Quotes of the day

The average person thinks he isn't.--Larry Lorenzoni

As a country we've become less tolerant of economic failure. The result has been a series of interventions, such as meddling in the credit markets, promoting homeownership and creating a variety of safety nets for investors. Each crisis leads to an even greater crisis. The solution is always greater doses of intervention. So the system becomes increasingly unstable. The interventionists never see the bust coming, then blame it on "capitalism."--Kevin Duffy

Our government is old and broken and dysfunctional, and may even be beyond repair. But [Kevin] Starr is right. Our only sane choice is to muddle through. As human beings, we ultimately become old and broken and dysfunctional—but in the meantime it makes a difference if we try. Our American republic may prove to be doomed, but it will make a difference if we improvise and strive to make the best of the path through our time—and our children’s, and their grandchildren’s—rather than succumb.--James Fallows

The revelation of Climate­gate occurs at a time when the accuracy of the climate models is being seriously questioned. Over the last decade Earth's temperature has not warmed, yet every model (there are many) predicted a significant increase in global temperatures for that time period. If the climate models cannot get it right for the past 10 years, why should we trust them for the next century? Climategate reveals how predetermined political agendas shaped science rather than the other way around. It is high time to question the true agenda of the scientists now on the hot seat and to bring skeptics back into the public debate.--Neil Frank

If [the government] can’t secure the White House, can they secure the country?--Glenn Reynolds

If they can’t run a dinner party, how can they run health care?--Ed Stephens

[The TSA is] saying it’s a security document but it was sent to every airport and airline. It was sent to Islamabad, to Riyadh and to Nigeria. So they’re looking for information about a security document sent to 10,000-plus people internationally. You can’t have a right to expect privacy after that.--Steven Frischling

Using a vastly expanded intelligence network and an aggressive analysis operation, we would uncover these plots before they spawned. And, at the very least, we would stop people hell-bent on jihad like Abdulmutallab from ever reaching our shores. Of course there was "no single piece of intelligence" that spelled it out. You have to put the pieces together, genius. Anyway, we're not talking about a 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle here. This was more like one of those children's puzzles with four giant pieces that have to be laid out of the floor, and each piece gives you a pretty good idea of what you're looking at. The piece with Abdulmutallab's father going to the US Embassy in Lagos to report that his son had gone jihad was a pretty good one. That Abdulmutallab also had spent time in Yemen was another. And then there is the fact that he had been banned from Britain.--Charles Hurt

Female Veterinarians (77%) Now Dominate Male Engineers (75%); Why Is Only One a National Crisis?--Mark Perry

There is no sign of a dangerous and contagious staph infection that killed tens of thousands of patients in the most sophisticated hospitals of Europe, North America and Asia this year, soaring virtually unchecked. The reason: Norwegians stopped taking so many drugs. Twenty-five years ago, Norwegians were also losing their lives to this bacteria. But Norway's public health system fought back with an aggressive program that made it the most infection-free country in the world. A key part of that program was cutting back severely on the use of antibiotics.--MARTHA MENDOZA and MARGIE MASON

In fact, Charlie Gasparino, and his ilk, are the reason we exist. If he didn’t have the accuracy of a backfiring gun when it comes to issues other than gossip we, the pseudonymed finance writers, wouldn’t be needed. The public would understand financial topics much better and the record wouldn’t need to be set straight by those in the know. And now, when faced with someone correcting him on the record, he merely wishes to dismiss the facts and figures put before him and insinuate something for which he has no facts. Honestly, this speaks volumes about his regard for the truth and his ability to justify his own words when challenged. This sort of attack should be rebuked as swiftly and sternly as it was introduced.--DJT