Overheard

Talk about holding a grudge

"This guy is a bit of a blight on Canada. He denounces Canada, he denounces Canadian workers and he gets a golden parachute. If it were some poor working stiff who'd been convicted, he wouldn't get in."

-- Dave Coles, president of Canada's Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union and a key organizer of the 1999 strike at the Calgary Herald which Conrad Black owned, didn't roll out the welcome mat for Black upon his release from an American prison.

That'll teach them

"Children are getting a lot more savvy these days. It used to be, 'Make the (substitute) teacher cry.' Now they know they can have you suspended."

-- Susan Dowell, a substitute teacher with 15 years experience was suspended for a month and investigated by the Children's Aid Society because she reprimanded a student for tossing a banana in the garbage. She was later exonerated.

Wildly influential author

"Dear Mr. Sendak, How much does it cost to get to where the wild things are? If it is not expensive, my sister and I would like to spend the summer there."

-- An eight-year-old fan of Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are and other children's books. Sendak died this week at 83.

He needs to be Put in his place

"He sees himself as a historical figure already, a man who prevented the collapse of the country. The problem is, now he has to meet the real demands of people who are 30 years younger than him."

-- Alexander Rahr, a Russian expert with the German Council on Foreign Relations, spoke about Vladimir V. Putin, who inspired street protests with his return to the presidency.

Isn't that what everyone does?

"Like many people, I like to set aside a few hours every day, generally between 3 and 6 a.m., to lie quietly thinking about everything that could go horribly wrong with my life and all the ways in which I am negligent and reprehensible."

-- Tim Kreider, American cartoonist, comments on modern angst.

A comforting thought

"I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying one another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties."

-- Joe Biden, U.S. vice-president

As Craiglist goes, so goes the nation

"You can follow the pulse of the economy just by watching what's going on with Craigslist."

-- Jerry Patterson, a Phoenix carpenter, describes how life has changed for the building trades, from steady work to seeking odd jobs on Craigslist.

Obama's next job: Meteorologist

"We've traveled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. Yet here, in the pre-dawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon."

-- Barack Obama, U.S. president, addresses the troops near Kabul, Afghanistan.

 

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 12, 2012 J2