Must be kismet. Both the Brookings Institution, and the Project on Government Oversight released reports on Katrina today:

Brookings Katrina Index: Tracking Variables of Post-Katrina Reconstruction [pdf]
http://www.brookings.edu/me tro/pubs/200512_katrinainde x.htm

The Brookings Institution has released a number of reports on the efforts to rebuild the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina over the past few months, and a number of them have garnered significant attention by policymakers and other interested parties. This 47-page report authored by Bruce Katz, Matt Fellowes, and Mia Mabanta, gives a detailed data-oriented summary of the recent progress that has occurred.

POGO: Investigations into Katrina Waste and Fraud Detailed.
http://www.pogo.org/p/x/200 5katrina.html

Katrina Contracting
The federal government's response to the Katrina Hurricane could cost up to $200 billion. . . no-bid contracts, outrageously high charges, questionable expenses. The result is that people who need help do not get it.  Please send us your suggestions and ideas for how we can improve it.

(With a tip to the Internet Scout project for the referral to Brookings).

A case that truly defies logic (AP/Yahoo):

Lawyers Take Cubans' Case to Federal Court
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 12, 3:29 PM ET
[edited]

Under the government's long-standing "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay, while those stopped at sea are returned to the communist island. In this case, the government said it sent the Cubans back to their homeland because the bridge no longer connects to land.

The Cubans set out from their homeland in a small boat and thought they were safe when they reached the bridge Jan. 4 after more than a day at sea. But the bridge, which runs side by side with a newer bridge, is missing several chunks, and the group had the misfortune of reaching a section that no longer touches land.

99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. - Steven Wright