Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm spending this beautiful day outdoors. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

ISIS is back in action. The reporters, analysts and ISIS supporters I read on Twitter and on their websites say ISIS this weekend took Dhuluiya, and Ishaqi and Barwānah. They blew up the bridge from Dhuluiya to Balad. They have the army boxed in at Samarra. They've also been advancing on the 8th Brigade base near Ramadi and Tikrit and made another try for Haditha, although they havent' gotten the dam.

There's an interesting article here on the synergy between the tribes and ISIS that is strengthening their ability to overthrow Malik's government and shi'a rule. If those issues weren't so important, they might not have hooked up to the extent they have, since usually, the tribes would have plenty of differences with ISIS.

U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Forrest was not impressed with the legal arguments made by Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht in his bid to dismiss his drug and money laundering charges. In a 51 page ruling, available here, she denied the motion. Among her rulings: Bitcoins are close enough to currency to count as money for the purposes of the money laundering statute. [More...]

Human Rights Watch has released a report on the mass killings of Sunni prisoners by Iraqi forces.

Iraqi security forces and militias affiliated with the government appear to have unlawfully executed at least 255 prisoners in six Iraqi cities and villages since June 9, 2014.

The vast majority of security forces and militias are Shia, while the murdered prisoners were Sunni. At least eight of those killed were boys under age 18.

Mass extrajudicial killings of prisoners should be viewed as a war crime. [More...] evidence of war crimes or crimes against humanity, and appear to be revenge killings for atrocities by ISIS.

A lying jailhouse snitch got caught at his game in a Miami murder trial this week.

The snitch, Andres Garcia Florez, is serving 30 years for cocaine distribution. He thought he'd shave some time off by testifying against Clifford Friend, who is being tried for the 1994 murder of Friend's wife. (Prosecutors deny they had promised him a reduction, he testified he was hoping for one.)

Florez told the jury the two had watched an episode of El Capo 3 together. In the episode (Episodio 7, you can watch here), a high-level Russian drug dealer figures out his girlfriend is working for a rival group trying to take him down. He lures her onto a boat, ties her up with rope, attaches an anchor to the rope and throws her overboard. Flores claimed while the episode was airing, Friend told him that's what he did with his wife (whose body has never been found.) [More....]

"El Chino" Antrax, Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa, has arrived in San Diego from the Netherlands via Con Air. He will be arraigned today in federal court.

The young, flashy alleged "sicario" for Sinaloa (Zambada) and logistics coordinator (El Chapo Guzman) is charged with conspiracy to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine, more than 500 grams of meth and more than 100 kilograms of marijuana. He is not charged with any crimes of violence.

His case is related to the case of Serafin Zambada-Ortiz, youngest son of Ismael Zambada-Garcia and brother of Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, according to the court docket, but it may just be they were both intercepted on the same wiretap.[More...]

50,000 children have fled their home countries and arrived in the U.S. since last fall. The number is expected to reach 90,000 by the end of the year. They are desperately in need of humanitarian aid. They should be treated as refugees from the violence in their home countries, not immigration violators. The U.S. should be providing them with asylum, not subjecting them to deportation.

What is DOJ's solution? Yesterday it announced a new policy. [More...]

Bon Jovi is screening his new movie, Access All Areas, for free starting now.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. He was convicted in February on 20 of 21 counts of bribery, money laundering, fraud and filing false tax returns.

The judge sentenced him below the 15 year guidelines. The Times Picayune says here's why:

• Nagin didn't lead the conspiracy; he followed.
• He didn't pad his pockets as outrageously as some.
• Aaron Broussard and William Jefferson set favorable precedents.
• He is unlikely to run for office again.
• He helped his family more than he enriched himself.

That news articles refer to the sentence as "relatively short" is indicative of our out-of-whack sentencing policy. 10 years for a non-violent offense is overkill.

Washington state opened its doors to recreational marijuana sales yesterday. There were long lines and very happy customers. James Lathrop, the owner of Cannibis City, came out at 9:00 a.m. with a big pair of scissors to cut the tape and said:

It's time to free the weed.

Among those who waited in line for hours:[More...]

President Obama drew a large crowd in Denver when he and Governor Hickenlooper stopped by the Wynkoop Brewery for some beer and pool tonight.

Obama clearly had a good time, he even whistled along with "Brown-Eyed Girl" as it played on the stereo system. Earlier he had pizza with some letterwriters from Denver. [More...]