-arrested-for-war-crimes/#baker-icc
Haydee Dijkstal: Here’s what to expect with the court’s timeline and Israel’s challenge
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/experts-react/experts-react-the-icc-prosecutor-wants-netanyahu-and-hamas-leaders-arrested-for-war-crimes/#dijkstal-icc
Thomas S. Warrick: The ICC is about to change the future of the Palestinian movement—unpredictably
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/experts-react/experts-react-the-icc-prosecutor-wants-netanyahu-and-hamas-leaders-arrested-for-war-crimes/#warrick-icc
The historic warrant application raises difficult diplomatic questions for Israel and its supporters
Today’s public announcement that the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has applied for arrest warrants against Israeli officials and Hamas leaders followed through on expectations but also carried some surprises.
As to be expected, the chief prosecutor did not confine himself to charges against only one party to the conflict. The ICC’s territorial jurisdiction over what it recognizes as the State of Palestine means that both Palestinian and Israeli actors are fair game for indictment. Given the political sensitivities of the issues and the scope of the violations committed by all parties, there was little chance that the prosecutor would limit charges to any one “side.”
Also as expected, neither genocide nor apartheid are among the charges. Despite reference to these crimes featuring heavily in global solidarity chants and in advocacy for the rights of Palestinians, both crimes require distinct elements that go beyond the showing needed for other crimes under Articles 7 and 8 of the ICC’s Rome Statute. The prosecutor charged Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with crimes including the war crime of starvation, which investigators do not need physical access to the Gaza Strip to prove given the extensive cross-border activity and accounts of international organizations operating on the ground that signal this crime. The charges against Sinwar, as well as other Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, also follow an uncontroversial reading of Hamas atrocities that were brutally captured on video for the world to see.
The application for warrants is historic in that it is the first time the OTP has brought charges against a head of state who is supported by Western nations. This move comes even after overt threats to the chief prosecutor, including by twelve US senators .. https://zeteo.com/p/exclusive-you-have-been-warned-republican .. to not press ahead with indictments against Israeli officials.
[Insert: 12 Republican US senators threaten ICC with sanctions over Israel arrest warrants
'Target Israel and we will target you,' Republicans write to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan in what a Democratic lawmaker calls 'thuggery'
Michael Hernandez | 06.05.2024 - Update : 07.05.2024 ]
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/12-republican-us-senators-threaten-icc-with-sanctions-over-israel-arrest-warrants/3211829
Should the arrest warrants be approved, some tricky diplomatic questions may ensue. European countries are among some of the staunchest supporters of the court, and they are also countries to which Netanyahu and Gallant are likely to travel in the future. As ICC member states, those countries in Europe would have an obligation to turn Netanyahu and Gallant over to the court, should either of the two come within their borders. To avoid that quandary, the more likely outcome will be severe restrictions on the ability of Netanyahu and Gallant to travel.
At a time when Israel is seeking to shore up support among allies for its ongoing military actions, the arrest warrants, if they are issued, may further isolate Israel globally and accelerate the growing push for Netanyahu to leave office.
—Gissou Nia.. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/gissou-nia/ .. is the director of the Strategic Litigation Project at the Atlantic Council. She previously worked on crimes against humanity cases before the International Criminal Court and is counsel on submissions to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor.
The prosecutor made a strategic and moral mistake
The decision by the ICC prosecutor to seek arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant is both a strategic mistake and a moral one.
The decision to seek the warrant elevates Netanyahu and may aid his domestic position as Israelis, who have hav long been critical of the ICC across the political spectrum, and are even more so now .. https://www.timesofisrael.com/outcry-in-israel-as-icc-prosecutor-seeks-warrants-against-netanyahu-and-gallant/ , will rally around the flag. Netanyahu is likely will use this announcement to claim that he is being persecuted for defending Israel, a claim likely to resonate with the broader Israeli public. This domestic reaction might even provide him greater freedom of action in his decision making, including to engage in additional military operations in Gaza, ultimately extending the conflict.
The decision by Khan—who was clearly seeking to demonstrate balance in requesting arrest warrants for both Israeli and Hamas leaders—actually serves to erode the moral authority of the ICC by equating Israel, a flawed democracy, with Hamas, a terrorist group whose singular overriding aim is to obliterate the state of Israel. The implied false symmetry, as the Federal Chancellor of Austria Karl Nehammer wrote .. https://x.com/karlnehammer/status/1792562117960175880 .. on X on Monday, is “non comprehensible.”
Netanyahu has made countless mistakes related to his prosecution of the war, led by his lack of a meaningful strategy for the day after—something Gallant ironically just called .. https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/15/middleeast/israel-gaza-yoav-gallant-intl-latam/index.html .. Natanyahu out for last week. The mass humanitarian tragedy that continues to unfold in Gaza is not debatable. But there is a critical and meaningful difference between poor execution of strategy and tactics, on one hand, and “causing extermination .. https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/20/middleeast/icc-israel-hamas-arrest-warrant-war-crimes-intl/index.html . . . starvation . . . denial of humanitarian relief . . . and deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” on the other.
This has never been the Israeli strategy or goal. And while it’s understandable that some observers might be confused by Israeli ultranationalists who are part of the coalition government, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, making remarks .. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtnHb__aU2o .. that would seemingly support some of the crimes Khan alleges, their views are not the government’s views, let alone Netanyahu and Gallant’s. While seeking to charge Netanyahu and Gallant may garner the support of certain countries and activists, it risks leading to the ICC’s own erosion of moral authority.
—Jonathan Panikoff .. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/jonathan-panikoff/ .. is the director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative. He is a former deputy national intelligence officer for the Near East at the US National Intelligence Council.
Israel’s expected challenges to the warrant applications are likely to fail
Today’s applications for arrest warrants are the first step for the ICC to hold accountable both the Hamas and Israeli leaders who have perpetrated war crimes and crimes against humanity since October 7. The next step is for a pretrial chamber to approve the arrest warrants. With a mountain of evidence backing the charges against leaders on both sides of the conflict, there is no reason to suspect the applications will fail.
Israel may challenge the charges against its officials, but the two most likely challenges will probably fail.
First, any arguments that the ICC lacks jurisdiction over Israeli leaders are simply wrong. The pretrial chamber has already settled that the court has jurisdiction over crimes committed either by Palestinian nationals or on the territory of the ICC-recognized State of Palestine—including crimes committed by Israelis in Gaza. The fact that Israel is not a member state of the ICC poses no issue. Just as the United States and other countries supported the ICC’s arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin—a national and head of a non-ICC member state—they too should support any arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.
Second, any claims that the principle of complementarity bars arrest warrants for Israeli leaders are similarly unfounded. There is no indication of any Israeli effort to investigate or prosecute Netanyahu and Gallant for their roles in war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Without any domestic accountability efforts for the same individuals and criminal charges, the ICC can proceed with its case.
[ The principle of complementarity is the basis of the relationship between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and national courts in relation to the application of international criminal law.
P - The principle of complementarity is implemented by the ICC through Articles 17 and 53 of the Rome Statute, it provides that a case is inadmissible before the ICC if it is currently under investigation by a state with jurisdiction over it. The concept of complementarity, however, allows for ICC jurisdiction in situations when the state is unable or unwilling to proceed with an investigation or where the state investigation is conducted in bad faith such as when it is used to shield the person from criminal responsibility.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/complementarity#:~:text=The%20principle%20of%20complementarity%20is%20implemented%20by%20the%20ICC%20through,state%20with%20jurisdiction%20over%20it. ]
If and when arrest warrants are issued, all ICC member states must comply with an order to arrest and surrender to the court any wanted person who is found on their territory. Failure to do so will undermine accountability and international justice globally.
—Elise Baker .. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/elise-baker/ .. is a senior staff lawyer for the Strategic Litigation Project.
Here’s what to expect with the court’s timeline and Israel’s judicial challenge
Today’s news of the ICC prosecution’s application for arrest warrants represents a significant step for many victims who view the ICC as a court of last resort and who have held hope for justice before the ICC—starting as far back as 2009, when the minister of justice for the Government of Palestine attempted .. https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/NR/rdonlyres/C6162BBF-FEB9-4FAF-AFA9-836106D2694A/284387/SituationinPalestine030412ENG.pdf .. to lodge an Article 12(3) declaration and refer the situation to the Court. With news of mounting external pressure on the ICC’s OTP and threats against prosecution staff and their families if warrants were to be pursued, it is of the utmost importance that the rule of law and the independence of the ICC is respected and all parties and organs of the court can work free of influence or pressure. This is especially important now that the decision on whether to issue the requested warrants is with the pretrial chamber.
There is no set time frame in which the pretrial chamber must make its decision on the prosecution’s application. The pretrial chamber will need to review the evidence submitted by the prosecution against the charges sought, but the chamber has previously acted with expediency to issue decisions granting arrest warrants within about a month. For example, the warrants .. https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-ukraine-icc-judges-issue-arrest-warrants-against-vladimir-vladimirovich-putin-and .. against Putin and Russian official Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova were issued in about a month’s time. So, too, were warrants against Russian military commanders Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov. Warrants against other heads of state were also issued in a similar time frame, including against Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi .. https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/CR2011_08499.PDF .. and Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo .. https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/80881e/pdf .
If the pretrial chamber decides to grant the prosecution’s request for arrest warrants, focus will shift to the principle of complementarity and the process for challenging the admissibility of the cases before the ICC. As mentioned by the prosecutor in his statement .. https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-applications-arrest-warrants-situation-state .. today, the principle of complementarity allows the ICC to defer a case to the national authorities only if there is an independent and impartial judicial process in place to show that the state is “willing and able” to conduct the case instead of the ICC.
However, attention should also be paid to the ICC’s prior case law on this standard and particularly to the high threshold imposed when Kenya attempted .. https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/CourtRecords/CR2011_13814.PDF .. to challenge the admissibility of the post-election violation cases against six Kenyan officials. Here, the ICC found that a state must demonstrate that it is not only “willing and able” to conduct the case, but that there are active steps being taken by the state to investigate the same persons named by the ICC and for the same conduct as reflected in the crimes within the ICC warrant. This would mean that, for example, should Israel decide to challenge the warrants’ admissibility (if issued), it would need to submit tangible proof that there is an open and active investigation in Israel against Netanyahu and Gallant for the same underlying conduct of the crimes charged by the ICC.
—Haydee Dijkstal .. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/haydee-dijkstal/ .. is a nonresident senior fellow with the Strategic Litigation Project at the Atlantic Council and a practicing attorney in international criminal law and international human rights law. She is currently representing victims at the ICC in the situation in Afghanistan and the situation in Ukraine.
The ICC is about to change the future of the Palestinian movement—unpredictably
One prediction I am confident in making: The ICC prosecutor’s efforts to get arrest warrants for three Hamas and two Israeli officials are not going to go the way most people expect.
Consider the arrest warrants sought for Hamas’s two top military commanders, Sinwar and Deif, and its political leader, Haniyeh. Because the ICC considers Palestine a state party, this obligates the Palestinian Authority to arrange the three Hamas leaders’ appearance in The Hague. No one expects this to happen anytime soon, if ever. More importantly, an arrest warrant will make it hard for those Palestinians and others who think that one key to lasting peace and a two-state solution is to bring Hamas together with Fatah into a reunited Palestinian movement. The prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants is likely to highlight the fact that everything that Hamas did on October 7, and every day that Hamas holds hostages, is a war crime and part of a campaign of crimes against humanity.
Hamas’s backers are likely to say that Israel’s refusal to recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction excuses Palestinians from turning Hamas officials over to The Hague. But such a claim quickly falls apart. International law is based on the principle of state consent. Israel is not a party to the ICC treaty and does not recognize the ICC as having any authority over Israeli officials. Palestinian officials cannot claim this. The basis for the ICC’s jurisdiction is that Palestine is a state party—without that, the case goes away.
If arrest warrants are issued, they will have an uncertain effect on whether, if, and how (or how not) Hamas and its supporters, who are determined to destroy the state of Israel, become integrated into the Palestinian movement. This is but one reason why this case is not going to go the way most people expect.
—Thomas S. Warrick .. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/thomas-s-warrick/ .. is a nonresident senior fellow and the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council. He previously served in the US State Department as deputy in the Office of the Secretary/Office of War Crimes Issues, among other roles.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/experts-react/experts-react-the-icc-prosecutor-wants-netanyahu-and-hamas-leaders-arrested-for-war-crimes/
Agree the odds are, like Trump, he has been guilty of some. Can only look at Trump and wonder bow they have escaped the law for so long. We know of course, understaffed is one chief cause. Imagine how many there are walking free, not only in America but worldwide.
Agree. eom
Two beautiful young women of the future..
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=977418643769235
Smart. Articulate. Feisty. Go girls...!
hap0206, Netanyahu said his mission was wipe Hamas off the map.
That was a fool's errand from the start.
Now he has more alienated Israel to multi-millions worldwide.
"...how stupid can you get... " .. you must have a mirror handy.
LOL Seems you, like Cohen, would have acceded to Trump's wishes and, in whatever way, tried to cover-up the
crook stuff in the way you thought best. I wonder how many cover-ups, or fiddling, you did do a better job on.
A timely surgical strike would have been a wiser, more acceptable rejoinder.
Netanyahu now has done a top job in Israel's interest on the world stage.
He, you and other supporters of this particular demolition derby are not friends of Israel
Yep, Egypt's families of Gods were a credit to human imagination. One now pales in comparison.
These days on that history even a children's guide serves a good reminder for me ..
https://libraryforkids.com/roman-conquest-of-egypt-bringing-two-ancient-civilizations-together/ ..
Hopped into bed at 1:30pm, just got up at 7:30pm. Longest afternoon bed outside hospital in decades.
Guess tiredness sneaks up sometimes.
LOL It does work well, when it works.
Your point is war, whose isn't? That has nothing to do with your sick sense of humor around 500 dying in a helicopter where in fact some did die. And it sure as hell doesn't excuse Israel's behavior these days. Or for the past 76 years. As far as your childishly silly
"I would guess no one was surprised— do you have a day once a year where you celebrate the US marines saving your AU asses from the Japs in 1942 — thought not — my point is war — it kills thousands of women and children— dam the japs — dam the Germans— dam the Islam fundelismatists — dam the Russians— dam, dam. Dam"
marines comment, Guadalcanal helped, and made up some for the two years Australia fought in the war before America finally entered. If you want to go that bs road.
And no, of course we don't celebrate the marines specifically as you don't celebrate the efforts of Australians against the enemy in WW11 long before Pearl Harbor. We do however of course have a number of commemorative days .. https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/commemoration/days .
Some say the first civilization. Others the best civilization of all ..
https://www.intriqjourney.com/why-is-egypt-considered-the-greatest-civilization-of-all/
Congrats Master..., living up to your name.
Me too. Even then though i'd be lost in the stories ..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exodus .
It's always felt way too much, and too complicated to me.
He needs them. The mound is high, and he's up and down. That ant thinks he's a hero, but has
always been more just an insect pest. You can probably visualize him now. He's obese too.
Hard to understand how anyone can be proud of that God.
A huge ant, with shoes made of gold.
Sister cities would have been better than sinning cities. A Lot was part of the deal, and there was a lot of negotiating going on ..
Sodom and Gomorrah are two of the five "cities of the plain" referred to in Genesis 13:12 and Genesis 19:29 that rebel against Chedorlaomer of Elam, to whom they were subject. At the Battle of Siddim, Chedorlaomer defeats them and takes many captives, including Lot, the nephew of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham. Abraham gathers his men, rescues Lot, and frees the cities.
Destruction of the cities
Later, God gives advance notice to Abraham that Sodom had a reputation for wickedness. Abraham asks God "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?" (Genesis 18:23). Starting at 50 people, Abraham negotiates with God to spare Sodom if 10 righteous people could be found.[8]
God sends two angels to destroy Sodom. Lot welcomes them into his home, but all the men of the town surround the house and demand that he surrender the visitors that they may "know" them. Lot offers the mob his virgin daughters to "do to them as you please", but they refuse and threaten to do worse to Lot. The angels strike the crowd blind.
The angels tell Lot "...the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it" (Genesis 19:13). The next morning, because Lot had lingered, the angels take Lot, Lot's wife, and his two daughters by the hand and out of the city, and tell him to flee to the hills and not look back. Lot says that the hills are too far away and asks to go to Zoar instead. Then God rains sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground (Genesis 19:24–25). Lot and his two daughters are saved, but his wife disregards the angels' warning, looks back, and is turned into a pillar of salt.[9]
Other biblical references
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_and_Gomorrah
Yep, Bill Nye is a wonderful guy.
hap0206, Not surprised you would see a fictitious tale about women and children dying as appropriate satire.
Either lack filters, or their filters are too clogged with misguided thoughts to understand what most see as common decency.
White Capital Paid for Kavanaugh’s Debts. Also Thomas’.
And in return they blocked debt forgiveness for students.
Noah Berlatsky
May 14, 2024
Periodically Democrats and progressives on social media will demand, “Who paid Brett Kavanaugh’s debts?!”
Before being appointed to the Supreme Court in 2018, Kavanaugh racked up .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/supreme-court-nominee-brett-kavanaugh-piled-up-credit-card-debt-by-purchasing-nationals-tickets-white-house-says/2018/07/11/8e3ad7d6-8460-11e8-9e80-403a221946a7_story.html .. $60,000 to $200,000 in debt, supposedly on baseball tickets for himself and colleagues. Kavanaugh, as a federal judge, does not make enough money to pay down debts like that. But by the time of his nomination, the debts were gone. So how did he do it?
Again, liberals and leftists have suggested that the debt payoff is a sign of corruption; Kavanaugh they insinuate is in the pocket of corporate and far right interests.
Kavanaugh certainly is a lickspittle for corporate and far right interests, but not because they’ve paid him off. Kavanaugh’s debts were retired entirely legitimately, through the useful mechanism of white generational wealth. Conspiracy theories about Kavanaugh’s debts distract from the actual mechanisms of white capitalist power and help to erase the hypocrisy and cruelty of the Supreme Court’s defense of hierarchy at the expense of the poor, students, and Black people.
Generational Wealth for Kavanaugh, But Not for Thomas
Kavanaugh’s been somewhat secretive about his finances, probably because he finds his luxury expenses and the way he is able to afford them somewhat embarrassing. “Embarrassing” though is not the same as illegal. Mother Jones, after an extensive investigation, concluded .. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/09/heres-the-truth-about-brett-kavanaughs-finances/ .. that “while he was maddeningly obtuse in admitting it, Kavanaugh seems to have gotten lots of money from his parents.”
Kavanaugh has mostly worked in the public sector and his take home pay has generally been modest. But his family is wealthy; his father, also a lawyer, was a muckety-muck with the US Chamber of Commerce and served .. https://prabook.com/web/everett.kavanaugh/1365780 .. as president of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association for 20 years. That means Kavanaugh can live well beyond his means and afford large debts in the sure knowledge that his family can pay them off. He isn’t corrupt, in the usual sense. He’s just rich.
The difference here with Clarence Thomas is instructive. Thomas was born in Jim Crow Georgia to an impoverished family; the shack where he grew up was insulated with newspapers and his family shared an outhouse with neighbors. (Kavanaugh’s family, needless to say, did not share an outhouse with neighbors.)
Thomas’ family has less money than Kavanaugh’s for straightforward reasons. Black people were targeted for systematic theft and dispossession in the South and countrywide. They could not build up cash reserves or resources. That’s why there’s a $240,120 discrepancy today in wealth between the median white household and the median Black household.
Thomas, like Kavanaugh, is an extremely ambitious man, who wants the political power that comes with a government position but also wants to live like a private sector elite. Kavanaugh could do this easily with a boost from his white wealthy family. Thomas, however, struggled. In 2000, he complained .. https://newrepublic.com/post/177629/real-reason-clarence-thomas-started-accepting-gifts-billionaires .. to influential Repubicans that his Supreme Court salary of $173,600 a year was so low that he might quit the court.
Thomas’ efforts to legislate salary increases didn’t work. But there was a workaround. Republican donors began lavishing Thomas and his wife with gifts in order to ensure that he wouldn’t leave the bench. Billionaire Harlan Crow provided Thomas with yacht vacations and private school tuition for Thomas’ nephew. He also renovated the property where Thomas’ mother lives. Donors also appear to have helped Thomas pay down extensive debts contracted through purchases of a home and of a private RV.
Thomas did not have direct access to white capital through his family like Kavanaugh did. But by pledging himself to the cause of wealthy white billionaires like Harlan Crowe, he was able to access white capital at the cost of the appearance (and indeed the actuality) of corrupt impropriety.
While their pathways to big-spender lifestyle were different, Kavanaugh and Thomas ultimately could live beyond their apparent means for the same reason—white capital takes care of its own.
Thomas and Kavanaugh join hands to crush poor Black students
Kavanaugh and Thomas illustrate, in different ways, the inequities of wealth distribution in the US. White people, thanks to generations of rapacious white supremacy, have been able to hoard wealth and resources from Black people. White billionaires have massive funds with which to bribe and corrupt officials and elevate those who protect their interests. If you have the right background and/or the right contacts, you can be—and are encouraged to be—an irresponsible spendthrift, pampered as you use your power to defend your benefactors.
In contrast, people with neither wealthy relatives nor wealthy contacts are shit out of luck. They have no easy path to advancement.
Instead, may poor Black students try to access social mobility by enrolling in school. But current school costs are punishing. With no generational wealth to buttress .. https://edtrust.org/black-student-debt/ .. them, “Black students are more likely to borrow, borrow more, struggle with repayment, and default on their student loans than their peers,” according to one analysis. Black college graduates on average owe .. https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-by-race .. $52,000 in debt, which is $25,000 more than white college graduates.
President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program was focused especially on trying to rectify some of these inequities by targeting Black students for relief. In Biden’s initial plan, most borrowers could receive up to $10,000 in relief, but Pell Grant recipients could receive $20,000. Black borrowers are twice as likely to have received Pell Grants as white borrowers, and all Pell Grant recipients are low income. Thus, Biden was specifically and thoughtfully providing .. https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/more-targeted-approach-student-loan-forgiveness .. the most aid to those with the least access to white capital.
Of course, Biden’s original debt relief plan was struck down .. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/30/politics/supreme-court-student-loan-forgiveness-biden/index.html .. by the court in a 6-3 decision. All the conservative justices, including one-time debtors Kavanaugh and Thomas, voted with the majority.
Biden has continued .. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/12/president-joe-biden-announces-7-4-billion-in-student-debt-cancellation-for-277000-more-americans-pursuing-every-path-available-to-cancel-student-debt/ .. to forgive as much student debt as he can given the Supreme Court restrictions. But his initial plan would have fundamentally transformed the debt landscape for students, and especially for poor and Black students. The Supreme Court put an end to that.
You could call this hypocrisy on the part of Kavanaugh and Thomas, and I wouldn’t argue with you. But their decision, and their lives, do also follow a consistent logic of fealty to white capital.
The justices believe that those born into white capital, or who have been chosen to serve white capital, should have no restrictions on their spending or on their impunity—they should be able to lie about or obfuscate the sources of their wealth (as Kavanaugh does) and/or to engage in grotesque ethical breaches (as Thomas did) with no accountability.
In contrast, poor people, Black people, and those without access to white capital should have no relief and no quarter. Debt frees the powerful and crushes the powerless. It is designed to advance white capital; when it does, it is righteous; when it doesn’t, it is illegal. That is the ethic of the powerful. Thomas and Kavanaugh and their peers on the court understand it well.
https://www.everythingishorrible.net/p/white-capital-paid-for-kavanaughs