I have rarely seen the liberal media, of which MSNBC is pretty much the flagbearer, work so hard to try and scratch a negative out of a long string of good news.

"Services are very bad and they do not match the government's huge oil revenues," said Kadhim Shnati, 54, a retired accountant in the southern city of Nasiriyah. "Services are not only bad but getting worse. Increases in salaries are overtaken by rising prices."

How long did it take them to dig up that accountant?

"Services" updates from this AP list:

OIL PRODUCTION:

_Prewar: 2.58 million barrels per day.
_May 25, 2008: 2.52 million barrels per day.

ELECTRICITY:

_Prewar nationwide: 3,958 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 4-8.
_May 26, 2008 nationwide: 4,110 megawatts. Hours per day: 9.9.
_Prewar Baghdad: 2,500 megawatts. Hours per day (estimated): 16-24.
_May 26, 2008 Baghdad: Megawatts not available. Hours per day: 7.3.

_Note: Current Baghdad megawatt figures are no longer reported by the U.S. State Department's Iraq Weekly Status Report.

TELEPHONES:

_Prewar land lines: 833,000.
_April 4, 2008: 1,360,000.

_Prewar cell phones: 80,000.
_April 30, 2008: More than 12 million.

WATER:

_Prewar: 12.9 million people had potable water.
_April 30, 2008: 20.9 million people have potable water.

SEWERAGE:

_Prewar: 6.2 million people served.
_April 30, 2008: 11.3 million people served.

(Note: The number for sewerage has not changed in the newest SIGIR report.)