WASHINGTON (AP) – The Internal Revenue Service says an official at the center of the agency’s tea party scandal is retiring.
Lois Lerner headed the IRS division that handles applications for tax-exempt status when she was placed on paid leave in May. While she was in charge, the agency acknowledged that agents improperly targeted tea party groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status from 2010 to 2012.
Lerner first disclosed the targeting at a law conference in May, when she was asked a planted question about IRS treatment of political groups. Less than two weeks later, she refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing, citing her constitutional right not to incriminate herself.
Republicans in Congress have repeatedly called for her to be fired.  (read more)

Warning:  Some Graphic Details and Pictures in Links

BREAKING: Hostages still held in Nairobi #Westgate mall, security operation continues

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) September 21, 2013

Details HERE and also Pictures HERE
Quick Notes:  Early witness indicators are the attack began with a half dozen grenades thrown inside the mall.   Then the shooting started.    Hostages have been taken.  Al Shabaab claiming responsibility.   39 confirmed dead so far.  Western media will not cover this too heavily due to type of attack taking place  (grenades, popular shopping mall, random target of non-muslims etc.).
Al Shabaab (African contingent of al-Qaeda) operatives have been working closely with AQAP (Yemen affiliate) for several years.    Al Shabaab has training base in Mexico, and Al Shabaab operatives have been found in the U.S. crossing the U.S. Mexico border.  Al Shabaab was also the contingent who were foiled in the U.S. when they attempted to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in 2011 at a Washington DC restaurant. 

Background, video and pictures of the attack taking place – CLICK HERE

Nairobi, Kenya (CNN) — Armed gunmen waged a tense standoff with Kenyan police and soldiers inside an upscale Nairobi shopping mall early Sunday, hours after brazenly gunning down shoppers, diners and more.
There was some movement around 1:30 a.m. (6:30 p.m. ET), when five “visibly shaken” hostages were released, the Kenya National Disaster Operation Centre tweeted. But that didn’t mean this horrific story was over as attackers remained dug in, as authorities bore down on them, and as an unknown number of civilians — perhaps dead or being held hostage — remained unaccounted for inside. (more…)

Taking lessons from Benghazi Cover-Up International, the local Washington DC Law Enforcement Leadership give the local SWAT Team Leader the Africom Commander, General Carter Ham, treatment…..
(Via GateWayPundit) On Wednesday, BBC News reported the indefensible discovery that the D.C. Capitol Police’s SWAT team was ready to neutralize the Navy Yard mass shooting.
But, the highly trained and heavily armed, elite tactical group was, instead, ordered to stand down and leave the scene.  The Capitol Police promised a full investigation.
Today, BBC News reported more disturbing information.  No one has talked to the SWAT team members.  Not even for the protocol debriefing.  But, not only have members of the SWAT team not been contacted, the department “has installed a new leader”.  Without explanation.
BBC News reports: (more…)

It’s another version of the “depends on what your definition of ‘is’, is”….

I’m still betting the decisions ultimately came from Denis McDonough and Tom Donilon during those critical hours….   both Obama and Biden were indisposed.

Washington DC – On Thursday, while denying that a “stand-down order” was given to Special Forces members ready to help Americans who were under siege at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last September, one of the heads of the Benghazi Accountability Review Board (ARB) admitted that a “hold in place” order was in fact given.
Testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Admiral Mike Mullen said that the direction given to Special Operations Command Africa commander Lt. Col Gibson was to “hold in place” on the night of the attacks.
Gibson is the boss of Gregory Hicks, the former deputy chief of mission in Libya who had testified that a “stand down” order was given to Special Forces who wanted to help Americans who were under assault in Libya.  (continue reading)

Today, during a House Hearing, as the family members of the Benghazi victims began to speak about their concerns, the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee walked out!

After ARB testifies, only 2 @OversightDems decide to stay & hear testimony from family members on 2nd panel PHOTO: pic.twitter.com/zfOjjppU0V
— Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) September 19, 2013

The following House Committee Members walked out: (more…)

(Via HuffPo)  Before Aaron Alexis went on his Navy Yard shooting rampage, he reportedly carved the words “Better Off This Way,” into his shotgun.

Alexis, who died during Monday’s shooting spree, also carved the phrase, “My E-L-F Weapon” onto the stock of the gun, according to ABC News.

Now, investigators are questioning the meaning of the phrases and if “better off this way” might be a clue that Alexis knew he would die in the altercation.  (link)

I think the first carving, “Better off This Way” is self explanatory….  Suicide by COP, make a name for yourself, and take out a few folks who look like the folks you hate.  Rail against the world and everyone who has grieved you.
The second carving, “My E-L-F Weapon” is probably a reflection of his job and his psychology.   He was an electrical IT type guy right?   Obviously unstable but generally pretty intelligent.   He was more than likely using a common term in his profession as an analogy behind his decision and his weapon to execute the decision: (more…)

But interestingly the Public Records Clerk, Jessica Clifton, is not the one responding. Instead, Lisa A. DiFranza, an Assistant State Attorney responds to the follow-up on behalf of Angela Corey.
Y’all know we are patient, very patient, but we are also relentless.

It took almost a year, and a painstaking methodical strategy, to get the Public Records from M-DSPD which revealed the truth behind Trayvon Martin’s history, and the illegal law enforcement diversionary practices which kept him from the Criminal Justice System.
One of the things we have learned (over time) is that when you are requesting these “risk records”, the public officials ‘at risk’ will easily lie.   So, unfortunately, the strategy to actually get the records means you have to anticipate being lied to.   You must  know the truth of the existence of what you are seeking, before you actually request it. (more…)

Citing gross and severe malicious prosecution by the Eric Holder “Civil Rights” DOJ in their efforts to prosecute law enforcement following Hurricane Katrina, a federal judge has thrown out the convictions and ordered new trials.
(New Orleans)  For many metro area residents, the day when former police officers were convicted for their roles in gunning down unarmed people on the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina marked a cathartic moment.

On Tuesday, however, a federal judge toppled those hard-won convictions, not citing faulty evidence, but because of the “grotesque” conduct of prosecutors who never even talked to the jury.
In an order upending one of the region’s most important civil rights cases in years, U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt granted a new trial for five former New Orleans Police Department officers convicted in the Danziger Bridge shooting and the subsequent cover-up.
In a 129-page order that blasted former prosecutors in then-U.S. Attorney Jim Letten’s office, Engelhardt pointed to “unprecedented events and acts” that “has taken the court on a legal odyssey unlike any other.”
[scribd id=169257319 key=key-2bwm8fit9bk7lrsg6zww mode=scroll]
The order granted a new trial for former police officers Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso as well as Arthur Kaufman, who was convicted of orchestrating the cover-up after being assigned to investigate the shooting. (more…)

(American Thinker – Catharine Evans)  On  September 12, Miami-Dade police arrested a 17-year-old black teenager, Jamal  Jackson, for the August 21 execution-style murder (see shocking video)  of Hispanic-American Miguel Pilotos.

The  black-on-Hispanic killing in Opa-Locka, Florida didn’t get much press when it  happened.  Only after the suspect was arrested three weeks later did  various news outlets release more details of the crime.
Within  those reports a familiar name appeared: Rod Vereen. (more…)

Under Secretary of State Patrick Kennedy said the government of Libya is not allowing U.S. law enforcement into the country to arrest individuals connected with the Benghazi attack because the Libyan government “is not in control to that degree” Wednesday in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.
Kennedy explained ever since the events of September 11, 2012 the country has taken a “serious turn for the worse.”