* “There is not enough Europe in this union. And there is not enough union in this union. We have to change this.”–Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, urging the bloc to put aside deep divisions over welcoming refugees from the Middle East and Africa.
* “This refugee flow has outraged the right wing (of highly homogeneous Eastern Europe). If you scratch the surface, why are they so upset? It’s not about jobs or the ability to manage them or social welfare. What it is really about is that they are Muslim.”–Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.
* “The Gulf countries–Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain–have offered zero resettlement places to Syrian refugees.”–Amnesty International.
* “I’m not destroying the Bolivarian revolution. The revolution is self-destructing because of its own effects, not because of the Colombians.”–Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos, responding to Venezuela’s anti-smuggling offensive that has closed major border crossings with Colombia.
* “Republicans were never going to go for the Iran deal. Their apocalyptic statements were written well in advance and they just had to hit “Send” followed by a fundraising appeal to Jewish donors.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.
* “Like many others, I know that this (Iranian nuclear) deal is not perfect. But there is no practical alternative that is perfect.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.
* “Diplomacy is about minimizing differences. Pol Pot and the Pope–surely there’s something they can agree on. A political campaign is exactly the opposite. It’s about taking a minor difference and blowing it up into something transcendent.”–Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security.
* “The discourse in Washington just becomes like a self-licking ice cream cone of maximalist foreign policy. That’s what gets you on television. That’s what gets your think-tank paper read.”–Ben Rhodes, deputy national-security adviser for President Obama.
* “The concept of opening with Cuba–50 years is enough–is fine. I think we should have made a stronger deal.”–Donald Trump.
* “The only wall that Trump is going to be successful building is a wall between the Republican Party and the White House.”–Florida Republican strategist Bettina Inclan.
* “Look at that face! … Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?”–Donald Trump’s reference to Carly Fiorina.
* “I want to say that I cherish women, and I will protect women, and I will take care of women, and I have a great respect for women.”–Donald Trump.
* “I think Donald Trump is an entertainer. I’m a leader.”–Carly Fiorina.
* “Moving jobs to Mexico has not been the major reason for the decline in manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Manufacturing jobs as a share of total jobs have been declining in the U.S. for over 50 years; same is true in all other advanced economies.”–Martin Baily, senior economics fellow at the Brookings Institution.
* “I am not perfect. No one is. But I am forgiven, and I love my Lord and must be obedient to Him and to the Word of God.”–Kim Davis, Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
* “I heard about a new trend where people make marijuana-infused wine. They say it’s the first wine that pairs well with EVERY food.”–Jimmy Fallon.
* “Without doubt, El Nino is creating the factors that play into an inactive (storm) season. Clearly, nothing will change over the next few months.”–Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.
* “I think it’s absolutely the worst thing that could happen to the citizens of Florida.”–State Supreme Court Justice R. Fred Lewis, on a Florida Bar recommendation to let lawyers from other states practice in Florida without taking the Florida Bar exam.
* “If you don’t win Hillsborough County, you don’t win Florida. You don’t win Florida, you don’t win the White House.”–Deborah Tamargo, chairwoman of the Hillsborough County Republican Party, at the opening of Jeb Bush’s Florida campaign headquarters near TIA.
* “When in crisis, the first thing to go for Americans is a vacation. But for Canadians and Europeans, they still travel but might not spend as much when the euro or pound is in decline.”–David Downing, executive director of Visit St. Pete-Clearwater.
* “The executive order stands. City Council cannot change that executive order. They cannot codify the law. It has nothing to do with City Council.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn on his executive order establishing a Citizens Review Board for police.
* “This is not about Ybor City. This is about a tragic event at a nightclub where bad things happen. It could’ve happened anywhere.”–David Scott, past chairman of the Ybor City Development Corp., on the recent stabbing death of a former USF football player.
* “You don’t get new business by email. You get business by establishing personal relationships, going to places and meeting with decision makers.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on his recent trade mission to Dublin, Ireland.
* “Teams are trying to enforce the fact that a ticket is a license and not a guaranteed right. As teams become more popular and the tickets become scarce, they want to make sure that the supporters of the team can buy it at an affordable price. This is the way right now in pro sports.”–Bill Sutton, director of the sports and entertainment business program at USF, on the announcement by the Lightning that it will be watching to see how often season ticket holders sell their tickets.