The fate of the world for the next Islamic year, if bin Laden has his way, will include the nuclear destruction of the United States,

The market was concentrating on Nigeria, Iran and the latest bin Laden tape.

Pop music has been all but relegated to the remainder bin at MTV and VH1, where high-maintenance concoctions such as Paris Hilton, Flavor Flav, and Hulk Hogan's biohazard clan of bleached specimens provide endless hours of death-hastening diversion.

The bin Laden news helped move the market in the direction it was already going, but the market movements bring back thoughts that we might be in a range between $1.2050 and $1.2150.

It was bin Laden who decided that it should just focus on the East Coast, and that the West Coast should be held in abeyance ... as a follow-on attack. It's our understanding now that it was too difficult to get enough operatives for both the East and West Coast plots at the same time.

The bin Laden tape has caused a knee-jerk reaction on the part of the market.

Bin Laden has consistently shown himself to be immune to outside pressure. When he wants to do something, he does it on his own schedule.'

Bin Laden is remarkably eager for Americans to know why he doesn't like us, what he intends to do about it and then following up and doing something about it in terms of military actions.

Without the connotation good or bad, bin Laden's a great man in the sense that he's influenced the course of history.

Hackney at certain epochs has given itself suburban airs and graces, before being slapped down and consigned once more to the dump bin of aborted ambition.