USA! USA! Today's the big day. A win or a draw over Germany puts USA through. Even with a loss a Portugal win over Ghana probably puts USA through. A Ghana win and USA loss gets very very dicey. apparently torrential rains in Recife. Will the tams play to win? Honestly, I hope not. In any event, the picks:

Group G - Brasília - Portugal vs. Ghana, Under 3½, Ghana Pick (+165).

Group G - Recife, USA vs. Germany, Under 3

Group H - Curitiba, Algeria vs. Russia, Under 2½, Russia +110.

Group H - São Paulo, South Korea vs. Belgium, Under 2½ (+110), Belgium -1 (+125

Go USA!

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court's ruling that Utah's ban on same sex marriage is unconstitutional.

The opinion is here.

We hold that the Fourteenth Amendment protects the fundamental right to marry, establish a family, raise children, and enjoy the full protection of a state’s marital laws. A state may not deny the issuance of a marriage license to two persons, or refuse to recognize their marriage, based solely upon the sex of the persons in the marriage union.

This appears to be the first federal appeals court ruling on the constitutional issue since the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. [More...]

Our last open thread is full. Here's another one, all topics welcome.

The Supreme Court has ruled for broadcasters and against Aereo TV in the battle over Aereo's tiny antennas which allow people to watch live TV broadcasts over the Internet. The opinion is here. (Background is here.)

The Court today ruled (with Justices Alito, Scalia and Thomas dissenting) that Aereo's service is one that transmits performances of copyrighted works to the public. It rejected Aereo's arguments that it merely supplies equipment that allows others to do so. [More...]

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in two cases today that police must get a warrant to search a cell phone after arrest.

Roberts noted in his opinion that cellphones "are now 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."

The cases are Riley v. California and U.S. v. Wurie. The opinion is here. Lyle Denniston at ScotusBlog has this analysis of the opinion.

My picks:

Group F - Salvador, Bosnia-Herzegovina +105 over Iran. Iran has a chance of going through, needs to win and have Nigeria lose, then it goes to goal differential.

Group F - Porto Alegre, Nigeria +1 (+165) over Argentina. Argentina is through though Nigeria could top the group with a win.

Group E - Manaus, Honduras vs. Switzerland, Under 2½ (+130), Switzerland is level on points but trails on goal differential to Ecuador. A better result today puts them through. Also could go through on GD if they pound Honduras.

Group E - Rio de Janeiro, Ecuador +1 (+140) over France. France has won the group. Ecuador needs to match Switzerland's result to go through.

ISIS held a victory parade in Mosul today. You can view all the photos here. It was a big turnout, and lasted into the evening. Noticeably absent from the photos: women. I saw one figure that looked like a female in all of them (to the right of the headlights) and given her trench coat and purse and black head scarf, I'm wondering if she wasn't a reporter.

ISIS got whacked by Syrian jets near Al-Qa'im and Rutbah today. They lost some men, including Sheikh Abdul Majeed al Otaibi (@OT_48 on Twitter). They also were able to take two towns south of Baghdad, Iskandariya and Mahmoudiya.

The U.S. has sent its first group of advisors to Iraq. Here's the transcript of the Defense Department briefing.[More...]

A quick hit with just the picks:

Group D - Belo Horizonte, Costa Rica vs. England, Over 2½ Goals. Gun to my head, I pick England, burt I'm not wagering on that.

Group C - Cuiabá, Japan vs. Colombia, Draw +280

Group C - Fortaleza, Greece vs. Ivory Coast, Over 2. I'm trying to talk myself into Greece, but the price is too short. Only +(285), needs to get above 300.

The game to watch of course is Uruguay-Italy. Group D - Natal. I'm taking the Suarezes Pick.

I have been so wrapped up in following ISIS this week, I've forgotten to post open threads Here's one, all topics welcome.

A new CBS poll finds 75% percent of Americans do not think the Iraq War was worth the cost in lives and money. This is 8% more than in 2011 when the U.S. withdrew from Iraq, and 30% higher than in August 2003.

Republicans, Democrats and independents alike view the Iraq war as not worth the costs.

A whopping 77% oppose sending troops back in now.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has released a redacted version of a July, 2010 memo by acting chief David Barron of the Office of Legal Counsel on targeted killings. You can read it here. The memo was the subject of an FOIA lawsuit by the ACLU and New York Times, and was authority for the 2011 killings of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki his son, and Samir Kahn, all of whom were U.S. citizens.

The Court also re-issued its opinion from April removing some redactions the Government still wanted to keep secret. The Court said there is no longer any reason for secrecy as to what country Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in and that the CIA was involved. Both had been disclosed by Administration officials in the White Paper and in media interviews. The ACLU has highlighted the unredacted portions in the decision here.

The ACLU will be posting analysis of the memo here.

Groups A and B finish today in relatively unclimactic fashion, as both groups are basically decided, with one exception - Mexico v. Croatia, which is the marquee game of the day. It kicks off at 4 pm. There is some drama in the Chile v. Netherlands tilt, in that one imagines both will want to avoid Brazil in the Round of 16, and winning their group is how to do it. The other games lack drama.

Yesterday I went 2-1, with good payoffs. Today's picks:

Group B - Curitiba, Spain -1½ (+115) over Australia. The end of an era. Spain's scrubs are all stars too.

Group B - São Paulo, Chile Pick over Netherlands. Get the feeling Chile more excited to be here. Plus great fan contingent will keep Chile energized.

Group A - Brasília, Brazil -2½ over Cameroon. Brazil has qualified but can realistically lose top group spot to Mexico, either outright or on goal differential. what's not realistic is Brazil losing this game, though rumors of match fixing have been swirling.

Group A - Recife, Croatia vs. Mexico, Draw +250. Two very good teams, Arguably Croatia has more talent, but Mexico on better form. Through sheer effort, I think El Tri gets through (draw qualifies them for Round of 16.).