Jul
31
2013
Uprising’s Friday guest expert Rahul Mahajan, a sociologist and political analyst, and author of Full Spectrum Dominance: US Power in Iraq and Beyond , analyzes today’s news headlines:
Guardian newspaper writer Glenn Greenwald is reporting this morning on another set of documents from the NSA leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden – this latest report focuses on a program called XKeyscore that allows the government to “search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals.” This confirms statements made by Snowden in interviews that as an NSA staffer he could essentially snoop on anyone at anytime without permission.
The revelations come at the same time as a Senate Judiciary committee holds hearings on the NSA’s overreach. In related news, the Obama administration is planning to make public a secret order by a FISA court authorizing the indiscriminate collection of phone records.
The Obama administration has decided to withdraw federal education funding as part of its Race to the Top Initiative, from the state of Georgia over that state’s refusal to peg teacher pay on performance evaluation.
Meanwhile, the Walton Family Foundation has announced a donation of tens of millions of dollars to the program Teach for America, to hire talented college graduates to teach in public schools in cities like Los Angeles. The Walton family, which owns Walmart, is a strong proponent of the charter school movement.
Zimbabwe is holding Presidential elections today and long-time President Robert Mugabe, at 89 years of age has said that he will step down from his role if he loses to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist for 33 years.
