House balks at Bush order for new powers 04 Jul 2007

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government

04 Jul 2007 http://www.legitgov.org/ All links to articles as

summarized below are available here:

http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news House balks at

Bush order for new powers 03 Jul 2007 Dictator Bush this month is

giving an obscure White House office new powers over regulations

affecting health, worker safety and the environment. Calling it a

power grab, Democrats running Congress are intent on stopping him.

The House voted last week to prohibit the Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs from spending federal money on Executive Order

13422, signed by Bush last January and due to take effect July 24.

The order requires federal officials to show that private companies,

people or institutions failed to address a problem before agencies

can write regulations to tackle it. It also gives political appointees

greater authority over how the regulations are written. [it's July

4th --start reading. Arming the Left: Is the time now? --by Charles

Southwell 21 Oct 2003]

USDA Official to Discuss Pandemic Plans at Bird Flu Summit --Chief

veterinary officer to detail the actions the USDA is now taking to

combat bird flu outbreaks in the poultry industryand those it will

apply when [not 'if,' but 'when'] a [uS Army-generated] pandemic

breaks out. (New Fields) 03 Jul 2007 Dr. John Clifford, Deputy

Administrator of the USDA-APHID Veterinary Services program will

discuss how his department works with Homeland Security to prepare

for, respond to, mitigate, and recover from, a pandemic. Dr. Clifford

will speak at the 5th International Bird Flu Summit, to be held on

September 27-28 at Las Vegas... Together with the DHS, it [the USDA]

coordinates the execution of state and local pandemic response

plansonly turning over the lead to the DHS when a pandemic breaks

out. [see:

http://www.legitgov.org/flu_oddities.html]

Gee, looky here! The same 'people' who are conducting bird flu

summits are also holding Iraqi oil & gas summits! Iraqi Oil & Gas

Technology Conference --8th ReBuilding Iraq Conference & Expo

--Istanbul, Turkey 5-6 September 2007 (New Fields) 03 Apr 2007 The

Iraqi oil industry faces three distinct phases of development.

Restoration --The immediate task is restoring historical capacity

which could require an investment of $5-10 billion and take 18 to

24 months.

This work could be carried out under the auspices of an occupation

regime.

Developing Prospects --The second phase is developing prospects

already found, raising capacity significantly. Cost is estimated

at $40-80 billion... This work would need a legitimate government

to assign new contracts. New Exploration --The third phase would

be new exploration, for which Iraq immediately has little need, and

that also would require a legitimate government to negotiate fresh

exploration rights... There is a large potential for substituting

gas for oil in power generation. Finally, there is also a refinery

and petrochemical investment potential.

Iraq Cabinet Approves Oil Law Draft 03 Jul 2007 Prime Minister Nouri

al-Maliki's Cabinet approved a draft oil law and the Iraqi parliament

was to begin debate on the measure Wednesday, a major sign of

progress in a long-delayed political benchmark sought by the U.S.

to boost reconciliation between Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites [windfall

profits for Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater USA and Exxon Mobil]. For

months, Washington has pressed its ally al-Maliki to quickly pass

the oil law and other pieces of legislation...

US military probing new allegations of Iraq war crimes 03 Jul 2007

The United States military said Tuesday it is investigating "credible

allegations" of wrongdoing [war crimes] by US Marines in Iraq during

fighting in Fallujah three years ago. Responding to reports that

Marines allegedly killed several Iraqi prisoners of war, Naval

Criminal Investigative Service spokesman Ed Buice said in a statement

a probe was now under way.

Soldier May Get Death In Iraqi Slayings --Service Member Accused

of Raping Girl, Killing Family 03 Jul 2007 Federal prosecutors filed

notice Tuesday that they will seek the death penalty if former

soldier Steven D. Green is convicted of killing an Iraqi family and

raping a 14-year-old girl.

Guantanamo Bay chief moves to ease conditions for detainees 03 Jul

2007 The head of the U-S detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,

says conditions will be improved for detainees. Navy Rear Admiral

Mark Buzby tells The Associated Press that more recreation and other

activities will be offered. Lawyers for the detainees say the changes

are unlikely to ease the desperation for those held without charges

for more than five years.

Lieberman urges U.S. to wage war with Iran 02 Jul 2007 Senator Joe

LieberBush [N-Israel] repeated his call Monday for the U.S. to

consider a military strike against Iran. Lieberman says Tehran is

waging a "proxy war" by stoking anti-coalition violence in Iraq.

Lieberman made his comments after learning of new reports from U.S.

military officials about how Iran is [allegedly] fostering terrorism

in Iraq... Lieberman said the news was a "wake-up call" to the

United States.

BBC's Gaza correspondent released 04 Jul 2007 BBC correspondent

Alan Johnston has been released by kidnappers in Gaza after nearly

four months in captivity.

He said it was "fantastic" to be free after an "appalling experience".

TV footage showed Mr Johnston, 45, leaving a building accompanied

by armed men.

Brown sets out plans to cede powers to parliament 03 Jul 2007 Gordon

Brown today vowed to give MPs the final word in declaring war as

he unveiled a new "constitutional settlement" to ensure government

was a "better servant of the people".

Terror suspects known to MI5 before bomb attack on airport 04 Jul

2007 Some of the terrorist suspects arrested over the Glasgow and

London car bombs were known to MI5 before last week's attacks, The

Scotsman has learned. At least two of the names of people now under

arrest and other details, including mobile-phone numbers, were

recorded in security-service databases before last Thursday... Since

last Friday, MI5 and police have been sensitive to suggestions that

they did have some advance knowledge of last week's attack.

Three events have fuelled those suspicions.

A 'shared US warning' two weeks agoso who knew what and when at

Home Office?

03 Jul 2007 A WIDE range of agencies and organisation are involved

in the investigation into the attacks: MI5, the Security Service.

Agents are working from its London HQ and its regional "station"

in Glasgow. MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service. Assessing the

backgrounds of those arrested, and any links with international

groups. S013, the Metropolitan Police's Anti-Terrorist Branch. Led

by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, Britain's top

anti-terrorist officer. Strathclyde Special Branch. Rated one of

the country's best by Alex Carlile, the government's terrorism law

assessor.

British police on their way: PM 04 Jul 2007 A senior British police

officer is flying to Australia to question a doctor [Dr Mohamed

Haneef] arrested on the Gold Coast in connection with the foiled

UK bomb plot, Prime Minister John Howard said this morning.

Street near hospital is closed as suspect vehicle investigated 04

Jul 2007 Police last night closed off a street close to the Royal

Alexandra Hospital in Paisley to investigate another suspect vehicle.

The man suspected of driving a Jeep into Glasgow Airport on Saturday

is being treated nearby for severe burns. The news came as The

Scotsman learned one of the suspects arrested in connection with

the Glasgow and London attacks is a British citizen.

Investigators: Scotland and London Bomb Attempts Linked to Same Two

Men --Less Than 14 Hours Separated Two Attempted Attacks 03 Jul

2007 The leading theory of British investigators is that the same

two persons attempted the downtown London bombings early Friday

morning and then traveled to Glasgow where they attempted what now

appears to be a failed suicide attack on Glasgow airport, ABC News

has learned. According to British authorities, the two men under

the spotlight are both doctors and part of a group of eight doctors,

residents and other medical personnel believed to have planned,

executed and supported the two sets of thwarted attacks. The attacks

were less than 14 hours apart.

British terrorists conspired in bombs plot - security officials

--Six suspects are doctors --Controlled explosions at hospital

--London car came from Scotland 03 Jul 2007 Counter-terrorism

officials said last night they believe British terrorists who are

still at large were involved in the conspiracy to launch car bomb

attacks on London and Glasgow. Details emerged as it became clear

that five of the suspects under arrest are doctors working and

training in the NHS, and one is a doctor working in Australia where

he was arrested last night. Seven of the eight people arrested so

far are foreign-born nationals, including an Iraqi doctor trained

in Baghdad, a Jordanian neurosurgeon, an Indian medic, and a Lebanese

man.

Two arrested on suspicion of terror offences 03 Jul 2007 Two men

were today arrested in Lancashire on suspicion of terror offences.

Both men - neither of whom have been named - were arrested at an

industrial estate at around midday.

Lancashire police said they were being held at a police station on

suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000.

British Terror Probe Focuses on Doctors 03 Jul 2007 The fast-moving

investigation into failed car bombings in Glasgow and London has

swept up at least five physicians and a medical student, officials

said Tuesday, including a doctor seized at an Australian airport

with a one-way ticket.

UK bomb threat 'shows need for Australia anti-terror campaign' 02

Jul 2007 The latest terrorism plots in the United Kingdom show

Australia's own anti-terrorism campaigns are justified, Prime

Minister John Howard says. "And that is why we have to invest a lot

of money in security..." Mr Howard told reporters in Sydney. "People

sneered at the fridge magnets, [but] the fridge magnets and the

hotline have provided innumerable leads to our security forces and

I say to those who were cynical and critical, you're wrong."

'al-Qaeda' puts on big shoes, red nose, takes custard pie By Lewis

Page 02 Jul 2007 To recap: an exceptionally incompetent group of

troublemakers, unknown to the plods or spooks, decided to bring a

spot of terror to old Blighty starting last Friday. These people

had no actual explosives, and were apparently too lazy and ignorant

to learn how to make them. Instead, they decided to load cars with

petrol, domestic gas cylinders and "containers holding nails", and

then set fire to them - either manually or using a cellphone-initiated

remote rig of some kind... [T]hese have to be some of the most

pathetic terror attacks ever - difficult to distinguish from minor

accidents.

Atomic gaffe sparks crisis for Abe regime 04 Jul 2007 The resignation

of Japan's Defence Minister, Fumio Kyuma, over remarks that appeared

to legitimise the World War II atomic bombings of Japan, has plunged

his embattled government into fresh crisis weeks before nationwide

elections... In January Mr Kyuma caused headaches for his government

and angered Washington when he described the invasion of Iraq as a

mistake.

Speaker TB Case Downgraded to Multi-Drug Resistant 03 Jul 2007

Physicians said today the young Atlanta lawyer who sparked outrage

over his international travel with extensively drug resistant

tuberculosis (XDR-TB) actually has less dangerous multi-drug resistant

TB. The new diagnosis of MDR-TB has been confirmed by three separate

tests using different methods and is "good news"

for Andrew Speaker, 31, said Charles Daley, M.D., of National Jewish

Hospital and Research Center.

NIST exploring 9/11 conspiracy theory for WTC-7: New witness confirms

Scholars previous findings By James Fetzer 02 Jul 2007 The National

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) appears to be moving

in the direction of a "conspiracy theory" about the destruction of

WTC-7 on 9/11 just as a new witness has emerged reporting extensive

destruction inside the building many hours before it would be

demolished. According to James Fetzer, the founder of Scholars for

9/11 Truth, these turns of events provide further confirmation for

the conclusion that WTC-7 was brought down by a controlled demolition

at 5:20 PM/ET.

Bush Refuses to Rule Out Libby Pardon 03 Jul 2007 President [sic]

Bush today refused to rule out a pardon for I. Lewis "Scooter"

Libby, one day after he spared the former White House aide prison

time by commuting the 30-month sentence imposed after Libby's perjury

conviction in the CIA leak case. "As to the future, I rule nothing

in and nothing out," the president told reporters... A full pardon

would wipe clean Libby's criminal record.

White House won't rule out full Libby pardon 03 Jul 2007 The White

House on Tuesday declined to rule out the possibility of an eventual

pardon for former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

But spokesman Tony Snow said, for now, President [sic] Bush is

satisfied with his decision to commute Libby's 2 1/2-year prison

sentence. "He thought any jail time was excessive.

He did not see fit to have Scooter Libby taken to jail," Snow said.

A Decision Made Largely Alone 03 Jul 2007 President [sic] Bush

limited his deliberations over commuting the prison term of I. Lewis

"Scooter" Libby to a few close aides, opting not to consult with

the Justice Department and rebuffing efforts by friends to lobby

on Libby's behalf, administration officials and people close to

Bush said yesterday. For the first time in his presidency, Bush

commuted a sentence without running requests through lawyers at the

Justice Department, White House officials said. He also did not ask

the chief prosecutor in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, for his

input, as routinely happens in cases routed through the Justice

Department's pardon attorney.

House Plans Hearing Into Libby By Mike Viqueira, NBC 03 Jul 2007

The House Judiciary Committee is planning a hearing next week into

the commuting of Libby's sentence. They don't yet know who they are

going to call, but as of this morning they are thinking that they

may not have enough time to call Libby himself and properly prepare.

That could change.

Wilson Lambastes White House on Libby Case (NPR) 03 Jul 2007 President

[sic] Bush's decision to commute I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison

sentence proves that "this administration is corrupt to the core,"

said Ambassador Joseph Wilson, the former diplomat whose wife was

at the center of the CIA leak investigation that sparked the Libby

case.

Hush-Hush: Rove's Security Clearance Renewal By Michael A. Fletcher

02 Jul 2007 Should White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove be

privy to the nation's most sensitive secrets? Did he break trust

with President Bush and the nation when he told syndicated columnist

Robert D. Novak about Valerie Plame's classified job with the CIA?

.....[Rove's] security clearance was renewed after a reinvestigation

in late 2006, which has puzzled Rep. Henry A.

Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government

Reform Committee. In a letter sent last week to White House Counsel

Fred F. Fielding, Waxman alleged that Rove's actions amounted to a

violation of presidential guidelines that say "deliberate or negligent

disclosure" of classified information can disqualify a staffer from

future access to such material.

Jackson: Bush Actions 'Crime Against Constitution' --Congressman

Calls For Impeachment Proceedings After President Commutes Libby

Sentence 03 Jul 2007 "Since the president [sic] has intervened in

this process, it is now the Congress obligation and responsibility

to intervene in the executive process and begin an inquiry into

these very serious crimes against the constitution of the United

States," said Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Chicago). Jackson

says this time the president went too far. After word that Bush

commuted Libbys sentence Jackson plans to call on House Democrats

to start impeachment proceedings.

Bush, Cheney should resign By Keith Olbermann 03 Jul 2007 Even

Richard Nixon knew it was time to resign. Would that you could say

that, Mr. Bush. And that you could say it for Mr. Cheney. You both

crossed the Rubicon yesterday. Which one of you chose the route,

no longer matters. Which is the ventriloquist, and which the dummy,

is irrelevant. But that you have twisted the machinery of government

into nothing more than a tawdry machine of politics, is the only

fact that remains relevant... We of this timeand our leaders in

Congress, of both partiesmust now live up to those standards which

echo through our history: Pressure, negotiate, impeachget you, Mr.

Bush, and Mr. Cheney, two men who are now perilous to our Democracy,

away from its helm. For you, Mr.

Bush, and for Mr. Cheney, there is a lesser task. You need merely

achieve a very low threshold indeed. Display just that iota of

patriotism which Richard Nixon showed, on August 9th, 1974. Resign.

Bush returns to W.Va. as lawsuit documents surface 03 Jul 2007 The

White House isn't likely to deploy "rally squads'' at President

[sic] Bush's Wednesday visit to Martinsburg. Lawsuits arising from

a previous Bush trip to the Mountain State on the Fourth of July

allege the administration has developed a formal policy to stymie

critics at events. The tactics include recruiting squads of volunteers

to scour crowds for possible demonstrators.

White House Telephone Directory --Posted by Jeff Williamson/DJBlaze

18 May 2007 [Call The Decider and Tortureboy direct! ]

Edwards calls for additional minimum-wage hike 02 Jul 2007 Former

North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (D), calling a recent minimum-wage

hike insufficient, said Monday that he wants increase the hourly

minimum wage to $9.50 by 2012. He also proposed to index the minimum

wage and tie it to the national average wage.

Bush-Cheney Offshore Oil Plan Will Destroy Polar Bear and Whale

Habitat --Lawsuit Challenges 21 Lease Sales That Would Hurt Wildlife

and Generate More Than 4 Billion Tons of Greenhouse Gases 02 Jul

2007 Today the Center for Biological Diversity filed a court challenge

to the Bush administrations approval of a nationwide plan governing

the sale of all offshore oil and gas leases in federal waters over

the next five years. The Minerals Management Services 2007-2012

Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program was approved

by Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne last Friday... Five of the

proposed lease sales would be in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off

Alaska, turning prime polar bear habitat into a polluted industrial

zone... "Short of sending Dick Cheney to Alaska to personally club

polar bear cubs to death, the administration could not have come

up with a more environmentally destructive plan for endangered

marine mammals," said Brendan Cummings, ocean program director of

the Center.

Governor accused of playing politics on warming rules --2 members

of air board exit, saying he pressured them 03 Jul 2007 Democratic

state lawmakers are questioning Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's

commitment to fight global warming after the governor's top deputies

thwarted an attempt by the state's air quality regulators to enact

their own measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The executive

director of the California Air Resources Board, Catherine Witherspoon,

resigned Monday -- three days after Schwarzenegger fired the board's

chairman, Robert Sawyer, who had said he wanted to be more aggressive

in curbing pollution that causes global warming than does the

Republican governor, who signed the state's landmark bill last year.

CLGers, we need your support.

http://www.legitgov.org/#contribute Or, please mail a check or money

order to the CLG:

Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG) P.O. Box 1142 Bristol, CT

06011-1142 Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible.

[Previous lead stories:] Saved from prison by Bush's favour: the

White House aide who lied to a grand jury --Rightwing pressure wins

commutation for Scooter --Democrats say president has trampled on

the law 03 Jul 2007 George Bush created a political storm yesterday

by intervening to stop the disgraced White House aide, Lewis "Scooter"

Libby, from going to jail. The president [sic], in a statement,

said the prison sentence imposed on Mr Libby, who was found guilty

of perjury in a complex spy case linked to the Iraq war, was too

harsh.

Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Term in CIA Leak Case 02 Jul 2007

President [sic] George W. Bush spared Lewis "Scooter" Libby from

prison in the CIA leak case, saying his 2 1/2-year term was

"excessive." Bush acted after a U.S. appellate court today refused

to let Libby stay free during his appeal. Libby, former chief of

staff to Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney, was convicted of lying

to investigators probing the 2003 leak of Central Intelligence

Agency official Valerie Plame's identity.

Alert puts 6,000 armed police on streets 03 Jul 2007 Britain was

in the grip of a security crackdown last night after the terrorist

attacks in London and Glasgow. Up to 6,000 armed police officers

were on the streets, sources said.

Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested.

Those who'd like to be added to the Newsletter list can sign up:

http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg.

Please write to: signup@legitgov.org for inquiries.

CLG Newsletter editor: Lori Price, Manager. Copyright ) 2007,

Citizens For Legitimate Government . All rights reserved. CLG Founder

and Chair is Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.