The group stage of this edition of the World Cup was something special. Great games, exciting finishes, special efforts by special players (Messi, Neymar, etc.) and USA found a way to get through. This is no mean achievement. They really were in a group of death. Jermaine Jones is playing as well as I have ever seen him play.

Now it's on to the Round of 16, which will come 2 by 2 daily (2 games each of the next 4 days,) Here are today's games and picks:

Round of 16 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil -1 over Chile. On form, Chile is playing better than Brazil. But Brazil showed some flashes against Cameroon (weak competition). The reality is this is a gut pick, not a form pick, which really should have Chile a pick here. Minimum investment. Should be a great game though.

Round of 16 - Rio de Janeiro, Colombia -½ over Uruguay. 20 years ago this month, Colombia entered the World Cup (held in the USA) as one of the favorites, having a great team that dominated South American qualifying, even beating Argentina in Buenos Aires by 5-0. At a friendly a few weeks before the tournament, Colombia drew over 77,000 to the Meadowlands. Instead of meeting expectations, Colombia flamed out, even losing to USA on an own goal by Andres Escobar. Of course, Escobar was later killed when he returned to Colombia.

The story of this current Colombia team certainly suffers under that shadow to some extent. But they have played beautiful soccer. Suarez did what he did, and Uruguay s not particularly good without him. I like Colombia a lot in this spot.

Bump and Update: We have the answer. As I suggested below on June 23, it was the police and army forces, not ISIS, who killed the inmates being transferred from one prison in Hillah to another. Will the Wall St. Journal and others issue a correction? As of now, the WSJ article still headlines "At Least 81 Iraqis Killed in Sunni Rebel Attack on Convoy" and begins:

Sunni militants brought their campaign against the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki closer to Baghdad on Monday, attacking a police convoy just 20 miles from the center of the capital and triggering a shootout that left at least 81 people dead.

Original Post 6/23

Did major media, in a rush to get out breaking news, publish unreliable reports from one-sided sources and get it backwards? [More...]

It's a court and then jail day for me. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

President Obama is asking Congress for $500 million to arm and train "moderate" rebels in Syria.

An Obama national security aide said the $500 million should be used to help Syrian rebels topple Assad, while at the same time defeating militants who call themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

“As we have said many times before, Assad has lost all legitimacy to rule Syria and must go,” Bernadette Meehan, a National Security Council spokeswoman, told McClatchy. “The request to Congress reflects our assessment of the time needed to launch such a program and our view that building the capacity of Syrians for stabilization and counterterrorism operations will be necessary both during the (current) conflict and after a negotiated settlement.”

This is just throwing money down the drain. [More...]

ISIS supporters say they now have the support of other al Qaida groups in the region, including Ansar al-Islam in Kirkuk and Ramadi, and at least some members of Jabhat al-Nusra. It's holding another celebratory parade in Haweija.

Syria, on the other hand, is not making friends with its air strikes. More than 50 civilians, including children were killed. Nor is Malaki, who says he supports Syria's efforts. At least the U.S. has expressed its displeasure.

ISIS/al-Qaida supporters hint the group won't be targeting Jordan or Saudi Arabia. It's next move will be in Lebanon. [More...]

Those who feared Colorado marijuana stores would sell to minors should take a deep breath and relax. The Denver Post reports:

Authorities in Denver and Pueblo, working with regulators from the state Marijuana Enforcement Division, have conducted 20 undercover stings in which they see whether a store will sell pot to someone under 21. Sixteen of the compliance checks have occurred in Denver, home to most of the state's recreational marijuana stores.

So far, no store has sold to someone under 21 in the checks.

The Supreme Court of Massachusetts has ordered a defendant to decrypt his computer after he told police during a post-arrest interview, he had the ability to do so.

Because Gelfgatt already admitted to police that he owned and controlled the seized computers and had the ability to decrypt them, the court found that the act of decryption would not reveal anything new to the police. Therefore, the act of compelled decryption was not “testimonial.” Normally, the Fifth Amendment privilege prevents the government from forcing a witness to disclose incriminating information in his mind (like a password not written down anywhere else)—but only if that is information the police do not already know.

The defendant is a lawyer charged with mortgage fraud. He should have known better. Miranda rights are there for a reason -- use them or lose them.

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.