Internal Revenue Service Places $70,000 Tax Lien on MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry

Because leftists like Harris-Perry want others to pay for their tyrannical collectivist redistribution schemes.

This is literally obscene.

At the Winston-Salem Journal, "Internal Revenue Service Places $70,00 Tax Lien on MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry."

And at Twitchy, "‘Epic burn’! These flashbacks make tax dodger Melissa Harris-Perry look even worse."

Shroud of Turin to Go on Display in Rare Exposition Expected to Attract Millions of Visitors

At Reuters, "Millions expected to view Turin Shroud in rare display."

And at Pajamas, "Shroud of Turin Goes on Display Tomorrow."

Josh Hamilton Files for Divorce

I've been real disappointed in Hamilton's play, but I've lately been quite sympathetic to him, and now even more so considering his pending divorce.

He's had tremendous support among the players, so that really tells you something. It's the Angels' ownership that's throwing him under the bus. And now comes news of problems on the home front.

At LAT, "Troubled Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton files for divorce in Texas." Also, "Angels' Josh Hamilton lists Newport mansion for sale at $16.5 million."

RELATED: At the Dallas Morning News, "Josh Hamilton's battle: From cocaine cravings and 26 tattoos to faith and Rangers."

Lady Gaga Flaunts Her figure in Tight Black Top and Latex Fishtail Skirt in Hollywood

Hey, no complaints here.

Catwoman glasses too!

At London's Daily Mail, "Lady Gaga flaunts her ample cleavage and pert derriere in tight black top and PVC fishtail skirt as she dines out in Hollywood."

Mexico's Auto Industry Accelerates

The fruits of free trade and global interdependence, to the consternation of anti-American, anti-globalization activists, to say nothing of anti-free trade protectionists.

And wow, the U.S. is running a $7 billion trade surplus with Mexico.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Giant Ford and Toyota investments help fuel Mexican auto industry boom":

Investment in the Mexican auto industry is soaring as automakers take advantage of low labor rates, an increasingly sophisticated workforce and a plethora of free trade agreements.

Ford Motor Co. said Friday that it will spend $2.5 billion to build and expand engine and transmission factories in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Guanajuato, creating 3,800 jobs.

Ford’s investment follows Toyota Motor Corp.’s announcement earlier this week that it will spend $1 billion to construct a new factory in central Mexico, where it will build Corolla compact cars.

“The Mexican auto industry is coming of age,” said Mike Jackson, an analyst at IHS Automotive, an industry research firm.

To be sure, wages top the list of Mexico’s auto manufacturing advantages. Workers at the auto assembly plants south of the border earn an average $5.64 an hour compared to $27.78 for their U.S. counterparts, according to the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank in Ann Arbor, Mich. Those at the parts suppliers earn just $2.47 an hour. Workers at U.S. auto suppliers average $19.65.

But that’s just one factor, Jackson said. The Mexican auto industry is turning out more sophisticated vehicles than it could a decade ago. That’s why luxury automaker BMW also revealed plans for a $1-billion plant in San Luis Potosi last July. Mercedes-Benz and Nissan are building a joint, $1.4-billion plant in Aguascalientes. Audi is constructing a $1.3-billion factory near Puebla.

Altogether, auto companies and suppliers have announced almost $5.5 billion in factory expansion and construction so far this year, according to the Center for Automotive Research.

Ford aims “to make our vehicles even more fuel-efficient with a new generation of engines and transmissions our team in Mexico will build,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas.

Already, Ford manufactures engines and assembles the Fiesta, Fusion and Lincoln MKZ in Mexico. The transmission plant to be built in Guanajuato will be Ford’s first in Mexico.

The Mexican auto industry has grown to the point at which it generate jobs beyond the assembly lines.

Automakers and suppliers report increasing reliance on Mexico for engineering, according to Jay Baron, chief executive of the Center for Automotive Research. That is turning the nation into a “key competitor” for high-paying white collar jobs provided by automotive research and development operations, he wrote in an industry report.

Baron and other analysts said Mexico’s auto industry growth is accelerated by a web of free trade agreements. The country has pacts with more than 40 nations that, combined, represent 70% of the world’s gross domestic product, according to the Center for Automotive Research.

The number of vehicles Mexico produces annually is expected to rise 54% from last year's level to nearly 5 million in 2022, according to IHS Automotive. U.S. production will rise 7% to a little more than 12 million during the same period.

Mexico's geography -- easy access to both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans -- bolsters its position as an automotive export hub.

“No other country in the world boasts an equivalent export environment,” Baron said.

More.

The Presidency and the Culture Wars

An interesting piece, from Damon Linker, at the Week, "How the race for president became the ultimate battlefield in the culture war":

What if the whole national drama surrounding the American presidency — the canonization or demonization of the office-holder, the obsession with the commander-in-chief's every utterance, the nearly two-year-long beauty contest we call a presidential campaign — isn't really about politics at all?

It certainly sounds counterintuitive.

Reporters and pundits may focus on the horse race in their coverage of a campaign, but most would surely say that a presidential election contest is ultimately about political ideology and the policies flowing from it. The Republicans want to cut government spending, regulations, and taxes, increase spending on defense, and use American military power more aggressively. The Democrats want to increase government spending, regulations, and (by implication) taxes, while cutting defense spending and using American military power a teeny-tiny bit less frequently.

The election itself is about which ideology you support and which personality you prefer to serve as its champion.

That's certainly part of what's going on. But it's not all of it. Or even most of it. Or the core of it.

More than ever, presidential politics is about something other than politics. It's about culture, identity, signaling, and symbolism. In a country of 318 million people, in which there is no shared religious conviction, no shared ethnicity, and increasingly no common culture or moral consensus about marriage and sex, and in which the burden of what is typically a nation's greatest act of collective endeavor and sacrifice (war) has been offloaded to a tiny segment of the population that voluntarily bears the burden largely out of public sight and mind — in such a centerless country, with a media culture that fixates on image, style, and symbolism, a single nationwide quadrennial election in which every adult citizen can participate has taken on existential overtones.

More than affirming his or her ideology or policy proposals, we want to be able to look at a presidential candidate and say: "That's me. That's who I am. That's how I see America."

Keep reading.

Children Raised by Homosexual Couples at Serious Risk

From Oscar Robert Lopez, at American Thinker, "The Gay Marriage Wake-Up Call."

The Meaning of Their Service

From U.S. Marine Corps General (four star, retired) James Mattis, at the Wall Street Journal, "A retired four-star Marine Corps general on the clarifying effect of combat experience, the poison of cynicism and how veterans can help revive American optimism."

Kendall Jenner in Sexy GQ Photo Shoot (VIDEO)

Watch: "Kendall Jenner's Sexy GQ Shoot."

Also, "The 12 sexiest moments from Kendall Jenner's GQ cover shoot," and "Presenting our May cover star Kendall Jenner."

BONUS: At London's Daily Mail, "Kendall Jenner shows off her lean and slender frame in a behind-the-scenes video for GQ shoot... as she talks about her passion for selfies."

Weekend Weather with Jackie Johnson

Slather up with sunscreen. It's going to be hot.

Texas Veterinarian Kristen Lindsey Fired After Killing Local Cat with Bow and Arrow

At KBTX-TV, College Station, Texas (at Memeorandum), "Veterinarian Fired After Bragging About Killing Cat with Bow and Arrow (WARNING: Graphic Photo)."

It doesn't look like a "feral" cat, and so what anyway. Why not just leave it alone?

More at London's Daily Mail, "'My first bow kill... lol': Self-proclaimed 'vet of the year' fired after posing for image holding a dead cat she killed with a bow and arrow after allegedly hunting it down."

ESPN Reporter Britt McHenry Suspended After Foul-Mouthed Parking Attendant Rant

At Hot Air, "Video: The obligatory “ESPN reporter acts like an a-hole to parking attendant” clip; Update: Suspended one week."



ADDED: At Instapundit, "WAIT, MORE PREMATURE INTERNET OUTRAGE? SURELY NOT! Kyle Smith: ESPN was totally wrong to suspend Britt McHenry."

Shop Patio, Lawn and Garden — Books Too!

I'll be working today. More blogging tonight.

Meanwhile, Shop Amazon's Patio, Lawn & Garden Spring Event .

Plus, from David Horowitz, The Black Book of the American Left Volume 4: Islamo-Fascism and the War Against the Jews.

And from Jason Riley, Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr., to Earn a Cool $120 Million in Fight Against Manny Pacquiao

He's one of the highest earning athletes ever.

At LAT, "Floyd Mayweather Jr. is glad he waited for big fight."

Pete Farndon's Widow Rants Against Twitter Trolls

I thought this was a parody for a second. But it's legit.

From Conover Farndon Kennard: "We Hurt Gun Nuts' Fee Fees and They Want Information On Me, So Here It Is."

Lots of drugs. Sex and drugs and rock-and-roll. Seriously. People die.

Pope Francis Says Gender Theory Causes Society to Take Step in the Wrong Direction

Well, I'm sure he'll generate a swift denunciation from the regressive precincts of the Catholic diaspora.

At Zenit, "Pope Francis: Removal of Differences Between Man and Woman Is the Problem, Not the Solution." (Via Instapundit.)

Leftists Celebrate Tax Day by Protesting for Higher Minimum Wage

From Ben Shapiro, at Big Government.

Also at USA Today, "Fast-food strikes widen into social-justice movement."

Still more at CBS Los Angeles:

Rocky Mountain Land Library

This is where I want to be.

At the New York Times, "Envisioning a Colorado Haven for Readers, Nestled Amid Mountains of Books":

SOUTH PARK, Colo. — The project is striking in its ambition: a sprawling research institution situated on a ranch at 10,000 feet above sea level, outfitted with 32,000 volumes, many of them about the Rocky Mountain region, plus artists’ studios, dormitories and a dining hall — a place for academics, birders, hikers and others to study and savor the West.

It is the sort of endeavor undertaken by a deep-pocketed politician or chief executive, perhaps a Bloomberg or a Buffett. But the project, called the Rocky Mountain Land Library, has instead two booksellers as its founders.

For more than 20 years, Jeff Lee, 60, and Ann Martin, 53, have worked at a Denver bookshop, the Tattered Cover, squirreling away their paychecks in the pursuit of a single dream: a rural, live-in library where visitors will be able to connect with two increasingly endangered elements — the printed word and untamed nature.

“It’s everything, really,” Ms. Martin said of the role the project has played in her life, and that of her husband, Mr. Lee. “It’s not really about us. It’s something for Colorado, for this region.”

They have poured an estimated $250,000 into their collection of 32,000 books, centering the collection on Western land, history, industry, writers and peoples. There are tales by Norman Maclean; wildlife sketches by William D. Berry; and books on beekeeping, dragonflies, cowboys and the Navajo. The couple said that groupings of books would be placed around the ranch, organized by theme: mining, railroads, fur trade, Native American tribes, natural history, astronomy.

Their library has a broad range of potential audiences, they said, from elementary school pupils to literature enthusiasts and Ph.D.s.

“The connection to nature — we know this place will give that to people,” Mr. Lee said. “Even if they don’t pick up a book.”

More.

Some Parents in East Bay Don't Like Planned Parenthood Teaching Sex Education to Their Kids

Yeah, I can imagine some parents might not be too pleased, but don't forget, children "belong to communities," not their families.

At ABC News San Francisco, "ACALANES SCHOOL BOARD MEETING ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD SEX ED CLASSES."

How Israel Hid Its Secret Nuclear Weapons Program

Remember how Obama leaked classified documents on Israel's nuclear weapons program in retaliation against Netanyahu's refusal to kowtow?

Well, Politico discusses the secrecy behind the program.

Here: "An exclusive look inside newly declassified documents shows how Israel blocked U.S. efforts to uncover its secret nuclear reactor."