Necessary News

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Iraq Reconstruction Projects Fall Through the Cracks

• $44 billion spent on reconstruction projects in Iraq. You’d think the Iraqi government would be clamoring to take them over, right? Wrong. [Reuters]
• A new audit by a U.S. special inspector general found that the Iraqi government has not assumed responsibility for a reconstruction project since June 2006, and that they’ve only taken over a small fraction of the total projects being undertaken in Iraq.
• Of 2797 completed projects, costing about $5.8 billion, the Iraqi Government has taken over only 435, worth $501 million. [The Age]
• Said the report, “"The failure of the asset-transfer program raises concerns about the continuing operation and maintenance of U.S.-constructed projects...In some cases, the United States has continued to pay for maintaining complete projects that have not been accepted by Iraq.”
• Even when projects are successfully transferred, problems can persist. At the Doura power station, rebuilt with U.S. funds and transferred to the Iraqi Minister of Electricity in 2006, “workers removed parts from one unit to keep the other functioning after it failed because of poor maintenance.”

It’s like tossing money into a big hole.

Iraq’s Civilians Are Homeless, Starving and Poor

• Iraq’s population is bearing the brutal costs of civil war and strife. [Guardian]
• Eight million Iraqis, one third of Iraq’s population, require emergency aid and are “in urgent need of water, sanitation, food and shelter” according to a new report by Oxfam. [Oxfam]
• 15% of Iraqis can not afford to eat, 70% do not have adequate water supplies (up from 50% in 2003 before the invasion) and 28% of children are malnourished (up from 19%). 92% of children are experiencing learning problems.
• The continued war and violence has displaced 2 million people within Iraq and led 2 million people to flee abroad, mostly into neighboring Syria and Jordan. [USA Today]
• Another key factor exacerbating the humanitarian crisis: brain drain. 40% of Iraq’s “medical staff, teachers, water engineers and other professionals” have fled the country, leaving key humanitarian infrastructure in understaffed and in shambles.

A victorious soccer match distracts only for a day. Then the trials continue.

Refresh Your Memory: Alberto Gonzales

• Fudging the truth about the hospital-room showdown over surveillance. Refusing to explain his role in the political firings of 9 U.S. attorneys. Dissembling on civil liberty violations under the Patriot Act. As Republican strategist Newt Gingrich charged on Sunday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has become “a liability for the president” and “a liability for the United States of America.” [Washington Post]
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• Stop a second to check out Gonzales through the years, however, one thing becomes crystal clear: We really should have seen this coming.
• Here are three other things we almost forgot about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his prior record:
• ONE: Gonzo Bends Rules To Protect W: In 1996, as counsel to then-Gov. George Bush, Alberto Gonzales worked behind the scenes to get him excused from jury duty, allowing W to “avoid questions that would have required him to disclose his own 1976 arrest and conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) in Kennebunkport, Maine—an incident that didn’t become public until the closing days of the 2000 campaign.” [Newsweek]
• TWO: Gonzo Ignores The Law: In 1997, Alberto Gonzales wrote a memo for then Gov. Bush to justify non-compliance with the Vienna Convention. The Vienna Convention, ratified by the Senate in 1969, was “designed to ensure that foreign nationals accused of a crime are given access to legal counsel by a representative from their home country.” Gonzales sent a letter to the U.S. State Department saying the U.S. may have signed the treaty, but the state of Texas hadn’t and thus didn’t have to comply. Two days later, Texas executed Mexican citizen Irineo Tristan Montoya, despite Mexico’s protestations that Texas had violated Tristan’s rights under the Vienna Convention by failing to inform the Mexican consulate at the time of his arrest. [Slate]
• THREE: Gonzo Refuses To Give Info To Congress: Senators traditionally are allowed to review official memoranda written by potential judicial nominees. But when the Senate asked to review memos written by White House judicial nominee Miguel Estrada when he worked in Bush’s solicitor general’s office, Gonzales blocked them, saying to do so “would chill free expression among Administration lawyers and violate the principle of executive privilege, which protects the internal deliberations of the President’s aides.” [New Yorker]

Alberto Gonzales: At least he’s consistent.

The Day After Tomorrow Was Yesterday

• Remember all those nasty global warming side-effects we warned you about? Hurricanes, fires, floods, droughts, polar bears eating each other? Well, it turns out they’re here. All of ‘em. [USA Today]
• A study released on Sunday shows that the number of hurricanes that strike each year has more than doubled over the past century — and scientists are blaming global warming.
• The researchers found that average hurricane numbers jumped sharply during the 20th century, from 3.5 per year in the first 30 years to 8.4 in the earliest years of the 21st century. Over that time, Atlantic Ocean surface temperatures increased.65 degrees, which experts call a significant increase.
• Meanwhile, in China, floods, landslides and mud flows triggered by torrential rains have killed 652 so far this year, with more heavy rains in the forecast. The floods, mostly in southern and eastern China, have destroyed 452,000 homes and affected 119 million people.
• Britain’s not doing much better. Across the pond in the UK, the worst flood in 60 years has left 350,000 people without freshwater. [Houston Chronicle]
• And then there are the fires. In California, a month-old blaze flared up over the weekend, burning 1,500 new acres and causing an evacuation order for a dozen homes, authorities said. The blaze had consumed about 33,500 acres, or 52 square miles, since it started July 4. It was 70 percent contained Sunday. [ABC]

Happy Tuesday of the Apocalypse

The FCC Is About To Change Your Life

• The Federal Communications Commission today will vote to establish the rules for the January 700MHz spectrum auction. [Washington Post]
• At first, we didn’t really understand what that meant either. Trust us, it’s very, very, very cool.
• The Back Story: On February 17, 2009, all television signals will be digital. That means you must have cable, a satellite dish or a digital converter box to get television signals. There will be nothing to pick up with your rabbit ears.
• The Auction: That means all that wireless space that used to be taken up with TV broadcasts can be used for something else (the 700MHz spectrum.) A license to control that frequency will sell to the highest bidder(s) in January. It can be used for cell phones, wireless networks, etc. It’s worth something in the neighborhood of $15 billion. And this will be the final auction for decades.
• The Google Connection. Google wants it. A lot. The company also wants to open the market.
• The Google Idea: Google has been lobbying the FCC (hard) to require that anyone who wins the auction and buys the airwaves to be required to build a network open to all phones, carriers and services. [CNN Money]
• The Chances: Lawmakers like Sen. Byron Dorgan support the idea. AT&T came around and now supports the idea. Verizon now supports the idea. [Broadcast & Cable]
• The Cool Thing For You: The decision may require cellular carriers allow their customers to use any system on their phones. AKA: You could buy an iPhone and use it with any mobile phone service you want. Don’t feel like switching to AT&T? Then don’t.
• The Cool Thing For You: Two words. Google. Phones.
• But remember: The devil is in the details.

We feel like Homer Simpson. Mmmmmmmmm....Google phone.

Good News, Bad News

They’re everywhere in Hollywood. On the streets, outside restaurants, and — more often than one would like to admit — in the clubs. We’re not talking about coked-out socialites. We’re talking about pigeons. But now, Hollywood residents believe they’ve found a humane way to reduce the out-of-control neighborhood pigeon population: the pill. A bird-form of birth control will be placed in bird food in new rooftop feeders. Let’s check out the pros and cons. [AP]

GOOD NEWS

Less pigeons.

BAD NEWS

Pigeons are bloated, have mood swings, suffer from headaches, and, like, totally forget to take it every now and then.

Quote Of The Day

“Here we are Sunni — Yah! Here we are Shiite — Yah! Bring us happiness sons of Iraq!”

—Chanted by Iraqi fans during the final game of the Asia World Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia where Iraq beat Saudi Arabia 1-0. [NY Times]

Speed Round

AUDIO: GORDON BROWN AND THE PRESIDENT

UK PM Gordon Brown and President Bush hold a joint press conference where they discuss Iraq, terrorism, and the special relationship that the countries share. From the sounds of it, Bushie’s got a new poodle to play with.

[Transcripts]

AUDIO: OP-ED CHECK

Center for American Progress Iraq expert Brian Katulis takes issue with an op-ed in today’s New York Times by Michael O’Hanlon called “A War We Just Might Win.” [Transcripts]

Read the op-ed here: [NY Times]

VICKGATE

One of Michael Vick’s co-defendants in the dogfighting scandal is back in court to cut a deal with prosecutors. [USA Today]

IMMIGRATION

In feeding frenzy, the state of Virginia decides it wants officials to start rounding up and deporting anyone they think is an undocumented worker. Federal immigration officials say, right, good luck finding the money to do that, ‘cause it’s not coming from us. [Washington Times]

GOVERNMENT PORN

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum’s office is in hot water after “inadvertently” sending an 8-year-old girl to a sex chat line. Whoops. [Orlando Sun Sentinel]

AGENCY, DISABLED

Unable to work due to a disability? Tough luck. The Social Security Administration is backlogged with over 745,000 cases. The average wait for a hearing? Try 17 months. [USA Today]

MO’ MONEY

“After raising the minimum wage by 70 cents an hour this week, many members of Congress are ready to give themselves a pay increase of roughly $4,400 per year. That would take their annual salaries to nearly $170,000.” [McClatchy]

93

The number of people slain in Iraq during the past *two* days. [USA Today]

WE LOST A GOOD ONE

Legendary football coach passes away at the age of 75. [LA Times]

UPDATE: SAUDI ARMS DEAL

Here’s a surprise: Iran is less-than-thrilled at the prospect of the U.S. arming Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. [Reuters]

UPDATE: S. KOREAN HOSTAGES

Afghanistan’s Taliban militia said it shot dead late Monday one of the 23 South Korean hostages captured two weeks ago, after its deadlines expired for the government to free prisoners. [AFP]

MONEY IN THE BANK

Somehow we’re not surprised; while senior advisers like Karl Rove received a $2,800 cost-of-living wage increase last year to cash in at $168,000, those at the lower end of the White House pay totem pole suffered a pay decrease due to inflation. [National Journal]

FALL OF JUSTICE

Chief Justice John Roberts is hospitalized after a mild seizure. [NY Times]

JUST WHAT THEY DON’T NEED

A flood in southern Sudan strands thousands. [Reuters]

CORRUPTION NATION

FBI and IRS agents search the home of embattled senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). [Washington Post]