Quotes of the day

[The film Atlas Shrugged] was made for a trifle by Hollywood standards. The same critics that, if this tiny amount of money was spent on a poorly produced and acted "Indie" film, that happened to be about a hermaphrodite Palestinian boy who after escaping fascist Israeli persecution moves to Texas to face fascist American persecution (and isn't immediately granted his full "right" to all the healthcare the USA can afford), would sing it's praises and laud it's signs of a tight budget as "authentic." I'm not sure if we have art imitating life or the other way around, but the critics are themselves Randian characters. They have an agenda—punish those who love liberty and have the temerity to defend it, then go to parties and be lauded by their friends for their heroic progressivism. And if they can make some snobby lies about cinematography along the way, more the better.--Cliff Asness

I was what you call the buzz kill. ... I could be the ultimate cliché and age first.--Val Kilmer

I don't know if a 6'2 woman gets as much flak as a 5'2 man--but the difference is in degree, not in kind.--Megan McArdle

The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.--Frederick Buechner

Even though their state voted to remain in the Union, about 20,000 Marylanders fought for the South, while about 30,000 fought for the North.--Joshua Horn

We're seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure. There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact.--Mike Duke, Walmart CEO

I’m shocked that progressive bloggers that are so dismissive of know-nothing conservatives are themselves so ignorant of public finance 101. Tax incidence is all about expected future consumption streams, as is pretty much all of economics. I thought people knew that.--Scott Sumner

So the Obama position seems to be that a) the rich ought to meet obligations over and above what the current tax code requires; b) the Obamas are rich, and c) the Obamas choose to meet no obligations over and above what the current tax code requires. It’s almost enough to make you begin to doubt his sincerity.--Steve Landsburg

Whether or not he was right, the “investigation” of Ackman was a costly and embarrassing error. Without a doubt, it discouraged others from addressing problems at other financial companies—which allowed those problems to grow unchecked. The moral of the story: empowering regulators can result in a less transparent, more dangerous financial system.--John Carney

Having a monarch as the symbolic head of state keeps elected officials in their place, provides an apolitical outlet for popular hero worship and the cults of celebrity, and satisfies the human hunger for ceremonial authority. If it’s an affront to democratic sensibilities, it’s also a safeguard for democratic institutions. Better a real king, crowned and powerless, than the many pseudo-kings who have strutted (and still strut) so destructively across the modern stage.--Ross Douthat

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