But mostly I thought the cuts were a brilliant way to sidestep all the foregone conclusions.
"The government needs to be seen to consult on the feed-in tariffs, but it is clear from this meeting this is all a foregone conclusion," said Daniel Green, chief executive of HomeSun.
If the judge rules that the dismissal is "unfair", the employee in a large firm has the right to receive as severance payments: 1) all the foregone earnings after the dismissal until the sentence (and the corresponding social security contributions); 2) either an extra financial compensation of 15 months earnings or the reinstatement in the firm (the choice is up to the worker).
Now if the Cubbies could only field a winning club... Finally, the NBA Finals have produced an unexpected conclusion to a season when all the foregone conclusions have proven a bit premature.
This was perhaps unsurprising, as the election was held on a Saturday, and Mr Jindal's overwhelming popularity, not to mention his crushing financial advantage, made his victory an all-but-foregone conclusion.
But the episode encapsulates what seems to be the differing attitude of Comcast on one side, and the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department on the other: Comcast believes the proposed merger is an all-but-foregone conclusion, while the government is saying "just hold on a minute".
In announcing his retirement last autumn, Mr. Koizumi anointed his son, Shinjiro, as successor — making the son's election as a fourth-generation lawmaker all but a foregone conclusion here.
"One Chase Manhattan Plaza is among New York City's most important mid-20th-century skyscrapers," the commission said in a statement released on Tuesday, when it voted unanimously to consider the designation, making it all but a foregone conclusion.
With these legislative experiments resulting in happy citizens and oodles of cash for both the companies and state coffers, the rest of the country eventually getting in on the action seems all but a foregone conclusion.
Massachusetts, one of the bluest (if not "the bluest") states in the Union, will go through the motions of having a general election in about another month, but it is all but a foregone conclusion that Coakley will be the next senator from the Bay State.
