Tuesday, July 27, 2010

ACTA "intercessional" [sic?] meeting in Washington, August 16, 2010

It seems that there will be an "intercessional" [sic?] ACTA meeting in Washington, D.C. on August 16, 2010.

Either somebody (USTR?) can't spell or this is a great pun or Freudian slip.

"Intercession" usually has religious significance, i.e. see here and here, i.e. in the sense of mediating between two parties who can't agree, which seems to be the situation these days between the US and the EU over ACTA, which both parties are pursuing with religious-like fervour but also with fervent disagreement over just how excessive and aggressive the agreement should be.

Whether this will be an "intercessional" or "intersessional" meeting, apparently the meeting will be only between the USA and the EU, with the less important countries, in their view, such as Canada not invited.

Speaking of religion, I guess that "They also serve who only stand and wait..."

HK

1 comment:

  1. If we're going to be pedantic...why would you mediate between two parties who can agree? The more common use of the word is a prayer to a deity, which might actually be more apt here, although I'm sure you'll recall the House of Lords decision in Gilmour v Coats (1949) that as the value of intercessory prayer couldn't be proved, there was no public benefit sufficient to qualify for charitable purpose. So, either way, the Washington meeting is no doubt doomed.

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