Another in a continuing series of "The High Cost of Low Wages":

Part of a shoe factory has collapsed in Cambodia, leaving at least two people dead, officials say.

The concrete roof at the factory in Kampong Speu province, west of Phnom Penh, crashed on to employees as they were working, a police spokesman said.

At least six people were injured, police said. Rescue workers combed through the rubble for several hours before finishing operations.

The garment industry is Cambodia's biggest employer and export earner.

More than half a million people are employed in the industry, for which the minimum wage rose this month from $61 (£40) to $75 a month. Many of the factories make clothes for the US and European markets.

[...] One report said the weight of equipment stored on the roof caused the collapse.

"We were working normally and suddenly several pieces of brick and iron started falling on us," injured 25-year-old Kong Thary was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

The shoe factory is owned by a Taiwanese company Wing Star Shoes, which makes trainers for Japanese sports brand Asics, reports say.

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From this Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing, Darrell Issa wasn't the only one who had a contentious back and forth with Attorney General Eric Holder: Holder smacks down Gohmert over Boston bombings–’You cannot know what I know’:

An already-ugly House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday turned even nastier when Texas Republican Louie Gohmert took the wheel on questions related to last month’s Boston Marathon bombing–specifically, about what the FBI did and did not do after receiving information from Russian intelligence that suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been radicalized.

Attorney General Eric Holder had already faced a heavy grilling on both the AP and IRS scandals plaguing the Obama administration this week when Gohmert began pelting him with accusations that the FBI shirked a thorough examination of Tsarnaev because of “political correctness.”

“On the one hand, we go after Christian groups like Billy Graham’s group, we go after Franklin Graham’s group, but then we’re hands off when it comes to possibly offending someone who has been radicalized as a terrorist,” said Gohmert.

The Texas lawmaker added that though he “appreciated” the concern of racial profiling, he believes “there were a lot more people in America concerned about being blown up by terrorists.”

Holder fired back that Gohmert was speaking “as a matter of fact” about information not fully available to him.

“Unless somebody’s done something inappropriate, you don’t have access to the FBI files,” said Holder. “You don’t know what the FBI did. You don’t know what the FBI’s interaction was with the Russians. You don’t know what questions were put to the Russians, whether those questions were responded to. You simply do not know that…I know what the FBI did. You cannot know what I know.”

Yeah, old "terror babies" Gohmert is back at it again, fearmongering as usual.

Officials say the tornadoes were unexpected. While they did expect serious storms, weather forecasters said it was "too cool" for tornadic activity. Not so, as it turned out:

A massive emergency response is under way in the Granbury area, where at least six people were killed and dozens injured by up to three tornadoes as a relentless storm system raked across North Texas on Wednesday evening.

At an overnight press conference, Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds did not have details on the six who died. He did say that two of them were not near homes.

Deeds said the death toll could rise as 14 people remain unaccounted for and nearby rural areas just outside the Rancho Brazos subdivision had not been searched thoroughly as crews did what they could in the dark.

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The IRS scandal has claimed its first scalp. Steve Miller, the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, has resigned at the request of the Treasury secretary, President Obama announced in a late-afternoon statement to the media. The agency was found to have inappropriately targeted conservative groups’ applications for tax-exempt status. “Americans are right to be angry about it,” Obama said of the misconduct. “I will not tolerate this kind of behavior ... given the power that [the IRS] has and the reach that it has in all of our lives.” Obama also said he’d cooperate with Congress during its oversight review.

TPM:

"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS," Obama said at the White House. "Given the power that it has, and the reach that it has in all of our lives. And as I said earlier, it should not matter what political stripe you're from, the fact of the matter is that the IRS has to operate with absolute integrity."

Obama also said that his administration will implement new procedures to ensure the same kind of misconduct does not occur again, inviting lawmakers to assist in the effort.

"I've directed Secretary Lew to ensure the IRS begins implementing the [Inspector General's] recommendations right away," Obama said. "Third, we will work with congress as it performs its oversight role."

An internal Treasury Department report found that ineffective management at the agency allowed employees to inappropriately single out conservative non-profit groups for additional reviews during in the run up to the 2012 election, focusing on such key words as “Tea Party,” ”Patriots” or “9/12 Project” in their applications.

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Cab Drollery - like luggage and herpes, we will never be rid of Benghazi!;

Feministing - sexual assault prevention officers not getting their own memos;

Liberal Values - why let a doctored email ruin a perfectly good scandal (Benghazi!);

Squatlo-Rant - Benghazi! + IRS scandal > 13 Cheneys + 27 Hitlers + Watergate + Iraq War dead;

The American Prospect - if you're tired of Benghazi! and the IRS mess, there's always the AP scandal.

blogenfreude blogs at stinque.com (@blogenfreude on Twitter) and suggests that people who endorsed Mitt Romney probably shouldn't be making major motion pictures.
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So someone actually asked SmoothieFreak "How Do Black People Feel About Spring?" Thank goodness she is the spokesperson for all black people everywhere 18 months running. Ahem. Warning: she says a swear.

Open thread below.

The Best of the Runaways: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection
	Artist: The Runaways

Got a favorite from a rocker lady?

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Seems kinda like a trend, doesn't it?

WASHINGTON — A soldier assigned to coordinate a sexual assault prevention program in Texas is under investigation for "abusive sexual contact" and other alleged misconduct and has been suspended from his duties, the Army announced Wednesday.

The announcement came just one week after an Air Force officer who headed a sexual assault prevention office was himself arrested on charges of groping a woman in a parking lot.

The two cases highlight a problem that is drawing increased scrutiny in the Congress and expressions of frustration from top Pentagon leaders. Pentagon press secretary George Little said after Wednesday's announcement that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is angry and disappointed at "these troubling allegations and the breakdown in discipline and standards they imply."

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Wow. I admit I'm very surprised to read that none other than Michelle Malkin is defending Obama over the Associated Press wiretapping "scandal."

The frenzy over AP is a stark reminder of basic party differences on the War on Terror. The Democrats put security first. The Republicans put trial lawyers, terrorists’ rights, and election campaigns first. The Democrats are acting to prevent another 9/11. The Republicans are stuck in a 9/10 world.

Woah!

And it turns out that it was Republicans who asked the IRS to look at the tax-exempt status of Tea Party groups.

Seven Republican members of Congress filed complaints with the IRS in 2010, claiming Tea Party groups engaged in partisan electioneering, leading to an IRS probe, according to agency documents released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) launched an examination of the Tea Party on Oct. 8, 2010, claiming a speech by a Tea Party leader made during the organization's annual convention that criticized President Barack Obama's education and foreign policies crossed the line from issue advocacy to partisan electioneering. [...]

The documents include letters sent from members of Congress on behalf of their constituents, including Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Susan Collins (R-ME), Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA), the late Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC), and former Reps. Larry Combest (R-TX), Joe Scarborough (R-FL) and Robert Ehrlich (R-MD).

Fascinating! Who knew Republicans were so principled?

And listen to former Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, on a possible investigation into the Benghazi attacks.

"I don't think that anyone should start pointing fingers in a personal way or suggest that people are trying to cover their political backsides. I just think that's ridiculous. I think we need to go forward. We need to be positive. There are failures. We need to get to the root of it and try to make our country more secure."

Oh, sorry.

My bad.

Malkin was actually defending FISA wiretapping under Bush, and it was the NAACP Republicans asked the IRS to investigate during the Bush administration -- and Senator Hutchison was speaking out against the formation of the 9/11 Commission.

You can see how I got confused.