“We treat them, medicate them, get them pretty stable, and then they’re kicked out the door and where do they go?”

— Spokane County Jail commander Jerry Brady, commenting on the prevalence of mental illness in the jail’s population.

“It was just extraordinarily bad luck.”

— Marine neurologist Shaun Collin, calling it a rarity for a human to be killed by a stingray, as TV’s “Crocodile Hunter,” Steve Irwin, was last Monday on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

“The Democrat amendment may rile up the liberal base, but it won’t kill a single terrorist or prevent a single attack.”

— U.S. Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., dismissing a move by Democrats to hold a no-confidence vote in the Senate regarding Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

“It’s a plus for riding the train. It’s an added bonus. It’s the entertainment factor for the Sounder.”

— Commuter Sarah Thompson, one of the passengers whose train ride between Seattle and Everett features a quick glimpse of male nudists on a beach below Woodway, Wash.

“How many times do we have to go through this? How many times do we have to grieve?”

— Linda Mar, at a parole hearing for

Wai Chiu “Tony” Ng, who is in prison

on robbery and assault convictions for his part in Seattle’s 1983 Wah Mee gambling club holdup and murder in which 13 people, including Mar’s parents, were killed.

“I’ll stack our stars against their stars any day.”

— Former Texas Congressman Charles Stenholm, a conservative Democrat, after the family of country singer Willie Nelson joined a rally for legislation outlawing the slaughter of horses for overseas consumption.

“It’s the rogue’s gallery of al-Qaida, the crown jewels of who we have. But in attempting to resolve their status, the last thing you want is to give any impression that it’s going to be a kangaroo court.”

— Georgetown University Prof. Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert, reacting to news that the Bush administration will transfer 14 terrorism suspects from secret CIA facilities in Europe to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and will seek legislation allowing relaxed rules for evidence.

“So, what’s going to be the future for these people? Will they die of the illnesses they are now suffering? I don’t know.”

— Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, co-author of a study that found 70 percent of the rescue workers at the 9/11 site five years ago developed breathing problems and many still suffer from them.

“We know … it’s going to create hardships for students, but the bottom line is the program is designed to help the working poor and right now the working poor don’t qualify.”

— Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesman Tom Shanahan, about a prospective rule change that would require parents attending secondary school to work to qualify for subsidized child care.