Linux Politics

Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws
of nature!
                -- G.B. Shaw

Fraud is the homage that force pays to reason.
                -- Charles Curtis, "A Commonplace Book"

Free Speech Is The Right To Shout 'Theater' In A Crowded Fire.
                -- A Yippie Proverb

Freedom begins when you tell Mrs. Grundy to go fly a kite.

Freedom is nothing else but the chance to do better.
                -- Camus

Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
War is peace.
                -- George Orwell

Freedom of the press is for those who happen to own one.

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.
                -- Kris Kristofferson, "Me and Bobby McGee"

"... gentlemen do not read each other's mail."
                -- Secretary of State Henry Stimson, on closing down
                   the Black Chamber, the precursor to the National
                   Security Agency.

Gentlemen,
        Whilst marching from Portugal to a position which commands the
approach to Madrid and the French forces, my officers have been
diligently complying with your requests which have been sent by H.M. ship
from London to Lisbon and thence by dispatch to our headquarters.
        We have enumerated our saddles, bridles, tents and tent poles,
and all manner of sundry items for which His Majesty's Government holds
me accountable. I have dispatched reports on the character, wit, and
spleen of every officer. Each item and every farthing has been accounted
for, with two regrettable exceptions for which I beg your indulgence.
        Unfortunately the sum of one shilling and ninepence remains
unaccounted for in one infantry battalion's petty cash and there has been
a hideous confusion as the the number of jars of raspberry jam issued to
one cavalry regiment during a sandstorm in western Spain.  This
reprehensible carelessness may be related to the pressure of circumstance,
since we are war with France, a fact which may come as a bit of a surprise
to you gentlemen in Whitehall.
        This brings me to my present purpose, which is to request
elucidation of my instructions from His Majesty's Government so that I
may better understand why I am dragging an army over these barren plains.
I construe that perforce it must be one of two alternative duties, as
given below.  I shall pursue either one with the best of my ability, but
I cannot do both:
        1. To train an army of uniformed British clerks in Spain for the
benefit of the accountants and copy-boys in London or perchance:
        2. To see to it that the forces of Napoleon are driven out of Spain.
                -- Duke of Wellington, to the British Foreign Office,
                   London, 1812