Loose cannons

Blind justice

"The George Speight coup was unsuccessful in its attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government of Mahendra Chaudry." — excerpt from Fijian High Court ruling on the legality of the Speight-army coup last May.

Stop press

"In our national memory, Vietnam was a war. But Vietnam is also a country." — US President Bill Clinton.

Is that a tautology?

"It's a real cash democracy." — The deputy director of an institute studying fraud in Thai elections, on the current campaign in which there is wholesale ignoring of bans on vote-buying.

Embarassment of riches

"I think most people would prefer these things were kept private but a little bit of embarrassment has contributed to higher pay." — Normandy Mining boss Robert Champion de Crespigny commenting on the public disclosure of CEO's salary packages. De Crespigny himself was rated the 14th highest paid CEO in Australia by the Financial Review. His total remuneration this year will be $2.667 million, up 149.5% from last year.

From GLW issue 429