Words

"Were it not for The Clash, punk would have been just a sneer,
a safety pin and a pair of bondage trousers."
Political folksinger Billy Bragg, The Nation website
(http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20031020&s=alterman) column Stop the Presses by
Eric Alterman, 'Death and Glory' Posted October 2, 2003
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"We refuse to participate in air force attacks on civilian
populations. We refuse to continue harming innocent
civilians."
Text from a letter sent to the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon, signed by 27 air force pilots,
including Brigadier General Yiftach Spector, an Israeli hero who took part in Israel's
bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor near Osirak, Iraq in 1981. The pilots refuse to take part in
air strikes against Palistinian civilian areas, ordered by Sharon.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 25 September, 2003; p. A4
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"Actually, I feel sorry that those soliders were killed last
night. They were human beings who were pushed into our
country by their government. They are guilty of nothing. But
they never should have entered here. They are not welcome
here."
Mohamed Mahmoud, a resident of the village Sinai in Iraq, commenting on the deaths of two
U.S. soliders near his village on 20 September, 2003.
Seattle Times; 22 September, 2003; p. A8
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"You walk into my clothes closet and it's dark in there . . .
DARK."
Johnny Cash, legendary American and "the man in black", answering interviewer Larry
King's question about whether he had ever given a concert wearing blue clothes.
CNN Headline News; 11:30 Pacific Time USA; 12 September, 2003
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"The average person doesn't want to be smuggled into
America anymore. The economy is so terrible there."
Mrs. Zhou Xuequing of Changle China, who's husband left China ten years earlier to work
as a cook in New York City. Her husband currently sends home a few hundred dollars a
month, but is depressed and in bad health.
Seattle Times; 7 September, 2003; p. A-21
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"Maybe this is worth it"
Musician Warren Zevon, who is bedridden with terminal lung cancer, upon learning that
Bob Dylan was covering his songs in recent Dylan concerts.
Seattle Times; 4 August, 2003; p K4
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"He honors and respects only one thing - wealth. And he
wants to make sure that those who have it, keep it."
United States Senator John Edwards, talking about U.S. President George Bush Jr..
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 29 July, 2003; p. A3
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"If you steal from enough people, somehow you wind up doing
your own thing."
American musical icon, Willie Nelson, on his musical influences.
Seattle Times; 27 July, 2003; p. K2
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"It really comes down to the administration misrepresenting
the facts on an issue that was a fundamental justification for
going to war."
Joseph Wilson, retired U.S. ambassador who was sent on an eight day mission to Niger in
early 2002 by the CIA, apparently at the direction of U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney, to
investigate claims that Iraq had attempted to obtain uranium in Niger, for nuclear weapons.
Wilson reported that the documents used to justify the claims were forgeries and that no
evidence of such an attempt existed. He states that it is "inconceivable" that top U.S. and
British officials were unaware of the faked documents in January 2003 when U.S. President
George Bush Jr. said in his state of the union address to the U.S. Congress and the American
people that "the British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought
significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
Seattle Times; 6 July 2003; p. A5
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"Keith has a certain grace, elegance, wit and wisdom about
him that I thought would be useful."
Actor Johnny Depp on why he chose Rock Music legend Keith Richards to as a model for
the pirate character, Jack Sparrow, that he portrays in the 2003 film, Pirates of the Caribbean.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 5 July 2003; p E3
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"An economist, after all, has been defined as someone who
would marry Cindy Crawford for her money."
Pete Rose, Chief Executive of Expeditors International of Washington, and a critic of Wall
Street pomposity and corporate greed.
Seattle Times; 8 June, 2003 p. N-17
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"We cannot be both ignorant and free."
Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, quoted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
29 May, 2003; p. B-6
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"Libraries and bookstores should not be allowed to become
safe havens for terrorists."
Viet Dinh, Head of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Policy.
Seattle Times; 21 May, 2003; p. A4
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"American blood has been shed on foreign soil in defense of
the president's policies. This is not some made-for-TV
backdrop for a campaign commercial."
Sen. Robert Byrd, D- West Virginia, commenting on George Bush Jr.'s trip to a U.S. aircraft
carrier 30 miles from San Diego, in a sharply worded speech delivered on the Senate floor.
CNN Website; 6 May 2003;
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/06/byrd.bush/index.html
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"Even in the most acute moment of the fight for its survival,
the Iraqi regime did not use [chemical weapons]. If in the last
moment of its existence it did not use them, it means they did
not exist."
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 12 April, 2003; page A10
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"Nothing is more important in the face of war than cutting
taxes."
Flagpin-on-the-lapel patriot, and Republican Congressman, Tom Delay of Texas.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 9 April, 2003; page B6
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"I'm not going to be questioned about my patriotism by the
likes of Tom Delay."
Senator John Kerry, who was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts
for service as a solider during the Vietnam War. Kerry was responding to Congressman Tom
Delay's statement that Kerry's remarks that George Bush Jr. should be replaced as U.S.
President in 2004, were unpatriotic. House Majority Leader Delay, a strong supporter of
Bush Jr.'s 2003 war on Iraq, chose not to serve in the military during the Vietnam War.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 9 April, 2003; page B6
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"Evidently there is some skepticism here in Europe about
whether or not I mean what I say. Saddam Hussein clearly
knows I mean what I say."
Tough guy George Bush Jr., speaking to reporters in Ireland about whether or not he sees a
role for the United Nations to play, in putting together a post-Saddam Hussein-Iraq.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 9 April, 2003; page A9
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"We are at a very serious moment dealing with very serious
issues and we are not focusing on the name you give to
potatoes."
Nathalie Loisau of the French Embassy to the United States, reacting to the House of
Representatives changing the name of French fries served in its cafeteria to "freedom fries."
Another official pointed out that French fries actually come from Belgium.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 12 March, 2003; p. A10
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"Television taught people to watch 'Friends' rather than have
friends. Today relatively, little of our leisure time is spent
interacting with other people. Now we spend our time
observing machines."
Harvard University Professor Robert Putnam, author of the book 'Bowling Alone,' which
documents the demise of social interaction in favor of individual pursuits.
Seattle Times; 23 February, 2003; p A9
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"He's the ultimate recipient of a set-aside program. The
Supreme Court set aside the whole election."
The Most Reverend Al Sharpton, New York gadfly, commenting of George Bush, Jr.'s
opposition to affirmative action.
Seattle Times; 23 February, 2003; p A6
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"He did have the heart of a child, the brain of a genius, and the
courage of a lion."
Captain Chuck Brady, Flight surgeon at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, where astronaut
Willie McCool had been stationed as a pilot. McCool died in the space shuttle Columbia
exploded 200,000 feet above earth on 2 February, 2003
Seattle Times; 2 February, 2003 p A4
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"Ours is a God of Mercy. Theirs is a God of violence."
Reverend J.J. Hayab, church pastor and state secretary of the Christian Association of
Nigeria, commenting on the differences he sees between Christianity and Islam after weeks of
violence and rioting were sparked by an attempt to hold a Miss World beauty pageant in the
country. The pageant rankled Islamic religious sensibilities in a region that saw 3000 people
killed in 2000 during the imposition of sharia, or Islamic law, in the northern part of Nigeria.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 29 November, 2002; p A4
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"It disgusts me. This morning, I'm ashamed to be a
Republican."
Joseph Counter, a political consultant and devoted Plano, Texas Republican, talking about a
provision placed in domestic security legislation that forces lawsuits against pharmaceutical
giant Eli Lilly, into a special "vaccine court." This may result in the dismissal of thousands of
cases, including any remedy that Counter and his family may have due to cognitive and
motor-skills damage sustained by his six-year-old son, after being treated with the Eli Lilly
drug, thimerosal. Congress had rejected the provision giving favorable treatment to the giant
drug company, several times. The provision was inserted at the last minute and no
Congressman or Senator can be found to take credit for the provision's insertion. George
Bush, Sr. sat on Eli Lilly's Board of Directors in the late 1970s. The current Bush
administration's White House Budget Director, Mitchell Daniels, Jr., is a former Eli Lilly
executive. Eli Lilly's Chairman and CEO, Sidney Taurel, was appointed to a presidential
council on domestic security in June 2002. During the June 2002 election cycle Eli Lilly gave
1.6 million dollars to political candidates. Eighty percent to Republicans.
Seattle Post Intelligencer; 29 November, 2002; p A17
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"His work is irrelevant to 95 percent of Indians. It would take
several months' income for the average Indian to buy
Microsoft's software."
Frederick Noronha, founder of Bytesforal.org, an organization to bring access to information
technology to poor people. He is commenting on Bill Gates' investment of $400 million, in
the Indian market - much of the money through "Project Shiksha" (the Hindi word for
education). The project aims to "educate" Indians about information technology, by setting
up education centers that use Microsoft's software. Gates' sought to downplay India's
growing enthusiasm for the freely distributed Linux operating system.
Seattle Times, November 13, 2002 p E3
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"He'll have to be very smart and very wicked if he doesn't
want to hear himself in elevators."
Syndicated Columnist Maureen Dowd, on angry pop music sensation Eminem's acceptance
by mainstream audiences.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 28 November, 2002 p B9
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"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it
is the merger of state and corporate power."
Benito Mussolini quoted in the Seattle Times; 25 November 2002; p B5
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"No good deed goes unpunished."
Clare Boothe Luce (1902-87)
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"These baby boomers are going to be drinking lots and
probably using other substances."
Frederic Blow of the University of Michigan, one of the United States' foremost experts on
substance abuse in older adults.
Seattle Times; 11 November 2002; p. B1
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"If we don't listen to the families, they will kill the women
themselves."
Abdul Basir, Chief of Police in Kabul Afghanistan, explaining why his department is in fact
preventing bigger crimes when it routinely jails women for such "crimes" as refusing to
acquiesce to marriages arranged by their families, or leaving their husbands.
Seattle Times; 11 November 2002; p. A8
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