Verbatim

'Some people have said that if I ran for re-election, it would be a difficult campaign ... It probably would be.'

JOE LIEBERMAN, Connecticut Senator, announcing that he will retire in 2012--but not for fear of losing his seat

'It is the same logic by which the superpowers continue the possession of the nuclear weapons.'

KALYAN BANERJEE, an Indian virologist, on efforts by the U.S. and Russia to fight the establishment of a deadline to destroy the last known stocks of smallpox. The two countries argue that the deadly virus is needed for research to combat bioterrorism

'I don't think it's their fault ... They've got to be hurting ... as much as anybody.'

MARK KELLY, NASA astronaut and husband of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords, saying he would meet with the parents of Giffords' accused shooter, Jared Loughner

'Hollywood and its power brokers hate a rebel. It is a place of groupthink and almost terminal political correctness.'

QUENTIN LETTS, British journalist, commenting on comedian Ricky Gervais' controversial Golden Globes monologue. Many called Gervais' celebrity jokes mean-spirited

'We now face a reconstruction task of postwar proportions.'

ANNA BLIGH, premier of Queensland, Australia, on the ravages of floods that have affected thousands of homes since December

'Due to the excess weight, it could not accomplish its mission.'

JOSE ANGEL MENDOZA, police commander in Bucaramanga, Colombia, after authorities captured a carrier pigeon that was being used to smuggle a 1.6-oz. (45 g) drug package into a prison

'I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen.'

JENNIFER ANISTON, on the Rachel, a layered hairstyle--much mimicked by American women--made famous by the actress on the '90s hit sitcom Friends

TALKING HEADS

Matt Zoller Seitz

Reacting to the Parents Television Council's calling Skins--a remake of a scandalous British teen drama--"dangerous," on Salon:

"I have yet to witness a scenario in either [version] that I didn't personally fantasize about ... when I was the same age as the teens that comprise this program's target demographic ... If I were that age again in 2011, I'd probably watch Skins religiously for a couple of seasons, then get bored and move on. The series would have been absorbing, silly, sexy and trashy no matter what critics said about it. The fact that it's officially considered Bad for Kids makes it awesome."

--1/18/11

DeWayne Wickham

Praising Obama's decision to ease the rules on sending money from the U.S. to Cuba, in USA Today:

"What the ban effectively has done is reward the families of the white Cubans who disproportionately immigrate to the USA while punishing the families of black Cubans who have largely remained in Cuba ... Obama's new policy makes it possible for [aid] to find its way into the homes of many more black Cubans ... And that's a good thing."

--1/18/11