Extreme Weather Threatens Communities Throughout the U.S.
In the United States, climate-related emergencies are occurring across the country. Arizona has declared a state of emergency as it continues to battle one of the state’s worst wildfires. The so-called “Wallow Fire” has now destroyed more than 230,000 acres, including the majority of the Apache National Forest. Meanwhile, the swollen Missouri River is threatening to submerge the Iowa town of Hamburg. If efforts to secure a faltering levee fail, the town’s 1,100 residents could find themselves under as much as eight feet of water for a month or more. Emergency officials anticipate record-breaking floods along the Missouri River throughout the summer. Meanwhile, record-setting heat in Texas and other southern states is putting children and the elderly, in particular, at risk.
Private Prison Giant Hires Former Top Federal Official
The nation’s largest private prison company has hired the former head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to a top executive position. Harley Lappin retired as the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons last month. On Friday, the Corrections Corporation of America named Lappin its executive vice president and chief corrections officer. Lappin had stepped down as federal prison chief following his arrest for driving under the influence. A $1.6 billion company, the CCA has faced widespread allegations of prisoner mistreatment and negligence in the deaths or injuries of prisoners in its prisons and immigrant jails.
$6.6 Billion Shipped to Iraq Alleged Stolen; Possibly “Largest Theft of Funds in National History”
Federal auditors now believe as much as $6.6 billion earmarked for Iraq might have been stolen in the early years of the Iraq war in what is now being described as possibly “the largest theft of funds in national history.” Between 2003 and 2004, the United States shipped $12 billion in cash to Iraq in what was the biggest international cash airlift of all time. For years, the Pentagon has been unable to account for where more than half the money went. The Los Angeles Times reports Iraqi officials are now threatening to go to court to reclaim the money, which came from Iraqi oil sales, seized Iraqi assets and surplus funds from the United Nations’ oil-for-food program.