Unflagged
"Nobody can determine for the country what is immoral or scandalous, therefore this law is unconstitutional." — US lawyer David Cole after the Old Glory Condom Corporation, set up by artist and AIDS activist Jay Critchley, was denied registration of a logo featuring the US flag on a condom on the grounds that it was scandalous.
Democracy 1
"We appreciate Panama's move to democracy and no tiny little left-wing demonstration is going to set your democracy back." — US President George Bush after the Panamanian government demonstrated its commitment to democracy by dousing protesters with tear gas and showering them with birdshot, forcing Bush to cancel a publicity speech on his way to the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro.
Democracy 2
"It is my last resort, my final possibility, but I will try not to have to resort to that. The situation is serious, even dangerous." — Polish President Lech Walesa, discussing installing himself as head of government as well as head of state.
Democracy 3
"Public reaction is very encouraging." — Rehavam Zeevi, leader of the Moledet Party in the Israeli elections, discussing reaction to his final solution to the Palestinian question: "transfer" of 1.5 million Arabs out of their Israeli-occupied homeland.
Justice
"On the scientific case deployed against her, Miss Ward did not have a fair trial." — From a four-hour statement by four British appeal court judges acquitting Judith Ward, after she had served 18 years in jail on charges of bombing a bus for the IRA. The court ruled that the prosecution had withheld evidence in the case and concealed Ward's history of mental illness.
In principle
"Unless their inquiries are in the public interest, journalists should not photograph individuals on private property without their consent." — From the British media's extremely voluntary code of conduct.
Aunty Tom
"The ozone cover picture was chosen because it best illustrated the story, which was about dramatic climate conditions and , I do not feel at all demeaned or exploited by it." — Bulletin editor Lyndall Crisp, replying to a letter complaining about the magazine's use of a front cover featuring a prostrate, bikini-clad woman to sell a Greenpeace-bashing article claiming that ozone depletion isn't all that bad.
Leadership
"I've always said no-one wins an industrial dispute." — ACTU president Martin Ferguson.
Satire disarmed
A funeral company in Iowa, USA, offers a special service for deceased hunters: putting their ashes into shotgun pellets and blasting them over favourite hunting spots. The company's slogan is, "We can't get you to heaven, but we promise to land you in the happy hunting ground".