Perspectives

“I say to the president ... ‘Pick whatever number you wish’.”

Sen. John Warner, on his proposed withdrawal of an as-yet-undetermined number of U.S. troops from Iraq by winter

“Sentencing is about a final accounting. It is a closure; it is a reckoning.”

Judge Richard Howard, in his sentencing of Florida sex offender John Evander Couey, who murdered 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Couey received the death penalty.

“He was hoping the judge would have done the right thing and sent him back to Panama, his home country.”

Attorney Frank Rubino, on a judge’s decision that clears the way for his client, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, to be extradited to France, where he faces charges of money laundering

“We don’t react the same when other animals are being killed for sport or the sake of human pleasure.”

New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, on public response to Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from dogfighting. Marbury later added that he does not condone Vick’s actions.

“I’m sorry to say I won’t be in the iPhone scene anymore. I leave for college in two days, and I have so much to do.”

Seventeen-year-old George Hotz, who claimed credit for successfully unlocking the Apple iPhone, enabling it to be used with any carrier, not just AT&T, with which Apple has a five-year exclusivity deal

“No country can shield itself from invasion by a pathogen incubating in an airline passenger or an insect hiding in a cargo hold.”

World Health Organization director-general Margaret Chan, on a WHO report citing air travel for a rise in infectious disease

“I want to know why I’m planning a funeral while George Bush is planning a wedding.”

Anika Lawal, of Maryland, whose daughter, an Army sergeant, was recently killed in Iraq

“The sheriff wants everyone to do 100 percent of their time. Unfortunately, the facilities we have, and the capacity we have as mandated by federal court, doesn’t allow us to do that.”

Los Angeles County Undersheriff Larry Waldie, on the decision to release celebutante Nicole Richie after serving only 82 minutes of her four-day jail sentence for driving intoxicated

Reader Derek Barr of Moorefield, W. Va. submitted this quote:

“I’ve never had a naked man run to my house bleeding, you know what I mean?”

Tony Ballard, of Gilbert, Ariz., after his neighbor fled to his home. The neighbor, Juan Gonzalez, was allegedly stabbed by his estranged wife while the two were having sex. His wife, Falon, was charged with attempted murder, while Juan was listed in serious condition.

Quotation sources from top to bottom, left to right: New York Times (2), Associated Press (2), Fortune, Reuters, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Fox News