CAN ENGLAND TAKE US (NEW ENGLAND) BACK PLEASE?

ENGLAND ARE THESE BOLDFACED CAPS BIG ENOUGH TO SEE OVER THERE? SOS! SOS!

I GUESS WE'LL GO BACK TO MEXICO.

No, piss off.

Please, we're sorry baby! Take us back! Come on, Whitney, baby! Things'll change between us! I promise!

google Michael Howard, reasons = self explanaTORY

Come on, can southern and midwestern 'economies' really buy tons of guns and missiles to lay siege to other countries?

If I could get her back here, I would.

THINGS FALL APART THE CENTRE CANNOT HOLD, BOYCOTT THE HEARTLAND.

World Leaders Seek to Adapt to Expected Bush Win

1 hour, 6 minutes ago

 World - Reuters

By Patrick Worsnip

LONDON (Reuters) - World leaders sought to adapt on Wednesday to the idea of four more years of President Bush (news - web sites), with friends hailing his expected re-election and critics vowing to make the best of it, especially in Iraq (news - web sites).

Many Arabs forecast further bloodshed in the Middle East because of what they saw as Bush's misguided policies, but elsewhere politicians and commentators said continuity had its merits compared with a change of guard in the White House.

The day after Tuesday's polls, Bush had moved close to victory over Democratic Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), but questions over provisional ballots in Ohio delayed a final result.

U.S. allies focused on what they saw as a more resolute line by Bush on the "war on terror" declared by the United States after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

"Terrorism has to be rejected in today's world and in thisrespect George Bush (news - web sites) is a very decisive leader who is right, simply right," said Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. "From Poland's perspective continued cooperation with George Bush is really good news."

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said: "I think he (Bush) has had a lot of information on how to deal with global security. I think many things will improve after the elections."

It was an election watched intently around the world with issues of deep international interest, including the U.S. involvement in Iraq and the state of the U.S. economy, dominating the closely fought race.

Leaders who supported the Iraq war and sent troops there such as Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Italy's Silvio Berlusconi had wanted to see Bush re-elected. Opponents of the war privately made clear they preferred Kerry.

In France, which was a leading critic of the war, Foreign Minister Michel Barnier called the election the start of "a new stage" irrespective of who won.

"We are going to work with the new U.S. administration that is formed," he said. "We have many things to do, both on the current crises -- in Iraq, the Middle East, Iran, the fate of the African continent -- and to renovate the transatlantic relationship."

Germany also opposed the Iraq war. There, Interior Minister Otto Schily said: "Despite the issue of our differing positions in the past, we all have to contribute to ensuring that the situation in Iraq stabilizes."

But Karsten Voigt, Germany's top official on relations with Washington, called on Bush to move toward the Europeans. "I hope for gestures, for offers to work together," he said.

INNOCENT VICTIMS

Middle Eastern peoples, with the exception of Israelis and some Iranians, reacted with resigned disappointment.

Khaled Maeena, editor of Saudi newspaper Arab News, said: "Four more years means (Bush) will be relentless in fighting so-called terrorism. More innocent people will be victims ... All the Saudis I've seen so far are disappointed."

Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesman for the Palestinian group Hamas which is fighting Israel, said: "We urge the new American administration to reconsider its positions ... Until they (do so) we will continue to regard the U.S. administration as hostile to our Arab and Muslim causes."

But Iyad Allawi, prime minister of the U.S.-backed Iraqi government, told Italian daily La Repubblica: "Whoever wins will be our friend. The United States liberated us from a dictator (Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)) from a very long period of war and agony."

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that between Bush and Kerry "there is no significant difference when it comes to their deep and warm support for Israel."

Leaders elsewhere also said the outcome would make no difference. "Regardless of which candidate wins, I think there will basically be no change in the recognition of friendship between Japan and the United States," said Japan's Koizumi.

"We will work with whoever the American voters chose," said Russia's Security Council chief, Igor Ivanov.

CONTINUITY

Many analysts agreed on the value of an unchanged administration, especially in troubled times.

Even in the Middle East, Farid Al-Khazin, political science professor at the American University of Beirut, said: "Continuity in policy at time of war is going to be crucial and I think re-election of Bush is far better."

For many, the crucial question now was whether Bush, if he wins, could restore goodwill eroded by Iraq and U.S. opposition to issues with widespread global appeal such as the Kyoto pact to fight global warming and the International Criminal Court.

Bush ally British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) has made progress on climate change a top issue for his leadership of the G8 next year.

"That's not an easy issue for Bush to shift on. He may be prepared to make some cosmetic, face-saving shifts to try and help Blair, but I can't see him making a fundamental shift of position," said British politics professor Wyn Grant.

http://www.friendster.com/user.php?uid=458457

Form a disorderly queue and I'll sponsor one of you...

x-post

I shall now go hide my head in shame because 90% of my country is populated by raging morons....

i often think/hope in the UK that despite the problem (race riots in Oldham, Bradford, BNP increases) it looks worse than it is because a more tolerant secular society is actually establishing itself, so the bigots just stand out more as a result. naive maybe.

"If New York, Connecticut and New Jersey seceded and established themselves as a separate country, we would become the world’s second-wealthiest nation in terms of per capita income. We’d be right behind those fat cats in Luxembourg--and we’d have bumped the U.S. out of second place.

But don’t start dining out on those flush paychecks just yet: A new study by Rutgers University, titled "Tri-State Affluence: Losing by Winning," has found that taxpayers in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey pay a disproportionately high share of federal income and employment taxes, ranking 49th, 40th and 50th, respectively, in the amount of aid we get back per tax dollar."

What's your ethnic background? Mine might make me eligible for a German passport, and I know people who have gotten Irish passports on similar grounds.

all parts of Freelance Hiveminder's last post deserve consideration for OTM permanent resident status, pls forward to relevant personnel

That's a problem, see. I'm a mutt. The only real ancestry I can trace back is like five generations (I think) ago when the family I get my last name from came over from east prussia prior to WWI. So that's probably too distant (and my blood too diluted at this point) to really help me out.