INSIDE THE COMMITTEE THAT RUNS THE WORLD

From Foreign Policy:

Kissingerhas been heard to describe Rumsfeld as the “most ruthless man” he ever met while in government. It is a view that is disputed by almost no one. And nearly all who know Rumsfeld acknowledge that he is exceptionally intelligent, hardworking, and skillful. But his unique relationship with one of the most powerful vice presidents in history and the exceptional network that binds their offices and the rest of the administration has set the center of gravity wherever these two men are standing together, literally or figuratively.

In related news
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3700336,
criminal gangs are on the rise in the U.S. and around the world.

Is America's gang problem getting worse? The Justice Department says there are now 30,000 gangs with more than 800,000 members. The National Youth Gang Centre (NYGC), which conducts an annual survey that is funded by the Justice Department, gives lower ones (see table). It concedes that every town of 250,000 people now has a gang problem, but it thinks the tide has turned: the number of rural counties and small cities reporting gang activity dropped considerably between 1996 and 2002.