Necessary News

All you need to know to sound brilliant

Computer Glitch Costs IRS $318 Million

• Here’s a really expensive glitch: A computer program the IRS uses to screen tax returns for fraud didn’t work, costing the agency $318 million in improper refunds. Whoops. [Washington Post]
• Here’s where it gets interesting. The IRS paid Computer Sciences Corp. more than $20 million to update their computer program which searches for fraud.
• Computer Sciences Corp. took the money, missed the deadline, and was unable to reinstall the old program in time for the 2006 tax season.
• “Hmm...” you say? “Why do I know the name Computer Scienes Corp?” This is the same company to screw up the FBI’s computer systems. In the aftermath of 9/11, the FBI contracted Computer Sciences Corp to overhaul and streamline its antiquated computer systems. Hundreds of millions of dollars and months past deadline later, the system Computer Sciences Corp. just didn’t work. The FBI had to start from scratch. [Bloomberg]

Rep. Bill Thomas [R., CA} has asked the IRS to “reexamine” its relationship with Computer Sciences Corp. We strongly agree, if by “reexamine,” you mean “fire, and never work with again.”

FBI Role In Terror Plot

• Remember the big terror plot in Miami the government disrupted in June?
• At the time, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales hailed the discovery of the “deadly plot” as proving “our commitment to preventing terrorism through energetic law enforcement efforts aimed at detecting and thwarting terrorist acts.”
• Here’s the rub: The plot may have been nothing more than the deluded dream of couple of guys with absolutely no way of pulling it off. All of the concrete elements were actually provided by an FBI informant. [Washington Post]
• The terrorists in question called themselves kings and wanted to train their recruits to use bows and arrows. They did a lot of fake karate. They smoked a lot of pot.
• A couple of FBI informants then met the men. They provided: Money. A place for meeting headquarters. Video cameras for surveillance. Cellphones. Suggestions for their first target (the Miami FBI offices). An official “swearing-in ceremony” for Al Qaeda.
• Bottom line: the only actual plot was the one concocted by the FBI informants. Not really the “deadly plot” Gonzales was talking about.

Instead of creating plots to then bust up, what if the FBI spent time going after actual suspects?

Opium Production In Afghanistan Hits Record Levels

• This year’s opium harvest in Afghanistan was the largest on ever. Ev-er.
• You know how last year set the previous record harvest. This year was 50% higher than that. [NY Times]
• 6,100: The number of metric tons of opium harvested this year. That’s 92% of the total world supply.
• 35%: The percent of Afghanistan’s GDP that comes from opium.
• The increased production is tied — you guessed it — to the Taliban. In many cases, the Taliban teamed up with the farmers, trading protection of opium fields. Also, in the southern section of the country, violence has left entire districts outside of government control.

Gives the term “The Drug War” a whole new meaning.

Pentagon Report Shows More Violent Iraq

• The Pentagon released a report on Iraq Friday titled “Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq.” The conclusions aren’t pretty. Execution-style murders have killed thousands, bloodshed is at its highest level in at least 2 years and the number one goal of the U.S. military now is to prevent full-on civil war. Here are the details: [NY Times]
• Over the past three months, Iraqi casualties are up 51%; more than 3,000 Iraqis are killed or wounded every month.
• The Baghdad coroner’s office received “1,600 bodies in June and more than 1,800 in July, of which 90% were assessed to be the result of executions.”
• There are 800 attacks a week in Iraq. That’s nearly double the number from April 2004, and many experts think it’s the highest level since the war began.
• From the report: The “core conflict in Iraq” is a battle between Sunnis and Shiites where “death squads and terrorists are locked in mutually reinforcing cycles of sectarian strife, with Sunni and Shi’a extremists each portraying themselves as defenders of their respective sectarian groups.”

In other news, Gen. Casey, top commander in Iraq, “expressed optimism” last week that everything is fine, just fine, and the Iraqis will soon be able to take over. Reality? Meet Gen. Casey. Gen. Casey? Meet reality.

Why Are Terror Prosecutions Down?

• A new study by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) shows the number of federal terror prosecutions have dropped all the way back to pre-9/11 levels. [Washington Post]
• Also in the study: nine out of 10 terrorism investigations do not result in prosecutions.
• Most of the charges that result from terrorism investigations have nothing to do with terrorism.
• Only a third of those who are eventually prosecuted end up in jail.
• The numbers: The year after the 9/11 attacks (2002), federal prosecutors filed charges against 355 defendants in international terrorism cases. Last year, that number was 46. So far this year, there have been 19 prosecuted cases.
• From the report: “Considering the numerous warning statements from President Bush and other federal officials about the continuing nature of the terrorism threat. . . the gradual decline in these cases since the FY 2002 high point and the high rate at which prosecutors are declining to prosecute terrorism cases raises questions.”

Interesting when put together with last week’s story about violent crime in the U.S. on the rise, as resources diverted from going after criminals into these anti-terror efforts.

Good News, Bad News

Feel like you’ve got voices in your head whil strolling around the local art museum? Turns out you may not be wrong. A British neuroscientist is saying that some people may not only see paintings — but hear them as well. Who are the lucky nut jobs? They’re called synesthetes — individuals for whom one sense triggers another. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons. [Reuters]

GOOD NEWS

Degas’ The Star and Two Dancers On Stage.

BAD NEWS

Munch’s The Scream.

Quote Of The Day

“Bush should pardon [former Cheney Chief of Staff Scooter] Libby. He should do it now. It would be fantastic.”

- Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, throwing his two cents into Plame-a-palooza. [Think Progress]

Speed Round

AUDIO — HOMELAND SECURITY

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), from The Situation Room: “Bottom line is that the federal government’s homeland security effort has been hampered by underfunding, poor management, bureaucratic tangles, and political deal making. And we’re not doing enough.”

AUDIO — OIL ADDICTION

President Bush, from Fox Report: “One thing is clear is that dependence on foreign oil jeapordizes our capacity to grow. Problem is we get oil from some parts of the world and they simply don’t like us.”

AUDIO — ENVIRONMENT

CA Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger on his state’s recent decision to put a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, from Studio B: “We see that there is not great leadership from the federal government when it comes to protecting the environment. So this is why we as a state move forward with it, because we want to show leadership.”

MIDDLE EAST

Let’s talk. U.N. leader Kofi Annan sets up secret negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah. [Washington Post]

TRAGEDY

Friendly fire isn’t: U.S. warplanes accidentally strafe, kill Canadian soldier in Afghanistan. [CNN]

IRAQ

Forty bullet-ridden bodies discovered in Iraq. [Fox News]

WHITE HOUSE FAREWELL?

Medicare chief Mark McClellan mum on rumors that he’s leaving his post as early as this week. [Washington Post]

MISSILE TEST

As long as there are no enemy efforts to disrupt the system, we’re only shot at by a single missile and we know exactly when and where it’s coming (no surprises, please!), missile defense system test a success! [Washington Post]

TERRORISM

Opium harvest in Afghanistan at record “high” levels. (Sorry. Couldn’t help the pun.) [NY Times]

TERRORISM

Transportation Security Administration just now realizing their $450 million high-tech passenger screening devices don’t work. [NY Times]

AIR TRAVEL

Climb on board: airbus superjumbo jet takes test flight. [AP]

ID THEFT

Forget a pricey credit card bill, the latest trend in ID theft is using stolen social security numbers to get jobs. [New York Times]

TRAGIC

Six children killed in Chicago fire. [New York Times]

FATHERHOOD

New study links autism to older dads. [Washington Post]

DARFUR

War heightens before U.N. troops arrive. [Washington Post]

CORRUPTION

Dad’s gonna be mad: Feds raid the offices of Alaskan legislators — including senator Ted Steven’s son — because of ties to a large oil fields company. [Forbes]

IRONY

“Little America” in Afghanistan is overrun with Taliban forces. Hm. [New York Times]

TRAGIC

Train crash in Egypt leaves five dead. [AP]