Samizdata

The visibility of accidents has gone up due to the mushrooming of TV news channels and that’s causing all the worry.
– M.Y. Siddiqui, India’s Railway Ministry spokesman when asked about mounting public anger over the safety record of India’s antiquated rail network, after accidents killed nearly 300 people in the last 12 months

We can’t change the way that newspapers are written but we can sure change the way people read them.
– Perry de Havilland

I always thought Burke’s metaphor of the English oxen ignoring the buzzing political insects was a good thing, however in the present situation placidity in the doorway of the abattoir may not be a virtue.
– Doug Collins

There are just as many guns as there were before, except now people are angry that they have become criminals if they try to protect themselves, when American soldiers are more interested in protecting themselves than us.
– a trader selling weapons covertly in Sadr City, a Shia slum about the effect of sending the trade underground after the drive against gun markets in Baghdad last week.

“I’ll tell you why people find it “hard” to give up smoking: they don’t really want to do it, is why. Using force against yourself is a bad idea. It sets you up for magnificent failure later on, as anyone with bulimia will tell you. What I say to people who don’t 100% completely absolutely and totally actively want to give up smoking, actually enjoy the idea of living without smoke, anticipate with joy the thought of nurturing their health and becoming energised breathing human beings, is: don’t bother. Carry on smoking, because if you don’t want to give up, you’re only setting yourself up for failure. Anyway, the rest of us aren’t interested in your self-sacrificial whining. It’s your life you’re saving, not ours, don’t expect us to be grateful!”
– Alice who is back from her camping expedition

[Editor’s note: apropos the second link, as usual the blogger.com/blogspot archives are not working correctly]