удачный бизнес

Для крупных американских банков, последний год был весьма неудачен. Однако есть один вид инвестиций, который принес им огромную прибыль:

Many of the large American companies that received billions of
taxpayer bailout dollars by pleading that they didn't have enough money
to lend to customers were, at the same time, spending millions of
dollars dispatching lobbyists to influence the federal government.

A Washington Times review of lobbying disclosure reports found that
18 of the top 20 recipients of federal bailout money spent a combined
$12.2 million lobbying the White House, the Treasury Department,
Congress and federal agencies during the last quarter of 2008.

For instance, the government bought $3.4 billion in American Express
Co. stock on Jan. 9 as part of an aid package. In the last quarter of
2008, the company spent more than $1 million on federal lobbying.

При таком уровне возврата на вложеный капитал, я вообще удивляюсь, как они еще занимаются чем-то другим.

газа

Насчет предотвращения контрабанды оружия в Газу:

What about the issue of arms smuggling into Gaza?

That's much more more problematic.
To be polite, the Egyptians are telling us stories and we are deluding ourselves.
Egypt was not effective in the past. It doesn't care about weapons in Gaza.

The smuggling tunnel apparatus also features drugs and televisions and mobile phones, and keeps whole tribes in business. So either Egypt has to truly confront this whole industry or pay off the smugglers. And I'm not sure it's going to do that.

As for the dramatic signing of an agreement between Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the previous secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, intended to stop the smuggling, well, without being rude, it's not serious and it's not significant.

Что не радует.