* “Our revolutionary armed forces are ready to fight any form of war the American imperialists want.”–North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in his first public speech in three years.
* “To be clear: Putin is a Russian nationalist, not a leader of Spectre or the League of Shadows. He doesn’t want chaos for its own sake, and he no doubt believes that a weakened NATO, a divided E.U. and a crumbling Pax Americana are necessary preconditions for his own empire’s return to greatness.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.
* “I have had a gun held on me when I was in a Popeyes. Guy comes in, put the gun in my ribs. And I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind the counter.'”–Ben Carson.
* “In a sense, Mr. Trump’s immersion in the medium of reality TV normalizes his wealth. He connects with an audience for whom he represents the sort of rich guy they would be if they had the money.”–Seth Grossman, filmmaker and reality television producer.
* “Whether a Cuban-American will be able to win over (non-Cuban) Latinos, the answer is yes. … The problem with Marco Rubio is not that he’s Cuban-American, but that he’s endorsed Republican positions that Latinos oppose.”–Sergio Garcia-Rios, assistant professor of government and Hispanic studies at Cornell University.
* “If you go back to 2004, opposition researchers were very much in the shadows. … It’s much different now. Some of this (oppo) has yielded great results. Candidates now know they’ve got to always be on.”–Shane D’Aprile, co-publisher of Campaigns & Elections magazine.
* “Essentially, Boehner is the kindergarten teacher who is leaving his flock unsupervised and wants to get all the sharp objects out of the room before he goes off into the sunset.”–Chris Krueger, policy analyst for the investment firm of Guggenheim Partners.
* “One attempt at a shoe bomb and we all have to take off our shoes at airports; 31 school shootings since Columbine and no new gun safety laws.”–HBO news satirist John Oliver.
* “Cars exemplify the public health approach we need to apply to guns. We don’t ban cars, but we do require driver’s licenses, seatbelts, airbags, padded dashboards, safety glass and collapsible steering columns. And we’ve reduced the auto fatality rate by 95 percent.”–Nicholas Kristof, New York Times.
* “Even 50 to 100 years from now, print will be a big chunk of our business.”–Markus Dohle, chief executive of Penguin Random House, in noting that while analysts once predicted that e-books would overtake print by 2015, digital sales have instead slowed sharply.
* “Cars these days are reaching biological levels of complexity.”–Chris Gerdes, professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University.
* “What I’ve picked up here and I hope you can relay back to your board, the folks running Volkswagen back in Germany, is that the response so far is inadequate. It’s a sign of arrogance. It’s a sign of not admitting yet the severity of your problem.”–Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., to Volkswagen of America CEO Michael Horn, during his testimony on VW’s emissions scandal.
* “I frankly don’t like your attitude.”–State Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, to Jesse Panuccio, executive director of the Department of Economic Opportunity.
* “This initial citrus crop estimate confirms that Florida’s citrus industry is in a fight for its life.”–State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, on the forecast that Florida’s orange crop will hit a 52-year-low in the upcoming season.
* “This campus does not scream university, but it does scream innovation.”–Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos López-Cantera, at the swearing in of Dr. Randy K. Avent, Florida Polytechnic University’s first president.
* “We need to discuss more funding options than what’s been presented to us. We need to have a full-blown discussion on everything.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman, on the need to consider transportation-funding options aside from a sales tax.
* “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this city has its swagger back and I could not be more excited about these numbers.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, in reference to the announcement that Tampa gave permits for $2.4 billion in development through the 2015 financial year–an increase of about 20 percent from 2014.
* “I think it represents a healthy balance between what it is that we’ve been talking about here and what the mayor has been talking about across the courtyard.”–City Council member Lisa Montelione, on a compromise reached with Mayor Bob Buckhorn on a Citizens Review Board for police that would give city council four appointees on an 11-member board.
* “I’m tired of being held to a G-rated standard that I probably can’t maintain.”–Sam Rashid, who recently resigned from the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority.
* “Everything they do here, they do it the right way. People can’t get enough of this team and fan support is on another level. I think Tampa is really a hockey town now.”–Former Lightning captain Vinnie Lecavalier, now a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.