After denying any such incidents ahead of last years election, IRS officials acknowledged and apologized Friday for letting it happen, in afield office. Workers there perused applications for social welfare designation, a tax-free status used by many super PACs because some political activity is allowed, targeting the words patriot and tea party.

Tea party activists doubly miffed for being targeted and then having their complaints blown off by the press are hardly mollified by the apology.

Calling it a textbook example of the very kind of government tyranny that tea party groups have been warning about, Republican lawmakers are demanding investigations into what , (R) of , called unconscionable behavior. Tea party groups want the workers in question to be fired.

Whether the ultimate fault comes down to shoddy work or political trickery is still unresolved. The IRS commissioner at the time, Douglas Shulman, was a Bush appointee, and the IRS, despite a past history of political meddling for the White House, is usually lauded for its independence.

Moreover, the bottom line of the investigation touched on a key political debate: Gauging whether so-called social welfare groups that apply for tax exempt status are in fact no more than political operations in disguise. 501(c)4 is the designation under which most political Super PACs operate.

In a prepared statement released late Friday, the IRS explained that employees were attempting to centralize a large number of applications. In the end, some 300 applications were pulled, about half with patriot or tea party associations. None were ultimately denied.

"While centralizing cases for consistency made sense, the way we initially centralized them did not," the statement said. "Mistakes were made initially, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale. We fixed the situation last year and have made significant progress in moving the centralized cases through our system."

When tea party complaints were raised last year, theweighed in supporting the IRS, though the paper also said scrutiny should be focused on groups of all political stripes.

Taxpayers should be encouraged by complaints from Tea Party chapters applying for nonprofit tax status at being asked by theto prove they are 'social welfare' organizations and not the political activists they so obviously are, the Times editorial page wrote.

While no crime seems to have taken place, the optics alone are likely to bring intense scrutiny on the operation by Republican lawmakers, including how it started, who carried out the policy, and whether it was approved by bureaucrats higher up in the chain. Letters sent by the IRS to some of the tea party applicants demanded lists of donors, names of volunteers, and printed copies ofpages, some of which violated IRS policy.

"Some of what they [the IRS] asked was reasonable, but there were some requests on there that were strange," Toby Marie Walker, president of the Waco Tea Party toldlast year. "It makes you wonder if they do this to groups likeor other left-leaning groups.

Tension between the government and conservative grassroots groups has waxed and waned since the election of President Obama and the 2009 stimulus package, which set off a tea party movement that has since infiltrated the very bones of , resulting, in, among other things, the current budget sequester, or automatic budget cuts, mandated by a 2011 resolution to allow the country to raise its debt limit.

In 2009, theissued a controversial warning about the possibility of domestic terrorism coming out of right wing extremism, including some patriot groups.

The appearance now of a government allegedly using bureaucrats for political thuggery has revivified those suspicions, ironically threatening to undermine the IRS goal of protecting taxpayers from fraud.

This kind of administrative abuse is the sort of slow-acting poison that can kill civil society, writesat . I'd like to see the IRS demonstrate that this is just an isolated incident one that they are very determined not to see repeated.

While theres no evidence that the targeting of right-wing groups had political motivation indeed, the notion was disabused strongly by IRS officials Friday the agency has a colorful history of political imbroglios, especially dating back to the Nixon era some 40 years ago.

At that time, Judge Charles Richey reprimanded the agency for appearing to politically target civil rights groups, noting that a showing of political influence renders the Services ruling null and void [and] outside the law. Judge Richey added that the court was worried about the creation of a political atmosphere generated by the White House in the Internal Revenue Service which may have affected the objectivity of those participating .

So far, the IRS has apparently not disciplined the workers involved in targeting the tea party groups. During a hastily-arranged conference call late Friday, Lois Lerner, who heads the agencys tax-exempt group oversight, refused to say whether the employees would be called to task.

White House spokesmantold reporters yesterday that Obama doesnt want the incident whitewashed, saying the President would expect that it be thoroughly investigated and action would be taken." Rep. Issa, who chairs the Oversight Committee chairman, says, "The Committee will aggressively follow up and hold responsible officials accountable for this political retaliation.

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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Seth MacFarlane is adding one more voice to Fox, and it's happening earlier than expected.

MacFarlane, who created and provides voices for the network's "Family Guy," "American Dad" and "The Cleveland Show," will guest-voice the Season 24 finale of "The Simpsons," airing May 19.

This will mark MacFarlane's first time providing a voice for "The Simpsons." The MacFarlane episode was originally intended to air next season but was moved up to this year's finale by the producers.

In the episode - which is dubbed "Dangers on a Train," and will be the second part of an hour-long season finale - MacFarlane will play Ben, a charming married man who meets series matriarch Marge Simpson after she inadvertently signs up for a swingers' website.

Marge ends up in the world of online swingers after mistaking an Ashley Madison-type website for a Dolly Madison-esque site about cupcakes and develops a bond with Ben after discovering that they are both fans of a "Downton Abbey"-type series titled "Upton Rectory."

Comedian Lisa Lampinelli will voice Ben's wife.

The first part of the finale, "The Saga of Carl," will find Homer, Lenny, Moe and Carl winning $200,000 in the Springfield Lottery. Complications develop when Carl takes off to his native Iceland with all the winnings.

Halladay, the Cy Young Award winner as his league's best pitcher in 2003 and 2010, was scheduled to have surgery as early as next week when doctors also plan to clean up fraying in his labrum and rotator cuff.

The right-hander visited Dodgers physician Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles on Monday and was diagnosed after having an X-ray and MRI.

"The doctor seemed pretty optimistic ... I could come back and be a lot more effective and have a chance to pitch this year and turn back the clock," Halladay told reporters before the visiting Phillies played the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.

"I thought it was very good news. Obviously I don't want to miss time, but I think as far as scenarios go, I feel like it's a lot better than some of the things I anticipated."

Halladay began to feel pain in his shoulder after his April 24 start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, then allowed 17 runs in just six innings in his last two outings before informing the Phillies he was no longer able to pitch.

"My biggest concern was I couldn't throw the ball where I wanted," said the 35-year-old. "I wasn't concerned about velocity; the pain wasn't overwhelming. I couldn't understand why my location was so poor..

"I didn't know if they had to tighten something up, I really didn't know.

"I kind of felt like it was good news, that I have a good chance to come back and pitch and help us try to get to the World Series. That's the ultimate goal. That's why I'm playing."

Halladay, who missed almost two months last year because of a strained back muscle, is 2-4 with an 8.65 ERA in seven starts this season for the Phillies, who at 16-18 were in third place behind National League East-leading Atlanta.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Larry Fine)

include hurricanes and typhoons, storms that form in the world's tropical latitudes and spin ferociously around a center called an eye. Only eight named tropical cyclones hit Hawaii between 1979 and 2010, said scientists at the University of Hawaii's International Pacific Research Center. But the researchers' new model predicts a two-to-three-fold increase in such storms between 2075 and 2099. The study is detailed in the May 5 issue of the journal Nature Climate Change.

The results illustrate how global warming can lead to strong regional climate differences, the researchers said. "Computer models run with global warming scenarios generally project a decrease in tropical cyclones worldwide. This, though, may not be what will happen with local communities," lead study author Hiroyuki Murakami said in a statement.

In the Pacific Ocean, tropical cyclones that could threatentypically arise off the west coast of Mexico from June through November. But lack of moisture over the Pacific and strong westerly winds usually stop the storms from reaching the islands.

But the new model predicts that these westerly winds called aand similar to the polar jet stream will shift northward in the next 60 years, removing the roadblock. The projections also suggest the eastern Pacific Ocean will warm, giving storms more fuel in the form of rising moisture.

"The yearly number we project, however, still remains very low," study co-author Bin Wang said in a statement. Between 1979 and 2003, on average, one tropical cyclone pummeled the islands every four years. The researchers expect that number will double or triple.

The storm projections are based on athat includes the history of North Pacific tropical cyclones and a temperature rise of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius).

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The move by Rene Gonzalez is part of a deal by Federal Judge Joan Lenard to allow him to stay in Cuba rather than complete the probation he was serving in the U.S.

Gonzalez arrived Monday afternoon at the U.S. Interests Section, which Washington maintains instead of an embassy.

The 56-year-old is one of the so-called "Cuban Five," intelligence agents convicted in 2001 of spying on U.S. military installations in South Florida, as well as exile groups and politicians.

The men are celebrated as heroes in Cuba, which says they were trying to prevent a wave of bombings by Miami-based militant groups.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario's minority Liberal government unveiled a budget on Thursday that projected a narrower-than-expected 2013-14 deficit and included measures aimed at securing opposition support and preventing an early election for Premier Kathleen Wynne.

However, it was not clear whether the budget will receive enough support to keep the Liberals in power, as opposition New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath said she would consult with voters before deciding what to.

Canada's most populous province, which accounts for about 40 percent of the country's economy, will run a budget shortfall of C$11.7 billion ($11.60 billion) in 2013-14 under the C$127 billion budget plan unveiled by Finance Minister Charles Sousa, who succeeded Dwight Duncan in February.

The deficit is below the government's year-ago forecast of C$12.8 billion, but above its 2012-13 shortfall of C$9.8 billion.

With just 51 seats in the 107-seat Ontario legislature, Wynne's Liberals need the support of at least one opposition party to pass the budget and avert an automatic election.

The right-leaning Progressive Conservatives, who hold the second-most seats, said they will not support the document, while Horwath gave it a lukewarm reception, even as she acknowledged the government listened to many the demands she has made in recent weeks.

"This budget clearly reflects the budget proposal we put forward ... but we want to make sure (voters) get those results," she told reporters.

Wynne, whose party's popularity jumped when she took over from longtime Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty in January, has since watched poll numbers move in favor of the PCs, as her government struggled with the fallout of a power generation spending scandal.

The PCs currently enjoy 36 percent support, followed by 33 percent for the Liberals and 26 percent for the NDP, according to an aggregation of recent polls published in the Globe & Mail newspaper on Tuesday.

As such, the budget featured more than a little input from NDP leader Horwath in certain areas, most notably a pledge to cut auto insurance premiums 15 percent, as well as a C$295 million youth job creation program.

"We recognize that we're in a minority situation and we need to work with all sides of the house," Sousa told reporters.

The auto insurance reduction follows ballooning premiums in recent years, which insurers have blamed on rising claims and fraud-related costs.

Sousa said he has been in touch with insurance companies - Ontario's largest publicly traded auto insurer is Intact Financial Corp - and hopes to see rates start to come down within a year.

PATH TO BALANCED BUDGET

The deficit is seen shrinking to C$10.1 billion in 2014-15 and C$7.2 billion the following year, and disappearing by 2017-18, a projection that relies on average annual revenue increases of 3 percent over the next three years and expense growth of just 1.8 percent.

"To maintain that (expense growth), it's going to be very challenging," said Jonathan Bendiner, an economist at TD Economics.

Ontario's deficits spiraled higher in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis when global automakers shed jobs, sending tremors through the province's industrial base.

Public long-term borrowing during 2013-14 should total C$33.4 billion, down C$3.2 billion from 2012-13 and C$5.7 below forecasts, which the government attributed to lower-than-projected deficits in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

The government's total public debt is expected to hit C$272.8 billion next year.

The budget extends a freeze on corporate tax implemented in the previous year's budget and will extend an accelerated capital cost allowance program for manufacturers at a cost of C$265 million over three years.

(With additional writing by Allison Martell; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Andre Grenon)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co's X-51A Waverider made history this week when it achieved the longest hypersonic flight by a jet-fuel powered aircraft, flying for 3-1/2 minutes at five times the speed of sound, the U.S. Air Force said on Friday.

The last of four unmanned experimental military aircraft built by Boeing flew for at a top speed of Mach 5.1 over the Pacific Ocean on May 1, the Air Force said. The total flight covered 230 nautical miles in just over six minutes before the hypersonic cruiser plunged into the ocean.

"It was a full mission success," said Charlie Brink, who runs the X-51A program for the Air Force Research Laboratory Aerospace Systems Directorate.

The Air Force said it was the longest of the four X-51A test flights and the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight ever. The technology opens the door to future practical uses for hypersonic jet-fueled aircraft.

A hypersonic aircraft developed by NASA used hydrogen as a fuel to fly briefly at even higher speeds in 2004, but it would take a giant fuel tank to fly for longer periods.

"All we have learned from the X-51A Waverider will serve as the bedrock for future hypersonics research and ultimately the practical application of hypersonic flight," Brink said.

A video released by the Air Force showed the Waverider dropping down from under the left wing of a B-52 bomber at an altitude of about 50,000 feet and then accelerating away at great speed, leaving behind a long vapor trail.

The cruiser accelerated to March 4.8 in about 26 seconds, powered by a solid rocket booster built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a unit of United Technologies. After separating from the booster, the cruiser's scramjet engine lit and accelerated the vehicle to Mach 5.1 at 60,000 feet.

The vehicle continued to send back data to the control station at Edwards Air Force Base in California until it made a controlled dive into the Pacific Ocean.

"This demonstration of a practical hypersonic scramjet engine is a historic achievement that has been years in the making," said Darryl Davis, president of Boeing Phantom Works, the company's advanced research and prototyping arm.

"This test proves the technology has matured to the point that it opens the door to practical applications, such as advanced defense systems and more cost-effective access to space," Davis said.

The first of the four X-51A vehicles flew in May 2010, hitting nearly Mach 5 for nearly two and a half minutes.

The nearly wingless X-51 was made using mostly standard aerospace materials such as aluminum, steel and titanium, although some carbon composites were used in the fins. For heat protection, the vehicle used insulation tiles similar to those used on board the NASA Space Shuttle orbiters.

The Air Force said the four X-51As were built to demonstrate the new technology, not as a prototype for a new weapon system. The program is aimed at paving the way to future hypersonic weapons, hypersonic intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and future access to space, it said.

Since scramjets are able to burn atmospheric oxygen, they can be made lighter than conventional rockets, which may allow satellites to be launched into orbit more efficiently and cheaply.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Additional reporting by Don Pessin; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

My husband and I kept quiet because we didn't want to interfere. About a month ago, he decided he no longer wanted to be married. Since then, my daughter has revealed that shortly after the wedding she discovered her engagement ring was a fake, and he insisted she pay for half the costs of the honeymoon -- which she did.

We're not wealthy people, so paying for their wedding was a stretch for us. I am furious that my soon-to-be ex-son-in-law sat and watched us spend thousands of dollars on a wedding, knowing full well my daughter was wearing a fake ring on her hand and then insisted she pay for half the honeymoon.

I wonder what his real motive was in marrying her. He shows no remorse and portrays himself as the "victim" for having married someone who couldn't get along with his mother.

How do I move forward and get over my anger and need for retribution? -- OUTRAGED IN OKLAHOMA

DEAR OUTRAGED: Start by thanking your lucky stars that your daughter will soon be free of a husband who appears to be already married to his mother. Then realize that your daughter was married to a dishonest, verbally abusive user to whom she might have been tied for a lifetime if she'd had a child or two with him.

DEAR ABBY: I'm a 24-year-old gay man, and I still don't know if I want to have children or not. I feel that by this point I should know, but I don't. When I date, the subject inevitably comes up, and I never know how to respond.

I used to think that children were an expense I would never want, but now the thought pops into my head from time to time. People have told me I'd be a great dad. I think so, too.

When and how will I know for sure? And in the meantime, what should I tell the guys I date? -- UNDECIDED IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

DEAR UNDECIDED: It is not unusual for a person your age -- regardless of sexual orientation -- to be unsure about taking on the responsibilities of parenthood. You will probably know "for sure" you want children when you are in a stable relationship and financially able to provide for them. In the meantime, tell the guys you date that you "think" you would like to be a parent one day -- but you're not yet ready to set up a nursery.

DEAR ABBY: I'm a 29-year-old male. Is it normal for me to be dating a woman who is in her mid-50s? I really like her, and she likes me, but sex seems to be an issue because she is hesitant to engage with someone who is my age. In her words, she is old enough to be my mother and it's "weird." What are your thoughts? -- JAY IN NEW JERSEY

DEAR JAY: It's unusual for a man in his 20s to be dating a woman that much older, but it's not unheard of. It is more common for the reverse to be true. Remind her that the age difference hasn't stopped some men from doing it, and we're living in the age of equality.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

What teens need to know about sex, drugs, AIDS and getting along with peers and parents is in "What Every Teen Should Know." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Teen Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

It's the second-known trip to a healthcare facility for the British actress since 2011, when news first broke that she suffers from bipolar II disorder - a milder form of the illness that is marked by sharp mood swings and erratic behavior.

"Catherine has pro-actively checked into a healthcare facility," publicist Cece Yorke said on Monday. "Previously Catherine has said that she is committed to periodic care in order to manage her health in an optimum manner."

Zeta-Jones, 43, who won an Oscar for her role in the 2002 musical "Chicago," underwent treatment in 2011 for what aides said was the stress of coping with the advanced throat cancer diagnosis and treatment of her husband, actor Michael Douglas.

No specific reason was given this time for her decision to seek help.

Bipolar II is a milder form of the disorder and is marked by less manic "up" moods but more depressive episodes, according to medical experts. It can be treated with medication or therapy.

Zeta-Jones was last seen on screen in February in the crime thriller "Side Effects," which received warm critical acclaim.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Philip Barbara)