Loose cannons

Issue 

Obviously

"People are obviously rehiring." — Prime Minister Paul Keating on the drop in the latest unemployment figure from 11.1% to 11%.

Model prisoner

Former Wall Street junk bond king Michael Milken, sentenced to 10 years' jail in 1990 for dishonest dealings, will be out by next March after Judge Kimba Wood knocked four years off his sentence for being a model prisoner and for testifying against a crooked colleague, Alan Rosenthal.

No worries

"Reclamation for the runway will alter the number and behaviour of important angling species ... [it would also lead to] loss of seagrasses, and result in a dramatic decline in the numbers of fish in Botany Bay." — The NSW Department of Fisheries on plans to build a third runway for Sydney airport in Botany Bay. Liberal Premier John Fahey says the project should proceed without further environmental studies.

Democracy

"I cannot sign a statement that is a falsehood." — Singapore political prisoner Chia Thye Poh on his refusal to sign a statement renouncing the defunct Communist Party of Malaya and any intention to overthrow the government by force. The former physics lecturer, believed to be the world's longest-serving political prisoner, was arrested in 1966 as a result of a Barisan Sosialis party campaign against the US war in Vietnam. He denies any connection with the Communist Party or armed struggle.

News — 1

"This is a pattern. The assets of state enterprises are sold to communist-era factory directors and their parallel private companies at a price far below their real value." — Estonian auditor general Hindrek Meri, revealing some shock details of capitalist business practices.

News — 2

"The Labor Party ... has feelings, it has a soul ... it is a political party with loyalties." — Paul Keating at a fundraising dinner in South Brisbane.

Dollar spirit

"The Olympic spirit to me is to beat your opponents, not live with them." — US "Dream Team" basketball player John Stockton, explaining why he chose to stay in a luxury hotel rather than the Olympic Village in Barcelona.

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