ChezGiven

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/ju...ks-police-chief

5 years ago today.

Apart from the goals, thought it was a poor game. There was a lot at stake mind.

Not just democrats. A product of the perverse psychology of leadership in America. The Republican leader was blasted by fellow Republicans for criticising Obama on Afghanistan. "we must stand behind the President"? Why? Because if not, you are criticising and offending the 10 + million US Army families, their loved ones, the soldiers, everyone putting their neck on the line. On another note, law-makers (who are not all Democrats) run the legal system, not Obama. If they want to prosecute, they use the law, fuck all Obama can do about it. I sometimes think people have this view of society as some sort of coherent hierarchical structure with efficient distribution of authority and power. If the world looked like that (and you can attribute every action to the executive) there would no such thing as politics.

Keep Shelley in Athens - Cremona Memories The Samps - Yellow Jacket

Bad keeping though, Suarez would have saved that.

Africa = 1 billion people, Uruguay = 3 million people. Still, we're all African now. We dont give £60bn in aid to Uruguay every year though do we. If you consider there is a relationship between the world cup and the economy, then the idea is the better Africa do, the more likely that relationship will exist. I hate the patronising commentary, when you dont live in Britain its even more cringeworthy but i do very much 'get' the 'it would be great if Africa do well attitude' on the basis that its the poorest place on earth.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...alism-world-cup Not sure what to say.

Congrats! And to pass your induction, all you have to do is enjoy one night of pleasure with Louise: The icon in the bottom right of that obscures the best part of the photo. Its not a camel's toe, its a moose's knuckle.

Shoot Edward and Andrew circus-style out of a canon you mean?

He's robbed a chippie in Blyth apparently. Might just be a lookalike taking a good opportunity of course.

Would that include the question of whether the tourists would come if it was abolished though? It's often quoted (and may not still be true admittedly) that the biggest tourist attraction in Europe is The Palace of Versailles so its a question worth asking. Hard to judge that one but i think you can definitely argue that you get additional tourism from them. In which case the direct cost per person is much less than 62p. That benefit does mainly accrue to London based hoteliers, retailers and tat-shop owners though. The renovation of just the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles cost 16m euros btw and it was paid for by Vinci, not the state bizarrely enough.

re-read the the thread and you'll find a post from me predicting another england failure and stevie replying by saying, i quote, "fuck off you miserable cunt" Nah, am not re=reading anything, what round did you predict? don't think i predicted a round but i did forecast that we'd get knocked out on pens; we weren't even good enough for that though this time, sadly. i thought at best we'd get to the quarters. never thought we were genuine contenders. stevie's predictions for england as well as him insisting that we'd slaughter the germans if we met them were ridiculous and deserved to be ridiculed. ultimately, i think our abject humiliation at this world cup might be a good thing for the long term outlook. this set of players was never going to win it this time around and being knocked down to earth could hopefully reduce some of the national expectation and pressure on the players next time round. no doubt i'll be wrong mind and the usual hype about us being one of the favourites to win it will be all over the red tops again in four years time. I agree for the most part but the bookies didnt have the view that Germany were a better bet going into the tournament. On your next post down, Capello and Rooney massively under-achieved and they shoulder responsibility as much as the media-hype/bunch of individuals-type arguments. They set the odds dependent on the betting as well though. Not just who they think are the best side. Very true, i wouldnt know what the international betting markets looked like pre-tournament either but am sure FIFA.com had odds on it before it started. They still need a starting price though.

A cost-benefit appraisal of the Royal family would include income from Tourism. 62p is a direct cost per person, you'd have to balance that with the direct and indirect benefits to the country. Probably worth the money from a purely economical perspective (ignoring the politics and the principles obviously).

re-read the the thread and you'll find a post from me predicting another england failure and stevie replying by saying, i quote, "fuck off you miserable cunt" Nah, am not re=reading anything, what round did you predict? don't think i predicted a round but i did forecast that we'd get knocked out on pens; we weren't even good enough for that though this time, sadly. i thought at best we'd get to the quarters. never thought we were genuine contenders. stevie's predictions for england as well as him insisting that we'd slaughter the germans if we met them were ridiculous and deserved to be ridiculed. ultimately, i think our abject humiliation at this world cup might be a good thing for the long term outlook. this set of players was never going to win it this time around and being knocked down to earth could hopefully reduce some of the national expectation and pressure on the players next time round. no doubt i'll be wrong mind and the usual hype about us being one of the favourites to win it will be all over the red tops again in four years time. I agree for the most part but the bookies didnt have the view that Germany were a better bet going into the tournament. On your next post down, Capello and Rooney massively under-achieved and they shoulder responsibility as much as the media-hype/bunch of individuals-type arguments.

Fiar enough, thats never going to happen if you always predict failure though. Thats the safest seat in the house. Where England are concerned it is. Dan picked the Krauts though tbf. Lucky guess and fuck all to do with watching or even understanding their football or style of play in the last 12 months. Not even the Germans picked the Germans.

Fiar enough, thats never going to happen if you always predict failure though. Thats the safest seat in the house.

The most deluded man in the history of the world cup.

re-read the the thread and you'll find a post from me predicting another england failure and stevie replying by saying, i quote, "fuck off you miserable cunt" Nah, am not re=reading anything, what round did you predict?

If it was so laughable, where were all the posts arguing against his position? I had no idea if we could win it but i was hoping beyond all hope that we might do well. Whats wrong with that? Whats the world come to when a genuine fan cant get genuinely over-optimistic and genuinely over-excited ahead of a big tournament? To turn round now and laugh at that optimism seems churlish to say the least. If there is no belief, however slim, theres no point turning up or watching it really.

Spanish? Jockinese?

Am supporting Germany against Spain and if they win, then they deserve my support in the final.

Their reasons for hating the Dutch must be quite involved, the time its taking.

Who has really shone though? Ozil & Villa, possibly Klose. Forlan? Suarez, Sneijder, Lucio, Higuaín, Honda, Muller, Vittek......Donovan Shone? Or have looked good? None of them for me have been outstanding. Good but not shining stars. Klose's finishing has been good and he has worked hard but he hasnt 'shone'. I thought thats what was being discussed here, not players who have had good tournaments but players who have really stood out. Honda was ok, Vittek looked decent in the group stages, Donovan enhanced his reputation etc. Anyone who added a couple of million or more to their value. Aye ok but one of the features of the tournament has been the poor performances the 'star' players, the likes of Torres, Ronaldo, Rooney, Kaka (shit anyway) and even Messi to an extent (no goals anyway). I guess one theory could be that the competition (and by that we could infer 'current climate in international football') has shown that team work is more important than star players. Obviously linked to the standard of coaches and tactical organisation. Adebayor was saying just as much on telly the other day. His example was the Ivory Coast looking a far better team without Drogba who's too big for his boots and is a star individual who drags the whole team down when he's not on fire. Seemed an odd point for him to be making having led the Togo player revolt over bonus payments in 2006. And an old German player (forgotten which one) said something similar about Ballack.

Who has really shone though? Ozil & Villa, possibly Klose. Forlan? Suarez, Sneijder, Lucio, Higuaín, Honda, Muller, Vittek......Donovan Shone? Or have looked good? None of them for me have been outstanding. Good but not shining stars. Klose's finishing has been good and he has worked hard but he hasnt 'shone'. I thought thats what was being discussed here, not players who have had good tournaments but players who have really stood out. Honda was ok, Vittek looked decent in the group stages, Donovan enhanced his reputation etc. Anyone who added a couple of million or more to their value. Aye ok but one of the features of the tournament has been the poor performances the 'star' players, the likes of Torres, Ronaldo, Rooney, Kaka (shit anyway) and even Messi to an extent (no goals anyway). I guess one theory could be that the competition (and by that we could infer 'current climate in international football') has shown that team work is more important than star players. Obviously linked to the standard of coaches and tactical organisation.