reported today by USAToday.

Quote :

"WASHINGTON - The government is secretly collecting records of ordinary Americans' phone calls in an effort to build a database of every call made within the country, it was reported Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth telephone companies began turning over records of tens of millions of their customers' phone calls to the National Security Agency program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said USA Today, citing anonymous sources it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement. The program does not involve listening to or taping the calls. Instead it documents who talks to whom in personal and business calls, whether local or long distance, by tracking which numbers are called, the newspaper said. The NSA and the Office of National Intelligence Director did not immediately respond to requests for comment. NSA is the same spy agency that conducts the controversial domestic eavesdropping program that has been acknowledged by President Bush. The president said last year that he authorized the NSA to listen, without warrants, to international phone calls involving Americans suspected of terrorist links. The report came as the former NSA director, Gen. Michael Hayden — Bush's choice to take over leadership of the CIA — was set to visit lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday. Hayden already faced criticism because of the NSA's secret domestic eavesdropping program. As head of the NSA from March 1999 to April 2005, Hayden also would have overseen the call-tracking program. The NSA wants the database of domestic call records to look for any patterns that might suggest terrorist activity, USA Today said. Don Weber, a senior spokesman for the NSA, told the paper that the agency operates within the law, but would not comment further on its operations. One big telecommunications company, Qwest, has refused to turn over records to the program, the newspaper said, because of privacy and legal concerns. "

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20060511/ts_nm/security_usa_phonecalls_dc_3

I am a republican and I am now saying I will be voting all democrat this year. This is what happens when one party rules.

I'm done with the republican party.

[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 10:23 AM. Reason : .]

5/11/2006 9:58:13 AM

Can I look at the list? I'd like to get a few telemarketers in trouble for calling numbers on the DNC list.

5/11/2006 10:01:33 AM

right to privacy what?

5/11/2006 10:10:04 AM

On a related note:

Quote :

"The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers security clearance."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/10/domestic.spying.ap/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

Basically, the NSA has the power to give security clearances and it's choosing to deny those to anybody investigating the wiretapping scandal. So the government said today they're giving up. GREAT.

5/11/2006 10:14:06 AM

this is actually comical... I mean the intelligence community can't sort through the terabytes of data it collects now...

I'm definitely going to find some foreign numbers to call though, and start peppering my conversations with 'jihad' 'Allah' 'white devils' and 'Bush' if they turn on the voice recording...

[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 10:19 AM. Reason : ---]

5/11/2006 10:18:20 AM

Quote :

" am a republican and I am now saying I will be voting all democrat this year. This is what happens when one party rules."

Not to get all salisburyboy on you, but what makes you think that any of this will change when you put a democrat in power? Sure they might not introduce new programs like this, but they sure as hell aren't going to get rid of this program. Likely they'll keep it and introduce other programs designed to fuck you over. Both parties are aiming to screw you, it's just a matter of which way they do it.

5/11/2006 10:29:52 AM

Thanks, AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.

5/11/2006 10:32:21 AM

exactly. Which is why I want it to be 50/50 all the time. So neither party can do shit without the other breathing down their neck. THis is what happens when too much power is held in one corner.

I feel like I was robbed of my 2004 vote.

5/11/2006 10:32:55 AM

absolute monarchy requires absolute power

5/11/2006 10:42:45 AM

I blame every one of you who voted for these fucks. Good fucking job.

5/11/2006 10:44:46 AM

Quote :

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 10:46 AM. Reason : .]

5/11/2006 10:45:53 AM

Oh, and if you haven't made the connection,

Gen. Michael Hayden, nominated by President Bush to become the director of the CIA, headed the NSA from March 1999 to April 2005. In that post, Hayden would have overseen the agency's domestic phone record collection program.

keep quoting that, scuba steve, but it means nothing now. At this news, there should be riots in the streets. The country should be SHUT DOWN. If this were 100 years ago (and this technology existed then), we would have beheaded the people in charge. I'm anti-violence, so I don't condone that, but I'm pointing out the severe increase in apathy in this country.

what happened to the nation of revolutionaries?

what happened to caring about freedom?

all these fuckers care about is their tv and video games and ipods. we're all guilty. we've fallen right into their trap.

This is an entirely new form of fascism - the type where we actually have the ability to stop them right now, but we simply won't, primarily because we just don't care anymore.

5/11/2006 10:53:24 AM

Quote :

"If this were 100 years ago (and this technology existed then), we would have beheaded the people in charge."

guillotines are technologically advanced? edit: I see what you're saying.


Aside from that, you're 100% right. This is 100% unacceptable. GO back to patrick henry.


"Give me liberty, or give me death."

There IS NO option there. But today, we're choosing safety over liberty. And it's a damned shame.

[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 10:56 AM. Reason : .]

5/11/2006 10:55:26 AM

but i don't feel any safer with the fact that they're collecting all of our phone calls

5/11/2006 10:59:31 AM

I just hope that those of you who were ranting about how we were demoralizing the troops and insulting our nation and that this government was only tapping the phones of those who had called dangerous people, that those of you who voted for these fascists, and that those of you who insulted those of us who have been telling you from the beginning that this could all end in nothing but disaster will admit your mistakes and start working with us to TAKE THESE PEOPLE DOWN

THIS ENDS NOW

5/11/2006 11:00:04 AM

the government is too vast at this point to do a damn thing to change it.

5/11/2006 11:03:33 AM

this is a complete invasion of privacy

the government DOES NOT NEED TO KNOW who i associate with

this is nonsense

5/11/2006 11:06:11 AM

i just posted this in the tech talk cingular thread

Quote :

"so the phone companies are merging toward monopolies again and the news is now breaking that the phone companies are complicit in the NSA keeping records of all our phone calls i wonder if the two are related..."

5/11/2006 11:08:16 AM

technically, i'm fascinated by this - it must be so awesome to write the data-mining code to delve into this info and then see it spit out lists of people and their connections that might be suspect. it must have been really fun/interesting to fine-tune the algorithm used in this process

philosophically, i'm opposed to it

practically, i don't really give a rat's ass, because its futile to care.

5/11/2006 11:10:03 AM

^^i doubt it

[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 11:11 AM. Reason : .]

5/11/2006 11:11:48 AM

Quote :

"because its futile to care"

jesus christ, why not give up now you pussy

5/11/2006 11:12:16 AM

OED

tyranny, n.

3. Arbitrary or oppressive exercise of power; unjustly severe use of one's authority; despotic treatment or influence; harsh, severe, or unmerciful action; with a and pl., an instance of this, a tyrannical act or proceeding.

5/11/2006 11:14:49 AM

Quote :

"jesus christ, why not give up now you pussy"

uhhhh did you even read what I just said? It should be blatant that I gave up a long time ago

5/11/2006 11:22:18 AM

you're pathetic, you shouldn't even call yourself an American

5/11/2006 11:24:34 AM

i bet you they have network forming algorithms like facebook.

By your phone calls, they can make a massive tree showing the connections from person to person. THey could identify one person as a "bad guy" and look at the network to see who associates with them.



technically, it's awesome.


But I am 100% against this.

5/11/2006 11:25:53 AM

ever heard of the organizational structure in A Brave New World

technically, it's awesome

But I am 100% against it.

5/11/2006 11:27:08 AM

so, mr. nastoute

what are you doing to prove you're "more american" than excoriator

5/11/2006 11:27:44 AM

i'm voicing my opinion against this form of tyranny in a public forum

you know, like they use to do

do you not think this is what this is?

[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 11:29 AM. Reason : .]

5/11/2006 11:28:54 AM

so you're taking the salisburyboy route to activisim eh

ok

5/11/2006 11:29:53 AM

you have NO clue about how all this works, do you?

what do you think the internet is

just porn and videogames?

5/11/2006 11:30:41 AM

Quote :

"i'm voicing my opinion against this form of tyranny in a public forum"

hehe ... like i said, "its futile"

but gg typing your words out into a random thread - hey maybe if you make your keys click really loud as you type, you'll be like a super american!1

5/11/2006 11:36:36 AM

Quote :

"what do you think the internet is just porn and videogames?"

actually thats correct.

5/11/2006 11:38:03 AM

^^

people like you seem to think that change only occurs through direct, or even violent, action

luckly, we're not at the point yet as a country, we can still vote, and the opinions of voters matter

so, if voters come on here, and see that many people are upset about the actions of the current government, perhaps they'll take notice

THEY SHOULD TAKE NOTICE

but, you know, you don't care, and because of that, more than likely, you don't vote

so you don't count

[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 11:40 AM. Reason : .]

5/11/2006 11:39:23 AM

do we vote for the NSA in the midterm elections

i can't remember

ps

bush is supposedly speaking on this at noon

5/11/2006 11:42:37 AM

why are you pointing out that bush is going to speak about this?

are you concerned about what's going on?

do you want him to explain, perhaps to say, "yeah, sorry about that, we'll stop now..."

[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 11:49 AM. Reason : .]

5/11/2006 11:47:11 AM

Quote :

"but, you know, you don't care, and because of that, more than likely, you don't vote so you don't count"

i'm willing to bet that i'm a far more active voter than you, having voted in every available election, whether primary, municipal, or otherwise.

/nastoute's point.

5/11/2006 11:53:13 AM

an yet, you don't care?

you think it's pointless?

so, you come on here and say these things, and then you are an active participant in the system you think is "futile"

that make no sense

5/11/2006 11:55:02 AM

i only vote out of respect to the men and women who sacrificed their lives and fortunes for our (now flagging) republic.


[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 11:57 AM. Reason : s]

5/11/2006 11:56:10 AM

you don't honor their sacrifice by coming here and saying that there sacrifice is "futile"

i'm sorry

threats occur both foreign and domestic

don't come here flying the flag of patriotism, because you are not a patriot

5/11/2006 11:58:29 AM

awww

nastoute thinks he is a real amurrican because he is upset by this

lets hear what dubya has to say...

someone do a count on the words

Freedom
and
Security

i bet "security" wins in a landslide

5/11/2006 11:58:57 AM

Excoriator

Quote :

"uhhhh did you even read what I just said? It should be blatant that I gave up a long time ago"

[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 12:01 PM. Reason : .]

5/11/2006 11:59:08 AM

i am a patriot

i love america

i have no problem saying this

i am not cynical about my country

5/11/2006 11:59:49 AM

the first thing he fucking said was "September 11"

5/11/2006 12:01:20 PM

i never said their sacrifice was futile. I merely pointed out that to sacrifice one's fortune/life/day/whatever would now be futile.

Also, i'll add (to demonstrate my consistency) that I don't particularly have any great respect for any contemporaries. anything they do is futile as well.

5/11/2006 12:01:38 PM

al qaeda (twice)

5/11/2006 12:01:44 PM

^^

and yet you say you vote consistently

i think you're lying

5/11/2006 12:02:20 PM

Quote :

"I feel like I was robbed of my 2004 vote."

People who say things like this absolutely baffle me.

Nothing is going on in the Bush administration that is at all surprising given the previous information (the known knowns, if you will).

5/11/2006 12:02:22 PM

two more times

theres another

"court approval" and "lawful" up in here

5/11/2006 12:02:40 PM

President Bush need to start watching his ass

he's starting to tread on impeachable territory

5/11/2006 12:03:28 PM

theres al qaeda again

preventing "another attack" just got a shout out

"another attack" again

5/11/2006 12:03:29 PM