Verbatim: Jun. 4, 2007

‘A stable is better, for there you have a donkey that carries a load and a cow that provides milk. The parliament is worse than a stable.’

MALALAI JOYA, female member of the Afghan parliament and longtime critic of fellow legislators whom she deems warlords. Joya was suspended after making the comment, in a television interview, comparing the parliament to a stable

‘Yes, indeed, this is a virgin birth.’

MAHMOOD SHIVJI, professor of marine biology at Nova Southeastern University, referring to a hammerhead shark mysteriously born in a females-only tank at the Henry Doorly Zoo, in Omaha, Neb. The incident prompted a team of scientists, including Shivji, to do research and find that some sharks can reproduce asexually

‘Some are rock stars. I am not, but I have a proven record.’

BILL RICHARDSON, Governor of New Mexico, officially announcing he will seek the Democratic presidential nomination

1. ‘I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this Administration has been the worst in history.’

JIMMY CARTER, former U.S. President, in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, sparking a hubbub in which a White House representative shot back that Carter is becoming “increasingly irrelevant”

2. ‘My remarks were maybe careless or misinterpreted. But I wasn’t comparing the overall Administration, and I certainly was not talking personally about any President.’

PRESIDENT CARTER, later saying his original comment was only in response to a question comparing George W. Bush’s foreign policy with Richard Nixon’s, which he called “good and productive”

‘For me, it doesn’t make any difference. I don’t look back.’

DANICA PATRICK, preparing to compete in the Indy 500 against two other women, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno–the first time the race has seen such a high female presence

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Sources: BBC; Washington Post; AP; Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; MSNBC; USA Today