Quotables

‘24 tons’

The weight of ivory elephant tusks that Malaysian customs officials on Dec. 10 found hidden inside two shipping containers that appeared to be filled with mahogany boards. It was reportedly the largest seizure of illegal tusks in history. In some markets ivory is selling for more than $1,000 per pound. “It’s extremely depressing,” elephant researcher Iain Douglas-Hamilton told The New York Times. “The price of ivory is making this situation insane.”

‘We cannot turn our back and say that violence in films or anything that we do doesn’t have a sort of influence. It does.’

Actor Jamie Foxx, star of director Quentin Tarantino’s newest super-violent film Django Unchained, after the mass murder of schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn. Tarantino, whose credits include Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, defended his violent films: “I just think, you know, there’s violence in the world, tragedies happen, blame the playmakers.”

‘People want cheap sushi, and this is what happens.’

New York wholesaler Robert DeMasco on a new study by the organization Oceana that found 39 percent of seafood sold in grocery stores or restaurants was mislabled. Out of 16 sushi bars in the study, all peddled mislabeled fish.

‘Priorities change when you struggle to pay rent and buy food.’

London-based Spanish fashion designer Cristina Valls, who plans to do holiday shopping for her family in the United Kingdom, after they’ve lost jobs in Spain.

‘The most talked about pregnancy since Bethlehem.’

CBS correspondent Mark Phillips, on the pregnancy of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Britain’s Prince William.

‘I feel like I got a ticket off the Titanic.’

U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry, R-La., on losing his seat to U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., in a Dec. 8 runoff election.