Bush won’t give Congress papers in CIA leak probe

President George W. Bush, asserting executive privilege, has rejected Congress’ request for documents on FBI interviews with Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney from a probe to find who leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson.

The Bush administration said on Wednesday that turning over such records would violate the president’s rights to counsel from his staff.

In a letter to the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Keith Nelson wrote, “The attorney general has requested that the president assert executive privilege with respect to these documents and the president has done so.”

The letter was delivered on the same day the committee was scheduled to vote on a possible contempt resolution against Attorney General Michael Mukasey for failing to provide the requested information.

Rep. Henry Waxman, the California Democrat who chairs the committee, called the executive privilege claim “ludicrous,” but postponed committee action against Mukasey, saying lawmakers needed time to review Bush’s claim.

In 2003, as the Bush administration was preparing for war with Iraq, media reports surfaced discussing Wilson’s work at the CIA. She is married to former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who at the time accused the Bush administration of tailoring intelligence information to justify the Iraq war.

Following the federal probe into the matter, Cheney aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby was convicted on obstruction and perjury charges. Bush subsequently commuted Libby’s 2 1/2-year sentence.

Waxman said the probe did not get to the bottom of Cheney’s possible role in the leak, prompting his committee to seek the FBI documents. There is a key document that could explain what the vice president knew and what he did,” Waxman said, referring to Libby’s statement to the FBI that it was “possible” Cheney instructed him to blow Wilson’s CIA undercover identity.Waxman also noted that a letter from Mukasey to Bush dated Wednesday regarding the executive privilege stance “also raises questions about the president’s involvement … the documents being withheld summarize conversations held directly with the president.”

Both Mukasey and Nelson wrote that the White House has attempted to accommodate Waxman’s probe of the scandal by making available some FBI reports of interviews with senior White House staff and agency officials.

“We are not prepared to make the same accommodation for reports of interviews with the president and the vice president,” Nelson said. - reuters

Study Links Global Warming To The Increase Of Kidney Stone Cases

As the planet warms there will be more people suffering from kidney stones most probably due to dehydration that comes by either not drinking enough liquid or losing too much because high heat conditions, US researchers say.

Kidney stone disease or nephrolithiasis is not the only condition scientists have predicted to come together with global warming. Many scientists already think global warming will increase the reach of tropical disease such as malaria. Heart disease is also expected to hit high once temperatures increase. … Currently, kidney stone disease occurs in about 12 percent of US men and 7 percent of women. The disease is more common in the warmer parts of the US, more exactly in the Southeast, a region known as the “kidney-stone belt” because of the high number of people suffering from kidney stones. US states confronting with this situation include Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas. - eflux

Am I at risk since I take 3 grams of vitamin C per day every morning? Being too acidic is one cause of stones.

The doctors state that there are four types of kidney stones. They all are caused by different things. There is a calcium kidney stone, which is caused by excess calcium. These are the ones that I had. The next is a struvite kidney stone. If you have repeated bladder or kidney infections, this might be the one you are apt to get. The third kind is uric acid stones, which of course are caused by too much acid in the urine. The fourth, and least common are cysteine kidney stones. Any body builder or people taking amino acids, are familiar with L-cysteine. It is a body building amino acid.

Whether you decide to go the medical route or herbal and natural route to get rid of kidney stones, be sure to contact your doctor. Some of the medicines they might prescribe you are Zyloprim, or Calcibind. Both are effective in diminishing the attacks you might have, but they can take several weeks or longer to work.

There are several natural ways to fight kidney stones. A homeopathic store, or natural food store can give you ideas. One thing they suggested was using cell salts along with berberis vulgaris. This is more commonly known as Bilberry, and is often used for vision problems. Some suggest using cranberry pills, as they clear out the kidneys and bladder. The salesperson at the natural food store stated that these both have been proven to work. - ac

I may cut down to 2 grams but I haven’t had any problems taking 3 grams per day for over a year. How long do kidney stones take to form?

Over twenty years ago, Linus Pauling proposed that the RDA for vitamin C should be increased to 200 mg/day. At about the same time, he mustered theoretical and experimental arguments to support his belief at that time that the optimal intake for humans is about 2 grams/day. While the merits of ingesting that much vitamin C or more each day are debatable, at least we can be confident that large doses are not harmful for healthy people and may be of therapeutic benefit in many cases. In particular, the concern about the role of vitamin C in kidney stone formation, a source of speculation for several decades, appears to be no longer justified. - pi

Google, Viacom agree to shield YouTube users

Google Inc. will delete personal information about users of its YouTube video-sharing website before turning data over to Viacom Inc. and other companies in a copyright lawsuit alleging widespread piracy.

Google, owner of the most-used Internet search engine, earlier this month resisted a federal judge’s order to turn over all users’ viewing histories, citing privacy concerns. The agreement lets Google use anonymous numbers to replace data such as usernames and Internet addresses, which would have allowed Viacom to identify specific YouTube users. … Viacom, which sought the information as part of its 2007 lawsuit against Google, agreed to the partial deletion yesterday after US District Judge Louis Stanton in New York ordered them on July 2 to work out a plan to turn over the data. Viacom, owner of the MTV and Comedy Central networks, plans to use the information to determine if YouTube users illegally share content.

Google has resisted attempts to get at its user data. In 2006, the company fought a US subpoena for months as it sought to assure visitors that their search records weren’t easily accessible. Google founder Sergey Brin said the company has an “obligation” to protect users’ privacy. - boston

Good.