Police fired tear gas, smoke bombs and rubber bullets in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri.

The situation became more tense after nightfall, with police ordering people to go home and then using smoke bombs and later tear gas after some people threw Molotov cocktails and other things at them.

Here's an AP photo. Here's a live-streamed video of the lead up to the police actions and the aftermath. From the video, it was the police who advanced first, on a crowd that seems peaceful, and had their hands in the air while they chanted "Hands up, don't shoot."

Not on the video, there is a photo of some protesters trying to light a molotov cocktail (unsuccessfully, according to the caption) and another of a protester throwing a burning tear gas canister back at police (In other words, the police threw first.)Here's a photo of an empty tear gas canister picked up at the scene. [More....]

Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, says the new military advisers who went to Sinjar have found the crisis is over. Military assistance (as opposed to humanitarian assistance) is not needed.

The Obama administration has ruled out for now a risky US military mission to rescue thousands of Iraqis stranded on a northern Iraqi mountain, declaring a siege by Islamist extremists to be over. ...Kirby said in a statement that the team on Mount Sinjar found a situation less dire than the administration and international organizations initially thought when the US sent its warplanes back to Iraq for the first time since 2011.

The Denver Post today has a detailed profile of Senior District Court Judge John Kane, who is well-known for challenging authority.

As a boy growing up in Depression-era Denver,John Kane learned to identify with those on the fringes of society, the powerless, those who were forced to sit in the balcony at movie theaters. He also learned to challenge authority — a skill he embraces with gusto as a federal judge.

Judge Kane was our first public defender in 1964. He served as a Deputy Director in the Peace Corps. He was appointed to the federal bench by President Carter in 1977. He's been an outspoken critic of the war on drugs for decades and of the draconian child p*rn sentencing guidelines. Most recently, he's been in the news for his decisive and much heralded rulings in inmate Jamal Hunter's abuse lawsuit against Denver sheriffs at the Denver County Jail. [More...]

Update: CENTCOM says the U.S. today struck an ISIS convoy west of Sinjar using a remotely piloted aircraft. This new Guardian op-ed explains why military intervention by the U.S. is the wrong answer.

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Deputy national security adviser Benjamin J. Rhodes, speaking from Martha's Vineyard today, said Obama will consider proposals to use ground troops to save the Yazidis. He also said the U.S. would not use ground troops in combat in Iraq.

ISIS meanwhile marches on.[More...]

Colorado is spending $2 million on a campaign called "Don't Be a Lab Rat" to warn teens about possible brain damage from marijuana. As part of the campaign, life size rat cages have been set up at the Denver Public Library and Denver Skate Park (Photo via CBS Denver.) More are planned. The cage at the skateboard park has already been defaced. [More...]

Update 8/12: A new detailed statement from the Marin County Sheriff's on Robin Williams death. Really sad.

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As Howard Cossell would say, "An unspeakable tragedy tonight in Tiberon, CA." Robin Williams, who struggled so hard against depression, lost the battle and took his own life today at age 63. The Marin County Sheriff's office has issued a release:

At this time, the Sheriff's Office Coroner Division suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia, but a comprehensive investigation must be completed before a final determination is made. A forensic examination is currently scheduled for August 12, 2014 with subsequent toxicology testing to be conducted.

Depression kills. Our condolences to his family and everyone who knew and loved him.

There aren't many people who could dislodge Iraq and ISIS from all three major cable news networks, for over an hour, and Robin Williams is clearly one of them. R.I.P. Robin, and thank you for sharing your talent and generosity will so many millions of people. You will be missed.

It's a jail day for me, which means an open thread for you. All topics welcome, but please watch your tone and avoid name-calling and insults to other commenters as well as posting comments intended soley to bait others whose views you disagree with. Our last thread had several such comments, it's cleaned now and a few people are in time out.

Here is the new interview with Hillary Clinton in the Atlantic on Syria, ISIS, Israel and Gaza, Libya and Obama's foreign policy.

Also, the New York Times has a new profile on ISIS leader al Baghdadi today, U.S. Actions in Iraq Fueled Rise of a Rebel. It claims Hillary has accused Obama of aiding the rise of ISIS by both withdrawing troops from Iraq and not intervening in Syria: [More...]

Update: President Masum has named Haider al Abadi as the next Prime Minister. Maliki remains defiant, calling the nomination illegal. John Kerry says:

Kerry said Maliki’s actions could lead the U.S. to withhold further military assistance just days after American jets and drones began launching air strikes against Islamic State positions in northern Iraq.

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Baghdad is erupting. Prime Minister Maliki has brought out the Shi'a milita and security forces and locked down the Green Zone, closed the airports, and ordered a curfew. It's kind of like a coup against the new President, Fuad Masum, who Maliki says violated the Constitution by extending the time to choose a Prime Minister until Saturday. Tanks are patrolling the streets.[More...]

Where's ISIS today? While the U.S. is focused on Erbil, ISIS as usual has been a step ahead. For an ongoing chronology of today's military action, check out Memlik Pasha, Mark and Charles Lister (Brookings.) For translations of ISIS releases, check out AbuUmarAlAnsari and ISISNews3. For official ISIS releases from the 13 or so various provinces, click on the "follow" link for any one of them -- they only follow each other. They post links to their text and photo releases on justpaste.it. [More...]

President Richard Nixon, the most unpopular president until George W. Bush, resigned from office 40 years ago today.

My favorite Richard Nixon article: Hunter Thompson's June 16, 1994 eulogy published in Rolling Stone, "He Was a Crook."

It was Richard Nixon who gave us the War on Drugs. Here's his speech on June 17, 1971. He also gave us the DEA, by executive order on July 1, 1973. [More...]

I've been so busy following ISIS I forgot to put up a new open thread. I know there are other things going on the world, so here's a place to discuss them. All topics welcome.