IRS Targets Tea Party Groups — Top Officials in the Know

At the Hill, "Report: Top IRS officials knew of Tea Party targeting two years ago." (At Memeorandum.)

Plus, Katie Pavlich on Twitter:

Every Obama admin scandal "low level" employees blamed yet it is ALWAYS senior officials who r actually responsible bigstory.ap.org/article/irs-wa…”
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) May 11, 2013

And a great editorial at the Wall Street Journal, "The IRS Targets Conservatives":

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean the IRS isn't out to get you. We only wish that were a joke. On Friday, an Internal Revenue Service official disclosed for the first time, and by way of apologizing, that the agency that wields the taxing power of the federal government had targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny during the 2012 election season. Apology or not, that can't be the end of the matter.

The stunning admission didn't emerge in an official statement by a senior official at the Treasury Department, which supervises the IRS. Instead, IRS Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner disclosed it on Friday in response to a question from the audience at a meeting of American Bar Association tax lawyers in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Lerner acknowledged that the agency had flagged groups with the words "tea party" or "patriot" to have their tax returns inspected, presumably with an eye on the legality of their tax exemption. Ms. Lerner called this "inappropriate," which it certainly was, and she said it wasn't done "out of any political bias," which is hard to believe. If there was no political bias, why were only conservative groups targeted? White House spokesman Jay Carney also called the IRS actions "inappropriate" on Friday, which makes that the word of the day.

Ms. Lerner added the tax inspections were carried out entirely by low-level workers in Cincinnati without any direction from Washington. Forgive us if we also don't take that claim as gospel.

RTWT.

Simply Nixonian. We've got a lot of scandals boiling up and it's not partisan politics to seek answers. Real answers. It's about preserving the democracy. And about restoring basic decency in government, which went out with the election of the African Interloper in 2008.

'There goes another Obama supporter' — Syrian Rebel Picked Off, Head Explodes

A wicked video, and the comments are hilarious.

At Pat Dollard's, "WATCH, HEADSHOT: Syria Army Sniper Vs. Jihadi With RPG."

MSNBC D-Bags Talk Impeachment on #Benghazi Scandal

Here's Noah Rothman, at Mediaite, "MSNBC Guests: Benghazi Scandal Makes White House ‘Look Terrible,’ Possibly An ‘Impeachment Issue’."

These are way radical leftists admitting that impeachment proceedings could be here in no time: At the clip: Ben Smith, Michael Tomasky, and Nia-Malika Henderson (via Memeorandum).

Who Owns Trademark to 'Keep Calm and Carry On'? — Second World War Propaganda Poster

A great piece, at the Los Angeles Times, "WWII poster calls for calm; now it stokes frenzy, feud."

Has a piece of advice ever seemed so apt, or so frightfully ironic?

Thirteen years ago, Stuart Manley stumbled upon a slightly faded red poster tucked at the bottom of a box of books he had bought at auction. Unfolding it, he found himself staring at a relic of World War II, a long-forgotten piece of government propaganda bearing the logo of the British crown and this pithy message:

Keep calm and carry on.

Charmed by its classic design and no-fuss stoicism, Manley and his wife, Mary, framed the vintage poster and hung it up by the cash register in their secondhand bookshop in a disused Victorian train station in the far north of England. After many admiring comments and inquiries from customers, Manley started selling copies — behind Mary's back, because she didn't want to commercialize it.

Ahem. Enter perhaps the most commercialized British product since David Beckham.

Manley's little side venture spawned a marketing and cultural phenomenon, inspiring a million imitations around the world ("Keep calm and kill zombies," anyone?) and also, alas, one very acrimonious feud.

The Manleys and other traders are caught in a spat with an enterprising Englishman who, after launching his own line of "Keep calm and carry on" products, trademarked the phrase with European authorities two years ago. A slogan originally intended as a public exhortation to a nation at war is now the intellectual property of one person, who has forced some other vendors to stop using it.

The businessman, a former TV producer named Mark Coop, insists he's simply protecting the interests and brand of the company he has worked hard to build since 2007. His foes accuse him of trying to monopolize a piece of history.

"He's a smart chap," says Stuart Manley. "No ethics, but smart."

The Manleys and their allies are hoping that their legal appeal to overturn the trademark, which gives Coop exclusive rights to "Keep calm and carry on" in all 27 countries of the European Union, will succeed. A decision is expected soon.

Continue reading.

Teen Cave 'Kid Zones'

I love it!

At WSJ, "The New Luxury Kids' Rooms":

A DJ mixing station in the sleepover room. Secret passageways inspired by "Harry Potter." A fully tricked-out videogame arcade. You've entered the teen wing of the house.

As parents look for creative ways to keep older kids hanging out at home, some are turning to an unexpected source: architects and designers. The result is a new category of spaces now showing up in family homes: teen lounges, hangout areas, sleepover spaces and "offices" for doing homework.

Chris Pollack recently finished renovating a Manhattan townhouse that includes a 1,000-square-foot teen suite with ping-pong and billiards tables, a recording studio, kitchen and a theater for movies and videogames. The estimated cost: roughly $750,000. "Our clients with kids going into the teenage years are thinking about this more and more," he says. Mr. Pollack, of New York-based design-and-construction adviser Pollack + Partners, says he has also accommodated several requests for homework rooms equipped with security cameras, so parents can keep an eye on computer usage.

Twelve-year-old Jake Robinson lives in a recently remodeled Cape Cod-style house in Santa Monica, Calif., with a dedicated kids' room off the kitchen. "It's kind of fun if you have a long day of school to sit down on the couch and play videogames or watch TV," he says. The space has charcoal-and-white wallpaper, a magnetic wall, a custom sectional and a long desk with computers for Jake and his 8-year-old sister. The space includes large computer screens, so the parents can monitor the kids' screen time from afar.

Christine Markatos Lowe, who designed Jake's room as part of the home's gut remodel, says a growing number of her clients are looking for spaces where they can casually keep an eye on their kids' computer activities. "With all the screen time kids have these days...I'm finding this is something more and more people are requesting," she says.

I'm definitely down with spying on kids' computer use. We've been really monitoring my youngest son's web surfing, since he was busted with naked nasty stuff some time back. He's still learning about all that and it's right there at your fingertips online. You gotta stay ahead of your kids!

I'll say though, all those teen zones sound pretty expensive. My oldest kid has his room to himself, with a bunk bed, desk, MP3 sound system, television, and Apple laptop, and who knows what else?. I'd say he's pretty well set up, if not at the "luxe" level of some of those mentioned at WSJ.

Women Who Have Abortions Are Just Lazy, Irresponsible Sluts Ghouls Who Have No Regard for Human Life

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Soros-Backed Propaganda Machine Think Progress Pathetically Smears Benghazi Whistleblower Gregory Hicks Less That 48 Hours After Touting His Testimony as Debunking 'Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories'

Gawd, these idiots are pathetic.

Washington Free Beacon reports, "Think Progress Reverses on Benghazi Whistleblower."

Read it all at the link.

I saw the Soros monkeys fast out of the gate this week, spewing disinformation and smears against the whistleblowers and conservatives. It's a losing battle at this point. Derps.

American Crossroads: Benghazi

Via Astute Bloggers, "VIDEO: HILLARY'S 2AM CALL AND THE BENGHAZI COVER-UP."

Beer Tasting!

I joined some of my colleagues yesterday for a "Faculty Guided Beer Tasting & Reading" event, one in the "Know Your College, Know Your Colleagues" series sponsored by my department and the faculty union.

Presenting was Professor Matthew Lawrence, the author of Philosophy on Tap: Pint-Sized Puzzles for the Pub Philosopher. He's got a book page with his biographical information. And he's got an interview at the Huffington Post, "Interview with a Philosopher: On Beer and Thought."

We tasted five beers. Here's Matt's slide for Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier, a German hefeweizen.

Here's the beer list on the host's refrigerator:

In addition to Weihenstephaner, we tasted Boulevard Brewing Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale (Kansas City); Fuller's ESB (London): Alesmith Horny Devil Belgian Strong Ale (San Diego); and Left Coast Brewing Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout (Fort Bragg).

Here's the Rasputin Stout:

Matt recommended Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa for its wide selection of beers. I asked about picking up some of that Rasputin Stout for myself. Excellent beer. Shoot, they were all good.

Check the links for the beer pages and enjoy.

I'll see you at the pub!

Democrats v. Humanity

Via the Looking Spoon, "Here's a Hard Truth About Liberals Apologizing for Evil."

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney Gets Hammered With New Questions on #Benghazi

At Business Insider, "Jay Carney Gets Blasted Over Benghazi."

And at Twitchy, "Paging Candy Crowley: Jay Carney repeats debunked Benghazi lie from presidential debates."

#Benghazi Blows Wide Open — Scrubbed White House Talking Points Are Scandal's Smoking Gun

There's a tremendous amount of news, and still the scrubbed talking points are getting traction. The Benghazi scandal is getting to big to ignore.

Here's ABC's lead story trending at Memeornadum, "Exclusive: Benghazi Talking Points Underwent 12 Revisions, Scrubbed of Terror Reference."

And from Ron Fournier, at National Journal, "Scrubbing the Truth from Benghazi":

The White House has long maintained that the talking points were drafted almost exclusively by the CIA, a claim that gave cover to both President Obama and his potential successor, Clinton. “Those talking points originated from the intelligence community,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in November, adding that the only editing by the White House or the State Department was to change the word "consulate" to "diplomatic facility." Nuland’s emails prove him wrong. As I wrote yesterday (“Why Benghazi is a Blow to Obama and Clinton"), Obama has earned the trust of most Americans but credibility is a fragile thing.

More at the link.

And see Stephen Hayes' long report, at the Weekly Standard, "The Benghazi Scandal Grows."

Kate Upton 'Hottest Supermodel on Earth'

Well, she's at least continuing her reign as the "it girl" of the moment.

At London's Daily Mail, "Bombshell Kate Upton defends her 'natural' breasts and voluptuous body as she lands first US Vogue cover."

The Inconvenient Truth About Benghazi

From Peggy Noonan, at the Wall Street Journal, "Did the Obama administration's politically expedient story cost American lives?":

The Benghazi story until now has been a jumble of factoids that didn't quite cohere, didn't produce a story that people could absorb and hold in their minds. This week that changed. Three State Department officials testifying under oath to a House committee changed it, by adding information that gave form to a growing picture. Gregory Hicks, Mark Thompson and Eric Nordstrom were authoritative and credible. You knew you were hearing the truth as they saw and experienced it. Not one of them seemed political. You had no sense of how they voted. They were professionals. They'd seen a bad thing. They came forward to tell the story. They put the lie to the idea that all questioning of Obama administration actions in Benghazi are partisan and low.

What happened in Benghazi last Sept. 11 and 12 was terrible in every way. The genesis of the scandal? It looks to me like this:

The Obama White House sees every event as a political event. Really, every event, even an attack on a consulate and the killing of an ambassador.

Because of that, it could not tolerate the idea that the armed assault on the Benghazi consulate was a premeditated act of Islamist terrorism. That would carry a whole world of unhappy political implications, and demand certain actions. And the American presidential election was only eight weeks away. They wanted this problem to go away, or at least to bleed the meaning from it.

Because the White House could not tolerate the idea of Benghazi as a planned and deliberate terrorist assault, it had to be made into something else. So they said it was a spontaneous street demonstration over an anti-Muhammed YouTube video made by a nutty California con man. After all, that had happened earlier in the day, in Cairo. It sounded plausible. And maybe they believed it at first. Maybe they wanted to believe it. But the message was out: Provocative video plus primitive street Arabs equals sparky explosion. Not our fault. Blame the producer! Who was promptly jailed.

If what happened in Benghazi was not a planned and prolonged terrorist assault, if it was merely a street demonstration gone bad, the administration could not take military action to protect Americans there. You take military action in response to a planned and coordinated attack by armed combatants. You don't if it's an essentially meaningless street demonstration that came and went.

Why couldn't the administration tolerate the idea that Benghazi was a planned terrorist event? Because they didn't want this attack dominating the headline with an election coming. It would open the administration to criticism of its intervention in Libya. President Obama had supported overthrowing Muammar Gadhafi and put U.S. force behind the Libyan rebels. Now Libyans were killing our diplomats. Was our policy wrong? More importantly, the administration's efforts against al Qaeda would suddenly come under scrutiny and questioning. The president, after the killing of Osama bin Laden, had taken to suggesting al Qaeda was over. Al Qaeda was done. But if an al Qaeda offshoot in Libya was killing our diplomats, the age of terrorism was not over.

So clearly stated. And so ridiculously devastating. This is not going away.

Continue reading.

Is Leftist School Indoctrination Unstoppable?

From Bruce Thornton, at FrontPage Magazine:

Rush Limbaugh weighed in recently on the Republicans’ on-going debate about what went wrong in November. Elaborating on his earlier comment that he was “ashamed of America,” Limbaugh said, “The Left has beaten us. They have created far more low-information, unaware, uneducated people than we’ve been able to keep up with . . . I’ve always had a Civics 101 view of the country: People get what they want, they vote what they want, and they get the way they vote.” He added that the Democrats “control the education system . . . pop culture, movies, TV and books” and use that control to create “dependency” among voters.

Some may think this is a dog-bites-man observation, but it’s worth looking more closely at the most important item in Limbaugh’s list––the educational system. Everything else Limbaugh mentions is made possible because of the deep corruption in public education from kindergarten to university.

We often focus on the ideological biases of the university, where the more lunatic examples of political correctness get the most attention. But in education as in economics, there is a trickle-down effect. The grandees at the elite universities train the PhD’s who go on to second and third tier institutions, where they in turn train the students who get high school and grade school teaching credentials. They also write most of the textbooks that end up in K-12 classrooms. Thus the progressive ideology metastasizes throughout the educational system, determining the curriculum, the textbooks, and the point of view of the teachers. At that level the ideas may be garbled, half-baked, incoherent, and a collection of clichés and slogans. But they are still toxic and effective at transmitting a world-view to impressionable minds.

When my kids were in public school I witnessed this process over and over. Questionable leftist ideas I had to sit through in graduate seminars turned up regularly in my kids’ English and history courses and textbooks. In the Marxiste interpretation of history, for example, traditional historical narratives reflect the “false consciousness” of capitalism’s academic publicists justifying and “mystifying” a history marked by oppression and atrocities in service to a dehumanizing capitalist ideology.

The founding of the United States, then, was not about things like freedom and inalienable rights, but instead reflected the economic interests and power of wealthy white property-owners. The civil war wasn’t about freeing the slaves or preserving the union, but about economic competition between the industrial north and the plantation south. The settling of the West was not an epic saga of hardships endured to create a civilization in a wilderness, but genocide of the Indians whose lands and resources were stolen to serve capitalist exploitation. Inherent in this sort of history were the assumptions of Marxist economic determinism and the primacy of material causes over the camouflage of ideals and principles.

In the 60’s this narrative was married to identity politics: the defining of ethnic minorities and Third World peoples on the basis of their status as victims of this capitalist hegemony and it imperialist and colonialist mechanisms, which justified the plundering, oppression, and exploitation of the non-white “others” with racist notions of their natural inferiority. Various strains of postmodernism added a cultural relativism that put out of bounds any judgments of a culture’s values, since all such standards reflect the economic needs of the dominant power. Soon feminism added women to the list of victims sacrificed to the white-male power structure. Edward Said’s historically ignorant and tendentious Orientalism rationalized the failure of the Muslim Arab Middle East in the same way. Soon Said’s book expanded beyond Middle East studies to condition the way generations of English and history professors approach their traditional subjects––as narratives justifying an unjust, racist, exploitative Western power of which all right-thinking people should be ashamed.

The politicizing of the universities has led to two ill effects...

Continue reading.

Yeah, it's pretty awful out there. You have to deprogram your kids at home.

Cleveland Man Charged With Kidnapping and Rape

At the Wall Street Journal, "Charges Filed in Abduction: Police Report Describes Nightmare Scenario of Three Women Chained in Cleveland Home."

I'll have more on this later. I'm still trying to comprehend the enormity of evil. And I'm not sure why the brothers weren't also charged.

Robert Oscar Lopez Attends 'Schools for Subversion' at Luxe Hotel in Los Angeles

I mentioned that the event Monday night featured a rousing question and answer session. One animated participant was Professor Robert Oscar Lopez of California State University, Northridge. He mentioned that he'd been granted tenure, despite the stifling leftist political correctness on campus. He's apparently unable to get conference and grant funding on campus because of his conservative political views, however.

Professor Lopez is a regular contributor at American Thinker. His most recent piece is "Four Tiers of Failure: How the LGBT Lobby Dominates."

I blogged one of his essays in January, "Yes, Homosexuality's a Lifestyle Choice."

He seemed like a nice guy. But I never got a chance to introduce myself. He ended up leaving before the Q&A wrapped up.

PREVIOUSLY: Schools for Subversion: How Public Education Lays the Foundation for University Radicalism," and "Back From 'Schools for Subversion'."

Anne Hathaway Sports See-Through Dress and Platinum Hair Style 2013 Met Gala

I like that do!

At London's Daily Mail, "Braless Anne Hathaway leaves little to the imagination in racy see-through dress as she storms Met Ball with new platinum cropped hair do."

Many Americans Say They Can't Retire Until Their 70s or 80s

Well, I'll keep working until I'm at least 65.

I'm going to need the money!

At the Los Angeles Times:

It’s the new retirement: More than four in 10 Americans think they’ll have to work into their 70s or 80s because they can’t afford to retire, according to a new survey.

One in 10 people expects to toil into their 80s, while 32% expect to be on the job into their 70s, according to the report by insurer Northwestern Mutual.

On average, those surveyed expect to leave work at age 68. However, the report points out, that doesn’t jibe with reality.

The mean age of those already retired is 59, the study said.

An increasing number of people figure they’ll simply work longer to make up for inadequate nest-egg savings these days, not realizing how layoffs, poor health or other forces pushed their forebears out of the workforce far sooner than they wanted...

Continue reading.

Men Fake Orgasm? 'A quickened pace, a few moans, dramatic thrusts and a hasty retreat and most women, apparently, are none the wiser...'

Well, this is interesting.

At London's Daily Mail, "Could you tell if your man faked an orgasm? Shockingly, it's not as easy as you might think..."

Faking it just ain't happening in my experience.

Never heard of it. Must be a left-wing metro-sexual thing?

Or a crossover homosexual thing, the freaks. Yeah, those YMCA boys probably fake it all the time to keep their homo lovers from going all psycho. Wouldn't want to be strangled with some hardcore bondage gear or anything, that's for sure. Better to do the quick thrust thing and fake being all hot and bothered.