And Euro-Socialism is Supposed to be a GOOD Thing, President Obama??

NATO faces 'dim' future: U.S. defence secretary

The United States' military alliance with Europe — the cornerstone of American security policy for six decades — faces a "dim, if not dismal" future, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Friday in a blunt valedictory address.

In his final policy speech as Pentagon chief, Gates questioned the viability of NATO, saying its members' penny-pinching and lack of political will could hasten the end of U.S. support. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed in 1949 as a U.S.-led bulwark against Soviet aggression, but in the post-Cold War era it has struggled to find a purpose.

"Future U.S. political leaders — those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me — may not consider the return on America's investment in NATO worth the cost," he told a European think-tank on the final day of an 11-day overseas journey.

Gates has made no secret of his frustration with NATO bureaucracy and the huge restrictions many European governments placed on their military participation in the Afghanistan war. He ruffled NATO feathers early in his tenure with a direct challenge to contribute more front-line troops that yielded few contributions.

Even so, Gates' assessment Friday that NATO is falling down on its obligations and foisting too much of the hard work on the U.S. was unusually harsh and unvarnished. He said both of NATO's main military operations now — Afghanistan and Libya — point up weaknesses and failures within the alliance.

"The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress — and in the American body politic writ large — to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defence," he said.

Without naming names, he blasted allies who are "willing and eager for American taxpayers to assume the growing security burden left by reductions in European defence budgets."

It's Ovah,..It's ALL Ovah,...

WHO Decides H1N1 Pandemic Is Over

GENEVA — The World Health Organization declared the swine flu pandemic officially over Tuesday, months after many national authorities started canceling vaccine orders and shutting down hot lines as the disease ebbed from the headlines.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said the organization's emergency committee of top flu experts advised her that the pandemic had "largely run its course" and the world is no longer in phase six — the highest influenza alert level.

"I fully agree with the committee's advice," Chan told reporters in a telephone briefing from her native Hong Kong.

The virus has now entered the "post-pandemic" phase, meaning disease activity around the world has returned to levels usually seen for seasonal influenza, she said.

But Chan cautioned against complacency, saying that even though hospitalizations and deaths have dropped sharply, countries should still keep a watchful eye for unusual patterns of infection and mutations that might render existing vaccines and antiviral drugs ineffective.

"It is likely that the virus will continue to cause serious disease in younger age groups," she said, urging high-risk groups such as pregnant women to continue seeking vaccination.

(snip)

WHO chief Chan insisted that declaring swine flu a pandemic had been the right decision, based on the internationally agreed rules that existed at the time.

"We have been aided by pure good luck," she said, adding that if the virus had mutated then the death rate could have been much higher.

As someone closely-involved at a county level, I'm going to strongly disagree with that last statement. While many may deride the government and media outlets for stirring mass-panic over the entire affair, I'm going to paraphrase one of my fellow county organizers: if nothing else, it was a good exercise in healthcare mobilization and deployment should we ever be attacked by a biologic agent!

Personally, over 50% of my company's paramedics received PA Dept of Health endorsements to administer the H1N1 vaccine and I'm looking at a freezer full of PA DoH-assigned H1N1 doses that will have to be destroyed because they're past their expiration dates.

Luck my ass!

Damn-n-n!

As anybody paid attention to global politics knows, we saw a sea change in most of Europe from leftist and left-center governments to more capitalist, conservatives ones. Hell, even Sarkozy was bold enough to say the French don't work hard enough! So, in the spirit of Monsieur Sarkozy, Frau Merkel of Germany, Signore Berlusconi of Italy and many others in the burgeoning democracies of the East: George W. Bush planted the seeds of a proper government on your soil, so now maybe its time we harvest what we've sown and get our true leaders to grow a spine like this gentleman:

Why a United Europe Will NEVER Beat the United States

European complaints fail to break gas stalemate

By Jim Heintz
Associated Press

MOSCOW - Vigorous complaints from European leaders failed yesterday to thaw the deep-rooted economic and political dispute between Russia and Ukraine that has blocked natural gas shipments to much of Europe in the dead of winter.

With the crisis moving into its second week, Moscow and Kiev both held rigidly to allegations that the other country was to blame for upending Europe's winter heating plans. The European Union appeared to have little leverage other than pleading for a restoration of the gas that heats their homes and powers their factories. Even EU threats of a possible wave of lawsuits did not move either nation into action.

In an apparent indication that no resolution is on the horizon, Russian President Dmitry A. Medvedev proposed European gas-consuming countries send their leaders to Moscow on Saturday for a summit.

Both Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin accused Ukraine of holding Europe hostage, while Kiev said Russia was deliberately erecting technical obstacles to delivering gas to Europe through Ukrainian pipelines.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the situation "unacceptable and incredible" and said he would urge EU energy companies to sue if a resolution does not come soon.

That suggestion was embraced by Ukraine's president. "We are ready to support any European efforts to force our Russian partners to resume full contract supplies," Viktor Yushchenko said in Poland after meeting with Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

The crisis has deepened European concerns about Russia's willingness to use its energy riches as a political tool. It also raised questions about the reliability of Ukraine, whose pro-Western leaders want to join the EU but are mired in dangerous disputes with Russia and intramural rivalries that have nearly paralyzed the government.

About 20 percent of Europe's gas comes from Russia via Ukrainian pipelines. Bulgaria and Slovakia are entirely dependent on Russia for gas, and the cutoff has inflicted wide hardships there.

Russia stopped selling gas to Ukraine on Jan. 1 because of a price dispute, then accused Ukraine of stealing Europe-bound gas and tuned off the taps entirely Jan. 7.

The Bitter American biliously blasts:

Pleading and lawsuits??? Well, that explains the Blitz in WWII, doesn't it??

Another One Bites the Dust!

London Mayor Voted Out, Among Many Labour Defeats in Britain

Friday, May 02, 2008

LONDON — A Conservative lawmaker with a knack for offensive remarks ousted the left-wing mayor of London in an upset that capped the ruling Labour Party's worst local election showing in four decades.

Results released early Saturday showed Boris Johnson defeating Ken Livingstone in Labour's first test at the polls since then-Prime Minister Tony Blair handed the reins last year to Gordon Brown, who has since been dogged by accusations of indecision and incompetence.

Voters also picked opposition candidates in more than 300 municipal council races, prompting Brown to humbly pledge to heed the scathing verdict.

Conservative leader David Cameron said his party's strong gains represented a key moment on the path to ousting Brown at the next national election, to be held before mid-2010.

"Three years ago the idea that the Conservatives would win London and build up a 20-point lead across the county would have been literally unthinkable," Cameron said.

"I do hope that it does show that the Conservatives have changed into a party that can again be trusted," Johnson said, shortly after the result was announced to cheers from raucous supporters. "Let's get cracking tomorrow and let's have a drink tonight."

Johnson, a former magazine editor, offered lavish praise for his rivals in the race and paid tribute to Livingstone's role in guiding London through the 2005 transit network bombings.

Livingstone — a staunch leftist who courted Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and faced off with the U.S. Embassy for unpaid congestion charges — said the blame for his defeat must rest at his door, not Brown's.

"I accept that responsibility and I regret that I couldn't take you to victory," the veteran politician said, looking pale and crestfallen. He leaves office immediately.

Johnson took 1,168,738 votes to Livingstone's 1,028,966 in a contest that hinged on a second round of voting.

Voters are asked to pick a first, then second choice as mayor — Johnson didn't win the required 50 percent initially, but triumphed when second preferences from eight minor candidates, eliminated after the first round, were added to the totals.

Uncombed and often awkward, Johnson is known both his wit and for remarks that are have offended minority communities and others.

He labeled members of the Commonwealth "piccaninnies" — a derogatory term for black people, referred to Africans as having "watermelon smiles," and likened his party's internal conflicts "to Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing."

Johnson's scorn has also been directed at gay marriage, which became legal in Britain in 2005. In his book "Friends, Voters, Countrymen," he said that if homosexuals could marry then why not "three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog."

Ex-party leader Michael Howard ordered Johnson to visit the northern city of Liverpool in 2004 to apologize after he wrote an editorial accusing the city's people of "wallowing" in victimhood after Liverpudlian Ken Bigley was taken hostage in Iraq and beheaded.

Johnson has cultivated a befuddled, rumpled image and was often seen clumsily pedaling his bicycle to Parliament.

His campaign billboards featured silhouettes of his iconic poses — scratching his unruly thatch of blond hair, ambling along a road with hands stuffed in wrinkled pockets, gesticulating wildly to make a debating point.

His first key test is likely to hinge on how he handles relations with China. As mayor, he will be expected to attend at least part of the Beijing Olympics — and his party will hope he is able to avoid offending the hosts.

"Chinese cultural influence is virtually nil, and unlikely to increase," Johnson wrote in one of his several books — on subjects ranging from sports cars to Ancient Rome.

Johnson said it is likely "there will be the odd ill-chosen expression" in his future.

Results from the 159 local councils which held ballots in England and Wales on Thursday showed the Conservatives gaining 260 seats with Labour losing 333. The Liberal Democrats gained 34 seats.

Most results were announced Friday, but a high turnout in London — where around 5.5million cast ballots — meant the count there continued until early Saturday.

The British Broadcasting Corp. projected the Conservatives would take 44 percent of the vote in England and Wales, putting it 20 points ahead of Labour. Brown's party was a point behind the Liberal Democrats, usually the country's third-largest party, according to the BBC.

Brown was credited with overseeing Britain's longest stretch of postwar prosperity and enjoyed a strong start as prime minister when he took the post in June.He claimed to represent substance after the slick Blair years, but a brief honeymoon with voters ended abruptly when he anguished over, and then ruled out, a snap national election in October.

Since then, grumbles over rising food and fuel prices, tax changes that have hit blue-collar workers and the costly nationalization of mortgage lender Northern Rock have conspired to send poll ratings for his Labour Party to a 20-year low.

One Labour peer, Lord Desai, recently quipped that Brown's true role was to show his party how much they missed Blair.


The TrekMedic pontificates:

Lord Desai is correct: these sort of local elections are frequently a portent of things to come at the national level. This is not unlike the 2006 elections being a sign of public dissatisfaction with Presient Bush and the republican Party.

Now,..with Sarkozy in France, Berlusconi back in Italy and Merkel in Germany taking Europe on the "right"path, could England be next?

The phone lines are open,....keep your fingers crossed.