Spying on Americans

Tim Shorrock has written a new article on Salon.com about the Bush administration's historic abuse of power. Shorrock has detailed the extent of the current administration use of Main Core, a database that:

contains a vast amount of personal data on Americans, including NSA intercepts of bank and credit card transactions and the results of surveillance efforts by the FBI, the CIA, and other agencies.

The article also details plans inside the beltway of establishing a "Church Committee -style investigation" in hopes of implementing "government reforms aimed at preventing future abuses -- and perhaps to bring accountability for wrongdoing by Bush officials."

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Democracy Now! is reporting that Congress is introducing legislation to ban Iranian television channels:

A Republican lawmaker has introduced a measure to ban several Iranian television channels, including the news network Press TV. House Resolution 1308 would label each channel a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.” Co-sponsor Gus Bilirakis says the networks broadcast “incitement to violence” against the United States.

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Ma'an News Agency is reporting that UN General Security Ban Ki-Moon has "called on Israel to immediately freeze settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem."