The Iraqis say of the occupation “The pupil has gone [Saddam], the master has arrived [USA].”
Most of the money skimmed from recent Iraqi oil sales and promised for the Iraqi people for rebuilding has been diverted to Halliburton, former CIA operatives, and other U.S. cronies. Ostensibly, these funds are legally allocated by the UN for rebuilding, but that was the same trick Saddam used for years.
The editor of the Russian edition of Forbes was gunned down in his car this week. There are various speculations on the motive:
- Someone was displeased with the recently published 100 Richest Russians list
- The editor was privy to inside information
- The editor recently published a book called "Conversations with a Barbarian" – interviews with Chechnyan separatists
- Another book he published, "Boris Berezovsky and the Looting Of Russia," inspired a lawsuit by Berezovsky, who was absolved of the accusation that he had killed Listyev, the famous TV journalist...but he might still be pissed off.
In another article, a journalist for Gorod Magazine reportedly disappeared and is presumed dead this week. He had been investigating the murder in 1998 of a Duma deputy.
A man from the Center For Journalism in Extreme Situations (really) was quoted as saying this man’s work and his murder may not be related. Uh-huh.
In another article, various foreign consulates have complained about their citizens being robbed by the St. Petersburg police. Apparently, these robberies have declined in recent years, but still persist. An Estonian businessman says he never has problems with criminals at night, only with the police. He said he had a conversation with a City Hall official who said there is a whole business of stealing from foreigners. Police cars from Kalininsky district drive into the area where the big hotels are at night to "earn something."
