Steven Miller is the disgraced — and fired — head of the IRS, who claims the IRS did not engage in partisan behavior when it delayed and denied tax-exempt applications from conservative political groups. Earlier this week a federal report issued by the Inspector General’s office revealed the IRS implemented discriminatory policies toward groups that value or were connected to “Tea Party” politics — an ideology usually found in far-right conservatism.

When nonprofits believed to be tied to Tea Party politics applied for 501(c) status, the Inspector General reported the IRS designed new processes to further evaluate the application’s political affiliation. IRS officials would often review the known political backgrounds of named individuals on the applications and request additional, detailed information related to political activity.

Political organizations — that is groups directly involved in campaigns and elections — do not qualify as tax exempt under current U.S. tax codes. The Inspector General reports the increase in discriminatory filtering tactics occurred immediately following the controversial Citizens United ruling in 2010 in which the Supreme Court upheld the legality of unlimited fundraising for political campaigns from private organizations.

CNN reports Miller apologized and agreed the IRS’ behavior was “intolerable” but claims IRS officials did not commit such actions with malice.

“I think what happened here was that foolish mistakes were made by people who were trying to be more efficient in their workload section,” said Miller. CNN says Miller acknowledged such processes amounted to “horrible customer service” but adamantly rejected any accusation of deliberate partisanship.

The storm reached wind gusts ranging from 166 to 200 miles per hour and was rated an EF4 by the National Weather Service. That rating indicates the second-most powerful level on the spectrum of tornado strength. Six people were confirmed dead, seven others as missing and up to 45 others injured.  In addition to the tragedy of lives lost, the town itself is also in near shreds from the monstrous storm. Of the roughly 110 homes in the community, 97 were completely massacred, leaving it a veritable ghost town. Authorities are still working through the overwhelming mass of remains and keeping up hope they will locate survivors among the rubble.

In addition to the resident homes, many Habitat for Humanity homes that had been recently built for low-income residents were completely destroyed. The charity wrote on its website that the area hit included 61 homes built by Habitat, one of which was planned to be officially presented to a family in need this weekend — plan tragically foiled overnight by an uncontrollable force. Just like that, the family is back to square one.

While many were unable to escape the disaster, some lucky souls did manage to remain safe among the insanity. One resident, Ronna Cotten, 38, was in her house with three of her four children when she heard the storm sirens sound. She and her children took shelter in a hallway closet, huddled on the floor while the monstrous storm ripped the roof from above their heads. Although a traumatic experience, Cotten and her children emerged from the closet alive when the twister came to an end. Cotten says walking outside post-tornado was a disturbingly sad sight. They saw bodies everywhere, lining the ground amid the destroyed rubble.

Authorities are still working through the disaster zone and praying for no more severe weather while they do so.

ABC News reports the cash prize for this Powerball win would be $350 million for one — or a few — lucky individuals. In January 2012, Powerball tickets doubled from $1 to $2 in the hopes of springing faster and larger jackpots. It seems to be working.

Lottery officials say the lure of the Powerball jackpot is worldwide. Despite numerous attempts from interested international individuals, officials maintain that tickets must be bought “in a member state from a licensed retail location.”

The Powerball will run again tonight. The odds of winning are 1 in 195 million.

CNN reports Dzhokhar Tsarnaev wrote the message on the inside of the boat and commented that he would not grieve Tamerlan’s death. The Boston Marathon bombings killed three people and injured more than 270, many of them forced to undergo amputations.

CNN also reports that the Boston terror suspect “suffered gunshot wounds to the head, neck, legs, and hands” and is now at a federal medical center reserved specifically for prisoners.

CNN reports the Arias jury heard testimony from the medical examiner that performed the autopsy on Travis Alexander as well as remarks from both the defense and prosecution. The prosecution was clear to mention not only the length of time Arias stabbed Alexander — about two minutes — but also that he believed Arias was aware of Alexander’s suffering.

Jodi Arias spoke last week after she was found guilty of first-degree murder and commented that she prefers to die. “I said years ago that I’d rather get death than life, and that still is true today.” Arias went on, “I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I’d rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it.”

Gosnell is already 72 years old and was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in the death of three infants who were murdered during late-term abortion procedures. Gosnell often attempted to terminate pregnancies at six months or later (24 weeks). While physicians disagree on the exact definition of late-term abortions, most consider anything after 16 to 20 weeks late-term. Almost all fetuses are viable — able to survive outside the womb — after 27 weeks.

The AP reports that Gosnell’s clinic was not certified in obstetrics or gynecology and offered no trained nurses or medical staff. Moreover, federal law enforcement uncovered “deplorable and unsanitary” conditions — we will not mention the details here.

Victims’ relatives read statements before the sentences were handed down. When asked by the judge if Gosnell wished to say anything to the court, his attorney simply replied, “Not at this time.”

CNN reported on the developing story Tuesday. The DOJ claims that for nearly two years the IRS designed and implemented policies that used “inappropriate criteria” to screen applications for political organizations and subsequently sent those applications for stricter review. The end result? Right-wing political groups, such as “Tea Party” organizations, consistently faced unusual delays while attempting to obtain tax-exempt status. 

A source close to the investigation told CNN the IRS flagged certain applications based on applicants’ names or known policy positions instead of their actual involvement in political campaigns.

The IRS does not dispute it used inappropriate tactics but believes the errors were few and far between. “It is important to note that the vast majority of these cases would still have been centralized based on the general criteria used for other cases,” said the IRS in a statement Tuesday.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the FBI is investigating the IRS to ensure no laws or crimes were committed. Said Holder, “[The IRS' actions] were, I think as everyone can agree, if not criminal, they were certainly outrageous and unacceptable.” He went on, “But we are examining the facts to see if there were criminal violations.”

“Once I knew that this was my reality,” Jolie shared. “I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy.” She went on. ”I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy, but it is one I am very happy that I made.”

Jolie had the surgery in February, followed by months of follow-up procedures, one of which includes receiving breast implants. The actress says emotionally, she feels “no less of a woman” now and her prevalent emotion post-procedures is gratitude. She completed the last of the follow-ups in April, and her chances of developing breast cancer are now less than 5 percent, dropping from over 87 percent.

Jolie’s mother, actress Marcheline Bertrand, died in 2007 after a long battle with cancer, and 37-year-old Jolie hoped with her surgery to avoid following suit. Jolie’s husband, Brad Pitt, was by her side through both the surgery and post-op procedures, comforting her and providing unconditional support. ”We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has,” wrote Jolie. She says her six children see nothing different about their mother now, just a few “little scars.”

To Jolie, the best reward is knowing she will not have to tell her children they will lose their mother. And that’s reason enough.

“These records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the news gathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period, provide a road map to AP’s newsgathering operations and disclose information about AP’s activities and operations that the government has no conceivable right to know.”

“We regard this action by the Department of Justice as a serious interference wit the AP’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news,” said Pruitt in the letter to Holder.

CNN reports the Department of Justice has yet to publicly comment why the records were seized and why federal authorities failed — or refused — to notify the AP of their need for the records. The Department of Justice would only say that it was absolutely necessary to collect the information without disclosing their intent to the AP in order to maintain the credibility of the investigation.

However, the Department of Justice would not comment on the specifics of their investigation.

Most victims of the shooting were grazed, escaping with non-life-threatening injuries, but three were reportedly serious. Police are currently searching for three suspects, one of whom has been described as African-American male ranging from 18 to 22 years old, wearing jean shorts and a white T-shirt. No suspects are yet in custody, but the FBI speculates that the incident was rooted in “street violence,” not terrorism.

A local police spokesperson felt optimistic about catching the guilty. “This is an extremely unusual occurrence, and we’re confident that we will make swift arrests.”

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu shared his disappointment and dismay at the incident. “Just a very tragic day for us again in New Orleans, especially on Mother’s Day. We have mothers that were shot, sisters that were shot, little children that were shot.”

Judging from recent events throughout the country, it seems no crowded public space is safe. It is a sad day when a Mother’s Day parade shooting no longer seems surprising.