Syria Experiments With Absurdity, Issues Turkey Travel Warning

Syria Experiments With Absurdity, Issues Turkey Travel Warning

Syria, the country mired in a never-ending, devastating war after the government responded to peaceful protests with violence, is now warning its citizens not to travel to Turkey, because of "violence of [Prime Minister] Erdogan's government againstpeaceful protesters." This is getting a bit absurd, even for Syria.

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Erdogan used to be an ally of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, so, as the Wall Street Journal notes, the Syrian leader is apparently indulging in a bit of shadenfreude this weekend as Turkish citizens take to the streets to protest the Prime Minister's decade-long tenure. Syrian state media has been wall-to-wall with Turkish protest coverage, using the same language to describe the scene there that international media used to discuss the early unrest in Syria:

“The Turkish police fired tear gas against the protesters who tried to throw stones…Helicopter launched tear gas on residential neighborhoods, while photos on YouTube showed armored police truck hit [sic] a protester.” (via the WSJ)

And on Sunday, Syria turned the dial to 11 on the absurdity meter by declaring Turkey, due to the unrest, unsafe for its citizens. Syria, where at least 80,000 have been killed and over 1 million displaced (at least 370,000 of whom have fled to Turkey) since unrest began there in March of 2011, had this to say about Turkey, via Reuters:

"The foreign ministry advises Syrian citizens against travel to Turkey for the time being for their own safety, because of the deteriorating security situation in several Turkish cities...and the violence of Erdogan's government against peaceful protesters."

Protests in dozens of Turkish cities have led to over 1,700 arrests in three days, according to theBBC. Police used water canons and tear gas against demonstrators, prompting many to condemn their agressive response. The protests began against government plans to demolish an Istanbul park (the last public green space in the city) and build a shopping mall in its place. But they've since expanded into a general expression of anti-Erdogan sentiment.

IRS woes grow with report of conference spending

House panel: Treasury investigators find IRS spent $50M for 220 conferences from 2010 to 2012

Associated Press -

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service, already under fire after officials disclosed that the agency targeted conservative groups, faces increased scrutiny because of an inspector general's report that it spent about $50 million to hold at least 220 conferences for employees between 2010 and 2012.

The report by the Treasury Department's inspector general about conference spending is set to be released Tuesday. The department issued a statement Sunday saying the administration "has already taken aggressive and dramatic action to reduce conference spending."

The White House and the agency were on the defensive before the report on conference spending. Agency officials and the Obama administration have said the targeting of conservative groups was inappropriate, but the political tempest is showing no signs of ebbing.

Three congressional committees are investigating, a Justice Department criminal investigation is under way, President Barack Obama has replaced the IRS' acting commissioner and two other top officials have stepped aside.

The chairman of one of those committees, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., also released excerpts of congressional investigators' interviews with employees of the IRS office in Cincinnati. Issa said the interviews indicated the employees were directed by Washington to subject tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status to tough scrutiny.

The closest the excerpts came to direct evidence that Washington had ordered the screening was one employee saying that "all my direction" came from an official who the excerpt said was in Washington. The top Democrat on that panel, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, said none of the employees interviewed have so far identified any IRS officials in Washington as ordering that targeting.

The conference spending included $4 million for an August 2010 gathering in Anaheim, Calif., for which the agency did not negotiate lower room rates, even though that is standard government practice, according to a statement by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Instead, some of the 2,600 attendees received benefits, including baseball tickets and stays in presidential suites that normally cost $1,500 to $3,500 per night. In addition, 15 outside speakers were paid a total of $135,000 in fees, with one paid $17,000 to talk about "leadership through art," the House committee said.

IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge said Sunday that spending on large agency conferences with 50 or more participants fell from $37.6 million in the 2010 budget year to $4.9 million in 2012. The government's fiscal year begins Oct. 1 the previous calendar year.

On Friday, the new acting commissioner, Danny Werfel, released a statement on the forthcoming report criticizing the Anaheim meeting.

"This conference is an unfortunate vestige from a prior era," Werfel said. "While there were legitimate reasons for holding the meeting, many of the expenses associated with it were inappropriate and should not have occurred."

On the topic of targeting conservative groups, Issa's committee also released excerpts from interviews congressional investigators conducted last week with two IRS employees from the agency's Cincinnati office. The excerpts omitted the names of those interviewed and provided no specifics about individuals in Washington who may have been involved.

One of the IRS employees said in an excerpt that they were told by a supervisor that the need to collect the reports came from Washington, and said that in early 2010 the Cincinnati office had sent copies of seven of the cases to Washington.

One of the workers also expressed skepticism that the Cincinnati office originated the screening without direction from Washington, according to the excerpts.

Appearing Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," Issa said this conflicted with White House comments that have referred to misconduct by IRS workers in Cincinnati.

Issa said, "This is a problem that was coordinated in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters and we're getting to proving it."

Cummings said Issa's comments conflicted with a Treasury inspector general's report that provided no evidence that the Cincinnati office received orders on targeting from anyone else.

The interviews with IRS employees were conducted by Republican and Democratic aides on Issa's committee and also involved aides from both parties with the House Ways and Means Committee. One of the employees was a lower-level worker while the other was higher-ranked, said one congressional aide, but the committee did not release their names or titles.

The IRS Cincinnati office handles applications from around the country for tax-exempt status. A Treasury inspector general's report in May said employees there began searching for applications from tea party and conservative groups in their hunt for organizations that primarily do work related to election campaigns.

That May report blamed "ineffective management" for letting that screening occur for more than 18 months between 2010 and 2012. But that report — and three hearings by congressional committees — have produced no specific evidence that the Cincinnati workers were ordered by anyone in Washington to target conservatives.

The latest report on IRS conferences will be the subject of a hearing Thursday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Karen Kraushaar, spokeswoman for the inspector general's office, said public discussion of a report before it is released "serves no purpose and should generally be avoided."

Werfel is scheduled to make his first congressional appearance as acting commissioner Monday when he appears before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.

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Tea party targeting Southern Co. power monopoly

Atlanta Tea Party organizes against Southern Co. power monopoly Georgia Power

Associated Press -

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Southern Co. makes billion-dollar decisions that affect millions of people inGeorgia, yet it has attracted little political scrutiny — until now.

Leaders of the Atlanta Tea Party are challenging Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power over the monopoly's reluctance to increase its use of solar power, the ballooning costs of building a newnuclear power plant and even its legal right to monopoly status.

The group's action in Georgia seems relatively rare among the loosely linked tea party organizations nationally.

Other tea party groups have condemned the adoption of "smart" utility meters — which transmit information about customer usage — due to concerns that they would intrude on customers' privacy, or have broadly backed less reliance on foreign energy. But relatively few have endorsed so specific an energy platform in their own backyards, much less promised to campaign on it.

"It certainly isn't anything personal, but one of our core values is promoting the free-market system," said Julianne Thompson, a co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party.

The electricity market in Georgia is not a free market. State law gives electric utilities, including Georgia Power, exclusive rights to serve customers in designated areas of the state. Most customers cannot choose their provider.

While monopolies have more power to charge higher prices than firms in competitive markets, there are times when it makes sense to allow them if their prices are regulated.

It would be more expensive to build more than one system of electric wires or natural gas pipelines to deliver power and fuel to every home in a state. Customers are better off if just one system is built and maintained, as long as the company that runs the system is prohibited by regulators from using its monopoly power to drive up prices.

In many states, including Texas and most of the Northeast, power delivery is regulated, but customers can choose who provides their electricity. Customers in those states can choose from companies that provide such options as renewable power or a slate of pricing options, including fixed rates, rates that vary with market fluctuations, or rates that vary based on when during the day power is used.

Georgia Power makes a natural political foil for the tea party. A 2011 poll conducted by Yale University and George Mason University found that tea party members were far more likely than Democrats, Republicans or independents to distrust central authority and strongly opposed energy policies that raise costs, even if there are other benefits.

Yale University researcher Anthony Leiserowitz, who worked on the poll, said he was not surprised local tea party supporters might challenge a monopoly.

"That totally taps into that same sense that there are these big, institutional forces against which you're a little guy and you need to rebel," he said.

Utility officials say they welcome the involvement of tea party groups.

"We listen carefully to the concerns and ideas of the Tea Party, as well as all other organizations that represent the diverse opinions of Georgians," company spokesman Jacob Hawkins said in a statement.

The tea party locally has proved successful at getting its supporters to pressure Georgia's leaders into action. Thompson's group was part of a coalition that leaned on reluctant Republicans to pass limits on Statehouse lobbying, and they are working on a voter identification and education project ahead of the 2014 elections to increase their clout and boost turnout.

Earlier this month, Debbie Dooley, another co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party, urged the state's elected utility regulators on the Public Service Commission, all Republicans, to force Georgia Power to use more solar energy. The commission is currently debating whether to approve Georgia Power's latest plan for meeting the state's long-term energy needs.

Dooley actually wants to go much further. She says if her organization viewed it as politically possible, it would support repealing a law granting monopoly rights to utilities.

"They can protect their business and say, 'We don't want the competition.' They have veto power," Dooley said. "It would be like Wal-Mart saying, 'Hey we don't want Kmart here. We don't want them to build.'"

Dooley personally endorsed a Libertarian challenger against Commissioner Stan Wise, a Republican who she said had gotten too close to Georgia Power.

But Wise said he questions how many people Dooley actually represents, and he doubts the solar projects she champions are economical.

"I just almost have to think it's a kneejerk reaction that says if it's solar, it has to be good," Wise said. "And they haven't done their homework on this extraordinary level of subsidy that this program brings to the table."

The tea party groups are also targeting Georgia Power over the rising cost to build two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. The utility's share of the project was supposed to cost $6.1 billion, but Georgia Power is seeking permission to raise its budget to $6.85 billion — and cautioned that costs may still increase.

Dooley's group is particularly peeved that Georgia lawmakers are allowing the utility to charge its customers for the project's finance costs before it produces power. This year, tea party members supported legislation from Rep. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, that would trim the utility's profits if it goes over budget building the plant. Chapman's bill did not pass, though it could be considered next year.

Georgia Power argues the plant makes economic sense in the long run. The utility says the nuclear plant will be immune to swings in natural gas prices and will not be affected by limits on carbon emissions if they are enacted in the years to come.

Dooley said she supports nuclear power but wants more accountability. Under state law, Georgia Power's customers must pay for the nuclear plant unless regulators find its costs were unreasonable.

"They are guaranteed to make a profit on the cost overruns," Dooley said. "What incentive is there to come in on budget, on time?"

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Associated Press Energy Writer Jonathan Fahey in New York contributed to this report.

New York's Summer of Gun Violence Is Off to a Chicago-Style Start

New York's Summer of Gun Violence Is Off to a Chicago-Style Start

New York City, five months into one of the least violent years in its history, had five percent of its total shootings for 2013 over the weekend: 25 people were shot in just 48 hours, bringing the yearly figure to 440 shootings — with six more fatalities. The New York Daily News has a rundown of the latest grim gun violence: three people were killed on Sunday, 14 people were shot between Friday and Saturday nights, one victim is an 11-year-old girl who is now paralyzed, and the Associated Press reports four people were shot in four different shootings on Brooklyn on Sunday night alone.

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Those are Chicago-like numbers. Nearly a year ago, Chicago saw 40 people shot and six deaths over a single weekened. And Memorial Day weekend of last year had 40 shootings and 10 gun deaths. Just this weekend, Chicago saw 12 more people wounded in shootings and one fatality, CBS Chicago reports. The uptick in violent crime in a city known all too well for its gun violence is sometimes blamed on warmer weather, and New York had its first consistent 90-degree weather this weekend.

RELATED: Here Are Obama's 23 Executive Actions on Gun Violence

But the thing is, New York isn't Chicago, and while the Windy City has been called out during the gun legislation debate, New York is one of the only states to pass major gun control laws since the Newtown shootings — and the city's mayor is one of the leading proponents of stricter firearm regulations. Chicago's gun violence has risen in the last two years and is on pace to break another grisly record, just as New York's gun-related incidents have fallen. The 440 shootings so far in 2013 represent "a 23% drop compared with the 574 victims shot through this time last year," the Daily News eports. The violence also comes as New York City saw a rash of anti-gay violent crimes late last month, which included the hate crime/murder of Mark Carson.

Chinese activists call on people to wear black

Photos of those who died in a military crackdown on pro-democracy movement at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in June 4, 1989, are displayed at a "June 4 Memorial Museum" inside a university in Hong Kong June 3, 2013. Tuesday mark the 24th anniversary of the crackdown, with tens of thousands of protesters expected to attend a candlelight vigil at Hong Kong's Victoria Park in the evening. REUTERS/Bobby Yip (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY)

BEIJING (AP) — Activists in China are taking to social media to urge the public to wear black on the 24th anniversary of the bloodymilitary crackdown on protesters who had camped out for weeks on Tiananmen Square.

The crackdown on pro-democracy protesters on June 4, 1989, killed hundreds, possibly more. The Chinese government has never fully disclosed what happened on that day and branded the protests a "counterrevolutionary riot." It remains a taboo topic inside the country, but the growing use of Twitter-like sites known as Weibo and other social media — although largely censored — has made it difficult for authorities to control all information about the Tiananmen crackdown.

Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia said he had been appealing online for people to wear black T-shirts on Tuesday or light a candle at home on Monday evening to remember the event.

"Thanks to the role of Weibo, there are now more people than any other time in the past 24 years that have come to know and think about the incident," he said.

While protests in mainland China are off-limits, tens of thousands have gathered to mark the anniversary in past years in Hong Kong's Victoria Park. The territory — returned by the British in 1997 — operates under a separate political system that promises freedom of speech and other Western-style civil liberties.

"When the spreading of information gains momentum, sooner or later, one day a torch will be relayed from Victoria Park in Hong Kong to Tiananmen Square in Beijing," Hu said.

Because of restrictions placed on him as an activist, Hu will be unable to leave his home to mark the anniversary. He said controls placed on him for this year's event — the first since Xi Jinping became leader — were tighter than before.

An academic from Guangzhou, Ai Xiaoming, said she was answering an artist's call on Google Plus for people to send photos of themselves wearing black for an online photo collection to mark the anniversary.

"More and more people would like to know the truth about the incident, which makes the authorities more nervous," she said. "Although it's difficult for people to get access to publications in China, they are able to get information through channels such as social media. People face suppression, detention, arrest and even conviction, but the information can't be completely blocked. People have never stopped remembering the incident."

The event has left deep, emotional scars on some of those involved in the crackdown. A former People's Liberation Army soldier who was deployed to the vicinity of the square to help clear out the protesters said in an interview Monday that the crackdown forever changed his perspective.

"When you're holding your gun and facing a lot of students, and you know that they are students, your heart is filled with a deep terror," said Chen Guang, now a Beijing-based artist. Since Chen left the army to pursue art, he has painted a number of pieces depicting the aftermath of the crackdown as a way of remembering the event.

Chen said he was a 16-year-old soldier when his unit was sent to the Great Hall of the People to deliver ammunition and later was mobilized in a nighttime face-off with protesters on the steps of the Stalinist-era building fronting the square. Like many other troops around him, he said, he fired his gun at the sky but not at students. He could hear gunfire from all around the square as other troops moved in to crush the demonstrations.

In the morning as he and other troops cleaned the square of the students' belongings, some of them burned in large bonfires, he wondered about the protesters. They left tents, books, a stray sandal, banners and military-style overcoats that were trendy at the time. "Who were these students that stayed here? Where are they now? What has happened to them?" — such questions have remained on his mind for more than two decades, Chen said.

The artist said he hoped the government would allow an unfettered discussion of the event to learn from its mistakes. "A country is like an individual. It should be able to come across information about this in a normal way. Then you will reflect on what you've done wrong in the past, or what you did not do well," Chen said. "The Communist Party lacks the ability to reflect, or it keeps such reflections within the internal power structure."

Last week, the U.S. State Department called on the Chinese government to fully account for those killed, detained or missing in the 1989 crackdown and to end the ongoing harassment of human rights activists and their families.

"Over 20-odd years, China has achieved great success economically, socially and culturally, and Chinese people enjoy wide-ranging freedom and rights, which everybody can see," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Monday at a regular news briefing.

"We hope the relevant country will discard prejudice, respect facts and not use the issue to interfere in China's internal affairs or affect the growth of China-U.S. relations," Hong said.

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Associated Press writer Gillian Wong contributed to this report.