I will work for the sovereignty, integrity and independence of Nepal. I want to bring an end to violence and end to communal politics.

—Ram Baran Yadav, a physician elected Nepal's first President

People think about oil wells and football in Texas, but in 10 years they'll look back and say this was a brilliant thing to do

—Patrick Woodson, vice president of E.On Climate & Renewables North America, which has about 1,200 megawatts of wind projects already in use or on the drawing board in Texas. The Huffington Post.

It's going to take everything we've got to defeat John McCain and the Republican National Committee in November. And we can't do it without your continued support.

—David Plouffe, Sen. Obama's campaign manager, in a message to the senator's supporters after announcing the campaign raised $52 million in June with an average contribution of $68 per person.

We can say that the local forestry officials facilitated and in some cases abetted the smugglers in logging forests. - Tapta Poudel, president of the Federation of Community Forest User Groups in Banke, quoted in a news report on the Nepali Times.

You find out who is logging and write about them, I'm not going to tell you who is or who is not involved. - Maoist leader Matrika Prasad Yadav, who has served as the Minister of Forests, when asked for a response by the Nepali Times. The Maoist leader heavily involved in deforestation, Pradip Chaudhari, was nominated by the Maoists to the CA, the paper reports.

George Bush and John McCain don’t have a strategy for success in Iraq; they have a strategy for staying in Iraq... They said we couldn’t leave when violence was up, they say we can’t leave when violence is down. They refuse to press the Iraqis to make tough choices, and they label any timetable to redeploy our troops surrender, even though we would be turning Iraq over to a sovereign Iraqi government, not to a terrorist enemy. - Senator Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in a 38-minute speech at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington.

The question really facing the country is will we have the patience and determination to succeed in these very difficult theaters...We’re at war, and now is not the time to give up. - President Bush, as quoted by the New York Times today

Nepal Maoists hit by murder scandal

Nepal's Maoists pledged Tuesday to help bring those responsible for the abduction and murder of a businessman to justice after the former rebels were linked to the crime.

Time for Clinton To Quit?

There is unusual near unanimity among our readers. Many of them seem to want Clinton to concede and go home.

Democracy Now's Nepal Coverage

Samudaya.org's Kashish, host of our In Conversation podcast, and anthropologist Mary Des Chenes join Amy Goodman in an episode focusing on Nepal's elections. (Watch on Real Player)

A sign: The chariot of Seto Macchendranath toppled over on Saturday evening crushing a bus and injuring 12 people, including two priests. Some people think this is a bad omen. The last time this happened in 2001, the royal family was massacred. (Source)

Human Footprint: Everything you eat. Everything you drink. Everything you use. Your entire life's consumption. In one place at one time. (Source)