#lance

Authorities this broad give the national security bureaucracy the power to scrutinize the personal lives of every law-abiding American. Allowing that to continue is a grave error that demonstrates a willful ignorance of human nature. Moreover, it demonstrates a complete disregard for the responsibilities entrusted to us by the Founding Fathers to maintain robust checks and balances on the power of any arm of the government. That obviously raises some very serious questions. What happens to our government, our civil liberties and our basic democracy if the surveillance state is allowed to grow unchecked? As we have seen in recent days, the intelligence leadership is determined to hold on to this authority. Merging the ability to conduct surveillance that reveals every aspect of a person’s life with the ability to conjure up the legal authority to execute that surveillance, and finally, removing any accountable judicial oversight, creates the opportunity for unprecedented influence over our system of government. ↗

— Ron Wyden

#national-security #secrets #surveillance #intelligence

Your relationships with others are always a direct reflection of the relationship you have with yourself. ↗

— Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

#relationship #relationship

My favourite plant is the foxglove. I think they are a perfect balance between being a garden plant and a wild plant, as at home in woodland as they are in a city. ↗

— Clive Anderson

#being #between #city #favourite #garden

It must be a balance in everything we do, not too much of everything, keep it simple, not complicated. ↗

— Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

#complicated #everything #keep #much #must

I'm always described as 'cocksure' or 'with a swagger,' and that bears no resemblance to who I feel like inside. I feel plagued by insecurity. ↗

— Ben Affleck

#bears #cocksure #described #feel #i

Nowadays, the process of growth and development almost never seems to manage to create this subtle balance between the importance of the individual parts, and the coherence of the environment as a whole. One or the other always dominates. ↗

— Christopher Alexander

#always #balance #between #coherence #create

Governing isn't as easy as you think. Many of you have taken pledges that are contradictory - to balance the budget and cut taxes, for example. You must be honest about the numbers, since our annual deficit now exceeds all discretionary spending combined. ↗

— Brian Baird

#annual #balance #budget #combined #contradictory

In an age robbed of religious symbols, going to the shops replaces going to the church. We have a free choice, but at a price. We can win experience, but never achieve innocence. Marx knew that the epic activities of the modern world involve not lance and sword but dry goods. ↗

— Stephen Bayley

#activities #age #choice #church #dry

This hiatus coming up I'm looking at a comedy because I need the balance. ↗

— Khandi Alexander

#because #comedy #coming #hiatus #i

I would be absolutely astounded if population growth and industrialisation and all the stuff we are pumping into the atmosphere hadn't changed the climatic balance. Of course it has. There is no valid argument for denial. ↗

— David Attenborough

#argument #astounded #atmosphere #balance #changed