Red Snapper: Sound bites and unsound nibbles

“The Acehnese had betrayed Allah. They were not true to their faith…Allah always looks after his faithful followers…If they don’t become true Muslims they will be struck down.”
Salman al-Farizi, commander of the radical Islamist group Laskar Mujahadin, on the cause of the  tsunami. Guardian, Jan 8th

“The sum required to establish an early warning system now looks pitifully small compared to the cost in terms of the tens of thousands of lives lost and the billions of dollars in damage caused.”
Professor Calestous Juma, of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, US. UN Millennium Project’s report chief author, on tsunami wave. BBC News Online Technology, Jan 6th.

“It would be one of the biggest breakthroughs mankind has ever experienced if we pooled our wealth in order to look after the poorer people of the world. Sadly, I don’t think it will happen.”
J G Ballard, novelist, Independent, Jan 4th

“If I go for a walk through large parts of the South-east, I am liable to be lynched”
Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Transport. Independent, Jan 3rd

“A poison has entered the system. And it is beginning to harm us all.”
The Daily Mail on the Blair/Brown rift. Jan 7th

“Politics is one of the few professions that you can enter without any training whatsoever and suddenly become an expert.”
Allen Carr, anti-smoking ‘expert’, Independent, Jan 5th

“I was told in my last ‘appraisal’ that I wouldn’t be getting a promotion or pay rise until I proved to the company that I was “worth it”. I was told further that could mean “working through lunchtimes or staying an extra couple of hours in the evenings”. I get raised eyebrows if I leave on-time or am the first to go home, and have chosen to ignore the pointed looks as I leave for my lunch hours.”
Reader’s comment re. article on unpaid overtime, BBC Online Magazine, Jan 7th