Quotabull

In China, size matters. People want to have a car that shows off their status in society. No one wants to buy small.

— Zhang Linsen, the 44-year-old founder of a media and graphic design company in Songjiang, China; he owns a black Hummer H2; July 28; emphasis added.

It’s a cultural thing. When the kids are hungry, they go to their mother, not their father. And when there is less food, women are the first to eat less.

— Herve Kone, director of a group that promotes development, social justice and human rights in Burkina Faso, quoted in the Washington Post Foreign Service’s Kevin Sullivan story about the impacts of the African food crisis on women and children; July 20.

Sports clubs are part of grass-roots democracy in the U.S. This structure simply does not exist in China at the moment. I think without government support there will not be high-level sports in China today.

— Susan Brownell, a professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis who is spending the year researching China and the Olympics at Beijing Sport University, arguing that the Chinese school sport system is an inevitable outgrowth of the communist state; Ariana Eunjung Cha of the Washington Post Foreign Service reports: “Modeled after those in the former Soviet Union, China’s sports schools aim to train, push and discipline more than 250,000 pupils into superstar athletes. They have produced nearly all of the Chinese Olympians who will compete this month”; Aug. 3.

It was the art historian Anne Hollander who noted that, even naked, the body is subject to fashion and that the body beautiful differs according to an era’s prevailing mores and tastes. Because the Greek word gymnasium translates as something more or less like “nuditorium,” it seems clear that few events offer a richer opportunity to see how physical beauty is currently constructed than the Beijing Games.

— from a commentary by New York Times fashion writer Guy Trebay, headlined “When Action Figures Come Out to Play”; Aug. 13.

I never imagined I could suffer such a tragedy.

— Liu Yan, 26, considered one of the China’s top classical dancers, after an accidental fall during a rehearsal 12 days before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics that may have left her paralyzed; David Barboza of The New York Times reports: “The organizers of the opening ceremony initially asked witnesses and friends not to disclose the accident ahead of the Olympic Games on Aug. 8, according to people who have visited Liu in the hospital”; Aug. 14.

This report makes clear that too many corporations are using tax trickery to send their profits overseas and avoid paying their fair share in the United States.

— Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., on a Government Accounting Office report (pdf) that reveals, according to Lynnley Browning of The New York Times, that “[t]wo out of every three United States corporations paid no federal income taxes from 1998 through 2005″; Aug. 13.

The culture, the custom of the Cajun people, it’s gone. It’s another one of the rights that big government has taken away from the people.

— Chris Daughdrill, who breeds fighting roosters in Loranger, La.; Louisiana today becomes the last state to outlaw cockfights; the Associated Press says cockfighting remains legal in Puerto Rico, American Samoa and Guam; Aug. 10.

I think that Denver officials would be well-advised not to believe everything that the FBI warns them about. That’s how things can get out of hand, due to fabricated, exaggerated projections about violence or protest. They don’t learn. What you saw in 2000 was the claim that 75,000 anarchists were descending, the secret funding of permanent police equipment, the denial of permits for protesters. You saw the same thing in 2004. You will see the same thing in 2008. … They’ve learned nothing from 1968.

— 1968 Chicago convention protester Tom Hayden, discussing security planning for the 2008 Democratic convention: Rocky Mountain News‘ M.E. Sprengelmeyer wrote: “He thinks Big Brother posturing helps scare away peaceful protesters, gives the community a false sense of security and can, in some cases, provoke confrontations at demonstrations that would otherwise be routine and mostly peaceful”; Aug. 11.

We will have all of the standard precautions and services in place that we would at any other show, including stagehands, ushers, ticket takers, venue security, police, fire, paramedics, etc. Every event booked into the building must also meet our insurance requirements, and this show will be no exception. From our perspective, this will really be no different than any other event we book into any of our facilities.

— Jenny Schiavone of Denver’s Theaters and Arenas, on preparations for a free protest concert by Rage Against The Machine at the 10,500-seat Denver Coliseum; “Tent State University” organizers say they expect 50,000 protesters; Aug. 15.

Today, I joined my Republicans colleagues on the floor of Congress to protest against Speaker Pelosi’s decision to adjourn Congress for the rest of the summer without a vote on a comprehensive energy bill to lower gas prices and increase American-made energy. What began 10 days ago as a spontaneous uprising on the floor of the U.S. House after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) sent Congress home for a five-week break without allowing a vote on the American Energy Act, has become an unprecedented nationwide protest.

Today, I am proudly standing with my Republican colleagues, staffers, and tourists visiting the Capitol to demand action on the ‘all of the above’ energy plan that I support. I will stand with every American who expects more out of Congress and demands action now. And although the microphones and camera are turned off, our message will be heard and we will not rest until Speaker Pelosi has allowed an up-or-down vote on the American Energy Act.

— from a post titled “Blogging from the floor of the House” on the blog of Rep. John R. “Randy” Kuhl, R-N.Y., in support of the American Energy Act; Aug. 11; emphasis added.

A decline in courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society. Of course, there are many courageous individuals, but they have no determining influence on public life.

— Alexander Solzhenitsyn, on the occasion of Class Day Afternoon Exercises at Harvard University; June 8, 1978.

MS. PERINO: Well, I would tell you that the administration at all levels has been in contact with counterparts in Georgia and Russia, including Secretary Rice and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. So we have ongoing conversations. I’m not at liberty to describe them, but the President — what I can tell you is President Bush has worked very hard over the years to develop good relationships with other leaders in which he can have frank and candid discussions and be very blunt about our concerns.

Q: But how does that play out — the infrastructure, if you will, that he’s built, how is that playing out now? Because he comes out in the Rose Garden and it is a strong statement of support for Georgia and some condemnation of what Russia is doing. And so did he — did the Russians know this was coming?

MS. PERINO: The public statements reflect the private conversations.

— exchange between reporter and press secretary during White House press briefing; Aug. 13; emphasis added.

[W]e must support young democracies in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. In countries like Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe, people continue to live under oppressive regimes, and we will work for the day when all these nations are free. By opposing these despots and helping young democracies grow, we will lay the foundation of peace and prosperity for generations to come. Throughout Captive Nations Week, we renew our pledge that as people across the world find their own paths to freedom, they will also find a friend in the United States of America.

— from a proclamation declaring Captive Nations Week by President Bush; July 18.

With its actions in recent days, Russia has damaged its credibility and its relations with the nations of the free world. Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century.

— President Bush on the conflict between Georgia and Russia; Aug. 15; emphasis added.

All departments and agencies have a responsibility to prepare and to provide intelligence in a manner that allows the full and free exchange of information, consistent with applicable law and presidential guidance.

— from an executive order by President Bush titled “Further Amendments to Executive Order 12333, United States Intelligence Activities”; July 31.

As low as I set the price, you’re the first person to call.

— Michael Kohan, owner of an SUV, to Times reporter Nick Bunkley, after Mr. Kohan had listed his V8-powered 2006 Land Rover LR3 (book value $31,000) with “a navigation system, xenon lights, parking assist sensors, heated leather seats and three sunroofs” for only $18,000 on eBay and Craigslist; Aug. 12

It was decided not to report the story in our news summary on the grounds that Edwards is not a candidate for public office, and not on any short list for Vice President or any other public office, so it struck us as a problem for him and his family, not the American public.

— Linda Winslow, executive producer of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, explaining to PBS ombudsman Michael Getler why NewHour did not report former Sen. John Edwards’ admission of an affair on the day the rest of the mainstream media did; Mr. Getler wrote that the “the decision not to report the Edwards confirmation story struck me as both patronizing to people who depend on PBS for news, and journalistically mind-boggling”; Aug. 13.

The film is a platform to create indelible interactions between the long-haul trucking community and the brand and elevate the conversation beyond products and product specs.

— Mark Leger, managing director at the Chicago office of Fathom Communications, an agency that specializes in branded entertainment, online advertising and direct marketing, on a documentary called “Drive and Deliver” about long-haul trucking; The Times‘ Stuart Elliot revealed in his advertising column that the 45-minute film’s $2-million budget was underwritten by truck manufacturer Navistar to promote a new big-rig model, the LoneStar, stickered at $120,000 to $140,000; Aug. 12.

The tax on cars with engine capacities of 3 to 4 liters will rise to 25 percent from 15 percent, with the rate for engines of more than 4 liters doubling to 40 percent. The rate on cars with engines that are 1 liter or less will fall from 3 percent to 1 percent.

— from a Xinhua news story; according to a joint statement by two Chinese agencies, “We hope the new policy will help restrain the production and sales of high-emission vehicles while promoting the development of low-emission cars”; Aug. 13.

The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence. And they’ll tell you if you ask.

— Isaac Hayes, from an interview in the 1990s; Mr. Hayes died last week at 65; Aug. 10.

Most of Wearing’s work over the last decade has revolved around the experience of the individual, whether alone or in the context of family. She approaches this theme with clearheaded sensitivity and compassion, often using the work to create neutral if tightly controlled spaces in which to allow her subjects to speak for themselves.

Such is the case in the two series on view here. “Pin Ups” consists of seven roughly poster-sized paintings, each depicting a single scantily clad (or in one case nude) model in an alluring posture. Wearing found these models — two men and five women, all nonprofessionals — through an ad she placed on the Internet.

— from a Los Angeles Times review by Holly Myers of an exhibit of the work of Gillian Wearing; Aug. 15; emphasis added.

photo credits:

• Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson: Lluis Gene, AFP/Getty Images
• Tom Hayden and John Froines: University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
• Navistar’s LoneStar: Popular Mechanics
• Isaac Hayes: Norman Seeff, Cycle Media
• Gillian Wearing’s “Rowena”: Joshua White, Regen Projects

Quotabull is a weekly feature of Scholars & Rogues.

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