Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Bad Penny Pritzker

Penny Pritzker. The woman the Cult of St. Barack didn't want to talk about. The Chicago Sun Times reported the following in 2008:

White House hopeful Barack Obama talks a lot on the campaign trail about how failing banks have used subprime loans to victimize customers.

"Part of the reason we got a current mortgage crisis has to do with the fact that people got suckered in to loans that they could not pay," he told a crowd in Reading, Pa., last week. "There were a lot of predatory loans that were given out, a lot of teaser rates. Banks and financial institutions making these loans were making money hand over fist."

At the helm of Superior Bank was Obama's national finance chairwoman, Penny Pritzker, an heiress to the Pritzker fortune.

One of the banks that went under after making a lot of subprime loans -- leaving 1,400 of its customers without part of their savings -- was Chicago's Superior Bank.

At the helm of Superior Bank at least some of the time was Obama's national finance chairwoman, Penny Pritzker, an heiress to the Pritzker fortune.

Obama's campaign notes that Pritzker stepped down as chairwoman of the bank's board in 1994, seven years before it failed. She then went on the board of the bank's holding company.

But a letter obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times shows that until the end, Pritzker appeared to be taking a leadership role in trying to revive the bank with an expanded push into subprime loans.


And here's Wikipedia:

Ms. Pritzker has been associated with the Subprime mortgage crisis. Ms. Pritzker's late uncle, Jay Pritzker, purchased a 50% stake in Hinsdale, Illinois-based Superior Bank of Chicago in 1989 from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which had taken over the bank when it failed in the late 1980s.[20] Penny Pritzker became chairman of the bank in 1991. Under Ms. Pritzker's chairmanship, the bank "embarked on a business strategy of significant growth into subprime home mortgages," according to a 2002 report by the United States Treasury Department.[20] She stepped down from the chairmanship in 1994 but continued to serve on the board of the holding company, Coast to Coast. In the months leading up to the 2001 seizure, she tried to work out a major recapitalization plan to "once again restore Superior's leadership position in subprime lending."[20] In July 2001, FDIC seized the bank after the recapitalization could not be resolved. .[21][22] Subsequently, the Pritzker family reached an agreement with regulators to pay $460 million over 15 years toward the costs of the closure; these funds will go towards reducing the costs of the FDIC's losses and partially reimburse depositors with accounts in excess of FDIC insurance limits.[20][23][24][25]

More than a thousand Superior Bank depositors are still owed money, and industry experts have criticized Pritzker's handling of the situation.[26] Consumer advocates as well as government investigators have asserted Superior "engaged in unsound financial activities and predatory lending practices."[20]

As more was learned about Bad Penny, Obots would tell you not to worry, Barack wouldn't give her any position. He just took her money. Today the White House issued the following:


THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2010

President Obama Announces Members of the President's Council on Jobs and Competiveness

WASHINGTON - Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint several members of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

· Steve Case, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Kenneth I. Chenault, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· John Doerr, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Mark Gallogly, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Joseph T. Hansen, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Lewis "Lew" Hay, III, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Gary Kelly, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Ellen Kullman, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· A.G. Lafley, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Monica C. Lozano, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Darlene Miller, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Paul S. Otellini, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Richard D. Parsons, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Antonio Perez, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Penny Pritzker, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Brian L. Roberts, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Matt Rose, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Sheryl Sandberg, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Richard L. Trumka, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Laura D. Tyson, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

· Robert Wolf, Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

In his State of the Union address, President Obama discussed the need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build our global competitors in order to win the future. The President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness will focus on carrying out these goals by finding new ways to promote growth through investments in American business to equip workers with the skills they need to succeed, encourage the private sector to hire and invest in American competitiveness, and attract top jobs and businesses right here in the United States.

The Council on Jobs and Competitiveness is chaired by Jeffrey Immelt, CEO and Chairman of General Electric. In addition, Ursula Burns, Eric Lander, and James McNerney will serve as ex-officio members. More members of the council will be announced at a later date.

President Obama said, "I am proud that such experienced and committed individuals have agreed to serve the American people in these important roles. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead."

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to the President's Council on Job and Competitiveness:

Steve Case, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Steve Case is the Chairman of Revolution, a holding company that oversees multiple companies, which include Zipcar, LivingSocial and Everyday Health. He is also Chairman of the Case Foundation, a private family foundation he established in 1997 with his wife Jean. Mr. Case co-founded America Online in 1985, and under his leadership as Chairman and CEO, it became the world's largest and most valuable Internet company. Mr. Case also serves as Chair of the Startup America Partnership, and co-chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Mr. Case received a B.A. from Williams College.

Kenneth I. Chenault, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Kenneth I. Chenault is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Express Company. From 1997 to 2001, Mr. Chenault served as American Express' President and Chief Operating Officer. Before he came to American Express, Mr. Chenault was a management consultant with Bain & Co. from 1979 to 1981, and an attorney with Rogers & Wells from 1977 to 1979. Mr. Chenault serves on the boards of American Express and several other corporate and nonprofit organizations, including IBM, The Procter & Gamble Company, the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, the National Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse at Columbia University, the Smithsonian Institution's Advisory Council for the National Museum of African American History & Culture, and the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. He also is on the boards of the Partnership for New York City, where he serves as Co-Chairman, The Business Council, and the Business Roundtable. Mr. Chenault received a B.A. in history from Bowdoin College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

John Doerr, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
John Doerr is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). Early in his career, Mr. Doerr joined Intel, where he worked in engineering and marketing. He then joined KPCB and soon started Silicon Compilers, a VLSI CAD software company, and @Home, the first broadband cable Internet service. Mr. Doerr is personally involved in organizations that further the improvement of K-12 public education, global poverty/health, and public policy, serving on the boards of New Schools, TechNet, ONE and the Aspen Institute. In 2009, Mr. Doerr was appointed to President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. He also serves on the boards of Google and Amazon.com. Mr. Doerr earned a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rice University and an MBA from Harvard.

Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. is President and Chief Executive Officer of TIAA-CREF, the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields. Previously, Mr. Ferguson served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. He was a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, served as Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum, and chaired Federal Reserve Board committees on banking supervision and regulation, payment system policy and reserve bank oversight. Prior to joining TIAA-CREF in April 2008, Mr. Ferguson was head of financial services for Swiss Re, Chairman of Swiss Re America Holding Corporation, and a member of the company's executive committee. Earlier, he was an Associate and Partner at McKinsey & Company. He began his career as an attorney at the New York City office of Davis Polk & Wardwell. In 2009, Mr. Ferguson was appointed to President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Boards of Trustees for the Institute for Advanced Study, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the New America Foundation, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He is on the Board of Directors of Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP and the Partnership for New York City, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of New York, the Harvard Law School Visiting Committee, and the Group of Thirty. Mr. Ferguson holds a B.A., J.D. and a Ph.D. in economics, all from Harvard University.

Mark Gallogly, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Mark Gallogly is co-founder and managing principal of Centerbridge Partners, a multi strategy investment firm focused on private equity and credit investing. Prior to founding Centerbridge in 2005, Mr. Gallogly was with Blackstone Group for 16 years, where he was most recently a senior managing director, the head of private equity and a member of the firm's management committee and the private equity group's investment committee. In 2009, Mr. Gallogly was appointed to President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. He is also a member of the advisory council of the Hamilton Project, Columbia Business School's board of overseers and the board of directors of the Dana Corporation. Mr. Gallogly received his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame, attended Sophia University in Tokyo, and received his MBA from Columbia Business School.

Joseph T. Hansen, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Joseph T. Hansen is the President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) which represents more than 1.3 million workers in the U.S. and Canada, and Chair of Change to Win. He was elected to serve as UFCW Secretary-Treasurer in 1997 and President in 2004. In 2003 he took office as President of Union Network International and was reelected as President in 2005. In 2010, Mr. Hansen was appointed to President Obama's Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations.

Lewis "Lew" Hay, III, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Lewis "Lew" Hay, III is chairman and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy, Inc., one of the nation's leading electricity-related services companies and the largest renewable energy generator in North America. He was elected CEO in June 2001 and elected chairman of the board in January 2002. Mr. Hay serves on the board of directors of Capital One and Harris Corporation. He is a vice chairman of the Edison Electric Institute, a director and past chairman of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, and a member of the Business Roundtable. Mr. Hay received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Lehigh University and an M.S. in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon University.

Gary Kelly, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Gary Kelly serves as the Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Airlines. Mr. Kelly began his career at Southwest Airlines as Controller, moving up to Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance, then Executive Vice President and CFO, before being promoted to Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman in 2004. He assumed the role of Chairman in May 2008 and President in July 2008. Prior to joining Southwest Airlines in 1986, Mr. Kelly was a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for Arthur Young & Company in Dallas and Controller for Systems Center, Inc. He is a member of the Texas Society of CPAs, chairs the McCombs School Advisory Council at the University of Texas at Austin, and is a member of the Lincoln National Corporation's Board of Directors. Mr. Kelly received a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ellen Kullman, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Ellen Kullman is chair of the board and chief executive officer of DuPont. Prior to becoming chief executive officer in 2009, she served as executive vice president and a member of the company's office of the chief executive. Ms. Kullman began her career at DuPont in 1988 as a marketing manager. She served as business director for several Dupont business units and was named group vice president of Dupont Safety & Protection in 2002. She is a member of the U.S.-India CEO Forum, the Business Council, and the executive committee of SCI-America. Ms. Kullman is co-chair of the National Academy of Engineering Committee on Changing the Conversation: From Research to Action, and a board member of United Technologies Corporation and Tufts University. She holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Tufts University and a masters degree in management from Northwestern University.

A.G. Lafley, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
A.G. Lafley is the former Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Procter & Gamble. He currently serves as Special Partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and as a Director of the General Electric Company. Before becoming Chief Executive Officer of Procter & Gamble, he served as a group vice president in 1992, an executive vice president in 1995 and, in 1999, president of global beauty care and North America. Mr. Lafley is co-author of The Game Changer, a book on innovation. Mr. Lafley served in the U.S. Navy from 1970-75 as a supply officer. He received a B.A. from Hamilton College in 1969 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1977.

Monica C. Lozano, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Monica C. Lozano is Publisher and CEO of La Opinión, the nation's largest Spanish language daily newspaper, as well as Sr. Vice President of Newspapers for impreMedia LLC, overseeing the company's entire publications group. Under her tenure, La Opinión has expanded its distribution, launched new products and transformed itself from a newspaper company into a media company reaching audiences across multiple platforms. Ms. Lozano serves on the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Company and Bank of America Corporation as well as several non-profit organizations. In 2009, she was appointed to President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Darlene Miller, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Darlene Miller is the owner and CEO of Permac Industries, a Minnesota machining company custom manufacturing precision parts for customers worldwide. She started working as a Sales Representative at Permac in 1992, became part owner in 1993, and became the sole owner of the company in 1994. Under Ms. Miller's leadership, Permac Industries was named the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year in 2008. Ms. Miller has been an active participant in a variety of industry and community organizations and is currently a board member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota Valley Medical Manufacturers network, which she co-founded in 2006.

Paul S. Otellini, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Paul S. Otellini is President and Chief Executive Officer of Intel Corporation. Mr. Otellini previously had served as Intel's president and chief operating officer, positions he held since 2002, the same year he was elected to Intel's board of directors. Since joining Intel in 1974, Mr. Otellini has managed several Intel businesses, including the company's PC and server microprocessor division and the global sales and marketing organization. He also serves on the board of directors of Google Inc. Mr. Otellini received a B.A. in economics from the University of San Francisco and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Richard D. Parsons, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Richard D. Parsons is a Senior Advisor at Providence Equity Partners Inc., a leading private equity investment firm specializing in media, communication and information companies, and he is also Chairman of the Board of Citigroup, Inc. From 2002 to 2008, Mr. Parsons served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Time Warner, Inc., the world's largest media and entertainment company. Mr. Parsons began his career as counsel to Nelson Rockefeller when he was New York State Governor as well as Vice President of the United States; and he later served as a senior White House aide to President Gerald Ford. In 2008, Mr. Parsons served as a member of then President-Elect Barack Obama's Transition Team on the Economic Advisory Board. Mr. Parsons received B.A. from the University of Hawaii and his J.D. from Union University's Albany Law School.

Antonio Perez, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Antonio Perez is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kodak. Since joining the company in 2003, Mr. Perez has led the worldwide transformation of Kodak from a business based on film to one based primarily on digital technologies. Prior to Kodak, Mr. Perez was President and CEO of Gemplus International. He also worked for more than two decades at Hewlett-Packard Company, where he was a corporate vice president and a member of the company's executive council. Mr. Perez is a member of the Business Council, the Business Roundtable, and he serves on the board of trustees of the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film.

Penny Pritzker, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Penny Pritzker is currently chairman of the board of TransUnion, Chairman/CEO of Pritzker Realty Group as well as chair and co-founder of The Parking Spot, Artemis Real Estate Partners, and Vi, formerly known as Classic Residence by Hyatt. She was National Finance Chair of the Barack Obama for President campaign and co-chair of the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee. In 2009, she was appointed to President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. She is also a member of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations. A patron of the arts and an education advocate, Ms. Pritzker is a former chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the current chairman of the Chicago Public Education Fund and a trustee of Stanford University. She and her husband, Dr. Bryan Traubert, through their Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation, fund various initiatives to improve public education, support health and fitness endeavors and expand art and culture opportunities.

Brian L. Roberts, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Brian L. Roberts is Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation and Chairman of the Board of Directors of NBCUniversal. Under his leadership, Comcast has grown into a Fortune 100 company and has become majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks. Mr. Roberts is a former Chairman and current member of the Board of Directors of both the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and CableLabs, a research and development consortium for the cable industry. He is also member of the Business Roundtable. Mr. Roberts received his B.S. from the Wharton School of Finance of the University of Pennsylvania.

Matt Rose, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Matt Rose is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Corporation. Additional positions that he has held include President and Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer and Senior Vice President of the company's Merchandise Business Unit. He is a member of the Board of Directors of AMR Corporation; a member of the Board of Directors of Centex Corporation; a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of American Railroads; a member of the Board of Directors of American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity; a member of the Texas Governor's Business Council; a member of Business Roundtable; a member of The Business Council; a member of the Board of Trustees of Texas Christian University; and a member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council. Mr. Rose received a B.S. from the University of Missouri.

Sheryl Sandberg, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Sheryl Sandberg is Chief Operating Officer at Facebook, where she oversees the firm's business operations including sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy and communications. Prior to Facebook, Sheryl was Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google and was instrumental in launching Google.org, Google's philanthropic arm. Previously, Ms. Sandberg served as Chief of Staff for the United States Treasury Department under President Clinton. Ms. Sandberg began her professional career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and an economist with the World Bank. Ms. Sandberg serves on the boards of The Walt Disney Company, Starbucks, Women for Women International, Center for Global Development and V-Day. She received a B.A. summa cum laude in Economics from Harvard University and received an MBA with highest distinction from the Harvard Business School.

Richard L. Trumka, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Richard L. Trumka is President of the AFL-CIO. From 1995-2009, he served as AFL-CIO's Secretary-Treasurer and, as a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, was Chairman of the Strategic Approaches Committee. Before his time with the AFL-CIO, Mr. Trumka was the International President of the United Mine Workers of America. Mr. Trumka serves on numerous boards, including the National Labor College, Economic Policy Institute, ULLICO Inc., the Housing Investment Trust, the Solidarity Center, Alliance for Retired Americans and Union Privilege. In 2009, Mr. Trumka was appointed to President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Mr. Trumka received a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University and a J.D. from Villanova University.

Laura D'Andrea Tyson, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Laura D'Andrea Tyson is the S.K. and Angela Chan Professor of Global Management at the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley. She served as Dean of London Business School from 2002-2006, and as Dean of the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, from 1998-2001. Between 1995 and 1996, Dr. Tyson served as President Clinton's National Economic Advisor. Dr. Tyson is an advisory board member of Newman's Own Advisory Board, Generation Investment Management, The Rock Creek Group, and H&Q Asia Pacific. She is also a director at LECG (Law and Economics Consulting Group) and serves on the Board of Directors of Eastman Kodak Company, Morgan Stanley, AT&T, Inc., the Peter G. Peterson Institute of International Economics, the New America Foundation, and Silver Spring Networks. In 2009, Dr. Tyson was appointed to President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. She received a B.A. summa cum laude from Smith College and a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Robert Wolf, Appointee for Member, President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
Robert Wolf is Chairman for UBS Americas and President for UBS Investment Bank. He joined UBS in 1994 after spending approximately 10 years at Salomon Brothers. In 2009, Mr. Wolf was appointed to President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. He is on the Undergraduate Executive Board of the Wharton School and on the Athletics Board of Overseers at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Wolf also serves on numerous boards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, the Children's Aid Society and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy and the Partnership for NYC. Mr. Wolf graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics in 1984.

##





This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Wednesday:

Wednesday, February 23, 2011. Chaos and violence continue, protest continue, Moqtada's back and wants to stop protests, Iraqi journalists remain under attack and more.
Iraq where the governmental war on the press never ends. Dar Addustor reports on the Iraqi military raid of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory in Baghdad after midnight this morning with the military seizing things including computers and personal items. Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor) quotes JFO's Bashar al-Mandalawy stating, "The only reason behind this is to stop freedom of the press and expression in this country." Wael Grace and Adham Youssef (Al Mada) reports notes that it was the Iraqi military and the police raiding the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory and that they entered by breaking down the main door and that the Baghdad Centre for Media was also raided at the same time. Meanwhile Iraq Freedom Congress' Amjad Ali (via US Labor Against The War) explains another attack on the press in Baghdad today:
At around 2:30 am Baghdad time a group of anti riot police raided the headquarter of Iraq Freedom Congress satellite TV (Sana) in Baghdad and destroyed every single piece of equipment in the office as well as confiscating a number of documents.
These attacks occurred following broadcasting segments of events took place in Tahrir Square in Baghdad by a number of TV Channels via Sana TV who filmed and documented a particular segment in which protesters clashed with the police on the night of February 20th, 2011 and one protestor was killed as a result, as well as the active participation of Sana TV in assisting of organizing the forthcoming demonstrations in Tahrir Square.
This is the Maliki government and its repressive practices; this is the democracy and freedom of expression which Maliki is bragging about. He continues sending his militias to silence his opponents and critics. He is no different than Ben Ali, Mubarak and Gaddafi in acts of torture.
Iraq Freedom Congress assert that it will carry on the fight and will not bow to the pracitices of Maliki and his mercenaries and vow that the demonstrations on February 25th, 2011 will continue the pace no matter how brutal this government practices is.
IFC pledges that it will continue [to] organize and fight with full force in the million people march on February 25, 2011.
Sunday the Journalist Freedoms Observatory called out the assault on the channel Nalia whose Sulaymaniyah office was set on fire after being raided by unknown assailants. Yesterday the Committee to Protect Journalists noted:
Attacks on the press also continue in Iraq. On Sunday, 50 gunmen raided a new, Sulaimaniya-based independent TV station called Nalia Radio and Television, according to Metro Center to Defend Journalists, a local press freddom group. Nalia TV only began broadcasting on February 17, when protests begen in Sulaimaniya. The boradcasting equipment was destroyed by bullets and arson, Metro Center reported. Iran's Press TV reported that two guards and a janitor were injured in the attack.
"They came in military uniforms," Twana Othman, a manager at Nalia TV, told Press TV. "They wore special hats so their faces could not be seen. They knew exactly what to shoot at and what to destroy. Then they poured petrol and burned everything."
Rahman Gharib, a local journalist who reports for Metro Center, told CPJ: "I think the attack on the station was connected to its editorial policy of covering the demonstrations and giving voice to the protesters."
On February 17, Hawlati, an independent Kurdish newspaper, evacuated its offices after threats from the guards of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) [KRG President Massoud Barzani's political party] building, Tariq Fattah, the director of the newspaper told CPJ. "Our office is close to where the demonstrations were taking place," he said. "The guards of the KDP were shouting at the door fo the paper that we are traitors and that we are stadning behind and leading the demonstrations."
Hisham Rikabi (Al Mada) reports that Nouri's spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh held a press conference where he declared that Baghdad will ban vehicles on Friday that can broadcast live. There may also be a curfew imposed. In Egypt, the world was watching. In Iraq, the few western reporters that are present include some smug frat boys who think that mocking the Iraqi people is doing their job. Does it seem strange to you that Nouri's attempting to ban video of the protests? Joao Silva, New York Times photographer (recently badly injured in Afghanistan) observed, "The Iraqis have learned the power of photographic images, and they know that if there are no photographs of a bomb, it has far less impact abroad. We still try to go, but usually the police stop us before we get near enough to the scene to photograph it. They will let a reporter go up close, but no cameras. Sometimes you get lucky and manage to get an image. And on the really big explosions, like at the Hamra Hotel in January [2010] and the government ministries last year, they are just too big to keep everyone away. But usually they are very careful not to let cameras near. It's hit and miss, but there is definitely a culture of 'See No Evil'."
And though Silva and Stephen Farrell know that, the paper's Jack Healy and Michael S. Schmidt feel they can disrespect and mock the Iraqi protesters. They can have 'fun' with the "patchwork" of demands. That's real strange considering that both men are US citizens. It was the US government that started the illegal war. Before the start of the Iraq War, the electricity outages weren't a daily feature. There was potable water. There was sanitation. Eight years after the Iraq War started, there is still not potable water, reliable electricity or santiation. I'm not understanding how it's funny -- or for that matter strange -- that the Iraqis are worse off with basic services than before the Iraq War. I'm not understanding how anyone would find it surprising that people would be outraged, in the 21st century, to live in an oil rich country that makes billions while the people don't have potable water. I'm not understanding how they think Egypt is something to compare Iraq too. Egypt wasn't occupied by a foreign power during their recent demonstrations, Iraq is. Egypt had every outlet in the US and every European outlet storm into the country to cover their protests. The Egyptians knew the world was watching, as did their government. By contrast, the Iraqis get less and less coverage every week. And despite this, they've been out in the streets protesting. If Jack Healy and Michael S. Schmidt had wanted to be honest about the protests throughout the country, they couldn't have had so much 'fun' mocking the Iraqis. If they'd bothered to report on Saturday's Baghdad protest involving widows and orphans, maybe they would have understood the issues. Reuters has video of one of the women demonstrating in that protest explaining, "The Iraqi people have been patient since the fall of the regime in 2003 and they want to improve their living conditions but now a single glance at Baghdad and other cities can show the tragedy that we've experienced. It's been eight years and government officials are still unable to ensure that power supplies are back or create job opportunities for the unemployed young people. The infrastructure is completely damaged. At the same time, we always hear reports and news about corruption and about those who steal the resources that belong to the people."
And these protests take place in a country that lived under repression long before the current puppets the occupation installed. In fact, the example the US set in the early 90s would likely give many pause to ever stand up. But Iraqis do stand up and they don't deserve to be mocked for it. For those who've forgotten what happened when Iraqis were encouraged by the US to stand up under then-US President George H.W. Bush, here's a refresher from Lance Selfa (ISR):
General Colin Powell announced what the U.S. had in store for the Iraqi army: "First we're going to cut it off, then we're going to kill it." Poorly paid and equipped Iraqi conscripts, two-thirds of them oppressed Shiites and Kurds, faced bombing 24 hours a day. Thousands of Iraqi troops deserted the battlefield. U.S. and coalition forces mowed down some of them when they tried to surrender. A military video showed in a combat briefing depicted Iraqi soldiers as "ghostly sheep . . . flushed from a pen . . . bewildered and terrified. Some were literally blown to bits by bursts of 30mm exploding cannon. One by one they were cut down by attackers they couldn't see or understand," according to one report. One U.S. officer anticipated another night of action: ". . . there is nothing that can take them out like an Apache [attack helicopter]. It will be a duck hunt." In scenes reminiscent of mass burials at liberated Nazi concentration camps in the 1940s, U.S. forces bulldozed the bodies of thousands of Iraqi soldiers into mass graves.
On February 15 -- a month into the air war -- Saddam's government announced it would accept UN resolutions calling for its withdrawal from Kuwait. The U.S. and its lackey, Britain, dismissed Saddam's surrender. Instead, Bush called for Iraqis to rise up and overthrow Saddam: "[T]here's another way for the bloodshed to stop, and that is for the Iraqi military and the Iraqi people to take matters into their own hands, to force Saddam to step aside." Bush's statement communicated two points: first, that the U.S. wouldn't settle only for Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, and second, that the U.S. might back anyone who rose up against Saddam. The first point proved that expelling Iraq from Kuwait was a mere pretext for wider U.S. designs in the war. The second point proved a lie only weeks later, when masses of Kurds and Shiites took "matters into their own hands" and rose up against Saddam.
Saddam had essentially cried "uncle," but the U.S. wanted to mount a ground offensive anyway. In six days, U.S. and coalition ground troops swept across Kuwait and southern Iraq, forcing Iraqi troops into a full-scale retreat. In the last 40 hours of the war, before Bush called a cease-fire on February 28, U.S. and British forces mounted a relentless assault against retreating and defenseless Iraqi soldiers. The road leading from Kuwait to Basra became known as the "Highway of Death." Iraqi soldiers fled Kuwait in every possible vehicle they could get their hands on. Allied tank units cut the Iraqis off. U.S. warplanes bombed, strafed and firebombed the stranded columns for hours without resistance. In a slaughter which a U.S. pilot described as "like shooting fish in a barrel," thousands of Iraqi conscripts were killed on a 50-mile stretch of highway. So many planes filled the skies over southern Iraq that military air traffic controllers maneuvered to prevent mid-air collisions.
The "Highway of Death," and, in fact, the ground war itself, served no military purpose. Saddam had admitted defeat before the ground war began. Attacks on retreating Iraqis merely delayed the war's end. But the U.S. mounted this barbarism for one reason only: to render an example of what would happen to any government which bucked the U.S. For nearly two days, the Pentagon invented the excuse that the Iraqis were staging a "fighting retreat," a fiction which they knew was a lie. "When enemy armies are defeated, they withdraw," said Air Force Chief of Staff Merrill A. McPeak. "It's during this time that the true fruits of victory are achieved from combat, when the enemy is disorganized . . . If we do not exploit victory, the president should get himself some new generals."
The savagery of the U.S. war took some of the luster off Bush's victory. But nothing so revealed the callous disregard for ordinary Iraqis as U.S. complicity in Saddam's suppression of the Kurdish and Shiite uprisings in the weeks following Iraq's defeat. Demobilized soldiers in the southern, predominantly Shiite sections of the country returned to their hometowns and vented their fury on all symbols of Saddam's regime. Kurdish guerrillas launched a coordinated uprising in Iraqi Kurdistan. In the week following the Gulf War cease-fire, ordinary Iraqis stormed the regime's police headquarters, barracks and prisons. Crowds broke into underground dungeons and torture chambers, freeing political prisoners who hadn't seen daylight in decades. Masses of people lynched officials of Saddam's government. For almost two weeks, ordinary Iraqis controlled whole regions of the country and Saddam's government seemed on the verge of collapse.
Then, Saddam got a helping hand from an unlikely source -- the U.S. government. Bush had meant his call for Saddam "to step aside" as a signal of U.S. support for a military coup against him -- not a popular uprising. An uprising from below might set the wrong example for the populaces of the U.S.-allied feudal dictatorships in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States. U.S. officials also expressed fears that successful uprisings could lead to a breakup of Iraq and the strengthening of the other Gulf bogeyman, Iran. U.S. military officials refused to meet with emissaries of the rebels. And U.S. forces stood by as Saddam's government, officially violating the terms of the cease-fire agreement, mounted a counterattack. When Saddam's forces dropped firebombs on fleeing rebels near the southern Iraqi city of Kerbala, American planes patrolled high above, surveilling the attack.
In the wake of all the slaughter and destruction, George Bush promised that Desert Storm would usher in a "new world order." But the new order looked quite a bit like the old order.
In Kuwait, U.S. bayonets restored to power the ruling al-Sabah family, a feudal dynasty. Bush had made much about the rights of the Kuwaiti people to determine their own destiny free from Iraqi rule. But in restoring the al-Sabahs to the throne, Bush restored a political system which allowed only 3 percent of Kuwaiti residents any political rights at all. Women still can't vote in Kuwait. As soon as the al-Sabahs returned, they launched a reign of terror against Palestinian "guest workers," whom the al-Sabahs accused of pro-Iraq sentiments. Kuwaiti police rounded up thousands. They summarily executed hundreds of them. Kuwait expelled more than 400,000 Palestinian workers -- many of whom suffered under the Iraqi occupation -- from the country. Human rights organizations denounce Kuwait's disregard for elementary human rights.
By the end of March 1991, Saddam had put down the Shiite/Kurdish rebellion. The immediate result was a humanitarian catastrophe that dwarfs even the horrible situation in Kosovo today. As many as 3 million Kurds fled into Iran and Turkey. When destroying Iraq, the coalition air forces flew one raid a minute. In the first week of the Kurds' torment in makeshift camps in the mountains, those same forces could manage only 10 flights. The total relief for Kurds that Congress approved in April 1991 amounted to about eight hours of spending on the war. When the U.S. announced Operation Provide Comfort, it used the safeguarding of Kurds to establish a military occupation of northern Iraq.

With that as a backdrop, it's amazing that any Iraqi protests. But they do protest and they are protesting all over the country and building up to what they hope is a huge turnout on Friday. Hoping for. Enter Moqtada.
AFP reports Iraq's own groundhog, Moqtada al-Sadr, has returned to Iraq -- it must be spring. And guess what? He wants to put the brakes on protests. Did Iran dispatch him? Michael S. Schmidt and Yasir Ghazi (New York Times) say that he and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a call today to ask that protests be delayed. This is a reversal on protests from last week for Moqtada and a reversal from Sunday for al-Sistani. Moqtada has an 'answer.' What is it? Alsumaria TV reports al-Sadr's proposing "a one week referendum in all provinces of Iraq including Kurdistan on February 28." Wow! A Moqtada referendum! Who wouldn't want that!!!! March 7, 2010, Iraq held elections. Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc came out with the most votes but Nouri was determined to hold on to the prime minister post. In April, al-Sadr held his own elections to see who his bloc should vote. From the April 7th snapshot:
Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc won 40 seats in the Parliament. Kadhim Ajrash and Caroline Alexander (Bloomberg News) report that Ibrahim al-Jaafari "won 24 percent of the 428,000 ballots cast in the internal referendum, ahead of al-Sadr's second cousin, Jafar Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, who obtained 23 percent, Sadrist spokesman Salah al-Ubaidi said today in the southern city of Najaf." Al Jazeera notes that Nouri al-Maliki received 10% of the vote and Ayad Allawi 9%. The US military invaded Iraq in March 2003 (and still hasn't left).
So Moqtada staged a referendum and the people's will would be followed! Except it wasn't. al-Sadr got credit for being a "king maker" for tossing his support behind Nouri al-Maliki. It would be different this go round how? Don't expect everyone to follow Moqtada al-Sadr and with an already weakening hold on his base (due to his most recent lay over in Iraq), it's probably not the best time for him to be tossing around "referendum" and inviting people to think back to last April.
Al Rafidayn reports that today UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Iraq, Ad Melkert says that the "differences between the Arabs and the Kurds in northern Iraq" need to be resolved. You think? And how nice of Melkert to suddenly remember that issue . . . just as the region is alive with protests. Sky News reports Halabja is where hundreds of protestors marched today and shots were exchanged with the Mayor insisting the protesters did the shooting. If you were being asked to step down by the protesters, you'd probably work overtime to portray them poorly as well. One police officer died, another was injured. Sky News notes, "But protesters, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of arrest, insisted that no-one at their rally was carrying weapons. They said that police fired into the air and the casualties were caused when the bullets fell downwards." Jack Healy teams with Namo Abdulla for a report on this and it's confusing because he tells us that "thousands of people" "over the past week" have been protesting in the Kurdistan region. But this is the same Healy who took part in mocking the protests and insisting they were small.
Joao Silva's earlier comment about the way the Iraqi government attempts to block images from reaching the public (especially international audiences) is included in the report Human Rights Watch issued yesterday, [PDF format warning] "At a Crossroads: Human Rights in Iraq Eight Years After the US-led Invasion" -- and let's excerpt from the section on journalism:

Murders, assaults, and threats continue against writers for doing their
jobs. Government officials, political party figures, and militias may all be responsible for the violence, intended to silence some and intimidate the rest. New obstacles to the free exchange of information have emerged in the period since 2007: the rising number of libel suits lodged by government officials against journalists, and increasingly restrictive regulations that constrain their professional activity. Legislation intended to create additional protections for journalists has been stalled for more than a year and is unlikely to move forward any time soon.
Iraq is obligated to respect the right to freedom of expression of all persons under international law and Iraq's constitution. However, its national laws and regulations are inconsistent with these obligations. As Human Rights Watch has documented in this report, the Iraqi government can use these laws to revoke or suspend broadcasting licenses and bring charges against individuals.
Two pieces of legislation designed to facilitate the work of journalists are stalled in Iraq's parliament, the Council of Representatives: the Access to Information Law, which ensures the right of journalists to obtain public information, and the Journalists' Protection Law, which aims to protect media workers and compensate them for injuries sustained while working. Local press freedom advocates and journalists expressed concerns that the Journalists' Protection Law should apply broadly and protect all journalists including those working in new media. The law currently defines "journalist" narrowly as someone who works for an established news outlet and is affiliated with the Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate.
[. . .]
Journalists who uncover corruption or criticize senior government officials are at particular risk of abuse.
Two television presenters, famous in Iraq for provocative shows that criticize the government, said they had been beaten by security officials on different occasions over the past two years. Human Rights Watch viewed one video filmed by his cameraman in which Iraqi security officials punched one of the presenters and attempted to drag him into a van during a taping on a busy Baghdad street in 2009.
Since the two presenters are well known, security forces on the streets of Baghdad can easily recognize them. In the fall of 2009, they said police detained the pair for allegedly not properly stopping at a Baghdad checkpoint. One officer slapped the passenger on the head and shouted, "You Ba'athist!" Six or seven police dragged them out of the car, kicking and beating them. The police arrested and took them to a police station. Although the police officially charged them with running a checkpoint, the line of questioning during their interrogation was political. An officer spat on one of the journalists and asked them, "Why do you incite uprisings against the government?" and "Why do you glorify Saddam?" The
police dropped the charges and released the pair after their television station intervened.

A journalist tells HRW, "In Basra, security forces act with complete disdian and disrespect for journalists." Another, also in Basra explains that security forces detained them and confiscated their equipment for no reason last year. Nouri's been prime minister since 2006. He can't blame it on those who came before him. And while the US media never wanted to address reality (AFP and BBC did address it), Nouri came to power promising to attack the media. His 'four-point initiative' (apparently now completely forgotten) that was going to curb violence never did that. But US outlets gushed over it. They reduced it to a three-point plan, though. They didn't convey to US audiences that one of the points was curbing the media, restricting freedom of the press. (This was in the fall of 2006. In the summer of 2006, he was touting a seven-objective plan. Before that, in May 2006, Nouri had a 24-point plan. As with most things he's proposed, all went no where.) The four-point initiative included a governmental media oversight body which would monitor reporting for that pesky 'bias' known as truth.
Reuters notes the following violence from Tuesday: a Mosul bombing left four people injured, a Mosul roadside bombing left ten people wounded, two Ramadi roadside bombs left five people injured and a Shirqat roadside bombign injured one police officer; and for today's violence they note that a Mosul roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier (two more injured) and that a Baghdad home invasion in which 1 Christian male was stabbed to death. Vatican Radio reports, "The European Union Council on Monday issued a statement denouncing intolerance, discrimination and violence on the basis of religion or belief, which specifically condemned acts of violence against Christians and their places of worship." Religious minorities have been targeted throughout the Iraq War. The latest wave of targeting Iraqi Christians began October 31st with the assault on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad causing many Iraqi Christians in Baghdad and Mosul to flee to northern Iraq or another country.
The Iraq War hits the 8 year mark next month. That's a long war with a lot of details. Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose noted in Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America, "The most serious split between ourselves and our allies was over the war in Iraq. As White House chief of staff Andrew Card observed, 'You don't roll out a new product in August,' so it was September 2002 before the administration officially announced it planned to attack a country that had not attacked us or anyone else." Two weeks ago, during a phone conversation with a friend (poli sci professor, leftist), I mentioned Card's statement in passing -- related to the current White House -- and he didn't remember it. I had to jog his mind (we'd discussed it in real time -- I have a memory like an elephant). He's smart, publishes papers and has a lot of things on his mind and had forgotten that moment. Which is why refreshers may be needed. On this week's Law and Disorder, Scott Bonn of Drew University discussed the early stages of the war and the selling of it with Michael Ratner, Michael S. Smith and Heidi Boghosian. As a refresher, it may be of value to someone. And I think the show's almost always worth listening to and one of the top five shows on public radio. But the segment didn't make it for me. If you're claiming you've developed a new "integrated and interdisciplinary theory," you should be able to use that "integrated and interdisciplinary theory." I did not find his book helpful or needed. I thought it was a total waste. If the one of the main points of the book is that the Iraq War is wrong, then what does that say for today?
The book said nothing. It's nothing but grudge f**king masking for scholarship -- and it's not a theory. A theory -- even in poli sci -- is tested and all Bonn has is a hypothesis. (An academic who does not know the difference isn't much of an academic.)
The Iraq War continues. Your grudge f**king didn't do a damn thing. It gave us a synopsis, a "last time on Gossip Girl" -- several seasons old. It offers nothing for today. It is no help at all to ending the Iraq War and Bonn can't even admit that the Iraq War goes on. I don't have time for that crap. He would probably argue (and makes this point in both the book and on the show) that if you don't learn from history, you're doomed to repeat it.
Repeat what?
The Iraq War has not ended. Bonn can't even use that tired bromide correctly. The point of "learn from history" is that if you don't learn, you will be trapped in a repeating cycle for years and years. The Iraq War has not ended. I don't know how else to put it. In the truest sense of that bromide, you're dealing with past events, not current ones, not ongoing ones -- that's what the term "history" in that sentence means.
Michael Ratner gave him a chance to somehow bring it to something beyond Bush bashing. All he could offer was he respects Barack Obama. Well good but don't pretend you wrote a book worth reading about the Iraq War because if you're truly appalled by it, you're not just appalled it started 8 years ago, you're also appalled it continues. I don't have time to obsess over the past. I'm not going to forgive the War Criminals of the previous administration but I'm also not going to pretend that in January 2009 the Iraq War ended.
Look at the Human Rights Watch report issued this week. Those actions described are the result of the puppet government. And Barack fought to keep Nouri al-Maliki prime minister. The hosts also speak with Stephanie Coontz. I'm sure that was much more productive. (I was asked to note the program, I called a friend who records it each week and said, "Play me the Iraq segment." That's all I heard. He also told me that there's a lively discussion of Clarence Thomas at the top of the show.) Bonn was often highly uninformed. (The world does not begin and end with the US. If discussing polling and why something's polled, it's not necessary to go to an outlandish they're-out-to-get-me hypothesis if you know what other countries are pushing for and if there's a global media mogul you're discussing, you need to be aware of the world holdings and not think you're an expert just because you keep mentioning one of the US holdings.) To hear about attitudes towards the Iraq War before and after it started (as well as today) the latest War News Radio features a segment with Richard Sobel that's heavy on facts. Sobel, Peter Furia and Bethany Barrett are the editors of the forthcoming (May 2011) Public Opinion and International Intervention: Lessons from the Iraq War.
It's because the Iraq War hasn't ended that two actions are taking place. This Friday,
Iraq Veterans Against the War have this event:

February 25, 2011 9:30 - 10:30 am
Busboys & Poets, Langston room
14th & V st NW Washington DC
This report back will be to answer questions from media and the peace movement about the recent trip back to Iraq by members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. The war is not over but it is not the same as it was in years past. What is the humanitarian situation in Iraq?
How can we do reparations and reconciliation work?
Speakers are all returning from this delegation and include:
Geoff Millard (IVAW) Hart Viges (IVAW) Haider Al-Saedy (Iraqi Health Now)
Richard Rowely (Big Noise Films)

Also because the Iraq War is not over, next month there will be a march which A.N.S.W.E.R. and March Forward! and others will be taking part in this action:

March 19 is the 8th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Iraq today remains occupied by 50,000 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of foreign mercenaries.

The war in Afghanistan is raging. The U.S. is invading and bombing Pakistan. The U.S. is financing endless atrocities against the people of Palestine, relentlessly threatening Iran and bringing Korea to the brink of a new war.

While the United States will spend $1 trillion for war, occupation and weapons in 2011, 30 million people in the United States remain unemployed or severely underemployed, and cuts in education, housing and healthcare are imposing a huge toll on the people.

Actions of civil resistance are spreading.

On Dec. 16, 2010, a veterans-led civil resistance at the White House played an important role in bringing the anti-war movement from protest to resistance. Enduring hours of heavy snow, 131 veterans and other anti-war activists lined the White House fence and were arrested. Some of those arrested will be going to trial, which will be scheduled soon in Washington, D.C.

Saturday, March 19, 2011, the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, will be an international day of action against the war machine.

Protest and resistance actions will take place in cities and towns across the United States. Scores of organizations are coming together. Demonstrations are scheduled for San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and more.


In legal news, a verdict has been rendered in the case of a man who killed his daughter. Dropping back to the November 3, 2009 snapshot:

In the US, Noor Faleh Almaleki has died. The 20-year-old Iraqi woman was intentionally run over October 20th (see the October 21st snapshot) while she and Amal Edan Khalaf were running errands (the latter is the mother of Noor's boyfriend and she was left injured in the assault). Police suspected Noor's father, Faleh Hassan Almaleki, of the assault and stated the probable motive was that he felt Noor had become "too westernized." As noted in the October 30th snapshot, Faleh Hassan Almaleki was finally arrested after going on the lamb -- first to Mexico, then flying to London where British authorities refused him entry and he was sent back to the US and arrested in Atlanta. Karan Olson and CNN note that the judge has set the man's bail at $5 million. Philippe Naughton (Times of London) adds, "Noor died yesterday, having failed to recover consciousness after the attack. The other woman, Amal Khalaf, was also seriously injured but is expected to survive. " This year the trial finally commenced. Bill Chappel (The Two-Way, NPR) reports, "A Phoenix jury has convicted an Iraqi immigrant of second-degree murder [yesterday] in the death of his daughter in what prosecutors say was an 'honor killing'." Carlin DeGuerin Miller (CBS News) adds, "Almaleki was also convicted of aggravated assault for the injuries suffered by the older woman. Peoria, Ariz. detective Christopher Boughey testified that Faleh Almaleki confessed to him during a lengthy interrogation that he did in fact intend to cause his daughter's death. Prosecutor Laura Reckart played a recording in which Boughey and another detective confronted Almaleki with their suspicions that he ran over Noor Almaleki because she had become too westernized and brought disrespect to the family." Lisa Halverstadt and Michel Kiefer (Arizona Republic -- link has text and video) report that sentencing was supposed to take place this afternoon, "At sentencing, he faces 10 to 22 years in prison for second-degree murder, 5 to 15 years for aggravated assault, and 2 to 8 ¾ years for leaving the scene of the accident. All of those sentences would be stacked on top of each other, meaning Al-Maleki can face 17 to 45 ¾ years in prison." However, I'm told the sentencing is April 15th. We'll cover the sentencing whenever it is and I'm sorry for the confusion.

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