Quotes From Around Yon Blogosphere

As is often the case when crimes go bad, the crooks are quick to point the finger at each other to escape culpability, and the collapse of the housing market is no different.

-- MARTIN

With the four-month-old increase in American troops showing only modest success in curbing insurgent attacks, American commanders are turning to another strategy that they acknowledge is fraught with risk: arming Sunni Arab groups that have promised to fight militants linked with Al Qaeda who have been their allies in the past.

-- JOHN F. BURNS and ALISSA J. RUBIN

The decline and fall of the Sopranos — Tony; his wife, Carmela; and the rest — served as a parable of America in decline, yet week to week the series was also just a gangsters’ tale, with lots of graphic sex, gruesome violence and most of all a sense of humor.

In last night’s episode Meadow Soprano, trying to explain to her father why she wants to be a civil rights lawyer, said earnestly, “The state can crush the individual.” Tony replied, "New Jersey?"

-- ALESSANDRA STANLEY

Some Holy See buildings will start using solar energy, reflecting Pope Benedict XVI's concern about conserving the Earth's resources, a Vatican engineer said Tuesday. The roof of the Paul VI auditorium will be redone next year, with its cement panels replaced with photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity.

-- FRANCES D'EMILIO

So last night, whilst soaking in the tub and reading an article in the new Bitch about the controversy over Gardasil, I got to thinking about the confusion over the concepts of amorality and immorality. Which is to say that in a just world, the concept of mass vaccinating young women against an STD before most of them had the possibility of being exposed to it would not be controversial, but as our “just shut your legs, you disgusting she-beasts” trolls have amply demonstrated, the idea that women are not born evil and need to suffer relentlessly for it gets in the way. The majority of the opposition to mass vaccination against HPV and therefore against genital warts and cervical cancer comes from the same people who want to ban abortion, which is to say the huge percentage of the population that fears the sky.

-- AMANDA MARCOTTE

A panel of medical experts called yesterday for a sweeping overhaul of the way veterans’ disability claims are judged, saying the current system is riddled with obsolete medical definitions and ignores the impact of injuries on veterans’ quality of life.

-- ERIK ECKHOLM

After falling while giving a speech, Judge Robert Bork--tort reform zealot and unabashed judicial conservative--is suing for $1 million in compensatory damages plus punitives.

I wish Judge Bork a quick recovery from his injuries. That being said, I hope his lawsuit goes down in flames--preferably with citation to his own articles and opinions.

-- DAVID SCHRAUB

Oil is, quite simply, the lifeblood of the world. Period. It is vital for the stability of the world, and nothing, absolutely nothing, is more prone to causing World War III than a shortage of oil. Let's be crystal clear on this point. We are not talking about fat cats in the oil industry, petroleum profits, or luxuries. Oil is far and away the most important necessity on the planet, and its continued availability and affordability protects our existence and ensures our way of life.

It must be protected at all costs, and until our politicians have the guts to open up the Alaskan oil fields, we have no choice but to rely on black gold from the Middle East, Iraq in particular. Our interest in this regard is absolute priority, and it is an issue of economic and physical security. Let's stop pretending that it's not about oil and embrace the fact that the oilfields, pipelines and shipping channels must be protected. The American people may not agree with you [President Bush], but they will respect the fact that you are a straight-shooter, looking them in the eye and pulling no punches.

-- CHRIS FREIND

As you may have already seen, Dr. James Holsinger, Bush's nominee for Surgeon General, is very concerned about gay men and their "anal eroticism." Indeed, like most extremely manly men, he spends a lot of time thinking about this. I'm guessing that, at least when he was younger, he thought about it four or five times a day.

So everyone's getting a good laugh about this. But Bush & co. work out their peculiar psycho-sexual obsessions in ways far more serious than this.

-- JONATHAN SCHWARZ

Image courtesy of Scholars & Rogues