To be sure, fortune and success are inseparable in politics. But Merkel hasn t tried to press her luck since then.

Tom must be having fun.

That must be Jamal.

Esperanto is surely an enormous waste of time!

There is no doubt that the world economy is in trouble.

It is blatantly obvious that for Russia s elites, weakness and cooperation are mutually exclusive.

To be sure, obstacles remain.

Nobody likes to be found wrong.

History, of course, never repeats itself exactly.

Of course, that s only my own experience. Through extreme luck, I happened to sit next to former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O Connor at a recent dinner.

Of course the pressure to expand is always irresistible.

The results would be devastating.

To be sure, Khodorkovsky is no saint.

To be sure, violence is always a problem.

To be sure, there is something deranged about North Korea s political system.

There have certainly been mistakes in Afghanistan.

Investors, of course, are hedging their bets.

Of course, censorship is not a big secret in China.

The grassroots revolt will, of course, continue.

Obama s priorities in foreign policy are definitely sound.

(Of course, there are notable exceptions.)

Of course, the sins of the father should never be visited on the son.

Meles was certainly both.

Savings are, of course, no bad thing.

Without doubt Beijing is facing a huge challenge.

Of course, challenges remain.

Those days are gone.

The Pope has an answer, of course.

To be sure, the rebels have made some progress.

Politics is, of course, full of reversals of fortune.

Bo certainly did not disappoint.

Inflation has certainly been very low.

These responses are, of course, partly complementary.

Of course, Tymoshenko is no saint.

China certainly bears some responsibility.

Of course, modern technology alone cannot bring about a revolution.

Christian religions certainly helped to shape European civilization.

In the long run, more diversity is needed.

There is no doubt about it.

There is no question about it.

Of course, extra parliamentary pressures cannot simply be ignored.

Of course, such a choice carries risks. Do we know the people we would be helping?

To be sure, there are some gaps in this narrative.

Of course, this does not mean that global warming has no impact on crops.

Thaksin knows this.