Wolf Blitzer to #IRS Hack John Koskinen: Why Shouldn’t Taxpayers Use 'Crashed Hard Drive' Excuse?

This hack is quite the number, and Wolf Blitzer does an excellent job grilling him, especially on his political partisanship.

Absolutely corrupt.

Supreme Court Limits Presidential Power in Recess Appointments

A big decision getting a lot of attention among conservatives, at LAT, "Supreme Court rules against Obama on recess appointments":

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Obama exceeded his power under the Constitution by filling three federal positions when the Senate was on a brief break, but justices upheld the right of the president to make recess appointments during longer breaks.

While the president is authorized to fill vacancies while the Senate is on recess, the justices decided in a 9-0 ruling that the Senate was not on a true recess in January 2012 when Obama filled three seats on the National Labor Relations Board.

The decision is a rebuke to the president, but its short-term impact on Obama could be muted because last year the Democratic-controlled Senate scrapped a long-standing filibuster rule that had allowed the current Republican minority to block a vote on many of his nominees.

Before that change was made, Republicans effectively blocked many of Obama appointments, prompting the president to turn to recess appointments as a way to fill vacant posts.

The limited scope of the court’s ruling was criticized by Justice Antonin Scalia, who agreed with the majority but said the court should have gone much further.

Justice Anthony Kennedy and the court’s most liberal members also signed onto the opinion, written by Justice Stephen Breyer.

“A Senate recess that is so short that it does not require the consent of the House is not long enough to trigger the President’s recess appointment power,” Breyer wrote.

But the court was split 5-4 on the broader question of whether the modern presidency should retain the right to make recess appointments...

More.

Also, from John Fund, at National Review, "Supreme Court Rules Unanimously Against Obama for 12th and 13th Time Since 2012."

Why the New World Order Won't Be Orderly

From Randall Schweller, at Foreign Affairs, "The Age of Entropy":

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, foreign policy experts have been predicting that the United States' days as global hegemon are coming to a close. But rather than asking themselves which country is most likely to replace the United States, they ought to be asking themselves whether the concept of global hegemony still applies in our era.

It increasingly seems that the world will no longer have a single superpower, or group of superpowers, that brings order to international politics. Instead, it will have a variety of powers -- including nations, multinational corporations, ideological movements, global crime and terror groups, and human rights organizations -- jockeying with each other, mostly unsuccessfully, to achieve their goals. International politics is transforming from a system anchored in predictable, and relatively constant, principles to a system that is, if not inherently unknowable, far more erratic, unsettled, and devoid of behavioral regularities. In terms of geopolitics, we have moved from an age of order to an age of entropy.

Entropy is a scientific concept that measures disorder: the higher the entropy, the higher the disorder. And disorder is precisely what will characterize the future of international politics. In this leaderless world, threats are much more likely to be cold than hot; danger will come less frequently in the form of shooting wars among great powers than diffuse disagreements over geopolitical, monetary, trade, and environmental issues. Problems and crises will arise more frequently and, when they do, will be resolved less cooperatively...

I don't know. I remember similar arguments like this in the early 1990s, with the end of the Cold War. Joseph Nye published a classic response to futuristic arguments in 1992, "What New World Order?"

Emily Ratajkowski for GQ Magazine

At US Weekly, "Emily Ratajkowski Poses Topless for Sexy GQ Magazine July Cover: Gone Girl Star Pictures."

And at London's Daily Mail, "'There is a lack of men who know how to hit on women': Emily Ratajkowski opens up about her dating troubles as she poses for the cover of GQ."

Check out more photos and the @GQMagazine cover story here: http://t.co/DVetxHZiHw pic.twitter.com/yIO6Gg42Ql

— Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata) June 24, 2014

#ISIS Jihadists Carrying RPK-74Ms

They're Kalashnikov light machine guns, via Ruptly:

GRAPHIC: Al-Nusra Front, #ISIS Ally, Amputates Hands of Accused Thieves in Al-Bukamal Countryside, Syria

Seeing the writing on the wall --- and no doubt hoping to avoid annihilation (beheadings, crucifixions) at the hands of ISIS --- Syria's al-Nusra Front formed an alliance with al-Qaeda's rampaging jihadist army in Iraq. See Daniel Greenfield, at FrontPage Magazine, "Al Qaeda in Syria/Iraq Doubles in Size as ISIS and Al Nusra Kiss and Make Up."

Previously, al-Nusra had rejected ISIS and swore fealty to Ayman al-Zawahiri. But as I noted previously, it's not so much doctrinal differences but leadership splinters that separate these groups. And you'd be hard pressed to find more extreme brutality anywhere in the new caliphate emerging across Eastern Syria and Western Iraq.

At Blazing Cat Fur (warning graphic), "Devout Muslims Cut Off Hands of Two Accused Thieves in Syria."

'We Should Have Had Air Cover': Nouri al-Maliki Blames Obama for Blitzkrieg #ISIS Advance — #IRAQ

Well, that U.S.-Iraq security cooperation is working out just swell.

"We should have had air cover."

At the Los Angeles Times, "Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki faults U.S. in crisis":

Iraq’s parliament will meet next week to begin the process of forming a new government, officials said Thursday, as Prime Minister Nouri Maliki blamed the United States for his army’s inability to stop Sunni Muslim insurgents who are threatening his grip on the country.

In an interview with the BBC’s Arabic-language service, Maliki said that the Iraqi army would have been able to block the insurgents’ advance into northern and western Iraq if the U.S. had moved more quickly to deliver fighter planes that Baghdad had purchased.

Apparently referring to F-16 jets that U.S. officials have said would arrive no earlier than September, Maliki said Iraqi officials had bought 36 of the planes and thought they would have received them by now.

“I’ll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract,” Maliki told the British broadcaster in his first interview with an international news organization since the insurgents seized Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, earlier this month.

“We should have sought to buy other jet fighters like British, French and Russian, to secure the air cover for our forces,” he said. “If we had air cover, we would have averted what had happened.”

More.

And at BBC News, "Iraqi PM welcomes Syria air strike on border crossing."

Poll: Conservatives More Likely to Say They Are 'Proud to Be American...'

And they needed a poll to figure this out?

At WaPo, "Proud to be an American? You’re probably not a true liberal."

I'm reminded of "The Hate America Left." The "liberal" left's platform would not exist without America-hatred. I mean just look below at the number for "solid liberals" (leftists) on "honor and duty are my core values." This is all pretty much common knowledge if you're up on contemporary politics.

Here's the Pew study to which WaPo links, "Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology."

And by the way, if you have yet, pick up a copy of Barry Rubin's new (posthumous) book, Silent Revolution: How the Left Rose to Political Power and Cultural Dominance. You won't find a better study that explains the origins and current cultural hegemony of these depraved hate-America "solid liberals."

Coincidence or Crime? Anti-McDaniel Race-Bait Flyers Look Like Work of Haley Barbour Super-PAC

From Charles C. Johnson, at Patterico's, "Anti-McDaniel Race-Based Flyer Sure Looks Similar to the Work of Barbour’s Super-PAC."



And follow Charles C. Johnson on Twitter.

Lt. Col. Ralph Peters: Obama's a 'Coward' Who 'Won't Make Tough Decisions to Defend America...'

Once again, the irrepressible Ralph Peters, on the Kelly File last night:

VIDEO: #ISIS Child Fighters Armed with Automatic Weapons as Jihadists Parade Through Mosul

At Telegraph UK, "Children armed with rifles parade in Isis convoy."

San Diego Gangbanger David Riley at Center of Supreme Court's Smartphone Privacy Ruling — #4a

Look, even the bad mofos have rights, although the decision's not likely to help this f-ker Riley.

At the Los Angeles Times, "San Diego gang member's case focus of Supreme Court privacy ruling":

When David Riley, a 19-year-old member of San Diego's Lincoln Park gang, was arrested in August 2009 on suspicion of shooting at a rival gang member, it received little or no public notice.

The same was true when Riley's first trial ended in a hung jury, and when he was convicted at a second trial of attempted murder and other charges, and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

But now Riley's name has assumed national legal prominence as one of two cases that led to Wednesday's U.S. Supreme Court decision that extended privacy rights to cellphones, a sweeping ruling for the digital age when information about a person's entire life can be stored in a mobile device.

"We got everything we wanted," said Stanford law professor Jeffrey Fisher, who was part of the team that argued the case at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court ruled 9 to 0 that police acted improperly when they seized Riley's smartphone without a warrant and discovered evidence used at his trial linking him to the gang and the shooting.

The decision does not free Riley from prison, but it could allow his attorneys to seek a new trial on grounds that the original trial was "tainted" because of the phone information, Fisher said.

In upholding Riley's conviction in 2013, a California appeals court said that cellular phone information was akin to things pulled out of a defendant's pocket during a post-arrest search and thus did not merit special protection.

Legal analysts said Wednesday's ruling would clearly apply to defendants whose cases are still pending in the courts, but may not help those, like Riley, whose convictions are already final.

"There probably will be a good deal of litigation over whether this decision can be applied retroactively," said Dennis Riordan, an appellate criminal defense lawyer based in San Francisco.

Charles M. Sevilla, a San Diego appellate criminal defense lawyer, said those defendants whose convictions are final will face "an uphill battle" in trying to persuade courts to reexamine their cases.

But the complications are unlikely to stop lawyers from trying...

PREVIOUSLY: "Supreme Court Rejects Warrantless Cellphone Searches — #4a."

State Sen. Chris McDaniel Keeps Legal Challenge Open — #MSSen

At the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, "McDaniel still pondering challenge: Spokesman Noel Fritsch hangs up when reached by phone about McDaniel's next move:

The day after incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran won the GOP primary runoff, challenger Chris McDaniel had not conceded and said his team would be looking at voting irregularities “in coming days” to determine whether to challenge the results.

McDaniel’s campaign spokesman Noel Fritsch, reached by phone late Wednesday morning, promptly hung up without answering questions about McDaniel’s next move but later issued a written statement from McDaniel. McDaniel also appeared on the Sean Hannity radio show.

Cochran, in unofficial results, defeated McDaniel with 190,633 votes to 184,260, or 51 percent to 49 percent on Tuesday.  Cochran spokesman Jordan Russell said: “We are moving forward. The election is over, and now it’s time to get ready for November. Chris McDaniel, his campaign and his supporters ran a great race. They have a lot to be proud of.”

McDaniel says Cochran’s campaign brought in Democrats to steal the GOP primary. He told Hannity he might launch a court challenge on “a civil conspiracy to violate state law.” In his written statement he said, “After we have examined the data we will make a decision about whether and how to proceed.”

Asked by Hannity whether he could support Cochran if he remains the nominee or mend fences with the state Republican establishment, McDaniel said he has been praying about it.

“It’s too early right now to get those raw emotions out of the way,” McDaniel told Hannity. “... They used everything from the race card to food stamps to saying I would shut down public education. ... I’ve fought for this (Republican Party) all my life, but they abandoned us, made fun of us and ridiculed us and brought in 35,000 Democrats to beat us.”

More.

And listen to the interview at the Right Scoop, "Chris McDaniel: “We’re not going to concede right now, we’re going to investigate”."

Milly Dowler Sister's Message for Prime Minister David Cameron

It's Gemma Dowler, older sister of Milly, in a video message for the prime minister:



Background here, "Britain's News of the World Scandal."

And at the New York Times, "Ex-Tabloid Executive Acquitted in British Phone Hacking Case."

German National Football Team Ready to Break U.S. Hearts

After that last game against Portugal I confess I'm interested in tomorrow's game. Unfortunately for the U.S., it's gonna be brutal.

At the Wall Street Journal, "Deep Germany Ready to Break U.S. Hearts: U.S. Manager Klinsmann, Players Prepared For Clash":

Gleeful members of the U.S. soccer bandwagon: Brace yourselves for a bucket of cold water called Germany.

Those ever-disciplined lads in white and black have a way of crushing supposedly ascendant soccer nations. They care little about whether their opponent is a host nation, a higher-ranked favorite or a big lovable puppy enjoying its first love affair with the game.

Germany breaks hearts.

"The expectations are simple: They've always got to win it," U.S. head coach and former German superstar Jurgen Klinsmann said Tuesday before training. "They live with that; they get along with that, so they can embrace those expectations within the inner circle as well. And that's how they prepare and start the tournament, and go from game to game. (See a profile of the German team.)

"So their consistency is really something that they're really known for. Obviously their spirit is always going into the last second of the game, to turn things around, fighting until the last moment."

There is consistency in sports and then there is Die Mannschaft, as the team is known...

Keep reading.

Supreme Court Rules Against #Aereo Streaming TV Service

At Ars Technica, "Supreme Court puts Aereo out of business," and the Los Angeles Times, "Supreme Court rules against upstart Aereo TV service in copyright case."

Also at the New York Times, "Aereo Loses at Supreme Court, in Victory for TV Broadcasters":

WASHINGTON — Aereo made an all-or-nothing bet. The digital start-up threatened to upend the media industry and transform the way people watch television.

It likely will end up with nothing.

In a case with far-reaching implications for the entertainment and technology business, the United States Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Aereo, a television streaming service, had violated copyright laws by capturing broadcast signals on miniature antennas and delivering them to subscribers for a fee.

The 6 to 3 decision handed a major victory to the broadcast networks, which argued that Aereo’s business model was no more than a high-tech approach for stealing their content.

The justices’ ruling leaves the current broadcast model intact while imperiling Aereo’s viability as a business, just two years after a team of engineers, lawyers, marketers and even an Olympic medalist came together with a vision to provide a new viewing service that “enables choice and freedom.”

Broadcasters applauded the ruling, and shares in the media groups shot up on Wednesday.

“For two years they have been in existence, trying to hurt our business,” Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS, said in a telephone interview. “They fought the good fight. They lost. Time to move on.”

Chet Kanojia, Aereo’s founder and chief executive, said in a statement that the ruling was a “massive setback” for consumers and “sends a chilling message to the technology industry.”

Aereo had previously said it had “no Plan B” if it lost in court. On Wednesday, Mr. Kanojia said that “our work is not done” and that Aereo would continue to “fight to create innovative technologies,” but he did not specifically say how the company would move forward. Analysts and legal experts said Aereo was left with few options in an opinion that rejected all of its major arguments.

"No Plan B"? Ouch.

Continue reading.

Also at SCOTUS Blog, "Opinion analysis: A clever new technology thwarted — for now," and "But what about the “cloud”? The Aereo argument in Plain English."

#ISIS Jihadists Claim Baghdad Will Fall 'In Less Than One Month...'

A great report, at the BBC, "Baghdad will fall 'in less than one month', according to Sunni insurgents in Iraq."

Supreme Court Rejects Warrantless Cellphone Searches — #4a

We watched Damon Root's Reason TV discussion of this case in my classes last semester. I knew the Court would overturn the convictions as violations of the Fourth Amendment.

And now at the New York Times, "Major Ruling Shields Privacy of Cellphones: Supreme Court Says Phones Can’t Be Searched Without a Warrant":

WASHINGTON — In a sweeping victory for privacy rights in the digital age, the Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously ruled that the police need warrants to search the cellphones of people they arrest.

While the decision will offer protection to the 12 million people arrested every year, many for minor crimes, its impact will most likely be much broader. The ruling almost certainly also applies to searches of tablet and laptop computers, and its reasoning may apply to searches of homes and businesses and of information held by third parties like phone companies.

“This is a bold opinion,” said Orin S. Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University. “It is the first computer-search case, and it says we are in a new digital age. You can’t apply the old rules anymore.”

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the court, was keenly alert to the central role that cellphones play in contemporary life. They are, he said, “such a pervasive and insistent part of daily life that the proverbial visitor from Mars might conclude they were an important feature of human anatomy.”

But he added that old principles required that their contents be protected from routine searches. One of the driving forces behind the American Revolution, Chief Justice Roberts wrote, was revulsion against “general warrants,” which “allowed British officers to rummage through homes in an unrestrained search for evidence of criminal activity.”

“The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand,” the chief justice wrote, “does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the founders fought.”

More.

Also at SCOTUS Blog, "Get a warrant! Today’s cellphone privacy decision in Plain English," and "Opinion analysis: Broad cloak of privacy for cellphones."

Criminal Illegal Alien 'Stash Houses' Thrive Along Texas-Mexico Border

At WSJ, "Immigrant 'Stash Houses' Thrive Along Texas-Mexico Border: Some Smugglers Cram 100 or More Migrants Into a Decrepit House":

SAN JUAN, Texas—Sgt. Rolando Garcia sat in a surveillance van earlier this month, staking out a white wooden house surrounded by sprawling cactus in this city of 35,000 residents near the U.S.-Mexico border.

He wasn't looking for signs of drugs or weapons, but for evidence that it was a stash house packed with illegal immigrants, the hottest illicit commodity for smugglers on the Texas border.

Human smuggling is nothing new along the U.S.-Mexico boundary, but federal, state and local officials report a rise in Texas in recent months, as thousands of Central Americans sneak into the country—including many unaccompanied children. The migrants are overwhelming authorities along the Rio Grande.

The criminal networks being uncovered in Texas involve large groups of immigrants—and increasingly brazen smugglers. They often hold migrants hostage and threaten them with brutality if their friends or relatives don't produce extra money to release them, authorities said. Sometime, they kidnap migrants from rival smuggling gangs.

Earlier this month, San Juan police found 43 people trapped inside one suspected stash house. The migrants claimed that their captors threatened to electrocute them if they tried to escape, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

"We don't enforce immigration law, but we're obligated to intervene," said Sgt. Garcia, who said his department is now getting five to six calls a day about suspected stash houses. It has busted 21 such houses in the past nine months, four more than in the previous 12 months.

More.

Ashley Salazar for Playboy Mexico

A Latin lovely.

At Egotastic!, "Ashley Salazar Poses in Playboy Mexico."