UNEXPECTEDLY: The Obama administration’s new overtime regulation seems to be hurting the very workers it aimed to help.

What we need is a law against unintended consequences.

BREAKING: Two members of Turkey’s constitutional court arrested.

The two constitutional court members were among a group of 113 officials from the judiciary formally arrested on Wednesday, NTV said. Formal charges were also brought against President Tayyip Erdogan’s chief aide-de-camp, it said.

It is now estimated that 60,000 “soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended, detained or are under investigation” since Erdogan purge began.

CLAIRE BERLINSKI: A Report from Turkey.

Erdoğan’s attempts to forge an all-powerful, one-man regime may have led [Fethullah Gülen supporters] to try to stage a coup in desperation. However, looking at how Erdoğan has responded to the coup attempt with a virtual counter-coup of his own, targeting not just the Gülenists but the opposition in general, suggests two more possibilities:

1. Erdoğan and the AKP undertook a fake coup to revitalize his Islamist base as well as other party members and their extensions. There is a lot of evidence that goes against this possibility: Gülenist names appear to be involved, and there were casualties among AKP people and their supporters.

2. Erdoğan and the AKP government knew about the plot in advance (some statements, like that of the general who spoke on TV after the initial coup attempt was thwarted, suggest there was advance intelligence; also, it has now been revealed that the President received the first notification of the plot at around 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon). They allowed it to happen. We cannot know yet, but the possibility is there. How else could they have been prepared to call their members (via means that include text messages) to confront the military? Once it was time to put on a show, the AKP took the main stage and turned it into a sham people’s resistance against the coup attempt, leading eventually to calls to keep invading the streets — with the pro-government media covering it only from the perspective of, “The Turkish people stopped the coup attempt.” It was mostly AKP members and ardent supporters called upon to go out via text messages, first by the party, and then via announcements by the president and the prime minister, as well AKP mayors and other state officials.

The purge of nearly all government institutions immediately afterward indicates the lists may have been prepared way in advance.

Read the whole thing.

WHITTLE, OTT, GREEN ON THE NEW GOP: It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.

Full disclosure: I’m Green.

NAG, NAG, NAG: Microsoft updates Get Windows 10 nagster yet again.

Now the flirtation includes a yellow exclamation for an icon in the system tray, a popup with a hamburger icon, and a countdown clock that tells you that there’s just 9 days 7 hours 16 minutes and 77 seconds until Armageddon. You’re given the options of “Decline free offer” and “Upgrade now.”

If you decide to upgrade now, you’ll get the old Windows 10.1, version 1511, released last November, build 10586. You will have 31 days to roll back to your original operating system, although the rollback is not without problems.

It isn’t clear if declining the free offer actually, you know, declines the free offer. I wouldn’t be too surprised if there was a new KB 3035583 in the near future that says “Are you really, really sure?” or “Upgrade now or we’ll kill this bunny.”

I’ve heard almost nothing but good things about Windows 10, and almost nothing but bad things about Microsoft’s recent efforts to get people to install it.

If you’re a happy Windows 7 or 8 user, GWX Control Panel will put an end to the nagging.

THE TRIPLE LINDY: SpaceX’s next mission: to land three rockets at once.

“SpaceX expects to fly Falcon Heavy for the first time later this year,” the company said in a statement to the Orlando Sentinel. “We are also seeking regulatory approval to build two additional landing pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. We hope to recover all three Falcon Heavy rockets, though initially we may attempt drone ship landings.”

SpaceX founder Elon Musk of Tesla Motors added on Twitter that two of the rockets would land simultaneously, while the third would arrive shortly after.

SpaceX is a private space company whose goal is to develop reusable space transportation to reduce costs and, ultimately, enable the colonization of Mars.

The landings were a difficult enough engineering challenge, but the real trick is getting the expended rockets back down in good enough condition to re-use. SpaceX isn’t quite there yet.

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Cartilage grown from stem cells could replace hip implants.

“We’ve developed a way to resurface an arthritic joint using a patient’s own stem cells to grow new cartilage, combined with gene therapy to release anti-inflammatory molecules to keep arthritis at bay,” said Farshid Guilak, professor of orthopedic surgery at Washington University, in a statement. “Our hope is to prevent, or at least delay, a standard metal and plastic prosthetic joint replacement.”

The cartilage is made with the patient’s own stem cells taken from fat beneath the skin. A 3-D, biodegradable synthetic scaffold is molded into the shape of the patient’s joint. It is then covered with the cartilage and implanted onto the surface of an arthritic hip. This process helps alleviate arthritic pain and could delay or eliminate the need for hip replacement surgery.

I had been assured that adult stem cells were useless.

ANALYSIS: TRUE.

The media is spending more time doing a forensic analysis of Melania's speech than the FBI spent on Hillary's emails.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2016

PARENTING: Can Fibbing to Your Kids Turn Them Into Lying Adults?

In my experience, it’s best not to let your kids catch you doing anything you don’t want them doing — and that eventually they will catch you.

UNFAIR TO LUCIFER? Ben Carson defends connecting Hillary Clinton to Lucifer.

GET READY FOR TED: Cruz Prepares for High-Stakes Convention Speech with Eye on 2020.

The Texas senator has largely kept a low profile since exiting the presidential race in May, but he will be front and center on Wednesday. His speech will serve both as a formal reintroduction to millions of party faithful, the majority of whom did not support Trump in the primaries, and as the first public step in another presidential campaign. So while Trump uses Cruz’s appearance to project a semblance of party unity, the Texas senator will do his part to underscore the deep divisions in the GOP on the eve of Trump’s coronation — and to suggest tacitly that he, not Trump, is the face of the party’s future.

Going into [Wednesday] night’s speech, Cruz undoubtedly has Ronald Reagan’s 1976 convention speech in mind. Though Reagan narrowly lost the nomination to Gerald Ford that year, his speech succeeded in convincing the delegates gathered in Kansas City that they had chosen the wrong man. (Paul Manafort, now Trump’s campaign chairman, was at the time a young operative instrumental in wrangling delegates on Ford’s behalf.)

Even if Trump wins this year — unlike Ford in ’76 — he’ll be 74 in 2020.

HEY, BIG SPENDER: Bush’s three delegates cost $50 million each.

Jeb was the wrong candidate running the wrong campaign in the wrong year, which everybody in the world seemed to know except for his donors.

MAYBE IT’S TIME TO RETHINK MY FITNESS REGIMEN: Crossfit Games to award Glock pistols to winning athletes.

The founder of the hugely popular competition, for which Reebok is the title sponsor, recently announced he would give away the pistols to the winners, referring to the plan as “glock for the podium.”

“The top male athlete, the top female athlete, and every member of the winning team will receive a GLOCK pistol,” Dave Castro, Director of the CrossFit Games and a former Navy SEAL, wrote in a posting on the Facebook page for the CrossFit Games, along with a flashy video highlighting the popular pistol.

The CrossFit Games began Tuesday at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

People immediately expressed outrage over Castro’s announcement on social media and in comments on the post, saying that it was in poor taste given recent tragedies like the Orlando and Dallas massacres and spate of police-involved shootings.

Funny, but I don’t recall any news items about CrossFit athletes shooting cops.

WELL, SOMEBODY HAD TO: Chris Christie Prosecutes Hillary Clinton on the RNC Floor.

NOAH ROTHMAN: Hillary Clinton Is Off Her Game.

In her most recent one-on-one sit down with a member of the press (the only format to which she seems inclined to agree), Clinton was asked by CBS News journalist Charlie Rose how she would respond to Comey’s contention that her custodianship of classified material was characterized by “real sloppiness.” Clinton initially denied that Comey had ever said such a thing (he did). When that didn’t work, she then asserted that there were “probably at least 300 people on those emails, the vast majority of whom are experienced professionals in handling sensitive material.” This is an admission against interest; not only does this acknowledge the truth of the public record, that Clinton freely compromised her “homebrew” server with such a large network of email recipients, but that only the “vast majority” of them were experienced in the field of information security. Hopefully, those who are not included in that “vast majority” weren’t as careless with government communications as Clinton.

“Was it wrong?” Rose asked.

Clinton replied: “Well, it was wrong because,” she paused, “look at what it has generated.”

To be fair, Clinton’s game was never very good.

CHANGE: Twitter Opens Verified Accounts Process To All Users.

Before Twitter permanently banned Milo Yiannopoulos last night, the social media giant had revoked his coveted blue “verified” check for some unspecified infraction. So it’s fair to wonder if Twitter is broadening its verification program in order to create a wider avenue for punishment and blackmail of its users.

THE END OF SECULAR TURKEY: Turkey coup attempt: Crackdown toll passes 50,000.

The purge of those deemed disloyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan widened on Tuesday to include teachers, university deans and the media.

The government says they are allied to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who denies claims he directed the uprising.

PM Binali Yildirim said the preacher led a “terrorist organization”.

“We will dig them up by their roots,” he told parliament.

Perhaps most ominous, “Turkey’s media regulation body on Tuesday also revoked the licences of 24 radio and TV channels.”

It wasn’t a failed coup; it’s a successful purge.

SARAH HOYT IS LOOKING FOR HER SHOCKED FACE: Russian-Ukrainian journalist Pavel Sheremet killed in his car in Kiev.

I’LL HAVE WHAT THE GENTLEMAN ON THE AISLE FLOOR IS HAVING: The science of serving draft beer at 35,000 feet.

THE FRUITS OF BREXIT: An Unapologetic Boris Johnson, Diplomat, Meets the Press.

In his first news conference as British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson stood beside Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday and said he would not apologize for his past insults of President Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“I’m afraid that there is such a rich thesaurus now of things that I have said that are being one way or another, through what alchemy I do not know, somehow misconstrued that it would really take me too long to engage in a full, global itinerary of apology to all concerned,” Mr. Johnson said.

“And I think most people who read these things in their proper context can see exactly what was intended,” he continued. “And indeed, I find that virtually everybody I’ve met so far in this job understands that very well, particularly on the international scene.”

If Boris is ever sacked by Theresa May, surely there must be a job for him here in a Trump Administration.

BUT OF COURSE: Pelosi Backs Pentagon’s Decision to Pay for Gender Changes.

I HAD THOUGHT THE SCIENCE WAS SETTLED: Over 80? Too few medications might be dangerous.

THAT MEANS IT’S WORKING: California Obamacare rates to rise 13% in 2017, more than 3 times the increase of last 2 years.

THE END OF THE KEMALIST REPUBLIC: Turkey suspends more than 15,000 education workers in widening purge.

It wasn’t a failed coup; it’s a successful purge.

ASIA PIVOT: North Korea fires three ballistic missiles in new show of force.

The U.S. military said it detected launches of what it believed were two Scud missiles and one Rodong, a home-grown missile based on Soviet-era Scud technology.

North Korea has fired both types numerous times in recent years, an indication that unlike recent launches that were seen as efforts by the North to improve its missile capability, Tuesday’s were meant as a show of force.

Scuds are notoriously inaccurate and based on Soviet technology dating back to the late ’50s. Firing off three, or even a dozen of them, isn’t much of a display of force. What seems more likely is that Kim wants to bait South Korea into installing US-made THAAD anti-missile systems, then using his agents, dupes, and useful idiots in the South to try and gin up enough protests to destabilize the government in Seoul.