$600/Month

Last week an Hezbollah operative was put on trial in Cyprus for tracking Arkia Israeli Airlines, a charter carrier with Tel Aviv as its hub. Police and investigators have accused Hossam Yaacoub of targeting these flights for possible attack, however the 24 year-old Lebanese argued that he was a pawn in a much bigger game and that his confession had been extracted by traditional tactics. I tend to agree with the young man, since his monthly stipend from Hezbollah was a mere $600. Cyprus has a per capita income of $30,000 per annum and there's no way Mr. Yaacoub could finance an attack with those funds. But this story made the NY Times and pages of various other mainstream newspapers. $600 wouldn't pay for a single night with a houri in Cyprus, although Mr. Hossam Yaacoub could score six girls from Walking Street in Pattaya for a short-time imitation of the mythic 77 virgins. You get what you pay for and this case the NY Times shows its usual laziness by writing only the news that fit to print. The truth takes more of an effort.