People From New York City

"On the other hand, refusing to accept and affirm, avoidable suffering, unfair distributions of goods, uninhibited aggression, and so forth, are refusals which have long been and continue to be part of everyday morality. As such, they are a well-established part of life as it is. Animal liberation extends such concerns, which have traditionally been focused on the human world and on human life, to include equal consideration for animals. In this way, animal liberation is simply carrying on the business of everyday moral practice. Therefore, it does not loathe or deny life as it is. Rather, unlike Callicott's proposed retreat to the wilderness, animal liberation is participating in life and, hopefully, in its continuing moral evolution."

"Baldner contends that is "arrogant" and "paternalistic" morally to condemn something as definitive of the natural order as predation. However, it is in the nature of morality to devise ideals of a better world and to work toward realizing them. This entails judging this world to be less than ideal and working to change it. One could restrict moral evaluations to the products of human activity, but that would be arbitrary: what makes suffering (prima facie) morally bad is not that it is the result of human activity but that it is suffering. Our commitment to making the world a morally better place impels us to make moral evaluations of the natural order. There need be nothing either arrogant or paternalistic in making and acting on such evaluations, provided we recognize the very limited nature of our understanding and our power to make improvements."

"When our interests or the interests of those we care for will be hurt, we do not recognize a moral obligation to "let nature take its course," but when we do not want to be bothered with an obligation, "that's just the way the world works" provides a handy excuse."

"No wonder old graybeards of the New Jersey bar are shaking their heads in amazement over the woman's feat! NO wonder New York lawyers are asking each other about this enterprising young person! She is rather worth thinking about."

"We don't want this money paid out to heirs. We want them to be paid to victims."

"Over three million Jews were killed in Poland and Poles will not be the heirs of Polish Jews. We will never allow it (...) They will hear about it from us as long as Poland exists. If Poland fails to fulfill Jewish claims, it will be "publicly attacked and humiliated" on an international forum."

"What can Oct. 8 Jews do? We can stop being embarrassed, equivocal or defensive about Zionism, which is, after all, one of the world’s most successful movements of national liberation. We can call out anti-Zionism for what it is: a rebranded version of antisemitism, based on the same set of libels and conspiracy theories."

"[N]ationalism does require the mainstream conservative movement to jettison its best principles. Three in particular stand out."

"[T]he United States is not “much of the world.” We are a sovereign state, not a nation-state. Unlike, say, Denmark, we have no official language and no state religion. Our identity is oriented toward the future, not the past. We do have birthright citizenship — though that, curiously, is something many of today’s national conservatives want to abolish. Our national borders have changed repeatedly and may change again.America is the country under whose banner the descendants of slaves give military orders to the descendants of slave owners and stand guard alongside the children of immigrants from Greece and Mexico in places like Panmunjom. It’s where the biological son of a Syrian immigrant created our first trillion-dollar company. It’s where Jews celebrate Christmas by going out for Chinese food.All this is the essence of America’s exceptionalism. It does not require open borders, rule by U.N. mandarins, obeisance to progressive pieties or any of the other ostensible predations of “globalism” that conservative nationalism claims to oppose."

"Conservatives used to believe in the overwhelming benefits of immigration. Most nationalists want to restrict even legal immigration. Conservatives used to believe that America should always speak and sometimes act in defense of freedom-seekers everywhere. Nationalists strike the bargain that America will mind its own business if others mind theirs. Conservatives used to oppose identity politics for being hostile to individual freedom. Nationalism is the superimposition of one form of identity politics over various others."

"This is a presidency whose defining feature isn’t ideology, much less policy. It’s neurosis."

"[T]he American example. Novus ordo seclorum: We are a new order of the ages, not just a copy of the old states of Europe writ large. Unlike most other nations, we have opened our doors to human capital wherever it comes from (and hence attracted a greater share of it); and adopted good ideas irrespective of who first had them (and hence developed or commercialized them more successfully); and found ways to smooth, adapt and enjoy cultural differences (and hence rendered them generally benign). Nationalists only want to sharpen or weaponize those differences. To what end?"

"Why care about social formalities, modes of dress, niceties of speech, qualities of restraint? Not simply because manners make the man, although they do, but because manners also shape political cultures."

"Dictatorships fall not only when they have implacable opponents but also exemplary victims: Steve Biko in South Africa, Benigno Aquino in the Philippines, Jerzy Popieluszko in Poland. Through their deaths, they awakened the living to the conviction that it was the regime that should die instead."

"[A] nationalism moderated by liberalism can serve other countries well. When it comes to the United States, however, we should recognize nationalism for what it really is: un-American."

"There used to be a sign (which, for all I know, is still there) somewhere in the C.I.A.'s headquarters that read, "Every day is Sept. 12." It was placed there to remind the agency's staffers that what they felt right after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."

"RULE 3 The division of labor (complexity) varies with size."

"RULE 4 The rate of various living processes varies with size, such as metabolism, generation time, longevity, and the speed of locomotion."

"RULE 2 Surfaces that permit diffusion of oxygen, of food, of heat in and out of the body, vary with size."

"RULE 5 The abundance of organisms in nature varies with their size."

"First, there was a selection for an increase in size by becoming multicellular, and once achieved there was a selection for better integration, a better coordination of the adhering cells to compete effectively for energy and for a way to reproduce successfully. Then, which each successive step of size increase, propelled always by the fact the uppermost size niche is never filled, there has been a further selection pressure for integration and coordination, often by new and innovative devices to accommodate the newly created larger organism."

"RULE 1 Strength varies with size."

"Merino sheep always flock while Highland sheep spread. The reason is that in Spain the summer feeding and winter feeding of the sheep were widely separated, and the shepherd had to march them many miles along the road and through the villages. If they did not flock, they would soon be lost in their seasonal journey. On the other hand, the Scottish shepherd never moves his Highland sheep large distances and wishes them to spread out as much as possible over the hills so that no one area is overgrazed, and both of these characteristics have been achieved by selective breeding."

"It has often been said that if Christ were to return to earth, he would be shocked at many of the things which have been done in his name, and horrified at the bloody fights between different sects of persons who call themselves his followers."

"Buddha and Confucius have had an approximately equal influence upon the World. Both lived at about the same tme, and the number of their adherents has not been too different. I have chosen to place Buddha before Confucius for two reasons: first, the advent of Communism in China seems to have greatly diminished Confucius influence; and second, the failure of Confucianism to spread widely outside of China indicates how closely the idea of Confucius were grounded in pre-existing Chinese attitudes."

"The impact of Jesus on human history is so obvious and so enormous that few people would question his placement near the top of this list. Indeed, the more likely question is why Jesus, who is the inspiration for the most influential religion in history, has not been placed first. There is no question that Christianity, over the course of time, has had far more adherents than any other religion. However, it is not that relative influence of different religions that is being estimated in this book, but rather the relative influence of individual men. Christianity, unlike Islam, was not founded by a single person but by two people —Jesus and St. Paul— and the principal credit for its development must, therefore, be apportioned between those two figures."

"But Confucianism was not merely the official philosophy of the Chinese administration. Confucius ideals were accepted by the majority of the Chinese people, and for over two thousand years deeply influenced their life and thought."

"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels."

"Newton's achievements in optics alone would probably entitle him to a place on this list; however, they are considerably less important than his accomplishments in pure mathematics and mechanics. His major mathematical contribution was his invention of integral calculus, which he probably devised when he was twenty-three or twenty-four years old. That invention, the most important achievement of modern mathematics, is not merely the seed out of which much of modern mathematical theory has grown, it is also the essential tool without which most of the subsequent progress in modern science would have been impossible. Had Newton done nothing else, the invention of integral calculus by itself would have entitled him to a fairly high place on this list."

"Power is found in conviction... When I think about everything that I have spent my time doing and drill right down to why, it’s out of conviction... The reason I do this thing with the media, whether it’s MSNBC, Free Speech TV or RT Network, is because I came up kind of a victim... When you come up on the other side of the country club wall and you realize that there is no effort at all to help from that side, your reaction is to reject all that... I think I would be a pretty good golfer, but I can’t associate with that whole culture of the country club. I grew up so far on the other side that my conviction draws me to do what I do... Every profession has the good and the bad, and we certainly have our share of the bad, but most people don’t ever take the time to realize that they are victims every day. If not for the efforts of trial lawyers, they’d continue to be victims... We have safer cars and safer pharmaceuticals because of trial lawyers... We push back Wall Street when they try to steal from mom and pop’s pension programs. Without trial lawyers, there would be nobody pushing back with a progressive approach to politics... You have to believe in something. When you’re driven like that, it creates an energy that is a power."

""People in Pensacola ask me why I'm doing this... I could be on my boat in the Bahamas, smoking cigars, drinking whiskey and living in Pleasantville. But our country needs true patriots, people who will ask questions about what's going on around us. When I'm at Air America, I'm in a room of true patriots like the ones who fought for our freedom in 1776. We don't want to be part of the establishment. We don't want to be mindless, driveling fools. That's why I've taken time out of my practice to do this thing... We are not going away... I don't feel any big pressure now, like I did the first six months."

"When you have, say MSNBC, and they’ve got eight pharmaceutical advertisements an hour and you want to do a story on Bayer because their product, Yaz, has killed women between the ages of 18-35. You would think the producers would say, “This is an important story,” but unfortunately the power of money, especially in television and cooperate media is overwhelming. You can’t tell the stories. So what’s happened is, in order for people to hear these stories, sometimes this [legal thriller novels] is the only kind of vehicle they can have. They can read a good thriller and hopefully it’s going to be an entertaining thriller for them, but then they can walk away and say “Well, what did I learn?” In these books they learn an awful lot about the dysfunction of the Department of Justice. They learn how predatory the pharmaceutical industry is, they learn that everything is stacked against the whistle blower. So I think it opens some peoples’ eyes along the way... I think it’s kind of incumbent on a lawyer that’s writing about issues that they’re aware of to understand that maybe nobody else is aware of them and to try to get those stories out."

"Big Corporations promised that they would hire workers after getting a massive tax cut. But so far it looks like they’re pocketing all the money. ...Remember... the talking points, Republicans, oh, this is going to be great. Tax cuts, we’re going to hire more people. We’re going to pay them more. Now, you look... just the opposite has happened.They’re pocketing the money, giving all the money to the CEOs and laying thousands of people off. Corporations are always going to do what corporations do... you can’t teach them to play nice. It’s like... trying to convince a hyena that you shouldn’t eat a dead carcass because it’s bad... Corporations right now are eating dead carcasses all over the world, not just the country... This money, $18 million, just on Ford alone, $18 million went to the CEO because of the... tax cuts. At the same time they laid off... 7,000 people... and they made $750 million. Now that’s just Ford... There are many other companies... We all knew it was a big lie. We all knew.. the hyenas will always go after the dead carcass and the corporate hyenas are doing just that... If Trump was smart, he would say, "You know what? You can try to do that, but you’re going to be punished...""

"The music leading up to a fiery Hitler speech needs to sound more spooky to Mike Papantonio. Playing it over and over again in a cramped, makeshift studio on the fifth floor in his downtown Pensacola office, Papantonio wants the bells to echo more. The scary tune will lead the "Ring of Fire" radio show that Papantonio co-hosts with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Air America Radio. The music fittingly introduces an investigative piece about white supremacist Ron Wilson, a David Duke follower, who recently earned appointment to South Carolina's state Board of Education. The 51-year-old estimates he spends about 80 percent of his time working on producing his weekly radio show or working on growing Air America Radio, which was launched in March 2004 as an alternative to conservative-dominated AM talk radio... After earning a University of Florida journalism degree, Papantonio spent the next 25 years becoming one of the country's most respected trial lawyers. As head of mass torts at Pensacola's Levin Papantonio law firm he has handled major cases throughout the nation, including asbestos, breast implants, Fen-Phen and Florida's tobacco litigation. Then, he heard about the creation of Air America Radio. He didn't need to see a business plan, he simply believes in the product.And Air America insiders are glad he did. During the first week, Papantonio recalls a 2 a.m. meeting in New York with a handful of Air America executives where the fledgling, ...network was hours from shutting down without a quick cash infusion."

"People looked at me like I had four eyes when I said I wanted to go to Harvard."

"Texas has a new law that could result in prison sentences for up to 10 years in jail for anyone who protests a new fossil fuel pipeline. I couldn’t make that up. This is just one of the many anti protest bills that states have passed... I looked at this and it was almost as if there’s this notion that if it’s fossil fuel industry, then nothing really applies constitutionally. First Amendment really doesn’t apply. You know, the right to protest, right to free speech. I don’t know how they get here. Now let me back up and say yes, there are times when the right to protest can be controlled. You can say you can protest over here. There are times when you say that, that your speech is so angry or it’s so dangerous that it can cause harm and so we can put some kind of regulator on this. But this is crazy talk. Let me add one other point. They’re calling it riot boosting. That’s the term. Again, riot boosting... we’re talking about putting people in prison for 5 years, 10 years, $100,000 fine... If we have some honest appellate courts, in the old days when we had that, this thing would be dead on arrival."

"Publix, Ralphs, and Stew Leonard's are among America's most iconic retailers, and the early velocity data we're seeing in each account is very exciting. We're absolutely thrilled."

"Given our early turns, we're fully committed to building Lemon Perfect through a best-in-class DSD network that will eventually span across America, so that we can best service both our retailers and our consumers. The Classic Beverage and John Lenore signings are key wins for the company, especially on the heels of an almost implausibly successful launch in Big Geyser's system amidst the dislocation caused by COVID-19 in the New York metropolitan area."

"Our bottle doesn’t look like anything on the shelf before us. There was never a product created even in the same realm as Lemon Perfect. No one ever said, Can we take something made from real fruit and give it the flavor profile that America craves and do it with no sugar?"

"Pensacola-based attorney Mike Papantonio is no stranger to drug companies and the courtroom, he’s one of the most respected names in personal injury law in the country. Through his decades of experience, he’s seen a lot of serious cases, many involving deadly drugs, but said none can compare to the opioid epidemic. "I've seen some really bad ones, Fen-phen, for example, just killed hundreds of people, but it had an end. This has no end,” Papantonio said. He’s taken tobacco companies to task, but said it pales in comparison to what’s being seen with opioids. “It [tobacco] took 20 years, 30 years sometimes to kill you, this kills you tomorrow, this kills you today,” Papantonio explained... He said he doesn’t blame doctors for the prescriptions of these deadly drugs, but rather believes blame is at the hands of the pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers. He believes some of them wrongly sold-off the drugs without fully explaining the dangers of the painkillers. Now he wants to hold them accountable and the best way to do that he said is to hit them in the wallet.. He said at the end of the day it’s not about book sales, settlements or even burden on the taxpayers, but the true cost of the crisis, which is the suffering felt by the addicts and their families. “It's destroying families. When I talk to you about dependency court, there's children every day being taken away from both parents because both parents are drug addicts,” Papantonio said."

"He was a warrior. There aren’t that many warriors... He genuinely loved people and the jury saw that. When he had a client at the table, they saw that the compassion that was being projected by Fred [Levin] was real."

"The early investor enthusiasm for Lemon Perfect has been energizing and humbling. The brand is resonating broadly across multiple demographics, and that diversity is well represented by our investors."

"The beverage landscape is dynamic. On-trend, well-packaged, and inclusive emerging brands will become the iconic brands of tomorrow. Our goal at Lemon Perfect is to be at the forefront of the better-for-you, for everyone movement by building products that meet at the intersection of flavor and good-for-you. That so many tastemakers and industry insiders share our vision of disrupting an American beverage ecosystem still largely dominated by high-calorie, high-sugar options is very motivating."

"She had posted a photo with it in her limo, and all of a sudden my phone blew up. We came to learn that she was an authentic fan of the brand. A year later, one of our investors was in her house and saw her stash in the fridge and helped us build the bridge with her. It is beyond my wildest dreams to have someone of her influence being a fan of the brand."

"Nothing with our flavor and health profile is on the market today. And, our price point is at where a consumer anywhere and anytime can become a customer. It is very rare that you can have a total addressable market like we do."

"Lemon Perfect is disrupting the enhanced water category by offering a better-for you, better-tasting product that is resonating broadly with the American consumer. Today is a monumental day for Lemon Perfect. Jim is a best-in-industry sales executive and passionate people leader whose experience is unsurpassed. His sales strategy will drive revenue and profit while accelerating Lemon Perfect's rise toward its goal of becoming the number one brand in the multibillion-dollar enhanced water category by market share."

"We're honored to have Sloane join our Lemon Perfect team as an investor and spokeswoman for great-tasting healthy hydration. Sloane's championship-level grit, unbounded positivity, and commitment to providing more opportunities to underserved children through education and sports serve as a great North Star for all of our stakeholders, and we are excited for her lemon-powered run at this year's US Open."

"Our partnership with Jared is exciting for Lemon Perfect as we dive meaningfully into the NIL ecosystem. That Jared is both an NBA prospect and social media star is unique. He is a one-of-a-kind basketball prospect and content creator whose talent in front of the camera and on the court will help drive brand awareness as Lemon Perfect continues its quest to become the number one brand in the enhanced water category by dollar share."

"Beverage is an expensive game, and access to capital is the only way to drive a fast-scaling brand forward. We want to be a disruptive player in a large category and want to put fuel on the fire. We felt like we were able to drive great execution, but still have room to grow and want to build a big margin story for tomorrow."

"I suspect that in general the relativity and quantum theories are two complementary aspects of a deeper theory that will involve a kind of cosmic consciousness. The cosmic consciousness or the ‘Mahat’ of India’s Samkhya Philosophy is the basis of entire Creation."