Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government29 April 200

[Guest guest]

" Lori R. Price " <lrprice

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 16:26:43 -0400

'Grand Mafiosi' Syphon Billions From Iraq's Oil Sector 29 Apr

2006

 

 

 

 

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government

29 April 2006

http://www.legitgov.org/

 

 

All links to articles as summarized below are available here:

http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

 

'Grand Mafiosi' Syphon Billions From Iraq's Oil Sector 28 Apr 2006 A

new class of grand mafiosi [bush Crime Family] is sucking billions of

pounds out of Iraq's vital oil sector, according to an official report

published in Baghdad. The findings of the Oil Ministry's independent

inspector-general painted a sordid picture of massive abuses pervading

every corner of the industry, from the well-head to the petrol pump.

It said that since Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003, the spread of

smuggling had turned Iraq from a major exporter of petrol products

into an importer.

 

 

Bush administration invokes " state secrets " in suit against NSA 28 Apr

2006 The Bush regime formally said Friday that it will try to halt a

lawsuit that accuses AT & T of helping the National Security Agency spy

on Americans illegally. In an 8-page document filed with a federal

court in the northern district of California, the U.S. Justice

Department said it will intervene in the lawsuit and try to have it

tossed out of court... The Justice Department said in its filing that

the " United States intends to assert the military and state secrets

privilege " and have the case dismissed.

 

 

U.S. moves to quash privacy suit against AT & T 29 Apr 2006 The Bush

regime said Friday that it will ask a federal judge to dismiss a

privacy rights group's lawsuit against AT & T over the company's

reported role in a government surveillance program, because the case

might expose state secrets.

 

 

FBI secretly sought data on 3,501 people in 2005 --Agency ramped up

use of approach that requires no court approval 28 Apr 2006 The FBI

secretly sought information last year on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal

residents from their banks and credit card, telephone and Internet

companies without a court's approval, the Justice Department said Friday.

 

 

CIA puts new gags on its contractors 28 Apr 2006 The CIA has imposed

new and tighter restrictions on former employees remain contractors

with it. The restrictions will apply to books, articles, and opinion

pieces published by them, National Journal reported Friday.

 

 

EU probes alleged CIA abduction in Macedonia 29 Apr 2006 European

Union investigators, probing the alleged CIA abduction of a

Kuwaiti-born German, on Saturday visited a hotel where he stayed in

Macedonia in 2004.

 

 

US admits Iraq could become haven for terror [Nah, 'ya think?] 29 Apr

2006 The US state department acknowledged yesterday that there is a

risk of Iraq becoming a safe haven for terrorists three years after

the invasion of the country.

 

 

U.S. Soldier Dies In Bomb Attack; Military Deaths In Iraq Top 2,400 29

Apr 2006 Military officials said an Army soldier died Saturday when a

roadside bomb hit his convoy near Baghdad. The attack raises to 70 the

number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq during April.

 

 

Six killed; 12 bodies found tortured in Iraq 29 Apr 2006 Within the

last 24 hours, 'insurgents' [u.S.] in Iraq killed five people; a

roadside bomb killed an American soldier; and 12 bodies, all shot in

the head and bearing signs of torture, were found in Baghdad.

 

 

100,000 Families Are Fleeing Violence, Iraq Official Says 30 Apr 2006

A new estimate by one of Iraq's vice presidents has put the number of

Iraqi families fleeing sectarian violence at 100,000, far outstripping

previous projections and raising the possibility that a total of a

half-million people could be displaced.

 

 

Army Intelligence Officer Charged in Abu Ghraib Abuse Case 28 Apr 2006

The former head of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib prison was

charged with abusing detainees and lying to investigators about it,

making him the highest- ranking U.S. military officer accused in the

prisoner-abuse case.

 

 

Guantanamo Bay prisoners plant seeds of hope in secret garden 29 Apr

2006 ...Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have fashioned a secret garden

where they have grown plants from seeds recovered from their meals.

For some of the detainees - held without charge for more than four

years and who the US say are now cleared for release - the garden

apparently offers a diversion from the monotony and injustice of their

imprisonment.

 

 

Going to War with the Morons you have By Mike Whitney 28 Apr 2006

" Most of the grumbling about [secretary of 'Defense,' Donald] Rumsfeld

seems to center on his two salient attributes; arrogance and

ineptitude, the twin-axels of predictable failure. There isn't one

part of the 3 year occupation he hasn't mishandled, mismanaged or

completely bungled. His tenure at the War Dept represents the greatest

collapse of leadership in the history of the republic. You're doin' a

heck-uva job, Rummy. "

 

 

Command Responsibility? By Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith 10 Jan

2006 " A jury verdict in Memphis late last year caused little stir

among the general public, but it may have caught the attention of Dick

Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and other high officials of the Bush

administration. The jury found Colonel Nicolas Carranza, former Vice

Minister of Defense of El Salvador and now a U.S. citizen living in

Memphis, responsible for overseeing the torture and killing in that

country 25 years ago. Could similar charges be brought against high

U.S. officials for the actions of their subordinates in Abu Ghraib,

Falluja, and Guantanamo? "

 

 

Thousands in NYC March Against Iraq War 29 Apr 2006 A day after the

military announced that April was the deadliest month for U.S. forces

in Iraq this year, thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched

Saturday through lower Manhattan to demand an immediate withdrawal of

troops.

 

 

Pentagon Halts Contractor Clearances 29 Apr 2006 The Pentagon stopped

processing security clearances for government contractors this week,

potentially exacerbating a shortage of employees authorized to work on

the government's most secret programs.

 

 

Report: Injured Soldiers Drowning In Medical Debt 28 Apr 2006 After

suffering paralysis, brain damage, lost limbs and other wounds in war,

nearly 900 Army soldiers ran up $1.2 million in debt because of the

military's " complex, cumbersome " pay system, congressional

investigators said Thursday.

 

 

Report Sets Stage For Action on Iran 29 Apr 2006 In a sharply worded

report, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Friday that

Iran is accelerating its uranium enrichment efforts and hiding crucial

information about its nuclear program. The report opens the way for

the U.N. Security Council to debate potential actions against Iran.

 

 

US brands Iran enemy No 1 --Tehran says it 'doesn't give a damn' about

inspectors --US and UK lead calls for action as crisis deepens 29 Apr

2006 The US regime branded Iran public enemy number one, calling it

one of the world's most active sponsors of terrorism [they should

know], as the UN nuclear inspectors revealed that Tehran has

successfully enriched uranium and is racing ahead with its nuclear

programme.

 

 

Italy's Berlusconi to quit and make way for Prodi 29 Apr 2006 Italian

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday he would resign,

ending three weeks of wrangling over a narrow election defeat and

clearing the political decks for Romano Prodi to take power.

 

 

Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia cement left alliance 29 Apr 2006 Leftist

leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia met in Havana on Saturday to

complete an integration agreement cast as an alternative to U.S. plans

for a free-trade pact with the Latin American region.

 

 

What You Won't See in Flight 93, the Film --American Airlines Could

Have Saved That Flight; Instead They Tried to Keep the Hijackings

Secret By James Ridgeway " On Flight 11, flight attendants Betty Ong

and Amy Sweeney were on the phone to American Airlines ground

personnel minutes after the hijacking began. Even though both the FAA

and the airlines had been warned more than 50 times in the months

preceding the attack, officials on the ground reacted with skepticism

an annoyance to Betty Ong's desperate call. "

 

 

More GOP 'Family Values' Prostitution Alleged In Cunningham Case 29

Apr 2006 Federal authorities are investigating allegations that a

California defense contractor arranged for a Washington area limousine

company to provide prostitutes to convicted former congressman Randy

" Duke " Cunningham (R-Calif.) and possibly other lawmakers, sources

familiar with the probe said yesterday.

 

 

Chavez Announces 10 Pct. Minimum Wage Hike 28 Apr 2006 Venezuelan

President Hugo Chavez on Friday announced a 10 percent boost in the

minimum wage starting Sept. 1 _ the second such increase this year.

 

 

Union Leader, Out of Jail, Vows to Fight No-Strike Law 29 Apr 2006

Roger Toussaint, the president of the transit workers' union, sounded

as defiant as ever after walking out of jail at 9 a.m. yesterday,

having served nearly 4 days of his 10-day sentence for leading an

'illegal' strike.

 

 

1 in 5 pay more in Medicare Rx plan 27 Apr 2006 Medicare's new

prescription-drug program has increased out-of-pocket costs for about

one in five participants, causing some to risk their health by

reducing or eliminating medications.

 

 

Chevron joins US oil firm bonanza 28 Apr 2006 Chevron has seen its

first quarter profit jump 49% to $4bn (£2.2bn), making it the latest

oil company to cash in on soaring world energy prices. Its revenues

rose 32% on last year, also boosted by sales from Unocal, the oil firm

it bought in 2005.

 

 

Bush rejects calls for tax on oil profits 28 Apr 2006 President [sic]

Bush said Friday that taxing enormous oil industry profits is not the

way to calm Americans' anxieties about pain at the gas pump... Bush's

remarks suggested the former Texas oilman is unlikely to take harsh

action against oil companies despite public anger about the rising

cost of fuel.

 

 

Coal plants spew more mercury 29 Apr 2006 Mercury pollution from

coal-fired power plants is increasing nationwide, even as the Bush

regime touts an overall decline in toxic chemicals released by

industry into the environment. Though total mercury emissions

decreased less than 2 percent from 2003 to 2004, the amount blown into

the air by power plants increased 4 percent, a Tribune analysis of

newly released federal data shows.

 

 

'At Some Point, Reality Has Its Day' By Eleanor Clift 28 Apr 2006

(Interview with President Al Gore) " Al Gore: Then governor George W.

Bush [in 2000] publicly pledged to regulate CO2 emissions and to

forcibly, with the rule of law, reduce them—and publicly said 'this is

a serious problem and I will deal with it.' Now, the other way that

issues get covered in the media is if there's conflict, and if there's

a sharp difference. And one is tempted to conclude that [Karl] Rove

crafted those positions that were immediately abandoned after the

election—in the first week after the inauguration, the first week—one

is tempted to conclude that Rove wrote those positions in order to

take from that issue any sense of contrast or conflict and thereby

make it non-newsworthy. It certainly had that effect, whether it was

intentional or not. "

 

 

[28 Apr lead stories:] Bush Set to Approve Takeover of 9 Military

Plants by Dubai 28 Apr 2006 Dictator Bush is expected on Friday to

announce his approval of a deal under which a Dubai-owned company

would take control of nine plants in the United States that

manufacture parts for American military vehicles and aircraft, say two

administration officials familiar with the terms of the deal.

 

 

11 House Members to Sue Over Budget Bill 27 Apr 2006 Eleven House

Democrats said Thursday they would sue the Bush administration,

alleging the $39 billion deficit-reducing legislation signed by the

pResident is unconstitutional because the House and Senate failed to

approve identical versions.

 

 

U.S. calls Iran " most active state sponsor of terrorism " 28 Apr 2006

The United States described Iran on Friday as the most active state

sponsor of terrorism. " Iran [?!? the *U.S.*] remained the most active

state sponsor of terrorism " , the U.S. State Department said in its

annual Country Reports on Terrorism for the year 2005. [OMG! Hello,

Pot? This is Kettle...]

 

All links to articles as summarized are available here:

http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

 

 

 

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you to all who have donated previously!!

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CLG Newsletter editor: Lori Price, General Manager. 2006,

Citizens For Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved. CLG Founder

and Chair is Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.