* “I don’t think we will survive another thousand years without escaping beyond our fragile planet.”–Physicist Stephen Hawking.
* “The response has been weak so far. People are holding on to their weapons.”–Libya’s National Transitional Council leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil on the difficulty reining in militias.
* “I refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer.”–President Barack Obama in defying GOP lawmakers by (recess) appointing Richard Cordray as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
* “A Florida win by anyone other than Romney would be a big boost for a conservative challenger, who would be catapulted into the South, which is loaded with conservative evangelical Tea Party voters who aren’t really Mitt Romney voters.”–Greg Mueller, president of the (conservative) CRC public relations firm.
* “Even if (former Pennsylvania Senator) Rick Santorum is not nominated, he might galvanize a constituency that makes him a vice-presidential choice. For Obama, getting to 270 electoral votes without Pennsylvania’s 20 is problematic.”–George Will, Washington Post.
* “To prevent the next panic, it’s not enough to rely on emergency actions by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. Instead, governments should fully guarantee all bank deposits–and impose much tighter restrictions on risk-taking by banks. Banks should be forced to shed activities like derivatives trading that regulators cannot easily examine. The Dodd-Frank financial reform act of 2010 did nothing to secure large deposits and very little to curtail risk-taking by banks.”–Tufts College Professor Amar Bhide, author of “A Call for Judgment: Sensible Finance for a Dynamic Economy.”
* “If entitlements and social democracy were anywhere near the impediments to enterprise that Romney claims, Germany would hardly be the most successful economy in the advanced industrial world, with those of Scandinavia close behind.”–Harold Meyerson, editor of the American Prospect.
* “To those many millions of Americans whose guts tell them the Occupy Movement is on to something but aren’t the sort to camp out or protest in the street, I say find another way to let your voice be heard in the new year.”–Norman Lear, television writer/producer and founder of People for the American Way.
* “Everyone wants the best available care, especially for life-threatening diseases like cancer. But that doesn’t mean Americans should pay exorbitant costs for (proton beam) treatments that (often) can’t be shown to be better than other, cheaper options. If the United States is ever going to control our health care costs, we have to demand better evidence of effectiveness, and stop handing out taxpayer dollars with no questions asked.”–Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, oncologist and former White House adviser.
* “Last year was an exceptional year for the business community and certainly for the Florida Chamber. It’s rare to have 31 out of 36 priorities pass both bodies and have 31 of them signed by the governor.”–David Hart, vice president of governmental affairs for the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
* “All in all, a good start.”–Former Gov. Jeb Bush assessing first year of Gov. Rick Scott.
* “Newt Gingrich is the one who has the most capability to challenge Barack Obama.”–Former Attorney General Bill McCollum.
* “We all have to die, so why not die the Islamic way?”–Sami Osmakac, who allegedly planned acts of terror in Tampa.
* “I’ll look everywhere as long as I can look anywhere. That’s still it.”–Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg on the pursuit of a new baseball stadium.
* “By no means does it shed a true light on the advancements academically that we have made. The ironic thing is that the majority of our students made learning gains. They just didn’t meet the benchmark of proficiency.”–Middleton High School Principal Owen Young addressing his school’s Department of Education grade dropping from a C to a D.
* “They’re going to be a tenant.”–Tampa Convention Center Director Rick Hamilton on accommodating media needs for two months before this summer’s GOP National Convention.
* “I can’t think of anything else that’s gone for that high a square-foot price in two years. … For a long time, you could not give land away.”–Patrick Berman, commercial real estate broker with Cushman & Wakefield, commenting on the $4.8 million paid for the former Malio’s Steakhouse at 301 S. Dale Mabry Highway by L.A. Fitness of Irvine, Calif.
* “We do have plans for connecting bike lanes, just like we connect sidewalks. Whenever we do other work, we take that as an opportunity.”–Steve Daignault, Tampa’s public works director.
* “This is a great way to showcase the city, the waterfront and the great sport of rowing.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn speaking at the inaugural Roosevelt Rowing Regatta.