UMBRIA JAZZ FESTIVAL: Downbeat reports from Italy.

BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTORS IN PHILADELPHIA’S STREETS: They claim they’re sending a message to the Democrats. They oppose Bill Clinton’s 1994 crime bill. One spokesman said Hillary’s “husband created a bill that generationally continues to harm black and brown families.” OK– a Clinton did it. But then the spokesman — no doubt saving his job– called Donald Trump a “racist bigot.” The man’s free to express his opinions, and express them forcefully. The Constitution’s First Amendment guarantees citizens the right to free political speech (though Hillary wants to restrict it). But after the Dallas massacre, the Black Lives Matter organization and those who speak in its name no longer receive free pass privileges from media. The outfit’s members went too far when they scorned the phrase Blue Lives Matter as racist. The Dallas tragedy showed why their angry scorn was a mistake.

TURKEY’S COUP: Crackdown continues to widen. Yes, Erdogan has gone Full Ottoman.

GLENN POSTED ON EARTHQUAKES: Here’s an article on super volcanoes. “Hulking geological behemoths.” One quarter of the world’s super volcanoes are in the US. When they erupt they erupt fast. Guess they feel the…burn…

MICHAEL JORDAN WEIGHS IN ON POLICE SHOOTINGS AND RACIAL TURMOIL: He weighs in with prestige, eloquence and a two million dollar donation.

I was raised by parents who taught me to love and respect people regardless of their race or background, so I am saddened and frustrated by the divisive rhetoric and racial tensions that seem to be getting worse as of late. I know this country is better than that, and I can no longer stay silent. We need to find solutions that ensure people of color receive fair and equal treatment AND that police officers – who put their lives on the line every day to protect us all – are respected and supported

Thank you, sir. Decent people know all lives matter.

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ANTICIPATING STREET DEMONSTRATIONS IN PHILADELPHIA: So far there hasn’t been an eruption of violence. But a lot of angry people are milling around Philly. The rigged primaries burn Sanders supporters. The Revolutionary Communist Party promises to appear. Another lefty group will hold a fart-in –after serving beans. (I’m not making this up.) Which leads to that still relevant question: who are the fascists in 2016? I’m bumping links from a two week-old post. Dr. Tom Sowell nailed the red fascists in early June. My essay took down three red left icons and addressed the anti-Trump street violence in San Jose (and elsewhere).

FRED BARNES WARNS TED CRUZ: This is interesting editorial on a topic that’s still hot. Bill Kristol has fiercely opposed Donald Trump’s nomination. Once again The Weekly Standard shows it’s a good place where good people disagree. Fred’s right: “Divided parties are vulnerable.” Last week I used humor to send the same serious message.

TRACING EMPIRE IN RURAL ROMANIA: This is a personal essay with a lot of angles– a contemporary travelogue, an informed appreciation of history, an assessment of current geo-political tensions. It’s personal but definitely not a polemic. Essayist Antonia Colibasanu takes the time to sort through her own thoughts and impressions — and many of them are uncomfortable. “…cohesion stands on the infrastructure built on a common feeling of security” she says, reflecting on a current NATO exercise but also Roman and Byzantine history.

Excerpt:

I hear a middle-aged gentleman from a group of tourists commenting, in front of a map highlighting the borders of the Roman Empire, on the Balkans’ natural belonging to the EU family. In a sense, he was comparing the European Union to an empire. I didn’t dare challenge him, but the comparison made me realize something else. If the EU had built itself as an empire, it would have probably been more effective. After Trajan’s expansionary leadership, his successor Hadrian, after traveling throughout the Empire, decided to renounce the Empire’s enlargement and even some of the lands conquered late by Trajan, focusing instead on improving the Empire’s administration and security. Hadrian decided to reinforce borders by building up limes (walls) wherever needed — ironically for today’s EU troubles, he built the first limes separating England, then under the Roman occupation, from Scotland.

DEPT OF DEFENSE BELIEVES ISIL WILL USE COMMERCIAL UAVS AS FLYING BOMBS.

UPDATE: Link fixed. Sorry about that. Yes, the post is on StrategyPage. FWIW, in a chapter in my second novel, Prism (HarperCollins 1996), an ad hoc commando team uses a large, radio-controlled model airplane as an explosives-laden kamikaze attacking a pinpoint target. I heard the concept discussed at war games in the 1980s. People would chuckle, say yeah yeah, they can’t carry a lot of explosive, but the pros knew it could be done.

P.T. BARNUM IN THE POLITICAL CIRCUS: Yes, the P. T. Barnum of Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey had a political career. Unfortunately the essay’s behind the Wall St Journal paywall. That’s too bad. It’s a fun read about an interesting American. The Journal ought to put a chink in the wall.

UPDATE (From Ed): Going in through Google might get you past the paywall.

TURKISH AUTHORITIES ISSUE WARRANTS FOR 42 JOURNALISTS: And Erdogan has just appointed 342 new judges and prosecutors. It sure looks like a post-coup power grab.

ARTIFICIAL TIMELINE: TROOPS FEAR OBAMA RUSHING MOSUL OFFENSIVE FOR POLITICAL REASONS. Oh come now. Would President Light Bringer Nobel Peace Prize do such a cynical, callous thing? The tide of war is receding — or so Obama said.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael D. Barbero said his contacts in Baghdad have relayed the concerns to him, fearing there is now an “artificial timeline” for what promises to be by far the toughest battle in the war against the Islamic State in Iraq. Iraqi Security Forces, which has made strides since the U.S.-led coalition began retraining its troops, may not be sufficiently prepared for a rushed operation. The troops face the monumental task of capturing a city of almost 2 million citizens and up to 10,000 Islamic State fighters and their booby traps. There is tremendous concern that Washington is going to press for a Mosul operation to commence before the November election,” Mr. Barbero told The Washington Times. “The concern is, will the conditions be set on the ground by then, and I don’t think so.”

EDEN NOW A UNESCO PROTECTED SITE: Well, not quite, though Ur is in the neighborhood. UNESCO has designated Iraq’s southern marshes a World Heritage Site. The Mesopotamian marshes were probably a hotbed of revolutionary activity –in the early stages of the Agricultural Revolution.

TURNING SHIPPING CONTAINERS INTO A HOUSING DEVELOPMENT: The development’s in Houston, Texas.

MORE BAD NEWS FROM THE SOUTH CHINA SEA. Cambodia does China’s diplomatic dirty work.

HILLARY’S CAMPAIGN MANAGER CLAIMS RUSSIANS HACKED DNC COMPUTERS TO HELP TRUMP: Note Robby Mook neglects to name the “some experts” who tell him helping Trump was what motivated Russian hackers. He does yoke Trump to Vladimir Putin. But Hillary’s the one who re-set relations, didn’t she, Robby? Seems Robby Mook has determined Russian motives but for Jim Comey and the FBI Hillary’s motives remained opaque. Poor security may have permitted the DNC hack, Robby — like, gross negligence. Will you overlook your staff’s gross communication security negligence as blithely as Jim Comey ignored Hillary’s criminal negligence? Think about it. Mook’s smear of Trump all but admits motivated American enemies hacked Hillary’s server and obtained classified information.

THE NEURAL UNDERPINNINGS OF VOLITION? This Johns Hopkins University press release says researchers at the school have glimpsed “the human brain making a purely voluntary decision to act.” The research team asked ““What parts of the brain are involved in free choice?” An implication: “Now that scientists have a way to track choices made from free will, they can use the technique to determine what’s happening in the brain as people wrestle with other, more complex decisions.”

TURKEY’S ERDOGAN CLOSING SCHOOLS AND FIRING TEACHERS: Stephen Green posted on this earlier. That isn’t all Erdogan’s doing.

REAL SCIENCE: Consensus ruled! Lichen biology was settled science. Then suddenly it wasn’t.

JOHN HINDERAKER LOOKS AT LIBERAL HYPOCRISY: They count on voter ignorance.

TURKEY’S PURGE (bumped)

CROOKED HILLARY CACKLES OVER CRUZ CONVENTION SPEECH: Her interpretation differs from Newt’s. Republican divisions over Trump were the convention’s biggest issue.

ERDOGAN HAS GONE TOO FAR: His self-serving purge damages Turkey’s democracy.

TRUMP AS THE DISRUPTIVE PRESIDENT: Michael Barone says “Over history, America has mostly been built by disruption.” He wonders if Trump will disrupt the culture war-driven electoral pattern that has been in place for two decades. Read the whole thing.

VENEZUELANS FLEE THEIR SOCIALIST ECONOMIC WRECK: This article focuses on refugees entering Colombia. The situation is tragic and is going to get worse. I am bothered by missing information in this otherwise factual AFP report. Yes, declining oil revenues did unleash “deep recession, chronic shortages and hyperinflation.” The troubles do threaten “17 years of socialist rule” under Nicholas Maduro and Hugo Chavez. But their socialist dictatorship and economic ignorance created the systemic economic and political conditions where a price decline could wreak havoc. A few days ago Bloomberg ran an article which depicts the hell Venezuelans are fleeing. The diarist records her family’s hunt for food and necessities in Caracas. The big score occurs on June 17 — a five kilo can of corn flour.

RELATED: Tim Worstall has worthwhile thoughts in a Forbes magazine opinion piece. A commenter says “imperialist tampering” caused Venezeula’s woes. In a detailed reply Worstall dismisses that nonsense. Worstall doesn’t blame socialism per se for the mess, but fingers Chavista stupidities, such as “idiot interventions into the price system.” Read the whole thing.

MORE: This long StrategyPage update backgrounds Colombia’s current political situation then moves to a detailed discussion of the Venezuelan government’s decision to put the army in charge of the country’s food supply.