Loose cannons

Issue 

As was Hitler

"You cannot compare us with right-wing extremists in other countries. We are a special product of the Austrian political scene." — Jorg Haider, leader of Austria's ultra-right Freedom Party.

That's reassuring

"Their [Romania's] environmental standards are very high ... as stringent, if not more stringent, than they are in Australia." — Esmerelda Exploration's managing director Brett Montgomery on the Western Australian goldmining company's cyanide "spill' in Romania last week that left more than 1 million people without drinking water and devastated marine life in neighbouring Hungary.

For some

"The result was ho-hum really." — A media analyst on News Corp's profit in the six months to December of $1.3 billion.

Unlike his earlier 10-point plan

"It's a mistake if everything were based on getting 10 out of 10 in May this year." — Prime Menzies John Howard declining to commit his government to passing legislation for Aboriginal reconciliation after it receives the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation's report on the issue in May.

Yet

"The US is not an empire." — US secretary of the treasury Larry Summers at the Davos forum.

Hot air

"Carbon emissions generated by your arrival in Davos and your accommodation here will be compensated for by the planting of the necessary number of trees in Mexico." — World Economic forum president Klaus Schwab, addressing corporate guests.

Many are qualified

"I'm president because I'm poor." — Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Never too late

"When one of the US officers ... during the Vietnam War killed a number of innocent villagers, the My Lai incident, I don't think the commander in chief of US troops, or of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked to be legally responsible." — Indonesia's General Wiranto.

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