Diddums

“When we hear ourselves being called occupiers and worse, our pride is offended and we begin to lose our inspiration to carry on.” – Karl Eidenberry, US ambassador to Afghanistan.

Approval guaranteed

“NSW and Queensland are getting more infrastructure than we think they need and we are required to approve price increases to pay for it.” – Australian Energy Regulator chairperson Andrew Reeves, on electricity companies over-investing because they are guaranteed a return on their investments.

Learned everything early

“What I often tell people is [that] everything I needed to know, I learned in Iowa, growing up in Iowa with those values.” – Michele Bachmann, member of the US Congress and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

Don’t worry

“Life on planet Earth can’t even exist without carbon dioxide. So necessary is it to human life, to animal life, to plant life, to the oceans, to the vegetation that’s on the Earth, to the, to the fowl that–that flies in the air, we need to have carbon dioxide as part of the fundamental lifecycle of Earth.” – Michele Bachmann again.

But business liked it

“... the public did not support it, the party did not support it and all it achieved was to remind the public of all their resentments.” – Paul Pearce, former NSW Labor MP, on the former state government’s electricity privatisation campaign.

Doing it hard

“It’s getting more difficult to find stuff to blow up” – A “senior NATO officer” quoted in the Los Angeles Times of July 21, on the war against Libya.

Has they?

“Rupert’s wisdom, kindness and incisive advice has guided me throughout my career.” – Resignation message from Rebekah Brooks, former Murdoch editor and executive, maintaining Newscorpse literacy standards to the end.

Shame the victims can’t hear it

“I welcome the news that the broader inquiries are behind us.” – Leon Panetta, in transition from CIA director to US secretary for war, on an announcement that the? US “Justice” Department had closed investigations into all but two deaths of people held in custody by the CIA outside the US.

And concentrate on torture

“Perhaps now our intelligence professionals in the field can stop looking over their shoulders.” –Republican Charles E. Grassley, the top-ranking member of the US Senate’s Judiciary Committee, giving bipartisan support to the above decision of the Obama administration.