Quotes From Around Yon Blogosphere

A makeshift shrine to Sean Taylor at Redskins' practice facility

I'm angry that people cry about Sean Taylor's death because he was an outstanding football player, as if his death has extra meaning because he had great closing speed. This is not about sports.

We have buried 200 Sean Taylors in [Philadelphia] this year. We don't know what would have come of their dreams and hopes. They deserve our tears, too, for they may have been anonymous to you, but they weren't to their mothers and fathers, their best friends and lovers, their teachers and mentors.

I'm angry that, as of 2004, according to the Centers for Disease Control, homicide is the No. 1 cause of death among black men ages of 15 to 34. I'm angry that the Justice Policy Institute found more black men in prison than in college.

I'm angry that young brothers who like school and want to learn are accused of "acting white," and have to make the awful choice of sticking with their education or sticking with their boys. It happened to me when I was 5. I've never gotten over it. How does one mend a heart broken by those who look most like him?

-- DAVID ALDRIDGE

Global businesses have called for a legally-binding and comprehensive international deal on climate change.

A binding agreement on emissions reductions would encourage business to invest in low-carbon technologies, a statement from 150 businesses said. . . .

Nokia, Tesco, Lloyds TSB and Nike are among the 150 firms that made the call.

The signatories represent companies from Europe, the US, China and Australia.

-- BBC

The names on the ballots are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama but, in Iowa and New Hampshire, a perfect storm of celebrity is brewing with two forces of nature named Barbra and Oprah on a collision course.

Like hurricanes, Streisand and Winfrey need be identified only by their first names, and they are lending their clout to Hillary and Barack to help elevate one of them to the ultimate celebrity.

-- ROBERT STEIN

The embryonic stem cell debate is over. George Bush won.

-- CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

Political events in Australia have been moving so fast, no one has really caught up. A week ago, Labor looked very likely to win the election (held last Saturday) and there seemed a good chance that Liberal (= pro-business right) Prime Minister John Howard would lose his own seat. Those things duly happened, and that seemed to be about as much as we could expect or hope for. Instead, there has been a meltdown of spectacular proportions on the losing side.

-- JOHN QUIGGIN

As Iraqi refugees begin to stream back to Baghdad, American military officials say the Iraqi government has yet to develop a plan to absorb the influx and prevent it from setting off a new round of sectarian violence.

The Iraqi government lacks a mechanism to settle property disputes if former residents return to Baghdad only to find their homes occupied, the officials said. Nor has the Iraqi government come forward with a detailed plan to provide aid, shelter and other essential services to the thousands of Iraqis who might return. American commanders caution that if the return is not carefully managed, there is a risk of undermining the recent security gains.

-- MICHAEL R. GORDON and STEPHEN FARRELL

A California appeals court has ordered the police in Garden Grove to return marijuana that was seized from a man during a routine traffic stop, ruling that enforcement of federal drug laws did not supersede the state’s allowance of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

-- REBECCA CATHCART

Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/The Associated Press