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Three Major Telecom Companies Help US Government Spy on Millions
of Americans
The Yes Men Strike Again: Group Poses As Halliburton Reps
At “Catastrophic Loss” Conference
Mothers Say No To War: Peace Activists Plan Mother’s
Day Protest Outside White House
Three Major Telecom Companies Help US Government
Spy on Millions of Americans
USA Today has revealed the National Security Agency is secretly
collecting the phone call records of millions of Americans
with the help of AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth. For the
customers of these companies, it means that the government
has detailed records of calls they made to family members,
co-workers, business contacts and others. One source told
the paper that the NSA is attempting to create the world's
largest database -- big enough to include every call ever
made within the nation's borders. [includes rush
transcript]
USA Today has revealed the National Security Agency is secretly
collecting the phone call records of millions of Americans
with the help of AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth. For the
customers of these companies, it means that the government
has detailed records of calls they made to family members,
co-workers, business contacts and others. One source told
the paper that the NSA is attempting to create the world"s
largest database -- big enough to include every call ever
made within the nation”s borders.
This spy program is far more expansive than what the White
House has acknowledged. Last year, President Bush admitted
he had authorized the NSA to eavesdrop — without warrants
— on calls and e-mails of people suspected of having
links to terrorists.
On Thursday, President Bush discussed the NSA”s spy
operations but did not directly address the report in USA
Today that the NSA was creating a database of phone call records.
- President Bush: "Today there are new claims about
other ways we are tracking down al Qaeda to prevent attacks
on America. I want to make some important points about what
the government is doing, and what the government is not
doing. First, our intelligence activities strictly target
al Qaeda and their known affiliates. Al Qaeda is our enemy,
and we want to know their plans. Second, the government
does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval.
Third, the intelligence activities I authorized are lawful
and have been briefed to appropriate members of congress,
both Republican and Democrat. Fourth, the privacy of ordinary
Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities. We're
not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions
of innocent Americans."
On Capitol Hill, Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter -
Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee - announced he
would call officials from AT&T, Verizon and Bell South
to appear before the panel for questioning. Meanwhile there
have been a number of other developments about the NSA's spy
program.
On Wednesday the Justice Department announced it had to close
an investigation into the NSA”s domestic spy program
because the NSA had refused to grant investigators security
clearances.
On Monday, President Bush nominated General Michael Hayden
to become the next director of the CIA. Hayden was the head
of the NSA in 2001 when President Bush ordered the agency
to begin warrant-less spying of Americans.
General Hayden spoke with reporters yesterday about the NSA
spying program.
- Michael Hayden: "Everything that NSA done is lawful
and carefully done and the appropriate members of congress,
the house and senate are briefed on all NSA activities and
I will just leave it at that."
But the NSA spy program is even being criticized by former
top NSA officials. On Monday the agency's former Director
Bobby Ray Inman said “this activity is not authorized.”
To talk about these latest developments, we are joined by
three guests:
- Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a Democrat from New York.
- Ryan Singel, a contributing writer at Wired News.
- Tim Shorrock, independent journalist who has covered
the issue for The Nation magazine.
The Yes Men Strike Again: Group Poses As Halliburton
Reps At “Catastrophic Loss” Conference
The Yes Men have struck again. On Tuesday, a man claiming
to be a representative of Halliburton gave a presentation
at the "Catastrophic Loss" conference at the Ritz-Carlton
in Amelia Island, Florida. Conference attendees include leaders
from the insurance industry. We speak with the Yes Men's Andy
Bichlbaum, who took part in the hoax. [includes rush
transcript]
The The Yes Men
have struck again. On Tuesday, a man claiming to be a representative
of Halliburton gave a presentation at the "Catastrophic
Loss" conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island,
Florida. The conference included leaders from the insurance
industry. The phony spokesperson gave his name as Fred Wolf
and began by warning conference-goers of the dangers of climate
change.
- Fred Wolf, Yes Man
Andy Bichlbaum posing as a Halliburton spokesperson.
The corporate impersonators went on to tell conference-goers
that Halliburton had come up with a new invention, the SurvivaBall
- an orb-like inflatable suit that would keep corporate managers
safe from global warming. While Fred Wolf suited
up into the Survivaball, fellow Yes Man Mike Bonanno introduced
the new technology.
- Min Bonnano, Yes
Man Andy Bichlbaum posing as a Halliburton spokesperson.
The suits look like large plastic bubbles with six hands,
two speakerphone-looking ears and an opening for the executive's
face. The Yes Men hoax comes less than two years after a Yes
Men member appeared on the BBC claiming to be a spokesperson
for Dow Chemical. He said Dow was taking responsibility for
the Bhopal chemical disaster -- forcing the company to remind
the world it did not take responsibility for the disaster
and that there was no compensation fund set-up for the victims.
We are joined in our firehouse studio a member of the Yes
Men, Andy Bichlbaum.
- Andy Bichlbaum, member of The Yes Men.
Mothers Say No To War: Peace Activists Plan Mother’s
Day Protest Outside White House
Sunday is Mother’s Day and a group of women have chosen
to honor it by calling for peace. Women from all over the
country are gathering in Washington D.C this weekend and will
be holding an all night vigil outside the White House to demand
that the troops be brought home from Iraq. We’re joined
by Elaine Johnson and Cindy Sheehan, who both lost sons in
Iraq. [includes rush
transcript]
Sunday is Mother's Day and a group of women have chosen to
honor it by calling for peace. Women from all over the country
are gathering in Washington D.C this weekend and will be holding
an all night vigil outside the White House to demand that
the the troops be brought home now.
The main organizer of the weekend's event is the group Code
Pink. And this is what they have written about why they are
taking action. "We, the women of the United States, Iraq
and women worldwide, have had enough of the senseless war
in Iraq and the cruel attacks on civilians around the world.
We've buried too many of our loved ones. We've seen too many
lives crippled forever by physical and mental wounds. We've
watched in horror as our precious resources are poured into
war while our families" basic needs of food, shelter,
education and healthcare go unmet. This is not the world we
want for ourselves or our children. With fire in our bellies
and love in our hearts, we women are rising up - across borders
- to unite and demand an end to the bloodshed and the destruction."
We are joined now by two mothers who have lost sons in Iraq:
- Elaine Johnson, mother of Specialist Darius Jennings.
He was killed in November 2003 when the Chinook helicopter
was shot down in Iraq. Darius was 22 when he died.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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