A.M. Links: U.S. Government Asks for Private Information More Than Once Per Minute, EPA Office Accuses EPA Office of Blocking Investigations, Michael Jordan Considered Himself a Racist in His Youth

The
U.S. government is reportedly pinging
Verizon and AT&T more than once per minute in search of
private customer information.
The House is expected to take two votes related to the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) this week; it will vote today on
whether to hold Lois Lerner in contempt and tomorrow on a
resolution urging Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special
counsel to investigate the IRS.
The Office of the Inspector General at the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accusing the agency’s
Office of Homeland Security of illegally blocking its
investigations.
The New Jersey Board of Pensions rejected an application by a

Camden police officer who staged a shooting with his wife. One
member of the board wondered why no charges more seriously than
“disorderly conduct” were brought against the officer for the
apparent fraud.
In a recently released biography,
Michael Jordan reveals that he considered himself a racist
against white people in his youth.
Vietnam claims a vessel from
China intentionally rammed two of its own in a disputed region
of the South China Sea.