JUST LIKE OBAMA. WHAT IS IT WITH HARVARD PEOPLE AND E-MAIL SNOOPING? Harvard Dean Steps Down Following Secret Searches of E-Mail Accounts. “Ms. Hammonds, who has led Harvard College for five years, found herself at the center of a scandal-within-a-scandal after trying to plug a leak in a university inquiry into a cheating debacle that prompted dozens of undergraduates to withdraw from the college. Ms. Hammonds and Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, last fall authorized searches of the e-mail accounts of 16 resident deans without informing them first.” Also the obsession with leak-plugging. . . .

On the other hand, the punishment seems rather minor: “Ms. Hammonds, who is a professor of the history of science and of African-American studies, will return to her faculty post following a sabbatical, Harvard officials said on Tuesday in a news release, which enumerated Ms. Hammonds’s achievements as dean and made no mention of the e-mail scandal. When she returns, officials said, Ms. Hammonds will head a new program at Harvard to study the intersection of race, science, and medicine.”

ANDREW MCCARTHY: Enemy Combatant Jihadists in Civilian Courts – The Lunatics Run the Asylum.

ANNALS OF GOVERNMENT THUGGERY: IRS Actions Taken Against Americans Parallel Obama Labor Board’s Agenda.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: Kansas To Shrink Entering Class By 30%.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: More Glittering Success for Latin American Socialism:

Argentina and Venezuela may one day grow weary of being global laughingstocks and turn to sensible policies, but at least for now the socialist dream lives on.

The BBC reports that product scarcity has forced Venezuela’s “only wine maker” to stop selling wine to the Catholic Church, which is already suffering from a shortage of consecrated bread as flour is increasingly hard to come by and wheat is only imported from abroad. Milk, sugar and cooking oil have also been affected by the country’s currency controls and centralized control of the economy or, as the government likes to call it, the “opposition-led conspiracy.” On the bright side, however, the country’s crippling toilet paper shortage is now (temporarily) under control.

At least they’ve put that problem behind them. But wait, there’s more:

Not to be outdone, Argentina is facing an economic collapse of its own in which inflation, import taxes, and import restrictions have made goods either impossibly overpriced or impossible to find. Worse, the Economist reports, restricted access to foreign currency has forced ordinary Argentines to buy dollars on the black market at nearly double the official rate.

Socialism never works as a policy, but thanks to human traits of envy and gullibility, it’s often successful as a con.

MEGAN MCARDLE: What We Can Learn From Rioting In Sweden. “Sweden has a very welcoming immigration policy, and of course, an extremely generous welfare state. These things were supposed to protect Sweden from the class-and-ethnic conflict that has riven the United States, Britain, France. If those things don’t work–if you get riots anyway–then something in Swedish policy may need a rethink.”

See also Mickey Kaus’s thoughts on welfare, immigration, and terrorism.

AT AMAZON, up to 40% off on folding knives.

Also, today only: 20% Off Two Sylvania Portable DVD Players.

BILL WHITTLE: Afterburner: Real People.

THE SURPRISINGLY BUREAUCRATIC NATURE of Al Qaeda’s internal operations.

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN WAITING, the Insta-Wife’s book, Men On Strike, is now available on Kindle for pre-order. It should be shipping in the next few days.

And, of course, the hardcover version is already shipping.

THE HILL: Cantor says Obama ‘disconnected,’ has ‘lost focus’ in office. He never really had a lot of focus, except on getting re-elected.

ANOTHER CASE FOR MY REVOLVING-DOOR SURTAX RIGHT HERE: Former EPA head Lisa P. Jackson becomes Apple’s top environmental adviser.

Related: How Obama Aides Are Cashing In.

MICKEY KAUS: Cold Feet On Amnesty: Unz Runs … from Schumer-Rubio. “I’ve known California activist Ron Unz as a highly effective opponent of bilingual education, but also an enthusiastic supporter of freer immigration, especially from Latin America. I heard Unz make the now-fashionable “demographic” argument–the Mexico’s falling birthrate will end the threat of illegal immigration from that country–years ago. So it’s a surprise he seems to be having second thoughts about ‘comprehensive immigration reform’–and in Salon of all places. But he has a good reason.”

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE UPDATE: White House moves closer to intervention in Syria. “With Europe pushing to arm the anti-government rebels in Syria and President Obama reportedly seeking plans for a no-fly zone over the war-torn country, the United States is inching closer to intervening directly in a conflict in which more than 70,000 people have already died. White House officials insist that Obama has made no decision on providing arms to the Syrian rebels or establishing a no-fly zone there, saying all options remain on the table. But recent developments are ratcheting up the pressure on the president to use American force to help end the two-year-civil war.”

JAMES TARANTO: We’re All Fox News Now: A surprising show of media solidarity.

DEREK HUNTER ON CRONY CAPITALISM: “Current scandals aside, when the history of the Obama Administration is written the topic of crony capitalism will need a section to itself. From the high profile failures of green energy projects to the bailouts of Wall Street and Detroit, handing out taxpayer dollars to private industry is a hallmark of the president’s economic policy. But President Obama is not alone responsible for approving these giveaways. Congress has played a critical role, especially when it comes to subsidies to Hollywood and the recording industry.” Yes.

MICHELE BACHMANN won’t run in 2014.

ROLL CALL: Dodd Warns Against Nuclear Option on Nominations. “You’re going to take an institution that’s given us the kind of protections against some very bad ideas historically because there was a place where we had to think twice about what you were doing.”

TAXPROF: IRS Scandal Roundup, Day 20.

THE HILL: Senate GOP asks High Court to invalidate recess appointments.

The Senate GOP conference has asked the Supreme Court to invalidate President Obama’s January 2012 recess appointments as an unconstitutional abuse of power.

All 45 Repubican senators on Tuesday signed on to a brief arguing that Obama overstepped his authority in naming members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) while the Senate was technically still in session. . . .In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that Obama’s appointments of three people to the NLRB was unconstitutional. The White House in April asked the Supreme Court to review the case.

Stay tuned.

ED DRISCOLL: Paranoia Strikes Deep.

ANNALS OF THE .0001 PERCENT: ‘Ready For Hillary’ Announces Sweatshop Magnate as First Finance Head. “Today, Pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC announced it had signed on Democrat fundraiser Susie Tompkins Buell, co-founder of clothing line Esprit. In the 1990s, while Tompkins Buell held control of Espirit, the Bay Area sweatshops which were contracted to make garments for Espirit were raided by the federal government. The Department of Labor found that the sweatshops doctored payroll records, paid workers less than minimum wage, and refused to pay overtime.”

JONATHAN TURLEY: FIRE ERIC HOLDER. “Unlike the head of the RNC, I am neither a Republican nor conservative, and I believe Holder should be fired.”

DAVID FRANCIS: 5 Reasons to Challenge Obama’s War on Terror Speech.

SHOCKER: U.S. News: Study Finds Fact-Checkers Biased Against Republicans.