鈥淭he people in charge of homeland security spend too much time watching action movies. They defend against specific movie plots instead of against the broad threats of terrorism.鈥�
Counterpane Internet Security founder Bruce Schneier writing in his newsletter (15 September)
鈥淵ou know what? They鈥檙e just birds.鈥�
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Laura Kim, a vice-president of Warner Independent Pictures, brushes off claims from commentators on the religious right that the company鈥檚 film March of the Penguins is an allegory for Christian values and supports the notion of intelligent design (The Observer, London, 18 September)
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to terminate obesity in California once and for all.鈥�
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger after signing legislation to introduce healthy foods and ban carbonated soda drinks in state high schools by 2009 (Reuters, 15 September)
鈥淚n many south-east Asian countries, frog is a staple food item.鈥�
Michael Lau, chair of a working group meeting in Washington DC to find ways to stop the unsustainable harvest of amphibians (BBC online, 19 September)
鈥淪hakespeare could hardly quill a stanza without inserting profanities of the day like 鈥榸ounds鈥� or 鈥榮blood鈥� 鈥� offensive contractions of 鈥楪od鈥檚 wounds鈥� and 鈥楪od鈥檚 blood鈥� 鈥� or some wondrous sexual pun.鈥�
John McWhorter, an expert on the psychology of swearing at the Manhattan Institute, New York, criticises a proposed bill to limit obscenities on American airwaves, saying that swearing is a universal in human language (The New York Times, 20 September)