When it rains it pours

More bad news from Iraq. According to this report from the BBC, 6 out of 8 major projects are reported as not working by sigir, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Just to size this up and say that it is not a liberal conspiracy, sigir was established by Congress in 2004 when the GOP still was in power to oversee the reconstruction process as much money had been wasted in Iraq.

Here are some of the problems that sigir has pointed out in this most recent report:

At Baghdad international airport the inspectors discovered that $11.8m had been spent on new electricity generators, but that already $8.6m-worth were not working.

It was a similar scene at a barracks built for special forces in Baghdad where four large generators, each costing $50,000, were not working.

And at a maternity and children's hospital in Irbil a sophisticated oxygen distribution system was not used because staff did not trust it.

In the same hospital needles and bandages were tossed into the sewer system, which frequently blocked, because an incinerator installed to deal with such waste was not in use...

And at a recruiting centre in the town of Hilla faulty wiring was rife and blocked drains had caused the bathrooms to warp, inspectors said.

I have to say that this is really a problem here. Like awfully huge problem. But, people continue to say that we are succeeding in Iraq. I don't know what kind of success we are having if we cannot get basic things that are needed for the country's long-term vitality to work. In fact, I'd go so far as to say, that's not success, but in fact failure. Call me what you will, I just call them like I see them and this is how I see this one right now. If something improves, I'll be fair and say it does. But, let's be real, we all know that's not going to happen.

MSNBC: A Passionate Appeal

I have been watching MSNBC for the last few weeks, primarily because I was bored with watching CNN all of the time. This was one of the worst times ever to make such a decision. Why? Three words: Anna Nicole Smith. For some unknown reason, MSNBC is obsessed with this case. As I type right now, Contessa Brewer is talking to her correspondent in Nassau, Bahamas who has been there for weeks now since Rita Cosby was taken out behind the shed and shot like a dog by MSNBC for no apparent reason other than that they didn't like her. But, I digress. Since Ms. Smith's death, MSNBC has covered every aspect of this case. Even as the baby's father is determined to the interest of very few, MSNBC is all over it. Some would call this thoroughness. I would call this beating a dead horse.

With this as a base, I have a few things to ask of MSNBC.

MSNBC: There are larger issues that you need to talk about than a C-List celebrity dying. For example, why is your morning wake up show done by a flaming, irrelevant racist? Why can't any of your anchors hold down the chair for more than an hour? Norah's pregnant; she can't really go anywhere. Why does Contessa Brewer frequently looked confused during breaking news? Whatever happened to Buchanan and Press? I'd rather watch batshit crazy Buchanan for an hour than Tucker Carlson. Also, why not hook up Mike Barnicle with some programming time other than subbing on Hardball? Speaking of which, tell Chris Matthews he doesn't have to yell. He's killing the treble in my TV speakers.