Reuters is among those reporting that ISIS has brought in engineers to repair the Mosul Dam. It looks like ISIS intends to supply Mosul with water, not open the floodgates, as many have feared.

An engineer at Mosul dam told Reuters that Islamic State fighters had brought in engineers to repair an emergency power line to the city, Iraq's biggest in the north, that had been cut off four days ago, causing power outages and water shortages. "They are gathering people to work at the dam," he said.

ISIS' Ninwa News has released a video of its takeover of the dam. There's no violence in it and you can watch it here or download it here. It says the Peshmerga fled, leaving behind their uniforms, with the TV still running, and provides screenshots. [More....]

The Colorado Department of Revenue has released the June, 2014 figures for marijuana sales and tax revenue. The Denver Post reports retail recreational marijuana sales were $24.7 million, the highest since January when sales began. June's figures were 19% higher than May, possibly due to the opening of additional retail stores.

Legal marijuana (both medical and recreational, taxes, licenses and fees) generated $29.8 million in taxes from January to June. [More...]

There is still no official response by ISIS to the U.S. Airstrikes. But, via Reuters:

A fighter told Reuters by telephone the U.S. air strikes would have "no impact on us".

"The planes attack positions they think are strategic, but this is not how we operate. We are trained for guerrilla street war," he said. "God is with us and our promise is heaven. When we are promised heaven, do you think death will stop us?"

Do ISIS fighters (as opposed to supporters) really talk to the media by phone? Who knows, but I do think the response is in line with what ISIS will say when it does respond.

Related: Matthew Barber, a scholar at the University of Chicago, has been in Sinjar and Shariya (another Yazidi town near Dohuk) with the Yazidis and the Kurds all week. He has a very informative, interesting first person account of events. [More...]

President Obama gave a lengthy interview to Tom Friedman at the New York Times. On ISIS and their goal of a Caliphate state:

We do have a strategic interest in pushing back ISIL. We’re not going to let them create some caliphate through Syria and Iraq, but we can only do that if we know that we’ve got partners on the ground who are capable of filling the void. So if we’re going to reach out to Sunni tribes, if we’re going to reach out to local governors and leaders, they’ve got to have some sense that they’re fighting for something.” Otherwise, Obama said, “We can run [ISIL] off for a certain period of time, but as soon as our planes are gone, they’re coming right back in.”

He's not saying we're going to bring troops into Iraq to stop them. It's really a continuation of his answer to a previous question about why the the U.S. didn't go after ISIS when they first started their hyped up tour of destruction: [More...]

Closing arguments have ended in the Oscar Pistorius trial. The judge will issue her ruling on September 11.

You can listen to the arguments on Soundcloud here.

The defense said it comes down the 20 seconds where he was standing at the entrance to the bathroom. He was standing there without legs, facing the door. He hears the sounds and fires the shot - was that reasonable? If the judge finds that was reasonable, she must acquit him.

The U.S. launched airstrikes against ISIS today outside Irbil (Erbil.) Here's a bigger version of the map above from the Washington Post.

Obama is holding firm for now that no ground troops will return to Iraq.

“I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq.” [More...]

Ten days ago, ISIS captured these members of the al Sha'etat tribe in Deir Ezzor, Syria. I thought they were going to be killed immediately but ISIS gave them a reprieve, allowing them to repent. Non violent photos of them when they were captured are here and after the reprieve here.

Apparently, many either didn't repent or repented then rescinded, because today ISIS reported and showed photos of their slaughter. They were beheaded, crucified or otherwise executed and the photos are disgusting. I'm not linking to the photos, but it's clear they are the same young men.

Also today, ISIS supporters deny killing Yazidi civilians or that ISIS intends to do so. [More...]

I had no idea my week would turn out so busy at work. The only things I'll be reading until Thursday night are legal briefs. Maybe I'll also take a few peeks at ISIS supporter Twitter feeds.

I think ISIS warrants its own set of music tunes. I bet it hates American music. Too bad. I'm still going to come up with songs for their dual personality that alternates between gruesome acts of violence and charitable missions. The first one I chose is the Rolling Stones, "Paint it Black":

I look inside myself and see my heart is black....

Get ready for a heavily redacted CIA torture report. McClatchy reports they even took out synonyms.

“No covert CIA personnel or foreign countries are named in the report,” he said. “Only pseudonyms were used, precisely to protect this kind of information. Those pseudonyms were redacted (by the administration).”

...“Redactions are supposed to remove names or anything that could compromise sources and methods, not to undermine the source material so that it is impossible to understand..."

Sen. Feinstein now says the report will be delayed "until further notice" while they work this out.

Check out this photo in this article from the National Post on the people fleeing Sinjar. The caption is "Iraqis from the town of Sinjar head towards the autonomous Kurdistan region on Aug. 4, 2014, as they seek refuge after ISIS militants took control of their town." Photo credits are to "AP stringer/Getty Images."

Now check out this one from 2013 in the New York Times -- it's the same same photo. The caption says "Syria-Iraq border, August 2013."

You really have to watch the media. (This photo and this one are really from yesterday.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

ISIS unleashed its wrath yesterday on the Yezidis in Sinjar (aka Yazidis in Shingal) and two other towns in the Ninewa Province in northern Iraq. Here's a recap of the day's events. The U.N. says 200,000 Yezidis have been displaced. Thousands of cars were trying to leave, more than would fit on the roads. Here's a video. [More...]

Has anyone else noticed that the Bing translator is gone from Twitter? I can no longer read the Arabic posts, which is really a drawback when writing about ISIS. I hope lots of people are telling Twitter to bring it back.

I'm determined to get out of the house today, so here's an open thread, all topics welcome.