Path: ccsf.homeunix.org!ccsf.homeunix.org!news1.wakwak.com!nf1.xephion.ne.jp!onion.ish.org!onodera-news!newsfeed.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!news.stealth.net news.stealth.net!news.stealth.net!newsfeed.mountaincable.net!cyclone01.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com!news01.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com.POSTED!not-for-mail User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/10.0.0.1309 Subject: Re: France has change of heart! We can invade! From: Jason Cormier Newsgroups: fj.life.in-japan Message-ID: References: Mime-version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Lines: 47 Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 22:33:01 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.153.53.3 X-Complaints-To: abuse@rogers.com X-Trace: news01.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com 1057271581 24.153.53.3 (Thu, 03 Jul 2003 18:33:01 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 03 Jul 2003 18:33:01 EDT Xref: ccsf.homeunix.org fj.life.in-japan:1824 On 7/3/03 16:35, in article be243e$gko2$1@ID-105084.news.dfncis.de, "Kevin Gowen" wrote: >>> Um, Jason, why do you think the US could renegotiate? Member States >>> don't get to negotiate what percentage of UN expenses is apportioned >>> to them by the General Assembly. >> >> Interesting choice of words. > > No more interesting than Article 17(2): > "The expenses of the Organization shall be borne by the Members as > apportioned by the General Assembly." If only the UN was solely run via the General Assembly... >> The percentage isn't negotiated but the >> total amount certainly is. > > Here we have a shift of ground. The US has gone from agreeing to pay a given > percentage of the UN budget to simply agreeing to the total amount of the UN > budget. No, here we have Kevin putting another's words into my mouth. I never said the US paid based on a a percentage. Michael wondered why their portion, regardless of how that derived, was so high. I made the point that they were not forced into this situation. I did not comment as to whether it was decided as a percentage. >> Do you think the apportioned expenses are >> numbers pulled out of thin air and without any prior discussion? > > I never said anything of the kind, Jed. Kevin, I thought you already felt secure in your superiority to us intellectual lightweights. Yet here you are, sounding much like a person with a massive inferiority complex. > Of course there is prior discussion, > but not in the General Assembly. Discussion takes place in the GA's > Administrative and Budgetary Committee (5th committee of the UNGA). The > United States has no representative in its bureau. Are you familiar with the workings of such committees? (Not just budgetary.) They do not operate in a vacuum and they most certainly do not make decisions without outside input.