Quote of the Day

[pinkozcat]

"The accounting day for the announcements made so far in the election campaign is the day when the pre-election financial projection statement is released. So when the pre-election financial projection statement is released, that is the accounting day for the commitments we have released to date."

Western Australian State Treasurer Eric Ripper responds to a question about how much money Labor has spent in the election so far.

[RobertGraves]

Sir Humphrey would be proud.

[demgoddess]

Oh my gosh, I just got a headache from trying to understand that. (And I know, that was my first mistake).

[RobertGraves]

'United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong. A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam.' Peter Grose, New York Times, 4 September 1967.

www.truthout.com

[RobertGraves]

Young people are threatened... by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural inclination to avoid hard work by promising the immediate satisfaction of every desire.
Pope John Paul II

Just young people?

[RobertGraves]

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C. S. Lewis

[RobertGraves]

"Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II the cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord."

Pope Benedict XVI

I was actually thinking of a quote from here instead:

people.csail.mit.edu/people/paulfitz/spanish/script.html

[RobertGraves]

"I said to him the other day, 'George, if you really want to end tyranny in this world, you're going to have to stay up later,'"

Laura Bush

[Tenarke]

Our George likes to make things perfectly clear:

"Because the—all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those—changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be—or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the—like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate—the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those—if that growth is affected, it will help on the red."

Explaining his plan to save Social Security, Tampa, Fla., Feb. 4, 2005

[RobertGraves]

"When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become president; I'm beginning to believe it."

– Clarence Darrow (US defence lawyer, 1857-1938)

[Wyndham]

US Coastguard Petty Officer when asked why Great Lake cutters are currently being armed, in violation of an almost two hundred year old treaty --

"We're trying to be prepared in case something happens . . . I don't know what it is, but I know I want to be prepared for it when it happens. We need to conduct these live-fire exercises so we are prepared for whatever it may be. If we are not prepared for it, there are going to be questions about why we weren't prepared for it.”

[RobertGraves]

I often find that Monty Python have heightened my sense of the ridiculous to such an extent that examples, like below, of 'real life' seem to be so obviously parodies - and, it amazes me more people do not see this in dat to day life.

Australians imho (and this is a crude generalisation) often seem to lack a sense of the ridiculous and increasingly seem take themselves to seriously. For example, the whole Steve Irwin thing. It is always sad when someone loses their life prematurely but the deification of the guy seems very over the top. Germaine Greer wrote and rticle which pointed out that he was a total d*ckhead - and of course she has been pilloried (again). She enjoys this it seems.
www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,1865124,00.html

[Wyndham]

I think we are a little bit opposite Robert. We pump out the comics in greater excess even to collective Jewry, but have a real yearning to be taken seriously. For this reason, every time somebody gets killed in Afghanistan you'd think the Queen had died. I guess we want to lead significant lives, and pine for 1944 (probably a bad thing, all in all).