HOWIE CARR ON Deval Patrick’s unpersuasive claim to be the scourge of EBT fraud.

A FASCINATING — AND ENCOURAGING — GRAPHIC ON HOW handgun carry laws have liberalized since 1986.

AT AMAZON, deals and markdowns in the Levi’s Store.

Also, today only: 20% Off Select Fisher-Price Baby Items.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 63.

WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM THE WHITE HOUSE: The shale gas revolution: We have not yet begun to boom.

K.C. JOHNSON: Obama’s Sex Harassment Policy for Colleges: Unauthorized, and Very Likely Unconstitutional.

HOPEY-CHANGEY: Jobless Claims Rise To Highest Levels In Two Months. See, this Recovery Summer rerun isn’t any better than the last one. I know sequels usually suck, but . . .

MICHAEL TOTTEN: Getting The Muslim Brotherhood Wrong. I dunno, it’s turned out pretty much how I expected. What has surprised me is the resilience of Egyptian civil society in response.

Related thoughts from George Will.

JUSTICE IN OBAMA’S AMERICA: Judicial Watch: Zimmerman Prosecution Might Have Been Forced by DOJ-Organized Pressure.

Related: Did the Department of Justice Stir Up Trayvon Martin Riots?

Also: CNN: Ex-Sanford police chief: Zimmerman probe ‘taken away from us.’ “Bill Lee, who testified Monday in Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial, told CNN’s George Howell in an exclusive interview that he felt pressure from city officials to arrest Zimmerman to placate the public rather than as a matter of justice.”

The Administration needed to increase racial tension to boost black turnout in 2012.

UPDATE: In fact, an InstaPundit reader nailed this over a year ago, as another InstaPundit reader just pointed out in an email:

One of your readers, David Horwich, made the point last March that the President rallied to Trayvon Martin’s side in order to shore up his numbers with blacks:

“IMHO, what’s going in in the WH these days is really, really bad poll numbers. How else can one explain an investment in clearly polarizing issues like picking a fight with both the church and Rush Limbaugh, race-baiting with Trayvon, a flirtation with an advocacy of gay marriage, Stalin-esque striking down of voter ID laws, et. Al. The softness in numbers with the black population must really be stark, otherwise, why bring this stuff up? There’s no upside with independent voters with any of these issues.”

Eight months later Obama won, but barely, and only because of near unanimous support from blacks during the first presidential election in American history where black turnout exceeded white turnout. Going forward, there is no further upside for Democrats with blacks. So either we should expect to see Democrats pivot to another group or we should expect to see more race-baiting histrionics. My bet is on the latter.

Sadly, I think that’s right.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader David Preiser thinks there’s more to it than that:

It was really all about restoring the desired amount of white, liberal guilt, and keeping those unsure of another Obama term on side. Just like those Duke professors didn’t care about falsely arresting and possibly convicting those lacrosse players of rape because they felt we “needed” to discuss the larger issue of rape and remind everyone how bad it is, we “needed” to have a national discussion about how we’re still a racist country, the police are racist, etc. White guilt, white votes. So the allegedly post-racial President who was supposed to at last help us get past racial division has deliberately made it worse than it has been in a long time.

Indeed.

IRS SCANDAL UPDATE: Issa Set to Call D.C. IRS Officials to Testify.

THE HILL: House to vote on split Farm Bill. They’re separating out the food stamp part from the actual farm part.

ACTUALLY, THAT’S NOT TRUE. NOTHING THE REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS ARE DOING IS ILLEGAL. Ed Morrissey: The IRS Gets A Dose Of Its Own Medicine From The GOP. But, hopefully, this will be a “behavior changer.”

Related: Why Lois Lerner Took The Fifth. “And that was in a magazine interview! It makes one wonder what else Lerner may have said in unguarded moments.”

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Bernanke: Unemployment Rate ‘Probably Understates the Weakness of the Labor Market.’ Do tell.

JAMES TARANTO: Carry Forward: Illinois joins the rest of the states in permitting concealed guns.

The Trib adds: “While gun owners may have questions about how soon they’ll be able to carry guns in public, other state residents may also have questions about where they can expect to find people armed with deadly weapons.”

That’s an easy one to answer: You can expect to find people armed with deadly weapons in just about any dodgy Chicago neighborhood. . . .

Wait, how could Chicago have all those shootings when it’s illegal to carry a gun? Don’t street criminals have any respect for the law? Oh wait, of course they don’t–which is why Chicago already had “virtually unregulated weapons.” The new law will allow honest citizens, those who do comply with regulations, to defend themselves.

It’s a civil rights victory.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS: Arabian Princess Arrested on Suspicion of Holding Maids Captive in Irvine. “A Saudi Arabian princess is accused of “slavery” after a woman who was allegedly held against her will as a domestic servant escaped from a three-story building, flagged down a bus and alerted authorities in Irvine. The victim, a 30-year-old maid from Kenya, and four other women from the Philippines, were allegedly being held by Meshael Alayban, who is accused of stealing their passports and work contracts and forcing them to work long hours with little pay, according to Lt. Julia Engen of the Irvine Police Department.”

HMM: Asiana pilot says he was blinded by light prior to crash. “Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said it wasn’t clear what could have caused the problem. Asked specifically whether it could have been a laser pointed from the ground, Hersman said she couldn’t say what caused it.”

#WAR ON MEN: Sex Discrimination In Higher Education: “A number of colleges are currently facing complaints that they do not adequately investigate charges of sexual assault. A male student who was suspended by Saint Joseph’s University is suing the Philadelphia institution under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Bloomberg reported. The student says that he was accused of rape (over what he says was consensual sex, and says he has text messages that back his version of events) and that the university’s system of investigating such accusations is designed to assure findings of guilt against accused males. That, he says, is sex discrimination.”

BELDAR ON the Apple eBook price-fixing case.

PROF. JACOBSON: Racial politics supported by State power come down on George Zimmerman. It was important for the Obama Administration to increase racial polarization so as to boost black turnout in 2012.

BAD POLICY PRODUCES BAD RESULTS: Tax Attractiveness Index: U.S. Is Ugly Betty (95th of 100 Countries, Right Below Zimbabwe).

AT AMAZON, coupons galore in Nutrition & Wellness.

THIS WON’T END WELL: Boehner Going to Take ‘Incremental’ Approach on Immigration Without Majority of the Majority.

WARNING: THERE’S VIDEO. NEA Convention Delegates Filmed Dancing To A Misogynistic Rap Song.

KURT SCHLICHTER: “Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi is a loyal Republican, a decent guy, and generally a good senator. He also needs to retire from the Senate because he is not good enough, and I don’t care if that makes him sad.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: The Problems With Income-Based Repayment.