When the Statue of Liberty was identified as a finalist for the new Seven Wonders of the World over the weekend, the audience in Lisbon booed, according to the Associated Press. The Iraq invasion was unpopular in Portugal.

The United States promised to bring liberty to Iraqis; now with Iraq erupting in violence, our symbol of liberty sparks jeers.

At the same time, some Iraqi refugees want to come here. Two million Iraqis have fled the country, and the United States has come under criticsm for admitting only about 800 through the end of May. That’s fewer than Sweden.

Now the United States is saying it will accept nearly 7,000 Iraqis, among them are those who put themselves at risk by helping Americans.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton will give a speech on Iraq tomorrow in Iowa. Democrats in Congress this week are renewing their call to bring American troops home.

But Iraq’s foreign minister is warning that a quick pull-out of American troops could lead to a full-scale civil war, the AP reported.

Two Democratic state Senators Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Yonkers and Eric Schneiderman, who represents parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, today called on the Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno to reconvene a legislative conference committee to pass DNA legislation.

Albany ended its session without passing a number of bills, including reforms that activist say are needed to guard against wrongful convictions.

I write about the topic in my column tomorrow.

The Innocence Project, a legal clinic at Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School  that works to exonerate the innocent based on DNA testing, offers a series of measures, from recording interrogations to establishing an Innocence Commission.

Here’s the latest attempt to get Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan approved in Albany: A flier highlighting the image of a little girl and her asthma inhaler.
“She cannot hold her breath waiting for Albany to act,” it reads.
The flier, according to The Associated Press, is being mailed to 350,000 households in New York City urging residents to call lawmakers in Albany. There is a July 16 deadline to apply for federal funding. The state Legislature has ended its session and so would have to return to Albany for a special session before that.
Bloomberg’s controversial plan would charge drivers a fee in the city’s most congested area. He wants to start with a three-year pilot program.

UPDATE: The Associated Press has updated its article to note that the ad was paid for by a business group and produced by a private company.

Bumper stickers on two SUVs side by side heading north on the Hutchinson River Parkway this morning.

On the right: W ‘04

On the left: January 20, 2009