WATERSPOUT COMES ASHORE IN GALVESTON: Short video and good photos.

MORE ON THE MURDER OF POLICE IN BATON ROUGE: Three police officers dead, three injured. One suspect dead, two others sought. Link is to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Another atrocity in The War on Cops.

TURKEY WANTS GULEN EXTRADITED: The Examiner says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly wants the US to extradite Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. The Wall Street Journal reports the request has been made by President Erdogan — on live television, no less. He framed his televised extradition request as a personal appeal to President Barack Obama. Now that is dramatic. Big ego to big ego, so to speak. Turkish officials claim Gulen was involved in the coup attempt but as The Journal notes, Turkey was preparing an extradition request before the coup. Gulen lives in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania and leads the Hizmet movement. At one time he supported Erdogan. He is now a harsh critic of corruption in Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Erdogan’s harsh treatment of political opponents. Gulen suggests that Erdogan staged the coup, in other words, the whole thing is a big con.

How will Obama handle this one? Was the personal appeal designed to put Obama in a bind? Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Syria borders Turkey. Obama hasn’t handled events in Syria well, to put it mildly. Somehow the mainstream media have already forgotten the State Department’s Dissent 51. Yes, a Dissent Channel cable signed by 51 Foreign Service Officers. Would that rapid memory loss have occurred during a Republican administration?

A SECOND UPDATE: Early commenters think Obama will kowtow to Erdogan and send Gulen to Turkey. However, one compares Gulen to other political refugees from the region. “Considering the fact that we’re allowing settlement here of “political refugees” by the million, I can’t see how Obama can possibly say anything but “Sorry, Mr. Erdogan.” Ouch.

CHINA LASHES OUT AT JAPAN IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA: Standard behavior from Beijing. Bashing Japan plays well in China — Japanese WW2 depredations are not forgotten. This diplo-tiff took place in Mongolia. Here’s some background on the arbitration panel decision that has China in fits.

I SUSPECT GLENN’S RIGHT. If the coup fails then Erdogan’s opposition is weakened, even those decent folks who didn’t have an inkling. Which leads to the flip side: Erdogan gains strength. Here is a thought that is not a new thought: The deep concern about Erdogan isn’t his Islamism, it’s his creeping authoritarianism. Sure, there may well be some overlap between these concerns. However, Erdogan has taken a very hard line against Al Qaeda. That’s an empirical fact. That said, I’m not the only observer who sees his “creeping authoritarian coup” as a threat to Turkey’s secular republic. Check out references to Sultan Recep.

TURKISH MILITARY CLAIMS SUCCESSFUL COUP Ed just posted on this breaking news. We’re still short of facts. This interests me. My last book was a biography of Kemal Ataturk that focused on his military career.

AFTER THE LATEST TERROR ATTACK IN FRANCE: We hear questions we’ve heard before: “…as more becomes known about the man responsible for last night’s attack, the French authorities will be under renewed pressure to explain why a key potential suspect like this was not subjected to proper monitoring, and also to explain what further measures can be taken to try to make sure than France is better protected from similar attacks in future.”

According to The Economist, Nice has a problem with Islamic radicals, the “most intractable problems of Islamic radicalization outside the Paris region.” I think the article is behind the magazine’s paywall. This quote catches the gist of it:

By the start of this year, at least 55 residents of Nice and other towns in the department of Alpes-Maritimes, which covers the Côte d’Azur, had left to fight in Syria or Iraq. That included 11 members of a single family. The department’s government recently closed down five underground prayer houses suspected of preaching violent Islamism. (In total there are roughly 40 mosques in and around Nice.)

The French government has extended the national state of emergency through October 26. It was supposed to expire this month.

MEXICAN NAVY FINDS COCAINE IN BARRELS OF HOT SAUCE: You can’t make this stuff up. Well, I suppose you could, but no one would believe you. This is actually quite a big drug bust. 13 tons of cocaine.

ONE RUSSIAN MESS AFTER ANOTHER : Jim Dunnigan’s assessment. Interesting thought from the section on Syria: “The stalemate in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions have proved more damaging to the Russian economy and leaders than the government will admit. A clear victory in Syria would pave the way for an acceptable end to the Ukrainian mess.” And this from the Ukraine section: “The Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014 had some benefits for the victim. It finally forced Ukraine to get serious about the corruption that had crippled its economy since it became independent in 1991.” Read the whole thing.

But there’s digital information out there that might help Vlad Putin solve some of his problems.

THE BATTLE OF PALMITO HILL: Better known as The Battle of Palmito Ranch, this “last battle of the Civil War” near Brownsville, Texas, remains a bit controversial. This is a good post by an interesting blogger. The post draws on the Texas State Historical Association on-line summary. Here’s the wikipedia take on the battle. This pdf has a map.

NO DECENT PERSON EVER SAID BLACK LIVES DON’T MATTER: The beginning of this essay includes moving statements by Dallas Police Chief David Brown and US Senator Tim Scott. “Scott believes that “understanding how our neighbors see the world” is an essential American obligation.”

US COAST GUARD AUXILIARY AND COASTAL PICKET FORCE: Nice little article on their role battling German U-Boats and protecting coastal shipping along the US East Coast.

PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY’S NEW GOVERNMENT: She overhauled the cabinet. BREXIT supporters will handle negotiating exit terms with the EU.

WHO ARE FASCISTS IN THE 2016 ELECTION?: The link connects to my conclusion. I begin with a look at the cultural, historical and literary roots then move to the current politics and 2016 election. The roots matter. In early June Tom Sowell examined definitions, historical facts and demonstrated behavior as they relate to contemporary political actors, particularly President Obama.

A few of Dr. Sowell’s essential points:

It bothers me a little when conservatives call Barack Obama a “socialist.” He certainly is an enemy of the free market, and wants politicians and bureaucrats to make the fundamental decisions about the economy. But that does not mean that he wants government ownership of the means of production, which has long been a standard definition of socialism.

What President Obama has been pushing for, and moving toward, is more insidious: government control of the economy, while leaving ownership in private hands. That way, politicians get to call the shots but, when their bright ideas lead to disaster, they can always blame those who own businesses in the private sector.

As for the historical record:

One of the reasons why both pro-Obama and anti-Obama observers may be reluctant to see him as fascist is that both tend to accept the prevailing notion that fascism is on the political right, while it is obvious that Obama is on the political left.

Back in the 1920s, however, when fascism was a new political development, it was widely — and correctly — regarded as being on the political left. Jonah Goldberg’s great book “Liberal Fascism” cites overwhelming evidence of the fascists’ consistent pursuit of the goals of the left, and of the left’s embrace of the fascists as one of their own during the 1920s. Mussolini, the originator of fascism, was lionized by the left, both in Europe and in America, during the 1920s. Even Hitler, who adopted fascist ideas in the 1920s, was seen by some, including W.E.B. Du Bois, as a man of the left.

It was in the 1930s, when ugly internal and international actions by Hitler and Mussolini repelled the world, that the left distanced themselves from fascism and its Nazi offshoot — and verbally transferred these totalitarian dictatorships to the right, saddling their opponents with these pariahs.

Great summary. Now go read the whole thing.

HOUSE MOVES TO INDICT IRS KINGPIN: Yes, I’m using “kingpin” in the DEA sense of the word. Here’s the gist of it: House Republicans just “introduced a resolution to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen…”

Even if impeachment fails Koskinen has earned the hassle.

“With two subpoenas and three preservation orders in place, under Mr. Koskinen’s watch the IRS destroyed 422 backup tapes containing potentially 24,000 emails relevant to the IRS targeting of conservative organizations…”

This is one reason Glenn gives President Obama an asterisk (*) for his 2012 election victory.

THE FERGUSON EFFECT IS REAL: Are the activists who deny the increase in the national crime rate spurred by physical and political attacks on police…Crime Change Deniers?

FBI AGENTS IN HILLARY INVESTIGATION HAD TO SIGN NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT: If this report is accurate it’s truly awful. Comey sold out.

SOUTH CHINA SEA: China loses a legal battle. Now it’s threatening to establish an air defense identification zone over the region. That’s beating the war drums.

WINNING THE ON LINE WAR ON TERROR: “The American government is taking credit for the recent decline in ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) activity in social media.”

DID OBAMA REALLY CALL FOR ANGER AT DALLAS POLICE OFFICERS MEMORIAL?: Yes, he did. Righteous anger, he said. Kind of a tweener, perhaps. But given the tragic circumstances, where anger spilled blood, wouldn’t an appeal to a righteous unity of purpose have been more responsible? More presidential? But for community organizers, anger’s a knee-jerk tool: “Harsh rhetoric to enthuse supporters and thrill media and sharp, partisan divisiveness are the tactical tools of “community organizing” as practiced by the American Left.” RELATED: According to the Daily Caller, in yesterday’s speech Obama mentioned himself 45 times.

SOMEWHERE, OUT THERE, IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, WE’LL FIND $200,000 AND A SASQUATCH...MAYBE: A very cold case from 1971, but so intriguing. The FBI has closed the Dan “D.B.” Cooper airplane hijack case. The article says closing the case means the FBI has “redirected resources.” Any chance those resources can find more of Hillary’s national security damaging emails?

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Divisiveness that undermines law and order hardens a radical activist’s grip on the community he seeks to organize—and politically control.

THE BABY BUST: Definitely worth the read.

Key paragraph:

A scarcity of people, or at least the end to a constantly increasing surplus of laboring bodies, in short, has an enormous influence on politics, economics, and ecology. Demographers have been observing falling fertility rates around the world for many decades.4 Our ideas about geo-politics, social relations, economics, and ecology, meanwhile, have scarcely evolved at all.

Yes, old news but often unacknowledged news. The article includes new data gathered in India:

As in most states throughout southern India, the fertility rate in the state has fallen to 1.8, and for many years has been well below the rate at which new births can replace those who naturally pass away.2 Population is getting smaller, influencing wages, farming practices, and habitat. Zero population growth has arrived in southern India: a Baby Bust.

CLINTON LAWYERS TRYING TO AVOID UNDER OATH DEPOSITION: Of course they are. The FBI conducted a criminal investigation but failed to put her under oath. Judicial Watch intends to. What she did put national security at risk. It is reasonable to ask if adversaries like Vlad Putin hacked her email system and are positioned to blackmail her.

WAR ON HONESTY 6: No decent person ever said black lives don’t matter. “In the wake of the Dallas slaughter, community and civic leaders, especially the exceptional Dallas Chief of Police David Brown, provided first decisive then reassuring and unifying leadership…Leaders in Ferguson and Baltimore were confused, lacked decisiveness and feared their own people. They also feared the accusation of racism and fascism from radical activists.”