time to hide under the bed again

[Guest guest]

Putin lashes out at 'wolf-like' America

 

· Response to Cheney attack feeds war of words

· US 'eats and listens to no one', warns president

 

Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow and Ewen MacAskill in Washington

Thursday May 11, 2006

The Guardian

 

 

Relations between the US and Russia sank to the lowest point in a

decade yesterday when Vladimir Putin harshly rebuked Washington for its

criticism last week and compared the US to a hungry wolf that " eats and

listens to no one " .

Mr Putin, stung by an attack from Dick Cheney, the US vice-president,

used his annual state of the nation address to denounce US expansionism

and military spending. He also questioned Washington's record on

democratic rights. Although he refrained from mentioning the US by

name, it was clear that the " wolf " in question referred to Washington.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1771998,00.html

 

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ST. PETERSBURG, FL, United States (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush

said his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, is presidential material but

hasn`t heard whether he would run.

 

During a news conference with reporters from seven Florida newspapers,

Bush was asked if Jeb, also a Republican, should run for the top job.

 

'I would like to see Jeb run at some point in time, but I have no idea

if that`s his intention or not,' said the president.

 

Bush said he has asked his brother about his plans, to no avail, the

St. Petersburg Times reports.

 

The president was in Florida touting the new Mediare drug benefit.

 

During the 55-minute interview Bush reiterated his stance that oil

drilling off the Florida coast should be 100 miles out.

 

============

 

NSA has collected 'tens of millions' of phone records

" The phone call records of tens of millions of Americans " have been

secretly collected by the National Security Agency since President Bush

authorized the so-called warrantless eavesdropping program after the

9/11 attacks, USA TODAY is reporting.

 

Citing " people with direct knowledge of the arrangement, " the newspaper

reports that the program " is far more expansive than what the White

House has (previously) acknowledged. " It has also been conducted, USA

TODAY writes, with cooperation from AT & T, Verizon and BellSouth. (Q & A

on the NSA program here.)

 

The story builds on reporting that began last Dec. 15, when The New

York Times wrote that " months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President

Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on

Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of

terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily

required for domestic spying. " Times reporters James Risen and Eric

Lichtblau won Pulitzers prizes for their work on the story. (Story here

for Times Select rs.)

 

That report was followed by stories in several other media.

 

The Los Angeles Times reported on Dec. 26 that " some U.S. officials and

outside experts " suspected the NSA was using " a sprawling network of

land-based satellite transponder stations and friendly foreign

intelligence agencies and telecommunication companies to collect

millions of phone calls, e-mails and other communications. "

 

On Feb. 6, USA TODAY wrote that " the National Security Agency has

secured the cooperation of large telecommunications companies,

including AT & T, MCI and Sprint, in its efforts to eavesdrop without

warrants on international calls by suspected terrorists, according to

seven telecommunications executives. "

 

USA TODAY's new story, however, provides evidence that the program has

not been aimed at collecting information just on calls to or from

suspected terrorists overseas, as officials have insisted, but also on

calls placed " across town or across the country - to family members,

co-workers, business contacts and others. " The NSA, a source told the

newspaper, has put together " the largest database ever assembled in

the world " in this effort.

 

The newspaper notes that the program " does not involve the NSA

listening to or recording conversations. " But, according to USA TODAY's

sources, the spy agency is using the data to " analyze calling patterns

in an effort to detect terrorist activity. "

 

 

 

 

 

What's gonna happen when the buses don't run

and what's gonna happen when the, winter comes

what are you gonna do,

what are you gonna do

when the oil runs out?