"We don't think the timing of the visit is helpful, and they are well aware of our views." - State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland when asked about Google chief Eric Schmidt's plan to visit North Korea, a trip described as a private, humanitarian mission.

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"As always, I was deeply impressed by the strength and courage and resolve of the families and the extraordinary caring and generosity of Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly in visiting with them." - Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal after the former congresswoman and her astronaut husband visited the families of victims of the Newtown elementary school massacre.

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"The antisocial has become social." - Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant in his first tweet after joining Twitter, where he quickly picked up more than 300,000 followers.