A couple of months ago, Julian Sanchez wrote about the ridiculous situation in which he filed a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request to reveal the latest semi-annual report from the Justice Department concerning how it was implementing the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. The FISA Amendments Act broadly expanded the ability of federal law enforcement, in particular the NSA, to spy on everyone. While there is some language that suggests it's only supposed to be used on foreigners, it's been revealed that there is a secret interpretation of the bill, that likely allows them to use a loophole (plus the secret interpretation) to collect and review tons of data on Americans. The FAA is up for renewal, and it's likely that Congress will rush through a five year extension -- despite overwhelming evidence that many in Congress don't know how the NSA is interpreting the bill (and even making statements that directly contradict the evidence of how the bill is being used).

Dianne Feinstein and Mike Lee authored the amendment, and it passed by a vote of 67-29. - Depending on who you believe, the Senate either voted today to limit indefinite detention practices or voted to allow those limits to be determined by the executive branch. You may need a degree in linguistics to figure this one out.

Here’s where it gets tricky. Who’s right here, the supporters of the amendment, the supporters of indefinite detention, or the civil libertarians who say that the amendment opens up the possibility of more abuse? Well, it depends. The civil libertarian argument is straightforward. The amendment prevents the unlawful indefinite detention, without due process, of citizens and lawful permanent residents. That leaves open the possibility for non-citizens detained on US soil to be locked up by the military indefinitely without habeas corpus. They claim that it would allow the use of the military in domestic law enforcement operations, and violated the due process clause of the Constitution, which is not limited to US citizens. Feinstein didn’t even really try to rebut this, admitting it was an imperfect solution.

Travis Holte: The Government Can Still Black Bag Any American

Roger Waters: “The U.N. needs to embrace a new democracy. The veto must be rethought, or the U.N. will die. The system is too open to abuses. The blanket protection afforded to Israel by the United States’ use of the veto is but one example of such abuse.” - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at a meeting in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, praised and defended the nature of Palestine’s bid for non-member state status at the U.N. later today. But Ban's self-reflection on the U.N.'s inability to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was no match for real star-power: later in the session he was upstaged by, well, a rock star who, forgoing mild-mannered critiques, aimed the cannons straight back at the deck.

The right-wing Zionist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued the go-ahead for the construction of 3,000 new housing units in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank and is putting 1,000 more on a fast track for permits. These moves are in retaliation for the United Nations General Assembly vote late Thursday night recognizing the Palestine Liberation Organization as a nonmember state. The action would establish new facts on the ground rendering futile any negotiations for a so-called “two-state solution.”

The vote came 65 years to the day after the passage by the United Nations, at Washington’s instigation, of a 1947 resolution partitioning Palestine, then a British mandate. Under this plan, the territory, which was then 65 percent Arab and 35 percent Jewish, was split in two, with 56 percent of the land designated as a Jewish state and 43 percent as an Arab one.

The visceral hostility of the US and Israel to granting the Palestinian Authority upgraded status at the UN stems in large part from concern that this would allow it, or indeed any successor Palestinian government, to bring war crimes charges against Israel and its leaders at the International Criminal Court.

Al-Manar News: Zionist Entity Provoked by UN Bid, Oks 3000 Illegal Settlements
LA Times: Israel announces plans for 3,000 more housing units in West Bank
Jerusalem Post: US: Israeli settlement plan 'counterproductive'

Google/AFP: US criticizes Israeli plans to build new settler homes - Less than 24 hours after General Assembly recognizes Palestine as non-member state, Israel responds by approving construction of 3,000new housing units in Jerusalem, West Bank.

Standard Net: Orrin Hatch wants to end funding to UN over Palestine vote
John Glaser: Israel's Revenge: Thousands of New Settlements

NATO has launched a new military base in Turkey's western province of Izmir as the western alliance plans to deploy advanced Patriot missiles on Turkish border with Syria. NATO's Allied Land Command will "serve as a base for carrying out land operations when ordered by the alliance following the inspection, evaluation, preparation and standardization of NATO land forces," Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily News reported on Saturday.

Hürriyet Daily News: Allied land command of NATO launched in İzmir
PressTV: Turkey must end meddling in affairs of Mideast countries: Iranian MP

The video, which appears to have been filmed by an insurgent, shows that even before the shooting, two of the men are not moving and one has blood coming from his chest. Comments accompanying the video indicate that it was filmed in Ras al-Ain, a town near the Turkish border, which has been the scene of heavy clashes in recent weeks. The footage cannot be now is independently verified. The Syria crisis began in March 2011. The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the insurgents are foreign nationals. Insurgent groups, supported by certain Western states and their regional allies, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, have been trying to topple the Syrian government for over 20 months. Several international human rights organizations have accused the foreign-sponsored insurgents of committing war crimes.

Reuters: Syrian rebel films himself shooting 10 prisoners