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Frank-Castle

Listed below are comments made by Frank-Castle between Friday, 30th October 2009 and Friday, 20th November 2009.

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Britain lands key EU foreign policy post 09:44am on 20 Nov 2009 You have the chutzpah of EU politics, we have an unelected person who has no meaningful experience in foreign affairs being shoehorned into a the EU Foreign Affairs job.

And the best thing Nick Robinson can say about her is, er, she's a nice person.

The Eurosceptics really don't need to bother trying to drum up public opinion do they? Not with the EU doing a bang up job of shamelessly highlighting what a shoddy set-up it all is.
If you thought it was all over... 12:46pm on 19 Nov 2009 If Blair wishes to help out Labour, I trust he'll be as successful as he has been as a Middle East peace envoy...
Plotters, quitters and fighters 4:42pm on 16 Nov 2009 I can't see Brown wanting to fight the GE - unless the plotters start up again, I suspect he'll quit as Brown has never faced a proper election.

He was parachuted into a safe seat, bullied his way to the position of PM and bottled out of an election he stood a good chance of winning. Brown prefers more Machiavellian methods than facing up to a challenge, witness his unseating of Blair and his use of the likes of McBride.

If the plotters try to push him, he'll resist, but if they leave him be I suspect he'll depart in the New Year for 'medical reasons' or 'for the benefit of the party' or somesuch.
Pyramid would be positive step for SFL 11:23am on 13 Nov 2009 @Jon

I see your point about the financial issues in England, but given the larger amount of money available, would it not be an opportunity for a well-run Scottish club to show us south of the border a thing or two? ;)

Plus, from what I hear and read, a few SPL teams aren't in the rudest of fiscal health.

I disagree with the state of Scottish football, looking at Rangers and Celtic in Europe and the fact Scotland haven't qualified for the WC or Euro's for some time, something is amiss.

Money may not be the solution, but I suspect it'll help, as will being in larger and more competitive leagues.

@Starfire_995

Aye, long journeys would be a pain - but already you have the prospect of Plymouth vs Newcastle, which comes in at over two-thirds of that.

With distance, any league involving Scottish teams will have problems due to the difference in road density (no bad thing if you ask me!), even the a pyramid structure opens up the prospect of Thurso vs Stranraer...
Pyramid would be positive step for SFL 2:24pm on 12 Nov 2009 Gartsides plan has been shot down. I wouldn't mind seeing the Old Firm in the EPL, but not a price of locking out teams from outside an EPL1 and 2.

If they want to help promoted teams in the EPL, they ought to look at newly promoted teams being safe from relegation for their first season or two - that would allow them to build up their squads, whilst also making teams who habitually hover just above the relegation places somewhat antsy as being outside of the bottom three would no longer be a guarantee of avoiding the drop for already established sides.

Perhaps a full merger between Scottish and English FA's could be looked at? Rather than just the Old Firm gaining access to the English leagues money, let the whole of Scottish football have a go? I know the SFA value their independence, but Scottish footballs in a mess, and surely such a concept would be better than an Atlantic League or the Old Firm departing the SPL?

It'd mean creating another couple of leagues to accommodate the extra clubs though.
Cautious good cheer 12:34pm on 12 Nov 2009 The jobless figure don't tell the whole story.

Look at the increase in part-time work, and you'll see many people are opting for less hours rather than unemployment.

Also, we're in the quarter where seasonal jobs ramp up for the Christmas and New Year blitz.

Another marker is when sales start, and they already have. That tells you just how confident many retailers are.
The real debate has scarcely begun 11:41am on 11 Nov 2009 I see Voldemort has waded in by saying the Sun has indulged in "crude politicking".

Whilst correct, it does seem rather hypocritical coming from a man, and a political party, that has spent a decade plus engaging in lowest-common denominator politics with spin and smears.
Nutt row deepens as more scientists quit 10:33pm on 10 Nov 2009 "No government has done more for the scientific community than this government."

I'm sure Dr David Kelly would have some comment on that, were he still breathing...

@oldsitkaspruce

Nutt kept within his remit, which was to advise. The government is of course under no obligation to follow that advice, but then Dr Nutt wasn't under any obligation to keep quiet when a series of Home Secretaries not only ignored the science - despite protestations of "science-based policy" - but actively lied.

The bald facts are the war on drugs we've been pursuing relentlessly has been one hell of an expensive failure, the market has increased year-on-year, the number of addicts has increased and crime gangs have gotten to the point they practically run parts of, not only some cities, but actual nations.

Now we can continue doing the same failed routine - one definition of insanity - or we can adopt a policy that has actually demonstrably succeeded, like Portugal, where decriminalization has lead to a reduction of drug use, overdoses, HIV infections and deaths.

Now the Daily Mail crowd may hate that little fact, but then their readership has a more tenuous grasp of reality than most druggies.
The real debate has scarcely begun 1:56pm on 10 Nov 2009 Ugh, what a mess.

Originally I felt sorry for Brown, his poor eyesight being the reason the letter was badly written in the first place.

Then the phone call. And we yet again got to see a man incapable of admitting fault or accepting blame, someone who squirms under the spotlight of responsibility.

As for the troops equipment, again, a problem of his own making. Instead of petulantly refusing to find "Blair's wars" he should have considered the fact that, when he had his way, he'd be left holding the bag.

And then we have the Sun, displaying why it's such an odious paper.

Brown may be, at heart, a decent man, but in any era, especially the modern one, he's a terrible leader. He needs to go soon, he's already sullied his legacy and the longer he remains PM, the worse he's going to look, both now and in the history books of the future.
Over to you, Foreign Secretary 12:42pm on 30 Oct 2009 Labour engaging in a smear campaign? Colour me shocked!

Perhaps Labour should take a look at it's own allies in Europe - who include former terrorists, 9/11 conspiracy nuts, and one lovely chap called Andrzej Lepper who has previously been jailed for assault, indulged in sexual harassment and has a honorary degree from a Collegiate which includes David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the KKK, and famously defended by Nick Griffin last week.

Maybe the Tories should start hanging out Labours dirty laundry, I'd really love to see Millipede have a go at defending Labours own friendly anti-semites in a tour de force of abject hypocrisy.

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