odds & ends

Bill Berkowitz has an article on Dan Amstutz who is overseeing reconstruction of Iraq's agriculture sector over at Working for Change.

"Putting Dan Amstutz in charge of agricultural reconstruction in Iraq is like putting Saddam Hussein in the chair of a human rights commission," said Kevin Watkins, Oxfam's policy director. "This guy is uniquely well placed to advance the commercial interests of American grain companies and bust open the Iraqi market, but singularly ill equipped to lead a reconstruction effort in a developing country."

United Airlines showed a profit this quarter thanks in part to a US government bail out.

The company said its cash increased by about $456 million in May, helped by the U.S. government aid for costs related to the Iraq war. At month's end, UAL had a cash balance of about $2.2 billion, including $659 million that is restricted for certain purposes.

The St. Petersburg Times follows up on the $467,000 MacDill bill blunder.