Israeli Police Arrest 25 Palestinians For Attacks

Twenty-five Palestinians were arrested in two separate incidents, on Wednesday.

Nineteen were arrested when a mob attacked the Nablus gate.

They threw bottles, rocks, and other objects at police, injuring six officers.

Stun grenades and water cannons were used against the rioters.

Later, another group of protesters began attacking people who were on their way to the Western Wall for prayers.

Police intervened and arrested six of the attackers.

31 Killed in Bombings in Iraq

Thirty-one people were killed in a  series of bombings in Iraq, on Wednesday.

Most of them took place in Baghdad, but two bombs went off in Kirkuk, and another hit outside of Mosul.

Government, police, and Shiites were the main targets.

Al Qaeda continues to disrupt life in the country, as they work towards seeing the Iraqi government removed.

They and other Sunni groups have gained encouragement from the Syrian civil war, as they watch Sunnis slowly win against the Shiite government.

A Flurry of Hearings, Probes, & Litigation Awaits the IRS

On Monday, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) sent the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a letter demanding that it immediately grant tax exempt status to ten Tea Party groups which have been zeroed in on for additional review. The ACLJ represents twenty-seven Tea Party organizations nationwide. Of those, only fifteen have been granted the tax exempt status they applied for. The focus of the demand letter is the status of the ten organizations that are pending. The ACLJ is calling for the IRS to respond by Friday, May 17th or face possible legal action.

“This is one of the most abhorrent breaches of trust imaginable,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. “We now know this coordinated intimidation scheme went beyond Tea Party groups to include Jewish organizations and even groups that discussed the Constitution. The IRS must be held accountable for this dishonest and notoriously disgraceful conduct. We are demanding that the IRS grant our remaining clients tax-exempt status immediately. If that does not occur by Friday, we will advise our clients of their right to sue the IRS for the redress of their grievances. The targeting scheme employed by the IRS not only violates their own rules and regulations, but is certain to result in a growing mistrust of the IRS by the American people.”

The ACLJ puts forth the following demands in its letter to the IRS Acting Commissioner:

(1) That the IRS approve immediately, and without further delay, the pending requests for either 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) tax exempt status of the following organizations: Albuquerque Tea Party, Allen Area Patriots, Greater Phoenix Tea Party Patriots, Greenwich Tea Party Patriots, Laurens County Tea Party, Linchpins of Liberty, Myrtle Beach Tea Party, North East Tarrant Tea Party, Patriots Educating Concerned Americans Now (PECAN), and Unite in Action.

(2) That the IRS identify and appropriately discipline all IRS employees who either concocted, knowingly carried out, knowingly failed to stop, or knowingly misinformed Congress or the public about, the scheme to target Tea Party and similar groups in violation of IRS rules and regulations, thereby unlawfully politicizing the IRS and its approval process.

 A copy of the letter can be viewed on the ACLJ's site. The ACLJ makes the following points:

• First, by singling out Tea Party and related groups for special scrutiny based on their political views, IRS agents violated the IRS mission to operate with integrity and fairness.
• Second, by singling out Tea Party and related groups for special scrutiny based on their political views, IRS agents violated the requirement to act impartially.
• And third, by singling out Tea Party and related groups for special scrutiny based on their political views, IRS agents engaged in dishonest, notoriously disgraceful conduct. The same can be said of IRS leaders who knew of, but failed to rein in, such biased, politically-motivated conduct, thereby allowing the politicization of the IRS.
• Agencies like the IRS must be scrupulously apolitical to retain the confidence and trust or the American people. With respect to its treatment of Tea Party and other conservative groups, the IRS failed miserably. The growing mistrust of the IRS is the inevitable (and totally understandable) result of its unwise actions.

Sekulow has indicated that many of the questions asked by the IRS are simply inappropriate and fall well outside the scope of legitimate IRS inquiry. A sampling of those questions can be found here.

Additionally, the ACLJ has launched a national petition calling on President Obama and members of Congress to hold those responsible for this conduct accountable.  You can sign the petition here: Petition to End IRS Abuse.

Then too, Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered a Justice Department probe into the matter.  Holder said the FBI is coordinating with the Department of Justice to see if any laws have been broken, and referred to it as “outrageous and unacceptable.”

Rep. Dave Camp, (R-MI), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, along with Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI), ranking member of Ways and Means, announced that a hearing will be held on the IRS situation on Friday. And, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Senate Finance Committee chairman said in a statement: “The IRS should be prepared for a full investigation into this matter by the Senate Finance Committee.”

Darrell Issa (R-CA) is planning to hold hearings on the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report which is located here.

“Let’s go through it,” Issa said. “Let’s see what the instituted changes need to be to make this not happen again.”

Colorado High Schooler Arrested Over Explosive Device

A sixteen year old high school student has been arrested in Lafayette, Colorado.

The student is being investigated for bringing an explosive device to school.

A teacher at Centaurus High School found the device in a "high traffic area", on Monday morning.

After finding the device, the teacher took it outside and called police.

Police evacuated the school and used bomb dogs to search for further devices, but found none.

The Boulder County Bomb Squad safely detonated the device, in a nearby field.

According to authorities, the device would have caused injuries to those in it's proximity, had it gone off.

School resumed on Tuesday.

Vermont Passes Assisted Suicide Bill

Lawmakers in Vermont have passed a bill that will make the state the third to allow for assisted suicide.

Under the bill, if a person's primary doctor and a second opinion both agree that the patient has a terminal illness then the person may request for a lethal dosage of drugs.

Patients must also be considered mentally capable of making such a decision.

The request must be witnessed by two people, who are not connected to the case.

After fifteen days, the person can then request the drugs again.

If both requests are made and all requirements met then a doctor may prescribe the drugs.

For it to be legal the person must take the drugs themselves.

Governor Peter Shumlin is expected to sign the law into being.

4 US Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan

Four US soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, on Tuesday.

They were in a convoy traveling through the Zhari district of Kandahar province, when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb.

In 2013, fifty-six ISAF troops have been killed, with forty-three of them being Americans.

Around one hundred thousand ISAF troops are still present, throughout Afghanistan.

They are scheduled to leave in 2014.

Taliban forces continue to assault the ISAF and free Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's war with the Taliban has no end in sight.

Hickenlooper Signs Law Enforcement Dog Training Law

Governor Hickenlooper signed a bill on Monday, which requires new training for law enforcement personnel.

The new bill requires all Colorado law enforcement officers to be trained in how to deal with dogs.

Colorado has seen several police shootings of dogs, over the past year, most of which likely could have been avoided.

Law enforcement agencies were sought out during the creation of the bill.

It does allow officers leeway if they believe that they or others are in danger.

Colorado Gas Leak Sends 31 Junior Highers to the Hospital

Thirty-one students ended up being sent to the hospital after a gas leak at Ignacio Junior High School, in Colorado.

None of their symptoms were serious, they all suffered from headaches, nausea, and vomiting and were sent to the hospital as a precaution.

Officials say that a backed up collection tank caused the gas.

According to the fire department, there was no risk of an explosion as the fumes weren't flammable, just nauseating.

The collection tank had been installed in 1998, and had not been cleaned since then.

Fumes only affected one science classroom, which the school plans to have reopened later this week, after the collection tank is emptied.

US Justice Department Seizes AP Phone Records

According to the Associated Press, the US Justice Department seized some of their phone records, from April and May of 2012.


Records for over twenty phone lines were taken, including multiple reporters and the press agency's switchboard.

The AP called the seizure a "massive and unprecedented intrusion" of freedom of the press.

AP Chief Executive Gary Pruitt said, "There can be no possible justification for such an overboard collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters".

In a press release, the US Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia said that they had been extremely "careful and deliberative" when taking the records.

Minnesota Senate Approves Same Sex Marriage

Minnesota's state senate approved same sex marriage on Tuesday.

The bill passed with a vote of thirty-seven to thirty.

Last week it passed the house.

Governor Mark Dayton has already said he will sign it, on Tuesday afternoon.

The law will go into effect in August.

It's passage makes Minnesota the twelfth state to legalize same sex marriage.