Steinbring Inc.

I personally believe that this is an event which should have happened after the country became more stable but at least we can now begin to put Saddam era Iraq behind us.

From Reuters:

Saddam Hussein was hanged at dawn on Saturday, a dramatic end for a leader who ruled Iraq by fear for three decades before a U.S. invasion toppled him and was then convicted of crimes against humanity.As day broke on one of the holiest days of the Muslim year and the call to prayer echoed out from minarets across a dark and bitterly cold Baghdad, officially-backed television channels flashed the news shortly after six a.m. (10:00 p.m. EST).

“It happened before my eyes,” one Iraqi official said.

…

“The three men were executed. First Saddam Hussein, then Barzan al-Tikriti and then Awad al-Bander,” an Iraqiya announcer said, reading what he said was an official statement.

The event was filmed but it was unclear when or if images would be shown to help convince Iraqis Saddam is dead.

It was not clear where the executions took place, although key officials who were to attend the hanging had told Reuters they had been told to gather in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone government compound.

From Al Jazeera:
Iraq’s deputy foreign minister, Labeed Abbawi, said: “He has been executed. It has been officially announced that he has been executed.”

…

The former Iraqi president, who was ousted in April 2003 by a US-led invasion, had been convicted last month of crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shia villagers from Dujail after a failed assassination attempt in 1982.

An appeals court upheld the death penalty on Tuesday and the Iraqi government rushed through the procedures to hang him by the end of the year and before the Eid al-Adha holiday that starts on Saturday. 

NY Time Link, Wiki

Saddam Hussein could be executed within hours, an official close to the Iraqi Prime Minister told The Times.

“He should be executed this weekend, even within hours. It depends on finalising paperwork and deciding on the location,” the Iraqi official said.

Link

I think we are going to see a return of Ma Bell very soon.

AT&T Inc. has offered a new set of concessions that are expected to satisfy the two Democrats on the Federal Communications Commission and lead to approval of the company’s $85 billion buyout of BellSouth Corp.

…

Among the promises made by the company:

–An offer of stand-alone, high-speed Internet service to customers in its service area for $19.95 per month for 30 months. The “naked DSL (digital subscriber line)” offer would allow those who live in AT&T and BellSouth’s service areas to sign up for fast Internet access without being required to buy a package of other services.

–A greater commitment to network neutrality, or nondiscrimination involving Internet traffic. AT&T said it would “maintain a neutral network and neutral routing in its wireline broadband Internet access service” for two years.

–To freeze rates for “special access” customers, usually competitors and large businesses that pay to connect directly to a regional phone company’s central office via a dedicated fiber optic line, for 48 months.

–To “assign and/or transfer to an unaffiliated third party” all of its 2.5 GHZ spectrum currently licensed to BellSouth within one year of the merger closing date.

–To “repatriate” 3,000 jobs that were outsourced by BellSouth outside the U.S. by Dec. 31, 2008, with at least 200 of those jobs to be located in New Orleans.

Link [ Via Slashdot ]

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, sentenced to death for his role in 148 killings in 1982, will have his sentence carried out by Sunday, NBC News reports.

James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured ‘’Godfather of Soul,'’ whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.