Happy Face

I'd be surprised if they pay that much. In the 77 days since the spill (11 weeks) it's only cost them $3 billion. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10505423.stm 7 days after the explosion first quarter (12 week) profits announced were almost double that - $5.6 billion. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/ap...oil-prices-rise

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_gr...5/bp/index.html Department of Homeland Security? This wouldn't be anti-terror laws being used outside of it's purported intent, would it?

Stevie called me an idiot too.

Sherlock Holmes - Not bad. Downey Junior's already done a better buddy cop movie though, watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang instead.

The Visitor A bored widower finds a muslim couple squatting in his New York apartment, becomes friendly with them and starts enjoying life a bit more. From the writer/director of The Station Agent (the bloke who played the scumbag reporter in the last season of The Wire) it has lots of similarities to that film where lonely outsiders find comfort in unlikely friendships. It goes on to cover the terrible situation whereby in America guilt is assumed (almost exclusively and apparently entirely) among terrorist suspects irrespective of evidence with little or no outrage at how much that betrays the constitution. Canny.

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.

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.

Who has really shone though? Ozil & Villa, possibly Klose. Forlan? Which players in general? A couple of the lads off Ghana, Annan and the winger. Most of the German team. Forlan has been superb. I'd say that they havent individually shone, they've played like a team. A couple have stood out individually. But they''ve all been solid at the very least. Even a big name like Schweinsteiger that played in the champions league final has come out with his reputation enhanced rather than sullied.

Who has really shone though? Ozil & Villa, possibly Klose. Forlan? Suarez, Sneijder, Lucio, Higuaín, Honda, Muller, Vittek......Donovan

Filthy text time

There's more Premier League players in the finals than from any other country. Over 100. It's difficult to come up with any that have been any better than 'solid', and only a few have managed that.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_env...nt/10506283.stm

"Dunga sacked as Brazil head coach"

Indeed. Across the Gallowgate, East Stand, Milburn and the corners availibility is 'good' or 'very good' in at least two thirds of the blocks on sale. In the Leazes corner vitually the whole area has 'good'/'very good' availibility. Only 3 blocks in the (non-corporate/non balcony) stadium are sold out (all on the East Stand half way line).

Which Premier League players have shined?

Go to the official website and click through as if you're buying one. It takes you to the stadium layout and shows all the available seats. There's still plenty.

I'm Nikodimos Papavasiliou

That was the jist of my post. Getting rid of 10% of MP's who (no matter what you think of their ability to initiate change) we can influence and who actually wield some power will save virtually nothing in terms of overall budget. But we seem to value it less than an outdated monarchy that (while still a drop in the ocean) costs each of us several times more. Agent, as a strong proponent of spending cuts, shouldn't the Royal family (cost £38m) come before 10% of MPs (cost £4m salary + £9m expenses)? Why is the royal family good value but those MPs aren't?

I'm not one to start a new topic if I can cram it in another existing one.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/10507329.stm £38.2m would cover the basic salary of 578 MP's. Perhaps we should get rid of a couple of royals instead of 10% of MPs.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technolog...00526-wddd.html

i don't get why americans don't like nice lager. i just got back from vegas, it's light beer all the way out there. I don't think their taste in lager is any worse than most British people's like, do you? Even Bud Light is nicer than Carling. Aye. They have lovely stuff such as Leffe and Old Rasputin too. I should have said "sell". I know it's Belgian.

i don't get why americans don't like nice lager. i just got back from vegas, it's light beer all the way out there. I don't think their taste in lager is any worse than most British people's like, do you? Even Bud Light is nicer than Carling. Aye. They have lovely stuff such as Leffe and Old Rasputin too.

I'd guess 95% of it is due to the media hyping the England team beyond belief as some kind of massive footballing superpower when they are predominantly just quarter-finalists at best. The whole "this is our time" thing every single time a major tournament rolls around, despite the fact that England have only ever reached one tournament final and 3 semi-finals. Contrast that with Germany, who are a true superpower (and have been frequently described as average recently) who have reached 7 finals and 11? semi-finals. England are an also-ran and the sooner the media accept that, the better. i didnt think you were a man to listen to the media Sima. I don't think any football follower does in all honesty. There must only be about 3 million people in the country that actually go to watch football most weekends. I think only a small proportion of them thought we might have any hope. Hoping the papers might one day cater to those most interested in the sport by providing balanced coverage is fantasy though. The papers cater to the 30 million that tune in once every 4 years cos it sells more. The majority of readers want the story to be either that we're the best thing since sliced bread or the most shambolic wasters they've ever seen. The facts don't come into it.

Isn't there a shortage of teachers?