Verbatim

'You will be beaten upside the head with a truncheon. And that's it.'

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian Prime Minister, threatening anti-government dissidents who continue to hold rallies

'I don't see why we need to be told what to do anymore.'

RACHEL BRACKETT, a junior at Northern Arizona University, where electronic scanners are being installed outside some large lecture halls to track student attendance

'I like Americans, but they are somewhat monocellular. When I talk with Americans, I often wonder why they are so simpleminded.'

ICHIRO OZAWA, a member of the governing Democratic Party of Japan, a day before he announced he would mount a challenge for the party leadership; it was unclear what prompted the remarks

'I can't spend all my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead.'

BARACK OBAMA, addressing rumors that he was not born in the U.S. A recent TIME poll showed that, despite evidence to the contrary, nearly one-quarter of Americans believe he is a Muslim

'It's an oddball group.'

DEENA KATZ, casting producer for ABC's Dancing with the Stars, on the lineup of celebrities chosen for the 11th season, including Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, actor David Hasselhoff and Jersey Shore star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, right

'Whatever they do to us, we are going to keep coming.'

WAHEEDA AMIRI, an Afghan girl who was sickened by gases in her school on Aug. 28; after conducting blood tests across Afghanistan, the Ministry of Health revealed Aug. 31 that a spate of illnesses in girls' schools over the past two years was caused by poison gas; the poisonings are widely believed to be deliberate

'Conan. Simple. Pure. Like the man himself.'

CONAN O'BRIEN, announcing the name of his upcoming show, which is set to premiere Nov. 8 on TBS

TALKING HEADS

Charles Kupchan

Explaining in the Washington Post how the European Union is dying a "slow and steady" death:

"From London to Berlin to Warsaw, Europe is experiencing a renationalization of political life, with countries clawing back the sovereignty they once willingly sacrificed in pursuit of a collective ideal ... Many Europeans ... wonder what the union is delivering for them, and they ask whether it is worth the trouble."

--8/29/10

Stanley Fish

Writing on the New York Times Opinionator blog about how someone like Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh is viewed differently from a Muslim terrorist:

"If the bad act is committed by a member of a group you wish to demonize, attribute it to a community or a religion and not to the individual. But if the bad act is committed by someone whose profile, interests and agendas are uncomfortably close to your own, detach the malefactor from everything that is going on ... and characterize him as a one-off, nongeneralizable, sui generis phenomenon."

--8/30/10

Lizzie Skurnick