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Uprising’s guest expert Robert Jensen, an author and a professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, analyzes today’s news headlines:

US drones have reportedly struck parts of Yemen this week, killing ten people suspected of being members of Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has been operating with full force in Yemen and has also been fighting a Shia rebel group, known as the Houthis, who took over the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in late September. The Houthis filled a power vacuum created by a seemingly paralyzed central government. At the same time as the US drone strikes took place, clashes on the ground resulted in at least 10 more people being killed. Yemen is suffering from severe poverty and, what is now being increasingly viewed as all-out civil war. It lies just to the south of the oil-rich US ally, Saudi Arabia. Click here for a Reuters article about the story.

US mobile phone companies have found another ingenious way to tap into private user data in order to reap profits. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has found that Verizon and AT&T are using so-called “Super-cookies” to track sites that users browse while on their phones, in order to sell targeted advertising. EFF has brought the practice to the notice of the Federal Communications Commission, a first step in what could turn into a legal battle. Verizon’s tracking program is apparently further along than AT&T’s. The practice mirrors what companies do to track users who browse the internet on their computers. The Washington Post reported that, “Critics also say the supercookies, especially if more widely deployed, will be extremely valuable to intelligence agencies that monitor Internet behavior.” Click here for a Washington Post article about the story.

Shirley Sherrod, the embattled USDA official who was forced to resign amid a controversy several years ago, was apparently thrown under the bus by the White House. In 2010, the conservative website Breitbart News played an edited version of a speech Sherrod gave, accusing her of making racist statements. Sherrod, who is African American, was asked to step down from her position and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack took lone responsibility for the decision, which became even more controversial after it emerged that Sherrod’s remarks had been heavily manipulated through careful video editing. Emails have now emerged that reveal the White House was involved in the decision to force her resignation. Click here for a Washington Post article about the story.