* “President Obama is to be commended for resisting neo-con and liberal interventionist clamors to get us into yet another open-ended war. For we have no interest in (Syrian President Bashar) Assad’s overthrow.”–Pat Buchanan, Creator’s Syndicate.
* “You don’t impose democracy. You develop it.”–Salman Shaikh, director of The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar.
* “The Chinese are the biggest beneficiary of this post-Saddam oil boom in Iraq. They need energy and they want to get into the market.”–Denise Natali, Middle East expert at the National Defense University in Washington.
* “China is every bit as exceptionalist as America, and has been for centuries. It is a country prepared to make rather than accept new rules, and one that will compete with the United States for Asian and global hegemony.”–Jon M. Huntsman, former ambassador to China, and Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group.
* “Unfortunately, the tax code has not kept up with the digital age.”–Tim Cook, Apple CEO.
* “There is a technical term economists like to use for behavior like this. Unbelievable chutzpah.”–Edward Kleinbard, law professor at the University of Southern California, on how Apple has managed to avoid billions in taxes through a global web of subsidiaries.
* “There is a growing sense that many companies have been flying 35,000 feet over the economic troubles of the countries where they operate–and they should be forced back down to earth. Apple’s tax troubles are just the beginning of a very big fight between the world’s richest companies and its governments.”–Rana Foroohar, Time magazine.
* “The projections in this year’s report for Social Security are essentially unchanged from last year, and those for Medicare have improved modestly.”–Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.
* “I’ve gotten concerned by the seeming impotence of federal regulatory agencies.”–Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker.
* “Young drivers have a far greater risk differential in the 0.08 to 0.05 range. Lowering the legal limit can make people more thoughtful about having the second, third or fourth drink–because every drink raises a driver’s crash risk level exponentially.”–Deborah A.P. Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
* “There’s an underlying fear that if we don’t add interactive elements to lower school curriculums, children won’t be able to handle fractions or develop scientific hypotheses–concepts children learned quite well in school before television.”–Pamela Paul, New York Times.
* “Virtually the entire world has ended state executions, either formally abolishing the death penalty or ceasing executions–except Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and, of course, part of the United States (most notably Texas and Florida).”–Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
* “The car has become a place where we’re multitasking all the time instead of concentrating on our primary responsibility.”–Florida state Senator Tom Lee, R-Brandon.
* “I served with Sen. (Bill) Nelson for years, and I think he’d be a very strong, effective governor. I think Charlie’s (Crist) going to run, but I assume if Sen. Nelson runs, he would be the nominee, and I think he would win.”–Former Congressman Jim Davis.
* “He was one of the few white guys who dared to venture into the ‘hood for games–even Little League games.”–Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dwight Gooden referring to the late Tom McEwen, sports editor of the Tampa Tribune, in his book “Doc: A Memoir.”