MICHAEL BARONE: Why is Obama administration blocking Detroit River bridge? ” One possible reason: to propitiate Matty Maroun, the Michigan billionaire who owns the Ambassador Bridge and profits handsomely from tolls and concessions. He has financed Michigan ballot propositions designed to stop funding the new bridge, to which he remains strongly opposed. Or perhaps the Obama administration is indulging in a fit of pique against the government of Canada, which keeps pressing for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which has been pending now for five years (longer than the time from Pearl Harbor to the surrender of Germany in 1945). Or maybe the administration is just letting this project fall through the cracks through sheer incompetence or inertia.”

SPYING: Intelligence Director Appears to Concede NSA Searched Americans’ Communications.

Related: Democratic senators: Obama was ‘misleading’ about NSA surveillance.

THIS STORY IS ABOUT MEXICO’S LIME PROBLEM:

As a result of high prices and rampant lawlessness in some Mexican regions, criminals who may be linked to drug gangs are plundering fruit from groves and hijacking trucks being used for export, said Bill Vogel, president of Vision Produce, a Los Angeles-based importer. A truck headed for Vision’s sister company in Texas was hijacked two weeks ago in Mexico, he said, and growers and shippers now are hiring armed guards to protect their green gold.

The produce wars on the ground are not limited to limes. Criminal cartels now control, to a shocking extent, the growing and packing of much of the Mexican produce on which United States consumers depend. An article last November in the Mexican newspaper Vanguardia reported that the Knights Templar drug cartel has used kidnapping, murder, money laundering and terror to take over the lucrative avocado business in Michoacán, the top state for production and export of the fruit.

Criminal elements also have significantly infiltrated the Mexican mango industry to launder money, said Richard Campbell, a horticulturist and mango expert who travels to Mexico several times a year as a consultant. “Many growers don’t go to their fields because they’re afraid,” Mr. Campbell said. “I’m sure that this has lowered the quality of the mangoes, because it’s harder to control quality.”

Basically, though, it’s telling us that we have a failed state on our southern border.

FORBES: California and Leland Yee: Proof One Party Rule Corrupts.

YA THINK? Bryan Preston: The Media Won’t Cover Leland Yee’s Alleged Gun-Running Because They’re Democrat Operatives with By-Lines. So far, he’s still getting almost exclusively local coverage. Plus: “If he hadn’t been forced out of the race by being arrested, what would Leland Yee have done with the California secretary of state post? There’s a question that no one in the media will even think of pursuing.”

Plus: “Everyone knows why MSNBC isn’t interested in the Leland Yee story. He’s a Democrat and they’re open leftwingers. But CNN is still supposed to be a news network. They have no excuse for omitting the Yee story. It’s obvious that the only thing stopping them from covering Yee is that, if the charges against him are true, the anti-gun gun-running Democrat is the biggest hypocrite in the political universe. But the likes of CNN are right behind him.”

Compare and contrast: Chris Christie and the eternal bridge investigation.

SHOCKER: Chelsea Clinton Mother-in-Law Used Charity for Personal Gain: Dem congressional candidate took six-figure salary, leased mansion as head of taxpayer-funded charity.

Well, it takes a lot of money to stand up for the poor against the exploitative rich.

JUSTICE: Woman Who Fabricated Rape Story Gets Break. “A Suffield woman who reported a sexual assault last spring but eventually confessed that it was an elaborate fabrication was admitted to a special program Thursday in Enfield Superior Court to potentially drop the charges in the case.”

IF HEALTH FOOD IS SO GOOD FOR YOU, WHY ARE THE PEOPLE WHO WORK IN THOSE STORES ALWAYS SO THIN AND PALE? Study: Vegetarians Less Healthy, Lower Quality Of Life Than Meat-Eaters.

AT AMAZON, deals on Spring Shoes & Handbags.

Also, up to 40% off on select Watts Premier Water Filter Products.

THE FIRST THING WE DO, LET’S SUE ALL THE LAWYERS: Chevron v. Patton, Boggs.

SUBJECTING KOBE BRYANT to racial discipline.

STILL NOT ON CNN: The Unbelievable Story Of How An Anti-Gun Politician Ended Up Arrested For Alleged International Arms Dealing.

SO, KINDA LIKE THE OBAMACARE NUMBERS, THEN? Senate Report Says CIA Repeatedly Lied About The Fact That Its Torture Efforts Were Useless In Finding Bin Laden.

GENDER RELATIONS AT THE WASHINGTON POST: “See? Mona Charen, Mollie Hemingway and Karin Agness shouldn’t worry their pretty little heads. They should just outsource their thinking to the gallant Sir Dana Milbank, and let him speak on their behalf. He’s got an Honorary Vagina, you know.”

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: An App That Generates Your Casual-Sex Ad For Craigslist. You might hold out for the later versions. . . .

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: On ‘Late’-In-Life Virginity Loss. “What eventually made him feel ready was practicing orgasmic meditation, which entails stroking a woman’s clitoris for 15 minutes. The class, which he joined after hearing about it from a friend, eased McDorman into being sexual in a permissible environment where he felt safe. Soon after, he lost his virginity to a girl in this community and later met his current girlfriend.”

MY USA TODAY COLUMN Takes CNN To Task Over Its Leland Yee Non-Coverage.

REMINDER: In 2009, Barack Obama “Joked” About Auditing His Enemies.

THOSE CARING FOLKS AT THE GOVERNMENT WILL KEEP YOU SAFE: The government knew about GM ignition problems and did nothing.

MY BACON DEFICIENCY IS BAD ENOUGH, NOW THIS: Five a day is not enough fruit and veg for best health.

AT AMAZON, take an extra 20% off select Kidde fire safety products. Make sure your smoke alarms and fire extinguishers are up to date.

Also, deals on Women’s Athletic Shoes.

MY USA TODAY COLUMN Takes CNN To Task Over Its Leland Yee Non-Coverage.

VIKINGS, CHRISTIANS, and crucifixion.

COPYRIGHT ABUSE: Telemundo & Univision Copyright Claim On YouTube Takes Down US Congressional Appropriations Hearing.

It is difficult to see how anything in a US Congressional appropriation committee hearing on the budget of the US court system would likely infringe on the copyrights of these two television stations. It seems likely that there was some sort of mess up involving YouTube’s ContentID. Yet, once again, we see how an overaggressive copyright system, combined with automated tools like ContentID can lead to censorship of content that is in the public interest.

Soon after Schultze pointed this out, the message on the video’s page switched from being a copyright claim to that the video had been made “private.” So, it’s likely this is in the process of being sorted out. And, yes, in the long run, it seems unlikely that a random House Appropriations Committee hearing on the court system’s budget is so important that it needs to be available immediately. But just the fact that a questionable copyright claim, combined with an automatic takedown system appears to be making information disappear from public hearings in the US Congress should raise alarm bells.

Yes.

WELL, IT MAY NOT SEEM LIKE A VIOLENT CRIME, BUT IT IS: California man who lasered two helicopters to face 14 years behind bars. People could die, and pilots could potentially suffer long-term blindness.