Trust the Ferret, the Ferret is Wise

"No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices." - Edward R. Murrow

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men — not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular." - Also Edward R. Murrow

"...shadows covering the minds of those whose lives became easier if they believed themselves to be powerless."

Jhegaala, Steven Brust

Probably mangled, from a source I forget and haven't hit the right keywords to find in Google.

"A just society is one you would be willing to live in no matter what station you were in it."

"Think of it. We are blessed with technology that would be indescribable to our forefathers. We have the wherewithal, the know-it-all to feed everybody, clothe everybody, and give every human on Earth a chance. We know now what we could never have known before-that we now have the option for all humanity to "make it" successfully on this planet in this lifetime. Whether it is to be Utopia or Oblivion will b a touch-and-go relay race right up to the final moment."  — R. Buckminster Fuller

Though the quote makes me wonder about my choice of vocation, because we have all the technology we need to make all this happen. What we're lacking is the will, and the models, and the explanations, and the incentives. That's what we need to change. The systems.

"So-called "global warming" is just a secret ploy by wacko tree-huggers to make America energy independent, clean our air and water, improve the fuel efficiency of our vehicles, kick-start 21st-century industries, and make our cities safer and more livable. Don't let them get away with it."
- Chip Giller, Founder of Grist.org

(via a Starbucks cup, examples here.)

From Slacktivist, in a post about some Southern Baptists trying to pull their kids out of public schools in a big group, a quote that expresses things quite well.

"So instead of bureaucrats and politicians, parents will decide directly how these schools will be run. Well, maybe not directly -- having a town-meeting every time you need to hire staff or purchase textbooks could be cumbersome and inefficient. But short of that they could ensure that parents had a say in such decisions by, say, electing representatives to a board that could oversee the schools. They could call it a "school board." This "school board" -- accountable to the parents -- could hire professionals to manage the day-to-day affairs of the schools. All of which would be so much better than the current system of politicians and bureaucrats."

Heh. Good show, sir.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” —Upton Sinclair

"The difference between riot and revolution is if the troops fire." - The Internets

From Matt Yglesias, talking about Hillary Clinton: "...The fact that this sort of thing even gets discussed, though, points not only to the deep anti-feminist strains that remain in our culture, but also to the weirdly metaphorical nature of national security debates. The underlying presumption seems to be something like you want a president capable of physically wrestling a terrorist to the ground and so a woman, or a man who's too effete, might not be able to get the job done."

"Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties: 1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes. 2. Those who identify themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise depository of the public interests. In every country these two parties exist, and in every one where they are free to think, speak, and write, they will declare themselves. Call them, therefore, Liberals and Serviles, Jacobins and Ultras, Whigs and Tories, Republicans and Federalists, Aristocrats and Democrats, or by whatever name you please, they are the same parties still, and pursue the same object. The last appellation of Aristocrats and Democrats is the true one expressing the essence of all." - Thomas Jefferson

The thing is, in America, even the aristocrats have to pretend, at least in public, to be democrats. And some might even think they are. But by their actions ye shall know them.