http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27644191/

Terrorism, as one Treasury official noted, is “not a rich man’s sport.”

An analysis of some of the most notable attacks show that al-Qaida and others it has inspired have spent between $5,000 and $500,000 to carry out the attacks. Although the numbers in most cases is an approximation—and may not include all costs, such as training—they serve as an indicator of how little is needed to get the world’s attention.

Michael Sheehan, the former counterterrorism director for the New York Police Department, says the department has long been guided by a “4 x 10” rule – “10 men + 10 weeks + $10,000 = 10,000-pound bomb.”

This summary bears out the rule.

The Mafia Is Italy's Biggest Business

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...6238022&page=1

Organized crime is the biggest business in Italy, according to the latest study by the country's shopkeepers association, Confesercenti.

In this file photo, an Italian carabinieri walks near a burnt bus in the La Valle bus depot at San Donato Mineo, in the south of Italy. Over 30 buses were burnt in the early morning to terrorize the owner of bus company and the arson is blamed on the N'Drangheta, the Calabrian Mafia.

The biggest business operating in Italy today is organized crime, according to the latest study by Italy's shopkeeper's association, Confesercenti.
That Italy's mafias do a booming business, particularly the drug-related variety, is common knowledge. But the effect on the country's legitimate businesses such as tourism and food production had not been as clear until the Confesercenti released the figures, which are staggering.