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Uprising’s guest expert Rahul Mahajan, sociologist and news analyst and author of Full Spectrum Dominance: US Power in Iraq and Beyond, analyzes today’s news headlines:

New NSA documents reveal the spy agency has been tracking the private online viewing habits of individuals with the intent to embarrass them. The Huffington Post reports this morning that the NSA had been spying on 6 Muslims in an attempt to undermine their credibility by exploiting information about their web surfing activities, particularly visits to sexually explicit sites. A National Security official justified the program to the Huffington Post, saying “it should not be surprising that the US Government uses all of the lawful tools at our disposal to impede the efforts of valid terrorist targets who seek to harm the nation and radicalize others to violence.” Click here for a Huffington Post article about the story.

The Washington town of SeaTac voted on a proposition to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour on November 5th. The official result of that local election, announced yesterday, was that the proposition passed, enabling SeaTac to boast one of highest minimum wage rates in the nation. SeaTac is the city surrounding the Seattle-Tacoma airport and the wage hike has angered businesses like Alaska Airlines who are threatening to sue. The vote was extremely close and the losing side may pay for a recount. Click here for a Seattle Times article about the story.

The Treasury Department and IRS plan to announce clearer rules on how non-profit organizations can spend donor money on political campaigns. According to the New York Times, “The proposal covers not just television advertising, but bread-and-butter political work like candidate forums and get-out-the-vote drives.” The move is a response to the backlash that the Obama administration faced earlier this year for what Republicans called ‘unfair targeting’ of Tea Party groups by the IRS. Click here for a New York Times article about the story.