Y'know that Anaheim to Vegas Train?

Mar 04, 2009 - TRANSPORTATION: One-woman bureaucracy keeps maglev hopes alive Despite political hay over it, fast train is far from reality Las Vegas Sun/ 03/04/09 Richann Bender, executive director of California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, holds an illustration from a 1983 Las Vegas Sun feature on the California-Nevada high-speed train Monday in her home office. The economic stimulus bill contains money for such projects. Books and articles on fast trains lie on the home-office desk of Richann Bender, the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission's unpaid executive director. - 1 Comment

U.S. Fears Iraq Won't Keep Up Rebuilt Projects

Nov 21, 2009 - BAGHDAD — In its largest reconstruction effort since the Marshall Plan, the United States government has spent $53 billion for relief and reconstruction in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, building tens of thousands of hospitals, water treatment plants, electricity substations, schools and bridges. But there are growing concerns among American officials that Iraq will not be able to adequately maintain the facilities once the Americans have left, potentially wasting hundreds of millions of dollars and jeopardizing Iraq’s ability to provide basic services to its people. The projects run the gamut — from a cutting-edge, $270 million water treatment plant in Nasiriya that works at a fraction of its intended capacity because it is too sophisticated for Iraqi workers to operate, to a farmers’ market that farmers cannot decide how to share, to a large American hospital closed immediately after it was handed over to Iraq because the government was unable to supply it with equipment, a medical staff or electricity. - 5 Comments